Wallflower (Old Maids' Club, Book 1) (7 page)

He really ought to have been paying
more attention to these things. He’d known this would eventually
come to pass since well before his father had died. There was no
excuse for not taking matters into his own hands a long time
ago.

When they were all situated in the
carriage and on their way, Noah’s mother faced Raynesford and
Elaine. “And you assure me Lady Tabitha will be quite well soon?
You’re certain? I was so terribly worried when I saw her rushing
away last night. Glastonbury refused to let me take off after her
since we were about to make our announcement, you know. But we
found Miss Faulkner a few moments later instead, and she seemed
cock-sure she could handle the matter.”

Elaine reached across the carriage and
took her hand. “Yes, Mother. She’ll be fine. Already today she is
doing much better. But you know how the megrims can be.”

“
Oh, that I do. How could
I not, with five daughters?” She laughed and sat back in her seat,
fidgeting with the grayed knot at the nape of her neck. “And
Raynesford, how is your horse breeding coming along? Any foals
yet?”

Raynesford started, then sat ramrod
straight, staring at Noah’s mother like a mouse that wanted to
scurry away when caught in the light. “Two foals, madam.” He didn’t
elaborate. Hardly surprising.

“
Oh, how delightful. Will
you be letting Lily ride one of them?”

His eyes came close to bulging out of
his head. “My daughter is hardly a year old. She has no need for a
horse.”

“
It will be many years
before she starts to ride, Mother,” Elaine said, laughing over at
her husband. “There will be plenty of other foals before the time
for that arrives.”

“
Where are you stabling
them?” Noah asked. Not that he needed to spend any money at the
moment on more horses. But he might like to go and take a look
sometime, at any rate.

“
Tewkesbury Stables. Let
me know when you’d like to go and I’ll work it out. Perhaps you
could accompany Tabitha. She’d like to come and see them, too.
She’s not much on fully grown horses, but she’s always loved the
foals.”

Splendid
. Noah tried to quash a
frown. So Raynesford hadn’t given up on the idea yet. He knew
better than to expect Shelton to have forgotten about it all, but
some small part of him had hoped the elder brother would have let
the notion of his sister becoming Lady Devonport slip away into the
netherworld.

“
Oh, I would quite enjoy
that too, Owen,” Elaine said. “Perhaps we could make a day of it.
I’m sure Noah would agree, won’t you?”

“
I’d be delighted.” He
really had no choice now.

Mercifully at that moment, the
carriage jostled to a stop and one of Raynesford’s men came around
to set down the steps. Noah climbed down and reached in to hand his
mother out, then waited for Raynesford to do the same with Elaine,
and then they went as one up the steps to Lady Kirkaldy’s
home.

Glastonbury greeted them as they were
ushered into the salon. A cursory glance showed him that Leith and
Claremont had yet to arrive. But moments later, Noah was blissfully
able to slip away from the group and comb the gathering for young,
unmarried ladies who might be attached to a sizeable fortune on his
own.

Miss Jennings and her mother had not
yet arrived. The eligible misses seemed to be assembled in groups
of varying number about the edges of the room like small families
of ducks, each situated around a leader of sorts.

Noah recognized Lady Miriam Smallworth
at the helm of one set. He’d have to avoid them. From all
indications, Lady Miriam had inherited her mother’s vulture-like
tendencies.

The next group over was smaller, with
only three young ladies. Noah could only identify one of them as a
lady he’d met before, and she hadn’t made enough of an impression
for him to recall her name.

He moved on to the next group, which
consisted of six debutantes. Here he could make out both Miss Olive
Whitby and Miss Phillips, neither of whom was particularly
dreadful, but he also knew that neither held a particularly
sizeable dowry. Still, perhaps the group with the two of them and
their friends might be a good place for him to start his
socializing for the evening.

He took a glass of lemonade from the
tray of a passing footman and started across the room, only to
change directions in mid-stride when Claremont winked at him from
where he and Leith were leaning against a window on the far side of
the room.

“
Already set to work on
your prospects, then?” Claremont asked as Noah drew closer to
them.

“
Evening, Devonport,” said
Leith with a cheerful grin that made his dark features slightly
less menacing. Only slightly, though.

Noah nodded to them each in turn.
“Good to see you both. So none of the ladies in that circle has a
decent portion? I thought to start there since I at least have a
passing acquaintance with a couple of them.”

“
An acquaintance to a
dowry-less chit won’t help you in any way. You know that.”
Claremont crossed his arms and scanned the room. “In the group over
there by the pianoforte, the little redhead? That’s Lady Cressica
Frost. Her father’s made a fortune at the gambling tables, and he
has no intention of letting his winnings fall to his nephew. She’s
set to inherit about forty thousand, give or take, depending on how
much Hackshaw can avoid having tied up in the
entailments.”

“
She doesn’t look a day
older than fourteen,” Noah replied. “And she’s so emaciated I can
see every bone in her body. She might break if I sneezed on
her.”

“
True.” Claremont
shrugged. “But forty thousand. Think about it.” He looked over the
gathering again until he found another possibility. Pointing over
to the group with Miss Olive and Miss Phillips, the one where Noah
had initially been headed, he said, “And the tall brunette in pink
over there? That’s Miss Jacinda Leatham. Her father died over a
year ago. I don’t know the exact sum she’s got in trust, but I do
know it is more than fifty. She’s only just come out this Season.
The fortune hunters will be all over her in no time. You should try
to make an impression before the others get their
chance.”

Miss Leatham didn’t seem much older
than Lady Cressica, but at least she looked a bit sturdier. With
her, Noah needn’t worry that a misstep would cause her to crumble
to a pile of ash at his feet. She was a possibility.

Claremont gestured toward a third
grouping, with a bushy-haired blonde and two auburn-haired ladies.
Two of the three, at least, appeared older than the majority of the
crowd. “Those are Somerton’s sisters, Lady Sophia Hardwicke and
Lady Charlotte Hardwicke. I’m not sure who the other lady is with
them. But I would imagine he’s placed quite the settlement on both
his sisters. Lady Sophia, in particular, since she’s no spring
chicken.”

“
But have you seen the way
she looks at gentlemen who try to dance with her?” Leith cut in,
his black eyes wide. “I don’t think we should direct Devonport in
her path.”

“
And Lady Charlotte is a
bit green, yet. Rather too exuberant.”

Claremont looked over at her again and
Noah followed the path of his eyes. The younger girl was talking
expressively, using her hands and arms to emphasize her point. She
struck the poor blonde lady in the face, surprising her and
knocking the glass from her hands. Sherry spilled down the front of
the blonde’s gown, and she flushed profusely as Lady Charlotte
dabbed at the mess.

No, the Hardwicke sisters did not seem
his best options. He thanked Claremont and Leith for the
information, and then made his way over to the group of young
ladies with Miss Leatham. After a round of introductions, Noah
situated himself between her and Miss Phillips.

“
Lovely weather we’ve had
of late, is it not?” Miss Leatham said. Her voice was airy. Fitting
for her choice of conversational topics.

“
Yes, quite,” he replied.
“Not a cloud in the sky all day today. If it remains clear
tomorrow, I might like to go for a promenade at Hyde Park.” Noah
left the unasked question hanging in the air. Maybe she would give
him a little encouragement.

“
Oh. Yes, I suppose you
might. I should hope for rain by the end of the week, though. The
hyacinths in Mother’s garden could do with a touch of
rain.”

Good gracious, was she truly so
dull-witted that she hadn’t understood his insinuation? Perhaps
he’d try again later. “I’m sure we’ll have rain again before too
long, Miss Leatham. After all, this is England. Which performance
tonight are you most anticipating? I rather enjoy the Beethoven
sonata for pianoforte, myself. And the Haydn is always
enchanting.”

“
I don’t believe I know
any of the pieces to be performed tonight, my lord. I’m sure I
shall enjoy them all equally well, though.”

“
Indeed.”

She neglected to offer another topic
of discussion, and Noah was thankful for the few moments of silence
this afforded. He said a silent prayer of gratitude when Lady
Kirkaldy hurried them all to their seats.

The sonata was undeniably excellent. A
soprano solo followed, leaving him with chills and goose flesh.
Miss Leatham, however, did not seem to be stirred in the least by
either performance.

His thoughts kept drifting to how very
different such an evening would be if he were in the company of
Lady Tabitha instead. Music, in general, never failed to capture
her imagination and attention. They had conversed for hours at
length about their favorite performances over the years.

Sometimes, until Lady Tabitha’s cousin
had left to care for their aunt, Miss Bethanne Shelton would play
the pianoforte in Newcastle’s home for hours. Noah loved coming
upon a group of them surrounding her, all engrossed in the magic
she produced with the touch of her fingers. Raynesford had once
told him that their aunt, Lady Rosaline, had been quite adept at
the keys of the pianoforte as well. That her music had been a link
that somehow united the entire Shelton family.

Beethoven had always been a particular
favorite of the lovely Miss Shelton’s to play. Noah missed those
moments. He missed them, in particular, at this very moment with a
young lady by his side who seemed disinclined to music at all. He
had to wonder why she’d even come to the musicale if she couldn’t
bother to enjoy herself. But then again, the music had nothing to
do with his reason for attendance, either. He shouldn’t fault her
for that.

He turned his thoughts back to the
present and watched the performances. After the soprano, a string
quartet performed a rousing piece by Mozart, which was followed by
a brief intermission.

“
Oh, I see my dearest
friend over there,” Miss Leatham said after Noah had fetched her a
glass of lemonade. “If you’ll please excuse me.”

“
Of course.” He couldn’t
be more thankful to be finished with her company. Besides, Miss
Jennings had arrived not long before the musicale had begun.
Perhaps he ought to try his hand with her. Surely she would be more
engaging than Miss Leatham.

He situated himself amidst her group
and gained his introduction. Then he did his best to make himself
agreeable to both Miss Jennings and her mother. Miss Jennings’s
conversation, while slightly more invigorating than that of Miss
Leatham (since she managed to at least discuss the string quartet
coherently), was still rather colorless.

She had a penchant for discussing the
newest fashions of the day and whether a particular shade of ribbon
ought to be worn with another particular shade of gown. She did at
least have the decency of looking uncomfortable in discussing such
things with a gentlemen. Noah wondered briefly why she would do so
if it left her ill at ease. Perhaps her mother had told her that
was what she was expected to discuss. Pity. She had an animation
about her when she spoke with other young ladies that was
intriguing, to say the least—similar to Lady Charlotte’s, but
without the unfortunate consequences which might endanger those
with whom she spoke.

Noah had a very difficult time
imagining spending a lifetime with nothing more stimulating to
discuss than when they might next expect rain or whether the
violinist had properly tuned her instrument, and frankly, the
thought of discussing ribbons and coiffures for the rest of
eternity gave him the shakes. When the intermission came to a
close, he escorted Miss Jennings and her mother back to their seats
and took up his next to the debutante, though he did not envision
the remainder of the musicale to be more sensational on the
heiress-becoming-bride front than the first half had
been.

In truth, his expectations came to
fruition. Miss Jennings was not an altogether disagreeable chit,
but she kept looking over to her mother for approval of her
conversation and behavior.

Exploring his other options, apart
from Lady Tabitha, was proving itself to be a rather unpleasant
affair. But he could see no way around it. By all indications from
last night, Lady Tabitha wanted nothing to do with him right
now.

Noah said his farewells to
Miss Jennings and her mother. Miss Jennings, at least, seemed
agreeable to him paying her a call soon. They could walk through
the park or go for a ride. There
could
be some possibility there. It
might prove to be more than possibility, if he could convince her
to discuss something more invigorating next time.