Lady Harriet's Unusual Reward (8 page)

Oldbeck sat down in a seat opposite Stephen, grinning. “You think you can? What will you come up with? Tell me, Charville. What could we do? I want Mary to be proud of me and to know me to be her champion. That Cavanaugh chap told everyone about the baby.”

“Yes, I know. That is another problem. I think tomorrow you and I shall be paying a visit to the Archbishop of Canterbury.”

“For a marriage licence?”

“For two marriage licences.”

“But I only need one.”

“Yes, you do. But I need one to marry Harriet.”

“You are going to marry Harry?”

“Yes, and stop calling her Harry.”

“Oh I must tell everyone.”

“No, Oldbeck. I have not even told Harriet yet.”

“How do you know she’ll say yes?”

“Oh, she will.”

“Oh, all right. Can we go and get Mary?”

“Yes. Let us go and get Mary then we shall collect Phoebe and then go home to Harriet.”

****

“Ah, Mrs Aitken, just the person.” Stephen had stopped the housekeeper just outside Harriet’s room. He pulled her aside and began to speak in a low voice. “I must speak to Lady Harriet. You see I am going to accept her proposal of marriage. It cannot wait. Things have happened which mean it is imperative that Lord Oldbeck and Miss Callahan marry as soon as possible and we may as well arrange a double wedding. I appreciate it is not proper, and I promise not to do anything untoward. But we must speak privately on a number of matters. I am going to enter Lady Harriet’s bedchamber now.”

“My lord…”

He raised a hand to still her protest. “I know, Mrs Aitken. It is most improper. Thank the good Lord I am not Roman Catholic or I would be on my knees for a month for this transgression. But it is imperative. I would beg you to do your utmost to ensure as few servants as possible are aware of this visit. I would not want Lady Harriet’s reputation ruined. Of course, within the week she will be a married lady so no permanent damage will be done anyway. I do not know how long our talk will take.”

Mrs Aitken scowled and Stephen gave her his most charming smile. He could feel the ice beginning to melt. Before she had time to consider further, he slipped into the bedchamber and locked the door.

Harriet blinked and sat up, laying Northanger Abbey to the side, before straightening the bedcovers.

“Stephen, Mrs Aitken will be here any moment.”

“Mrs Aitken knows I am here. I got her permission… well I left her with little alternative but she will make sure your reputation is safe. Oh God, Harriet, this afternoon was a disaster.” He sat on the edge of the bed and removed his boots, then his coat.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

He moved around the bed, placed Northanger Abbey on her lap and climbed on top of the counterpane and sat beside her.

“Getting comfortable. No one will disturb us. We need to talk and talk properly.”

“Stephen, you cannot just come in here, half undress and sit on my bed.”

“The door is locked and…” He moved onto one hip so he could look into her eyes. “If the offer of marriage is still available, I would very much like to become your husband, Lady Harriet.”

She made a little gasp before drawing back slightly and focussing on him again. “You would?”

“I would. Yes. Have you changed your mind, Harriet?”

“No.”

“Good, because something happened today but before I tell you about it, I want a betrothal kiss.”

They kissed sweetly for a few moments and then he withdrew. He shuffled to lie on his side with his head on the pillow and she mirrored him. They gazed into each other’s eyes and in that moment, Stephen knew that marrying Harriet was the right course for his life.

“There was a problem with William at the garden party. A gentleman taunted him and William became overset. The gentleman cast aspersions on Mary, suggesting she was a courtesan. William swung for him but not before the man had said loudly that Mary was with child.”

“I see. Did William hurt the man?”

“No, I got there in time to grab his arm.”

“May I ask who the gentleman was?”

“Lord Adam Cavanaugh.”

“Oh!” Harriet crinkled her nose in disdain. “That does not surprise me.”

“You know him.”

“I do. Our fathers were close. They had a business deal that went wrong. They both blamed each other. When I had my first season the Cavanaughs decided it would be a fair way to make things right if I were to marry Adam. I was not keen but I gave him a chance. He was not a nice person. He was cruel about William and I told him I would not marry him. Then one night we were at Vauxhall Gardens. There was a large group of us. Somehow we were parted from the rest of the group and he drew me down one of those unlit paths. I tried to get him to take me back to our group but he refused. He pushed me up against a tree and tried to kiss me. I slapped him on the face. When that did not halt his progress, I hitched up my gown and used my knee to hit him between the legs. You see, it is not just William who used to take lessons from the stable hands. They used to teach me how to take care of myself. ‘Lady ‘Arriet’ they used to say, ‘’Tis not safe for a young Lady ter be unable ter defend ‘erslef.’”

Stephen guffawed with laughter at Harriet’s common accent and the idea of her kneeing Adam Cavanaugh in the bollocks.

“Oh Harriet, you poor thing. What you must have gone through,” he said trying to sound sober. The poor dear.

“Poor thing, my eye. Nothing poor about me, Stephen. I was unharmed. He only kissed me. And most of that was just his lips slobbering over my cheek like an overenthusiastic Labrador.”

“Hmm, so he does not like your family then. Which is why he went for William. But William wants some kind of satisfaction for Mary. But he cannot duel. Has he any talents we could suggest?”

“He can ride. He is actually a very good and fast rider, if a little incautious on occasion. And Adam,” her lips curved in a wicked smile, “is not really the best horseman in the world. There were not many things that my brother was good at growing up, but riding was one of them. He seemed to have a natural ability. My father said he was slow to learn to walk but as soon as he put him in a saddle on an old pony, he was off and did not look back. I always make a groom go with him because, as I said he can be incautious and would take jumps of which no rider or horse would be capable of taking. He gets over-excited. But in this instance his over-excitement may be useful.”

“Interesting. Then I shall go to White’s tomorrow and suggest a race down Rotten Row at dawn two days from now—after Oldbeck and I have been to see the Archbishop of Canterbury.”

“What if he hurts himself?”

“You said yourself that Oldbeck is a good horseman, but I shall station friends along the route to help him if he falls. No doubt Cavanaugh will do likewise.”

“Of course, you are right. I cannot help worrying for him.”

“It is natural. But from now on you have me to help. We can worry together and find solutions together. I must admit that I do not know much about running an estate, but perhaps we could have a house party and I could invite my brother and he could go over the basics with us. Would that be acceptable? I do not want you thinking I am trying to take over but it was why you wanted me to marry you.”

Harriet smiled.

“You know more than I do about running an estate. You had a better education than I did. I am afraid that embroidery and playing the pianoforte does not prepare one for deciding what crop rotation is necessary on one’s estate. I shall be happy to leave it in your capable hands and for you to guide William. I am sure if I had wanted to, I could have learned the information needed but, I really did not want to. And with William behaving the way he was, I really just wanted a strong male role model for him.”

“And I suited?”

“You are very strong,” she said, her gaze roaming down his biceps and down to his waist. As it moved back up to his chest she licked her lips. “And very male.”

“Oh, Harriet, you are such a tease. If you did not have a
headache
, I would be ripping off that nightrail and pre-empting our wedding vows. You really should not look at a gentleman in such a manner if you do not want him to ravish you.”

She glanced back up at him. “Really? But I was just… admiring. You are very handsome.”

And very hard, thanks to the way she was staring at him. Yes, climbing onto the bed with her had been a foolish idea.

“I should probably go,” he said gruffly.

“Yes, though I wanted to talk to you about Phoebe.”

“Phoebe?”

Well, talk of one’s children was always a good way of dampening a man’s ardour.

“Yes. You said you did not know what she needed and you knew nothing of gowns and bonnets and such. You are aware she is only six, are you not?”

“Yes. Of course I am.”

“Well, children are children. She would probably be happy if you took her fishing. I know I was. When I was that age my father took both William and me fishing. William found it more difficult but he was the son and so my father had expectations. I think Papa was a little frustrated with William at times so it was handy having me along because he had success with me. Thus it was easier for him to be patient with William.”

“So do things I would do with a son?”

“To an extent, yes. Do not dress her in breeches or cut her hair short but when in the country you can do things that are less ladylike. Of course she still has to learn the skills of a lady and now you are marrying me, I can undertake those tasks along with her governess. But you can teach her to play chess, teach her to ride—side saddle of course, skim stones across the lake and many other things you would do with a son. She is not a different species, Stephen.”

He considered her words for a moment then nodded slowly. She was correct, most likely. And she had been a girl.

“I want to stay here all evening and just talk but I have been here too long already. Mrs Aitken will be having a fit of the vapours thinking I have debauched you.”

“Stephen?” Harriet glanced down at her hands and inspected her nails. “On our wedding night, how shall I know what to do? I mean when you debauch me.”

Oh God, she had no women in her family to ask. Mary probably would not be much help and no matter how close she was to Mrs Aitken, one just did not ask the servants. He lifted her chin, and gazed into her shining eyes. Without thinking on it, he pulled her into a tight hug, burying his face in her shoulder.

“Firstly, you will not be debauched. That is not a term that is appropriate for what will happen between us. We care for each other. We shall be making love. It shall be tender and sweet and perfect. And secondly, I shall send Elizabeth around the day after tomorrow. She shall take you and Mary shopping for your trousseaus and you can ask her any questions you like. Elizabeth is forthright. She will not beat around the bush. She will tell you exactly how things will be.”

“Thank you.”

He pressed a kiss to her temple then withdrew from her arms and lifted himself from the bed.

“Please do not take my lack of wanting to kiss you further as rejection, Harriet. If I were to start kissing you, I fear I would never stop.”

“I understand. You smell delicious. Good enough to eat.”

“You can eat me on our wedding night. I shall even show you how.” He wiggled an eyebrow suggestively and she giggled. Stephen pulled on his boots and coat hastily, dropped a kiss on her head and removed himself from the room before his self-control waned. How had she worked her way under his skin so quickly?

But he knew how. Because she was sunshine in a Harriet-shaped package. And she had chased away the clouds allowing him to see life again as it should be experienced.

Chapter Eleven

Two mornings later, as the pink fingers of dawn snaked their way through the trees at Hyde Park Corner, Harriet shrugged deeper into her warmest pelisse and rubbed her hands together. There were a few ladies present but the vast majority of the crowd who had gathered to see the race between the Earl of Oldbeck and Lord Adam Cavanaugh were gentlemen.

William was up on his horse. Harriet eyed the gelding warily. Obviously it was not William’s usual mount that was stabled in Oldbeck estate. But the Duke of Halimead had loaned him this animal, promising that it was fast but steady. Stephen and William had been in Hyde Park late yesterday afternoon trying him out and her brother had told her he was almost as good as Jim, his own horse.

Cavanaugh, on the other hand, looked out of sorts. Not many gentlemen of the
ton
enjoyed early mornings when in town and Harriet wondered if he had even been to bed yet. Was he even sober? She hoped the fellow did not have an accident. Partly because he may cause William to have one or hurt his own mount and partly because they would all feel responsible having suggested this race.

“Oh Lady Harriet, doesn’t the earl look so handsome and strong?” said Mary, her cheeks pink with pride and something else that Harriet did not want to consider.

“Yes, he does,” she said, a little non-committedly. She had never really considered her brother handsome but then she suspected no one ever thought much about the physical attributes of their siblings. She glanced over at Stephen. As William’s number two, the lord sat astride a black gelding, also from his brother’s stables.

It was a beautiful beast but Harriet suspected the animal’s beauty came partly from the man sitting astride it. The muscles of his thigh flexed as he turned the horse in a wide circle. His motion was fluid, barely moving the reins, his crop resting against his shining top boot. His back was straight but relaxed as he gently touched his knee to the horse to bring it to a stop alongside William. He spoke in low tones to her brother, who smiled broadly and laughed loudly. Stephen clapped him on the shoulder and turned his horse towards them, finding Harriet in the crowd and giving her a warm, reassuring smile.

It was then that Harriet heard a discussion between two gentlemen who were just arriving.

“I put a hundred pounds on Oldbeck,” said a tall young fellow.

“A hundred pounds on an imbecile. Are you addled in the brain too?” said the older gentleman who seemed to be a bit of a dandy if Harriet was any judge of gentlemen’s clothing.

“I know a good bet when I see one. Look at the way he’s sitting atop that horse. He knows his way around the beasts. Cavanaugh could not ride a donkey at a county fair.”

“Possibly but Oldbeck is still an imbecile.”

“Aye and I had a cousin who was called an imbecile. And he could out run all of us as children. I bet he could have as adults too if we had tried. Sadly my aunt put him in Bedlam and he was killed by another inmate. You have to hand it to the old earl that he never put that young man in one of these places. I hope he does well for himself. I wish him all the best. And it’s good to see Charville being brought out of himself too. I hear he is to marry Oldbeck’s sister. That could be a good match. So that’s why my money is on Oldbeck. Charville does not back losers. He may be a second son but I’d wager he is as rich as Croesus.”

Harriet listened in silence. It was nice to hear positive things said about William and her father’s choice not to send William to an institution. It was even nicer to hear good things about her betrothed. It had never occurred to her that Stephen may be particularly rich. He certainly did not live an opulent lifestyle.

No matter. It was none of her business.

“Gentlemen, please move your horses to stand in line with me,” called out a well-dressed gentleman.” Harriet watched as William and Cavanaugh rode to their assigned places. Stephen and another gentleman on a horse—presumably Cavanaugh’s number two—moved back. “I will say ‘one, two, three, go.’ When I say ‘go,’ you will start to ride to the end of Rotten Row where Lord John Windemere will be standing waving a red cloth. Turn your horses and ride back. The first person to pass me on horseback will be declared the winner. There is to be no pushing, no dirty tricks. I expect you both to behave like gentlemen. Understood?”

“Yes, I understand,” shouted out William grinning. Cavanaugh nodded then lifted his head and looked at William, a sneer marring his features. A low chuckle went around some of the crowd. Harriet felt tears prick at the back of her eyes. Some of the men were making fun of her brother.

Mary squeezed her arm. Why was it the ex-maid who was no cleverer than her brother understood what these men—for one could not call them gentlemen—could not?

“Ignore them, Lady Harriet,” muttered one gentleman who stood close by. “Your brother is a good man and a gentleman to boot.”

She turned to the old man with white hair, piercing blue eyes and a kind smile.

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. Just keep doing what you are doing. One day people like Oldbeck will be accepted in society more easily with young ladies like you championing their cause.”

“Uncle James.” Stephen approached on foot, sticking out his hand to shake the old man’s hand.

“Stephen, my boy. I hear you are betrothed to this young lady. I read it in the morning paper. Congratulations. You are a lucky devil.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Stephen, get out the way,” Harriet complained.

The man starting the race was counting down. Stephen jumped smartly out of the way, then squeezed in behind Harriet and Mary so he could watch the race from behind them.

Harriet leaned over the railing between Rotten Row and South Carriage Drive to see a plume of dust, two black coats, two horses’ backsides and some hooves thundering away. Then she saw a gentleman’s hat tumble off to the side.

“Oh well, that will be William’s hat. He never could keep a hat on his head. Papa always said he must have an odd-shaped head.”

“I shall go and get it,” offered Mary.

“No, Mary, it is too dangerous. We can get it at the end and if not, well, it is only a hat.” She turned to Stephen. “How long before they come back?”

“Rotten Row is less than a mile long. But with the turn, I think about five minutes at most.”

“I should have been down at the other end. The turn is the dangerous part,” Harriet mused.

“I have friends stationed all the way down the route, and Theo is at the end along with a surgeon friend of mine, just in case.”

“Oh. You thought of everything.”

“Well not everything. I did not think to tell William not to be so enthusiastic on the start line. I am sorry.”

“Oh Stephen, that is William. People have to take him as he is or not at all. It upset me when everyone laughed but I should not let it bother me.”

“Not everyone laughed,” said the old man whom Stephen had greeted as Uncle James.

“No, I suppose not.”

“Sorry, I never introduced you. Lady Harriet Weatherby, this Lord James Featheridge, my mother’s uncle on her mother’s side.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you. May I introduce Miss Mary Callahan who shall soon be the Countess of Oldbeck?”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Callahan. I saw the announcement of your betrothal in the paper too.”

Harriet smiled at the blush that crept up Mary’s cheeks as the elderly gentleman bowed to her.

“Oh, I am going to be a countess. How grand.” It seemed as if the thought had only just occurred to the maid. How odd that ladies in high society thought of nothing but the title they would gain through their marriage and yet Mary, who would gain such a lofty title from such a lowly estate had not even considered it. All she cared about was that she loved William.

“Yes, you are.”

“Quick, they’re coming back.” Stephen was leaning past Harriet to see over the railing. “Excuse me.” He pushed past Harriet, lightly squeezing her waist in a manner that no one else would have seen but that seemed slightly scandalous, then he bounded over the railing. Harriet and Mary pressed themselves against the wrought iron but all that could be seen was two dots and a plume of dust in the distance, obscured by the rays of the rising sun. Harriet adjusted the brim of her bonnet but it made no real distance.

“Who is in the lead?” asked Mary.

“I cannot tell from this distance,” said Harriet.”

“I fear it is the rider on the left,” said Lord James.

“That would be Lord Cavanaugh.”

“Aye it would.”

“Come on William.” Mary’s piercing yell silenced everyone in the park. Harriet held her breath as all eyes turned to her but Mary paid them no heed. “Come on my darling, William. You can do it.”

“Come on Oldbeck,” joined in Lord James.

“Go for it Oldbeck!” came another voice.

“Get a move on Cavanaugh,” a dissenting voice shouted.

“William, move!” screamed Mary.

Harriet stood and laughed as she watched the riders come nearer. Cavanaugh was in the lead but not by much. At last she could tell them apart. William, hatless and red-headed and definitely on the right.

“Come on, William,” she muttered. “Please.”

By now the shouting crowd were making a raucous noise and Mary was yelling at the top of her lungs. Harriet watched as William dug his heels hard into his mount, bending low, urging it to move faster. The horses were now neck and neck.

“This is for Mary,” William cried out suddenly. This time there was no chuckling. It was as if everyone in Hyde Park stopped breathing. William’s horse nudged ahead by about an inch, then two. They were approaching the gentleman who had started it. Cavanaugh grabbed at William’s coat.

“No!” the ladies cried in unison.

But William was properly seated on his gelding, something that Cavanaugh was not. The other man began to topple, still holding on to William’s coat. William attempted to shake him off. The finish was only a few strides away for the horses. Cavanaugh’s horse closed the distance.

White material appeared at William’s shoulder. His coat was ripping. A grunt from William as he shook ferociously and dug his heels into his horse. From where she was standing it was impossible to see which horse crossed the finish line first.

“Oldbeck wins,” cried the gentleman who started the race.

“I beg to differ,” shouted Cavanaugh’s number two.

“Oldbeck crossed first. Be grateful I did not disqualify your man for ungentlemanly behaviour. Honestly, what a show, grabbing onto Oldbeck’s coat like that. What a disgrace.”

Gentlemen were jumping over the railings and surrounding the horses of William and Stephen—who had remounted his black gelding. Mary moved to go over but Harriet caught her arm and guided her away.

“Come, Mary. We shall see William and Stephen when they return home.”

“But I wanted to congratulate William. He will be expecting me.”

“No. This is his time to be with the gentlemen and accept praise and adulation and do male things. No doubt he shall have breakfast at his club. We shall have breakfast at home.”

She looked at the crowd of men and caught Stephen’s gaze. He held it for a few moments then she nodded.

“William is looking for you. Oh he sees you. Look at him and smile. That’s it.” William was grinning stupidly at his betrothed and she was grinning back. “Now hold his gaze for just a moment or two, then nod demurely and turn and come away with me.” She did as she was told. Harriet caught her brother’s gaze after Mary, nodded and winked then guided her charge out of Hyde Park and home for a verbal rerun of the morning’s events.