Amy Lake (15 page)

The marquess sighed. Then he nodded, and put his finger to her lips. “Don’t tell anyone,” he said.

The girl nodded, eyes wide.

“I want your mother to be the first to know.”

  * * * *

The day was sunny and reasonably warm for mid-October. The marquess felt that he could meet Fiona in the stables without benefit of the heavy wool Garrick overcoat that Edwina had managed to obtain for him, but on second thought he decided that if Mrs. Marwick felt the chill she might appreciate the additional warmth. So he had returned to his bedroom for the cloak, and happened to be looking out the window at the graveled lane which led to the cottage, when a coach drew up.

Mrs. Marwick seemed to entertain a great number of visitors, thought Colin. The coach was clearly hired, but rather fine for all that, and he watched curiously to see who would emerge.

’Twas a lady, and moreover—after a moment of confusion and disbelief—a lady he recognized. The marquess groaned out loud. He knew exactly who was to blame for this newest visitor, and wondered how long it had been since Eddie had sent a letter inviting his youngest sister Eleanor to Barley Mow, County Durham, to join the two Ashdown siblings already in residence at Tern’s Rest.

Chapter 26: Lady Eleanor

Fiona spent nearly an hour walking, and might have been gone longer if the tide had not been high, preventing any side expedition down to the rock pools. The knot in her stomach finally eased, and she began to think more rationally about where she and Madelaine would go once they were forced to leave Tern’s Rest.

Dee had again suggested marriage, an idea Mrs. Marwick dismissed. For all that she loved the doctor as a friend, she would not do that to him, or to herself. The thought of finding herself in the same bed with Deandros Fischer was . . . disturbing.

There were two or three small houses in the village itself that she could investigate. Mrs. Cadogan rented out rooms, although it would be horrible to remain nearby, in Barley Mow, with Wilfred Thaxton and his family living at in the cottage. Fiona sighed, unhappily, as she had not really thought of this before. She and Madelaine could scarce walk along the cliffs without seeing Tern’s Rest. And what if her cousin wished to maintain some family relationship? He might invite her as a guest into her own home!

That will never do, thought Mrs. Marwick. I must leave Barley Mow.

But Tern’s Rest and the village was all Maddie had ever known, and without Dee— No. She must stay here, thought Fiona. Whatever pain she felt at the sight of her home inhabited by strangers, ’twould be nothing against her daughter being wrenched from every familiar place and person in her life.

She must stay.

There was some relief at the decision—she would approach Mrs. Cadogan at once, at least as a provisional measure—but Fiona also felt the tears start again, which she refused to allow, as she was nearly back at the cottage.

And then she saw the coach.

No.
No
. Her stomach twisted, and for a moment she lost control. She turned and ran without quarter back down the path, away from Tern’s Rest. It was cold, and the path rough; reason quickly reasserted herself and she stopped, panting.

There was no help for it. And her daughter deserved her presence. A small voice tried to convince Mrs. Marwick that Lord Ashdown’s sister might have sent for the carriage, but the lady had said nothing of her plans this morning, and if Fiona could count on naught else, she could count on Edwina not bothering to mince words. If she intended to go somewhere in a coach that day—presumably on to Elswick Manor—she would have said so.

In short, one could hardly blame Mrs. Marwick for assuming that the carriage stopped in front of her cottage belonged to Wilfred Thaxton. And she hoped that Dr. Fischer and Lady Edwina had returned to the cottage, because she did not think she could bear to face her cousin’s presence without Dee’s support.

  * * * *

But ’twas not Deandros Fischer who waited for Mrs. Marwick at the door to the kitchen. The marquess stood there, and the expression on his face confused Fiona, being as it was a combination of vexation and laughter.

What on earth could be amusing him?

Maddie suddenly appeared at his lordship’s side. Her daughter was bouncing in excitement. “Mum! Mum! Guess what!”

 “Mrs. Marwick,” began Lord Ashdown, “I’m . . . well, I’m terribly sorry, is all I can say.”

She stared at both of them, speechless.

“I’m afraid you have another houseguest, and the fault is once again my own.”

Fiona still did not understand. How could Wilfred Thaxton’s presence be laid at the feet of the marquess?

“But in a way, I’m happy she’s here—”

She?

And then Fiona heard a woman’s voice, both familiar and not. It reminded her of Lady Edwina, but higher, and less clipped.

“Colin! Goodness, there you are! Have you found her?”

A young lady appeared, and although she was blonde and considerably shorter than Lady Edwina, the resemblance was there. Fiona knew immediately that it was another one of his lordship’s sisters, Eleanor or Evelyn.

“Mrs. Marwick, may I introduce my youngest sister, Lady Eleanor Ashdown? Ellie, this is Mrs. Marwick, our much put-upon hostess.”

“Oh! I’m so terribly glad to meet you, Colin has told me so much—”

How could that be? thought Fiona. I’ve only just taken a walk, I’ve hardly been gone an hour.

“—and I’m sorry to be such a bother, you know, but Eddie told me how lovely you’ve been and how you saved our brother’s life, and how grateful we all are, I can hardly describe it, if you hadn’t been there, I can scarce imagine what would have happened!”

“Eleanor,” came another feminine voice. “What an appalling coach.”

Dr. Fischer and Lady Edwina appeared from the direction of the stable, having only now completed their cliffside expedition.

“Eddie!” cried Lady Eleanor, and she ran to embrace her sister, who fended her off gently. “Yes, ’tis dreadful, isn’t it? I hired it, can you imagine! But Beckwith’s barouche is such a heavy thing, I always feel ever so sorry for the horses.”

Lord Beckwith was the third sister’s husband, as Fiona recalled.

Dee and Lady Edwina joined the group, and Lord Ashdown introduced the doctor.

“’Twas Dr. Fischer, I assure you,” added Fiona, “who—”

“Oh, yes! Of course—” Lady Eleanor turned to Dee, who looked nearly alarmed as she embraced him warmly. “Dr. Fischer, I cannot tell you how deeply we are in your debt. Eddie, can you believe—”

Lady Eleanor seemed to hardly draw breath as she spoke, and Mrs. Marwick glanced at Lord Ashdown. His expression was one of fond amusement, and he returned her glance with a wink. Fiona was just beginning to comprehend that Wilfred Thaxton was not, at that moment, at Tern’s Rest. Relief washed over her, and she smiled tentatively at Lord Ashdown’s sister, wondering what else the day would bring.

  * * * *

The two sisters sat together on the parlour sofa, with the marquess in an overstuffed chair to the side. Lady Eleanor was talking and laughing enough for all three.

 “Oh, goodness, you can just imagine Evie’s expression when she found out!”

Evie, Fiona decided, was their sister Evelyn.

“Cols, you’d think that you’d broken your leg exclusively to ruin her house party.”

“Wait,” Edwina interrupted. “What do you mean? You
told
her?”

“Well, of course I told her!” Lady Eleanor was apparently surprised that there would be any question of this.

Fiona saw Lord Ashdown and Lady Edwina exchange a dismayed glance.

“Ellie, I wrote you with specific instructions—”

“Oh, la, I didn’t read everything! I saw that Colin had broken his leg—you could have knocked me over, I can’t imagine how you did such a ridiculous thing—and I told Evie I’d need to leave immediately. Of course she wanted to know why.”

“Did you tell her
where
you were going?”

“Well, I got here, didn’t I? Really, Eddie, I can’t see why you’re fussing. Our brother was injured! I ought to be quite cross with you for not informing us immediately.”

“I informed you,” said Lady Edwina, “quite soon enough.”

“And you!” Eleanor now turned her attention to her brother. “I can see that you’re comfortable here, and it’s a darling cottage, of course,”—she directed a brilliant smile at Fiona—

“—quite lovely, but still, your family should have—”

“Ellie,” said Lord Ashdown.

Fiona had noticed that everyone around the marquess stopped whatever they were doing or saying when he used that tone of voice.

Lady Eleanor took a deep breath, but said nothing.

“Mrs. Marwick does not need to waste her time with the details of a family quarrel.”

“Oh! You’re quite right Cols, how thoughtless of me.” She sent Fiona another dazzling smile. “Mrs. Marwick, you must be dreadfully bored with all of us.”

Fiona wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Of . . . course not,” she ventured.

“Let’s get settled in,” said Edwina, standing up. “Ellie, I trust you haven’t brought more than a few dozen gowns.”

Fiona hoped that she was only speaking in jest.

“La! Of course not! I told Evelyn we’d all be returning on the morrow—or in a few days, you know. Lady Susan has been waiting at Elswick for ages, Colin, you must meet her as soon as you may, she’s ever so pretty!”

  * * * *

Eleanor’s arrival managed to turn the cottage upside down once again. She and Edwina would share a bedroom—Fiona had offered to have Madelaine move into her own room, but they would hear none of it—and Lady Eleanor’s chatter provided a the backdrop to the rest of the day. The youngest sister seemed oblivious to the effect generated by her announcement that Lady Susan was waiting for the marquess only thirty miles away, at Elswick Manor, and Fiona was grateful that Madelaine, at that moment, had been occupied outside with Hobbs, in the stables.

You must meet her, she’s ever so pretty.

Lady Susan, in Fiona’s imagination, was the most beautiful woman in all of England. She would be tall and willowy, with silver-blond hair showing nary a wisp out of place, and the wife of any lord’s dreams. Mrs. Marwick was quite sure that his lordship’s fiancée-to-be would never find smudges of flour on her nose, nor be required to wear an apron of any kind, ever.

Neither Lord Ashdown nor Lady Edwina said anything about leaving the next day, and Fiona began to be a bit annoyed. She was not running a wayside inn for the lords and ladies of the
ton
. ’Twould be best if they told her of their plans as soon as possible.

  * * * *

Lady Eleanor’s arrival had forced a postponement in any strategy that Lady Edwina and Dr. Fischer might have been considering with respect to Cousin Wilfred. They managed a short conversation that evening, sotto voce, while Ellie was regaling the other inhabitants of Tern’s Rest with stories of Lady Evelyn’s mealtime extravagance. The notion of a groaning board was more than idiom, it seemed, at Elswick Manor.

Dee and Eddie quietly agreed that the problem of Cousin Wilfred would have to wait while the problem of Lady Susan was sorted out.

“I imagine you will be leaving soon,” said the doctor.

Lady Edwina sighed. “I suppose we must put in an appearance at Elswick,” she told him, “since Ellie has been dropping hints right and left, and Lady Susan has traveled there on her own.” Edwina looked thoughtful. “I’ve entirely forgotten to ask how she managed that, by the way.”

“She was to have accompanied you?”

“Indeed. I left her to her own resources, I’m afraid, and with little explanation. But I rather thought she would turn up. An invitation to one of my sister’s parties is not an opportunity that any young woman of the
ton
would put to waste.”

Dee raised his eyebrows in question.

“As a marriage mart, not even the grandest London ball can compete with a month’s-long house party. I’m not surprised that Lady Susan contrived an appearance, even if she had to take the mail coach from Putney.”

  * * * *

Mrs. Marwick quickly discovered that the youngest Ashdown sister had no better idea of what one did in a kitchen than either of her siblings.

“Oh! I had no idea! And you say that one can make a soup of them?”

The young woman was not bird-witted, Fiona realized, or silly, but merely naïve, which was the natural result of a very sheltered life. And Lady Eleanor was as forthcoming and eager to please as Lady Edwina was aloof. She attempted to make friends with Maddie, but the girl—for some reason that her mother could not fathom—was shy with the youngest of the Ashdown siblings, where she had never seemed to be the least intimidated by the other two.

Perhaps it was Lady Eleanor’s rather startling tendency to attempt to embrace one at the slightest excuse.

Dee left on some errand of his own, but would return for dinner. Mrs. Marwick began to worry that even one of her soups would not be enough to feed the ever-growing crowd at Tern’s Rest, but in the meantime another basket of food arrived at the kitchen doorstep. Fiona, laughing despite herself, saw that Lord Ashdown’s latest gift was an enormous country ham.

Chapter 27: A Proposal of Marriage

Lord Ashdown, nervous but determined, did not have a chance to speak to Mrs. Marwick until late in the evening, when he prayed that she would feed the chickens herself, and alone. He went so far as to consider asking Ellie to keep Madelaine occupied, but in the event it was not necessary, as Dee began a game of three-handed loo with the girl and Lady Edwina.

Ellie watched the game, making excited comments and exclaiming over each player’s abilities. The marquess saw Fiona slip out with the pail of scraps, and decided to wait a few minutes before following. He felt certain—and his lordship was entirely correct in this—that she would not return immediately, but would remain in the stables to catch her breath, a retreat from the current crowd at Tern’s Rest.

Gods, if only Eleanor had not spoken so openly about his supposed fiancée! ’Twas bad enough that Mrs. Marwick had learned of Lady Susan’s existence from Edwina, earlier, but to be told that she was
waiting
for him, and was ‘ever so pretty’ was much worse. According to Eddie, who had managed a brief
tête-à-tête
with her sister, Lady Susan had been told nothing specific about the invitation to Evelyn’s houseparty, but had been given enough hints from Ellie—who talked a great deal—that the Earl of Winton’s daughter was anticipating considerably more than a quick glance from the Marquess of Carinbrooke. He could no longer avoid a trip to Elswick Manor, and the only question was how he would put the young lady’s budding expectations to rest. Should he have a private talk with her beforehand, or should he announce his engagement to Mrs. Marwick immediately? The former approach would be more personal, but by its very nature would assume a certain amount of hurt feelings on Lady Susan’s part; the latter would allow them to maintain a public stance of mutual unconcern.