A Noble Pair of Brothers (The Underwood Mysteries Book 1) (31 page)

Verity had to admit this was true, but how could she explain to the doting mother that it took more courage than she knew she possessed to risk a rebuff from the man she adored.  Better to keep Underwood as a friend and retain her dignity, than see his embarrassment when he tried to explain that he had never thought of her as an attractive woman.

By the following Saturday Miss Chapell had still made no decision and when she woke early, stricken with a painfully sore throat and a pounding headache, she was scarcely surprised.

Mrs. Underwood was solicitous in the extreme, sending for the doctor and insisting that her companion kept to her bed.  The doctor diagnosed a bad cold, which Verity could have told him, and suggested she take a tonic he made himself.  A more foul liquid she had never tasted, and it was whilst she was pulling the ugliest of wry faces that Mr. Underwood entered the room to ask how she did.  His laughter alerted his mother to this presence, but instead of chiding him for entering a lady’s bedroom uninvited, she hastily removed herself and the doctor, leaving the couple alone.

Mr. Underwood, who was as inordinately fond of comfits as he was of snuff, just happened to have some in his pocket and he offered one to Miss Chapell to take away the nasty taste.  She took one gratefully, then huskily bade him draw up a chair and sit with her for a few minutes.

She waited until he was comfortably settled before speaking again, “I have been wanting to talk to you, Mr. Underwood,” she said hesitantly, her voice made gruff and throaty by her affliction.  He smiled and helped himself to a comfit, “You need only ask, I am always at your disposal.”

“Thank you.  I should like you to give me some advice.”

He gave a self deprecating laugh, “Now, that is something I never offer.  It is the most dangerous undertaking in the world, giving advice.”

              “Why?”

“If the advice is bad, one takes the blame, if good, the recipient prefers to believe that it was his or her own brilliance which caused the success.”

She looked so crest-fallen that he was forced to retract, “I’m only teasing, my dear.  Ask away, and I shall do my utmost to assist you.”

She gazed thoughtfully at his profile, for his attention seemed to be anywhere in the room but on her.  In truth he was thinking how charming the plain room looked, since Verity had taken possession of it and had brought so many touches of homeliness to it.  Many of her sketches and paintings adorned the walls, and vases of flowers added colour and scent just where it was needed.

“Gil arrives next week to perform the wedding service for your mother and General Milner, and that means she will no longer need a companion.”

              “I’m sure my mother is in no hurry to send you away, my dear.  She is very fond of you.”

“I know that, but I will have to go sooner or later.”

“I have to admit, I had not quite realized you would be going away…” he broke off, mildly embarrassed, a slight frown marring his features briefly,  “However,” he rallied swiftly, “you need not fear we will be unhelpful.  On the contrary, I am sure my mother will do her utmost to find you other employment and provide you with a sparkling reference.”

“Mrs. Underwood has been so very kind.  I shall miss her dreadfully,” said Verity quietly.

He looked at her and she was surprised to see concern for her in his eyes,

“You know, Verity, you would be well not to allow yourself to grow so attached to your charges, or it will always be painful for you to change employment.”

She smiled gently, “When my heart prompts, I wish I could but ignore it, Mr. Underwood.”

His frown deepened, “You worry me, Verity.  I fear you are too vulnerable to be let loose in the world alone.”

“Perhaps I should accept Gil’s offer, then,”  she snapped with swift irritation, annoyed that he should think her so weak and witless.

Suddenly he was all attention, “Gilbert has offered for you?”  he asked, his tone as sharp as her had been.

“Yes,” she answered, almost defiantly.

He recovered his equanimity very quickly, but not before she had seen that the news had taken him unawares, “Congratulations, Miss Chapell,” he said dryly, “you have succeeded where many another woman has failed.  I have never known my brother offer marriage before.”

“But should I accept, Mr. Underwood?  Am I the sort of woman who would make a good vicar’s wife?”

“Good God!  Why ask me?  You would be admirable in any role, I imagine, but what of Gil.  Are you in love with him?  I suppose that is what matters most.”

“I am fond of him,” she admitted carefully, “But I own, I feel more towards him as I should feel to a brother, had I ever possessed one.”

Was it her imagination, or did this seem to relieve his mind of some faint worry?

“Does Gil know this is all you feel for him?”

“Oh yes.  I would never be less than honest, Mr. Underwood.”

“Then if he sees no obstacle, I see no reason why you should be troubled either.”

“And you would not object if I married him?” she asked carefully, her heart pounding in her throat.

He did not answer the question, but looked deep into her eyes.  Verity felt her resolve crumble and she was astounded that she had found sufficient courage to speak thus to him.  It took every ounce of determination she possessed to stop herself confessing the whole to him and assuring him that she could never marry one brother whilst she loved the other. He looked angry, as though he despised her dispassionate appraisal of the situation, “Is marriage truly what you want, Miss Chapell?”

She swallowed deeply before nodding her assent.

“I confess I’m astounded.  I had thought better of you, but in the circumstances, I think it would be better if you married me.  I would not have Gil marry a woman who did not value him as she should!”  With that he rose and went away, leaving Verity ashamed and tearful.  She had what she wanted, but at what price?  He sounded as though he hated her.

*

Gilbert was delighted when he was told he had two weddings at which he must officiate.  He found a moment alone with Verity to congratulate her upon her betrothal, but was puzzled to find that his words seemed to distress her.

“What ails you, Verity?  I should have thought you would be the happiest of women now that you have attained your heart’s desire.”

Verity was mortified to have to admit the truth, “Oh, Gil, he is only marrying me to save you from my evil machinations.”

“
What?
”

She explained everything and to her utter misery and humiliation he laughed long and hearty, “Good Gad, Verity!  What on earth possessed you to say such things?”

“Your mother said I ought to make him jealous,” she said, with a melancholy little sniff.  He hugged her.

              “Believe me, my dear, you have done so, with great success.  My brother is suffering torments, and I intend to make him suffer a little more, before I put him out of his misery.”

He sought out his brother and when he found him, in their father’s old study, he castigated him with as much fervour as he could manage without laughing.

“Chuffy, you are a brute!”

Underwood was very much on his dignity and glanced superciliously at his brother before responding, “I trust you have some adequate excuse for that unwarranted outburst, Gilbert.”

“I certainly have.  Not only have you stolen from me the finest woman who ever drew breath, but you have the audacity to inform her you have only done so for
my
own good.”

Mr. Underwood was at once contrite, his expression of horror and confusion amply demonstrating how appalled he was to think he had taken away the woman he loved from his brother, “Good God, Gil!  I had no notion you felt so strongly about her.  She gave me to understand…”

“Don’t try and blame Verity for this.”

“But why the devil has she agreed to marry me?  Heaven knows I should never have come between you had I only known how you felt.  Can you ever forgive me?  You showed not the slightest partiality…”

“For God’s sake, Chuffy, be quiet,” intercepted Gil, unable to quell his amusement any longer, “Are you completely blind?  Verity is in love with you, and has been from the first moment she met you.  I only offered for her because you seemed intent on the folly of marrying the Wynter chit.  I am no more fond of Verity than I would be of a sister, but that does not prevent me from recognizing what you evidently do not.  She is the perfect wife for you!”

All this was happening too fast for Underwood, who looked utterly baffled, but managed to pick up on one major point, “That is what Verity said about you – that she loves you like a brother.”

“How very fortunate, since that is precisely what I shall be tomorrow.  Now, I suggest you go and beg her pardon for your boorish behaviour.  In twenty-four hours she will have given up her freedom, indeed her entire life, to you.  Don’t you think she deserves to know it will not be in vain?”

Underwood could not help but agree with this sage advice and went to find his betrothed.  She was sitting in the parlour, an open book in her hands, but in truth she had not turned a page for over half an hour.

The apprehensive look in her eyes gave him cause to feel ashamed of his behaviour towards her.  It hurt him to think she might be even slightly afraid of him.

“Verity,” he said softly.   She smiled tremulously in response, “Mr Underwood.  Your hair is all awry, what have you been doing?”  He did not bother to tell her that he had disordered it by running his fingers through it in his agitation at wondering what on earth he could say to her to atone for his unkindness.  He lifted a self-conscious hand in an unsuccessful attempt to flatten it.  She laughed and held out her hand to him,

“Come here, I have a comb, let me do it.”

He obediently sat on a footstool at her feet and allowed her to run her comb through his blond locks              “My dear, I want to say how sorry I am…”

“Please don’t.  I deserved every word.  It was horrid of me to use Gil as I did.”

“Oh, dash Gil!  He can look after himself.  I shall become seriously displeased if my brother continues to dominate our conversations.”

“Very well, what do you want to talk about?”

“You.”

“What about me?  I will try to be a good wife, if that is what you are afraid of.”

He laughed, “And what do you suppose constitutes a ‘good wife’?”

Verity was thoughtful for a moment, and when she answered she sounded rather crushed, “Oh dear!  I imagine it means I ought to be able to cook, and sew and run a household, direct servants, and manage to do it all on incredibly small sums of money.”

“And do you have any of those talents?”

“Not one.  I’m not a very satisfactory candidate, am I?  I don’t suppose I have any useful attributes at all.”

“Is that your way of extracting a compliment from me, Miss Chapell?”

“Will it work?”

“Just this once.  I want a wife who will be my companion, who can discuss art and literature, who will enjoy the theatre and concerts and not be forever languishing over silly hats.  A woman who knows what I’m talking about when I spout philosophy, and most of all, a woman who knew what my name was when provided with the flimsiest of clues.”

“Oh Cadmus,” she sighed, “You make it almost bearable to be second best.”

He turned swiftly, anger blazing in his eyes, “What the devil do you mean by that?”

“Oh, I know you are being kind-hearted, pretending you feel for me, when I know you do not, but please don’t.  I would rather our marriage was based on truth and honesty, than on silly, romantic platitudes…”

“Pray don’t be ridiculous,” he snapped irritably, “Verity, I don’t ever want to hear the expression ‘second best’ from you again.  There is no woman in the world who means as much to me as you do in this moment.  I shall be proud to make you my wife tomorrow.  The past is gone.  We shall not ever refer to it again, except to say that I have been privileged to be loved by three very fine women, and even more privileged to marry the finest of them all.”

There were tears in her eyes as she leant forward to kiss him, “Cadmus, I can’t tell you how happy you have made me.”

“I trust I shall be allowed to make you much happier, my dearest girl.”

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Copyright 2013.

A Noble Pair of Brothers by Suzanne Downes.

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