Chapter Fourteen #2
Though the cake was light and sweet on Eliza’s tongue, the single bite she took stuck in her throat. Although Redver did not live here, this home belonged to him. Perhaps it was fancy, but she felt his presence.
Foolish.
She had to concentrate on Vane.
Were they to come to terms today, she could save Cassie and her sisters. The thought did not bring the comfort she’d expected.
“I hadn’t expected you, Miss Cassandra,” Lady Redver commented.
Cassie held up her hand. “I only came to keep Godmama company.”
“You are welcome, of course,” Lady Redver replied graciously.
“Oh yes,” Miss D’Acre said warmly. “And please do join us, Miss Cassandra. You too, Miss Wainwright.”
Eliza’s eyes settled on Lady Redver, but before she’d a chance to read the woman’s puzzling expression, the door opened, and the butler signaled to the mistress of the house. Lady Redver crossed the room and spoke quietly with him.
“Emily, show the Misses Wainwright into the rear salon, would you?” Lady Redver said. “The dancing master is ready for you.”
“But Eliza’s not finished with her cake!” Nettie exclaimed.
Lady Redver glanced at Eliza and raised an eyebrow. “Nor have I, it would seem. Miss Wainwright, Lady Asquith and I will join you shortly, girls.”
Cassandra eyed Eliza with deep unease.
Eliza squeezed her hand as if to say I’m fine.
No sooner had the group of young ladies departed than the knocker sounded against the main door. Again, Lady Redver conferred with the butler.
She turned back to Lady Asquith. “I’ve just had a delightful surprise.
” She clapped her hands together and held them tight.
“A dear family friend, Mr. Vane, late of Switzerland, has come to call. I can ask him to wait in the south parlor, if you wish.” Briefly, her gaze flitted to Eliza. “Or I could make introductions?”
“Mr. Vane, you say,” Lady Asquith replied, with a slight narrowing of her eyes. “I believe we’ve met.”
“Have you?” Lady Redver asked, surprised. “Though English by birth, Mr. Vane has only recently set foot on English soil for the first time since his youth.”
“Ah,” Lady Asquith replied. “Perhaps his father then. Please show him in.”
Within half an hour, Eliza found herself atop a curricle with Mr. Jonathan Vane by her side. Lady Redver had managed the transaction so smoothly, even now Eliza wasn’t certain how she’d ended up with her godmother’s permission to take a pleasure ride.
“Every young lady should have the chance to enjoy a beautiful afternoon in a handsome new curricle,” Eliza repeated Lady Redver’s words. “Is this really a brand-new carriage, Mr. Vane?”
“New to me, at least. I’ve been in England since the fall, but I only recently decided to settle here. Settle and establish a family.” He slanted her a glance. “Thus, my willingness to hear your proposal.”
“I’m surprised at how quickly Lady Redver arranged for us to converse alone.” She sidestepped his comment. “Not many people can maneuver Lady Asquith with such ease.”
“Are you cross with Caroline?”
Caroline? “No. I was…surprised, however, to find her playing a part in this…transaction.”
“My fault, I’m afraid. I knew about your plans with Miss D’Acre, but I was otherwise unfamiliar with your schedule.”
She cocked her head. “How well are you acquainted with Lady Redver?”
“She is a friend.” Mr. Vane kept his eyes on the road and his hands on the ribbons. “Just…a friend.”
“At present?” she queried. Because his expression clearly suggested he wished otherwise.
His lips flattened. “I’m a practical man, Miss Wainwright.”
She turned her face away, fixing her gaze on the waters of the Serpentine.
She wasn’t surprised Mr. Vane had developed a tendre for Lady Redver. Lady Redver was the kind of woman who stopped men in their tracks and cost them the use of their tongues.
“Might I be blunt?” asked Mr. Vane.
She turned back. “If you must.”
“If Lady Redver would accept an offer from me, I would gladly make one. She has already informed me that she feels her circumstances render her unable to accept.”
“Very blunt,” Eliza remarked.
He sent her a sidelong glance. “You must excuse me. I was not raised in England. I don’t have the English gift of…”
“Prevaricating?” she suggested.
“Tact,” he finished with a conciliatory half-smile. “I understand you seek a husband who will not be overbearing. I can promise you I will not. I also promise to be faithful. And I—”
“A moment, please,” Eliza interrupted.
His listing his attributes left her feeling mercenary. On the other hand—she peeked at his reddened face—was it not best to get everything out into the open?
She considered her own requirements before continuing. “Given the strangeness of our circumstances, I appreciate your candor. But you’re not quite correct. An affable husband might still disregard my opinions and treat me like a child. I seek a husband whose beliefs and actions I could influence.”
“Someone you can manipulate.”
She turned her head sharply. “I beg your pardon?”
He shrugged. “We share neither love nor friendship. Let us, at least, agree to be honest.”
A rut in the road jostled them together. Immediately, she drew herself apart.
There’d been no jolt as there had been with Redver. No sizzling rush of awareness. Though sitting close enough to feel his body’s heat, she felt nothing. Nor did this man spark in her any sense of affinity.
How could she be immune to Vane when she’d felt an immediate attraction to Redver, one that had only grown stronger as they’d conversed?
“Please don’t mistake me,” Vane said in a more conciliatory tone. “I understand your position. Sympathize, even.”
Did he? She angled herself to better see his face. His expression was not angry or unkind, but grim. Defeated.
“My mother…” His voice trailed. He inhaled. “Or, at least, the woman I knew as my mother, had a very unhappy marriage.”
His English, she noted, had a slightly foreign lilt.
“Before she wed my father, that is. I came to England, in fact, because I had wished to find out more about the family she had before coming into our lives.”
“And have you discovered the information you sought?”
“Yes,” he hesitated. “Those discoveries were not…what I had hoped.”
“Still, you intend to stay?”
“Yes,” he said finally. “I had contemplated returning to Switzerland. I was offered a position in diplomatic service. I declined. Recently, I acquired a property. It is my intention to live the country life of a quiet, respectable, English gentleman.”
The life she had once lived. “I was raised to expect such a life.”
He glanced at her with interest. “You would not begrudge a quiet life away from London?”
“I think not.” But how could she know?
She’d hardly had the chance to experience London before she and Cassie had been caught up in scandal. But now, despite the scandal, she’d the opera to look forward to…and a private tour of the Royal Academy, too.
A private tour with Redver and his family.
Redver, who should not be intruding on her thoughts right now.
“Tell me about this manor of yours?” she suggested.
“Well-managed, or so my solicitors say. Sold a year or so ago, but the party who purchased it found the surrounding environs not to his tastes. Despite the upheaval, the tenants I met were knowledgeable and the books, in order.”
“You’ve been to visit, then?”
He nodded. “There’s a home farm. A wood stocked with fallow deer. The park is bounded by a river on the eastern side, and a stone fence with unique gates runs sixteen miles long on the west.”
She frowned.
“A lightly traveled toll road with a charming, unusual little thatched-roof gate house marks the southern border—”
“And a six-foot ha-ha to the north.” She gripped the seat. “Mr. Vane, did you agree to speak with me specifically because marriage to me would give you legitimacy in the eyes of the crofters on Willowhurst?”
The astonishment in his face would have made her laugh if she hadn’t been seized with consternation. What were the chances?
“Wainwright,” he said. “You are a Wainwright of Willowhurst?”
She nodded. “My sisters and I are the only Wainwrights of Willowhurst left.”
He blinked in an exaggerated fashion. “Happy accident?”
She frowned. “The Black Widow seems to be better informed than either of us understand.”
“I agree,” he replied finally. “I’ve often found myself surprised at what she knows…and what she’s able to accomplish.”
Eliza exhaled, forcing herself to examine the situation rationally.
If she married Vane, she could bring her sisters home. Home. The prospect was more than a little tempting. She searched Vane’s face. As with the first time she’d seen him, the word solid came to mind.
No one would question her decision, not when Willowhurst came with the marriage. She’d be mistress of the manor she’d once loved, but she would also be the wife of a man who clearly loved another.
And a woman who was overwhelmingly intrigued with a man not her husband.
The bit of cake she’d managed to force down her throat now sat like a coarse brick in her stomach.
He brought the horses to a stop, shifted the reins, and turned to face her. “Miss Wainwright”—he placed his free hand over hers—“we are, neither of us, living the life we expected, or even hoped for. But the hand of fate has brought us together.”
“The hand of fate, and the proprietress of a gaming hell.”
He winced. “Fair.”
She withdrew. “I was the one to request this meeting, and you have been open and frank.” Her eyes fell. “I-I’m just a bit overwhelmed. Might I take some time to think?”
Mr. Vane studied her for a long moment, his expression inscrutable.
“Of course,” he replied. “May I look forward to riding with you again during your sisters’ next lesson?”
She hesitated. “Yes.”
“Very well, then.”
A gentlemanly response. A good, honest, practical man. He was exactly what she’d wanted.
Yet her heart screamed, No!