The Wedding Affair (Rebel Hearts series Book 1) (22 page)

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I
n Sally’s opinion, Lord Ellicott’s mother was a puzzling woman. Not given to moving too often or too quickly and certainly not given to theatrics, she did not have much patience with explanations but required that she know everything. She had not much liking for talk of the navy either, which had been a frequent topic during her visit, and Sally hoped that despite their difference of interests they could become friends one day. And yet she felt as if each meeting was a battle. “More tea, Lady Ellicott?”

“I should think two cups are more than enough for the evening.”

Sally ignored the urge to agree and had a maid take Lady Ellicott’s cup away. She poured another for herself and her mother. “Will it rain tomorrow, Uncle George?”

He glanced down at his absent foot, lost when a dog had mauled him as a child. “No chance of rain, sadly. We will have clear skies for the next few days.”

“Wonderful.” Uncle George was never wrong about the weather, so Sally made up her mind to enjoy a few pleasant days out of doors while she could. “Might I take your girls for a picnic lunch tomorrow?”

“Indeed you might. Audrey was hoping to have gone out today, but you were occupied.”

She smiled, relieved that she would have family about her tomorrow and would not have to deal with Ellicott alone. Sally usually spent a number of hours with her younger cousins, but between her work and the Ellicott’s visit, and Felix, she had neglected them. “We might go to the lookout this time and take telescopes with us.”

“Are you hoping to see a battle underway?” Ellicott asked, his tone still as surly as it had been this morning. She had managed to spend the whole afternoon with her grandfather discussing the estate, and Ellicott was not pleased or the least bit understanding.

“Whales, we like to look for passing whales.” Sally sipped her tea and then fondly petted the cat perched on her knees. “Arturo might even come with us.”

Ellicott shook his head. “Take the cat walking?”

She scratched Arturo behind his ear until he purred loudly. “Have you ever tried to stop a cat going wherever it pleases?”

“That is what I keep dogs for,” Ellicott muttered angrily.

Sally gasped in shock. She glanced at Lady Ellicott, but her expression revealed none of Sally’s distress. “You would not.”

Ellicott glanced away as Louisa rushed over then and placed Arturo in a wicker basket. Her expression was horrified. “I will keep him now.”

Sally struggled with her temper as Louisa hurried from the room, then she turned on Ellicott. “I never thought you could be cruel to a lesser creature. Cat’s are harmless.”

When he shrugged, Sally stiffened. She had never imagined her future husband would be a danger to her cats. She had intended to take them with her to Shropshire, but that did not seem like a wise plan now given his attitude. She would have to leave them behind, along with so much more. Was starting a new life always so difficult, or was it simply that Sally had made a bad choice?

Perhaps there were many other things they should discuss before they wed? Such as what he had been doing in London and why he felt he could not explain his errand to her. Did he think her simple?

“That is a lovely color on you,” Lady Ellicott said suddenly, diverting her from quizzing Ellicott immediately. “You are always so elegant and stylish.”

Sally glanced toward Lady Ellicott and blinked at her interruption. She had worn a gown from last season tonight. Not her best or most elegant and certainly not worn to impress the Ellicotts, but one that felt right for the night. “Thank you. So are you. Is that another new gown?”

“Indeed it is. Four yards of lace in the skirt and pure silk all the way from Asia. Ellicott went to London just to fetch it for me.”

Sally was rendered speechless, but Uncle George grunted out, “You would look just as well in sackcloth.”

Lady Ellicott opened her mouth and then snapped it shut at the insult. Everyone else in the room froze and then started talking at once about other matters.

Sally licked her lips. “You have to forgive Uncle George. He does not think much of current fashion. You have no idea of his resistance to funding a new wardrobe for Victoria and Audrey’s come-out.”

“Few men have a sense of what’s important,” Lady Ellicott replied, but it was clear she was annoyed with Uncle George. “Except for my dear Ellicott.”

Uncle George’s eyebrows rose high, and then he made a show of opening his book with a shake of his head.

Sally’s doubts about marriage doubled. To her it was extraordinary that Ellicott should have made a special trip to London just to collect a new gown for his mother.

“That reminds me, how long is Captain Hastings staying at Newberry,” Lady Ellicott enquired. “He comes and goes with extraordinary irregularity, but should he not be on his ship somewhere, defending our great nation from the French?”

“I have no idea,” Sally answered when no one else replied. How much time could she steal with Felix? “He is my grandfather’s guest.”

The countess frowned. “And that other fellow, Hennings?”

“Jennings,” Sally corrected.

“Now that is a man the duke should not allow anywhere near his estate,” Ellicott murmured.

Sally glared. “He is a widower.”

The countess sat forward. “All the more reason in my opinion to keep the man from darkening your door again. He is only after one thing when it comes to women.”

“He loved his wife.” Sally waited for the countess to take back her criticism.

“Love. Posh! Love is only for the very foolish,” Lady Ellicott exclaimed.

Utter silence answered her. When the countess finally noticed she held the minority opinion, she straightened her spine. “No one marries for love these days. I am sure you will agree with me, Lady Templeton, that a good match requires only wealth and good connections.”

“Then I guess you have never been in love,” Uncle George cut in and then cast a questioning glance at Ellicott. “Nor ever plan to be.”

“Do not drag me into this nonsense before the wedding,” Ellicott grumbled, shoving his glass aside so carelessly it landed half on the table and half off. An observant servant hurried to prevent its fall and set it safely back on the table. Ellicott barely noticed the assistance. “Which reminds me, I thought we might return to Shropshire on Tuesday next week as man and wife instead of waiting.”

Sally sat very still, her heart thumping against her ribs at the unexpected request to advance the wedding date. They were marrying by license, so they could marry any morning they liked. However, she did not intend to marry in an unseemly hurry that would result in the worst sort of gossip. Everything was set for their wedding the week after he suggested. “I prefer to leave on the day we discussed when you first proposed.”

“I see.” He stood suddenly. “Then do excuse me. I have a few letters of apology I must write tonight to my friends.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

E
llicott strode from the room, leaving Sally reeling. Was she really going to marry a man who was cruel to cats, uncaring about love, and thought to push her around and into his bed by being a bully?

And what letters of apology did he need to write? They had no plans so far, or at least none she knew of. When was he going to confide in her?

“He is just nervous about getting married,” Lady Ellicott explained.

“He does not sound nervous to me,” she told the countess with as much dignity as she could. “He was rude.”

“Well, what do you expect of him? There is hardly enough to entertain a grown man used to a full social life. He cannot be expected to sit around with us women while we make lace and such. He needs more to amuse him. He’s always had his own friends, and now he is trying to accommodate you and your family too. It is hard for men to be idle. Things will be different when we are back at home and everything returns to normal.”

It was hard for Sally now. Always apologizing for being busy with her work on the estate was wearing her down. Always controlling her nature just to please the pair of them so they would accept her into their family. She was not sure she even wanted that life anymore. She shook her head. Everything depended on her being one way when she was being held back from the very things dearest to her heart. She did not know how much more she could bear before she started screaming.

“Everything will be settled soon, and you and I will rub along together as best we can,” Lady Ellicott said. “The painters have started on your apartment and promised it will be done by the time we return. Then new drapes will be hung throughout the house to match,” Lady Ellicott enthused, little realizing her words were another blow to Sally’s contentment.

Perhaps she was bound for spinsterhood after all.

“You have chosen to decorate my bedchamber, and the house, without bothering to consult me about what I might like?”

“My dear, it will be beautiful. I have picked just the right shade of crimson to match the gold thread in the bed hangings.”

Gold embroidery too?

Was her dowry to be spent on frivolous decorations she did not want? She could never sleep in a room decorated in red. The color kept her awake at night and always had. Sally set her teacup aside and went to the window, mind tumbling in confusion. The dark drive was empty.

“Where are you, Felix,” she whispered. “Tell me this is all a bad dream.”

Her reflection gave her no answer and no comfort. Behind her the countess quieted, but none of Sally’s doubts did.

“Excuse me, my lady,” a footman whispered. “Lady Templeton requests to see you.”

Sally glanced about the room, unable to spot her mother, who had been seated with her moments before.

“She has retired for the night,” Rodmell murmured.

“Yes, of course. I will go to her immediately. Please ask my sister to offer my excuses to Lady Ellicott.”

Sally hurried away gladly, along the dimly lit hall to reach her mother’s ground-floor apartment.

At the door, she nodded and then pushed her way inside. “You sent for me, Mama?”

Her mother glanced up from her writing table and the papers she had been reading and smiled. Swathed in lace and white muslin tonight, she appeared adorably pretty and ready for bed. “At last,” she remarked in an exasperated tone.

Sally crossed the room and kissed her mother’s cheek. “You always say that.”

“And I always mean it.” Her mother set aside her work. “I miss you the moment you walk out of the room. I will miss you even more when you marry that man.”

Sally twisted her engagement ring on her finger. “I have always wanted to marry.”

“True. When you were a girl you used to speak of what your life would be like. The color of your drawing room, the number of guests you could seat at your dining table. You always wanted a blue bedchamber like this one. You made an early start on preparing me for the loss of your company one day.”

“Was I really so fixated as all that? I do not remember saying any of it.” She thought a moment. “I will still have a blue drawing room and seat sixteen for a dinner party in London. Not a body more or less. There is something to be said for an intimate gathering of friends and family.”

“Those were a girl’s dreams from one who hasn’t the faintest inkling of what marriage will really be about. From what I heard tonight, you might not have a choice in anything so long as Lady Ellicott rules the roost.” Her mother frowned down at her robe, pleating a fold of fabric nervously. “Your future mother-in-law has ideas of her own about the sort of impression her family must make for their guests. She has made it very clear that you will be expected to behave as
she
wishes.”

“I am hoping to bring her around to my way of thinking.”

“Are you certain you can? You have not been yourself around them. I understand why, but I do not like to see it because you appear so very miserable around her and
him
.” She sighed deeply. “I wish you all the luck in the world, you know that. I want you to marry and have children. To have a man to spoil you as you deserve and the protection of his name. When a woman gets to a certain age, she becomes set in her ways. She either likes to sleep late or rise early. Treats her servants well or not. Believes in love, scorns it, or accepts that love is for the very lucky. You believe in love.”

Sally took her mother’s hand. “I love you.”

“I love you too, but I am not loved in return. Not by the man who should have cared for me.” With a little toss of her head, Mama’s smile returned. “Your father has his amours and ignores me. I have had a long time to accept that, and I doubt he will suddenly decide he loves me at our advanced age.”

Sally considered her mother, then decided she would never have a better moment to ask a question that had been on her mind of late. “Mama, how could you have had six children with a man who does not love you?”

“Stubbornness.” Her mother looked away. “Each time, I prayed a child would bring us closer, but it did not. When your sister Mary was taken away from us so young, just barely out in society, your father never came to me again. He took her death as a sign that our marriage was over, and I have been alone ever since.”

Years without a husband’s, albeit fleeting, affection. “Oh Mama, Mary would never have wanted to be the cause of your pain. She had her own troubles.”