Gayle Buck (15 page)

The Earl of Walmesley bowed. “Of course, Mrs. Burlington. Now, if it should not greatly outrage your sense of propriety, I would like to speak privately with Lady Caroline for a few moments.”

It was on the point of Mrs. Burlington’s tongue to utter an objection, but after taking note of the earl’s expression, she summoned up a tight smile. “I shall just go inquire what is planned for luncheon. You will stay, will you not, my lord?”

“No, I think not today. My great-aunt will doubtless wonder where I have got off to, so I will not tarry long,” Lord Trilby said.

Mrs. Burlington went to the door. “Very well, my lord. I shall bid you good day, then. Lady Caroline, I shall be in my sitting room if you should need me.”

The earl bowed to Mrs. Burlington and she left the room, closing the door with obvious reluctance behind her.

Lady Caroline turned from the earl, clasping her hands before her with belated agitation. “It is a pretty mess I have created.”

“Not at all. I am eminently content, my dear lady. After all, I have gained precisely what I hoped to from my audience with you. Though, in all honesty, I did not expect your surrender to come about through a flash of pique.”

Lady Caroline turned around at that, a rueful laugh leaving her lips. “I do apologize. Miles. It was truly very bad of me.”

“Yes, it was,” he agreed. “My innate confidence in my powers of persuasion has been thoroughly trounced. I am a woeful creature indeed.”

“On the contrary. Even provoked as I was, I would never have succumbed to the trap if it had not been presented to me before in such a reasonable fashion.”

“Trap, Caroline?” he asked softly. “I was not aware that an engagement to me was to be considered in the nature of a trap.”

The blood rushed to her face. “I am sorry, my lord. I put it very badly.”

The earl took her hand and smiled down at her. “I understand perfectly, my lady, believe me. I knew that I could rely upon you not to allow me to get into this thing over my head.”

“I think that I have already failed you in that, my lord,” Lady Caroline said on a sigh. She was thinking of her own very good reasons not to enter into the false engagement, and now they had all been knocked into a cocked hat.

“No, I forbid you to have regrets so soon, Caro.” Lord Trilby slanted a quizzical glance at her. “Surely I am not so poor a suitor as that?”

Lady Caroline felt a shortening of breath. It was ridiculous what he could do to her with just a look. She attempted to make light of her feelings. “Oh, no, you could never be that, Miles. I do rate you a trifle higher than poor Lord Hathaway.”

Lord Trilby laughed. He raised her fingers to his lips for the lightest of salutes, then released her hand. “Thank you for that much at least, my lady!”

Then his expression sobered a little. “I would appreciate it very much if you would come back to Walmesley with me this morning.”

“Oh, dear. So soon?” Lady Caroline asked, dismayed. A rueful light entered her eyes as she watched the slow lazy smile enliven his face. “In for a penny, in for a pound. I cannot very well back down now, can I?”

“No, you most certainly cannot,” Lord Trilby said firmly.

“Wretch! Very well, I shall make myself presentable to meet this most intimidating relation of yours. I shall rejoin you in the downstairs hall in a few moments, my lord.”

Lord Trilby bowed her out of the drawing room. Lady Caroline paused in the entry hall only long enough to request of a footman that her carriage be ready for her use in a quarter-hour.

Lady Caroline was aware that Lord Trilby stood watching while she climbed the stairs. She was glad when she turned the corner of the staircase and thus became hidden from his lordship’s sight.

There was a strange churning in the pit of her stomach that she knew had nothing to do with indigestion. She also knew that if she stopped to think about it she would likely feel even worse, so instead of allowing herself a few moments of reflection when she reached her bedroom, as she had intended, she called immediately for her maid to help her change.

However, it was not so easy to put aside the whirling thoughts and speculations that rose to her mind. She knew the course that she had embarked upon courted disaster. She dreaded what must come, yet there was also an almost uncontrollable urge in her to give in to giddy laughter.

“What we need here is a liberal dose of courage and steady nerves,” she told herself.

“What was that, my lady?”

Lady Caroline realized that she had spoken aloud and that her maid was regarding her with a puzzled expression. “Never mind, Spencer. Let me have the green carriage dress, if you please. Oh, and I shall want you to accompany me to Walmesley.”

The maid had busied herself with locating the required carriage dress and the other things that her mistress would require for a drive on a cool autumn day, but at her mistress’s words she paused. “Walmesley, my lady?”

Lady Caroline looked at her maid’s reflection in the cheval glass, continuing to unbutton her cuffs. “Yes, Spencer.” She offered no explanation and simply waited for whatever comment her henchwoman chose to make.

“Will Mrs. Burlington be joining you, my lady?”

A brief smile touched Lady Caroline’s face. “No, my aunt will remain at Berwicke.”

“Very good, my lady.”

Spencer kept to herself the conviction that something of moment was to be marked by this unprecedented expedition. To her memory, Lady Caroline had never made a formal call at Walmesley, always preferring to ride over with only her groom in attendance on the infrequent occasion that the Earl of Walmesley had been in residence.

Chapter Sixteen

Lady Caroline returned downstairs attired in a hunter-green velvet carriage dress and matching bonnet. A silk-and-wool Norwich shawl was draped over her elbows and she was pulling on her gloves. Her reticule dangled from one slender wrist.

Not for the first time Lord Trilby observed her lovely face and figure with appreciation and enjoyed the innate grace of her movements. She presented a glowing picture of all that he found most attractive in a woman, and he felt the warmth that she invariably inspired in him. But as always, his pleasure in her appearance was tempered by an instinctive withdrawal and the hardening of his inner defenses.

He had never stopped to ponder why Lady Caroline Eddington had always affected him so oddly. It was enough to realize that she did so and hold a part of himself forever aloof from her charm.

He went to her as she descended the last step. He spared only a glance for the cloaked maid who followed in Lady Caroline’s wake, but he approved of her foresight. Lady Caroline had supplied herself with the requisite companion that must accompany a well-bred lady when she paid a morning call. The Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits would naturally expect an unattached lady to conform to the conventions.

“You are in very fine looks, my lady,” Lord Trilby said.

Lady Caroline cocked her head. She murmured quietly, for his ears only, “Indeed, and what else should I be when steeling myself to meet my fate?”

The earl laughed. His eyes were warm with rueful appreciation. “Quite. But I believe it is both our fates that you hold in your hand. I hope you are a good actress, my lady.”

“So do I,” Lady Caroline said with feeling.

Lord Trilby laughed again and drew her fingers through his elbow. “Come, it is time we were off. I shall have you back in time for dinner, I promise you.”

Lady Caroline left quiet word with one of the footmen to let Mrs. Burlington know that she would not be in to luncheon, and accompanied the earl out the front door to where her carriage was waiting.

The maid, knowing what was required of her, lifted her skirts in one hand and climbed up into the coach to take the seat with its back to the horses.

Lord Trilby handed Lady Caroline up the iron step and saw that she was comfortably seated. Then he stepped back, closed the carriage door, and latched it.

Lady Caroline instantly put down the window. “My lord, you are not riding, surely?”

He looked up at her, his face taken by a sudden grin. “The grandduchess is a very high stickler. Unmarried ladies do not share their carriages with equally unattached gentlemen,” he said with a shrug. He thought he heard an unladylike groan, quickly stifled as the window was raised, and he laughed.

Lord Trilby took the reins of his stallion from the groom who held them and stepped up into the saddle. He signaled the coach driver to whip up, and nudged his mount to follow the carriage.

The drive to Walmesley was generally one which Lady Caroline enjoyed. The countryside was rolling and hedged with low stands of trees. Though the previous rain had left its mark on the late-autumn countryside, the view was still one to excite admiration. However, this particular morning Lady Caroline was too preoccupied to enjoy the view moving past the carriage window.

She had had time to review her position, and her thoughts were not happy. She regretted already the hasty temper that had led to the impetuous declaration to Mrs. Burlington that she had accepted an offer from the Earl of Walmesley. With those ill-fated words she had entered into a subterfuge that she knew could only lead to harm and possibly scandal for herself and for the Earl of Walmesley.

Certainly nothing good could come of the farce that she was now embarked upon. Even if she and Lord Trilby were able to delude the Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits, and even if an open scandal could be avoided despite Mrs. Burlington’s knowledge of the bogus engagement, there was still the matter of her own heart.

For a very long time she had managed to preserve her dignity by pretending to feel only a warm friendship toward Lord Trilby. She had succeeded so well that at times she had even persuaded herself that that was indeed the sum of her relationship with the earl.

But this morning she had agreed to participate in a pretense that would make her the object of a romantic courtship by Lord Trilby. With that one idiotic stroke she had stripped herself of her own carefully constructed defenses.

Lady Caroline berated herself for her own unthinking betrayal. Of what use was her shield of pride and self-control if it was to be laid aside in so reckless a fashion? she wondered.

Lady Caroline feared that it would take a more gifted actress than she could ever aspire to be to pretend that her very real feelings were only so much smoke to be blown in the eyes of a third party. She would betray herself again, this time to the Earl of Walmesley, with what must inevitably be disastrous consequences.

My girl, you are riding for a fall,
she thought grimly.

Lady Caroline gave a small hollow laugh. The sporting phrase was absurd in its understatement.

“My lady?”

Lady Caroline glanced across the width of the carriage to meet her maid’s inquiring expression. “It is nothing, Spencer, only an ... amusing thought.” She smiled, somewhat crookedly. Not wishing to encourage further conversation, she rested her head back against the leather squab and closed her eyes.

Perhaps it was just as well that his lordship had not chosen to tie his horse to the back of the carriage and take a seat within, she thought. Lord Trilby’s presence would have required her to indulge in polite pleasantries for the maid’s benefit, and she did not think that she could have borne it. For now, at least, she could remain true to herself and spend a few quiet moments in gathering her courage for the coming ordeal.

Lady Caroline had no illusions about her introduction to the Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits. Lord Trilby had told her enough about his great-aunt for her to have gathered that the grand lady was a formidable personality, being autocratic and haughty in the extreme. The grandduchess was obviously used to gaining her own way in every instance. Undoubtedly she would naturally be entrenched in the belief that her own opinion must weigh extraordinarily heavily with lesser mortals.

Lady Caroline was not without experience in dealing with such individuals, having come into contact during the course of her London career with a few society ladies who had held similar high opinions of themselves. Her own aunt could be added to that company, and until quite recently she had done fairly well in maintaining an even relationship with that lady. It was to be hoped that her regrettable lapses would not work to her disadvantage with the Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits.

The grandduchess was of very different importance than those others of her past, however, even more so than Mrs. Burlington, because the outcome of the next hour or two would determine Lord Trilby’s own relationship with the
grande dame.
Lady Caroline’s nerves were not soothed by the knowledge that it would be her own efforts that would heavily influence the outcome.

Lady Caroline’s countenance mirrored outer calm, but her mind worked as she thought about and discarded half a dozen approaches that might earn for herself the grandduchess’s approval. She had plunged recklessly into the fray and she was determined to do her best for the Earl of Walmesley’s cause, but that did not mean she wished to prolong the business. The sooner the desired result had been gained, the sooner it would be that she could put off this uneasy role.

The remainder of the drive to Walmesley was accomplished in rather a shorter time than Lady Caroline could have wished.

Lord Trilby dismounted. He gave the reins of his mount into the care of the groom who had been on the lookout for his return and walked around the coach in time to give his hand to Lady Caroline as she descended to the ground.

He saw that her face was pale, and as he drew her hand through his elbow, he asked softly, “Have you second thoughts, Caro? For I shall not force you to go on, you know.”

She threw a swift glance up to meet the concern in his eyes. It served to brace her faltering resolve, and she managed to summon a smile to her lips. “I do not easily cry craven, my lord!”

He pressed her fingers. “Thank you. I could not ask for a greater show of friendship than that.”

Lady Caroline laughed, a little bleakly, and allowed him to usher her into the house. Her maid followed discreetly behind.