Never a Bride (9 page)

Bertram rose from his pillows. “Archer knew he was in Town and didn’t take the time to tell me? I’ll have a word with him about that.”

“No. Apparently, Lord Stonehurst wanted to surprise all of us.”
Indeed he had.
“He just showed up at the Worsters’ party last night unannounced and demanded he be introduced to me with no forewarning.”

All of a sudden Bertram laughed out loud, a rich healthy laugh. She was pleased to see her father display energy. Her spirits lifted just listening to him. She hadn’t seen him so alive in months.

She didn’t want to sound like a grumbling child but she hadn’t expected her father to be so amused. “I didn’t find his behavior humorous, Papa.”

“Of course you didn’t, but I do. What a clever man your fiancé is. That is exactly something I would have done in my younger years. I approve of his tactics. Maybe he will be a good match for you after all, dear girl. I like his style.”

Her father seldom made her bristle, but his attitude about Lord Stonehurst’s antics was not what she expected. “Only a man would appreciate that kind of behavior. I thought it not only inappropriate but inconsiderate as well.”

Bertram chuckled again. “I’m sure you did. No doubt he watched you from afar before he approached. I can understand him wanting to get a good look at you before he met you.”

“That’s exactly what he did.”
Though Mirabella was sure he hadn’t liked what he saw.

She hated to tell her father what she must when he was feeling better than she had seen him in a long time. But it had to be said before he went any further. “Papa, I don’t want to marry the viscount.”

“Nonsense, girl. This has been set for years. You know how important it was to me that you have a titled husband worthy of you and your inheritance. From what you’ve just told me, this man is up to the task.”

“I know it is what you have wanted all these years, Papa, but I find that it’s not what I want.”

“You are merely getting jittery now that he is here. Perfectly understandable.” He patted her cheek with a warm hand and smiled gently at her. “Not to worry, they’ll go away in time.”

No, she just needed to be free of him so that she could continue her search for the man who seduced Sarah, and so she could stop thinking about how much she would have liked to get to know him.

“It’s more than that.” She paused and went over her speech in her mind, the same story she told Camden which was as close to the truth as she could get without mentioning Sarah.

I
can’t marry him, Papa, because I have disgraced you, myself, and my fiancé by allowing certain young gentlemen to walk with me in the gardens and kiss me. I assumed he would never return and claim me for his bride, and I didn’t want to go through life without being kissed.

That made her sound and feel absolutely wretched. No wonder Society dictated young ladies shouldn’t be left alone with a gentleman.

Her father took hold of her hand and held it in his. “Mirabella, I see this has upset you. Everything is going to be all right now. I was so afraid the viscount wouldn’t return, and I knew I must see you wed before I die.”

“Papa. Don’t say things like that.”

“It’s true.”

An ache started in her chest. How could she tell her father how unresponsive she’d been when Lord Stonehurst was giving her a way to spare her father the pain of her indiscretion? What if her admission of what she’d been doing made her father worse and shortened his life? That was a horrible thought.

“You have a long life ahead of you. You admitted that even today you are feeling better.”

“Better, yes. But there is no cure for what ails me, Mirabella. My heart is weak.” He took a deep breath. “I haven’t been fooling myself for some time now, and I am not going to allow you to delude yourself any longer. I’m not going to die tonight, but I won’t live to be a very old man. I won’t have to worry about you now. Lord Stonehurst will see that you are well cared for.”

Mirabella saw her plans for avenging Sarah’s death slipping away. “Papa. I don’t want to marry. I want to stay here with you.”

“Poppycock. Women are made for marriage. I’ve allowed you certain freedoms—to read the
Times
and other papers and to write your poetry and to be clever with sums—because your mother wasn’t here. It pleased me to teach you. But I never meant for you to be so strong and independent as to not want to marry one day. Now, be a dutiful daughter and make me happy. I don’t want to hear any more about not marrying. We’ll send word to your aunt Helen. I know she will want to come and help you make all the arrangements.”

She had always been a dutiful daughter, until recently. It had always been her desire to make her father happy.

“And if you marry soon enough, I just might get to see my first grandchild. That would be such a blessing for me, dear girl. I can just see it now. A wee one for me to hold, then I could tell your mother all about him when I see her in Heaven.”

This was harder than she thought it would be. Her father had laughed, really laughed, not just the light chuckle he’d given her the past few months. What was she to do? She’d told Lord Stonehurst no when he offered to extend the engagement. What was worse, making her father’s last days happy or rejecting Lord Stonehurst?

A kiss crossed her mind. Lord Stonehurst’s kiss. A masterful meeting of lips directed to show her what she had missed. Mirabella rose from the bed and walked over to her father’s window and looked out to the quiet street below.

What should she do? Give her father the prepared speech and take the smile off his face forever or go to Lord Stonehurst and tell him she had changed her mind, and ask him to reconsider his proposal to her?

If they came to an agreement, she would have to find a way to be Lord Stonehurst’s fiancée and also continue her search for Sarah’s Prince Charming, too. The viscount’s return had effectively ended her efforts of slipping her fingers down the neckcloths of the young men, but she couldn’t give up the search. She’d been through too many on her list already. Besides, there was an unscrupulous scoundrel in the
ton
, and right now he could be seducing another young woman and leaving her to ruination.

Mirabella turned to her father. “All right. The engagement will stand, but I need time to get to know him, Papa. We’ve only just met. I can’t marry him right away.”

“Don’t wait too long, Daughter. You might have plenty of time, but I don’t. Now, you run along and send up Newton. I want to send a note to the earl and find out why he hasn’t notified me of his son’s return.”

“Wait on that, Papa. I’m sure it’s because Lord Stonehurst took some perverse pleasure in astounding me last evening. Give the earl a day or two to notify you. I’m sure he will be in touch.”

She had to give herself time to speak to the viscount again. To tell him she would accept his proposal, assuming it was still offered. She wasn’t fond of the idea of now going to him with the same request he presented her. She had turned him down and now he could very well turn her down.

“What time is Archer coming to escort you tonight?”

“The usual time of half past eight, but I think I’ll skip the parties tonight. I’ve been out every night for more than a week. I’m very tired.”

“That’s a good idea. I was going to suggest it. I think the next time you go out it should be on the arm of your fiancé. The
ton
needs to know that the viscount has returned for you.”

“Yes,” she whispered, hurting because she was deceiving the man she most loved. “Would you like me to ask Uncle Archer to come up and see you when he arrives?”

“Yes, do tell him. This is a great day, Mirabella. Splendid.”

“Very well. I’ll see you after dinner.”

Mirabella walked directly into her room and sat down at her writing desk. She had to immediately send a note to Lord Stonehurst and ask to see him right away. Her breath quickened. Merciful heavens, now that she’d made her decision to accept Lord Stonehurst’s offer, she found she was looking forward to seeing the handsome viscount again.

She would talk to Uncle Archer tonight before he went to see her father. No doubt he’d be pleased to hear her news.

***

Camden wasn’t in the mood to face his family with Miss Whittingham’s rejection so fresh on his mind. He decided to stop in at his club for a stout drink and time to brood. Damnation! Miss Whittingham was the one who had behaved improperly, and she was refusing to help him. Now that he had time to think on it, that young lady had some nerve.

It served her right to have her name bandied about in the gaming halls of London. Gone were his thoughts of trying to get her to change her mind. He was through with her. How could he have had such dastardly luck with women twice? He was also through trying to find a respectable woman to marry. He’d do far better looking into getting an agreeable mistress.

He shifted in his chair and felt the weight of the jewelry box in his coat pocket. He had selected the emeralds because they had reminded him of Mirabella’s sparking eyes. Why did he find her so elusive?

“Camden, I thought I saw you walk in. Here, I took the liberty of having you a drink poured,” Albert Farebrother, the new Earl of Glenbrighton said as he walked over to where Camden had sat in a far corner of the darkened room.

So much for being alone. Camden looked up at his old friend and knew immediately he hadn’t come just to talk over old times. The hand that held the drink out to him shook.

Camden took the glass as sounds of laughter, loud talking and billiard balls smacking into one another drifted in from the room behind him.

“That was intuitive of you, Albert. I take it you want to join me.”

“Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” Camden said and took the drink his friend offered him. Something told Camden it didn’t matter if he did mind. Albert was already taking the chair beside him. If Camden was going to brood over Mirabella’s answer it wouldn’t be at the club.

Albert clinked his glass against Camden’s and said, “Welcome home, old chap.”

“Thank you.”

Albert settled into the carved mahogany, tapestry covered armchair beside Camden. “So tell me, how was America?”

“Big. Lots of land in that country. Pleasant weather, good people and growing rapidly from all I could tell.”

“You stayed away a long time. You must have enjoyed it.”

“Yes. You need to make the journey yourself one day.”

“I plan to,” Albert said with no enthusiasm for the subject. “When my son is old enough to travel.”

Albert held his drink in one hand and played with his fancily tied cravat with the other. Camden noticed the gold signet ring he wore claiming to all the world that he was Earl of Glenbrighton. The man was damned nervous for some reason.

“You know, it might be a good thing you decided to come back when you did,” Albert said. “There has been talk that you had given up claim to your title and your bride. The rumor was that you planned to stay in America with your jealous mistress.”

Camden chuckled. “There never was a mistress in America. Beautiful women, to be sure. Plenty to keep me satisfied. A mistress? No. Pure gossip from tongues of people who have nothing better to do.”

“Ah—speaking of gossip.” Albert downed the rest of his drink and motioned for the server to bring him another glass. “I don’t know quite how to mention this, but I think it needs to be said.”

Camden didn’t hesitate. “Out with it.”

He cleared his throat and nervously fingered his cravat again. “There have been some unpleasant remarks going around the club. Perhaps your brother had wind of the rumor and told you about it.”

“Hudson doesn’t engage in gossip.”

“Then perhaps I shouldn’t, either.”

Camden smiled indulgently at Albert. “No, please, now that you’ve started please continue. I rather enjoy hearing about these things that have never happened.” Deciding to be deliberately dull-witted and further disconcert Albert, Camden said, “As you just said there have been numerous rumors about me. To which one specifically are you referring?”

Albert looked into his empty glass before meeting Camden’s stare. “I’m afraid this one is not about you. It’s about your fiancée. I thought you should know that there has been talk about Miss Whittingham.”

Before Albert had said her complete name, Camden knew he didn’t want Albert or anyone else saying anything about Mirabella. He had thought the young bachelors he’d overheard a couple of nights ago were talking about Mirabella. Now he was sure of it.

He didn’t understand his need to stand up for her. Maybe it was because he sensed there was more going on than what she admitted. Maybe it was because he had stayed away so long. If she had allowed a kiss or two, maybe it was his fault for not returning in a timely fashion. Certainly it was none of the
ton’s
concern.

Camden wasn’t going to make it easy for his friend. He’d make Albert spell it out for him. Then he’d know exactly what kind of rumors and gossip he was dealing with.

“Talk about her? I should think so. She’s an extraordinarily beautiful woman. As you and I know, most men like to talk about lovely ladies who are not within their reach. Makes the gossip all the more exciting, doesn’t it?”

“Well—ah—this was not about her beauty, which, of course, she is lovely. I should like nothing more than to spare you the details, but if what I’ve heard is true, recently she has been less than circumspect in your absence. I’m afraid it has just begun to make the rounds.”

Camden sipped his drink and willed his brows not to knit in anger. He let the burning liquor slowly slide down his throat and settle in his stomach.

“Unflattering gossip about Miss Whittingham?” he asked. “Are you sure?”

“Quite sure. I wouldn’t mention it otherwise. Not pleasant news to come home to, I know. But the rumor is that she has allowed certain gentlemen to walk with her in the garden.”