The Earl's Passionate Plot (3 page)

Three days had flown by. Mariah barely had time to catch her breath as she made sure all was in perfect order for their guest's arrival. The one guest the
y already had—the unwelcome earl—had been very much—and very thankfully—absent. She did not pretend to regret that. The times when he had made himself visible in the house he'd been every bit as unpleasant as he'd seemed on their first meeting.

Clearly she would have her work cut out for her i
f she was to have Miss Vandenhoff swooning at the man's feet any time soon. She could only hope the young lady was of a docile, moldable nature. When the family had arrived just over an hour ago, Mariah had not been given enough time to formulate any opinion of the girl at all before she took herself up to her room for refreshing. With dinner just minutes away now, Mariah was eager for their American guests' reappearance and an opportunity at last to assess this person who was ultimately pivotal in Mariah's plan.

"Have they come down yet?" Ella asked, poking her head into the drawing room where Mariah waited.

"No, none of them yet."

Ella must have doubted her for she glanced carefully around before actually entering. "Not the earl?"

"No, he's been away all day and I've no idea when he'll turn up."

"Good. I don't like when he's here. He's so stern and so serious all the time. And I don't like how he looks at everything in our house as if he's trying to estimate the value of it."

"He probably is."

"
Well, not all of it is his. Some things are ours and we can take them when we go, can't we, Mariah?"

"Of course. I've been drawing a list so there will be no question when it comes time for us to go.
If
it comes time for us to go."

"You really think there is still hope that we might stay?"

She would like to feel a bit more certain of it, but she managed to assure her sister all the same. "Of course there is hope. And now that the Vandenhoff family is here, we are one huge step closer to building that hope."

Ella wrinkled her nose as she plopped gracelessly into the sofa. "I can't imagine anyone wanting to marry that earl, not even an American. He's terrible."

"Hush! Would you have him walk in and hear you?"

Now Ella looked horrified. "My gracious, no! He'd turn those dark, frightful eyes on me and I'd likely melt into the floor. Heavens, are you so sure we ought to wish him on Miss
Vandenhoff?"

"He's a titled nobleman so she'd be a countess. That's not something to dismiss lightly, even if the man is somewhat unpleasant. And you must admit, Ella, he is
at least pleasant to look at, when he's not glaring or skulking or making demands."

"I don't think I've ever seen him w
hen he's not doing those things." Apparently the mere thought of it caused her to giggle. "Sorry, but I can't think of him as pleasant."

"
You don't think so? His features are classically attractive, and even though he does choose to dress as an undertaker, he does so with elegance."

"
But he must be all of thirty years old! Poor Miss Vandenhoff, to come all this way from America only to end up married to someone like that."

"Thirty years old is not quite ancient, not for a gentleman," Mariah
chided. "I myself will be that age before too very long."

"You
are hardly so old. And even when you are, you will not be half as unlikeable as Lord Dovington."

"Well, I should hope not.
I shall try not to turn into a withered, grumbling ogre over the next few years."

Ella giggled, but their
wicked glee ended up cut short. Once again, Mariah was frozen by that voice from the doorway.

"I'm an ogre now?" he asked. "I suppose that is better than the tyrant I was
on my first day here."

The sound of a small mammal having its tail stepped on eeked out of Ella. Mariah, however, was beginning to get used to his lordship
's annoying habit of turning up just in time to hear her speak badly of him. She simply stiffened her backbone, turned, and gave him a condescending smile.

"I see you are returned just in time for dinner, my lord," she said. "You'll be happy to hear that our guests have arrived. They should be down presently."

"Excellent. I shall try not to grumble or make my decrepit self particularly ogre-ish for them."

"I'm sure they will appreciate that," Mariah replied, although the look Ella shot her clearly insisted she should have
been just a bit more apologetic.

"I trust the family was properly welcomed and has been afforded every element of hospitality?"he said which, by the mere fact that he felt compelled to ask such a thing of her, was every bit as insulting as her words
to him.

"Of course, sir.
I sent them down to the kitchens with specific instruction they be offered our best gruel and stale bread."

"Mariah, you did not!" Ella gasped. She twisted her fingers together and blinked up at the earl. "She is funning you, sir. I promise, the
Vandenhoffs have been given our best rooms and a full complement of servants to look after them."

"Of course, Miss Renford," he replied, somehow managing a nearly charming smile for the girl. "I recognize your sister is simply teasing. No doubt the
Vandenhoffs are enjoying their stay here already. But tell me, Miss Langley, what do you think of these Americans? Are they as you expected?"

"I've never met any Americans so I'm afraid I have no expectations, sir," she said in the most civil tones she could locate. "And I'm sure my opinion hardly matters one way or another. I would so much rather hear what you think of them."

"As I've not met them myself I'm afraid I have no judgment to offer. Ah, but I believe I hear them on the stairway now. It seems we will be forming our opinions together."

And she was determined his would be a positive one. Miss
Vandenhoff had appeared pleasing enough, if perhaps a bit plain, but no doubt anyone would seem lackluster after such lengthy travel. Mariah would make it her duty to attend to the girl's every need and have her presenting in the best possible light right away.

"Here we are, this is the room," Mamma's voice sang sweetly out in the corridor.

She led the Vandenhoff family into the drawing room. The earl had been filling up most of the empty space, but he stepped aside to allow Mamma and the two Vandenhoff ladies to enter. Mr. Vandenhoff followed behind, a short man whose well-fed belly proceeded him into the room, but whose demeanor had been jovial enough on their brief meeting earlier. He smiled amiably and acknowledged the party inside the room with a nod and a bow.

"I see everyone has assembled
," Mrs. Vandenhoff said with her unpolished accent. "I'm sorry if we kept you all waiting."

"
Not at all," Mariah replied, then wondered if perhaps it should have been the earl's place to acknowledge them first.

It was, after all, his house. Since he'd never before met his own guests, though, she supposed she was in order. At least as much as any of this could be.
She caught Mamma's eye and gave a tiny nod, hopefully reminding her to make proper introductions.

Not used to playing hostess for such
unusual company, Mamma seemed momentarily flustered then managed to recall herself. She cleared her throat and turned to face the earl.

"My lord, may I present Mr.
Vandenhoff, his lovely wife, and their very charming daughter, Miss Vandenhoff?"

The earl responded exactly as he should have, polite
ly and masterfully. There was hardly any trace of his usual scowl or leering condescension. Mariah was most impressed. So, the horrid man could behave himself, after all. Excellent. That would make her task all the easier.

Obligatory inquiries into everyone's well-being and the course of the
Vandenhoffs' recent travel, then at last it was time to go in to dinner. Mariah had fussed nervously over the preparations earlier in the kitchen until cook had finally thrown her out. Of course the meal would be excellent; Mariah had no need to worry. Their servants were more than competent. By now everyone in the household knew how important it was to make a good impression.

Miss
Vandenhoff, however, did not seem to be doing her fair part in it. The young lady had been mostly silent until they were all seated in the dining room and the first course was being brought in. As it turned out, turtle soup was apparently not to Miss Vandenhoff 's liking.

"It is too strong," she said without ceremony, or without even tasting her bowl.
"I am not one to indulge in rich meals and needless delicacies. A simple broth or a weakened porridge is more than sufficient."

Mariah caught Ell
a's horrified expression and silently willed her sister to stay silent. Perhaps Miss Vandenhoff was feeling unwell after all their travels, or perhaps this was nothing more than the American way to show gratitude for the excellent meal laid out before her. She simply would not allow herself to assume the girl was being intentionally rude. No, it couldn't be that. All her hopes rested on the supposition that Miss Vandenhoff had innumerable fine qualities and that the earl would notice every one of them.

"Perhaps some bread, Miss
Vandenhoff?" Mamma offered, catching the eye of the extra footman they'd hired specifically to help tend to the needs of their guests.

He responded promptly and offered the loaf to Miss
Vandenhoff in an elegant manner. She, however, turned up her nose.

"It is written that man shall not live by bread alone," she said stiffly. "As we all know, that includes women
, as well."

"Oh, but soup and bread aren't the only courses," Ella piped up quickly. "The remove will be here soon. Stewed eels, I believe."

Mariah cringed as Miss Vandenhoff went painfully ashen. Ella didn't seem to notice this and she rattled on about how cook's eels were the best anyone could ever imagine. It was obvious Miss Vandenhoff had no inclination to confirm this for herself.

Drat the girl! How on earth was Mariah going to recommend her to the world-w
ise earl if she could not find anything to catch her attention in some positive manner? Mariah switched conversation from food onto the scenery the Vandenhoffs must have passed through on their way. Mrs. Vandenhoff spoke in glowing terms of the picturesque cottages and tidy lanes, while Mr. Vandenhoff expressed admiration for the rich farmland around them. Miss Vandenhoff, however, commented merely that the flowers they had passed on the roadside seemed to agitate her allergies.

Oh, but
the girl was becoming insufferable. Try as she might, Mariah found herself less and less able to account Miss Vandenhoff 's unpleasant demeanor to travel fatigue. She could not credit it to the girl being American, either, as her parents were truly quite agreeable. Miss Vandenhoff, it would seem, was positively determined to be tedious and bland, if not openly rude altogether. It was as if she were a dark cloud hanging over their dinner and Mariah was helpless to do anything about it.

The earl certainly noticed it, too. More than once she caught him rolling his eyes. Oh, he tried not to let his annoyance show, and it was a wonder Mariah had detected it considering he was such a disagreeable sort himself, but clearly he was not thrilled with the young lady's conduct. Mariah would have
quite a task ahead of her to bring these two together.

Heavens, given the worried look on Mamma's face and the
irritated scowl on Ella's, Mariah would have quite a task ahead of her just getting through dinner tonight.

Somehow they did survive dinner without anyone saying anything hugely regrettable. Well, anyone besides Miss
Vandenhoff. The girl turned her nose up at nearly everything set out before her and when finally Mamma suggested it was time the ladies adjourned to the drawing room Ella nearly leapt to her feet and ran from the table. Mariah could only hope now that the meal was over Miss Vandenhoff might possibly find something—anything—positive to say.

She nearly groaned out loud when Mamma
graciously invited the girl to find yet more things to complain about.

"So, Miss
Vandenhoff, how do you find your room here? We hope you are comfortable."

Thankfully
, Miss Vandenhoff seemed to have run out of grievances. "It was quite adequate, ma'am. I look forward to passing my time there during our stay."

Ella was noticeably brighter at that. "Oh?
You plan to spend much of your time up in your room?"

Mariah shot her sister a disapproving glare. "I'm sure Miss
Vandenhoff didn't mean to imply she will spend very much of her time cloistered away."

"Of course not," Mrs.
Vandenhoff said, shooting her own disapproving glare at her daughter. "She will be in company with the rest of us whenever possible. Won't you, Mabel?"

"I suppose
so," Miss Vandenhoff replied with a not-so-subtle huff. "Whether I wish to or not."

"We'll try not to bore you over much," Ella said
, just a teensy bit too sweet to sound in any way sincere.

"We do have some lovely shops in the village," Mamma suggested. "
Perhaps our girls will entertain themselves there tomorrow. Also, there are many pleasant walks in the area. I do hope both of you find ample ways to amuse yourself during your stay."

Mrs.
Vandenhoff seemed honestly appreciative of Mamma's suggestions. Apparently the woman very much approved of the out-of-doors and asked after the walks Mamma had mentioned. Mariah was eager to encourage this hopeful conversation before Miss Vandenhoff had a chance to express further objection.

"Yes, the countryside is very lovely this time of year with everything just coming to life after winter. What sort of activities are you most interested in, Miss
Vandenhoff?"

"I enjoy reading," the lady replied, not surprisingly.

Well, it was not following their discussion of out-of-doors activities, but at least it was something the girl seemed to be interested in. Mariah could work with that. She smiled at her.

"How lucky then, as we are all great readers here. My step-father kept a large library.
"

"Indeed he did!" Mamma chimed in.
"We have a good many volumes on travel and gardening and other very interesting subjects."

"We
even have a fine collection of the latest novels," Mariah added quickly. "Ella might not admit it, but she spends most every night burning her candles over something gothic and frightful."

"I do not!" Ella exclaimed, then leaned in toward Miss
Vandenhoff. "Though I'd be happy to loan you the first volumes of
The Orphan of Tintern Abbey
. The beginning is quite shocking as we find a poor child standing over a man in the agonies of death and—"

Miss
Vandenhoff cut her off. "
Improving books
. I only read improving books, Miss Renford."

Ella was clearly taken aback
, not to mention disappointed. "Oh. I suppose Papa must have had some of those on his shelves, too."

"No worry. I brought my own."

Ella scowled and was left grumbling under her breath. "Of course you did. How silly of me not to assume so."

Mariah was desperate to find some way to make pleasant conversation, no matter how obviously contrary the young lady might be.
Mamma seemed quite at a loss in the face of such petulance and Mrs. Vandenhoff was clearly embarrassed. What a difficult young lady Miss Vandenhoff was! They all sat in silence for several seconds before Mariah came up with something to say.

"How fortunate that the earl has been able to coordinate his stay here with yours," she said as brightly as possible. "I gather this is the first time you have met him."

"It is," Mrs. Vandenhoff replied. "He and my husband became acquainted through a mutual friend in London. We are honored that he extended this invitation to us."

"
He seemed pleased that you could accept."

"You know him quite well, I take it?" Mrs.
Vandenhoff asked. "Distant relations, perhaps?"

Drat. She'd not intended to take the conversation around to discuss the earl. She glanced up quickly at Mamma, hoping for help.

"No, er, our connection is not very close.," Mamma replied. "The earl's father and my husband were acquainted some years past, you see. We've only come to know the current Lord Doington more recently."

"Have you not been his tenant all this time?" Mrs.
Vandenhoff asked.

The ladies sat comfortably in the nicest drawing room and to any onlooker they would have appeared quite a contented group. However, Mariah could see Mamma's knuckles visibly whiten as she clenched her fists in her lap. The idea of being considered merely a tenant in her own home grated horribly. Of course Mamma could be trusted not to say anything regrettable at the lady's honest mistake, but Mariah glanced quickly toward Ella and made sure the younger girl recognized warning in her eyes. Ella wrinkled her nose, clearly thwarted from speaking out on the subject.

"The earl's father left certain business matters rather disorganized," Mariah explained hastily, with a reassuring smile. "I'm afraid the new earl only recently learned of our existence here."

Mrs.
Vandenhoff nodded. "I see. So you are not acquainted well enough with the man to speak to his character."

His character? Oh, sadly Mariah was acquainted well enough to speak quite a lot on the man's character.
Unfortunately, she could think of no part of it that might be fit to mention in polite company.

"Mariah knows him best of all of us," Ella said quickly. "She
handles Papa's business since he's been gone, so she has been the one dealing with the earl."

"I see," Mrs.
Vandenhoff said with narrowed eyes as she studied Mariah. "How very... modern. I did not realize in England it was usual for unmarried ladies to employ themselves in such a manner. You and the earl are often in company, then?"

"
I would hardly say that," Mariah replied, quelling the urge to strangle her sister. "I simply assisted our solicitor in his dealings with the earl. I can't really claim to know the man well."

"
He's been a guest in your home for some days now, I understand," Miss Vandenhoff persisted. "Surely you
have
come to know him."

"Er, yes, I suppose we have come to know him in some measure."

"And no doubt you've formed a favorable opinion."

What an odd thing for Miss
Vandenhoff to assume! Mariah wasn't sure what to make of such a statement, but she hoped it hinted at something promising.

"Have you formed a favorable opinion of him?" she asked the young lady, hoping for missish blushing and other encouragement of infatuation.

She was sadly disappointed.

"I hardly think I can form any sort of opinion
at all after merely one dinner," Miss Vandenhoff said with a sigh as if the act of opinion-forming had completely exhausted her. "Although, if I must have one, I say my opinion is that I find the earl overly polite and far too ingratiating for my taste."

Mariah felt her mouth drop open. Were they speaking of the same man?
Overly polite and far too ingratiating?
It was unbelievable. Not only did Mariah know the man to be the exact opposite of those particular things, she could scarcely comprehend that Miss Vandenhoff might find
those
attributes to be something to complain about.

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean," Mariah said.

"I'm sure Mabel simply wishes to have more time to get to know the man," Mrs. Vandenhoff explained quickly. "It was, after all, only one dinner. I hope we'll see much of him in the days to come. Then we can discover all his many finer qualities."

They were hunting
the man's finer qualities, were they? She didn't much like the sound of that. While they were hunting, there was no telling what the Americans might discover about him. The earl had been on his best behavior tonight. If even that had not been enough to win over Miss Vandenhoff, how on earth was he going to improve in her eyes under extended scrutiny? The more he was around his prospective fiancée, the more likely he was to show his true colors. Mariah was going to have to do something to help the man.

She
decided she might start by cleaning out the collection of newspapers in her step-father's office before any of the Vandenhoff 's stumbled upon them. And read them. As she herself had done over the past three days.

Her step-father always had
The Morning Post
mailed to them and even after his death she'd made sure to continue the habit, despite the expense. Usually she found much of the information contained in the pages to be irrelevant to them in their life here in the country, so far from the bustle of London society, but this time it had proven quite educational. She had noticed several references to the Earl of Dovington.

To be truthful, she had intentionally scoured the pages looking for the man's name.
She'd not been disappointed. It seemed Society had become very interested in him since he'd gained title. The wags found him specifically notable for two particular reasons: that he was succeeding in restoring his family fortune despite his detractors' predictions to the contrary, and that he did indeed seem destined to succeed in their other predictions. Namely, they predicted that the man might be equally as likely to be shot by a cuckolded husband, deported for insulting the Prince, or mauled by a pack of jealous opera dancers who each one believed he favored her best.

None of those things were likely to recommend him to Miss
Vandenhoff. Despite how charming he had made himself appear at dinner—and Mariah was still reeling with surprise over that—there was no denying that he was boorish, self-centered and stubborn beyond reason. It would take every ounce of artifice she possessed to paint him with any other brush.

"I'm sure we will all come to know
Lord Dovington better over the next days," Mamma said, distracting the ladies with her sweetness and the flick of her fan. "No doubt he has many finer qualities we will all come to enjoy. He is, after all, an earl."

Excellent point
. That was the man's most notable fine quality and, no doubt, what had attracted the Vandenhoffs to him in the first place. Surely Mariah could promote the man by harping on the small matter of his title.

"Indeed, Mamma. Dovington is a very old and admirable title. The earl honors us with his visit."

"Perhaps titles mean something to you," Miss Vandenhoff informed, "but I care nothing for them. A man must be measured by his own merit, not through some accident of birth."

"Now dear, you are not in America," Mrs.
Vandenhoff reminded her daughter. "The earl is a highly respected man here. He travels in company with royalty."

Miss
Vandenhoff rolled her eyes at that. Mariah was tempted to join her. Perhaps in this one point she and Miss Vandenhoff agreed. The earl
was
a highly respected man, and surely not through any fault of his own. No one knew more about the consequences of this so-called accident of birth than Mariah. A male child born into right and privilege could retain that status no matter how he chose to live his life, while a person born—as Mariah was—under the shadow of disgrace could live as a veritable saint and never quite overcome that stain of origin. It was decidedly unfair.

Mamma must have known how the subject matter affected
her, but thankfully, she gave no indication. She continued the conversation brightly.

"Perhaps when the men join us we can ask the earl to t
ell us about his visits to St. James. I've heard the rooms are exceedingly lovely, and I simply pour over the fashion plates of court gowns. Can you imagine wearing such things?"

"How wonderful it would be!" Ella mused. "When the earl marries, his wife will be presented at court, you know."

If that had been an attempt to further entice Miss Vandenhoff into a favorable impression of the man, it did not seem to have worked. Clearly presentation before sovereigns of some foreign nation did not excite her in the least. Her lip visibly curled.

"No wonder he has not yet found some woman willing to marry him."

"From what the papers say, there are scores of women ready to throw themselves at his feet," Mariah informed her.

As she should have expected
, though, that did not have the desired effect, either.

"That hardly serves to recommend the man. Honestly,
you may revere his grand title, but I say it makes him puffed-up and overly stiff."