Eloisa's Adventure (30 page)

“Thank
you, my lord,” Eloisa murmured as she curtseyed politely. “It is
most gracious of you to invite us.”

“Nonsense m’dear, it is wonderful to be able to get you here
at last,” he replied curiously.

Eloisa
stared at him nonplussed, and wasn’t sure how to
respond.

“Before
you go into the ballroom, I should like a word with you, if I may?”
he declared a little more quietly. He didn’t wait for them to
answer before he turned on his heel and disappeared through one of
the doors that lined the main hallway.

Eloisa
and Cissy looked at each other and followed cautiously.

“Thank
you, my dears.” Lord Aldwich waved to a tall, handsome man who
stood silently beside the fireplace.

Upon
their entrance the stranger bowed politely. His hawkish features
looked stern and unrelenting, but there was softness to his eyes as
he smiled at them that assured them he was friendly.

“Might I
introduce my son, Rafael?” Lord Aldwich turned to his son. “This is
Miss Eloisa and Miss Cissy Delaney.”

“I
know,” Rafael declared somewhat ruefully. “It’s a pleasure to meet
you at last.”

“Oh,
yes, well, quite.” Lord Aldwich coughed uncomfortably and waved
Eloisa and Cissy toward a seat. “Might I get you dears a
drink?”

“Oh, no
thank you.”

“Well
then, let’s get down to why I have asked you here, shall we?” He
looked down at some papers on his desk for a moment. A somewhat
tense silence settled over them while everyone waited for him to
speak. “Firstly, I should like you both to call me Arthur. That’s
my given name. Now that you are here, I think that it is only fair
that we confess to the truth of matters.”

“The
truth, my lord?” Eloisa queried. She kept her face polite and
impassive but, deep inside, her heart raced.

“Arthur,” he prompted.

“Sorry,”
Eloisa whispered.

“Your
mother, Isadora, God rest her soul, was my sister.”

Eloisa
stared at Lord Aldwich blankly for a moment. Her gaze flew to
Rafael, who clearly already knew. Cissy, bless her, looked equally
as stunned as Eloisa.

“Are you
sure?” Cissy demanded. She immediately gasped and looked
apologetically at both men. “Please forgive my
rudeness.”

“It’s
quite alright, dear. You see, when your father met your mother, he
didn’t have a title, or much wealth for that matter. He wasn’t
deemed a suitable match for your mother, who was a Winterton. She
refused to marry anyone else though, in spite of our father’s
attempts to find a more suitable match for her. She eloped with
your father when my Papa refused to agree to a wedding.” He coughed
and shifted uncomfortably again. “The marriage was legalised before
anything could be done to stop it.”

When
neither of the ladies said anything, Lord Aldwich studied each of
them carefully before he continued.

“My
father was less than pleased and, to begin with, wouldn’t
acknowledge the marriage. My sister – your mother – went to live
with her husband and had you Cissy, before the year was out. When
my father found out about their marriage, he was more than a little
vocal with his objections, and matters became extremely difficult.
A lot was said, and threatened, and it caused a rift that time just
wasn’t able to heal.” He threw them a somewhat apologetic look. “In
the years afterward, father asked her to come back to the family
seat, and sent her many invitations to our social events, but your
mother always refused.”

“She
never forgave her father,” Eloisa declared softly. “That explains
it,” she sighed.

“What?”
Cissy demanded.

Eloisa
looked at her sister. “In the carriage the other week, I studied
the gloves you said belonged to mother. I cannot even remember her
going to a ball so couldn’t understand why she would have them in
the house.”

Understanding shone in Cissy’s eyes. “She kept them from her
days when she attended balls.”

“That
also explains why she played the piano, and why you, Cissy, are so
excellent at embroidery,” Eloisa added.

“You
inherited her dancing skills,” Cissy countered. “Look at how well
you have picked up all of the latest dances from Mr de
Lisle.”

“I am
afraid that I was responsible for his little deception,” Lord
Aldwich admitted.

“Deception?”

“Mr de
Lisle has never been a dancing tutor to my son. He is a reputable
tutor who currently resides in London, that’s all.”

“Were
you responsible for the stipulation father put in his
will?”

Lord
Aldwich nodded. “I went to visit him when your mother passed away.
I attended her funeral but sat at the back of the church out of the
way. Afterward, I paid your father a visit and suggested that it
was time to settle old differences.” He looked across the desk at
them. “You are my nieces, after all.” He nodded to Rafael. “You are
also his cousins.”

“You
arranged for us to learn a skill?” Eloisa whispered.

“It
seemed the best way to get you to Aldwich Hall so we could break
the news to you, as it were,” Lord Aldwich. “With your father
having now passed as well, I think it is time we put this historic
feud aside. You are my nieces.”

“We have
recently learned that your mother made Arthur your guardian upon
the event of your father’s death,” Rafael declared quietly from his
position beside the fire.

“How did
you think that putting the stipulation in our father’s will would
get us here?” Eloisa asked with a frown.

Cissy
threw her a frown. “Mr de Lisle suggested he could get you an
invitation to the ball here.”

Eloisa
sat back, more than a little stunned. “The invitation to your ball
came from you.”

“Offered
by Mr de Lisle,” Arthur nodded. “Your father agreed to put the
stipulations there because he knew that once he had passed, I would
contact you and invite you back into the family. Whatever grievance
went on between my father and your mother died along with them as
far as we are concerned. Your rightful place is here, within the
family.”

“How did
you know what our chosen skills were?” Eloisa asked somewhat aghast
at the scheming.

Arthur
smiled. “Your father knew you well. He suspected you would choose
dancing lessons, Eloisa. That was all we needed.”

“But you
were going to make Eloisa dance outside because you said she
couldn’t be an invited guest,” Cissy declared in a voice that was
somewhat accusing.

“Why did
you think that we sent the carriage for her?” Rafael asked. “We
told Mr de Lisle to tell her that she was going to dance in the
garden.”

“But she
wasn’t,” Cissy whispered and slumped back in her seat.

Lord
Aldwich slowly shook his head. “I would not stand for my niece to
dance in the garden when her rightful place is in the ballroom with
the other guests.”

“Mr de Lisle didn’t think you would agree to go, Eloisa, if
you knew you would be dancing amongst the
Ton
. So we concocted the arrangement
whereby you would remain outside. Once you were here though –”
Rafael shrugged and grinned unrepentantly at her.

Eloisa
knew that there would be little she could do about being ordered
inside. As one of the guests, she was duty bound to do what the
host asked of her. She didn’t know whether to be annoyed at their
scheming or not.

“That’s
why you sent the carriage,” Cissy whispered.

“Yes,
but the buffoons lost her. They are cleaning out the stables for a
while to recompense,” Rafael informed them ruefully. “Father won’t
trust them with the carriage again.”

“I can
understand that,” Eloisa sighed fervently.

“Did you
give father the money for us to inherit?” Cissy asked with a
frown.

“Your
mother inherited her fortune regardless of the discord between her
and my father. It went to her husband when she passed away.
Thankfully, your father didn’t spend it. He kept it for you and put
the stipulation in his will that would open the door for you to
return to the family fold as it were.”

“Heaven’s above,” Cissy whispered. She accepted a
handkerchief off Rafael with a quivering smile, and dabbed at the
corners of her eyes.

Eloisa
stared at Arthur in shock. In one way she felt as though her entire
life had been a lie. She thought about the conversation she had
with Cissy the day before her first attempt to attend the ball.
Given what they had just learned, they could indeed have lived
somewhere splendid, like Lanley Hall if their father had spent
their wealth.

At least we know why father hadn’t touched the wealth we
didn’t know about,
she mused
wryly.

“I am
now welcoming you back into the family, where you belong. I am
sorry that it has taken so long to get this matter sorted out.”
Lord Aldwich looked at Eloisa. “Please also accept my apologies for
that ridiculous excuse of a coachman who failed to take proper care
of you during your last carriage journey. Please rest assured that
my staff don’t usually lose guests.”

Eloisa
bit back a smile and shared a rueful look with Cissy.

“That
explains why you went to such lengths to try to find her again,”
Cissy sighed. She shook her head and looked chidingly at Lord
Aldwich. “You could have told me then.”

“I
wanted to, my dear. You had so much on your mind already though
that it didn’t seem fair to burden you with all of this. I had
practically all of my staff scouring the area for her because she
is a member of the Winterton family.” He leaned forward almost
conspiratorially. “We look after our own, you know.”

“She was
at Mitchelham castle,” Cissy declared quietly.

“I know.
Simeon Calversham is a fine man, you can’t ask for better,” Arthur
declared somewhat proudly.

“You
know him?” Eloisa gulped.

Rafael
nodded knowingly at her. She knew then that he was aware of what
had happened between her and Simeon. Maybe not all of it, but
enough to know that an association had been there. “I have known
Simeon Calversham for several years.”

“I want
you to make yourselves at home here,” Arthur declared firmly. He
skirted the desk and came to stand before them. “You are most
welcome at Aldwich anytime. I look forward to sharing one dance
with you both this evening.”

Both
Cissy and Eloisa stood but, before they could move, found
themselves embraced by first Arthur, then Rafael.

“I am so
pleased that we can now put this matter behind us. You must stay
with us overnight, and dine with us tomorrow. Lord Pendlebury will
be dining with us too. He is around here somewhere,” he declared
with a nod, completely oblivious to the affect his quiet statement
had on Eloisa. “Well, must go and greet the rest of m’guests.
Rafael will introduce you to everyone. The dancing should start
soon, so please help yourself to drinks and enjoy your
evening.”

Rafael threw Cissy and Eloisa a dry look. “Not much for
social necessities like introductions, is father. You are lucky he
told you
his
name.”

Eloisa
smiled and willed her heart to resume its normal pace. Lord
Pendlebury’s name reverberated around in her head over and over,
along with the knowledge that he was here, in this
house.

“Such a
nice man,” Cissy murmured to nobody in particular.

Eloisa
swallowed and nodded. At the moment she wasn’t sure she could get
any sound out past the dryness in her throat. She suddenly dreaded
having to leave the room. It felt safe in Lord Aldwich’s study, and
she was reluctant to leave it.

“He is
that, my dear,” Mr de Lisle replied crisply from the doorway. “Now
then, Eloisa, like Lord Aldwich just said, the dancing should begin
soon. I think that we shall go out onto the terrace for the first
dance. You go on out there and wait for me. I shall fetch us some
Ratafia, and will be with you in a thrice.”

He
disappeared before Eloisa could reply. She turned to Cissy, who
nodded to someone in the crowd and then threw Eloisa an apologetic
look.

“I hope
you don’t mind, but I have just seen someone I know in the crush. I
should like to go and have a word with them. I shall meet up with
you later, after your dances.”

To
Eloisa’s consternation, Cissy didn’t bother to wait around either
and was quickly followed out of the room by Rafael. “Must see to
the guests,” he drawled, having seemingly forgotten that he was
supposed to introduce her and Cissy to some of them
himself.

“Well,
really,” Eloisa gasped as she watched Rafael vanish into the crowd.
Feeling abandoned, she studied the assembled guests for anyone she
knew but couldn’t even see Mr de Lisle.

“Pardon?” A tall, dapperly dressed gentleman asked as he was
passing.

“Nothing,” she replied absently. With nothing else to do, and
nobody around whom she could talk to, Eloisa made her way outside
to the terrace.