Chapter Ten
Having sent a footman with a calling card around to Fitz’s sister’s house to let her know they would be calling the following morning, Georgiana and Fitz, followed by a burly footman, walked round to see Mr. Wilkes in Lincoln’s Inn, Georgiana with a decided skip in her walk.
If this visit to Mr. Wilkes had not been so necessary, she would have insisted on avoiding it and going straight to the nearest Horse Repository.
Her feelings towards her new husband had taken a definite upswing since he’d declared his intention to take her to choose her own horses, and she held onto his arm as they walked with a sense of inner satisfaction.
Perhaps her precipitate marriage might have unexpected benefits.
Mr. Wilkes did his best to hide his surprise, and what was probably shock, but she could tell he was busily calculating what he could get away with revealing about her finances to someone he saw as a stranger and probably didn’t trust. No doubt Papa had left him detailed instructions about possible pitfalls, which would have definitely included fortune hunting army captains.
She was not a fool and had no illusions that her fortune had from the start been the driving force behind Fitz’s offer to marry her.
But…he was very handsome and could be quite charming, and he had said he’d take her to buy her own horses… So he couldn’t be that bad, could he?
Not that Mr. Wilkes was party to any of that.
Straight-faced, he forbore from asking any prying questions about her sudden decision to marry, but he must have been itching to know the details.
So she kept her hand tucked into Fitz’s arm whenever she could and bestowed sunny smiles on both him and Mr. Wilkes throughout their interview.
It was nothing to do with her solicitor what she did with her money, nor whom she married.
He could be as disapproving as he wanted, but she was determined not to care.
Although, had he known her secret, his disapproval would probably have reached gargantuan proportions.
Luckily, their business with him was, after his first astonished greeting of the new Mrs. Carlyon, short and to the point.
Fitz’s debts were not even discussed as she organized the settlement of a suitably large sum on him and informed Mr. Wilkes that her new husband was the grandson of a duke, no less.
The intimation being that he should stop looking so stern right now.
And then they took their leave of him.
Outside on the steps Georgiana gave in to laughter, something that made Fitz look down at her with one quizzically raised eyebrow. “I’m glad you found that whole meeting so amusing. I myself found it a tad awkward.”
She clapped her hand to her mouth but couldn’t help another giggle at his expression.
“Did you not see the expression on his face when I said I was married? He reminded me so much of Aunt Patience when she caught me sliding down the bannisters. I think they must be related!” Another burst of laughter escaped before she could prevent it.
His face softened into a smile. “You slid down the bannisters at your aunt’s house?”
She nodded. “On more than one occasion. And I sat on a tea tray and slid down the stairs with the boot boy. She didn’t know I did that though.
She’d have had a fit, but more at me associating with the boot boy, whose name was Fred, than at the activity, I think.
And she only caught me once on the bannisters. ”
That face. Now he was smiling and she could see how genuine his amusement was. She beamed at him, liking him more for not having been shocked at her behavior. “Did you never do that yourself?”
And now he did laugh. “On many occasions, but, as far as I know, my sister never did. And never with the boot boy. I had no idea it was a pastime girls participated in.”
She laughed again and leaned in a little closer, aware of a subtle scent of what must be gentleman’s cologne clinging to him and liking it. “And of course, I could not but help picture what poor old Mr. Wilkes’s face would have looked like had I told him the real reason behind my hasty marriage.”
She stopped, surprised at herself. That she could laugh at her predicament was new to her.
Alexander’s face took another step back in her memory to the point of being almost invisible.
Guilt swept over her to be brushed aside with gusto.
Her short and fateful liaison with that young man must be shut away and not thought of again.
She bestowed a wide smile on her husband. “And now take me to the horses! I only endured that meeting with Mr. Wilkes because I knew we had somewhere much more exciting to go to afterwards.”
His dark eyes twinkled at her in a most disturbing fashion, as though he were as excited as she was. The devilish look had vanished and left behind a face she couldn’t help but like. She smiled up at him and he smiled back down at her, for a moment holding her gaze.
Her heart did a little unexpected flip.
He turned away from her with a speed that spoke of wariness, and held his hand up to a passing hackney carriage. The driver pulled his horse to a halt and Fitz opened the door for her, holding out his hand to help her up.
She hesitated. That hint of camaraderie had dissolved and his face was back to its usual saturnine expression.
But she knew that behind it lurked a man with a devastatingly handsome smile.
Determination to prise out that smile again seized her.
She set her hand in his, looked him straight in the eye, and benefited him with her own most charming smile, holding a slight pause before she mounted the step.
The saturnine look faltered.
His hand was warm on hers.
She averted her gaze and stepped into the carriage.
Fitz, his cheeks unusually pink, turned to the driver. “Mr. Aldridge’s Repository, if you please.” And he got in.
The drive to the auction house did not take long for it was only situated in Upper St Martin’s Lane.
Georgiana knew of it, of course, because Papa had been there several times when he’d fancied new horses.
He’d been what he liked to refer to as a “horse fancier” since his boyhood and had owned not just carriage horses and the best riding horses in London, but also hunters at their country estate in Leicestershire, in the Quorn country.
But he’d never allowed Georgiana to ride to hounds.
“Not really a thing for a young lady, my dear,” he’d said to her every time she’d asked, and she’d gone away sorely disappointed.
However…now she had a husband of her own who seemed happy to allow her to have her own way over her horses…
perhaps following hounds would not be denied to her?
She’d cross that bridge when she came to it.
They alighted, after a silent journey as Georgiana was mulling over her thoughts and keeping them to herself, outside a building with a large, gated archway.
Georgiana stared up at it, for it bore no resemblance to what she’d been expecting, having about it a distinctly classical appearance.
This was reinforced upon entering by the plethora of pillars and even a rotunda that closely resembled some sort of Greek temple.
And lots of people. Well, men. Not a woman in sight.
As they were in the main gentlemen, or those aspiring to be thought so, they did not stare at her, but nevertheless, she felt the furtive glances of many pairs of eyes as she walked into their midst on Fitz’s arm.
Now she understood why Papa had refused to take her with him.
This was as bad as she imagined it might be had she decided to intrude upon White’s, that bastion of male exclusivity.
But she was made of stern stuff, and the disapproving glances of fellow customers were not about to put her off.
She lifted her chin and stepped out with determination.
Her money, and her horse sense, were as good or better than anyone’s.
Fitz’s free hand settled on hers where she was holding onto his arm, warm and reassuring.
“The horses for sale are in pens towards the rear. Come, we’ll go and examine them, shall we?
And decide which ones to bid on. There are bound to be some nags to beware of.
The sellers here are not all honest men.
” He chuckled. “In fact, I don’t think I’d be wrong if I said most of the sellers here are out to fleece the buyers. ”
She nodded, glad of his presence. Despite her own bravery she would not have liked to be here on her own and the recipient of all those sideways looks. Although he sounded as though he thought she would need advice on which horses to bid for. He’d soon find out he was wrong on that.
The strong odour of droppings and horse urine greeted her nostrils as they entered the pens.
But to her it was not in the least offensive, reminding her as it did of her youth in Leicestershire.
She inhaled deeply and for an instant was back there in the stables at Osbaston House helping to muck out her horse.
Something she’d enjoyed almost as much as riding it.
Had Aunt Patience got rid of all the horses there as well?
She and Fitz would have to go and find out, once they had carriage horses for the journey.
But knowing Aunt Patience, she probably had.
The old battle axe didn’t even keep a single horse of her own because she so rarely left her own house.
Georgiana renewed the vow she’d made long ago never to be like her aunt.
“You like this?” Fitz asked.
She peeped up at him from behind her bonnet.
He had the look on his face of someone who shared her liking for being this close to horses.
She nodded. “Yes I most certainly do. I’ve been too long away from horses.
Aunt Patience forbade me from even talking about them.
She said it wasn’t ladylike to speak of stables. ”