Chapter Three #2
She hadn’t been made aware of anything, but that certainly wasn’t the butler’s fault.
It was her brother’s fault. Peter was not going to get away with this.
‘Of course you were, Mr Kent. Thank you.’ Turning about, she nodded towards Drake, who was still standing near the stairway.
‘My apologizes, Captain Taylor, but it appears—’
‘That we have both been duped,’ he interrupted.
‘Yes. Thank you, but I will not be needing an escort.’ That would teach them. She simply wouldn’t go to the ball.
He walked towards her. ‘Why not?’
She couldn’t tell him the real reason—that she liked him and shouldn’t. Therefore she just replied, ‘Because I’m not going.’
Stopping before her, he nodded.
While the rage still roiling inside her certainly didn’t lessen, she let out a great sigh, relieved that he was being so understanding.
Until he shook his head. Then her relief disappeared.
‘Why are going to let him win?’ he asked.
‘Let who win?’
‘Your brother. By not going, you’re going to let him win, just like you would have let him win the croquet game the other day.’
Flustered and angry, Meridith shook her head. ‘This is not some sort of game where you can clap and cheer, pretending to be having fun. We both know you didn’t want to play croquet any more than I did.’ He hadn’t said that yesterday, but she’d sensed it when they’d first been introduced.
‘And I don’t want to go to a ball hosted by the Baron and Baroness Montgomery any more than you do.’
‘Then why are you here?’
‘I was invited by your brother to attend the ball with your family during the garden party. An hour ago, I received a message from him stating that he and the duchess would be unable to escort you to the ball and asked if I would. I answered affirmatively. Therefore, here I am.’
‘Excuse me, Lady Meridith,’ Mr Kent said quietly.
She pivoted to face him.
With a slight nod, Mr Kent quietly informed her, ‘The duke received a message that Lady Diana needed an escort to the ball.’
Meridith felt her stomach sink, and her anger disperse. ‘Oh, thank you, Mr Kent.’
‘Yes, my lady,’ he replied.
His tone told her that he understood the situation that was rapidly becoming clear to her, too. Diana and Baroness Montgomery had been best friends since childhood, and her sister wouldn’t miss the ball. Not if she could help it.
Her husband, Walter, however, would think nothing of missing it. Think nothing of taking their only coach so Diana would need transportation and an escort.
Shame bubbled inside Meridith. Despite the anger she felt towards him, she knew that Peter was a dedicated brother, willing to do anything to help any of siblings.
He and Alena would have left upon receiving the message, because it would take them over an hour to get across London to Diana’s house and then to the Montgomerys’.
An hour ago, Meridith had still been dressing and having her hair done, transforming herself into a rosebush.
Though she would still prefer not to go to the ball, she accepted now that she had to. Diana had been looking forward to the entire family attending, and like it or not, she didn’t want to disappoint her sister.
Letting out another sigh, one filled with too many emotions to define, she turned about and faced Drake again. ‘My apologies, Captain Taylor. I fear I reacted without thinking. I would greatly appreciate an escort to the ball, if you are still willing to provide one.’
‘Of course,’ he replied.
Drake was surprised, confused, and concerned at the sudden change in Meridith when she’d been told that her sister needed transportation to the ball.
Every family had issues that they chose to keep within their private purview, his included.
Therefore, he should respect Meridith’s privacy and not question the change in her attitude.
Except for the fact that she’d assumed they’d been duped as quickly as he had, and he couldn’t help but wonder why. Still, he maintained silence on that topic as they left the house and entered his coach.
Her dress was very pretty, and she looked extraordinarily beautiful in it.
It seemed, however, to be constricting her ability to take anything except tiny steps.
Why women chose fashion over comfort was unfathomable to Drake, but he’d never claimed to understand women and wasn’t about to try to start, either.
He held Meridith’s hand as she stepped into the coach and waited as she positioned herself inside.
She perched almost sideways in the corner of the coach as if her dress made sitting normally difficult.
Again, choosing not to comment on any of that, he climbed in after her and sat on the bench across from her.
She was still fussing with her skirt, trying to get the yards of material out of the way of her feet, and he waited until she seemed to be settled before asking, ‘Ready?’
‘Yes, thank you.’
He used the cane leaning against his seat to tap on the roof, signalling they were set for departure to George Cartwright, his driver, butler, and all-around personal attendant as needed.
George and his wife, Agnes, had been taking care of Drake’s home and needs ever since he’d purchased the London house when he’d been eighteen.
By then, he was too used not living with his cousin to ever do so again.
George and Agnes were good people, and he was grateful to have them in his employ.
‘I do apologize for my outburst earlier,’ Meridith said.
‘It is I who must apologize,’ he replied.
‘I fear that I’d jumped to a conclusion before knowing the circumstances.
’ The conclusion had been that Chesterfield had been forcing the two of them to attend the ball together.
The man had said that he’d wanted to see his sister smile again.
Drake had been game for that, but nothing more.
Never anything more than that. Not with Lady Meridith or any other woman.
He was married to the sea and would be for life.
The last thing he needed, or ever would, was someone attempting to set him up with a potential wife.
He’d never let himself be tied down like that.
Not even by Coastal Shipping Line. That was why he needed a partner to take care of everything on the shore while he sailed the seas.
Any wife of his would be destined to be left at home each time he sailed.
A marriage such as that would be a failure right from the start, and Drake was committed to never failing.
Not when it came to delivering cargo, and not in any other aspect of his life.
‘As had I,’ Meridith said with a sigh.
‘What was that?’ he asked. ‘That you had concluded?’
‘That my brother was forcing you to escort me,’ she answered. ‘He tends to believe that I should be, well, seeking men who might be interested in marriage.’
Drake’s spine stiffened. ‘That wouldn’t be me. Your brother knows the reputations that ship captains have.’ Everyone knew that, so Drake quickly added, ‘And he knows that I’ll be heading out to sea again as soon as possible.’
‘He does?’
‘Yes, I told him so myself.’
‘When?’ she asked.
‘The day of the garden party.’
Her head tilted sideways, as in thought before she asked, ‘Before or after the croquet game?’
‘Afterwards,’ he replied.
‘Well then,’ she said, squirming slightly in her seat. ‘That’s good to know.’
It certainly was. He’d make sure to remind Chesterfield of it, too. If necessary.
Due to the way Meridith’s attitude had changed when the butler had mentioned her sister, he assumed they both had been wrong in their initial conclusions.
But it was all too easy for Drake to jump to the dimmest possible view of people’s actions.
Blame it on experience. His cousin Archibald was always finagling things.
Actually, he could be downright underhanded, and used to that, Drake had simply assumed that Chesterfield was, too.
That was why he’d told Meridith that by not going to the ball she would let her brother win.
Years ago, he’d learned that some people never played fair, and it didn’t do either party any good not to recognize that.
He had no doubt that Archibald was lurking behind the scenes right at this moment, probably trying to make a deal to sell the shipping company out from beneath him. He’d warned his cousin against doing so, but warnings had never meant much to Archibald.
A soft gasp drew his attention away from his own thoughts.
There was still enough daylight for him to notice the way Meridith was clutching the edge of bench with both hands as the coach rolled along the cobbled streets.
It was far from a smooth or gentle ride, despite George keeping the horses at a slow pace.
‘Is there something I can do to make the ride more comfortable for you?’ he asked, gesturing towards the bench seat.
‘Thank you, but no. I do hope that escorting me wasn’t too far out of your way.’
‘Not at all. My townhouse is but a short distance away. On Albany Street.’
‘That’s g— Oh!’ The coach bumped roughly, and Meridith cried out, then clamped her lips together, clutched the seat even harder. ‘I apologize,’ she said, with what sounded like a soft growl. ‘It’s difficult sitting properly when one is dressed as a rosebush.’
Puzzled, he asked, ‘A rosebush?’
‘Yes, that is what I look like. A rosebush, with a padded bustle that takes up most of the seat and threatens to send me onto the floor at every bump in the road! Before you question why I would wear something so cumbersome and uncomfortable, allow me to enlighten you. I simply didn’t have a choice.
My sister Janine had her seamstress make this gown, along with several others, for me to wear this season, and my sister Diana informed me that this was the gown I was to wear this evening. ’
‘Why do they not let you choose your own clothing?’