Joan Smith (8 page)

Nicholas felt uncomfortable with the parish making such a fuss over him after church. He was quick to divert attention from himself by presenting Miss Aurelia, who clung to his arm, blushing prettily.

“I felt just like a princess!” was her artless comment when they finally reached the seclusion of their carriage. She behaved like one, too, waving and smiling with great condescension from the window at the crowd who peered in, eager for one last look at Nick and his bride-to-be.

“Perhaps you are right about spending Christmas here, Nick. We would not have received so much attention in London,” she said.

“I wish we had not received so much here. I am not comfortable on a pedestal. I’m afraid of falling off.”

“I like it. It makes me feel special,” she said.

The minute he was home, Nick changed into his blue jacket and buckskins. Lunch was a hasty meal, to leave the servants free to prepare the grander feast to come that night. He tried to get up a skating party for the afternoon, but had scant success. Pelham could not be pried from the grate, and Jane stayed with him. She actually wanted to go, but could not like to tag along like a third wheel with the betrothed couple.

Aurelia seemed keen for the outing. This time she did not hesitate to set aside her bonnet and bundle up warmly in shawls and mittens. She was learning to adapt to country life, and even taking some pleasure in it. Once they had left, Jane became restless. It was a beautiful day. The sun gleamed on white snow with a blinding light.

“Let us go for a short walk, Pelham,” she suggested. “You will want to work up an appetite for dinner.”

“I find sitting by a fire gives me a good appetite,” was his reply.

“It also gives you a few extra pounds.”

“Why don’t you go for a little stroll if you feel like it? I can watch you from the window.”

“Very well. You can practice the wedding ceremony while I am gone,” she said, and went to get her shawl.

She walked westward, toward the pond, but did not plan to join Nick and Aurelia. She had some deep thinking to do. Pelham’s offer of marriage had been offhand, hardly an offer at all, really; but his behavior since speaking indicated a certain seriousness. She felt sure she could have him if she showed the least interest. Life
as
Mrs. Vickers would be comfortable. Pelham was well off, well liked, and of good character, if a trifle lazy. He was not handsome, to be sure, but appearances were not really important. Like any woman, she wanted children to fill her life.

She stopped to admire the holly, with its red berries peeping through the snow. Mistle thrushes were busily stripping the berries from the bough for their Christmas dinner. They were joined by a blackbird and a flock of hedge sparrows. She saw fox tracks in the snow and followed them. They led her toward the pond. She stopped behind a stand of blackthorn bushes, not wanting Nick and Aurelia to see her. She could not say why; perhaps it was her conscience nagging at her, because every fiber of her being wanted to spy on them.

She caught a glimpse of Aurelia’s blue shawl through the bushes. Strangely, she wasn’t moving, but standing perfectly still. Jane peered around the bush and soon discovered the reason for it. She was in Nick’s arms, being embraced very thoroughly indeed. Jane felt a painful tightening in her breast. She turned and fled back to the house. If Pelham offered for her again, she would accept.

Pelham, however, had fallen into a doze by the cozy grate. The reading material by his side was not the
Book of Common Prayer
but a hunting journal. He looked unappealing with his mouth open, emitting gentle snorts. She would cure him of these lazy habits after they were married. In the meanwhile, she went to ask Lady Elizabeth if there was anything she could do to help. Lizzie and Mrs. Lipton sat in Lizzie’s parlor, knitting.

“You might run up and take a look in on Goderich, if you don’t mind, Jane. He was asking for you.”

“I would be happy to.”

Goderich was awake and happy to see her. “Ronald tells me it is Christmas,” he said. Of course, he meant Nick. “He looked gallant in his red jacket. It is good to have him home. I meant to go to church on Christmas. I think I could have made it. It don’t seem like Christmas without hearing the story.”

“Why don’t I read the Christmas gospel to you?”

“Ah, I would like that. Saint Luke, if you please. I could almost recite it with you. I have heard it three score and ten times. I daresay this will be the last.”

“Nonsense, you will hear it again next year, and the next.” She read the time-honored phrases. She knew them nearly by heart herself. “At that time there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus,” she began, and read the piece through in a clear, plain voice to the end. “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will.” She set the book aside.

When she looked up, there were tears in Goderich’s eyes. He brushed them away, smiling. “That was nice, my dear. Thank you. Ah, and who is this who has come to visit me? Your mama, I believe.”

It was Emily Lipton who had appeared at the doorway, but she did bear a strong resemblance to her sister. “Willie Winston has just arrived, Jane,” she said. “I spotted him at church this morning. He was asking for you. If you want to go down and say hello, I shall sit with Lord Goderich for a while.”

“You are spoiling me with all this attention,” Goderich said happily. “What do you say to a hand of cards, Lily?”

Emily did not bother to correct him, but got out the cards and settled in for a boring hour of nonsense while Jane went to her room to freshen her toilette.

Sir William Winston, Baronet, was a cousin of Nick’s, and not one to boast of either. He was a ne’er-do-well who, having squandered his own patrimony, moved about from one relative to another, seeking some well-dowered lady foolish enough to marry him. His main attractions were his face and his pleasant line of chatter. Hostesses were always happy to have him on hand as an extra partner at balls, or a stand-in for a dinner party guest who could not come at the last minute. His character was tarnished by his careless way with money, but it was not so blackened that mamas feared to let their daughters stand up with him.

He always flirted with Jane, as indeed he flirted with any single lady possessed of a competence. She was in the mood to have a handsome gentleman make a little fuss over her. Her bruised pride welcomed it. As it was approaching dinnertime, she decided to make her toilette before going downstairs. She had brought a bronze taffeta gown with a gauze overskirt for Christmas dinner. She unbound her hair and brushed it to a burnished copper, then wound it up in a fancier style than she normally wore, and fastened pearl combs on either side. Her mama’s topaz necklace matched the gown. It was an old family heirloom, an intricate pendant with topazes set in silver filigree, suspended from a heavy silver chain. It lent a medieval touch to her ensemble.

As she surveyed herself in the mirror, she admitted she was not so lovely as Aurelia, but she thought her more mature, sophisticated appearance might appeal to Sir William. She heard the buzz of conversation from the Gold Saloon as she approached the bottom of the stairs. Sir William was standing just inside the doorway. He turned and looked up at her, then a smile of appreciation lit his handsome, slightly dissipated face.

It was mainly his eyes that one noticed. They were dark, flashing eyes, set in a thin, rather pale, delicately molded face. He was blond, tall, and slender, and wore his clothes with an ease that even Brummell might have envied. Whatever financial scrapes he was in, he never let his toilette suffer. He came forward, leaving the saloon to greet Jane.

“Jane,” he said, bowing. “The years are kind to you. Like a vintage wine, you improve with aging.” While he spoke, his dark eyes moved admiringly over her Titian hair, down to her topaz necklace and bronze gown.

“Your compliments, on the other hand, deteriorate,” she replied, smiling archly. “You must know it is not kind to call a lady’s attention to her age once she is beyond her teens.”

“I stand corrected. The comparison was wrong on two scores. It is brandy you remind me of, not wine.” He inclined his head to hers and added in a conspiratorial manner, “They say, you know, that wine is for boys, and brandy for men.”

He offered her his arm to escort her into the saloon. At the archway he stopped and glanced up at the mistletoe, but decided that would be rushing it. But overall he found his interest in Jane quickening.

“You could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard of Nick’s engagement,” he said. “Little Aurelia is doing pretty well for herself.”

“You know her?” Jane asked, surprised. His using her first name suggested a certain degree of intimacy.

“I know the family. I met Aurelia at a party the Huddlestons had a few months ago. I thought at the time she was wasted in such company.” Then he laughed. “Myself not excluded. I am most often to be found amongst the cits and merchants these days. I have lowered my sights from the aristocracy. A well-dowered cit’s daughter will do fine for me. Unless you would like to have me?” he asked, with a glittering smile.

Jane didn’t bother answering. She was familiar with his flirtatious ways.

“Are you staying to dinner, Sir William?” she asked.

“Sir William? Oh, come, my dear Jane. I hope we are on closer terms than that. Call me Willie. Everyone does. To answer your question, I plan to stay for dinner. Lady Elizabeth invited me at church this morning. I ‘misunderstood’ her,” he said, with a knowing grin, “and came with my trunk to spend a few days. Cousin Margaret’s place, where I have been staying, is a little crowded. She has her flock home for the holidays.”

He got two glasses of sherry and moved to a sofa a little away from the others for a private coze with Jane.

“Do you know,” he said, gazing at her, “I always thought you and Nick
...
Am I embarrassing you? Sorry, but surely you must have been shocked to hear of this hasty engagement?”

“Everyone was surprised,” she admitted.

“I should think so. Good God, one trembles to think of the Huddleston ménage moving into Clareview en masse. Aurelia tells me they are coming for the New Year’s ball.”

“It is only a party, not a ball, but yes, Aurelia invited her family. She seems to think her brother cannot be spared when her papa will be away, and one sister, I believe, is increasing and will not be able to travel. Her parents and the Huddlestons should be coming.”

“I would not miss that for a wilderness of monkeys,” he said, and smiled as if at some private joke. Then he cocked an eyebrow at her. “I see you are too nice to ask. And I am too nice to tell the whole, but let us just say, I don’t think they will fit in at Clareview.”

“One never knows. Perhaps they will fit in admirably.”

“Yes, and perhaps there will be roses blooming in the garden tomorrow, but it is not likely. I shall do what I can to pour oil on the waters, of course.
Ça va sans dire.
To tell the truth, I am surprised at Nick’s acuity in latching on to the Townsends.”

“I don’t believe Nick sees the marriage in that light. He is marrying Aurelia, not the Townsends.”

“You don’t walk amongst burdock without picking up burrs.”

“Why do you speak of acuity?”

“The dot must be fabulous.”

From the tail of his eye, Sir William noticed that Nick was keeping a sharp eye on him. If it were Aurelia he were flirting with, he could have understood it, but why was he jealous of his making up to Jane? Was it possible Nick still felt something for her? She was certainly looking extremely handsome this evening. Much more to his own taste than the peaches-and-cream charms of Miss Aurelia.

He decided to test his theory. He took Jane’s hand and held it. “That is a pretty trinket,” he said, using an insignificant pearl ring as an excuse to hold her hand.

“I had it from my grandmama,” she said, gazing fondly at the ring. “I don’t remember her. She must have been small. This was her engagement ring, but it only fits on my little finger.”

“Yet you have small hands,” Sir William said, running his fingers over her hand.

As he watched from the side of his eye, Nicholas detached himself from the grate and came pacing toward him.

Nick wore a smile, but his stiff-legged gait betrayed his annoyance to Sir William, who was an expert at irate gentlemen. Fiancés, fathers, brothers, and husbands—he had dealt with them all in his long career. He was also adept at appeasing their wrath. The first step was an air of innocence, the second an explanation, in this case of the hand-holding episode.

“Jane was just showing me her grandmama’s ring,” he said. “Of course, you would be familiar with it, Nick? Jane has to wear it on her smallest finger, yet it was an engagement ring.”

Nick, feeling rather foolish, looked at the ring. “I believe I have seen it before,” he said.

“We have not seen Miss Aurelia’s ring,” Sir William said, deftly turning the conversation from himself and Jane. He turned and smiled at Aurelia, who rose and joined the group.

“No, I had planned to give her my mama’s engagement ring, but she has her heart set on a solitaire, like her sister’s,” Nick said. He seated Aurelia and sat beside her. “We are just discussing your engagement ring,” he explained to his fiancée
.

“You are taking chances, letting this lovely little  lady walk about without a ring to let the gents know she is taken,” Winston said playfully.

“Our engagement was a spur-of-the-moment thing,” Nick explained. “There was not time to buy a ring in London.”

“There are some fine estate pieces in the Goderich collection, I recall,” Sir William said. “Your aunt’s diamond, for instance, is a solitaire. What is it, ten carats? A beautiful piece. You should give your fiancée that ring. She will be showered with all the Goderich jewelry. You will have rings on your fingers and bells on your toes, Miss Aurelia
.
”

Jane noticed he called Aurelia by the more formal name in front of Nick.