A Rival Heir (19 page)

"No, my boy, I do not. I am the soul of avuncular bonhomie when I am with her, am I not?"

"So it would seem to you and me, but perhaps to an inexperienced girl such as Miss Armstrong..."

"Inexperienced perhaps, but not lacking in intelligence. Miss Armstrong will not confuse my intentions."

"But surely others might."

"Hugh, my dear fellow, you worry too much. Are you and your sister not there on almost every occasion when I am in Miss Armstrong's company? She would as like misconstrue your constant presence."

Having delivered himself of this home truth, the earl winked at his guest and changed the subject. Hugh left shortly thereafter only slightly more disconcerted than he had been before he arrived.

Chapter Thirteen

Emily had little difficulty convincing Nell to join Mrs. Gorton's young set to learn country dances after Rosemarie Longstreet made her announcement that they would attend another assembly. This change of heart had astonished Nell, especially when her aunt continued, "We shall take Mrs. Dorsey, and you may invite Sir Hugh to escort us," she said grudgingly. "A week Thursday, if you please. That will give us plenty of time."

Plenty of time for what? Nell wondered, but she knew it was useless to inquire of her secretive aunt. What it would give her time for, she hoped, was a foray into the art of country dancing, under Emily's auspices.

Emily first offered private instruction in the parlor of the house in Queen Square, where Rosemarie was disposed to observe and criticize. "Gracefully, gracefully! Above all you must have a lightness to your step! And a smile on your face, missy, not that look of abject concentration. See how Mrs. Holmsly's eyes sparkle as she whirls."

Emily giggled, it being a new experience for her to have the fault-finding lady approve of her behavior in any way. "It's called flirting," she whispered to Nell. "The gentlemen expect it."

"Perhaps that is because you are a married woman. I cannot think it proper for me to flirt with a dancing partner."

"Oh, indeed it is. You must look him in the eye the whole time you're dancing, and let him know how utterly fascinating you find him."

"Ah, you wish me to deceive."

"Tsk! How can you say such a thing? You will be dancing with Hugh and with Lord Westwick, and they are both perfectly fascinating gentlemen."

"Lord Westwick?" Rosemarie demanded. "Why would you be dancing with Lord Westwick, Helen?"

The young ladies had been careful to keep the earl out of their conversation, and it was a slip on Emily's part to mention him. So far as Aunt Longstreet knew, all Nell's adventures had been in the company of Emily and/or her brother.

"Lord Westwick is a particular friend of mine," Emily recovered now, "and he will most assuredly wish to dance with my dear friend Nell."

Nell was very much afraid that her aunt would have something to say about this, but her aunt, uncharacteristically, restrained herself. With one of her accustomed "Humpf!'s" she turned and left the room. Nell sighed her relief.

"I'm very sorry for mentioning the earl," Emily apologized when they were alone. "It is so terribly difficult to remember that Miss Longstreet was once engaged to him. It seems so unlikely! Have you not found out more about it?"

Nell shook her head. "She’s so adamant on the subject of his lordship that I daren't even mention his name. Come, show me which hand I offer for the crossover."

Nell was surprised, and not quite pleased, to find that Emily had invited Sir Hugh to join them for the dancing lessons. "The more the merrier!" Mrs. Gorton assured Sir Hugh, her face beaming. "My daughters will be enchanted to have a man of your address, and my sons will plague you about their driving skills. If you are brave enough to face them all, I'm more than happy to have you."

Nell noted that the baronet was indeed a patient parti, joining in the lessons as though he took pleasure in instructing the youngsters in the intricacies of country dances. He was an elegant dancer himself, and the schoolroom party sought to emulate him, but they were young and their spirits were high. His toes were trod upon with giddy apologies, and his attention plucked at every break in the music for his young admirers to query him on the finer points of boxing or driving. Sir Hugh was good humored through it all.

And Nell began to understand her own part as he partnered her through dance after dance, explaining the steps. "Of course that would not be allowed at an assembly," Emily admitted when the party at length broke up, "but here it does not matter in the least. At the Lower Rooms you may stand up for no more than two sets with any given gentleman during the whole of the evening."

Nell laughed. "I shall be astonished if any gentleman wishes to dance a second set with me once he has seen how prone I am to going in the wrong direction."

"You did remarkably well," Sir Hugh assured her with a smile. "And if my toes are recovered by the next assembly, I beg you will stand up with me for the first and last sets."

"You are too kind, Sir Hugh," she replied with a mock curtsy before proceeding along the street with her two companions.

"Not at all. I'm gratified that my godmother has requested my escort. Astonished, but gratified."

"I must admit that I was a little taken aback myself, but that is not my greatest concern. I very much fear that whatever Aunt Longstreet is planning to do, it will happen at the Lower Rooms. We're to take Mrs. Dorsey with us, and though I cannot see her as an accomplice to anything wicked, she may prove an inadvertent witness for my aunt."

Hugh's brows lowered and he gave a tsk of annoyance. "I wish I had heard back from my housekeeper. I am in daily expectation of some word. I’ll contact you directly I hear anything of interest."

Emily clapped her hands with excitement. "Oh, I can scarcely wait! Knowing your aunt, Nell, I am sure she intends to set Bath by its ear. And she has already given Lord Westwick the cut direct. What can she possibly have in mind to follow up on that?"

"Emily," her brother said sternly, "this is not a matter of amusement for Miss Armstrong. How would you feel if your husband created a scandal at the Lower Rooms? It would be a matter of acute embarrassment."

"Yes, but John
wouldn't
create a scandal, which everyone knows. And those who know Miss Longstreet will not be at all surprised to have her do something outrageous, will they?"

"They may not be surprised, but that won't lessen Miss Armstrong's discomfort, will it?"

Nell, unwilling to take part in their discussion, watched the brother and sister from under the brim of her bonnet, trying to decipher if either was likely to take her in disgust if her aunt's behavior should be especially bad.

Emily put a protective arm about her waist, saying, "Well, if Miss Longstreet goes beyond the pale, I tell you what I have in mind, Hugh. Nell must come to live with me. There, I knew it would shock you both, but I've given it a great deal of thought. We get along famously and I am a great deal easier to live with than your impossible godmother. Living with me, too, Nell would have a chance to meet some worthy gentleman who does not require a handsome bridal portion. And do not tell me there are no men of that caliber, because I know there are!"

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" Nell had paled and could not seem to stop shaking her head. "It is very good of you, Emily, but most unnecessary. Aunt Longstreet is my family, Longstreet Manor is my home. And even if she should do something so awful that I cannot raise my head in Bath, well, we will soon be back in Westmorland, where no one will know anything of the matter."

Sir Hugh looked so alarmed by Emily’s suggestion that he could scarcely decide where to begin with his objections. In the gap before he could begin his list of reasons why hers was an impossible idea, Emily herself straightened to her full height.

"My dear Nell, family is supposed to protect you and to care for you. Your aunt has no intention of carrying out either of those responsibilities.  Ergo, she is scarcely family at all, and certainly you would be well rid of her!"

"As usual, my dear Emily, your reasoning is impeccable," her brother informed her with exasperation. "I have no doubt that it is your warm heart and earnest sense of justice which have led you to make so generous an offer, but you must see, as Miss Armstrong does, that it will not do!"

"No," Emily stoutly replied, "I do not see that at all."

"Have you, for instance, mentioned your plan to your husband?" Hugh asked.

"Not yet, but I have every reason to believe that he will be as enamored of the idea as I am myself. Does he not disappear every other day and expect me to amuse myself without him? He does indeed. It would be of great benefit to him, and to me, to have company during his long and inexplicable absences, would it not? Yes, it would."

She could have gone on in this vein for some time, but fortunately they were passing the library and who should appear before them but Mr. Bentley. Nell had scarcely ever been so glad to see anyone.

"Why, Miss Armstrong and Mrs. Holmsly! How do you do? What good fortune that I should have encountered you, for I have but only received the latest book from the author of
Mansfield Park
, and I knew you would wish to be advised of the circumstance. I have," he admitted with a pleased conspiratorial grin, "put it aside for you."

"Mr. Bentley! How kind! Are you acquainted with Sir Hugh Nowlin? He is Mrs. Holmsly's brother."

The two men bowed and, to Nell's eyes, appeared to take skeptical assessment of one another. Nell remembered that Sir Hugh had threatened (well, offered) to have Mr. Bentley's credentials checked and she watched his face nervously. But he was all politeness to the librarian, thanking Mr. Bentley for his services to his godmother and his companions.

"It is my pleasure," the young man assured him. "Shall I just run in and get the book for you, Miss Armstrong?"

"No, why don't I come with you? There is something I... And I can make my own way home, Emily and Sir Hugh. Thank you so much for the lessons."

Without checking to see what their reaction was to this cowardly withdrawal, she hastened into the library, with Mr. Bentley scurrying to catch up and assuring her, "I can see you home myself, Miss Armstrong. I was just leaving."

* * * *

Sir Hugh made no progress in convincing his sister that her plan was ineligible. For every argument he put forth, she came up with a new--and to her more brilliant--one. "And, Hugh, imagine! She will be able to wear all of my dresses."

"Not unless she shrinks three inches."

"Pish! A row of trimming at the hem--it is of no consequence. Oh, I shall love dressing her. She's so attractive when she wears that green gown."

"She's attractive when she wears her old-fashioned gowns, Emily."

"Yes, but the old quizzes make fun of them. You know they do, Hugh. It would be so much better for her to have something fashionable. And I shall ask Catherine to send me any of her gowns that she is finished with, for I'm sure she is a good two inches taller than I."

"It won't do, Emily," Hugh said firmly as they neared her house. "Miss Armstrong is a proud woman; she would not be willing to accept charity from you."

"But she would be my companion!"

"She is already Miss Longstreet's companion, and it is a more fitting, if less comfortable, position than living with you."

"But I cannot bear to think of her going back to Westmorland and living in some isolated country house with that cross old lady!" Tears welled in his sister's eyes and she reached an imploring hand out to him. "Hugh, we must do something for her. Can't you see that?"

He squeezed her fingers and smiled gently down at her. "You've done something already, Emily, by being her friend. I think it was Nell's lucky day when she came to Bath."

Which was all he felt able to tell her. Lord Westwick had not given him permission to even hint at any financial aid he might offer the young lady. And Hugh still felt rather torn as to whether he approved of that solution.

"Oh, yes, I think it was. For no one knew of her plight before this. Do you think perhaps Mr. Bentley will come into a sudden inheritance and be able to marry her?"

"No, I do not!"

"Perhaps he is independently wealthy and only enjoys working at the library."

"I should think it most unlikely."

Emily sighed as she paused at her front door. "We'll find a way to help, won't we, Hugh?"

"Yes, my dear. We'll find a way."

Hugh watched her disappear into her house.
We
will find a way did not quite satisfy his feelings on the subject. Both Emily and Lord Westwick were determined to help Nell Armstrong out of a situation which they felt intolerable. Hugh was less concerned with the situation itself than with the young lady who gave rise to their concerns.

His delightful daily contact with her, his irritation with the perfectly unexceptionable librarian, and his distress at Westwick’s and Emily’s proposals suggested that he should do a little soul-searching about his own feelings toward Nell. Unfortunately, he never got far before he was brought up sharply by the realization that anything he felt might be tainted by their positions as rival heirs for Miss Longstreet’s property.

Yes, he anticipated their afternoon rides together. Indeed, when she smiled that conspiratorial smile at him, as though the two of them had some special understanding of the world, he felt so warmed that he longed to hug her to his chest. Perhaps, even, he felt more elementary stirrings when she placed her hand on his arm, when her trusting eyes sought out his own.

And there had been a few dreams… Well, the less said on that head, the better. She was a properly brought up young lady, not a lightskirt. But he had known in those dreams that she was a sensuous woman, not the least bit a prude. A dream lover who…

Hugh shook his head and proceeded on down the Circus toward his own apartments. The reality of the situation was that she considered herself bound to remain with her aunt, and she would certainly wonder at any signs of attention from him, knowing that he believed she might inherit Miss Longstreet’s property. Because she did not in her naiveté realize how unique she was,  she could scarcely attribute honorable motives to his interest.