The Indian Maiden (17 page)

Lady Mary played abigail and immediately set the band into place for Faith. No sooner was that done than Lord Deal took her astonished thanks and asked for the first dance in return. And as he led her into the set, he lowered his head and whispered so softly that the rest of the company, even those in the same dance set, only saw the plumes tremble from the weight of his breath upon them
—
but then, they would not have understood what he said anyway. “Use,” he whispered, setting the plumes to dancing, “that which cannot be ignored.”

And then he led the American lady, her head held very high, into the dance.

She had cause later, to hold her head so high for so long that it caused her neck to ache. For even as she stepped into that first set, the disgruntled Lord Greyville, assisted by a few bored, mischievous friends, opened the remaining unclaimed parcels and unearthed another feathery tribute, this one so
unhygienic
, not to mention unaesthetic, that the butler eventually had to set a footman to take it between two fingers to the trash. The other was only a long pipe of the sort that Dutch burghers favored, but it had been wrapped around with tricolored ribbons and
anointed
with various feathers as well, these however, looking as though they’d been pillaged from a pillow. In both cases the gifts were addressed to “The Wild Indian.”

When the Duke of Marchbanks finally arrived at his bedroom late that night, he was shocked to find a note from his duchess awaiting him, requesting his presence in her chambers immediately. A hurried consultation with his valet assured him that it was only the first week of the month, and as he had already dutifully asserted his husbandly rights toward the end of the previous month, he could not imagine why his lady required him in her rooms so soon again at such an hour. But he was never one to doubt her wisdom.

Even so, he said “London?” with such great surprise evident upon his usually bland round face a few moments later that his lady fixed him with a look of great annoyance. “But no one is there now,” he exclaimed, consigning some ninety thousand unfashionable souls to oblivion.

“Just so,” the duchess agreed, sitting back against her propped pillows contentedly. “And as someone is attempting to smear your trading partner’s granddaughter’s name here, it is best that she go there.”

At that, the duke looked about himself furtively, though he ought to have remembered there could be no one in the rooms with the couple, otherwise his lady would never have made the ugly reference to the reason why Marchbanks and all their personal treasury was still in such good heart.

“It can’t hurt Mary, she’s already got her pick of the cream of the crop. But tonight’s whispering and snickering about those hideous ‘gifts’ and the American creature’s reputation can do no one any good. It might well begin to rub off on even such a faultless girl as our Mary if it persists,” she said threateningly. “Slander smears everyone. At least in London there’ll be no one to notice, and since the American chit did stay here for some weeks, if she isn’t exposed to the
ton
for the rest of the summer, no one can say you haven’t tried. Then too,” she said slyly, “by autumn Mary may well be settled better than we’d hoped. Yes,” she said with great pleasure, “it was none other than Deal himself who suggested the plan.”

“Ah,” the duke said.

“And, he assured me he will be there in London too.”

“Aha,” the duke replied.

He gave his consent to the plan, and more. For his lady was in an excellent mood that night and willing to put up with a great deal from him. Because, as she thought later, when she had to think of something to keep her mind occupied while the rest of her person was being otherwise employed, the plan was both practical and pleasing. Mr. Rossiter would have to find himself rooms apart from them, a guest in town being quite a different matter than one accommodated at a country estate, since in the city a gentleman was expected to secure his own lodgings. Miss Hamilton would be in social seclusion, and Lord Deal, available.

The plan was an excellent one, she sighed, inadvertently encouraging the duke to excesses she didn’t mind, as she didn’t notice them, being too busy contemplating the remove which would relieve her of two Americans, and perhaps, with luck, in time, even a daughter.

TEN

T
he remove to
London was only marred twice by the American girl. Although her compatriot had the decency to blush for her, and her host and hostess retained their civility, however barely they did so, her younger hostess had abetted her to the point where she let herself in for a good scold when her mama finally got her alone in Town. For the journey, which ought to have been accomplished by dinnertime, was delayed so long by Miss Hamilton’s whims that it was darkest night when the family carriages finally pulled into view of Piccadilly.

Then, of course, it was too late to send Mr. Rossiter scrambling to see to his new rooms, and it was only Lord Deal’s kind last-minute offer that kept the Duchess of Marchbanks from doing, out of sheer courtesy, that which she had no wish to do in cold reality, which was having to offer the chap accommodations in her own townhouse.

The earl, who had accompanied them to town as well, had made no such generous gesture. But a glimpse at his face, even in the dim gaslight outside of the Duke and Duchess of Marchbanks’ townhouse, would have told an acute observer that the omission might well have been caused by physical constraints as profound as the mental ones the duchess experienced. Everyone knew that the earl’s own townhouse was let out each season for a fee to other families. He made do with rented rooms in a respectable, but less exalted part of town with the excuse that one man did not need so much dwelling space. That hypothetical thoughtful observer might also have realized that it could have been that he had neither the extra servants, funds, nor rooms to afford such generosity. But for once, the sin of insolvency did not lower the earl in the duchess’s esteem, since she preferred to think his lack of
hospitality was due to a laudable disinclination to frate
rni
ze with Americans any more than he had to do, poor fellow, in order to wed his fortune.

Not that she truly feared Mr. Rossiter’s attentions would turn Mary’s head; Mary was too well trained for that. The duchess had already firmly ruled the fellow ineligible, no matter how pleasant his person or personality, or more importantly, how full his pockets, since he had neither family nor background. There was no real immediate cause for alarm despite his obvious interest, since he hadn’t approached the duke with any offer. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry, forewarned was forearmed, the duchess thought, and a great many other adages she’d seen on samplers besides, because there was no question that the annoying young man had been monopolizing Mary’s time since he’d come to England.

But, as the outraged duchess later fumed to Mary when she’d gotten her safe to her rooms, even Mr. Rossiter had been embarrassed for his countrywoman’s inexcusable behavior. And rightly so. Imagine, having to halt a remove to Town simply to get out and stroll about goggling at castles? And ruins of them too, rather than proper ones. Because neither of the attractions that Miss Hamilton had gasped at had a smidge of fine art, furniture, or treasures to be seen, and not surprisingly so, because neither of them had any roofs either. The only old families in residence in those ruins had been those of mice and daws, and still the girl wasted time on them, as she stood and gaped like a ninny.

Deal and Methley had displayed the most exquisite manners, of course, both accompanying the chit so she wouldn’t turn her ankle or plunge off a battlement in her wanderings. And Mr. Rossiter had, of course, followed Mary everywhere, as constant as the shadow she cast on the cracked pavings. As the duke had dozed, and the servants snickered, the duchess had sat and fumed in her carriage. Bad enough that she had to put up with such behavior, worse that it had been her own daughter who’d ordered the procession to stop each time. Shocking as she was, the American girl would have had neither the authority or the temerity to do so, the duchess now howled, so loudly that her own maid, accustomed to outbursts, forgot herself so much as to visibly wince.

“But Mama,” Lady Mary protested, “it meant so much to her. In fact, when I told Faith that we’d lived near to Old Sarum Castle forever, and had never so much as stopped there, not once, nor knew anyone who’d ever even roamed around the place, she was staggered. For Mama, there aren’t
any
castles in the Americas, not one.”

This information silenced the duchess for a moment, but Lady Mary didn’t know that it was contemplation of her daughter as well as of the barbarous nature of America that stilled her mama’s tongue. Never had her daughter disputed with her before. It wasn’t much of an argument, indeed, it might not have seemed precisely to be one to anyone else, but it was so unheard of for Mary to protest a good scolding that it was as if she’d raised her voice and shouted her mama down and out of the room.

The duchess had borne four children, three of them now grown, and those three, as she thanked her creator daily, males. So she had known her share of opposition in her time, however blunted it had been by years of dealing with a firm parent such as herself. Thus, she realized that the worst thing she could do would be to further vilify Miss Hamilton. The duchess knew very well that a child might do more mischief in defense of a friend, than that friend, however dangerous, could ever do to the child. She dropped the subject suddenly, refusing to utter another word. Then, stiff with insult and seemingly stung nearly to tears, the obviously wounded mother sent her daughter directly to bed.

The duchess refused to smile as she wished to when she saw the frightened glance her daughter gave her as she slunk off to her rooms. Only when she was alone did she indulge herself, because she believed the specter of guilt would make a good bedmate for her daughter this night. And then, thinking of beds and mates, she resolved to summon Methley to her house the next day to have a good long coze with him. And then again on the next day, to invite him to dinner, and the following day to tea and dinner, as well. It was obvious now that the more accessible he was to Miss Hamilton, the sooner he’d be able to take her off their hands. Only then, with her gone, would
Mary return, chastened and obedient, to herself and to her mama again.

But at an indecently early hour of the morning, before such a fashionable fellow as the Earl of Methley had even been shaved, Lord Deal and Will Rossiter paid a call upon the noble Boltons at their new London lodgings. It was then that the duchess realized that one ought to be quite specific in one’s wishes, since even the most well-meaning acts of providence could get the spirit of the thing right and the mechanics of it all wrong. For though it was true that Mr. Rossiter was now off her hands and safely snugged away elsewhere, at least for the meanwhile that
somewhere
was Lord Deal’s townhouse, and thus if the nobleman was to be allowed to pay court to Lady Mary, Mr. Rossiter would have to be admitted each and every time as well.

The ladies’ riding horses having not arrived from the country as yet, and Lord Deal’s handsome sport curricle not really being suitable for four, the quartet decided to go for an early morning promenade to show Miss Hamilton her first glimpses of London. The duchess watched from her window as they set out, the two couples deep in animated conversation, Lord Deal and Miss Hamilton first, then Mary and Mr. Rossiter, with two maids following a few paces behind. Of course, the duchess admitted, the sidewalks were too narrow for them to walk four abreast, and of course, Lord Deal, as a native and a gentleman, would understandably be expected to partner Miss Hamilton and point out the sights to her, just as in all propriety, Mary would do the same for Mr. Rossiter. But they walked at so slow and stately a pace that the strange parade had an eerie uncannily processional air to it, and the duchess’s hand flew to her heart as she thought for one mad moment that she detected the distinct scent of orange blossoms hanging in the air.

She was not a superstitious woman, so she did not spit or make signs as a peasant might, to ward off imminent evil. She was a lady, so she only flew into a vile temper and then proce
e
ded to reduce every female in her employ to tears that morning, and every male to thoughts of murder, with the exception of her husband, as that gentleman, under cover of the general distress, crept off, gratefully, to his club.

Lord Deal, just as the duchess imagined, was busy explaining the myriad sights and sounds of his city to Miss Hamilton. She, in turn, said not a word, but only walked at his side, wide-eyed as a child, so overawed that she didn’t even notice that she kept to an unusual complete unbroken silence. Some weeks ago she’d gone directly from the docks to the countryside and then to Marchbanks, and in her weariness and gratitude at being on dry, unmoving land at last, had noticed very little about the actual lands she traveled through. But now, though she somewhat absently realized she was dumbstruck as a country girl, she couldn’t as yet cope with her amazement at this great city.

There were easily ten times more people thronging the streets here than she’d ever seen upon the pavements of New York, even during the great invasion scare when the militia had come to swell the ranks of the city. The traffic, the horses and carriages, the people of all classes and kind, and the noise they created was something quite out of her experience, although coming from New York, she’d previously considered herself a sophisticate.

But as she did come from a great port city, she was used to the atmosphere of an Oriental bazaar that typified such commercial centers. So she scarcely blinked when they strolled past emporiums that vended everything from ribbons to carriages to great works of art. It was the manner and the ease with which these Londoners could fill their leisure hours which staggered her, as well as their actual numbers. There were museums here, and art
galleries
, as well as historic monuments at every turn. New York boasted one great theater that was the pride of the city, but here, evidently, there were as many to choose from as there were days to fill with amusement. Her escort spoke casually of concert halls and opera houses, ballet theaters, theaters for the drama, and still more that were solely music halls. He even mentioned one he might take her to some day, since, as he grinned, it was always a great favorite with the children, being specifically designed for productions featuring horses and equestrian displays.

Her escort did not press her to speak, nor, she dimly perceived, did he, for the first time since she’d met him, seem to expect any reply to his comments. From time to time, he’d look down into her face, and had she been gazing back at him instead of at the sights around her, she would have seen his own expression soften. Yes, he thought, watching her drink in his city, he had made the right decision after all. Let her first sight of London be at this unfashionable hour, on these unfashionable streets, so that when she at last encountered those of the
ton
, she would already be acquainted with the scope of Town, and would not cause anyone to mock her as a rustic for her genuine confusion and amazement. There was enough talk about her, let her not be pilloried for her honest reaction to their world.

Will had seen London when he’d been a youth, and yet he too remained quiet as his gentle guide pointed out interesting sites to him, and so she never knew that all that enchanted and amazed him to silence was her own soft voice and lovely face.

It was when they had done with touring a great many streets of the city that Faith at last found her tongue. “It’s a lucky thing,” she said after Lord Deal had not commented on anything for a few moments, “that my enemies can’t see me now. Lord—and I don’t mean you,” she giggled, before he could say a word, “what an absolute bumpkin I’m being. But I swear, I’ve never seen the like!”

“And you haven’t seen half of it as yet. Wait until nightfall, then I’ll show you how my city puts on all its airs and graces,” he replied, smiling, and before she could answer, he added gently, “Don’t fly up, I do know you’ve a theater at home—in fact, I attended some fine performances at the Strand there—but I look forward to showing you our theaters and Opera. Not so that I may belittle what you have, please believe me, but only so that I can brag a bit too. After all,” he explained, “I don’t have one savage tribe or fierce bear to impress you with, so I have to do the best that I can with our landmarks and history and entertainments.”

“Oh dear,” she said ruefully, “you don’t understand—I do understand. That is,” she murmured in unease, ducking her head as she spoke, “I never tried to pull your leg, and not only because you’ve been to my country, but because there was never a need to. But I don’t think I’ll ever do it again, to anyone. You see,” she said, and from the way she stopped walking, drew in a breath, and then looked at him squarely, he knew that this was very difficult for her, “I’m very sorry I began the whole foolish thing. I think it was only because I felt so homesick and heartsick and out of place, and—ah, it doesn’t merit even discussing further. I apologized to Mary last night, and now, if I may, to you. Please, believe me, that’s all over with, I’m sorry for it, you were right. And if I was treated badly by those anonymous gift-givers, then I suppose I deserved no better.”

Then she could say no more, but only looked down at the pavements again. Lady Mary and Will, seeing the other couple come to a halt, engaged in serious conversation, busied themselves by looking with exaggerated interest into a shop window filled with toys. The two maids were too preoccupied with gossiping about the housekeeper to try to listen, but even if they had, Lord Deal’s low-pitched tones would have gone no further than the straw margins of Faith’s downcast bonnet, as he intended.

He was glad she’d given up the games she’d played and yet oddly displeased with himself for giving her advice, however good, that had eventually cast her down so low. She was a creature of spirit, to him she seemed very much a creation of the New World that had impressed him with all its vigor and promise. Had she been an obedient little miss, he doubted he would have passed an extra hour with her beyond that which the foreign office deemed absolutely necessary. As it was, he no longer cared that he no longer had any real reason to pursue an acquaintance with her, the fact that she never failed to engage his interest entirely was now reason enough.

“Oh come,” he said softly, placing his hand lightly upon her cheek and waiting until she lifted that bent head and her clear gray eyes met his, “you were never meant to be a penitent, even if you had good cause. Which you don’t, you know. The house party is ended and so is all the talk along with it. It’s over and done and soon forgotten. Other, better scandals will come along to sweep your little peccadillos into a dusty
corner
. You don’t believe me?” He shook his shaggy head in mock sorrow and then said with determination, “Then come along and I’ll show you how minor your crimes are on society’s balance scales.”