Chapter 10
Gavin strode into the drawing room later the next morning to find a gaggle of women clustered together, huddled over and squealing about something.
Ah, the kitten had arrived.
As if on cue, the black and white fuzzball darted out from under Miss Hasting’s skirt and bounded toward Gavin. He scooped it up easily and brought it to eye level. “Well, hello there. And who might this be?”
Lainey bounced over to him and the ladies followed. “Someone has gifted me a kitten!” she announced with delight. “Isn’t he darling?”
“Rather handsome little fellow, yes,” he said, handing it to her. “Someone must be trying to make a good impression on you.” He glanced around at the other men in the room, eyeing Devereaux, who feigned innocence and looked away. One of the ladies tittered and Gavin had a terrible thought. Was Devereaux going to try to take credit for this in order to win Lainey over? He wouldn’t put it past him. He returned his attention to Lainey, who was busy snuggling the squirming kitten. “I can see we are going to have some competition for your attention, my lady.”
Lainey gave him a bright smile. “Perhaps the kitten will help me decide who among you is worthy of my attention!” The ladies all giggled.
“What are you going to name him?” Emily asked.
“I’m not sure yet. Maybe we should have a naming competition!”
“Oh, that sounds like fun!” Emily clapped her hands.
Lainey addressed the room. “Put your thinking caps on, everyone! After dinner tonight I wish to hear your best cat names. We’ll make a game of it!”
“Oh, the pressure,” Devereaux drawled.
“Ah, Mr. Devereaux, I bet you will have some viable suggestions,” Lainey teased.
“Indeed, my lady.” He winked.
Gavin barely refrained from rolling his eyes. “I can hardly wait,” he said dryly. He stroked the kitten’s soft, furry head. He was curling against Lainey’s bosom, purring, and struggling to keep his eyes open. He looked incredibly content.
Gavin was suddenly insanely jealous of a stupid cat.
“What pleasurable activities do you have planned for us today, my lady?” he asked, taking his hand away before he accidentally stroked Lainey instead of the kitten.
“Well, I thought we would have a game of croquet.”
Gavin grinned. “Is this to be a competitive game of croquet?”
Lainey sauntered away, handing the sleeping kitten to Emily, who was clearly head over heels in love. “What fun is croquet if it isn’t competitive?” Lainey asked innocently.
Gavin barked out a laugh at her guileless expression. Devereaux perked up his ears.
“Croquet a competitive sport?” he said, surprised.
“It is when Lady Elaine plays,” Anne replied, a smile tugging at her lips.
“You will get to know that about her, Devereaux. Lady Elaine here cannot resist a competition of any kind. And she’s not a very good loser, either,” Gavin added with a grin.
“I will thank you not to malign me to my guests, Mr. Mayfield. I do like a little friendly competition, but I can be a gracious loser.”
Gavin coughed into his hand, turning away. Viscount Kingston watched the exchange with interest. Lainey stuck her tongue out at Gavin’s turned back.
“Don’t listen to a word he says, Mr. Devereaux. He’s just trying to scare you.”
“It might be working,” Devereaux replied with a grin.
Lainey giggled, the sound tickling Gavin’s insides. “I am going to draw names for teams, and one person from each team will advance to the final round. There will be plenty to eat and drink to keep us occupied if we aren’t on the field. The tables and chairs are being set up as we speak.”
“Who is going to watch the kitten?” Emily asked.
“We’ll bring his basket and take turns.”
“Perhaps you’d like to go first, Devereaux,” Gavin suggested. Devereaux gave him a look that said he didn’t appreciate Gavin’s suggestion at all, and Gavin chuckled inside. It was just too much fun to bait this man.
Emily laid the tuckered-out kitten in his basket and rose to her feet. She lifted the basket carefully so as not to disturb the cat, who looked as though a pack of wild, barking dogs would not wake him. Gavin glanced at Anne and gave an apologetic shrug. He guessed the Hastings household was going to be getting a cat of its own sometime soon.
“Very well, ladies and gentlemen. Croquet starts in one hour. I will see you on the field!” Lainey said brightly, exiting the room with the ladies following her like a herd of ducklings.
Kingston chuckled. “What an interesting party this is turning out to be!”
Gavin tried not to ponder all the ways in which he could inflict harm on Charles Devereaux with his croquet mallet. Really, he did, but it was just so…tempting…to picture jabbing the man in the stomach or clocking him in the noggin every time he ogled Lainey. She didn’t seem to mind, but then again, she was rather diverted by Kingston, who was finally having the chance to speak with her at length. She laughed about something he said, the musical sound floating over to Gavin on the breeze. His chest tightened.
Damn. This party had turned out to be far more difficult to endure than he’d imagined. He hadn’t expected the fierceness of his desire to protect Lainey, and certainly not the violent urges that took over him every time someone dare lay a hand on her person. The fact that he was even considering smashing another man over the head with a croquet mallet spoke volumes about what kind of person that made Gavin. He was right to avoid marriage. He obviously couldn’t keep his impulses in check. The only thing that was stopping him was the fact that the Lockwoods would be horrified by his behavior.
Because it would feel really, really good to jab Devereaux in the breadbasket right about now. The man couldn’t keep his eyes off of Lainey. If he touched her, Gavin couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t give in to the urge. And that thought terrified him.
“I believe it’s your turn, Mr. Mayfield.”
Gavin snapped to attention, his face growing warm at having been caught staring at Lainey. “Er—sorry, Miss Hastings.”
He’d initially been paired with Emily, but Anne had seen his panic and claimed he’d gotten the wrong Hastings girl. Emily was smitten with Gavin and had been mooning over him since her first night here. Gavin’s relief that Anne had stepped in and saved him from an afternoon of hero worship was palpable.
“You know, if we hadn’t been friends for so long, I might take offense that you are paying more attention to someone’s else’s partner than to your own.”
Gavin nearly missed his swing, and his ball went rolling off to the side, passing the wicket completely.
“I also thought you were a better croquet player,” she observed wryly.
“I’m a bit off my game today,” Gavin answered lightly.
“A bit,” Anne replied, knocking her ball clean through the wicket. “I daresay, keep playing like that and you won’t make it to the next round.”
“More’s the pity,” Gavin said, frowning at his ball. He was usually quite competitive, but today he simply couldn’t muster concentration or interest. He fought not to glance in Lainey’s direction when she laughed again.
Anne eyed him shrewdly. “I think you’ve outdone yourself with Lainey’s prospects. There are quite a few agreeable gentlemen here. She should be able to find a happy match if she insists on going through with this.”
“Yes, well. That was the idea.” He finally whacked his ball through the wicket and they moved forward to allow the next team to play.
“I do hope she’s not rushing this,” Anne mused. “She’s waited so long for the right man, and now she’s throwing it all out the window because of her stubborn independence. I worry that she’s being reckless with her heart.” Thwack!
“That makes two of us,” Gavin muttered as he lined up his shot.
“I do have to note though, perhaps you and Ashby were outdone by Mr. Pritchard. It seems that she’s taken quite a shine to Mr. Devereaux. And he most certainly looks at her as though she were a treacle pudding served up just for him.”
Gavin swung so hard he nearly lost his balance when he completely missed his ball. Damn, he needed to get a hold of his temper before he lashed out.
“Oh dear, Mr. Mayfield! That was quite an impressive shot!”
Gavin glared at her as she pressed her lips together, trying to keep a straight face. “And what about you, Miss Hastings? Are you like me, determined to remain single for the rest of your days, or has some gentleman caught your eye?” He attempted his shot again, this time the mallet connecting with the ball in a satisfying crack.
Anne regarded him with merriment as a smile crept to her lips. “A lady never tells, Mr. Mayfield.”
Lainey could feel Gavin’s eyes on her all the way across the field. It was disconcerting, to say the least. Every time she glanced at him, he was glowering in her direction. She forced her attention once again to her delightful partner.
“Tell me more about your daughter, my lord.”
Kingston beamed. “Ah, she’s a good girl, my Rose. She is six years old, and a sweet-tempered child. My mother insists that I dote on her too much, but I can’t help myself. It’s hard not to indulge her when she looks at me with those big blue eyes.”
Lainey nodded and sent her ball through the wicket with a loud crack! “I have always had a weakness for children myself. They are just so guileless and open, and they don’t give a fig about improper behavior. One can really let go around them and they won’t judge you for it.”
“This is true,” Kingston agreed. “If anyone had ever told me I’d be sitting at a child-sized table and having a tea party while wearing a daisy crown I would have told them they were full of—oh! Pardon me, Lady Elaine. I don’t mean to be vulgar.”
Lainey smiled. “I know my reputation is a sterling one, but even I swear every now and again. I’m not offended by it.”
Kingston studied his partner. “You are an unusual woman, my lady. I regret that I haven’t come to know you better over the years.”
“There is no time like the present. Getting to know each other is why we are here, is it not?”
Kingston lined up his shot and took it. “Right you are. You had just come out when we first met, and I still remember you as the wide-eyed debutante taking everything in at the ball. Ashby has spoken highly of your charitable endeavors since then, as well as your keen business sense.” He turned to her, interest lighting his eyes. “Tell me about the help center you plan to open.”
“Well…how much do you know about Lady Ashby’s background?”
“I’ve heard she has had…a rough time of it.”
“That would be an understatement.” They meandered to the next wicket. “She came from a good family, but when she was a young girl, her home was broken into and she was separated from her parents.”
“Ah yes, I remember hearing about the fire not long after it happened. Such a tragedy.”“Yes, well. She was lost to her parents that night and then wound up spending eight years on the streets before she fell into our lives. When I saw firsthand what sort of conditions she’d been living in, it really struck me how this could happen to any woman. We are so vulnerable because men are in control of everything. They may spend our money and gamble away our possessions as they see fit, getting far into debt, and then what happens when they cock up their toes? Many women have no means to support themselves in that situation. What happened to Lady Ashby could happen to anyone, and she was fortunate enough to have come from a family that educated her. What of those who are kept from that? What of the women who are treated as though they are merely property, not worthy of education?” Lainey thumped her mallet on the ground in frustration. “Women have too long been seen as lesser citizens of society. When I met Lady Ashby, I realized the charity work I was doing wasn’t enough. We can hand out food and clothing all we want, but if we aren’t teaching these women useful skills, they will never have the chance to better their lives. I would like to help them do exactly that.”
Kingston studied her silently, and Lainey worried she’d said too much. Men did not like women with strong opinions, after all. But she was here to meet someone who would support her endeavors, so she might as well be her true self. It was rather refreshing.
Kingston leaned on his mallet. “Bravo, Lady Elaine.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I admire you greatly for what you are trying to do.”
“You do?”
“Yes,” Kingston smiled. “I do. I hear a lot of talk in Parliament about our poorest class. All sorts of laws bandied about that will supposedly protect them, yet never do…and from our loftier members, ideas on how to suppress them even further. No one can seem to agree what’s to be done. But I think you have the right of it. Education is key.”
“Exactly! Every human being should have the right to learn how to read and write. But we want to teach them life skills as well, so that they may have a way to earn a living.”
“We?”
“Yes. Lady Ashby and I are joining forces to get this underway. She is going to teach sewing, as she made her living as a seamstress. I’ll take the literacy facet, and then we are going to be searching for candidates to provide training for shop girls, bakeries, tea shops…any skill from which a woman with little education can earn a living, we will find a way to teach.”
Kingston smiled at Lainey as they strolled to the next wicket. “You know, my lady, it’s a pity you and my Annabelle didn’t know each other better. I think you would have gotten along famously.”
“I was so sorry to learn of her death. That must have been very difficult for you.”
Kingston nodded. “I miss her every day.”
“Tell me about her,” Lainey said, looping her arm through his.
“Oh, you don’t want to listen to me talk about my wife,” he chided.
“Actually, I do.” She disengaged her arm so she could line up her final shot. She sent her ball sailing through the last wicket. Kingston was quiet as he prepared to take his shot.
“She was an incredible woman,” he said to the ground, so softly Lainey almost didn’t hear him. He swung, finishing their round. He looked up at her, a sad smile on his face. “She was all that was good and light in my life, a gift that I never expected to receive.”
They regarded each other for a moment, Lainey watching as the memory of his beloved wife spread across Kingston’s face. She smiled. “Lemonade while we talk?”
He offered his arm, and they wandered off in search of refreshments while they waited for everyone’s games to be finished. Kingston was quiet for a while, and Lainey thought he might not say more.
“Annabelle had a bright spirit,” he said suddenly. “She was like you in some ways, warm and generous, and she wanted to help however she could. She also would fight fiercely if she felt she had the right of things, and if you asked her, she’d say that was her most fatal flaw. She claimed her feisty temper would turn men away, but I enjoyed that about her. Perhaps that’s because we had little to argue about so I wasn’t often the one on the receiving end of a tongue lashing,” he quipped. “But I like a woman who will stand up for herself. I think we genuinely appreciated each other for exactly who we were, flaws and all, and that made our connection easy. I fell in love with her right away.” He shrugged. “I’d never intended to marry, but I couldn’t help myself.”
Lainey smiled warmly at him. “It must be something to love someone so much that you will change your life’s plan for them.” She couldn’t prevent her eyes from straying in Gavin’s direction, a pang of regret twisting her heart.
“Indeed,” Kingston replied, following her gaze. “It is an extraordinary thing to be loved so well, and love strongly in return. We had our differences, but we embraced them. She was not just my wife, she was my partner in life. That fierceness with which she would defend her position? Well, that extended to those she loved as well. She was a force to be reckoned with if anyone dared hurt her family. She was unapologetically bold, yet she was the gentlest of souls. She was a brilliant mother. Rose misses her terribly.”
“I can imagine how she feels. I was only eleven when Mother died.”
“Yes, it’s difficult to lose a parent when one is so young. I hadn’t planned to remarry but…” He trailed off, taking a sip of lemonade, seemingly strengthening his resolve. “Rose needs a mother. And I need to know that Rose will be loved and cared for should anything happen to me. Annabelle will always have my heart. But I am hoping to find a companion. If I can find a wife who will be a good friend to me and a good mother to Rose, I will be happy. I’ve had my true love. I don’t expect to find that sort of magic again. But I can certainly be happy.” He turned to Lainey. “Lady Elaine, I hope you do not find it presumptuous of me to attend this party. I realize I am a good deal older than you, and I am standing here telling you I may not love my next wife fiercely, as I did the first. But I needed to be honest with you. I have a great respect for both you and your brother, and I know you understand what it is like to grow up without a mother. I only recently decided to take a wife again, and when your brother spoke of your intentions, I wrangled myself an invitation. I do hope you can forgive me, but I can’t tolerate the whirlwind that is the season, and I am too old for young debutantes anyway. I had hoped I could quietly find someone before the next season swings round again. I know the sort of company you and Ashby keep, and thought perhaps my chances of meeting someone of good moral character here were high. I beg your pardon if I am being too blunt.”
Lainey shook her head. “I appreciate your candor, my lord. Your honesty is refreshing. People marry for a lot less than love, there is no shame in that. I do hope you will find someone to your liking.”
“It is a big step for someone like me to marry again. It is…frightening almost. Fear of betrayal of your first love, fear of unintentionally comparing your first marriage to your second and having it not measure up…I can’t quite explain it. I know it probably does not make any sense to you and you will probably warn all of your friends away from me after this conversation—”
“It makes perfect sense to me. You loved Annabelle deeply, and she will be part of any marriage you make going forward. If any woman ever asks you to forget Annabelle or never speak of her, I beg you, do not marry that person. Annabelle should not cease to exist simply because she is no longer physically here.”
Kingston pressed his lips together and looked away, but not before Lainey caught the shimmer of tears in his eyes. She laid her hand on his arm.
“I am very glad you came, Lord Kingston.”
He blew out a breath and laid his hand over hers. “So am I, my lady. So am I.”