The Suitor List (4 page)

"But does he not love her?" Augusta could not imagine how he could dismiss his affection for his new fiancee so easily.

"That is what I've heard" Miriam leaned closer to her
cousin to whisper. "His family is in the suds and hers, although not titled, is very wealthy. You see, they complement one another very well. Some may have thought that
enough for a successful marriage-and for many it very
well would be"

Oh, dear. Perhaps Augusta did have much to learn.
She had always believed in friendship and mutual affection, the type of marriage her parents had.

Sir Warren Cantrell, whom Augusta had partnered in
her third set, approached with a strikingly handsome
gentleman. They stopped before her and bowed.

"Lady Augusta," Sir Warren greeted her. The gentleman accompanying him made a most impressive bow
from the waist.

His hair was the color of jet, his eyes a deep blue,
and his clothes fit to perfection, displaying his remarkable physique. He quite made the other men of her earlier acquaintance fade from her memory. No hint of a
smile played on his handsome countenance, but he continued to regard her in an enticing, somber manner.

"And before I make her known to you, Fieldstone"Sir Warren edged his companion aside with an elbow"I wish to claim Lady Augusta for our next set"

"You cannot dance with her again," Sir Warren's
companion objected.

Augusta had already allowed him a second set and
had just learned that it was wrong of her.

The gentleman moved forward. "And please show
some respect and not kick up dust"

Sir Warren was not to be dissuaded. His eyes brightened and he asked, "Perhaps you would care to join me
for a drive tomorrow afternoon? I have a spanking new
phaeton with a matched set of grays."

"Well, I am not quite sure . . "Augusta glanced about,
uncertain how she should answer. Perhaps if she were
to have some guidance....

"Arrive by three and she may accompany you," Mrs.
Parker interjected without missing a beat.

"Oh, splendid! I shall see you at three!" Sir Warren
in his highly excitable state dashed off.

"Cantrell, old man!" The dark-haired stranger raised
his hand and called after him without success.

"Your lordship," Mrs. Parker interrupted. "If I might
make my niece known to you"

"I would be most appreciative, ma'am. I thank you"
He appeared as if he had forgotten all about Sir Warren
and his nonexistent introduction.

Augusta had not taken her gaze from this gentleman
since his first word and allowed herself to look up at him
more directly.

"Augusta, may I present"-Mrs. Parker receded, allowing them to address one another-"Viscount Fieldstone."

How noble and handsome Lord Fieldstone was! It
seemed to Augusta his expression of interest mirrored
her own.

"How do you do?" Lord Fieldstone said in a wonderfully sonorous voice.

She extended her gloved hand and allowed her fingertips to rest upon his as she dipped into a curtsy. The
momentary silence that rested between them was enough
to allow each to draw a slow, single breath.

"May I assume, since Sir Warren is unable to partake
of his second dance, it is available?" He leaned toward
her as if anticipating a positive response.

"You may, my lord." Augusta could not help but dimple up at him. Oh, she did feel foolish for behaving so
missishly, all giggles and smiles.

"I must thank Sir Warren for my good fortune."

"You were my champion, convincing him not to
cause a scandal this very evening, were you not?"

"I can see why he might press you to step beyond propriety." Lord Fieldstone openly admired her hair, her
dress, then finally her gloved hand, which he continued
to hold in his. His face remained unexpressive and his
lips never hinted of a smile. "Nor can I disapprove of
you for not dancing a second set with him."

"And on my very first evening out. I do have my reputation to consider."

"See there-" He indicated the dance floor, where
guests began to line up for the next dance. "Shall we
join them?" Lord Fieldstone offered his arm and they
headed toward the other guests gathering for the next
set.

"Viscount Fieldstone ... ," Lady Mary Kimball whispered to her younger sister Penny. "That would be a most
advantageous match. It is a shame that our dear Sarah is not here to see her eldest daughter make such a successful splash."

"Augusta reminds me very much of our sister Sarah. I
think she would have been most pleased, Mary," Penny
agreed. "They make a most handsome couple, do they
not?"

"They certainly do. However, Gusta has only just arrived. We have until next week to see what becomes of
them," Mary, who Penny always believed knew best,
mused. "Nothing, no one, will ever replace her mother,
but her aunts will make certain Augusta finds happiness"

Penelope Parker sat in the breakfast room of Worth
House enjoying a cup of tea. She could not have been
more pleased with her niece's first evening out. What
more could Augusta wish for than capturing the attention of every young man in attendance?

A disturbance from the corridor brought Penny to her
feet. There would be visitors, to be sure. She had expected there would be some unconventional callers in
the days to come ... but she hadn't counted on ones arriving so early.

Penny headed toward the foyer to see who had arrived.
Three young ladies had come to call. Her niece Miriam
led the way, followed by her friend Miss Elizabeth Randolph and Augusta's friend Miss Emily Wilbanks.

"Are we too early for a visit?" Miss Randolph appeared uncertain of the etiquette of their impromptu visit.

"Good morning, Mrs. Parker." Emily, who looked
very chipper for this hour, was the last to step inside.

The young Miss Wilbanks, whom Penny had watched mature alongside her sister Sarah's daughters, may not
have had the benefit of social connections that position
and rank brought, but she came from a well-established
family and had a fine education.

"Good day, Aunt Penny" Miriam strode past the butler, Ralston, and untied her bonnet, making it apparent
she intended to remain for quite some time. "I told you
we would be welcome anytime, Lizzie, you goose"

Penny added, to her previous thoughts, that sometimes Emily behaved better than her own relatives.
"Keeping country hours, are you?" she teased, knowing
very well Augusta's best friend wanted to hear news of
Almack's since she could not attend.

"Look at all these flowers!" Emily exclaimed, glancing about but coming to settle on a card protruding from
a bunch of violets.

"Lady Augusta could not have danced with this many
men," Lizzie, who had also not attended Almack's the
previous evening, commented, sounding wary.

"She did make the acquaintance of many more gentlemen than she shared dances" Miriam handed her bonnet
to Penny, as free space on the table was nonexistent.

"Do you mean to tell me that some men sent tributes
without the benefit of a dance?" Emily remarked, quite
shocked at the very idea.

"It must be so. How else can you account for such a
display?" Miriam gestured to the collection of flowers
lining every flat surface in the marble entryway and extending into the front cerulean blue parlor.

"If you young ladies would wait for Augusta in the
breakfast room. She has not yet come belowstairs but
I expect her soon" Penny led the way. Once they had arrived, she motioned to the sideboard. "Please help
yourselves-tea, chocolate, coffee, if you like."

"Thank you" Emily poured herself tea.

"I daresay callers will be arriving in a few hours'
time," Lizzie voiced, sounding excited.

"Gusta had best be ready for the day." Emily moved
around the breakfast table and seated herself.

"And she is to go out for a drive at three," Miriam informed her, "with Sir Warren."

"Cantrell?" Emily guessed hopefully and then sighed,
perhaps a bit envious of her best friend's success. "What
a wonderful evening Gusta must have had!"

"One might have thought such, but I believe she was
determined not to enjoy herself when she arrived."
Miriam poured a cup of chocolate for Lizzie, then herself.

"Fustian!" Lizzie cried. "It was her first assembly."

"And was it not Almack's?" Emily tilted her head as
if she wondered that she had somehow misunderstood.

Penny knew Emily did not need to attend to know her
friend's mind. Those two understood one another very
well.

"Our dear Gusta did not want for partners-there was
a line of men just waiting to have a chance." Miriam
punctuated her words with a significant nod of her head.
"You should have seen them, Em. All of them lined up
for Gusta's attention, all of them clamoring to be the first
to partner her. I believe she must have crushed the hopes
of no less than three dozen gentlemen last night."

"Good gracious, Miriam-honestly," Augusta snapped
from the doorway.

"Good morning, Gusta," Emily greeted cheerfully.

"It is very nice to see you, Em," Augusta acknowledged. "I suggest you only listen to half of what my
cousin says and ignore the other half"

Miriam huffed. "I beg you to speak to my aunt. She
was there and saw what truly happened."

"I shall leave you girls to your gossip." Aunt Penny
diplomatically avoided the conversation, as she was
known to do in the Faraday household. "I'm going to
take the carriage to call on your mother, Miriam, to see if
she could use any help for her party this evening."

A ball, given in Augusta's honor by her aunt Mary,
had been planned many weeks ago, as it was known the
Season would be over soon.

"Please tell her I am looking forward to this evening." Augusta stepped into the room.

"Certainly, my dear." Aunt Penny made her exit.

The four girls waited patiently until they were certain
Mrs. Parker was well out of hearing range before continuing their discussion.

"I had a splendid time," Augusta stated, directly to
Emily, "and there were exactly the number of gentlemen I needed to dance every set and no more than that."

"I am quite sure that long before you made the acquaintance of Lord Fieldstone, you must have decided
all was going quite well" Lizzie said, and then added,
"I certainly would have"

"I believe it must have begun, if I am not mistaken,
with Sir Albert's insistence that he claim your first
dance" Miriam lifted her cup and saucer from the table.
"There was some heated discussion among the young
bloods"

Augusta faced the sideboard and groaned with exasperation. Why did Miriam feel the need to overexaggerate at every occasion?

"One's opinion of any gathering always improves
when there are gentlemen battling over you," Miriam declared over the rim of her cup. "However, Sir Albert
managed to prevail!"

"Is that why Sir Albert Stephenson has begged off?"
Lizzie leaned forward, nearly spilling her chocolate.

"He's broken his engagement to Miss Leigh? The
scoundrel!" Emily remarked with her eyes wide with
outrage.

"I told you not to dance with him!" Miriam scolded
Augusta and then turned to face her friend. "Pray, how
do you know this?"

"I have had it from my abigail Marybelle," Lizzie
replied.

"So that bit of news must be true if you got it from
your lady's maid." Augusta would not allow herself to be
manipulated by servants' gossip. She poured a portion of
milk into a Meissen china cup before dispensing her tea.

"It's not just the servants, Augusta. I heard Mama tell
Papa the very same this morning before I left" Lizzie
steadied her cup and its contents.

"And where do you think your mother got her information?" Augusta asked her, all the while knowing what
the answer would be.

Lizzie blinked and twirled a strand of her hair around
her finger, considering the question. "I don't know exactly. I suppose she must have heard it or been told by
one of the ... servants"

"You see" Augusta leveled a stern look at the trio. "It
is just as I said. Until we hear from Miss Leigh or her
family we cannot assume this hearsay is true"

"That is not the way things are done in Town, Gusta!"
Miriam reprimanded her cousin in a tone that told her
she was being childish. Augusta somehow endured
Miriam's need to play a maternal role to her younger
cousin of only two months.

"Do you mean to tell me that we are to believe every
servant's tale?" Augusta furrowed her brows at Miriam,
who looked quite taken aback. "Is that how we go
about-believing every thread of gossip?"

"It is knowledge to forewarn us. We do not wish to appear foolish, do we?" she returned with equal temper.
"To not know what is going on about us is far worse than
having to pretend we do not know."

Augusta turned to catch Emily's and Lizzie's reaction to Miriam's pronouncement.

"I consider Sir Albert completely unsuitable. I shan't
receive him." Augusta pushed a bouquet of flowers aside,
refusing to acknowledge their presence, as if they embodied Sir Albert himself. "He will be barred from entering
the house should he dare to call."