Regency Debutantes (21 page)

Stormy blue eyes met peaceful grey. ‘Yes, I believe I do.’

The sun had dropped low in the sky when Nathaniel Hawke returned to the modiste’s establishment to collect Georgiana. He soon found himself ushered through to a small parlour.

‘Captain Hawke.’

‘Your servant, Mrs Howard.’ Nathaniel bowed, his eyes scanning the room for a sign of Georgiana.

The plump pleasant face smiled. ‘You are no doubt keen to make the acquaintance of Miss Raithwaite once more.’

‘Yes, indeed.’ Nathaniel tried to quell his rising impatience.

Mrs Howard sat down on a pink scalloped chair and fussed with making herself comfortable before facing her visitor once more. ‘Forgive me, Captain Hawke. Won’t you take a seat?’

Nathaniel did as she directed.

‘Do you plan to stay long in our little town, sir?’

‘No, no more than a se’nnight.’

The cool grey eyes watched him.

‘We return to England, having fulfilled our duty, ma’am.’ He glanced towards the closed door and back at Mrs Howard.

‘Something at which I understand you’re quite adept, Captain.’

Nathaniel’s gaze swung to hers. The skin prickled at the nape of his neck. ‘As is any naval officer, ma’am.’

Silence.

Evelina Howard spoke quietly. ‘No, Captain Hawke, I don’t believe that every officer would have acted as you have done.’

His heart set up a gallop, a tiny muscle flickered in his cheek. ‘Please be direct, madam. Of what do you speak?’ Precisely what had Georgiana told the woman, and where was his betrothed? His fingers resisted the urge to drum on the arm of the chair.

‘Why, of Miss Raithwaite, of course.’ She smiled at the frown descending upon his brow. ‘You were quite right in what you told me, sir. Miss Raithwaite is a lady…a young and naïve lady.’ She waited for the captain’s response.

His eyes darkened. ‘She is also the lady promised to be my wife before we leave this place.’ He paused. ‘You’ll be well paid for your silence, Mrs Howard. Don’t seek to destroy her reputation by a careless word.’ His gaze narrowed. ‘Where is Miss Raithwaite? She should be ready to join me by this hour.’

Satisfied by his response, Evelina raised herself and walked to the doorway. ‘Miss Raithwaite!’ Her voice raised just enough to carry upstairs. She turned to face Nathaniel once more. ‘I thought it prudent to allow the servants the day off. They do so love to gossip, and we
wouldn’t want today’s events to be discussed around the Rock.’

Any response Nathaniel might have uttered was forgotten as he gaped at the figure moving into the room. Dear God, he’d forgotten just what she looked like as a woman. Leaping to his feet he stepped towards her, noting the pink tinge in her cheeks and the embarrassed little smile playing upon those voluptuous lips. ‘Georgiana!’

Mrs Howard watched as Captain Hawke stared at the young woman who stood rather self-consciously before them. The girl’s face illuminated with a radiant smile as she moved to throw herself into the captain’s arms.

‘Hmph…hmm!’ Mrs Howard developed a sudden irritation in her throat, respectfully reminding the love-struck couple that they were not alone.

‘Oh!’ Georgiana remembered herself just in time, skidded to a halt on Mrs Howard’s best rug and managed to stutter, ‘Captain Hawke!’

‘Miss Raithwaite!’ gasped the erstwhile supremely confident captain. He looked, thought Mrs Howard, a little shaken.

They stared at one another, a palpable flow of attraction between them.

Evelina Howard’s mouth curved into a smug smile. She clearly had not been mistaken in her first appraisal of Captain Hawke’s feelings for the girl. Why, he was looking at her with such tenderness it would have moved Mrs Howard to tears, if she had been of such a silly disposition. One small dry cough echoed in the room. ‘So, Captain Hawke, do you find Miss Raithwaite’s appearance satisfactory?’

Nathaniel recovered himself, dragged his eyes from the vision of loveliness before him and addressed the dressmaker. ‘Indeed, Mrs Howard, it’s much more than satisfactory. Let’s discuss payment before Miss Raithwaite and I leave.’ He removed a purse from his pocket.

Mrs Howard gestured Georgiana to be seated. ‘Where do you intend to stay this evening?’ A closed expression had descended upon her face.

‘Miss Raithwaite will be safely lodged at an inn.’

Her eyebrows raised. ‘Alone and unchaperoned?’

An uneasiness stole over Nathaniel. ‘Yes,’ he replied harshly. ‘We have little choice.’

‘That, Captain Hawke, is where you’re mistaken. May I be so bold as to make a suggestion that could prove mutually beneficial to us all?’

Thus it was, having discussed the matter in detail, that Nathaniel returned to the
Pallas
without his ship’s boy George Robertson. Tomorrow would see the introduction of his betrothed, Miss Georgiana Raithwaite, to Gibraltarian naval society, and all under the chaperonage of the highly respectable Mrs Howard.

The next evening when Nathaniel called upon Mrs Howard’s establishment, it was to discover two immaculately attired ladies patiently awaiting him in the parlour. Georgiana’s skin glowed with an opalescent sheen beneath the pale aquamarine of her shot-silk gown. The satin ribbon sash around the high waist served only to draw attention to the gentle curve of her bosom above. The neckline was plain with a low, but not indecent, décolletage. Matching long gloves and a finely worked shawl completed the ensemble. Small curls of dark glossy hair kissed the edges of her face and a beaded bandeau triumphed as her crowning glory.

His eyes swept over her as if seeing her for the first time, feasting upon each detail.

‘Miss Raithwaite, you take my breath away,’ he said at last, before turning politely to Mrs Howard to compliment her own silver-grey outfit.

Elation glowed in those calm grey eyes. ‘I do not think that we have to fear that your officers will recognise George Robertson,’ she said.

‘No, indeed, Mrs Howard, you’ve worked a miracle,’ conceded Nathaniel.

Georgiana smiled up at the tall dark captain smartly clothed in his full dress uniform. In truth, she thought she had never seen him look so devilishly dashing, and longed to press a kiss to the stark line of his jaw. ‘Mrs Howard has been a wonder. Even I was surprised when I looked in the mirror.’

‘We had best leave, for it wouldn’t do to be late for Admiral Tyler’s party. I have taken the liberty of hiring a carriage to transport us the short distance to the admiral’s house.’ Nathaniel gestured towards the door. ‘Ladies.’

Admiral Tyler was a jovial bluff sort of fellow, who had grown rather rotund with the comfortable ease of life in Gibraltar. His wife, a little pudding of a woman, buzzed around him like an industrious bee. The old admiral’s eyes lit up on sighting the young lady following in Captain Hawke’s wake.

‘Sir, may I present my betrothed, Miss Raithwaite, and of course her chaperon, Mrs Howard, with whom, I’m sure, you’re already acquainted.’

Before her husband could reply, Lady Tyler ejected a nervous titter. ‘But of course, dear Mrs Howard, quite the best modiste on the Rock. I do so rave about her designs. Always such a pleasure to meet with you.’ She lavished a huge smile on Evelina and turned her attentions to the young woman at her side. ‘Miss Raithwaite, what a positive delight.’

Georgiana, knowing herself to have been suddenly thrust into the spotlight, anchored down her quivering apprehension and managed her devoirs with a surprising calm confidence. It seemed that Lady Tyler could have rivalled Mirabelle Farleigh when it came to the chatterbox stakes. For, once Lady Tyler started to talk, she apparently found it difficult to stop.
Not that Georgiana complained—it was much safer to allow their hostess to draw the focus of attention away from her own nervous self.

‘How did you come to arrive without my notice? Mrs Howard has kept you hidden all to herself. For that I must chastise her most thoroughly.’ A plump white hand reached forward and tapped an elaborate turquoise-coloured fan upon Mrs Howard’s substantial arm. The modiste bore such patronage with a steadfast spirit, betraying not one inkling of her true opinion on Admiral Tyler’s feather-brained wife. ‘And, Captain Hawke, such a fine young captain. Haven’t I always said that the navy needs just such men?’ she cooed up at him, batting her lashes in an unbecoming flirtatious manner, which she managed to employ when in the company of any man of good breeding.

Nathaniel suffered her attentions admirably well, so much so that the falsetto of her laughter soon penetrated every nook and cranny of the drawing room.

‘La, Captain Hawke, I declare you are a gentleman of hidden talents. To land so magnificent a prize, and with such little effort.’

His eyes fleetingly sought Georgiana across the crowded room. She shone, outstanding amidst the ladies of Gibraltar, and his heart swelled with tenderness and possessive pride.

Lady Tyler’s shrill laugh raked across his musings, dragging him back to face her. ‘You naughty man, that was not the prize of which I spoke, as well you know.’ She delivered him a teasing tap of her fan.

‘Indeed, but Miss Raithwaite is a prize above all,’ he responded gallantly.

Lady Tyler shrieked even louder. ‘That’s quite the most romantic speech I’ve heard.’

The admiral joined them, intent on relieving Captain Hawke of his wife’s presence. There was only so much that any one man could be expected to suffer.

‘Ronald, dear—’ she beamed ‘—I was just commenting on how very romantic Captain Hawke is concerning his betrothed.’

‘Quite so, quite so. Couldn’t help noticing that Lieutenant Pensenby is looking rather down in the mouth over in the corner. See if you can’t coax him along, Jane.’ He turned to Nathaniel, one large veined hand patting Lady Tyler’s consolingly, ‘M’ wife’s the best hostess on the Rock. Got something of a reputation to uphold within our little society.’

Jane Tyler screeched appreciatively.

‘Off you go, m’dear.’ He surreptitiously gestured towards Pensenby, and Lady Tyler headed off in the direction of the unsuspecting lieutenant. ‘A damned fine accomplishment, Captain Hawke, well done, m’boy. That’s what I like to see.’

‘Thank you, Admiral Tyler.’

Ronald Tyler swirled the wine in his glass and looked towards Georgiana Raithwaite, who was now engaged in a conversation with Lieutenant Anderson and Mrs Howard. ‘Fine filly of a gel,’ he exclaimed. ‘No wonder you’ve stored her quietly with the charming Mrs Howard. Too many ships in port to take any chances, what?’

Nathaniel saw the opportunity beckon before his eyes. ‘Indeed. I wished to seek your advice on a related matter, sir.’

Admiral Tyler puffed out his chest and pretended not to be flattered. ‘What is it that you need to know, young Hawke?’ The admiral had adopted a distinctly paternal attitude to the man before him. For all his bravado, he recognised a good sea captain when he saw one.

Nathaniel met his enquiring gaze directly. ‘I have a mind to marry Miss Raithwaite before we set sail for England once
more. But the
Pallas
cannot linger here—we must reach Portsmouth before Christmas.’

‘Say no more, say no more, Captain.’ The admiral tapped the side of his nose in a sly fashion. ‘No need to tell me how deuced an uncomfortable journey it would make, confined to ship with Miss Raithwaite when the lady is not yet your wife.’ A suggestive wink issued from the wrinkled eye. ‘Leave it to me, Hawke. I’ll have a word with the chaplain, Mr Hughes. The licence will be ready and waiting before the week is out. Of course, you’ll allow Lady Tyler to arrange the wedding in the King’s Chapel, and the breakfast here in Belstone House. She would stop speaking to me if it were any other way. Come to think of it, that might not be such a bad thing!’ He chortled and emptied the contents of his glass down his throat, none the wiser that Nathaniel Hawke knew exactly the difficulties of just such a journey with his young lady.

At the other end of the elaborate drawing room Georgiana was fencing Lieutenant Anderson’s polite enquiries. ‘Yes, thank you, Lieutenant Anderson, I am enjoying my visit to Gibraltar very much. The climate is so much milder, and drier than England’s.’

John Anderson was having difficulty in drawing his eyes away from the enchanting young woman before him. ‘Please don’t think me bold, but I have the strangest notion that I’ve seen you before. But I’m quite sure that we’ve never been introduced, for I wouldn’t have forgotten you.’ A hint of pink crept into his cheeks.

‘Perhaps I remind you of someone.’ Georgiana’s heart fluttered fast and furious.

‘A
lady
of your acquaintance in England?’ added Mrs Howard emphatically.

Lieutenant Anderson puzzled over the matter a moment longer. ‘That must be the explanation, but memory fails me for the minute.’ Suddenly memory was no longer a consideration, for Georgiana bestowed her most dazzling smile upon him.

‘I would be most grateful if you were kind enough to explain exactly how you captured your prizes.’

John Anderson’s cheeks flushed deeper. ‘It was all Captain Hawke’s doing, Miss Raithwaite.’

But Georgiana had no intention of allowing the first lieutenant to return to his musing of why he found her face familiar. ‘I’m quite sure that he didn’t perform such a task entirely alone. Won’t you tell me an account of the ship’s adventures?’

‘Of course, miss, if you’d truly like to hear.’ Lieutenant Anderson would not have refused the delectable Miss Raithwaite anything that she desired, and was soon in his element, describing the method by which the two French frigates were taken.

Nathaniel had the honour not only of taking Lady Tyler in to dinner, but also the delightful prospect of sitting beside her for the duration of the meal.

Georgiana was seated farther down the table between the vying attentions of Lieutenants Anderson and Pensenby.

One fleeting conspiratorial glance passed the length of the table between the grey-blue eyes and the deep brown, then was gone.

‘Captain Hawke didn’t mention your rendezvous here. I had supposed the presence of the
Pallas
within these waters to be solely because of her prizes.’ Cyril Pensenby was attacking the roast beef with increasing vigour. He raised inquisitive eyes to hers.