Chapter 6
When Cameron had awakened that morning, he’d been determined to seek out Lady Cora and become better acquainted with her.
“Why is that, sir, if I may be impertinent enough to inquire?” Carstairs had asked while helping him dress for the day.
Cameron still felt silly being fussed over in such a way, but he did his best to hide it.
The last time he had brought it up, Carstairs had been very obviously offended by the notion that as a valet, his duties were “silly” or superfluous in any way.
So Cameron stood still and endured it as best he could, even if it made him feel like some sort of spoiled child being doted on by an overanxious nursemaid.
“She seemed terribly distressed last night when she left the soiree,” Cameron told him. “Would it not be appropriate to check in on her and make sure all is well with her today?”
“No, sir, if you don’t mind my saying so. It most assuredly would not.”
The answer surprised Cameron. “Why not? Are members of polite society banned from expressing concern for each other, then?”
Carstairs let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, as a matter of fact, they are when they are strangers to each other. It would cause people to talk.”
“And what might it cause them to say?”
“That you are showing an undue and unsolicited interest in Lady Cora and that you are choosing to pursue it in a manner which goes against tradition.”
He considered this for a moment, then admitted, “Well, I do have an interest in her. I’d have been only too happy to express it through more conventional means last night if only she had remained a bit longer.”
“Now see here, sir!” Carstairs sounded as close to shocked as Cameron imagined a valet was allowed to. “It’s all well and good for you to confide in me, but you must know that you cannot simply go around confessing to such things openly!”
“Is it a crime to be straightforward about one’s intentions within the borders of London?” Cameron quipped.
“It may not be a crime in any legal sense, sir, but speaking strictly socially, it would be an unpardonable sin. A true gentleman is reserved with his intentions, especially as they relate to members of the weaker sex. It is a complicated and time-honored dance to court a noblewoman without offending or scandalizing her.”
“Am I to suppose, then, Carstairs, that such a dance would involve interacting with her at additional soirees and other such events?”
“That is a rather substantial element of the process, yes,” the valet affirmed.
“Then that might prove difficult, as I received the distinct impression she might eschew such parties having made such a poor showing during this one.”
“If that is the case,” Carstairs replied, “then so be it, and you shall have to seek a different lady to be the object of your matrimonial intentions.”
“Except that I have no desire to engage in such pursuits with anyone but her,” Cameron insisted firmly.
“Oh?” Carstairs raised an eyebrow. “And what, precisely, is it about her that has made you wish to court her to the utter exclusion of all others? From the sound of it, you did not have any opportunity to converse with her. For all you know, she might be just the same as all the others you’ve encountered. ”
Cameron hated to admit it, but it was a valid point. They hadn’t spoken. Indeed, they’d barely been in each other’s presence for more than a handful of moments. All he knew of her was what he’d learned from Lady Hepplewhite, and that hadn’t been much information at all.
Still, it had been enough to demonstrate to him that she was, like him, considered to be an outsider among these aristocrats.
That counted for a lot as far as he was concerned; it was something they shared, and he didn’t feel he shared much of anything else with anyone he’d encountered so far in London.
There was more to it as well, though. Something much harder to define. Something in her eyes that had seemed to call out to him.
Rather than speak all of that aloud, Cameron merely shrugged. “The heart wants what the heart wants, I suppose.”
“Sir,” the valet began, sounding as though he was about to attempt to explain a difficult concept to a particularly stupid child, “Lady Cora may be a lovely person. I would not know. I do know, however, that she is not the sort of woman your father sent you here to find. He has something else entirely in mind for you… A lady of impeccable breeding and sophistication, no doubt, who comes from a family of great legacy and influence, and who would bring these desirable traits into the arrangement to the benefit of your clan.”
“You may be correct,” Cameron allowed, “but he sent me here to find an English bride, and in the end, the decision regarding who that bride might be will fall to me. In my estimation, this Lady Cora seems entirely suitable—at first glance, at any rate—which has made me eager for a second one as soon as possible. So finish dressing me, Carstairs, so that I may embark upon my quest with no further delay!”
“And how, pray tell, do you intend to find her in a city of this size?” Carstairs asked mildly.
Cameron cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Er, well, I had hoped you might be able to tell me where she lives so that I may visit her.”
Carstairs winced. “I would refuse to share that information with you, sir, but for my concern that you would then go wandering about the city asking random passersby whether they might provide you with her address. Thus heaping additional shame onto an already substantial pile of it, I might add. With that in mind, I will write it down for you. All I ask is that in going to see her, you do your level best to remain restrained and circumspect in every particular. Your behavior will reflect not only on your father and your countrymen but on me as well, for all shall assume I instructed you unwisely in the ways of proper courtship, and then my own rather meticulously crafted reputation shall be forfeit.”
“I will do all I can to keep from unduly shaming you,” Cameron promised as solemnly as possible. “On that, you have my word.”
“The word of a Scotsman,” the valet muttered. “Delightful.”
Cameron had chosen to let that insult pass since he knew it was born from frustration on Carstairs’s part rather than any real malice.
“Now then,” Carstairs said as he handed over the slip of paper with the address neatly printed on it, “you must remain here while I hasten to Lady Cora’s home and inform her that you intend to pay her a visit.”
Cameron frowned. “Wait a moment. You mean to tell me that you intend to walk all the way over there and back again…just to let her know that I intend to walk over there afterward?”
“Certainly, sir.”
He laughed incredulously. “Does that not seem like a colossal waste of time and effort to you? Surely there are other duties you might attend to rather than engaging in such a ludicrous redundancy as that?”
Carstairs looked horrified. “This is the way things are done, sir! To call upon her without first letting her know you intend to… Why, it would be positively indecent!”
Cameron rolled his eyes. “Well, decent or not, I’ll have none of it. You remain here, and I shall be about my business for the day.”
“Sir, this is simply unacceptable!” Carstairs insisted. “You were sent here to learn English customs and—”
“No,” Cameron corrected him, “I was sent here to find an English bride. I have no need for English customs. I am a Scotsman and proud of it. I shall comport myself as such. What sense would it make for me to attempt to woo a woman out of falsehood? She should come to know me for who I am, else the entire endeavor shall be doomed.”
“And if you give offense? To her, or more importantly, to her family?”
“Then I shall beg their pardon and remind them that I am a foreigner, albeit a well-intentioned one.” Cameron gave him a boyish grin. “You really must learn to relax a bit, Carstairs! You act as though one misstep on my part will cause the entire bloody world to come to an end!”
Carstairs had relented at last, for what else could he do under the circumstances?
He could hardly truss Cameron up and keep him in the wine cellar until he learned to behave according to English custom (though Cameron got the distinct impression that if Carstairs could have done so, he would have without a moment’s hesitation).
Now he found himself standing in the drawing room of the Weatherington home and feeling decidedly uncomfortable under the scrutiny of her three visitors, not to mention her sister-in-law.
He’d hoped to speak with her privately (or at least as privately as propriety allowed, given that they were unmarried young people).
He hadn’t anticipated such a formidable audience, and now that he was faced with one, he found he was far less sure of himself than he’d been when he’d left his rented townhouse.
“Good heavens, you cut rather an imposing figure, Mister Wallace!” Serena tittered, surveying his broad and muscular frame. “Have you come to take Lady Cora in your arms again, as you did last night?”
Cameron’s throat suddenly seemed extremely dry.
“Lady Serena,” he greeted her uncomfortably.
“Lady Hester, Lady Agatha. I must confess, I did not expect to encounter you here this morning. And to your question, I did no such thing last night. I merely interceded to prevent her from hitting the floor, nothing more.”
“Ah, then perhaps you have come here seeking to rectify that lost opportunity,” Hester spoke up knowingly.
He had been in the presence of these three perfumed imbeciles for all of thirty seconds, and that already felt far too long for Cameron’s comfort.
“My business with Lady Cora is entirely my own,” he said a trifle sharply.
“Yes, speaking of imposing, we seem to be doing rather too good a job of that,” Matilda observed. “Come, ladies, let us leave them to their discussion, shall we?”
Before the three women could protest (and it certainly seemed as though they were about to do that very thing), Matilda managed to hustle them out of the drawing room, winking at Cora as she closed the door and left the two of them alone.
“What brings you here this morning, Mister Wallace?” Cora asked. Her tone was stiff and uncomfortable.
“You may call me Cameron, my lady, if you’ve a mind to,” he offered. “I had hoped you might consent to join me for a carriage ride tomorrow.”
She seemed surprised by that—almost startled, really.
“Why?”
He hadn’t been prepared for the question at all, and it threw him off his guard. “For the same reasons most fellows would invite young ladies to accompany them, I suppose. Because you are of interest to me, and I wish to become better acquainted.”
“How can I be of any interest to you? All you know of me is that I managed to make a spectacular fool of myself last night.”
Cameron thought it over for a moment, then shook his head.
“No, I know more than that. I also know that members of high society—like the ladies who have retired to the next room, for example—do not count you among their number. They show you scorn for no good reason and exclude you in all the ways that matter.”
Her eyes widened. “You are speaking rather blunt words to a stranger, are you not?”
“I am a blunt person, my lady, aye, that’s true,” he conceded. “I do not engage in the intricate deceptions and clever deflections which seem to be popular among the men of this city. I have no penchant for whimsical games. I prefer to speak my mind.”
“I suppose that’s rather refreshing, really,” she said quietly. “It’s a change from what I’m accustomed to, at any rate.”
“I, too, am not considered part of this group you and I find ourselves in,” Cameron continued.
“We have that in common. As such, I find it likely that you will not look down on me for not being accepted by them any more than I would look down on you for the same reason. Who better, then, to pass an afternoon with?”
She appeared to give the matter careful thought, then sighed. “Well, since it’s unlikely anyone else will be eager to extend such an invitation after last night’s spectacle, I must accept. Where shall we go?”
The question caught Cameron flat-footed, and he grinned sheepishly. “This is not my native city, my lady. Perhaps you might select a destination for us?”
She smiled. “Yes, I believe I can come up with something appropriate.”