Wallflower (Old Maids' Club, Book 1) (15 page)

Lady Tabitha stood and fought against
the wince that took her face captive. “Oh, I should like to walk
with you as well.” Even putting the slightest pressure upon her
ankle was clearly causing her a great deal of pain. She must truly
loathe his company, if she would be willing to take exercise in
such a state.

“
But your ankle,” Miss
Faulkner countered. “I think it would be best for you to stay
seated. Lord Devonport, you’ll stay with her, will you
not?”

Lady Tabitha’s face fell. Her look of
defeat could have splintered him into a thousand pieces.

“
I’d be delighted.” He
only hoped he could cajole more smiles from her, that he could set
things right between them.

Leith and Miss Faulkner strolled down
the way, leaving him alone with Lady Tabitha amidst the hustle and
bustle of Mayfair. Noah watched her for a few moments. She looked
anywhere, everywhere, but at him.

“
Have I offended you, Lady
Tabitha?” he asked. His breath seemed caught in his throat while he
awaited her answer.

“
Pardon? Of course not.”
Her response was too swift, too terse. She had no intention of
clearing the air between them, of telling him how he had wronged
her.

Noah exhaled slowly. He couldn’t allow
her to sidestep the issue at hand. “Ever since Raynesford and
Elaine married, we’ve been friendly with each other,” he said. “Our
relationship used to be easy. You would banter with me, and you
offered smiles freely. That’s changed recently. You’re guarded
now.”

“
Yes. I suppose I am.” Her
eyes slowly met his.

Perhaps she would talk to him. “What
happened? What did I do?”

“
I...you...” Tears filled
her eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it. We were
fine, and then you asked me to dance, and you never ask me to
dance, and I—” The torrent of words stopped with a sharp intake of
breath.

“
Go on,” he prodded. “And
you what?”

Lady Tabitha’s gaze lowered to the
table between them. Her neck colored up again, and he couldn’t
force himself to look away. He wanted to touch her there. To kiss
her there. Then she shook her head. “No, I shouldn’t. I
couldn’t.”

He wanted to keep her talking, if for
no other reason that he loved seeing her shy and embarrassed.
“What’s so bad? Did you not want me to dance with you?”

“
Yes. No. Oh,
damnation
, I don’t know
what I’m saying.”

Noah burst out in laughter. He loved
that she’d lost control in such a way.

The blush crept around to cover her
face. “I must apologize. I shouldn’t have used such language in
front of you.”

“
Usually, a gentleman
might apologize to a lady for his use of language, not the other
way around.”

“
Usually, a lady would
want to be danced with,” she said. “Usually, a lady would know
whether or not she is being flirted with. Usually, a lady would
know how to respond.” She set her jaw, clenched it. “Usually, a
gentleman would not play such games with a lady.”

Aha. There was the rub. “You think
I’ve been toying with you?”

“
What else should I think?
If you
have
been
flirting with me, it is because Toby put you up to it, though I
daresay I don’t understand why he would do so. There could be no
other reason for it.”

“
Could there not? Am I
such a poor flirt as that?” He wished he’d been honest with her at
the ball. Why hadn’t he just told her what her brothers had
suggested? But even then, she would believe him only after her
dowry. “I’m so bad at it that you can’t even tell that I really am
flirting with you. That I want to.”

“
You’re lying to
me.”

“
I would never lie to
you,” Noah said vehemently. He waited for her eyes to reach his.
“Never.”

Lady Tabitha tried to speak, but her
voice cracked. “So you want to flirt with me?” she asked when her
voice would cooperate.

Noah had thought her cheeks couldn’t
possibly turn redder than they already were. He had been wrong.
“Yes. Is that all right?” He couldn’t quell a grin.

She nodded.

“
Good. Don’t forget that.”
Not that he had any intention of allowing her to.

Chapter Eight

Walking along the path to Shelton
Hall, Noah had to suppress the urge to whistle. In the two days
since he and Lady Tabitha had sorted their differences out, his
life could not have taken a better turn.

She had begun to smile and laugh with
him again. They’d attended another ball and she had waltzed with
him (and, as luck would have it, there had been no sign of either
Oglethorpe or Eggerley), though Noah had limited himself to one
dance due to her still tender ankle. During another set at that
ball, she had consented to sit with him along a well-lit path of
the garden, where they had flirted.

And he had made certain she knew he
was flirting.

Last night, they attended the opera.
Glastonbury had offered Noah the use of his box, so Noah gladly
invited Lord and Lady Claremont, as well as Leith and Miss Faulkner
to join him and Lady Tabitha. The small grouping provided ample
chaperonage, so no tongues would be tempted to flap. Yet his guests
were all content to allow Noah free rein in entertaining Lady
Tabitha.

But he had truly been looking forward
to today, more than any of the rest. Lady Tabitha had agreed to let
him take her to Hyde Park. No one else would be coming with them,
not even Miss Faulkner. He would have an opportunity to really talk
to her. Noah thought, perhaps, she might be open to his proposal.
He was prepared for it. Just that morning, Noah had ventured over
to Bond Street and visited a jeweler. The ring he bought had a
garnet gemstone on a silver band. Simple. Elegant. The silver ought
to highlight the shade of her eyes.

He hadn’t decided for certain that
today would be the day. After all, the last time they’d discussed
the potential for her to marry—not just marry him, but to marry
anyone at all—she had been disinclined to continue the
conversation. But if his luck of the last few days held
out...

The butler showed him in to the
drawing room. After only a few minutes the double doors opened
wide, but instead of Lady Tabitha, her brothers walked through,
leaving the doors standing slightly ajar behind them.

“
Devonport,” Shelton said
jovially, “good to see you. I see you’ve been hard at work on the
bet. I must say, I heartily approve.” He raised the tumbler he had
carried in with him as if in toast before taking a sip.

Raynesford took a seat in a wingback
chair by the window and stretched out his legs, then motioned for
Noah to take the seat across from him. “How are the plans for the
wedding proceeding?”

Dash it all. If he’d had a drink, he’d
have spit it out all over them from the shock of the question. “I
have not yet asked for Lady Tabitha’s hand,” Noah spluttered. “We
are not planning the wedding yet.” He hadn’t even spoken to
Newcastle, for goodness’ sake. Surely the brothers knew all of
this.

“
Not
your
wedding, you nitwit,” Shelton
said on a laugh. He plopped down on the settee at Raynesford’s
other side. “But bravo! I applaud you on making such an assumption.
It can only bode well for your future. I think, however, that my
brother wanted to know how the plans for your mother’s wedding to
Glastonbury are faring.”

“
Oh. Of course.” He didn’t
particularly want to think about those precise plans at the moment.
For that matter, he had attempted to give it as little thought as
possible. Every time the subject came up, he was reminded how soon
he would be alone and how dire his financial situation was soon to
be. “I’ve reserved St. George’s for the occasion. That set me back
a fair bit, but I already knew how much it would cost after my
sisters’ weddings over the last five years.”

Raynesford crossed his booted feet in
front of him and stretched out his legs. “And the wedding
breakfast? Is Glastonbury handling the plans and expenses for their
celebration?”

“
Absolutely not,” Noah
said. “I requested that honor.” He would never allow Glastonbury to
know how difficult it was for Noah to afford any of it.

“
Why in bloody hell would
you do something like that?” Shelton’s voice reached a half-shout.
“You don’t exactly have an excess of coin sitting
around.”

“
He did it because it’s
his mother,” Raynesford said. “You would have done the same in his
position. What if our Father had died and Mother wanted to remarry?
Whether you could afford it or not, you would have done
it.”

Shelton frowned, but he did not refute
his brother’s claim.

“
So,” Raynesford said,
“where does that leave you?”

How could he even answer that
question? Noah took a breath and tried to sort out the thoughts
racing through his head. “Well, I have enough to fund my entailed
estates for a year. Two at most. Or it leaves me with a little
start-up capital so I could invest in some business venture or
another, and hope that it can pay dividends rapidly. But at the
moment, I don’t have any grand ideas about business opportunities
I’d be inclined to devote my limited funds to.”

The air seemed to be sucked out of the
room, as sure as it flew between the lips of Shelton and
Raynesford. “I knew it was bad,” Shelton said, “but I never
imagined it was quite that bad. All the more reason for you to
marry Tabitha as soon as you can.”

“
Absolutely,” Raynesford
said. “And she seems to have at least some affection for you. It
shouldn’t be too difficult to convince her.”

Shelton leaned forward, his eyes
narrowed and shrewd. “Father has her dowry set up where a portion
of it must go into trust for her.” He took another drink and let it
sit in his mouth for a moment before swallowing. “But well over
half of it—close to two-thirds—could likely be used as you see fit.
It would all just depend on the specifics of the marriage contract
you and Father agree to. I’m sure you could work something out to
both your satisfaction.”

“
So if I marry her,” Noah
mused aloud, “we could live off the funds I have remaining, at
least for the time being, and I could invest the rest of her dowry
in some way?”

Raynesford nodded. “That’s what I
would suggest.”

Shelton’s expression was
grave. “Just don’t let her know. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt
you.” He caught Noah’s eye and held it for a moment. “Or
kill
you.”

Noah hated the idea of
leaving Lady Tabitha in the dark about how her funds would be
used—and why. He didn’t want there to be secrets in his marriage.
His wife ought to know their situation fully. At least, she ought
to know once she was his wife. Perhaps he
should
keep it a secret until that
blessed event occurred, though. Once Lady Tabitha became Lady
Devonport, she could even help him to determine what sort of
opportunity they should invest in. Maybe if she played a part in
the decision, she wouldn’t despise him for it quite so
much.

Maybe.

“
If you’re interested,”
Raynesford said, “I could introduce you to my breeder. He’s done a
bit with racehorses in the past. You could invest in them and make
a good profit, I believe.”

Shelton chortled, but didn’t
elaborate. “Horses. Tabitha would loathe that, so I think it is
brilliant.”

Noah raised an eyebrow in question.
“Your sister doesn’t like horses?” He had never heard the
like.

“
Riding,” Raynesford
clarified. “She has never cared for riding. Otherwise, she doesn’t
mind them overmuch. Particularly the foals. She thinks they’re
cute.”

Oh, no. Oh, this was not a good
revelation. Not good at all.

Shelton turned to his brother. “He
looks like we’ve trampled his puppy again. What is it this
time?”

“
I planned to take her to
Hyde Park this afternoon. For a ride.”

Raynesford’s laugh was loud enough to
scare the soiled nappy off a baby. “No carriage?” he managed
between gasps for air.

Noah could only shake his head. He’d
gone and made a muck of things, and had been completely oblivious
to the fact.

Finally, Raynesford controlled
himself. “You can borrow—”

“
No,” Shelton interrupted.
“I’d love to see her reaction. Go on, Devonport. Take Tabitha for a
romp through the park.”

~ * ~

Tabitha wrinkled her nose at the
reflection in the mirror. “This gown is altogether too revealing,
Hester.” Heavens, her bosom was practically spilling out over the
top of the lavender muslin. It was unseemly.

Hester looked up from situating
Tabitha’s bonnet over her coiffure, just long enough to catch a
glimpse of the same image Tabitha had been despairing. “There’s
nothing wrong with this gown. The low bodice is all the crack
around Town. Gracious, by society’s standards, you’re still far too
covered. I don’t know of a single lady who hasn’t been married for
over a decade who would wear something like this.”