Lady in Demand (5 page)

      “I can be humorous.” Finn could hear the defensiveness in his tone. His brothers wore identical expressions of skepticism. “I bloody well can!”

      “There!” Ben pointed at Finn’s head. “That’s the menacing look.”

      Finn gave up then; after all, his brothers were not the only ones who had alluded to his serious demeanor. Both Will and Phoebe had made many remarks to that end.
 

      “Good God, is that a secretive smile?”

      “What?” Finn glared at Ben.

      “You just had a secretive smile on your face. What were you thinking about?”

      “That’s a woman smile,” Alex said thoughtfully. “Have you a woman in your life, Finn?”
      “Don’t be ridiculous. I was thinking of my morning ride. A young person was doing tricks on the back of a horse.” It wasn’t a lie, she was a young person.

“Really! I would have loved to see that. We’ve decided to go to The Royal Amphitheatre one night, haven’t we Ben?”

“Indeed, then we thought to practice a few—”

“I forbid it,” Finn interrupted before Ben could finish his sentence. “The last time you two attempted to stand on a horse’s back Alex was in bed with broken fingers and a bruised head for days.” The twins gave him a smile which told Finn they had been doing what they did best, trying to get a rise out of him.

      “We need new clothes, Finn, if we are to be seen about town.”

      Finn picked up his newspaper and opened it. “Do you, Alex?”

      “Yes, because while you have perfected the mourning look, we feel it is not right for us. Therefore, we thought to go shopping today if that would suit you?”

      “And am I to fund this venture?” Finn left the mourning comment untouched, remembering Phoebe had said the same thing last night. Really, it was lucky his ego could withstand this constant battering or he’d be a gibbering wreck.
 

      “Well, I have only made one investment, as you very well know, and Alex the same, although it’s my belief he has a bit of blunt tucked away and is not sharing it.” Ben glared at his brother.

“I’m simply doing as Finn suggested we do, Benjamin, and looking to reinvest.” Ben didn’t care for his brother’s lofty tone and lobbed a piece of toast at him.

“Cease at once!” Finn roared, knowing exactly where that action would lead.

      Throwing his brother a look that suggested retribution was only on hold, Alex said. “We are merely poor young men finding our way in the world, whereas you, on the other hand, have far more money than—”

      “I would leave the rest of that sentence in your head were I you, Alexander,” Finn said. “We shall leave in an hour and I shall accompany you to make sure you don’t bankrupt me.”

      The twins moaned but fell silent when he lifted his paper and blocked them from his view, thereby signaling the end to the conversation.

      “I have to meet someone first, then will catch up to you after, if that is alright. And if we are being honest, it is Ben who needs the new clothes. Actually, what he needs is a lesson in style. However, as he will not take it from me, perhaps you could guide him, Finn. He has your coloring, so muddy brown and soot black should be just the ticket.”

      Finn waited for the explosion behind his paper, but to his surprise it never came.
 

      “Can we take out your new grays, Finn?” Ben said instead, for once ignoring his brother’s taunts.
       

“No.”

      “Perhaps we should go to Tattersall’s as well, Finn, as Ben and I are both in need of new mounts?”

      Finn didn’t see his brothers nudging each other but he knew what they were up to. They both worked on the theory that if they asked for a few things at once then Finn would give in and relent to at least two.
 

      “If you are going to pay for the said new equine purchases, I am more than happy to look them over before you buy.”

      “You’re a terrible nip-farthing,” Alex moaned.

      “It will look badly on you, Finn, if we are not turned out just so,” Ben added.

      “I shall try to bear up under the strain.” Finn still had his paper up as he attempted to read the same line for the third time.

      “I’ll not be like that with my children, Alex. I will make sure they are turned out impeccably every season.”

      “And I shall come and eat at your table and make general mayhem in your house, and of course demand you spend money on me,” Finn drawled.

      That shut them up. He listened as chairs scraped and soon he was once again alone to finally finish his newspaper.

CHAPTER FOUR

“Did you take a groom with you, Phoebe?”

      “Yes, Will, I took Moses.” Phoebe said calmly. Lifting her cup, she then sipped her tea.

      “You took my most competent groom and still you have a bruised cheek? And by the way you are gingerly holding that cup I would say your wrist hurts, too.”

      Replacing her cup, she smiled at her brother-in-law, who was scowling at her across the breakfast table. The family always shared their morning meal together, and it was usually time for them to discuss their day and chat.

Olivia, her eldest sister, sat to her husband’s right and was watching the conversation she was having with Will, her cinnamon eyes lit with a smile. She looked happy and content, far different from the pale, worried woman she had once been.
 

The Langley sisters were all different in appearance. Livvy had red-gold curls where as Bella who sat to her left, was blonde with green eyes. Both had better dispositions than Phoebe, too.

“Don’t give me that sweet smile, Phoebe, it will not wash. I am up to your tricks, remember, and would like an explanation.”

After a bath, Phoebe had felt better. Her face had hit the ground as well as her wrist and was now starting to bruise, but not badly. She had thought Sally had managed quite well to cover it, yet perhaps not. Her wrist didn’t throb as it had and the bandage made it feel better; of course, she was forced to wear a long sleeved dress to cover it which could prove a bit warm today.

      “Is that the Moses who comes from a family of carnival people, Phoebe?” Bella said sweetly.

      Phoebe flashed her sister a look that she ignored. Isabella, for the most part, was sweet-natured; however, there was a mischievous streak inside her that when it made an appearance, it was usually to Phoebe’s determent.
 

      “I have a groom that was in a carnival?” Will questioned, looking from Bella to Phoebe and then to Livvy, who still had not entered the fray.
 

      “Moses,” Bella confirmed.

      Phoebe started spreading strawberry preserve on her toast, making sure to push it to the corners of the bread so she would enjoy the delicious taste in every mouthful she took. After all, it had not been that long ago that strawberry preserves were not in her life.

      “Why do I not know this?”

      “Luke knows,” Livvy said, which drew her husband’s eyes.

      “So my best friend knows but he did not inform me.”

      Phoebe put down her knife after cutting the toast in to four even pieces.
 

      “Is there a problem with having someone in your employ who worked in a carnival, Will?” Phoebe was happy for the topic to move away from her bruises and morning ride.

      “Luke said he’s marvelous with the horses, Will,” Bella added.

“Of course there’s no problem with his past, but I still like to know these things. And Luke should have told me, damn him. He’s just angry because we had an argument a week ago.”

      “He will come about in time, I’m sure, Will,” Livvy said.

      “He’d better!” Will snapped. “I’m sick of his ‘yes my lord, no my lord’ act. He’s just doing it to annoy me, especially as when we were in India, I was always just Will to him.”

      Phoebe saw the flash of pain in her brother-in-law’s eyes. Luke Fletcher’s father had worked for Will’s family, so the boys had grown up together. When Will had gone to India, Luke had accompanied him and both had made their fortunes; however, upon there return Luke had resumed working for Will, much to his disappointment, and it was now Will who managed Luke’s money. They argued constantly, with Will threatening to dismiss him or Luke threatening to walk away nearly every day. They were brothers in every way but blood and birth, and it was this that would always stand between them.

      Livvy patted her husband’s hand. “Give it time, my love. With persistence, which you have plenty of, you will soon wear him down, I’m sure.”

      “I hope you are right, Livvy, because I’m investing his money and it’s growing daily, yet he will do nothing with it.”

      “He is a stubborn mule.”

      “Bella!” Phoebe looked at her little sister. “You are usually the one defending Luke.”

      “Yes, but no more. He needs to grow up.”

      “Here, here,” Will said, lifting his tea cup in agreement. “And don’t think that by changing the subject, young lady, I have forgotten what we were discussing,” Will said, looking at her once more. “If I find out that you have been riding in the park learning carnival tricks and that is how you got that bruise, I will not be pleased, Phoebe.”

      She didn’t roll her eyes because she was old enough to know better, but the urge was still there. “Will, I would never do anything to damage your name or break myself. I don’t take risks that have not first been thought out; therefore, I would ask you to trust me.”

      She was subjected to Will’s steady gaze for several seconds.
 

      “I know you would never do anything to damage our name.” Phoebe heard the emphasis on the word ‘our’, and felt warm inside as she often did when he spoke that way. “And I have no wish to know your every move, but I do admit to a certain amount of anxiety over what you do when I or your sisters are not with you.”

      “She has always needed excitement, Will, and to the best of my knowledge this is actually the first time she has injured herself,” Livvy said, patting her husband’s hand. “She is no fool, even if she does need to feel the thrill of testing herself in whatever capacity.”

      Phoebe smiled at her sister. Livvy had seen her do more than her share of hair-raising activities in the past and was used to them by now.
 

      “I will leave it for now, but no more injuries, Phoebe.”

      “I understand, Will,” Phoebe said. Unlike Lord Levermarch, her wonderful brother-in-law would not take drastic measures to stop her from riding, or leaving the house without a full compliment of servants watching her every move.

Phoebe left the house at eleven o’clock with her maid. Hannah’s note had arrived this morning and been irritatingly vague by stating only that she was to meet her at midday at 12 Plimley Lane, a location that was just a stone’s throw away from Bond Street. She had told Bella she was going to visit a friend, but Livvy and Will had already left the house so she had not been able to tell them.

      The drive through London was not fast, as there were plenty of horses and carriages taking advantage of the lovely weather. It was twenty minutes later that Luke pulled the carriage to a halt. The narrow lane was a short distance away, but as the carriage could not maneuver up there they must get there on foot.

“I shall get Stephen to hold the reins whilst I escort you Miss Phoebe.”

 
Looking up at Luke Fletcher’s determined face, Phoebe wondered why he believed he should be in service when there was nothing subservient about the man. Tall and lean, he was a man who issued orders with frequency and little doubt they would be followed. She could see so much of Will in him, and the time they had spent together had changed the boy who had left England so many years before into a man
 

“That won’t be necessary, Luke, as you can see the sun is shining and there are plenty of people about. We will meet you back here in one hour.”

He opened his mouth to argue with her, so Livvy simply started walking, knowing Sally would follow.
 

Phoebe enjoyed her own company, not that she was on her own exactly as Sally was with her. However, it was nice to be alone with her thoughts.

“Miss Langely, what a wonderful surprise.”

Or not
, Phoebe thought looking up into the smiling face of Alexander Hetherington.

“Mr. Hetherington,” Phoebe said, acknowledging his bow. “How lovely to see you. Your brother stated last night that he thought you would not return until next week.”

She had met Alex and Ben Hetherington at Will and Livvy’s wedding and had enjoyed their company immensely. Alexander was the epitome of an immaculately turned- out gentleman. Today’s coat of midnight blue had all the hallmarks of the tailor George Stulz, and his waistcoat was perfection in matching blue and pale rose stripes.
 

“I’m sure it was more wishful thinking on his part, Miss Langley. However, my brother and I did return to London a bit earlier than planned.”