Enchanted Summer: (Regency Romance) (6 page)

The Bannister sons were often in Tom’s company Tom was also on holiday from Eaton.

It was by this pleasant lady that Margaretta sat the day of the gathering and she could not have chosen a better usher to ease her into the area’s society. Sophie was fond of company and seemed to be bursting with pent-up energy.

The guests had gathered in the spacious drawing room and after being introduced Celia did not join any of the groups but stayed back a little, and observed the gathering.

Caroline was displaying an anxiety rare in her usually cool demeanor as she glanced repeatedly at the door. The only ones not in the assembly yet were the Earl of Shelton and his family, so Celia assumed it was for them she was looking out.

Celia was curious to see what Lord Shelton’s family looked like for she had not been introduced to them when she had attended her Aunt Solace’s funeral.

The Longards—Caroline’s aunt Louella and her daughter Beatrix, were as rude as Caroline and now crowded around her. Celia could tell this was not to Caroline’s taste, for she appeared to want to be unfettered and moved away from them repeatedly. She was dressed in creamy white with a soft embroidered shawl on her shoulders and certainly looked handsome.

Just then the Earl of Shelton, seated in his Bath chair, was wheeled into the large drawing room by his footman. Alongside them were Lord Merrick, his sisters and Lord Shelton’s nurse. And as they entered the drawing-room the girls were surrounded by the fawning Longards and by Caroline and Sylvia. For a moment Celia did not notice them but looked beyond them at their brother, Lord Merrick. There was warmth in his eyes as he held her gaze for a moment as Caroline called him away in a proprietary manner. Yet after he greeted her he moved away, towards Celia.

“That’s just Miss Meade and her family,” said Caroline, tugging at Lord Merrick’s arm, and with her action dismissing Celia and her family as unimportant. But Lord Merrick, after greeting Worth Delaney, Tom and Sylvia, who were standing together, moved toward Celia, who was standing by her mother, who was seated.

“I’m very glad you and your family are to make your home among, us, Miss Meade” Lord Merrick said to Celia. “I hope you will be happy here.” 

Celia tried not to acknowledge the twinkle in his eyes that sent a secret message to her of having already met her in the wood for she knew that Caroline was watching her alike a hawk, standing rigidly nearby.

Celia introduced Merrick to her family and Lord Merrick introduced his family to the Meades, welcoming them to the area. His father nodded toward the Meades and he then motioned to the footman to move his Bath chair along. Lord Shelton seemed restless and tired and Celia wondered why he had made the effort to come at all, when it was obvious he would have been more comfortable at home. His face glistened with perspiration and he seemed as uncomfortable as anyone in his situation could be. Celia was certain that when she met Lord Merrick in the wood again, Lord Merrick would tell her his father had insisted on attending the reception and then had changed his mind about it.

After settling his father, the footman and Lord Shelton’s nurse in a comfortable area, Lord Merrick moved on with his sisters to greet the rest of the guests.

Celia was wearing her new celadon green silk gown, and the color enhanced the honey shades of her hair, which she wore piled high on her head with a few strands curled down from her temples and nape. The hue of the gown made her eyes sparkle and for the second time that evening Lord Merrick gazed into her eyes. Had Celia been able to read his thoughts, she would have been breathlessly pleased to find that at sight of her, Lord Merrick’s breath had caught at his throat and he was anxiously looking forward to his next meeting with her.

As Lord Merrick and his sisters moved around, Caroline was constantly at his side. And Celia noticed that each time he moved away from her to talk to someone else Caroline would recall him with a word or by joining him at whatever part of the room he had wandered.

Except for Lady Ellen Shelton, who was exceptionally attractive, Lord Merrick’s sisters were girls of unremarkable looks and too shy in their manner. Lady Julia was Caroline’s friend and Caroline was at her side when not seeking her brother’s company. The other two, Lady Mary and Lady Sally preferred each other’s company and sat speaking to each other quietly, sometimes glancing shyly around.

Lady Ellen seemed drawn to Celia and came by to ask if she could sit by her. Celia acceded readily and made room for her on the sofa.

“Are you settled in Rook’s End now?” Ellen asked in her sweet voice and Celia saw that of the four it was she who looked more like her brother, for she had her brother’s eyes, though a more feminine version of them and the shape of her face was similar to his.

“Your uncle, Mr. Delaney told me you are a talented artist,” she said, “I do hope you will let me see your work.”

“Yes, certainly, any time you would like, Lady Ellen” said Celia eagerly. She was anxious to make new friends and she liked Lady Ellen even more as they talked for a while and Celia found out that Lady Ellen had wide interests and that art, of which she knew a lot, was a favorite with her.

“Is your brother a lot older than you?” Celia asked her.

“Yes, eight years,” said Lady Ellen, her eyes seeking out her brother in the crowd, and on noticing that Caroline was at his side, she sighed, with an almost imperceptible shake of the head. She confided that she had had several seasons in London and had not found anyone to her liking.

“To my aunt’s regret, I will not marry just to have my own establishment,” she said. “I am quite comfortable at home.”

Just then another girl sat at Lady Ellen’s other side and pressed her attention on her.

Celia looked around. Her eyes lingered on her mother and she noticed a rather hungry, eager look in her eyes and Celia felt embarrassed for her.

Margaretta was pressing Bella to join a circle of young people a few paces away gathered by the window. Lord Merrick and Caroline were at the center of it. Celia saw that her mother had her eye on Lord Merrick for her daughter Bella. Bella declined, shyly shaking her head at her mother, a gesture that made Margaretta even louder in her insistence.

Celia stood up quickly and went to rescue her sister. The Longards had become aware of this and were already smirking in disdain and whispering among themselves. No doubt they would talk over the incident with Caroline at the first opportunity.

Celia took her sister back with her and introduced her to Lady Ellen and the other girl. Soon their little circle expanded to include Lorraine Bannister and Jack Longard, a personable young man who had not his family’s ill manners.

Celia found from his conversations that Jack had spent the larger part of his life in London and in schools away from his family and under the care of an uncle.

It was obvious he was attracted to Bella, for all his words were directed at her. He had the Longard thin pale hair but his nature tended to be easier and livelier. He and Bella took to each other from the beginning.

Celia glanced fondly at her sister. Bella’s black hair was offset to advantage by her demure white gown and although the dress was far less costly than Caroline’s, Bella’s beauty was such that people were constantly glancing at her. She was, thought Celia, the most beautiful girl in the room.

Jack Longard seemed to think so too and Celia was glad that her mother had given up match-making and was settled into quiet conversation.

The Longards had noticed Jack’s preference for Bella and they took it upon themselves to separate them. The elder Mrs. Longard, a woman who carried herself in a queenly manner and looked down her high-bridged nose at Margaretta called Jack to her side. She told him she was alarmed that he was showing such high regard for a girl who belonged to Caroline’s penniless relations. Jack just shook his head but did not reply.

CHAPTER 6

For the rest of the evening, the Longards, with one ploy or another, managed to keep Jack from Bella but not before he was able to ask Bella if he would be permitted to call on her the following day.

The group by the window had shifted and Celia was able to observe Lord Merrick. She thought him the most attractive man she had ever known. She remembered her conversation with him in the wood and recalled the masculine timbre of his voice with warm pleasure. She began to wonder on this attraction she felt for him on such ridiculous short time. True, she had never forgotten him in the year that had followed Aunt Solace’s funeral.

The thought that the day after tomorrow she would meet him in the woods sent a thrill through her. She was certain the hours would be twice as long simply because she wanted them to go faster.

Caroline had staked Lord Merrick as hers alone but it was obvious to Celia he was not committing himself to her in the slightest way. He untangled himself from her little traps with cordial but quiet determination.

Celia knew that Caroline and the Longards would have lost no time in referring to the Meades, who had been thrust on them against their will, as their poor relations and would lose no opportunity to mock and belittle them to Lord Merrick.

She recalled the lingering glances from Lord Merrick in the forest and the way he had scheduled another meeting. A thrill went through her and she determined that although Lord Merrick may not look to her as a candidate for marriage, he had certainly seemed eager for her friendship.

She was happy with that. To wish for more would be greedy.

She had little regard for Caroline, whom she considered a hard and selfish girl, and did not consider Caroline’s pursuit of Lord Merrick as any barrier to her friendship with Lord Merrick, should any such friendship develop.

Celia had little experience with men, having been sheltered from society by the lack of money. Her concentration up until now had been the economic survival of her family, the tutoring of her brother and sister and her art.

* * *

Lord Merrick had been attracted to Celia Meade from the first time he was introduced to her, at her aunt’s funeral, although it had been a swift and strange introduction

He had been looking forward to seeing Miss Meade again since that time and he had determined that once his father’s health had improved he would find out her direction so that he could call on her.

He recalled with extreme pleasure his first meeting with Miss Meade. His breath had arrested in his throat as his eyes gazed at Celia’s beautiful green eyes and a delicious shiver shot through his body as he kissed Miss Meade’s gloved hand. Never had he felt such a physical attraction to a woman and he hardly slept that night as he recalled every little bit he could think about the brief meeting, running it over and over in his mind and sighing at the thought that in a few weeks he would try to meet her again.

Unfortunately, what he thought would be a few weeks had stretched into more than a year when his father had suffered a relapse from his apoplexy that confined him to a Bath chair. Robert procured for him but developed yet another illness: painful gout, a condition that brought even more pain to his wracked body.

Lord Merrick had been engrossed with his father’s complicated health issues, the running of the estate which comprised several properties and countless tenants and his four sisters over whom he now had authority. So he was delighted when he learned from Miss Molly that Miss Meade and her family were to live at Rook’s End! Finally he would see Miss Meade again!

The encounter with the lovely Miss Meade in his family forest was a wonderful surprise and his offer to show her the wildflower meadow the inspiration of the moment, which had come about when he wracked his brain to produce another meeting in which he could advance his friendship with her.

Lord Merrick had looked forward to Celia and her family’s arrival at Rook’s End once Miss Molly had alerted him to it and noticed that Caroline had lost no time in portraying the Meades as penniless relations that had been brought up in a rude environment. Caroline did not say this to Lord Merrick himself, because unkind words in referring to her cousins would not have recommended her to him, but Lord Merrick was certain that Caroline had made sure this information was related to him by the Longards in a way that made Celia seem as someone of little consequence.

Lord Merrick, in his position as the most eligible bachelor in several counties was used to being accosted constantly by girls who dreamt of being united to him and was constantly on his guard. A man could compromise himself simply by being too much in the company of one girl so he made sure he was not boxed into such a situation.

He had been engaged at one time and his bride had died in an accident a few weeks before the wedding. After that he had gone to war on a commission he requested from the Crown, for he felt he could not stand by and see Napoleon take over country after country without contributing in his own small way to stopping his advance.

More than once Merrick’s eyes drifted to the place where Celia sat or stood talking with others, but his glances were guarded. He saw that of all the girls in the room only she was content to remain where she was and did not seek either his glance or his company. He did not want to single her out in a public gathering, because he was certain that a scramble to destroy her character would start at once, especially by Caroline.

Another guarded glance at Miss Meade sent a rush of feeling throughout Robert’s body. He could not wait to see her again, away from prying eyes.

He was glad his sister had made friends with Celia and he would ask Ellen to include the Meades to a gathering that would soon take place. He would have liked to dance with Celia but a ball held at his house was for the time being out of the question until his father improved. It was amazing that his father had insisted on attending the gathering, although it appeared he was now regretting it.

* * *

Bella and their mother spent the following day reminiscing about the party they had attended, going over and over the guests, the dinner and their cousins.

Glancing guardedly at the ormolu clock on the mantel, Celia longed for time to pass so that she could escape to the little wood and to her meeting with Lord Merrick.

Then she realized with a sudden jolt, that should acquaintances drop by to visit with her she would not be able to escape them and she would miss her meeting with Lord Merrick.

She decided to take her sketchbook and tell Mama and Bella that she preferred to make drawings while they discussed clothes.

As eager as they were to talk about gowns and new acquaintances as she was not, her mother and Bella barely nodded as she kissed them good-bye. She donned her short cape and boots, picked up pencil and sketchbook and fled down the service stairs in back.

Once deep into the little wood that was still within the Delaney property, she spread a cloth she took from her utility bag, took out her sketchbook and pencils and settled to a wonderful hour until it would be time to meet Lord Merrick. This way she would not be trembling from fright that visitors might prevent her from escaping from the house.

She had borrowed her mother’s pin watch so that she would know the hour they had agreed to meet so she concentrated on her sketches and only glanced now and then at the watch so that she would not miss the meeting time.

Tomorrow, she thought as she sketched, she would return at the same hour but she would also pack a basket with lunch, and return to this spot where she would spend most of the day. That way she would not have to cut her day in two. She was certain her mother would object but since she and Bella had much to occupy them in their new house, the objections would be faint-hearted.

As she glanced at the watch she saw with joy that the meeting hour had arrived! She gathered her art things, folded the cloth and stuffed everything quickly into her utility duck bag. Then she walked briskly down the narrow dark path toward the agreed-upon meeting place.

Lord Merrick was waiting for her already and her heart started to thud madly at sight of him. How he looked with his tan breeches, black Hessians to the knee and dark blue coat of superfine! His dark brown hair was almost black and slightly wavy, and had chestnut highlights that glistened from the light in the crescent meadow where they had agreed to meet.

He walked a few paces, dropped the walking stick he carried and took both Celia’s hands, surprising her in a way that made her breath catch and her knees jelly as his hands held hers tightly, sending shivering tingling pleasure throughout her body. She made no move to release her hands but smiled at him and moved closer, looking into his wonderful blue eyes.

“I—” She was unable to continue as she just looked deep into his eyes.

“I feel the same way, Miss Meade,” he said as he moved even closer, dropped one of his hands, which then went to her back, pressing her closer to him, and kissed her full in the mouth.

Celia was startled but did not move back. His lips on hers were the most ecstatic feeling she had felt in her life and she was not about to cut it short. Her knees wobbled and had Robert not been holding her she would have slipped onto the grass, unable to hold her quaking legs. A jolt had sped through her body and she was still feeling its aftereffects as she roused herself to listen to what Lord Merrick was saying.

“I can’t say I’m sorry, Miss Meade, for I have been dreaming of kissing you for a long time. Ever since I first laid eyes on, you, in fact.”

Celia’s response was a bright smile as he led her to the trail which he explained would lead them to the wildflower meadow. He had recovered his walking stick and with his other hand he held Celia’s hand.

Silence was their only companion as Lord Merrick led the way down the trail, now and then holding back a branch that had encroached upon the narrow path so that Celia might go through, and his dog skipping after them.

Celia was silent, still feeling the aftereffects of his kiss and his warm words.

“Our grooms cut the foliage back from the path now and then but it grows back fiercely, particularly in the spring,” he said.

As the saying went, the devil take tomorrow, thought Celia. She was considered a spinster, and spinsters had a right to grab a little happiness from wherever source it came. She knew a kiss from Lord Merrick meant nothing but the pleasure of the moment, yet she reveled in it and would dream about it again and again.

Then the light that filtered through the trees was now stranger, as Lord Merrick pressed back a few branches so that she might get through.

Then he pulled back so that she could see the meadow.

“Oh!”

Celia’s reaction to the wildflower meadow was instant and full of joy. She had never seen a concentration of wildflowers in a myriad of colors, like a splattering of colors in a palette gone wild.

“It’s so beautiful,” she said, her glance encompassing the wide round meadow on which new light green grass grew and beyond a circle of slim dark toned trunks of trees contrasted vividly. Her artist’s imagination was reveling in the sight as Lord Merrick smiled beside her.

“I was certain you would love it,” he said. “Miss Molly told me you liked to paint and have sold many of your sketches.”

“Yes,” Celia replied and sat where he directed where they had the view of the wide meadow.

“I’ve never seen a place where wildflowers grew in so many different hues,” she said. “It’s usually just one or two colors. But this is so unusual!”

“I think so, too, and I’m glad you agree with me. I have come here with others on occasion, groups of people that have come as houseguests. Yet never have I seen the reaction to the meadow that you had, which mirrors mine when I first saw it as a child, for it grows in the same way year after year. There is a larger meadow used for hunting closer to the edge of the woods, so this small meadow is left in peace when I hunt with my friends.”

“You’re fortunate that such a place of beauty belongs to your family,” Celia replied.

He agreed and then added, “I brought a lunch, Miss Meade.” From a bush he removed a covered basket and brought it to where Celia sat on the soft new grass. “I hope you will share it with me.”

He opened the top of the basket, took out a cloth and spread it on the grass.

There was a bottle of burgundy, sandwiches and glasses, as well as slices of peach cobbler and cream. There was also a meaty bone for Ready.

The next hour was the happiest Celia could remember in all her life.

But after a while she became a little apprehensive. She had spent a lot of time in the woods, and even though she knew Bella and her mother were absorbed with their new clothing, she knew how her mother worried if she wasn’t around where she could see her.

Celia was her mother’s anchor to the world, without which she would bob around aimlessly, and well she knew it, however much she scolded Celia for her painting.

She and Lord Merrick said their good-byes and Celia could see how reluctantly Lord Merrick let go of her hand but not without first kissing it.

As she crossed the gravel driveway, Celia saw a carriage arriving and went to greet Uncle Worth, who was returning from Bath.