Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Caroline watched Lord Weatherby insinuate himself between her mother and Lord Alfred, offering Helena his assistance traversing a rocky bit of the path, and clenched her jaw in frustration.
Nothing had gone right that morning. The day had started with Caroline’s attempt to warn her mother off Lord Weatherby at breakfast while Helena loftily ignored Lord Alfred, the only other member of the party who had made it downstairs for the meal.
The act of ignoring her first love appeared to consume most of her mother’s energies, but when Caroline finally came right out and asked her if she’d considered whether Lord Weatherby might be interested in her fortune, Helena had turned on her.
In a voice loud enough to be heard by Lord Alfred eating kippers in solitary splendor at the other end of the long table, Helena had trumpeted that she was not one to hold a devoted suitor’s station in life against him!
Lord Alfred had winced down at his plate, to Helena’s evident satisfaction, and Caroline had groaned inwardly. She may as well have tripped Helena directly into Lord Weatherby’s money-grubbing grasp.
Of course when everyone began to trickle downstairs and Fitz suggested the picnic excursion through Swinley Forest as their day’s activity, Helena pronounced it a delightful idea and Lord Weatherby immediately expressed his intention of joining the party.
In fact, somewhat annoyingly, everyone but their still-sleeping hostess seemed willing to venture out into the woods.
The weather, at least, had cooperated, producing an unseasonably sunny sky swirled with wispy clouds.
The strong breeze that rustled through the bare branches brought quite a chill, but the party bundled up warm in their pelisses and greatcoats, tied their bonnets firmly under their chins, and sallied forth with much silliness and gaiety.
The bulk of the party fell behind quickly, unused to any walking more strenuous than a turn about the drawing room to show off their attire, but Caroline’s mother set a brisk pace, evidently invigorated by the exercise.
Lord Weatherby squired her, puffing only slightly, while Lord Alfred stalked along beside them, near but apart from their cozy twosome.
Caroline marched grimly behind, keeping a gimlet eye on Lord Weatherby.
“If you stare at him much longer, he’s going to transfer his fortune-hunting efforts from your mother to you,” Fitz murmured into her ear.
In Lady Rosalie’s absence, he’d unofficially assumed the role of host, making the rounds of the different guests and checking in with them; he’d been helping the stragglers at the back of the herd for the past fifteen minutes.
After one heated look passed between them when Fitz first wandered downstairs looking unfairly well rested and handsome—a look scorching enough to set Caroline’s cheeks aflame and her heart pounding uncomfortably in her breast—she had attempted to ignore him in favor of concentrating on her mother.
Now, hearing his low voice close enough to feel the warmth of his breath against her temple, Caroline had to forcibly suppress a sharp shiver of longing.
“I simply can’t think of a way to separate them,” Caroline fretted. “We don’t need any more obstacles!”
“I don’t know, I’m beginning to think an obstacle or two can have a salutary effect.
” Fitz gave a subtle nod in the direction of his father, who was trudging along the trail alone, hands clasped behind his back and shoulders tipped forward as though he carried a heavy burden.
“My father has never looked so miserable in his life; I can’t help but think it’s good for him to be told ‘no’ every once in a great while. ”
“I’m sure that’s true, but my aim is not the improvement of your father’s character!”
“Ah, but his suffering serves another purpose,” Fitz said softly, drawing her attention to her mother, walking just ahead and clinging to Lord Weatherby’s arm.
Mama was laughing at some quip Lord Weatherby had made, giving every appearance of enjoying and returning his attentions—but as Caroline watched, her mother’s gaze darted, in a flash, to Lord Alfred.
Caroline took in a swift breath, astonished she hadn’t seen it before. “She’s making him jealous. On purpose!”
“At last, something that shocks you.” Fitz grinned.
“But it is so unlike her. My parents were always forthright and open with one another, and with me. Perhaps it makes sense; we spent so much time with only one another for company, surrounded by people who spoke other languages and who knew we were only passing through as our explorations took us from one place to the next.”
“Well, your mother is back in the Ton where she grew up, and the old ways of making a gentleman dance to her tune seem to be returning to her. I, for one, applaud her efforts. My father is a great deal too accustomed to having it all his own way. Up until now, I’ve been the only one providing him with regular disappointments; I shall be glad of the help. ”
His tone was bright, easy, but there was a hint of that tension about his eyes that Caroline had noticed before when he spoke of the way his father saw him.
“You’ve said that you have no choice but to let your father have his own way, as you put it.
But why? Surely there are occupations available to younger sons that would grant you some form of independence. ”
“The church or the army?” Fitz grimaced.
“Not much of a choice, if you ask me. Buy a commission and be sent someplace hot where it would be my job to convince the people already living there that they’d be much happier letting us rule them?
And then to be expected to do what, exactly, if they quite understandably reject that premise?
No, thank you. As for the church, I can’t quite see myself mouthing platitudes from the pulpit, with my history of carousing and scandal.
Surely I would be risking a lightning strike or some other form of smiting. ”
When he put it like that, Caroline could see why he found himself unable to slip out from under his father’s thumb. “But are those truly the only two options?”
“The only two options suited to a reprobate like myself.” Fitz tilted his head back, letting the breeze ruffle through the dark, tousled curls under his tall beaver hat. “I’m not like you, sweet. What was it you said my sort lacks? Interest and initiative? I’m afraid that describes me to a tee.”
Caroline shot him a searching look. She didn’t believe that folderol for an instant. “There’s nothing you enjoy in life, that makes you happy?”
“Well, there is…” he drawled, glancing down at her with hooded eyes and a sensual twist to his lips. “But I shouldn’t speak of it in mixed company.”
Ignoring the heat that rose in her cheeks—and other places—Caroline pursued her point with dogged determination.
“Of course, fornicating and gambling and so on, most enjoyable, I’m sure.
But I’m speaking of true happiness, the kind that absorbs your mind and invigorates your spirit.
That makes you feel—at peace, I suppose, with yourself and the world and your place in it. ”
She halted, a little disconcerted by her own vehemence, and she could see by the widening of his gray eyes that Fitz was taken aback too. Silent for a moment, they walked side by side through the late winter woods, until finally he spoke quietly.
“Is that how you feel, when you are about your work? No wonder you want to get back to it. If I had anything that made me feel like that…well. I’d be willing to do a great deal worse than trap two mature adults into matrimony to have it.”
The wistful note in his voice made Caroline’s throat ache.
“What about nature?” she asked, gesturing at the forest around them. “When I see you here, in the woods, or riding your horse—anytime I’ve seen you outdoors, in fact, I have noted a certain ease and lightness to you that is not present in a drawing room.”
“I will never become accustomed to the way you do that,” Fitz said, admiration warming his tone.
“How you look at someone and know things about them! Marvelous. And you’re right, I do feel most…
myself, I suppose, when tramping through the countryside or jumping Arion over fallen trees and the odd burbling brook.
I’d always rather be out of doors. And of course it’s acceptable for the son of an earl to be an avid sportsman, to hunt and shoot and ride to the hounds and so forth.
But one cannot exactly make a career out of it. ”
It was so much the way Caroline felt, the need to get out from under a roof, away from the enclosing walls of a house and into the green, living world—her heart beat hard in utter sympathy with Fitz.
But before she could argue that there certainly were ways for a gentleman to gain his independence through a love of nature—her father had managed it, for one—a shocked laugh sounded from up ahead of them.
Glancing up, Caroline saw that Lord Weatherby had bent his head nearer to her mother’s and whispered something that was evidently naughty, as she now blushed and issued him a teasing rap of the handle of her parasol against his arm. This time she didn’t even glance at Lord Alfred.
Recalled to her purpose, Caroline ground her teeth. “We must find a way to remove Lord Weatherby from the equation.”
“I believe the others will be ready to stop for our picnic quite soon, there may be an opportunity then. But how to make him give up his perfect position for seducing your mother?”
“I suppose we could tell him Lady Rosalie is starting a high-stakes game of hazard in the drawing room.”