Nicola Cornick (3 page)

Lady St Auby was in a quandary. She had no wish to offend any friend of Viscount Mundell, even though it meant missing the opportunity to rail at Annabella for flirting with another man. She forced out a chilly smile.

‘Indeed, sir! I should hope so too! Nothing
abroad
—’ she invested the word with heavy scorn ‘—can stand comparison! The French are intemperate, the Russians uncivilised—although I did hear that the Czar is a charming man—and as for the Indies…’ Lady St Auby paused and took a deep breath. ‘Barbarous! But I believe you said you are a naval man? That would account for your sojourn in such a place, I suppose!’ Her tone implied that Sir William’s service in His Majesty’s fleet was nothing to be proud of and her sharp gaze appraised him for signs that the wind and weather had coarsened his appearance. Sir William smiled back, not one whit discomposed.

‘Just so, ma’am! I served during the recent American Wars, but am returned home now that the conflict is over.’

Lady St Auby sniffed. She was not conversant with Anglo-American diplomatic relations, but she knew a race of ungrateful upstarts when she heard of them. ‘Those jumped-up Yankees! I trust our own fleet put them properly in their place, sir!’

‘Indeed not, ma’am!’ Sir William’s smile was rueful. He looked as though he was enjoying himself immensely, Annabella thought. ‘It grieves me to relate that the fledgling American navy has ships far faster than anything in His Majesty’s service!’

‘The
Constitution
is one of theirs, is it not?’ Annabella said, suddenly. ‘I read that it is a faster build
of frigate than those in our own navy.’ She saw Sir William’s quizzical gaze upon her and flushed a little. ‘I read about it in
The Times
,’ she added apologetically, ‘after the
Guerrière
was sunk by the Americans.’

‘Most unsuitable,’ Lady St Auby said frostily.

‘Most commendable, ma’am,’ Sir William said, blandly. ‘An informed mind can never be anything but laudable.’

Lady St Auby glared at him.

‘I see trouble for Britain from those big frigates from across the sea,’ Sir William continued softly. Lady St Auby snorted again, glad to have the opportunity to take him to task.

‘You are most unpatriotic, sir!’ she declared. ‘One imagines that our dear, dead Lord Nelson might have more faith in his own navy than you appear to do!’

There was a pregnant pause.

‘It was Lord Nelson himself who said those words, ma’am,’ Sir William said, gently. Annabella giggled, quite unable to help herself.

It was perhaps fortunate that Viscount Mundell chose that moment to come upon them, for Lady St Auby was flushing as red as a turkeycock.

‘Boring the ladies with your naval tales, Will?’ Mundell asked, in his lazy drawl.

Sir William grinned. ‘As you see, Hugo! It is a bad habit of seafarers!’

‘Then I shall feel no compunction in taking Mrs St Auby away to dance,’ Mundell returned, with a smile for Annabella. ‘Will you do me the honour, ma’am?’

And Annabella found herself swept into the set with
a sudden conviction that life was taking a most unexpected turn.

Once Annabella was over her initial surprise, she found dancing with the Viscount to be an entirely pleasant experience, for he was so exceptionally good that he made the whole process seem quite effortless. She soon discovered that her dance steps, though rusty, came back to her easily enough and she acquitted herself well.

‘Bravo, ma’am!’ Mundell said at the end, when Annabella’s cheeks were pink and her eyes bright with the exertion. ‘You see how good it can be for you to escape from that monster of a mother-in-law!’ He ignored Annabella’s half-hearted protest, taking her arm and steering her through the crowd to a quiet corner. ‘We had no idea that we should find you so in need of rescue!’

‘We, sir?’ Annabella said, confused.

‘Why, yes, my friends and I!’ Mundell smiled down at her. ‘Will Weston is a particular friend of your brother-in-law, James Mullineaux, you know, and when Lady Mullineaux heard that we were all to be staying at Mundell for a while, she asked that we see how you were going on! I understand that the two of you have not met for a time?’ Mundell raised an eyebrow. ‘She asked us especially to seek you out.’ He saw her astonishment and added kindly, ‘Lord and Lady Mullineaux would have been of the party were it not for the fact that they had no wish to be parted from Thomas and he is a little young to travel! But I know your sister is anxious to see you again!’

Annabella put her hand up to a head that was suddenly spinning. It seemed extraordinary that her own
thoughts about seeing Alicia again should be echoed so soon and in a totally unexpected way. And it was even more amazing that her sister, who had no good reason to think of her with anything but dislike, should apparently be willing to give her another chance. Yet surely the Viscount could not be mistaken. She looked up at Mundell, a mixture of hope and disbelief in her eyes.

‘Are you certain, sir? It seems most unlikely, if you will forgive me. Alicia and I…’ She struggled, not wishing to go into the complicated details.

Mundell smiled again and Annabella was astounded by such unlooked-for kindness from such a man. ‘Well, of course it is a matter for you to resolve with your sister, but I assure you that she is most concerned for the two of you to be friends!’

Annabella was struggling to assimilate all that she had so suddenly learned. Hope—real hope—had unexpectedly been put into her hands, and as she hesitated over it, Lady St Auby’s voice rang out across the Assembly Rooms with bell-like clarity.

‘…and of course, the Countess of Kilgaren is a
great
friend of Annabella’s sister,’ she was saying to a dowager in purple, ‘and James Mullineaux and Mundell move in the same set, so it is not surprising that he should take her up…’

‘Dear me,’ Mundell said, with a slight shudder, ‘what an overbearing woman! But I cut Will out just now for a dance with you,’ he added, smiling a little mockingly at her, ‘and at last I see him coming to redress the situation! Will!’ He hailed his friend. ‘It is unlike you to let me steal a march! I thought you were supposed to be a sound strategist!’

Sir William gave his boyish grin. ‘I was engaging the enemy,’ he said, with a nod in the direction of Lady St Auby. ‘But I won out in the end, Hugo, for this next is the waltz, is it not? You will grant me this dance, Mrs St Auby?’

Annabella was beginning to enjoy herself a great deal. Far from lacking excitement, the ball was proving to be the event of the Taunton social calendar! Not only was she buoyed up with the hope of seeing Alicia again, but she now had the inestimable pleasure of the two most attractive men in the room vying for her attention. ‘You do not take my acquiescence for granted, I hope, sir?’ she asked, with just a hint of challenge.

Sir William’s sleepy blue eyes widened slightly. ‘Upon my word, no, ma’am! It would be a foolish thing to underestimate one’s quarry! But on the other hand…’ his arm was already about her waist and he had somehow drawn her into the waltz ‘…it is equally foolish to risk opposition! Forgive me for my lack of grace,’ Sir William finished with mock apology. ‘I am but a simple sailor, after all!’

Annabella cast him a look from under her lashes. ‘Oh, no, sir, you are too hard on yourself! Scarcely
simple
, I feel!’ And she heard him laugh in response.

Circling the floor in Sir William’s arms was so exhilarating a feeling that Annabella was obliged to keep her gaze modestly lowered in order to prevent him from reading her mind. Just the proximity of his body made her feel quite light-headed and out of control. Francis had never inspired any feelings which could compare with this delightful but disturbing excitement.

‘When did you start to read
The Times
, ma’am?’ Sir William enquired, after one revolution of the floor.

Annabella almost jumped at the question. ‘Oh!’ She gathered her wits. ‘Your pardon, sir, I was woolgathering! My father used to take all the papers. I read them avidly, perhaps because I travelled so little myself, and I knew his ships went all over the world, so I used to imagine them sailing to all the places I read about.’

‘Yes, indeed, I came across some of Broseley’s ships when I was stationed in the Indies,’ Sir William said, and suddenly there was a certain grimness in his tone. Annabella felt herself blushing.

‘I know…’ She hesitated, constraint in her voice. ‘He trafficked in slaves and arms and other unpalatable goods…he was not a pleasant man.’

‘I imagine it must have been difficult for you…’ Sir William’s voice had softened as he looked down at her. Green eyes met blue for a moment. Annabella found herself on the verge of confiding. There was something about him that engendered a sense of kinship—that dangerous recognition again—and she knew it could be her undoing. After all, this man was a complete stranger. She knew nothing of him at all. She lowered her gaze.

‘Much of the time, my father was from home, sir. I scarce knew him well. Then I married…’ She shrugged a little uncomfortably, moving on quickly. ‘Though we still lived in the same vicinity, I saw even less of him then. And, of course, he died some two years ago.’

‘Broseley was expected to leave some considerable
fortune, was he not?’ Weston said thoughtfully. ‘It might have…eased…your current situation, ma’am.’

Again there was that insidious feeling of understanding, a closeness that was drawing Annabella towards disclosure. She had never had a confidant and the temptation was enormous. But it was too dangerous to allow herself to rely on Sir William. She steeled herself against him.

‘When my father died it would have been pleasant to be rich, I suppose, but not on the profits of such an ill-made fortune! But tell me a little of your own plans,’ she changed the subject with determination. ‘How will you spend your time now that you are home from the sea?’

Weston accepted this change of direction with easy grace, but not without giving her a searching look from those very blue eyes.

‘Oh, I intend to settle in the countryside,’ he said, with a smile, ‘and become a farmer. It sounds mundane, I know, but the delights of the capital hold little interest for me. I fear I ran through all the pleasures of the Town in my salad days!’

‘But do you feel you will be able to settle in one place for long?’ Annabella asked, genuinely interested. ‘After all, you have spent much time in travelling and must surely find the confines of one place a little restrictive?’

Sir William looked thoughtful. ‘I cannot deny that I shall always love the sea,’ he said slowly, ‘but I have my yacht if I take a fancy to go sailing again! Not so grand as the
Endeavour
, perhaps, but enough! And a man can tire of having no settled home!’

Annabella registered the reference to the yacht with
some surprise. There was nothing in Sir William’s attire to suggest a man of great consequence, and despite his title, she had assumed that he had earned a living from the navy rather than entering it by choice over necessity. But now that she considered him further, the signs were there. The black and white of his evening dress was almost austere, but nevertheless cut by a master. A diamond tiepin nestled in the snowy folds of his cravat, and there was a heavy gold signet ring on his right hand. Annabella suddenly felt self-conscious in her old clothes. How could she be mingling with this exotic crowd, with Weston, Mundell, and their friends? She was a provincial miss with no money and no town polish. She forgot her new-found confidence and shrank.

A slight frown entered Sir William’s eyes as he sensed her withdrawal. ‘Whatever can I have said, ma’am, to so disturb you? I can only apologise—’

Annabella shook her head slightly, confused by both his perception and her own reaction to him. It should not have mattered that she was so far beneath his interest, but yet it did. She was in terrible danger of allowing herself to believe she could enter this world of title and privilege and escape from the existence that Lady St Auby had made unbearable for her. But suppose she tried—and failed? If Alicia had no real interest in ending their estrangement, if Mundell had only been kind and would forget her the next day, if Will Weston was only amusing himself…Her fragile composure was suddenly at breaking point.

The music was ending and she was about to ask Sir William to escort her back to the St Aubys, when Lady Kilgaren came up to them. Annabella’s heart
sank even further. Caroline Kilgaren was reputed to be Alicia’s closest friend, and if anyone would know the sordid details of the breach between the two sisters, it would be she.

‘William, I have not had the chance to meet Mrs St Auby yet!’ Lady Kilgaren had a warm smile for Annabella and a beguiling look for Sir William. She was tiny, small and fair as a pocket goddess, and Annabella could not see how anyone could resist her. ‘Be a kind fellow and bring us both a glass of lemonade! Please!’ She saw his lips twitch and added, ‘And don’t hurry back!’

Sir William bowed with exaggerated deference and strolled off towards the refreshment room, stopping for a word with Viscount Mundell on the way. Caroline turned back to Annabella, her blue eyes sparkling.

‘Forgive me for interfering in that ill-bred way! The truth is that I wanted to meet you and I was afraid that you would be snapped up again by Lady St Auby before I had the chance! But now I see she is enjoying a coze with that evil old gossip Millicent Eddington-Buck, so we have a little time! Will you join me?’ She gestured towards two rout chairs stationed in an alcove to their left.