The Pretenders (11 page)

He straightened away from me, and said briskly, “It’s time we were getting back to the house.”

I rose from the bench with alacrity. I wasn’t sure what had just taken place between Reeve and me, but it made me feel definitely uncomfortable. I looked up at him, but could read nothing in the shuttered gravity of his face.

I said lightly, “What about an early-morning ride out to Charles Island?”

“Fine.” He sounded preoccupied, as if he were thinking of something else. There was a line between his brows.

I walked beside him in silence until we reached the house, where we rejoined the others in the drawing room for tea.

THE FOLLOWING MORNING MRS. THORNTON, THE
rector’s wife, fell down her front stairs and broke her leg. This news produced immediate consternation at Wakefield Manor.

“Of course, I feel sorry for the poor woman,” Lord Bradford said in frustration, ”but now who is going to head up the summer fair?”

“Surely Mrs. Thornton didn’t undertake so massive an enterprise without help?” I asked in surprise.

Reeve and I had just come back from our ride to find Lord Bradford and Harry sitting over the breakfast table, conferring about what they obviously considered a minor catastrophe. Mama was sitting with them, having her usual frugal breakfast of toast and tea.

“She had help, of course, but she is the one who always pulled all the threads together.” Lord Bradford frowned. ”I do not see how we are going to manage without her.”

“The summer fair must go forward, Papa,” Harry said. The expression on his square, blunt-featured face was determined. ”The local people will feel cheated if it doesn’t.”

“I know that, Harry,” Lord Bradford said crossly.

Reeve finished helping himself to a huge plate of eggs and ham from the sideboard and came to join the rest of us at the table. With his perfectly chiseled features and tall, graceful body it didn’t seem possible that he could share the same blood as the other two men sitting there.

He asked, “When did this accident happen? We saw Mrs. Thornton only yesterday afternoon, and she was perfectly all right then.”

Lord Bradford puffed out his lips. “Apparently it happened early, as she was going out to her garden before breakfast. Dr. Calder stopped by half an hour ago to give me the bad news.”

Mama said, “Don’t any of the other ladies in the neighborhood assist in the preparation for this fair?”

I seconded her. “Yes, what about all those ladies we met yesterday?”

Harry pushed his plate away from him and looked at me. “You must understand, Deborah, that people like Lord Swale always hold a summer fete for their own servants and tenants. They will put in an obligatory appearance at the village summer fair, but they do not participate in putting it on.”

“
Noblesse oblige
,” I muttered nastily.

Mama shot me a reproving look. “So the bulk of the work is left to the rector’s wife,” she said.

Lord Bradford poured himself another cup of coffee. “Mrs. Thornton has always done a splendid job.”

He looked distinctly gloomy.

Reeve had been steadily eating his way through the food on his plate, seeming to pay no attention to what was being discussed. He had evidently heard something, however, for now he said, “Well, someone will just have to step in and take Mrs. Thornton’s place.”

“Easier said than done,” Lord Bradford said. ”There are certainly many capable women who work with Mrs. Thornton, but none of them would accept one of their own being put in authority over the rest of them. Mrs. Thornton is above them in class, and so they do not object to following her orders. But let me try to put Lizzie Melbourne or Mary Brownley in charge, and there will be a rebellion.”

Mama’s gentle voice said, “Cannot they all simply keep going on doing the jobs they have been doing for years without Mrs. Thornton to direct them?”

I shook my head decisively. “People are like horses, Mama. They must have a leader.”

Lord Bradford gave me an interested look. “You are right, Miss Woodly. They must.”

Mama said with a soft laugh. “Deborah and her horses.”

Lord Bradford looked at Mama’s plate. “Surely you are going to eat more than mat, Mrs. Woodly? Why, a cat couldn’t subsist on two pieces of toast and a cup of tea for breakfast”

He had noticed exactly how much Mama had eaten.

She gave him her lovely, serene smile. “I assure you, that is all I have eaten for breakfast for years, Lord Bradford, and I have not wasted away to nothing yet”

“Well, there certainly isn’t much of you,” Lord Bradford said gruffly.

I gave him a sharp look. It seemed to me that Reeve’s noxious cousin was entirely too interested in my mother.

Reeve finished chewing a slice of ham. “What precisely goes on at this fair, Bernard?”

“There is dancing on the green in town. There are jugglers for the children. There is an archery contest and a rowing contest, and this year I have arranged for an equestrian exhibition. There is a horse race out to Charles Island and back, in which most of the local gentry participate. There is a huge amount of food set up in tents on the turf near the village. There are traveling singers, and the youngsters play hide-and-seek and other games of that ilk.”

“It sounds like fun,” Reeve said.

I looked at him in surprise.

He went on easily, “I have an idea. Why doesn’t Deb visit Mrs. Thornton and find out all her secrets? Then Deb can run the fair in Mrs. Thornton’s place.”

I was stunned. I glared at him. How dare he volunteer me for such a task?

“Are you mad, Reeve?” I demanded. “1 don’t know any of these people! Nor have I ever attended this fair. I couldn’t possibly attempt to organize it“

“Your mother will help you.” He turned to Mama and gave her his most beguiling smile. “Won’t you, Mrs. Woodly?”

“I don’t know about that, Reeve,” Mama said worriedly. “Deborah is right. She and I are strangers here. Why should any of the local folk listen to us?”

“Because Deb is my fiancée, and I am Bernard’s cousin,” Reeve replied promptly. “And because they desperately want this fair to go forward.”

Lord Bradford gave me a dubious look. “I think you are asking too much of Miss Woodly, Reeve. As she
herself said, she has no knowledge of how things are run here.”

“She will find out from Mrs. Thornton,” Reeve said.

“Oh I will, will I?” I said sarcastically. ”And what about you, Reeve? Will you help as well?”

“Yes,” he said surprisingly, “I will.”

The shock of surprise that ran around the room kept us all silent.

“I like the idea of the horse race,” Reeve said blandly. ”It sounds like fun.”

I frowned, and repeated, “I cannot ask women I do not know to work for me.”

“Nonsense,” Reeve said. ”You’re a born general, Deb.”

I stared at him uncertainly.

He gave me an encouraging grin.

Just think how impressed Bernard will be if you pull this off.

I could read him like a book. He wanted me to do everything in my power to encourage Lord Bradford to hand over his money.

“Well…“ I said reluctantly. ”I suppose I could at least go to visit Mrs. Thornton and see if she thought such a plan was feasible.”

“You’re a great girl, Deb,” Reeve said.

I was starting to get a little sick of hearing those words.

I waited another day before I went to see Mrs. Thornton. After all, I thought, it was only fair to give the poor woman a chance to recover from her injuries. I did not want to admit to myself how daunting I found the thought of taking on the running of a fair that was apparently so important to hundreds of people.

Damn Reeve for getting me into this
, I thought. I didn’t know why I put up with him.

My interview with Mrs. Thornton did not go as badly as I had feared it might. She was delighted to have someone take charge of the affair, and after so many years of running it she was so well organized that it seemed all Mama and I were going to have to do were to act as the messengers to carry out Mrs. Thornton’s orders.

Even the ladies of the town were cordial when Mrs. Thornton called a meeting and introduced Mama and me. It was evident that everyone was anxious to see the affair come off, and they appeared perfectly amenable to taking suggestions from the Earl of Cambridge’s intended bride and her mother.

After the garden party, the next thing on Lord Bradford’s agenda to entertain Reeve and Mama and me was a dance. For this grand endeavor Lord Bradford had invited a larger assortment of guests than those who lived only within the immediate neighborhood In fact, a number of people would be coming from a great enough distance that it would require their staying overnight at Wakefield Manor.

Sally and Mary Ann were in a state of high excitement and could talk of nothing else. Neither of them had yet made their official comeouts into society, and a dance such as this one, where they could actually wear ball gowns, was an occasion of great magnitude in their lives.

Once again I felt the familiar qualm of conscience as Lord Bradford described his plans to us, and the girls chattered on with undisguised delight. Every day it seemed to me that Reeve and I were becoming more deeply entangled in this pretend engagement of ours. Every day it seemed as if it was going to be harder and harder to extricate ourselves from the web of our own making.

Then, on the day before the dance was due to be held, Robert came home.

I had been in the village, conferring with a group of ladies in regard to the entertainment for the fair. The day was hot, and I had chosen to drive Lord Bradford’s trap so that I could wear a lightweight dress instead of a riding jacket and boots. I was by myself, as Mama had gone to pay a neighborhood visit with Mrs. Norton.

When I returned to Wakefield Manor, I drove directly to the stables to leave off the trap and as I pulled into the cobble stoned stable yard a powerful-looking young man with light brown hair stepped out of the shadow of the redbrick stable building and into the sunlight He stood stock-still and watched me as I stopped my mare and waited for one of the grooms to come to her head.

I shook off a groom’s assistance and climbed down from the trap myself. When I turned, I was surprised to see the brown-haired stranger standing next to me. He stared into my face, and said in a hard voice, with a distinctly unpleasant edge, “So you are the girl who is engaged to my dear cousin, Reeve.”

I could feel hostility radiating out from him. Hostility, and something else I couldn’t name.

I knew immediately that this must be Robert.

I lifted my chin, and replied coolly, “Yes, I am Deborah Woodly.”

His eyes flicked over me, going from the top of my head to the tips of my feet. Hot color flushed into my face. I can honestly say that no man had ever looked at me like that before. I felt as if he had stripped me naked.

I wished that I were wearing my riding habit and not a thin muslin dress. I wished that I had a whip in my hand, so I could cut him across his outrageously rude face.

His eyes were blue-gray and not quite two inches above mine. I stared into them, and said in a frigid voice, “You must be Robert.”

He bared his teeth at me in a parody of a smile. “How clever of you, Deborah. I am indeed Reeve’s cousin, Robert.” He bowed and held out his arm. “May I escort you back to the house?”

“I am perfectly capable of walking without assistance, thank you,” I returned sharply. I didn’t want him to touch me.

He laughed. It was not a nice sound.

I decided instantly that he was, without a doubt, the most thoroughly unpleasant man I had ever met. No wonder Reeve couldn’t abide him.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t forbid him to walk beside me, and we began to go together along the path that led toward the house.

He stepped close to me and deliberately brushed his shoulder against mine.

I leaped away from him onto the grass verge and turned to give him a furious look.

He said, “I have been wondering why my beloved cousin decided to get married. I have always thought it would be many years before Reeve was ready to settle down.” Once more he stripped me naked with his look. “You’re a little skinny for my taste, but your eyes and hair are very good.”

I said through my teeth, “Look at me like that one more time, and I will hit you.”

I saw a spark of violence in his eyes, and immediately I regretted my words. “Try it, darling,” he said softly. “Please do try it.”