Lilly (2 page)

“Stanley will start today.  I promise this will all go as planned your lordship, don’t give it another thought.
  I will handle the father too.”

“I’m probably a fool to
not see her first.  Describe her to me,” Reece instructed, worried he’d be stuck with a terror.

“Dark long brown hair, brown eyes, tall for a woman with a nice figure, very popular with the village folks.  Especially nice, something tender about her, you’ll like her
well enough.”

“I like short
, curvy blondes, but I also enjoy variety.  She sounds like a brown country mouse.  Go ahead, and make it happen,” Reece said, thinking the plainer she was, the easier it would be to walk away.

……….

Lord Castleford Manor

Residence of Viscount Castleford

Suffolk, England

“Another letter?” Aunt Ellen Hawken asked. 

Lilly
’s Aunt Ellen had been with them for three weeks, changing her niece Lilly from a country dressed young girl into a beautiful lady.  Her maid Ginger was a master with shears and had trimmed and styled Lilly’s hair into a beautiful array of chocolate curls.  Aunt Ellen had given tips on taking care of her complexion, wearing hats in the sun, and smiling in various pleasing ways.  Ginger shaped Lilly’s eyebrows with a Spanish inquisitor’s style, using small utensils of torture.  She mixed Lilly her own special scent.  It was half flower and a quarter oils from the Far East, blended with a spice.  It made Lilly happy just to smell it.

A skilled seamstress from London had m
ade Lilly several gowns and two riding habits, accessories had also arrived, half boots, slippers, hats with feathers, kid gloves, bangles and ribbons, drop earrings and pearl hair clips, for her aunt loved Lilly and wanted her to be happily married.  Luckily Aunt Ellen had married a fortune and showed no dread in the amount of the bills.  So much in fact, Lilly wondered if she could skip getting married and just secure a loan from her uncle.  Too late now, the letters had started arriving.

“
Yes, another one, almost three a week.  Lord Randall is a marvelous correspondent.  I still don’t understand how he knew to write me.  Something about knowing father, but father doesn’t remember it, of course he recalls little that doesn’t concern calculations.  Father did give his permission for this correspondence and seems rather pleased I am being courted, even if it’s only by mail.”

“What does Lord Randall
say?” Aunt Ellen asked, rubbing her hands together.

“He tells me of London and all the
charities where he serves on the boards, describes his fine townhouse and several estates, his horse farm, racing at Newmarket.  He says he loves to travel and will show me everything,” Lilly sighed, for her biggest wish was to tour England.

“H’m
, you sure you’re corresponding with the Earl of Suffolk, Reece Randall?” Aunt Ellen asked, suddenly sitting up straighter.

“Yes aunt why?”

“He has a brother,” her aunt stalled, then added, “I did not think he cared much for charities, but no bother the rest is true.  His townhouse off Berkley Square is fabulous and you will love living there.”

“He hasn’t pro
posed as yet, though he does hint at it.  Using terms like ‘when we go,’ or ‘with you at Hillside Park,’ very strange don’t you think?  Does he just assume I’ll say yes?” Lilly asked, feeling her future was missing a piece.

“Of course he does, he’s
rich as Rome and you are short of funds.  He needs a wife and you need a husband.  Remember your father has no sons, the manor is entailed, and if anything ever happens to him, you’d be out of this house,” Aunt Ellen warned.

“Yes, I know and Aunt Mary too.”

“It’s kind you take such good care of her, the old drunken bat.”

The two sisters really did not like each other and though
Lilly was enjoying herself royally, Aunt Ellen behaved like a feral cat against a yard dog, always circling, taunting, and trying to swipe Aunt Mary with sharp claws.

“Tell me what he’s like again?”
Lilly asked, though her aunt had described him many times before.

“Lord Randall is
tall and very good looking, mid-thirties, black hair and eyes, well built and popular with the ladies,” Aunt Ellen slipped out then blushed, for she knew much of this lord’s behavior and most of it was not proper for a young lady’s ears.  He was said to be wild and have many women, but she couldn’t tell her niece that.  She knew her brother, Lord Castleford was ill and Lilly needed a marriage.  She tried to say everything pleasing and hide the rest.  She hated doing it, but sometimes ignorance was bliss.

“
Popular with the ladies?  You’ve never said that before.  That doesn’t sound like a gentleman who would make a good husband,” Lilly said, thinking of loyal Joshua sitting beside his new wife at church.

“I just meant the London ladies will
envy you, catching such a handsome man.  Now what else does he say, when is he coming here to see you?” her aunt asked, trying to turn the conversation.

“Monday, just four
days away.  He doesn’t say how long he’s staying.”

“We will have you ready, never fear and once he sees you
Lilly, he will love you as we all do.”

“I hope so, I
want to be loved,” Lilly whispered, closing her eyes and letting her dreams surface.

……….

CHAPTER TWO

The
Cad

Randall Town House

Residence of the Earl of Suffolk

Berkley Square

London, England

Lord Reece Randall had been busy making merry with his numerous friends the last month.  His brother Robert, more serious and studious, frowned on his brother’s lifestyle and criticized the method of his wedding plans.  Everyone else in his debauched crowd saw it as the best joke this season and at every assembly and ball, they whispered the news that Lord Randall was marrying a country brown mouse for an heir.  Soon, the news slipped out that a solicitor’s clerk was writing the poor soul love letters pretending to be the earl.  This seemed especially notorious and amusing to some, to others it seemed cruel.  Lord Randall’s two mistresses Bell Nelson and Marlena Sims thought the idea very funny and told everyone they saw.

“Yes, Reece just needs an heir
so he’d wed her, bed her, with his eyes closed no doubt and then return to me,” Bell would brag.

“He’s pay
ing a clerk to court her with forged letters!  Imagine such a thing and the silly hen wit believes they are from Reece.  It is the finest joke he’s ever played.  I’m betting he’ll have her in the dark, eyes tightly shut while thinking of me.  Why, it’s the only way he could perform with this brown mouse,” Marlena told her associates, friends and enemies alike, and she did possess many more of the latter than the former.

Both women were notorious liars and loose souls, constantly in Lord Randall’s company, on and off with him for years.  They believed they
owned him as much as he owned them.  They lived off his income, spent high and wild, covered themselves with jewels and fine gowns and knew themselves to be the luckiest of women.  They knew of each other and the sometimes widows and bored wives he also bedded, but accepted it.  A wife however could be a threat, so they strengthened their callousness and spread their vile tales.

They assumed
this wife could ruin their feathered nests, so they spread every rumor that might make the intended bride appear more ridiculous, just to be sure.  When they finished with their fables, no lady with any pride would dare show her face in London.

Two weeks later
the name of Reece’s future bride leaked out, she was Lady Lilly Castleford.  The mistresses changed it to Lilly Brown Mouse and soon everyone was repeating the title with sneers.

……….

Lord Castleford Manor

Residence of Viscount Castleford

Suffolk, England

Lady Lilly Castleford, secluded and removed, knew nothing of these vile happenings taking place in London.  She followed her two aunts suggestions, carried out her daily rounds of caring for the manor, visiting the sick in the village, riding her horse Midnight, and thinking about the pleasant contents of her letters from Lord Randall.

He wrote in an amusing fashion.  He appeared young for five and thirty, filling the pages with sometimes silly stories of him
self and his brother.  He talked a lot about horses, one of Lilly’s favorite subjects.  He sometimes mentioned more personal notes of his longing to have a bride and his desire for a partner and companion, a mother for his children and a pleasant future together.  Sometimes vague, at other times strangely detailed, these letters filled Lilly’s mind and heart.  By the end of a month’s worth of messages, Lilly had convinced herself marriage to this earl of Suffolk would be an answer to her prayers and offered a future filled with contentment, sweetness, security, and love.  She couldn’t wait to see him in person.

Her aunts would never guess how many times Lilly reread the earl’s letters.  She’d run her hand lightly over the page
s, thinking of how he’d touched them too.  She pressed them all in books, laid dried flowers over each one, and slept with it under her pillow.  Lilly’s heart was softer and more delicate than anyone knew, her desire for a grand passion was the light that inspired her very existence.

Lilly
looked into the mirror and smiled.  She thought herself much improved.  Her new gowns, tailored perfectly with the help of a corset, displayed her curvaceous figure in a pleasing manner.  Her hair amassed high and curled, and her kind, happy nature shining in her coffee rich, brown eyes added a sparkle, the village ladies said.  She was like a rare brown petal lily with a vibrant yellow center, its shining depths budding deep inside, lighting up her wonderful spirit.

Lilly
was well loved in her area.  Always close by to lend a hand, help a less fortunate person, forever saving animals, and enjoyable to be around.  She could inspire a chuckle from the glummest of workmen, danced freely with the farmer’s children, and never acted the superior lady.  Lilly took such tender care of her father and aunts that public opinion thought Lady Lilly a wonderful woman and wished her only the best.

There were servants from
Earl Randall’s Hillside Park that visited the same village and heard the rumors of their master marrying such a paragon and they were surprised.  Why would such a glorious lady marry their despicable lord?  How had he deceived her?  They wondered, whispered, and went back to the Park telling everyone something sinister was brewing.

……….

Randall Town House

Residence of the Earl of Suffolk

Berkley Square

London, England

“You caused t
hese terrible rumors to surface you ass, telling those cats of yours about Lady Castleford,” Robert Randall shouted.  “She can never come to town without hearing them and being humiliated.”

“I don’t want her in town,” Reece answered.

“You have done some despicable things, you support a crowd of lay-a-bouts, whores, and gamblers, you do nothing productive, but this farce is a cruel act even for you,” Robert stormed.

“What do you care?  Do you know this country mouse?” Reece fumed, feeling extremely angry at his brother, because he too felt guilty at the way the rumors had spread.

“No, and neither do you.  You’ve ruined her before you’ve even met her, the woman who is to be the mother of your children.”

“I never intended for all the facts
to be so well known,” Reece confessed.

“Really?
” Robert sneered.  “Those whores of yours, Bell and Marlena, you thought they could be trusted to support your future wife’s good name?”

Reece thought of defending his two
light skirts, but decided they weren’t worth the effort.  He was angry at both of them.

“I admit it has gotten out of hand, but I intend to marry her, after this I suppose I must, even if she is an
ogre or a shrew.”

“What if she’s beautiful and kind?  Will you still use her like a stud ser
vice and abandon her in Hillside Park for the rest of her life?”

“I hear she likes the country, she’ll want to stay there and I’ll financially provide for her
and the old viscount.  Commons says her father, is a poor recluse.  I’ll offer her security and freedom to live her life better than it is now.”

“You’re so full of yourself you don’t see the harm you can do.  I’m tempted to go down there first and warn her.”

Reece turned on his brother and growled.

“Don’t you dare ruin this plan
.  I’ve wasted time and money on this venture and after this story runs around every function in society, I won’t be able to capture another woman in all of England.”

“At least be kind to her, have some decency,” Robert
advised.  “Tell me that at least.   You won’t go there and roughly mate with her a few times and take off.”

“I’m not an animal.  I do know how to make love to a woman without hurting her.  Stay out of it.  Remember your income
comes through me,” said Reece, feeling sorry for the whole mess and wishing his brother gone.

“
Not all of it.  You don’t control me Reece.  I’m cautioning you, don’t continue to damage Lady Castleford, or it might turn around and harm you.”

“Get out.  I have to leave this morning.  Robert, I won’t be cruel,” Reece added, hating to se
e the stern judgment on his younger brother’s face.

“I’ll never understand you Reece.  You have everything, fortune, looks, title, standing, and you squander it all on idle pleasures.  You’re five and thirty, be a man before you die,” with that parting shot, Robert took his hat and left the Randall’s townhouse.

……….

Lord Castleford
Manor

Residence of Viscount Castleford

Suffolk, England

Monday morning soon dawned and Lilly Castleford, dressed by her aunt’s maids, wore her new riding habit of dark brown, trimmed with gold chains and buttons over her bosom.  They swayed when she walked, drawing the eye to her exceptional figure.  Her hair was simple, piled high and topped with a silly hat.  She wore cream kid gloves and matching half boots. 

Excitement ran high inside Lilly, brightening her eyes, adding color to her cheeks, a spring to her step, for this was the day the Earl of Suffol
k was to arrive.  Lilly was not sure when she would see him, but she had such bright hopes, Lilly released her fears and welcomed her dreams in with a rush of pure bliss.  I will be positive and have my grand passion.  The earl will love me and I him, Lilly thought.

Nervous and excited, Lilly mounted
her black mare Midnight, and her strong emotions made the horse prance and pull the bridle tightly.  Lilly was a stunning vision of youth, sweetness, and promise.

Lilly
rode alone, as was commonly done in the country.  She was long used to being independent, having a father closeted away from the world and an inebriated aunt who frequently took naps.  Lilly stayed close to their manor and never felt threatened. 

She
rode slowly and waved to her many friends.  The farmers, Steven and Bill Donaldson always stopped working to watch her go by, then the Gate’s children would run into the highroad and wave at Lilly and she would blow them kisses and sometimes stop and hand them treats.  Old Widow Jenkins would stand in her doorway and smile at Lady Lilly.  Everyone remembered Lilly’s mother Lady Grace Castleford, her giving heart and gentle nature so alive in her daughter.

Lilly
rode in a great arch around their lands and came to a rise.  She gripped the reins and checked her foothold, preparing for a gallop when she noticed a richly appointed traveling chaise coming down the highroad towards her.  It was pulled by expensive matching horseflesh, the carriage painted black with red trim.  The top was filled with traveling chests and two footmen, a driver, and inside two male faces could be seen.  One looked short and fussy, a valet Lilly guessed, but the other man was sharp featured and distinctive.  A noble face, with long black hair and dark eyes.  As they came closer she saw him grin and his eyes fill with appreciation.  He tapped the coach and it slowed to a stop beside her.

Lilly’s heart sang with joy, he was everything she’d dreamed.  Dark, handsome with an engaging grin,
immediate attraction surged inside Lilly.  Earl Randall was here, they would marry, and he would love her.

Reece was enchanted by the creature in t
he road.  How beautiful and superb she was.  It had been a long time, if ever, since he’d seen a woman he desired this badly by just one look.  He would find his dream woman now, when he was all but engaged, Reece thought in dismay.

He stepped down and approached her horse.

“Madame, do you live around here?” He asked, his voice deep and pleasing.

“I do,”
Lilly answered, immediately knowing this to be her earl by the descriptions and time of his arrival on Monday, written to her in his last letter.  Never introduced, Lilly knew this was her future husband; she felt the connection of his heart.  By his question, she thought Lord Randall was playing a game with her, for he must recognize her too.

“I’m here on unpleasant business, but perhaps I might meet you somewhere.  It would
definitely improve my trip,” Reece suggested, looking up and running his dark eyes over her long legs and bosom.

Lilly
frowned, ‘unpleasant business,’ what did that mean?

“Sorry to hear your business is unpleasant.  A de
ath in the family?” she hinted, still believing he was in jest.

“No worse, a planned marriage,
” Reece sighed, studying Lilly, as if he meant to memorize her every feature and sketch it later.

Lilly
breathed in the fresh morning air, feeling light headed.  She was thrown and tried to keep her face cheerful, but her heart was bleeding.  Did he not know her?  Think her a stranger?

“Surely not yours?” S
he asked, with everything twisting inside her.

“Alas yes, but that should not detour our fun.  What say you we meet here tomorrow morning?”