Miss Cresswell's London Triumph (26 page)

He laughed bitterly to himself as he emptied a second glass of brandy. For so long he had been her closest friend, and though he had considered her and their friendship special, he had taken it somewhat for granted. Now, just as he was discovering all that she meant to him, she had suddenly blossomed and become all that he had always known she could become. Now, just as he realized how much he wanted her and that she was the only one for him, he was faced with the very real possibility that she might choose to spend her life with one of her many other admirers. And the thought of this, of life without her, was unbearable.

"Hell and damnation!" he exclaimed aloud as he tossed down yet another brandy. "Ill go and see her tomorrow. Ill make her see me. Ill make her listen and understand that I must have her, that we belong together. I must. . ."He slumped down in his chair, overcome by the intensity of emotions and the unaccustomed amount of brandy.

If the morning did not bring counsel, it did bring resolve. Cassie got out of bed at an early hour, determined to put London, the Season, and all thoughts of Ned Mainwaring behind her. Throwing on a wrapper, she hastened to her sister's dressing room, where she knew she would find her alone at her writing. Busy wife and mother that she was, the Marchioness of Camberly still found time to write the children's books that had been the cause of her visit to London years ago when she had accompanied Kitty Mainwaring for her come-out and fallen in love with her uncle. Now the only time she could be assured of the peace and quiet she needed was early in the morning before the rest of the household was awake and making demands on her time and attention. She was unvarying in her schedule. No matter how late she had been out the night before, Frances always arose at six o'clock or earlier and sat down at her desk.

Cassie rapped softly on the door.

"Come in, Cassie," he sister replied, recognizing her knock.

Frances had been aware that something was wrong the previous evening when one of the footmen had delivered the message to her that Cassie had returned home, but familiar with her sister's penchant for solitude, she had left her alone, knowing that when she was ready to talk, she would seek her out. Forewarned as she was, she was still unprepared for the white strained face that greeted hers as she opened the door.

"Come in, love, and have some chocolate," she invited, leading Cassie to a chair by the fire. She handed her a cup of the morning chocolate that Daisy had brought her and waited patiently for her sister to initiate the conversation.

"Fanny, I. . ." Cassie began, and then stopped. Where should she start? Cassie's eyes filled with tears. She was so worn out with thinking that she could not put two words together much less explain the state of her feelings.

Frances remained silent, allowing Cassie to collect her thoughts.

At last, feeling the weight of the silence, Cassie looked up, and seeing such a wealth of understanding and sympathy in her sister's hazel eyes, she could not hold back the tears any longer. "Oh Fan, I'm so tired ... I mean, I need to get away ... I mean, I need to go to Cresswell, she sobbed.

Frances nodded. She had seen Cassie stumble into the ballroom, and not long after, she had caught a glimpse of Ned, his face white and set, coming from the same direction, and had put two and two together. Having suffered a similar disastrous encounter once herself, she understood completely her sister's need to be alone, to draw into herself to reassess her sense of who she was and rebuild her inner strength.

"Would you like to take Teddy? Nurse will see to it that he doesn't bother you and then we shall put it about that he was feeling poorly and you, knowing I couldn't leave Julian to face the tender mercies of our political hostesses alone right now, kindly offered to take him there for me." Frances offered this suggestion in the calmest of tones, but she was truly worried about her sister. She had seen Cassie upset before, but ordinarily her sunny and resilient nature managed to reassert itself within an hour or two. The dark circles under her eyes and the stunned expression on her face showed that she had been awake and in this state of distress most, if not all, of the night.

Cassie's tired eyes lit up and some of the strain disappeared at her sister's quick grasp of the situation and ready sympathy. "I should like that above all things, Fran. And could Wellington, Nelson, and Ethelred come, too?" she asked hopefully.

Frances smiled. "I expect you couldn't keep them from accompanying you even if you would. I shall have Nurse prepare Teddy and his things and ask Cook to pack a basket for you. Now you run along and have Rose get you ready. Just ring for Higgins on your way out, would you, so that I may ask him to inform John and Cook that they are to get the carriage and a hamper ready for the journey."

"Oh thank you, Fan," Cassie replied gratefully as she planted a kiss on her sister's cheek before running off to find Rose.

That devoted minion was more outspoken than her sister had been. "It's running away you are. Miss Cassie," she accused her mistress sternly. "It's not like you and it won't mend a thing, mind you. Now IVe had my say and I won't carry on any farther, but it's my belief you should stay and have it out. No problem was ever solved by pretending it wasn't there."

"I know. Rose, but I must have some time alone to think first," Cassie sighed.

Seeing the misery in her face, Rose relented. "There, there. Miss Cassie," she consoled her. "You just wait and see. Hell come 'round. Now I must go and ask James to bring down the trunks." The maid bustled out of the room, leaving her mistress to stare after her in astonishment, wondering how much the rest of the household had guessed the true state of affairs.

For such a large household, Mainwaring House was run with incredible smoothness, and the staff, always efficient, responded with alacrity to Cassie's wish to return to Cresswell. Unable to express their sympathy with her unhappiness, they rallied 'round and saw it in that "our Miss Cassie" was on the road to Cresswell as quickly and comfortably as possible.

"And, mark my words, some fresh air and long walks in the country are just what she needs," Cook remarked to Higgins as she put the finishing touches on the hamper and assured herself that she had included some of Cassie's favorite delicacies.

Teddy was beside himself with excitement. Though he had been entranced with all the wonders London had to offer, he missed the liberty that he enjoyed at Cresswell and he longed to explore the woods and fields again, free to become as grubby as he wished. He ran through the house, shouting, "Hooray! Wellington, where are you? We're going to Crethwell! Hooray!"

"Arf, arf!" Wellington responded, as delighted as his master at this prospect. He went off to round up Nelson and Ethelred and lead them to the stable yard, where they waited patiently until the last box had been strapped onto the back and they could climb in. Nelson and Ethelred, who were made slightly ill by the swaying of the carriage, found safe places wedged under the seats while Wellington sat happily aloft on the box next to John.

They were soon off, and by the time Ned, suffering from an aching head and dry mouth had doused himself in cold water, drunk several cups of strong black coffee, dressed, had his horse brought 'round, and ridden over to Grosvenor Square, they had been on the road the better part of an hour.

"What do you mean she's not here?" he demanded querulously of Higgins upon being informed of Cassie's absence. "It's not even noon yet and she was at a ball till all hours last night!" Ned was indignant. Even a constitution as strong as that of his intrepid Cassie would have been taxed by the events of the previous evening. But not only was she not relaxing at home in an effort to
recover from them, she had been up betimes. To one who was himself exhausted by the emotional turmoil he had suffered in the past twelve hours and was seriously in need of recuperation, this energy and apparent unconcern was daunting in the extreme.

"Nevertheless, she's up and gone. Master Ned," Higgins responded firmly. Having worried that much over Miss Cassandra's state of mind, he was secretly pleased to see Master Ned looking so haggard and blue-deviled this morning.

"Gone?" Ned repeated stupidly.

"Gone," Higgins reiterated patiently.

"But where?" Ned was beginning to sound worried.

"She's taken Master Teddy to Cresswell," Higgins replied. Before Ned could remark on this unusual state of affairs, he added, "He was feeling poorly, poor lad, and as it's difficult for Lady Prances to leave just now, Miss Cassie volunteered to take him."

Ned was too bemused by the turn of events for it to register that when he had last encountered Master Theodore not two days ago, he had been as healthy as a horse. There was nothing to do but ride off again, but he was at a loss as to how to proceed.

The more he thought about it, the more Ned began to realize that it might be Cassie and not Teddy who needed the restorative peace and quiet of the countryside. And how am I ever to explain everything to her if she is so intent on avoiding me that she flees to the country? he wondered in despair.

The rest of the day went by in a fog. He had an appointment with Lord Charlton, but he was so distracted that the eminent peer, looking at him with some concern, asked if he had been driving himself too hard. "It won't do to wear yourself to the bone, my lad. Why, we old men are counting on your youth and energy to give us all new life."

Ned smiled faintly, but he was barely attending. He couldn't keep his mind on any one thing for very long. No matter how he tried to concentrate on other matters, he kept going back to the moonlit scene on the balcony, remembering how wonderful it felt to hold Cassie in his arms, and hearing the anguish in her voice as she cried, "Oh, how could you treat a friend so?"

The more he thought about it, the more he longed to hold her and kiss her just once more, and the more he worried that in his anger he had ruined any chances he had of ever doing it again. At
last he could stand the torture of uncertainty no longer and he resolved to go down to Cresswell immediately and force her to listen to his apology, prove to her that she belonged with him for the rest of their lives.

That settled, Ned tried to contain his impatience as best he could. He managed to get through the rest of the day, but it was all he could do to make himself go to the opera. However, he had promised his sister weeks before that he would take her, as Lord Willoughby, devoted husband that he was, declared that there were limits to conjugal affection and the opera was one of them. Being a fond brother and one who shared his sister's love of opera, Ned had volunteered to take her. He couldn't back out now, but his heart wasn't in it.

They had not been there above half an hour before Arabella was waving at them from her box and beckoning to Ned. Though he was able to cope with escorting Kitty, Ned felt unable to face the cause of all his difficulties. Knowing that he would be far more uncivil if forced to speak to her, he turned his head and concentrated on discussing the performance with his sister, ignoring Arabella completely. Between acts he rushed out of the box in search of Lord Charlton, who, given the eagerness with which he had been sought out, was then somewhat mystified by the desultory nature of his companion's conversation. Again, he put this down to the strain caused by Ned's immersing himself so wholeheartedly in politics as well as attending to the demands society placed on such an eligible bachelor.

At the end of the last act, Ned hustled his sister to her carriage with such speed that she barely had time to wave to any of her friends. "Gracious, Ned, there's no need to get me home with quite so much dispatch," she protested. "John is at his club and won't be home for hours." Then, catching sight of Arabella, who was watching their departure intently through narrowed and speculative eyes, she subsided, smiling to herself as she divined the reason for their flight. That will teach her to think she can make him dance to her tune, Kitty remarked to herself with sl
ightly malicious satisfaction.
Arabella was thinking along much the same lines as Kitty, though her thoughts were more in the form of questions. Why had Ned not called on her recently? Why had he been so elusive after having been so attentive? He had not even stood up with her for a country dance at the Rutland House ball, much less waltzed with her. Knowing herself to be all that a man could desire and confident that infatuation with her charms couldn t possibly lessen, Arabella cast about for some other reason for this incomprehensible coldness on Ned's part.

She revisited every social scene of the past week—the park, the ball—and the more she thought about it, the more she began to suspect that this change in attitude had something to do with that odious Cassie Cresswell. That sly thing with her cozening ways, Arabella fumed inwardly. Why,
I’ll
make such a May game of her she won't dare set her cap at anyone, much less Ned Mainwaring.

Thus resolved, she began plotting her campaign, the first move of which was to set her maid Susan to find out what she could about the state of affairs at Mainwaring House.

It was some time before Susan could discover anything, but when she did, it was discouraging. With her rival buried in the country, it was somewhat difficult for Arabella to compete with her by showing her up. The more she considered it, though, the odder it seemed that Cassie should interrupt her first Season all because of a nephew's illness. Arabella knew Cassie to be less than devoted to the life of the ton, but even someone as cavalier in her attitude toward the fashionable world as Cassie was not so blind to its importance as to leave it in the middle of her come-out.