Chapter Fifteen
Middlesex
Felicia held a handkerchief and delicately blew her nose.
“Although your description of what occurred at Bess’s dinner party is disturbing, I don’t understand why we needed to leave London in such a rush.
We left Charles without a satisfactory explanation.
Your poor cousin must now find his way back to Middlesex on his own, and we are without an escort. ”
“Grandmama, I just couldn’t bear to delay. This Hammond character frightened me with his inappropriate behavior and his shouted threats. I thought it better to leave and wait for him to get over my rejection. This is a man we want nowhere near the baronetcy.”
That wasn’t the real reason. Winnie was not afraid of Hammond’s threats, not in the way he had intended.
But she was worried that Hammond would find out who she really was.
When he’d cornered her in the hallway, his eyes had seemed to bore into her head.
He’d looked at her as though he could see what she’d hidden from Society for the past year. That she was the Lace Bandit.
But her real reason was avoiding Lex. She’d developed deep feelings for him, and, fool that she was, she didn’t think ahead.
She hadn’t considered that marrying him would mean putting him in danger, for she could not tell him who she was and what she had done, holding up carriages at gunpoint on the various highways and roads to London.
Nor could she bear to have him think badly of her.
If only she had never gone to London. If only she had stood up to her grandmother and put off the dowager’s infernal quest to marry her off, she would have inherited her title in a matter of months, and then she could have quietly retired the Lace Bandit and gone on with her life.
“I agree completely, but Bess can and will handle this miscreant,” Grandmama said.
“She has dealt with his kind before and has many powerful connections to keep him in line. You need not fear his retribution for turning down his suit. Bess wields a great deal of power in London and can make it impossible for him to find a wife if he crosses her. I am sure he learned a lesson after taking a beating from the earl. Speaking of which, tell me more about the Earl of Capel, this knight who stood up for your honor? In my day, a man who fought for the woman he loved was considered a dashing gent, yet you seem vexed with him.”
“What is there to tell?”
Felicia’s probing gaze pierced through her deception, and it was all Winnie could do not to fidget in her seat. Her wizened grandmother brimmed with questions that Winnie wasn’t sure she could answer truthfully, and lying was an unsavory behavior that she abhorred sinking to.
“Is he handsome?”
“He is certainly not hard on the eyes.” Oh my, what an understatement, if ever there was one!
“And why did he choose to intercede? Is he interested in you?”
“I-I believe he is an impetuous sort of man, eager to right wrongs when he sees them.” Of course, he was not impetuous. He was an honorable man who’d fought for her honor. There was nothing impetuous about that. And he was far from being weak.
“As far as his interest in me…” Winnie’s gaze slid to the passing scenery as the carriage rolled along. “I suppose he may be interested, but I cannot speak to what is in his heart.”
Liar! You are shilly-shallying, and you know it.
Oh, Lord, what was she to do? She wanted to be with Lex more than she wanted her next breath. But she could not risk putting him in jeopardy, nor risk everything she’d worked so hard for in her quest to help the living conditions of the people in the rookeries.
“Then why in God’s name are we not in London, where the man can properly court you? I know he sent you at least two notes asking to meet with you.”
Winnie’s eyes widened. “How do you know that?”
“I know everything, my dear.”
Damn! Had her grandmother been born male, she likely could have become a top military general.
“He’s an earl and he’s handsome, which is one of the many attributes you listed to Bess,” Grandmama continued.
“My goodness, you even listed what color his eyes should be! Are his eyes blue, by the way? I think you quite firmly stipulated that his eye color had to be like a blue sky on a summer’s day,” she added in a wry tone.
Winnie heaved a deep sigh. “Yes, Grandmama, his eyes are just that shade of blue.”
“And I believe you mentioned he had to be very tall, broad shouldered, with dark, thick, wavy hair as well… Hmm?” Felicia added, waving her hand about her head.
“Er…yes…I don’t recall exactly everything I said…”
“Oh, yes, you do.”
Winnie bit her lip as her eyes strayed once more to the window.
“Well, well, well. You know, something tells me you already knew who the Earl of Capel was before we’d even met with Mrs. Dove-Lyon, given that your list of attributes described him to a T.”
Winnie cleared her throat and fussed with her gloves as she thought how best to lie to her grandmother.
Felicia let out a deep sigh. “My dear girl, you know that I only want what is best for you,” she said softly as she gently lifted Winnie’s chin so she could no longer avoid her shrewd gaze.
“Then please inform me of why on earth you are running from such a man who can fulfill my wishes to see you happily married?”
“Grandmama, he is titled, but he is destitute and looking for a wealthy wife to save his earldom.” Winnie didn’t truly care about that part. After all, she knew why many titled gentlemen sought out the matchmaking assistance of Mrs. Dove-Lyon.
“Is he the reason for the dire circumstance of his earldom? Is he a gambler?”
“No. The earl’s recently deceased father risked everything on the cards and lost. He left the estate in ruins, and now Lex…I mean Lord Capel, must save the earldom and secure his mother and sister’s future.”
“I find that commendable. How can you hold this against him? Edwina, I would never believe you to be so unkind. You will inherit enough money to save a hundred earldoms, let alone that of the man who could be the father of your future children. A man of character, I might add.”
Winnie took her grandmother’s hand. “Grandmama, I need some time to consider all of this. It will happen if the earl and I are meant to be.” Even as she said it, she was unsure whether it was true. Her heart was telling her to say yes, but her head was arguing something else entirely.
“Poppycock—what will he think when he finds that you have absconded from London without discussing this with him? He will think you are uninterested and possibly move on to greener pastures. At the very least, he will think you silly and without depth. That you are a woman whose emotions shift without reason, a woman who cannot be trusted and doesn’t have her feet firmly set on the ground.
You are taking a considerable risk of losing a chance at happiness, and for the life of me, I cannot figure out why. ”
It’s uncanny. How can she be so spot-on?
It’s as if she can read my mind. “I know how it must look to you, Grandmama. But I need some time to think. If his feelings are as deeply engaged as he conveyed to me, then I believe he will be patient.” That is a lie, because I did not even ask him to give me some time.
I just up and left the dinner party at the Lyon’s Den, and now I am returning home.
Winnie knew that her actions had no doubt insulted Lex and hurt him.
“A romantic notion…for a woman whose head is full of feathers. You have never been a foolish girl, Edwina. And I think there is something else at play here. I will write to Bess when we are home and ask for her advice on the matter. A fortnight at best is as long as I will be patient. If the earl has indeed moved on—and I would not blame him if he did—then we will return to London and resume our arrangement with Bess until she finds you a suitable match. I will discuss this no more with you. It is time to grow up, Edwina, and take your place in Society.”
Winnie swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked out the window.
If only it were as easy as that. The problem was that she had grown up, and her grown-up mind had conjured all sorts of disastrous circumstances that could befall Lex if their relationship were to progress.
And she could not and would not be the cause of his downfall.