The Husband List (28 page)

“I have to leave,” he said to his father. “Will you be okay here?”

“I’ve made it this far on my own,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll make it fine a few hours more.”

*   *   *

FOR CAROLINE, the very best thing about being in London wasn’t the fine architecture, the accents, or the sophistication of the city. It was knowing she would never be seated by Bremerton at a social function. As a lord and grandson of a duke, he was a distant face at the well-titled end of the table. Caroline sat with her kind—American heiresses and other such foreign riffraff.

Today’s large luncheon was hosted by Lady Reynolds, whom Caroline had never met before. Lady Reynolds’s silver hair stuck out from her head at all angles, and she had a fondness for white face powder. If Caroline hadn’t been feeling marginally charitable, she would have compared her hostess to a plaster death mask. She’d certainly given Caroline a cold, dead stare today. She’d announced that she had known Bremerton since he’d been a child and certainly hoped Caroline recognized the honor of being escorted by him. Luckily, life among the riffraff was proving far warmer.

“How was Newport?” asked Marjorie Smith, a fellow heiress whose mother had brought her from New York a year ago and refused to let her come home until she was wed. “I miss it so.”

“It was as lovely as ever,” Caroline said. “I hope to be back there soon.”

Marjorie looked at her speculatively. Or perhaps she was just squinting. Marjorie’s mother insisted she did not need spectacles. Marjorie’s unfortunate habit of striking up conversations with potted palms suggested otherwise. “But all the talk is about an impending engagement between you and Lord Bremerton.”

“The talk is very premature,” Caroline said. “We’re just getting to know each other. Had you met him before today? If you can share any stories, I’d be curious to hear them.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have anything to tell,” Marjorie said with a shake of her blond head. “He is quite handsome. I’m sure I’d recall meeting him, if I had.”

“And here I was certain that you knew everybody,” Caroline said. “I wonder how Bremerton never came onto the scene?”

“It is quite remarkable,” Marjorie replied as she took another look up the long table. “My mother and her friends make sure I have all the proper introductions. Maybe he’s considered improper? Wouldn’t that be dark and romantic?”

Caroline answered with a bland smile. If being bullied and subtly threatened was part and parcel of dark and romantic, she could do without it. Just then, Bremerton leaned forward and looked down the table at her. Caroline pretended interest in her overcooked squab.

“Excuse me, Miss Maxwell?”

Caroline looked over her shoulder to see a footman in the Reynolds’s forest green livery.

“Yes?”

“There is a messenger waiting for you in the front hall. It is of some urgency.”

“Thank you,” Caroline said. “I’ll be right there.”

She hoped it wasn’t Mama. This morning, Caroline had tried to talk to her calmly about Jack and what Amelia had said. Mama had taken to her bed complaining of chest pains, and Berta had sent for the doctor. After seeing Mama, the doctor had delivered a strong warning to Caroline to be sure that nobody overexcited her mother.

“If you’ll excuse me,” she said to her nearest fellow diners before following the servant. She could feel Bremerton’s gaze hard on her as she left the room, but she didn’t look his way.

Her shoes tapped a quick rhythm across the glossy oak of the hallway floor. She slowed, though, when she came to the black-and-white marble entryway. There stood Jack. He smiled. She smiled back. Enormously. Caroline thanked the footman, who retreated to the far end of the hall.

“How did you know I was here?” she asked Jack in a low voice.

“I had O’Toole slip over to your town house and get your weekly schedule from Annie.”

“Excellent job.”

“Thank you. I plan to work hard to live up to the honor of being your pink,” he replied with a teasing smile.

She winced. “I’m sorry. That was completely mortifying. You caught us at our worst.”

“That was nothing,” Jack said. “Wait until you catch my father when he’s in a mood.” He glanced toward the footman. “Can you make your excuses and leave? We need to talk.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Caroline returned to the dining room and apologized to Lady Reynolds, saying that she was needed at home. Bremerton offered to escort her, but Caroline quickly told him that her mother had sent a carriage. His response was cordial enough, but suspicion was obvious in his pale eyes. There would be repercussions for this escape, but she’d gladly pay the price.

In no time at all, she was outside with Jack. He ushered her into a waiting hansom cab, slid open the trap door in the cab’s roof, and gave their driver a Mayfair address. Jack and she sat close together on the cab’s single seat. No one on the street could see when Jack held her hand. His warmth worked its way up her arm and to her heart.

“Where are we going?” she asked as they pulled away from the curb and into the traffic.

“Not far. We’re going to have a visit with Flora,” Jack said.

“Flora is here?”

“Yes. She and my father both crossed on the
Lucania.
It seems we’re too interesting of a show not to follow.”

Caroline smiled. “I’m glad they’re here.”

“I’m glad Flora is, but the jury’s still out on Da,” Jack said. He flashed a quick smile that spoke of his love for his father. “I’ve been picking up some news on Bremerton and want to see if Flora might be able to help us.”

“I’m assuming the news isn’t all sunshine and joy,” Caroline said.

Jack gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “It’s nothing we can’t handle.”

She decided that, in this case, she was fine with delaying the inevitable and didn’t press for more. Her time was better spent simply holding Jack’s hand and enjoying the sunny day.

Just a few minutes later, they pulled off the busy main thoroughfare and onto a quieter, elegant residential street. The cab stopped in front of a redbrick town house that wasn’t the largest but was immaculately kept. Jack handed their fare up to the driver, who then opened the cab’s doors. Jack exited, helped Caroline down, and then up the steps to the town house’s main entrance. A black-suited butler opened the door, and soon they were on their way to Flora.

She rose as they entered the room and approached them, arms extended, in a cloud of ivory taffeta and violet perfume. “Caroline, how wonderful to see you.”

Caroline embraced her friend. “And you.”

Flora turned her attention to Jack. “You’re looking well, Jack. How’s your father?”

“Holding up the bar at the Savoy right now, I believe.”

She smiled. “He’ll be done with that by sundown and over here to give me a piece of his mind.” She looked at Caroline. “Jack’s father proposed marriage while we were aboard ship. Some nonsense about having the captain perform a ceremony so we could get it over with. It was the most unromantic proposal I’ve ever received, and I have received my share.”

“I’m sure he’s seeing the error of his ways by now,” Caroline replied.

“He’s long overdue,” Flora said. “But enough about Patrick. Welcome to my home, and, please, have a seat.”

Once they were settled, Jack in a jewel blue armchair and Caroline and Flora in a pair of matching floral ones, Jack spoke.

“So was Da the only one to cross paths with Bremerton on the way here, or did you, too?” he asked Flora.

“I saw your father with a gentleman who I was told was Bremerton, but I kept my distance. I had no idea what Patrick was up to, and I preferred to keep it that way.”

“A wise choice,” Jack said to Flora. To Caroline he said, “During the crossing, my father took it upon himself to try to wring some money and information from Bremerton. He got a gambling note that Bremerton will never pay up on and one odd statement that we need to pay some attention to. Has Bremerton ever mentioned being married before?”

“No, never,” Caroline replied. “He’s not exactly generous with personal information. The one time I tried to ask him anything, he scared me off the conversation.”

“Scared you, how?” Jack asked.

“It doesn’t really matter,” she said. “Now that he’s broken Eddie’s leg, we know to take him seriously.” She considered how to find what they needed. “If he were married, it would have to be in
Debrett’s.
The copy I was working from in Newport was outdated, but he hadn’t been wed as of 1890. I don’t suppose you have a more current copy here, Flora?”

“I won’t allow that odious book through the door.”

Caroline laughed. “I’d call that a prudent policy.”

“Do I want to know what
Debrett’s
is?” Jack asked.

“No,” the women replied in unison.

“I’ll have my governess, Peek, follow up on this,” Caroline said to Flora. “I’m sure she has a fresh copy already.”

“Also, if he was married, someone in that part of society would have to know about it,” Flora said. “I’ll do some asking through my friends.”

“While you’re at it, see if you can find out anything about his life in West Sussex. Rumor has it that his house is being stripped of valuables,” Jack said.

Caroline looked his way. “Your father certainly didn’t get that from him.”

“No, Peek provided the local gossip,” Jack said. “We know Bremerton’s a gambler, since he bit on Da’s nightly card game, but that doesn’t mean that’s where his money is going. The more details we can gather, the better.”

“Well, for a man with an ill father, he’s very social,” Caroline said. “In the day he was here before me, he managed to make a two-inch-thick stack of invitations appear at my house. I’m sure I’ll learn more as I attend all these functions.”

Jack looked at Caroline. “I need you to be careful when you deal with him. His exact words to my father were that he planned to do marriage correctly this time. He wasn’t going to tolerate manipulation or back talk.”

Flora looked at Caroline and shook her head. “Oh, my, he
has
picked the wrong woman, hasn’t he?”

*   *   *

AN HOUR and a half later, after some real lunch and more talk with Jack and Flora, Caroline returned to the Grosvenor Square house. Amelia was lurking in the front hallway.

“Where have you been?” she asked.

Though it was evidence of a character flaw, Caroline hadn’t yet fully forgiven her sister for last Friday’s drama. “At last count, I didn’t have to report to you.”

Amelia stopped Caroline as she tried to walk past. “You have good reason to be upset with me, but you have to trust me when I tell you that you don’t want to go upstairs. Mama is beside herself.”

“What this time?” Caroline asked. She didn’t want to be insensitive about her mother’s health, but she suspected that the woman was going to outlive them all.

“Lord Bremerton is in the parlor. Helen is currently entertaining him. I ran out of things to say, and he’s saying as little as possible.”

Caroline blew out a sigh. She’d been expecting to pay for escaping Lady Reynolds’s, but not on the same day. She thanked her sister, stood taller, and went to face the Englishman.

“I’m relieved to see that you’re well,” Bremerton said as soon as she’d walked in the parlor door. “Your family has been alarmed.”

“I’m fine,” she said to him, and then told Helen she was free to leave.

“If you’re sure?” Helen asked.

Caroline nodded, and Helen departed, but not without a few looks over her shoulder. She also left the parlor door open. Caroline appreciated the thought.

She went to stand in front of the sofa upon which Bremerton sat. She’d noted that he hadn’t risen when she’d entered the room. That, she supposed, was to express his extreme vexation. He had forgotten that she did not particularly care whether he was vexed.

“I’m surprised to find you here, Lord Bremerton,” she said.

“Not half as surprised as I, to find that you were not.”

He’d delivered the words in a silkily smooth voice that made her pulse jump more than if he’d expressed anger.

“I had some personal matters that I needed to attend to,” she replied.

“Yes, I saw the Irishman with you outside Lady Reynolds’s. I’d say they were some very personal matters, indeed.”

Caroline worked to keep a calm demeanor. “We aren’t engaged. There’s no understanding between us at all. I am free to see my friends and conduct my relationships as I see fit.”

He rose. “Let’s not make a mistake regarding where we stand, Caroline. I have spoken to your father and obtained his consent to a marriage. All I have yet to do is propose to you.”

Before she could even draw a breath to respond, his hand snaked out and wrapped around her wrist. She refused to give weight to his behavior by fighting back, so she let her arm go limp.

“I would ask if he took you to his suite at the Savoy, except I know he did not,” Bremerton said in a perfectly calm voice. “You visited with a Mrs. Flora Willoughby, I’m told.”

“You’re having me followed?”

“I’m merely looking out for your safety as you visit your future homeland.”

“Your consideration is unnecessary,” she said.

“But it’s quite necessary.” He pulled her closer. She thought he was about to kiss her, but he did not. Instead, he brought his mouth to her ear and said in a low voice, “I would be most upset to find you were no longer a virgin.”

Her breath caught in her throat as he pushed her away. She’d just regained her balance when he said, “I look forward to seeing you at the museum gala tonight.” He tilted his head and assessed her from head to toes. “Wear diamonds, Caroline.”

*   *   *

“I COULD set my watch by you, Patrick Culhane,” Flora said to herself that evening as she waited for Soames, her butler, to show Patrick into the front parlor. It was not quite five, and Patrick had apparently simmered as long as he could.

He entered the room, hat in hand, but with anything but a contrite look on his face. “I know I went about things wrong on the ship, Flora, but refusing to talk to me at all is like sending a man to the gallows for trespassing.”

“Good evening to you, too, Mister Culhane. May I offer you any refreshments?”