Chapter Three #2
They reached the wide entrance step outside the front doors, hardly daring to stand on the drive for fear be being run down.
Both coachmen struggled to rein in their horses.
As both carriages had arrived at speed, both carriages overshot the doors and had to slow to a trot and then turn their carriages round in the yard and come back.
It really was an extraordinary arrival.
As they’d passed by, Pansy had seen a dark-haired gentleman in one carriage and a fair-haired gentleman in the other.
The carriages had got themselves turned round and trotted to the correct location they had aimed for the first time.
The fair-haired gentleman was on the ground first, but he was quickly followed by the dark-haired gentleman.
The dark-haired gentleman was rather spectacular.
He had the look of a real Corinthian, and she must suppose he was forever off to a boxing match and grabbing his sword for a visit from his fencing master.
“Welcome, gentlemen. We did wonder if you would come together. I suppose you’ve been racing at breakneck speed across all of England. Now,” Lord Smythesdon said, “you must tell us who is who.”
“Richard Whiting, Viscount Burkhart, son of the Earl of Westport,” the dark-haired gentleman said.
“Edmund Lelander, son of Viscount Pepperdon,” the fair-haired gentleman said.
For some reason, the two gentlemen took that moment to glare at one another.
It was very odd, but Pansy presumed they’d had some bet between them regarding who would arrive first at the top of the drive.
Gentlemen could be very competitive, and they did not like to lose.
At least, that was what she had clearly observed at Lily’s house party.
Mr. Brummel had said some gentlemen perceived a loss as akin to a shame that stained their very souls.
The family had been crowded on the step to avoid being run down by the two carriages. Poppy had been standing behind Pansy. Pansy stepped down to the drive to make room for her sister.
Both gentlemen stared as if they’d seen a ghost.
“Hah!” Lord Smythesdon said, “I note your surprise. Yes, they are twins. Miss Poppy and Miss Pansy. You will know them by their beauty spots—the right cheek on Poppy and the left on Pansy.”
Both sisters curtsied to the gentlemen’s bows.
The rest of the introductions were made, including a very gracious welcome from the viscountess. As the horses, who were still huffing over their gallop up the drive, were led away, there was a sudden ding from the cowbell overhead.
As the family peered down the drive to see who was coming next, the cowbell traveled three stories down, quite unassisted, and landed on Lord Burkhart’s head. It then fell to the ground with a second ding.
Lord Burkhart had staggered the smallest bit. Pansy was frozen. What in the world were Bertie and Teddy doing up there?
“I’m sorry,” Teddy called down. “There was a struggle for the bell because we were supposed to take turns and Bertie wouldn’t let me.”
“Teddy dropped the bell,” Bertie said in answer to this charge.
“Are you quite all right, Lord Burkhart?” the viscountess asked. “I do apologize. Young boys…”
“Quite all right,” Lord Burkhart said. Though, Pansy did not know how he could be quite all right. A blow of that sort might have felled another man. She was rather certain it would have felled Mr. Lelander.
Mr. Lelander was just now smiling up at those two boys on the balcony. She supposed he was still put out that he’d lost the carriage race and was mollified to see Lord Burkhart clobbered by a cowbell.
Lord Burkhart dabbed at a small droplet of blood appearing on his forehead with a handkerchief pulled from his pocket.
“Oh dear,” the viscountess said. “I will call my housekeeper; she keeps the bandaging and such.”
“That is very kind but wholly unnecessary. It is just a scratch,” Lord Burkhart said.
He was so brave! It really was very admirable.
Lord Smythesdon took charge of Mr. Lelander. Lord Hemmings led in Lord Burkhart, apologizing for Bertie and Teddy and pointing out neither of them were his children.
Pansy and Poppy followed.
Poppy whispered, “The fair-haired?”
“Who?” Pansy asked, with a wink.
They went in arm and arm, quietly laughing.
It did not seem as if it had been difficult to sort out which sister found which gentleman handsome.
They really were so different looking and she and Poppy had different tastes.
Mr. Lelander was tall and rangy and had that casual elegance that Lord Knightswood had.
Pansy was sure it was very admirable. At least, she was sure Poppy would think so.
Lord Burkhart, on the other hand, was a beast of a man, which Pansy found far more admirable.
She could tell just by looking at him that he was very active.
That was all very genial, but of course they did not as yet know anything about the two gentlemen.
Would they end still liking the look of them?
Handsome was all well and good but Pansy had noticed that getting to know a person could change her perception of their looks.
If she liked a person, their looks seemed more pleasing than they initially had.
If she did not, she began to view them as very plain and dull.
She most definitely liked the looks of Lord Burkhart, but there must be far more than that.
They must have a meeting of the minds and then that something else that Daisy had often talked about.
That something else that caused a person to fall in love.
Daisy had entirely ignored Mr. Wendall when he had pretended at being the high and mighty marquess.
She’d gone straight for Lord Hemmings as he pretended to be Mr. Wendall, a baron with modest holdings.
It had been that something else that had steered her.
Pansy hoped their first impressions would hold and she would experience that “something else” Daisy recommended.
The tea service had already arrived to the drawing room. The viscountess also asked Smuckers to bring in decanters of claret as she was sure the gentlemen could use a restorative after their journey.
“Did you travel down together?” Pansy asked the two gentlemen.
Both gentlemen shook their heads rather vigorously, as if this was a highly questionable idea.
“I see,” she said, taking her tea from the viscountess. “I suppose you must see enough of one another at home. I understand your estates are quite nearby each other.”
“We rarely see one another,” Mr. Lelander said.
“Fortunately,” Lord Burkhart said.
“Goodness,” Pansy said. “I had supposed that you were so close by…”
“We are not from the same county,” Mr. Lelander said, sounding mortally offended.
“No?” Pansy said weakly.
“Are you not both from Yorkshire, though?” Poppy asked.
Both gentlemen looked full of consternation.
Mr. Lelander said, “Barrowford is located in Lancashire.”
Lord Burkhart dabbed another droplet of blood from his head and said, “Barnoldswick is proudly located in the county of Yorkshire.”
“Barrowford is just as proud to be located in Lancashire. I just did not see the need to point it out. By the by, Viscountess, I saw some lovely red roses around the front of the house.”
This seemed to strike Lord Burkhart like a dagger. He glanced at the windows as if red roses might force their way through and attack him.
“Good gracious,” Lord Smythesdon said with a short laugh, “we looked at a map, but I suppose we did not note it. We just assumed…”
Pansy was not at all clear on why it would matter that they were from different counties. The point was, their estates were very nearby one another. And why did Lord Burkhart look as if a reference to red roses was some kind of threat?
The next half hour was a mix of pleasantness and unpleasantness. Lord Burkhart and Mr. Lelander were exceeding courteous to Pansy and Poppy. To each other, though, was another tale. They seemed to actively dislike one another.
Finally, her mother decided to send the gentlemen above stairs, where perhaps they might regain whatever cordial relations could be between them.
“Gentlemen,” the viscountess said smoothly, “I am certain you wish to repair to your rooms to freshen. Your valets and trunks will have already been taken up and you will find supplies there for your use. Ring your bell if anything is lacking. Our gong for dinner rings once at five to change clothes, again at six to begin to gather in the drawing room, and a third at six-thirty to proceed into the dining room. In the meantime, consider the house and gardens as your own.”
The gentlemen rose and Pansy hoped they would recover their good spirits. Did that carriage race really set them against each other? If it had, it seemed rather silly and certainly they would not go on with it.
Perhaps it was because they lived so close to each other.
They would have known one another all their lives.
They might be very like brothers. Pansy had heard that two brothers could carry on to alarming degrees.
She had no personal experience of it, as they only had Henry.
Though, Bertie and Teddy had just been fighting over the cowbell hard enough to drop it, which rather supported the idea.
Whatever was the cause of their irritation with each other, Pansy was certain that a rest would bring back their good humor.
She would dine with Lord Burkhart this evening. How interesting.
At this point in his career, Smuckers ought to have been accustomed to viewing alarming circumstances when they were least expected.
There seemed to be something in the air at Chemsworth that invited in the mishaps.
At least he must assume so. He could not imagine that other butlers suffered through the sort of trials that he had.