Bexley-Smythe Quintet 02 - Rhyme and Reason (5 page)

This silence between them was most decidedly of the
uncomfortable
sort. She licked her lips to soothe her nerves. “I apologize for my candor, sir, but I can’t see how it would serve either of us to avoid discussing the situation as transparently as possible. Perhaps it would have been better not to tell you anything…”

What little bit of courage she’d
mustered was quickly escaping her, and all because he still remained silent.

Mr. Goddard drew a hand through his
long, curling brown hair, never removing his gaze from her person. It left her unnerved and shaken, the way he stared at her so resolutely, delivering an unflinching inspection. His ire was slowly giving way to a heat of a different variety. Mattie wasn’t quite certain she knew what to name this new sensation he was causing her with his heated look.

Her breaths came in shuddering draws
as she tried not to cower from his gaze. Mattie had never been as traditionally beautiful as her sister Freddie, nor as charmingly lovely as Georgie, and certainly never as precociously pretty as their youngest sister Edie. Of all the Bexley-Smythe sisters, she’d always felt herself the most plain of them all, and therefore the least likely to be wanted.

She’d thought the only reason Sir Lester had paid her any attention was because none of her sisters were with her. If he had seen any of them, surely he would have ignored Mattie.

But with the way Mr. Goddard was staring at her, so intensely as to cause her whole body to suffer from a warm, tingling sensation, she was starting to question a great many things she’d always believed.

He took a long breath. “My lady—”

“Please.” Mattie gave him a pleading look with her eyes, willing him silently to allow her to speak uninterrupted. “Mr. Goddard, I do not know what my brother has promised you, or what the Duke of Danby has promised my brother, but the fact remains that you and I do not know one another. We don’t even know the first thing about each other, actually, and so there can’t be any emotional damage if we break things off now. Even if an announcement has already been made, a lady can cry off—”

“What if he Hammond doesn’t offer?”

“I…” Mattie hadn’t allowed herself to think of that possibility.

“Will you allow me to court you? You don’t have to cry off yet. I haven’t asked you to marry me, even if Danby and Stalbridge have come to an agreement, so there’s nothing for you to cry off from. Perhaps some might think we already have an understanding, but there’s nothing you or I can do about that.” Mr. Goddard sat beside her
finally, so close she could see the depth of his blue eyes. He seemed so very sincere. “You can put an end to this later if you choose. But please, not yet.”

This was all making her head spin again.

Sadler opened the door to the drawing room. “Sir Lester Hammond to call upon you, Lady Matilda.”

Mr. Goddard stiffened where he sat, his jaw clenched so tight his lips turned nearly white.
His reaction to Sir Lester was perhaps the oddest thing she’d ever witnessed.

The baronet entered carrying a bouquet of hothouse flowers. His gaze traveled briefly over Mr. Goddard before it fell upon Mattie. Then he smiled. “I did not know you had another caller. I could come—”

“Stay,” Mr. Goddard said, his words suddenly terse. He stood, placing his teacup and saucer on the table. He looked at her imploringly. “I’ll be on my way as soon as Lady Matilda answers a question I’ve put to her.”

Mattie’s breath caught for some strange reason. She swallowed, though the simple action was suddenly difficult. What had he asked? Oh. Yes. He wanted to court her.

In all truth, there couldn’t be any harm in allowing him to do so. He was correct about that. She looked at Sir Lester again, the bouquet of flowers in his hands drawing her eyes before they moved up to his face. Whatever he was feeling, she couldn’t sense it. Sir Lester always kept his thoughts and feelings well-guarded from her.

She nodded to Mr. Goddard. “Yes, I could allow that.”

He inclined his head then. “A good afternoon to you, Lady Matilda.” As he passed Sir Lester, neither man said a word.

Despite the coldness with which Mr. Goddard and Sir Lester were displaying toward one another, Mattie felt almost giddy. Her
fortnight in Scarborough had proven to be rather fortuitous so far. She’d hoped to find one suitor, if she could somehow manage such a thing; now she had two.

“I’ll handle things from here, Mr. Goddard. There’s no need for you to put off your afternoon
appointment
on my account.” Lindley shuffled the stack of papers upon the desk and looked at Thomas from over the top of them, a teasing sort of smirk accompanying his efficiency.

The secretary knew all too well that this wasn’t just any banal appointment
Thomas must attend, and it had nothing whatsoever to do with the running of the business. Thomas had been so perplexed by the events in Lord Teasdale’s drawing room yesterday that when he’d returned to his office at the stables, he’d been unable to stop himself from telling the man about it—every excruciating detail.

It was only natural, he supposed, for Lindley to revel in Thomas’s discomfort, at least somewhat. At least he wasn’t running through the stables and telling all the grooms and other workers about
how suddenly their employer had turned about in his decision-making.

No matter h
ow natural such a thing may be for Lindley, Thomas hated it—likely due to the fact that for once in his life, he was on the receiving end of such teasing. He nodded, his scowl as black as his mood at the jape. For that matter, his mood had been black ever since the precise moment he’d understood that Lady Matilda Bexley-Smythe intended to marry Sir Lester Hammond, the rotten blackguard.

He couldn’t stop himself from wondering why Hammond had taken an interest in the lady. Whatever was behind it, it couldn’t be good.
Thomas didn’t know the man well at all, but he knew that even if society might consider him a gentleman due to his birth, in truth Hammond was the furthest thing from gentlemanly a man could be.

It was the certainty that Hammond couldn’t possibly mean Lady Matilda well, more than any other reason, that had led to Thomas changing his mind
and deciding he not only
could
, but
should
marry Lady Matilda.

Teasdale didn’t seem to be very inclined to do what was best for her—his focus was more upon being rid of her, it would seem—or else he surely would have run Hammond off the moment he started chasing after the girl’s skirts.

Wouldn’t he?

But then again, perhaps Teasdale wasn’t aware of the sort of cur Hammond was. The baron was only taking a summer holiday here in Scarborough, and Thomas
doubted Hammond was one to spend more time than he absolutely must amongst the upper crust.

Not everyone knew the scoundrel for what he was.
For that matter, not everyone had seen the way the man treated his horses. Thomas had, though, and he refused to ever sell the bastard another horse no matter how much money was offered. He could only imagine the treatment a wife would receive at his hands.

He couldn’t allow Lady Matilda to suffer such a fate. He’d already saved her from one fall; there wasn’t a chance in the world he would allow her to suffer from another
, however different the fall might be.

Somehow, some way, he had to not only court her, but convince her to marry him before Hammond did. His efforts must begin today.

So he gathered up a few missives that had come in the post and headed down the street to the home Danby had provided him. Today, at least, he would not call upon Lady Matilda still bearing the visual evidence of his work. Once in his chambers, he took off all his clothes and set about cleaning away all the dust and grime he’d accumulated this morning in the basin.

All the while, he couldn’t seem to stop himself from ruminating
over just how, precisely, a man who had been reared as part of the servant class and had only recently been elevated beyond that station was supposed to woo the daughter of a marquess.

It seemed highly unlikely, particularly since he had competition
for the lady’s attentions who, on the outside at least, was a far more suitable match.

What on earth would possibly attract her to him?

Thomas had never had much to do with high-born ladies in his life, apart from those he had served and now his new relatives through Danby. In his time as a groom working for the Pritchards, he had done his work in the stables and had naught to do with Lady Pritchard unless she required a horse to be saddled. With the new relatives he’d acquired, he’d really only seen any of them twice. Both times, he’d felt as out of place as he did with Lady Matilda. He and Robert had both done their utmost to avoid all of them, and in particular the ladies. In his current position, he only ever really had dealings with the ladies’ husbands and fathers and brothers, never the ladies themselves.

He couldn’t really expect to have anything in common with Lady Matilda, or anything to talk to her about. Their brief interactions so far had brought out his protective instincts and his libidinous nature in equal measure, but a marriage couldn’t really hope to
balance upon such things.

Nonetheless
, a marriage was precisely what he must convince her was necessary.

When finally he was as clean as he could manage for the time being
and dressed appropriately to call upon a lady, Thomas went back down the stairs, ignored whatever was shouted his way from Lindley, and began the short walk over to the house on Grand Avenue.

He was sorely tempted to
turn himself around, go back inside, and try to forget that any of this had happened.

But he couldn’t do that.

According to society, he could never be a true gentleman, no matter what sort of airs he might put on. But Thomas still had his honor, and he would be damned before he would allow a blackguard disguised as a gentleman near Lady Matilda if he could help it.

A flick of the reins set his pair along the way.

He had wooing to do.

“You did what?” Lord Teasdale’s voice boomed through the red drawing room, causing Mattie to wince.

Bea tried to smile at her for comfort, but the weak effort she gave didn’t really look all that comforting. Seated next to her, her younger sister Rose’s eyes grew wide as she looked between her father and Mattie, and then over to her mother. Mattie imagined she was trying to memorize every detail of this moment so she could recreate it in all its agonizing glory for their youngest sister Lucy, who was above stairs with her governess, Miss Dormer.

That was what she, Freddie, and Georgie
had always done for Edie. It seemed only fitting that the Emery sisters would do the same.

Thinking about her sisters just now only reminded her of the letter she’d received this morning from Monty. He wrote to inform her that Georgie was safely delivered of his heir, and that young Lord Dennison squalls loudly enough he was certain to be hale and healthy for a great many years to come.

That news only caused her to yearn, more than ever before, that she could be with her family. Instead, she was with the Teasdales. Other than Bea, and maybe Rose and Lucy, they did not want her at all. And she was trying to choose between two suitors, one of whom might not want her, and the other of whom she might not want.

Mattie would
far prefer to be holding the squalling Viscount Dennison. Since she was not though, and could not do so any time soon, she renewed her resolve. Squaring her shoulders, she looked Lord Teasdale in the eye. “I told Mr. Goddard I would not agree to marry him as yet, but that he could court me, just as Sir Lester is doing.”

There wasn’t any need to tell the baron she hadn’t really
encouraged
Mr. Goddard. She just hadn’t
discouraged
him. With Sir Lester, on the other hand, Mattie had done everything she could to encourage, short of outright telling him she hoped he would offer for her or that she was head over ears in love with him.

There were some things which a lady simply couldn’t do.

“But Goddard has a marriage license. They’re not valid forever, you know.” Lord Teasdale paced to the hearth, muttering beneath his breath all the while. “Silly chit…doing a favor to Danby…strangle Stalbridge when I next see him…”

At that point, Mattie dared to look up at Lady Teasdale. The baroness was glowering at Mattie as she’d never done before, which was saying something. It seemed the only thing Lady Teasdale ever enjoyed doing with Mattie was glowering at her.

There was no point in continuing to look there. She glanced at Bea, who gave her a nod.

“If we choose to marry and the license is no longer valid, we can wait for the banns,” Mattie said patiently.

“
If
you chose to marry? Wait for the
banns
?” Lord Teasdale practically roared. “Just how long do you think I intend to allow you to remain under my roof and protection? Your brother said you would be biddable and do as you’ve been told. Beatrice, don’t you dare think you can behave as Lady Matilda is. Or Rose. Good God.”

She didn’t think he really wanted her to answer
his initial question, and she had no intention of being biddable on this matter (particularly since Percy had never mentioned a word of it to her), so she remained quiet.

“What sort of man is this Goddard, if he would go against what Danby and Stalbridge agreed upon?” Lady Teasdale mused aloud.

“Another excellent point,” the baron grumbled. “Danby promised me Lady Matilda would be well and truly married, and no longer my responsibility, within a reasonable time after we arrived.”

Mattie couldn’t help but notice that there was no mention of Mr. Goddard making any promises within their complaints
. Nor was there mention of Mattie doing so.

Danby
had promised, and
Percy
had promised…but Mattie had never even been consulted about any of it. She was beginning to wonder if Mr. Goddard had been asked for his opinion on the matter either.

But then again, he had done as he was bidden to do. He
had come with the marriage license yesterday afternoon, and she had no doubt he would have hauled her off to stand in front of a vicar this very morning if she would have agreed, considering the impassioned plea he’d delivered before taking his leave.

She couldn’t quite understand why he would care to marry her.

They didn’t know one another, and while her dowry was perfectly reasonable, it was far from exorbitant. She wasn’t an heiress or anything of that sort, so she wasn’t a lady whom a fortune hunter would seek. Her sisters were far prettier than she was, and for that matter, both Bea and Rose Emery were as well. Why her?

Yet, for whatever reason, he seemed fully intent upon convincing her to change her mind about Sir Lester and accept
his
offer.

“Papa,” Bea put in then, “surely it couldn’t hurt to allow Mattie time to choose one of these two gentlemen
to marry instead of simply accepting a gentleman she doesn’t know in the slightest. She hasn’t rejected either of them, you know.”

“That’s true.” Lord Teasdale narrowed his eyes upon Mattie. “I’ll grant you one more week to choose.”

A week? But what if Sir Lester didn’t make her an offer within the week?

Thankfully, Sadler cleared his throat at the doorway at that point, saving Mattie the need to
respond. “Mr. Goddard is here to call upon Lady Matilda, my lord.”

The baron never removed his eyes from Mattie as he nodded and said, “Yes, send him in. And a maid to chaperone
. But not that girl Lizzie. The girl needs…well, I can’t really say what she needs, but I don’t want her interfering in this any longer.” Then he turned and walked out of the room.