The Counterfeit Betrothal (14 page)

“You are right, of course, damn you,” Jeremy said. “Stay, then, if you must, but drink along with me. Have a glass of port and toast my forthcoming marriage.”

“Do you know, I think I shall,” was the calm reply.

17

EMMALINE found it difficult to face her father the next morning. Only the habit of hiding from Sir Osbert the fears she had for his health now allowed her to greet him with any semblance of equanimity. To her critical eyes his color seemed even better than yesterday as he sank into a sofa with crocodile legs. Relief and pleasure at having him so restored to health caused her to say breathlessly, “How wonderful to have you here, Papa! But where is Mrs.—Anna?”

Sir Osbert regarded his daughter with a wry smile. “She thought we might like to see one another alone,” he said kindly. “That we might feel freer to talk if she were not about. Tell me, Emmaline, are you truly not distressed over the marriage? Mind, I’ll tell you frankly that I have no regrets and will not even if you tell me you hate her. But I should like to know how you feel.”

“Oh Papa,” she chided him playfully, “as if I could be other than happy if you are. And if you are wondering if I am recollecting Mama, I can only say that I believe she would be happy for you as well. No, I have always been fond of Anna. The only thing I do not understand is why you did not tell me beforehand.”

Sir Osbert held out a hand and drew his daughter onto the sofa beside him. “I wanted it to be a surprise,” he said. “I was afraid that if you knew our plans you would feel you must come home to be there. And if you came, you would have seen how much better I was and I didn’t want you to until we were certain that my recovery was permanent. Can you understand?”

“Of course, Papa.”

“Good. Now tell me what plans you and Jeremy have hatched for your own wedding,” he said with a smile.

Emmaline could not meet her father’s eyes. Stammering a trifle, she said, “I—I cannot, today. After all you must allow us some surprises of our own, Papa. But I promise you that tomorrow I shall tell you everything.”

He chuckled. “Very well. Under the circumstances I can scarcely fault you for that. Just so long as you promise me you will not marry without having me present. I intend to throw you a wonderful wedding and you are not to cheat me of that pleasure.”

With perfect honesty and an ache that did not betray itself in her
well-schooled
features Emmaline said, “I promise you, Father, I shall not be married without you there.”

There
w
as a moment of warm silence before Emmaline said hastily, “How are Adeline and Caroline? What did they think of your marriage?”

Sir Osbert’s lips pressed together in a thin line of anger. “They were not pleased. Adeline could not forget that the year is scarcely up since Mr. Colton’s death. Caroline was little better. But they cannot know as I do what Anna was forced to endure as the wife of that man. I have pledged to myself that I will erase the unhappiness of those memories for her.”

“But she never gave us any notion she was not content,” Emmaline said slowly. “I never heard he was other than an exemplary husband.”

“Anna was not a woman to confide her troubles or press them on others. Nor were his lapses the sort that would have been told to a young girl such as yourself, Emmaline,” he said grimly. Then, taking hold of his daughter’s hands, he said, “Did you never wonder that even when the fashions were for short sleeves Anna always wore hers long? Or why so often she was indisposed for days at a time and would see no one?”

Sir Osbert paused and regarded his daughter shrewdly. “You need not think,” he went on, “that even now she has told me all this. I found it out for myself some years ago from Colton. He was fool enough to brag to me once when he was in his cups that he knew how to keep a wife in line and that there was even a certain pleasure in beating her. I told him that if I ever discovered he had done so again, I would call him out and damn the consequences. So far as I know, he did not so long as I was well. What happened after I became ill I have not yet been able to discover. I cannot bring myself, you see, to press Anna to speak of matters that must be painful to her.”

“Oh Papa, I never knew,” Emmaline said, all her sympathies aroused.

Sir Osbert patted her hand, “Well, now you know why I am so determined to watch out for your happiness. Why with your sisters I refused certain suitors, even some far more eligible than those they married. I do not say their marriages are perfect, but that is one horror they will never know. Nor you. For all his faults, a pleasure in beating women cannot be laid at Jeremy’s door. Indeed, I think marriage to you will be the making of him, for at bottom I believe he is a good man.”

“So do I,” Emmaline said huskily.

“Good. Well, enough of that. I have promised I shall not press you until tomorrow as to the date and such and I will not. Let us talk instead of the festivities. When I arose this morning, I was very much afraid it would rain all day, but now I begin to think the weather may clear after all. Do you go to Green Park to see Sadler’s balloon ascent or to the Serpentine to view the regatta? And tonight, do you favor the Chinese pagoda at St. James Park or the fair at Hyde Park or the Gothic castle at Green Park?”

Emmaline could not help but laugh at her father’s eagerness. “I fear we are already too late to see the balloon ascent. All the best places will have been taken. In any event I must wait for Rosalind to arrive and then Edward and Jeremy are to escort us we know not where. They have told us the entire day is to be full of surprises. We didn’t know, you see, that you would be in town. Perhaps we could change those plans.”

“No, no. Don’t change a thing. Your plans sound delightful,” her father said. “And you are not to
worry
about me. I shall be off to collect Anna and drive round to the Serpentine. They are to reenact the Battle of the Nile, you know, and I wouldn’t miss it for the world. If we do not see one another during the day, I shall come round tonight or in the morning and we may compare notes.”

Emmaline laughed. “I know what it is,” she teased, “you have taken my desertion so well because you are here in London on your honeymoon and don’t want any others hanging about to interfere. Not even your dearest daughter.”

“Quite right,” her father told her with a twinkle in his eyes. “I mean to enjoy myself at last.”

Emmaline saw her father to the door and then returned to the drawing room, where she could not help but wonder where everyone was. Mr. Hastings had gone out of London on some estate business. He had told them all frankly that the hurly-burly of the first of August was just the sort of thing he disliked most.

Mrs. Hastings had gone out early, telling Emmaline that for once they would have to dispense with a chaperon and that while it was a pity, no one would be likely to notice or care on a day like today. She would be back in the evening. But Emmaline had not yet seen Edward. As for Rosalind and Jeremy, they were unaccountably late as well. Emmaline found herself unabashedly hoping that Rosalind or Jeremy would be unable or unwilling to carry through on the plan Jeremy had confided to her the night before. In their absence she could not help but fear that they had already flown for the border. It was scarcely surprising, then, that even the new flowered muslin dress she wore could not raise her spirits.

A carriage pulled up in front of the Hastings town house, and Emmaline watched from the window with intense relief as Edward handed Rosalind out of the carriage. That feeling changed to irritation, however, as they laughed together and Emmaline realized that both were evidently delighted with the day and seemed not to have a care in the world. Surely they must know by now Jeremy’s plan. Didn’t it cause them even a little concern? And where, for that matter, was Jeremy?

If she had expected explanations, however, Emmaline was much mistaken. Edward’s first words to her were, “Come along! We’re late. If we hurry, we may just be in time to see the balloon ascent from a distance.”

“Where is Jeremy?” she could not help but ask, drawing back a trifle.

The other two exchanged a look and then began to laugh. Edward recovered first. “Oh, Jeremy isn’t coming,” he said carelessly. “He was three sheets to the wind last night and I doubt he’ll wake before noon. But that’s no reason for us to miss the fun!”

As she looked at her friend, Emmaline could not help but realize that Rosalind looked happier than she had ever known her to be. “I—I think , I’ve forgotten something,” she stammered. “Come upstairs with me, Rosalind?”

“Here, here, we’ve no time for that,” Edward said with mock severity. “We must be off at once. Whatever you’ve forgotten can’t be that important.”

“Quite right,” Rosalind seconded him at once. Emmaline allowed herself to be drawn out to the carriage. As Edward handed her in she asked quietly, “Did Jeremy speak with you about his plans?”

“Yes, yes,” he said impatiently, “and I have spoken with Rosalind and arranged everything. But we have hours before we need talk about that.”

Swallowing, Emmaline settled into the seat. So her dearest friend did mean to marry Jeremy after all and even looked forward to the event. Neither of Emmaline’s companions appeared to take the slightest notice of her megrims and instead kept up a steady chatter of nonsense as the coachman forced his way through the crowded streets. True to his word, Edward had them there in time to see the ropes cut and the balloon rise. He even was able to regale them with all sorts of bits of information as to the history of such ascents and how they were accomplished.

From there he whisked them off to the Serpentine. Once again they were too late to acquire any of the better vantage points; nevertheless, they could see some of the races. Before the mock battle started, however, Edward whisked them off homeward, saying, “Must give you ladies time to rest a bit, then change.” He paused, then added significantly, “And make whatever preparations are necessary. You needn’t pack anything, Rosalind. I shall take care of whatever you need and leave it at Jeremy’s for tonight.”

They left Rosalind off at her house first then drove home. Edward seemed unfeelingly cheerful and finally Emmaline said seriously, “It is tonight, I suppose? Jeremy’s elopement with Rosalind?”

“Shh,” Edward told her with a flourish of his hand, “one wouldn’t want the coachman to overhear. As for tonight, well, let me simply say that I expect everything to be settled by morning.”

“Morning!” Emmaline exclaimed. “Surely they cannot reach Gretna Green by then?”

“Nevertheless, matters will be settled by morning,” Edward assured her. “But we shall require your help.”

“Mine?” Emmaline asked faintly.

“Why yes,” Edward said innocently. “We do not wish to attract attention and I thought it best that you accompany Rosalind to the posting inn. And wait there until she is off. I know she will feel better for it, if you do. Surely we can count on you for that much?”

“Oh, surely,” Emmaline replied in the same faint voice.

“Good!” Edward said. “I knew you were a right one.”

They had reached the Hastings household and Edward escorted her inside after instructing the coachman to wait for him. Once inside he made sure the drawing room was deserted before he explained.

“Now then, here is the plan. We shall slip away during the fireworks. You and Rosalind and I will take one hackney to the inn and Jeremy another. Just to confuse anyone who might chance to see us. He will meet us there, at the Cat and Hound. We may be a trifle late returning home tonight, but so will everyone else. I daresay no one will notice, and even if they do, they will put it down to the celebrations and the crowded streets. Tomorrow we can explain everything to everyone.”

“Tomorrow,” Emmaline echoed. “Edward, I don’t think I can. Face everyone tomorrow, I mean. Particularly your mother. After we have sent Jeremy and Rosalind off, would you take me round to the Clarendon to stay with my father and his wife? I’ve no doubt they will wish me at Jericho for intruding at such a time, but they may send me back to Selborne straightaway tomorrow.”

“Oh, whatever you wish, once matters are settled,” Edward said handsomely. “Well, I must be off. Things to do before this evening, you know.” And why his kindly agreement and cheerfulness should lower her spirits even further was beyond understanding, Emmaline told herself roundly. At which point she promptly burst into tears.

18

When
Edward Hastings reached Jeremy’s quarters, he found his friend in a distinctly ill temper. Edward could not entirely suppress a smile as he asked sympathetically, “Is something the matter, Jeremy?”

Barnett flung a curse at his friend and added, “You know very well I’ve the devil of a head today. There must have been something wrong with the wine.”

“Not the wine, the quantity of it that you drank is the problem, I daresay,” Edward retorted amiably. “But why aren’t you dressed yet? I’ve spent the day shepherding Emmaline and Rosalind about and yet I’ve had time to change.”

At that Jeremy became very still. He looked at his friend and asked, “I suppose everything is arranged?”

“Everything,” Edward agreed. “We are to separate during the fireworks and meet at the Cat and Hound half an hour later. You have heard of it, I presume? Well, Emmaline will accompany Rosalind to the inn so that she need not feel nervous.”

“Yes, of course I have heard of it,” Jeremy said quietly. He hesitated then said, “I have been thinking, Edward. Perhaps we had best call this off.”

“Call it off? But what about your father?” Hastings asked disingenuously.

“I shall go to him and tell him the truth,” Jeremy said grimly. “He may banish me to the Continent or even carry out his threat to impoverish me. I don’t know, the devil take it! But anything is better than this farce.”

“What of the Marquess of Alnwick?” Edward asked, trying to suppress his sense of alarm. “You cannot abandon Rosalind to his clutches.”

“Damnation! I had forgotten that,” Jeremy exclaimed. “Why don’t
you
marry her?”

Edward lifted a shoulder gracefully. “But it is you who have led her to believe you meant marriage.”

Jeremy regarded his friend shrewdly. “Odd,” he said, “I had thought we had agreed you would marry her in the end. Indeed I recall you once said you would do anything to prevent my marriage to Rosalind.”

“You had no such scruples last night. As I recall you were quite ready to marry me to Emmaline instead,” Edward pointed out grimly. “Don’t you think it late for them now?”

“Better now than after committing the folly of eloping with a gently bred young lady,” Jeremy flung at him. “As for last night, you knew I was half drunk when you arrived. Indeed, half out of my head before that with the shock of seeing my father and Emmaline’s here in London. How could you let me plan such a thing when I was in such a state?”

“Let you?” Edward demanded indignantly. “Will you tell me how I could have stopped you? In any event you did plan it and the arrangements are all in train. If you cannot bring yourself to go through with the elopement why then you must at least show yourself at the inn and explain matters to Rosalind yourself. I shall not do it for you.”

“Why can I not do so at the park?” Jeremy demanded in confusion.

Once more Edward looked alarmed. A moment later, however, he had himself well in hand. “What? Hold such a conversation in a public place? And with my mother there? No, if that is your mood, then perhaps you had best not come at all. Just meet us at the Cat and Hound half an hour after the fireworks begin. Somewhere around ten o’clock, I should suppose. I will make your excuses to the ladies.”

“Thank you, but I believe I am able to keep myself in check,” Jeremy said with heavy irony. “I shall join you if you will just give me a few minutes to get ready.”

“Certainly.” Edward said coolly. “But I believe I shall wait for you in the carriage.”

Jeremy started toward his dressing room, then stopped. “Edward, what about the Marquess of Alnwick?” he demanded. “If you will not marry her either, what is Miss Kirkwood going to do?”

Edward regarded Jeremy steadily. “If, in the end, you do not change your mind once more and carry her away, why then we shall just have to contrive something else.”

“You’re a good friend,” Jeremy said quietly.

“Just hurry and change your clothes,” Edward retorted amiably.

When they reached the Hastings town house, they discovered that not only were Emmaline and Mrs. Hastings ready, but Sir Osbert and Lady Delwyn and Jeremy’s father were as well. Sir Osbert looked very pleased with himself as he said, “Anna, Gilbert, and I decided to join you young people. I hope you do not mind?”

“Of course not, sir,” Jeremy said at once. “We are delighted to have you, and to see you in such good health.”

“Very prettily said.” Lord Barnett nodded approvingly. “Your betrothal to Emmaline has done you a great deal of good, I see. Marriage will no doubt do even more.”

Hastily Emmaline said, “We ought to be going. We still have to stop for Rosalind on our way to the park.”

“Yes, of course,” Mrs. Hastings said with alacrity. “It will not do to have her think we have forgotten her.”

On the way, the men rode in one carriage, the ladies in another. Jeremy sat immersed in his own worries. Abruptly, however, he realized his opinion had been asked. “I should like to go to Green Park to see the Castle of Discord,” Sir Osbert said. “I have it upon excellent authority that it is to explode and reveal some sort of tower.”

“And I should like to see the Chinese pagoda in St. James Park,” Lord Barnett countered playfully. “What do you suggest, Jeremy? The ladies refused to make a choice back there, and Edward insists that it is not his place to decide.”

Jeremy appeared to consider the matter carefully. Finally he said, “Well, as the castle is not timed to explode until midnight, we might easily do both, going on to Green Park after the fireworks at St. James. I believe that is set to conclude by ten.”

“Capital!” Lord Barnett said, rubbing his hands together in satisfaction.

“A Solomon-like reply,” Sir Osbert said with quiet amusement. “I bow to your wisdom, as well, Jeremy. When we halt to pick up Emmaline’s friend, you may tell the others what we have decided.”

So, when the carriages drew to a halt in front of the Kirkwood residence, Jeremy jumped down and approached the carriage with the ladies, quickly telling them the news. Matters were not quite so simple, however, as they had supposed. Lady Kirkwood did not wish to allow Rosalind to go. Tightlipped, she met Jeremy and Edward on her doorstep and said, “I am sorry, Mr. Barnett, Mr. Hastings, but Rosalind has been pledged to go out tonight with another gentleman. No doubt she forgot to inform you.”

Edward’s own lips drew into a taut line as he replied, “She did not. But if you consult with Lord Kirkwood, I believe you will find she is to come with us.”

That was evidently a facer, Jeremy noted, seeing the lady’s look of astonishment and disbelief. No doubt, he thought grimly, it matched his own. In the midst of this discussion Lord Kirkwood appeared on the doorstep himself. “What’s this?” he demanded. “Why haven’t you all gone to the festivities yet? Is there some problem?”

“They wish Rosalind to go with them,” Lady Kirkwood said in frozen accents.

Kirkwood’s face darkened. “Do they? Nonsense!” His eyes met Edward’s.

“She has been pledged to accompany Miss Delwyn for the past week, you know,” Edward said quietly.

For a long moment the two men stared at one another. Then Kirkwood’s shoulders sagged and he said, “Well, if she is going, then let her go!”

“But the Marquess of Alnwick?” Lady Kirkwood protested softly to her husband. “He is due sometime this evening and you know how angry he was that Rosalind was out during the day.”

“The devil take Alnwick; we will think of something to tell him!” was the furiously whispered reply.

And then Rosalind herself appeared, dressed to go out with a silk shawl about her shoulders. With perfect equanimity Edward handed her into the carriage shared by his mother, Lady Delwyn, and Emmaline.

As they returned to the other carriage Jeremy asked, “How the devil did you manage that, Edward? What did you say to Lord Kirkwood?”

Hastings colored but answered evenly, “I hinted there was another suitor in view, one better placed. I also said that if he did not give that suitor a chance to court his daughter, I would raise a scandal over the affair.”

“So tomorrow when he discovers there is no other suitor, he will once again press Rosalind to marry that blackguard?” Jeremy asked heavily.

Edward merely had time to shrug in reply. He did manage to smooth over, however, the questions Sir Osbert and Lord Barnett naturally had over the scene that had just occurred. Fortunately they had not been close enough to hear what was said and Edward fobbed them off with a Banbury tale of warnings to make an early night of it. Soon enough they had reached the vicinity of the park and it was time to leave the carriages and make their way on foot through the press of the crowd to see the pagoda. “It stands some seven stories tall, I hear,” Lord Barnett told Mrs. Hastings as he guided her toward the goal.

“Quite right,” Edward agreed, “and it stands on a bridge over the canal.”

“There it is.” Rosalind pointed. “I do believe you can just see the top of it from here.”

When they were much closer, they were able to see the Japanese lanterns at the pagoda and the gas jets on the roof. Most of the
ton
had turned out for the spectacle. The time passed quickly in greeting friends and exchanging the latest
on-dits,
one of which was the news of Sir Osbert’s marriage. He and Anna delighted in the felicitations of everyone and the exclamations of astonishment at his renewed health.

All too soon the fireworks began. Immediately Rosalind played her part. Drooping against Edward, she said, in a faint voice, “Forgive me, Mrs. Hastings, but suddenly I find that I do not feel well.”

“Don’t worry, I shall take you home at once,” Edward said, picking up his cue. “Miss Delwyn, surely you will accompany us? You may be able to give Miss Kirkwood some comfort.”

“Of course,” Emmaline said in a tiny voice. “You will excuse us, Mrs. Hastings?”

“Yes, yes,” she said impatiently. “And I suppose Jeremy will wish to go as well.”

None of the four protested and soon they were making their way out of the park, but not toward the carriages. This time, for the sake of discretion, they wanted to hire a hackney. As they walked, Edward spoke rapidly to Barnett. “You must first go back to your quarters, Jeremy. I left some things there that Rosalind will need. And Emmaline. She does not mean to go back to my mother’s house tonight. You must fetch them.”

Jeremy’s face must have betrayed something of the astonishment he felt, for Rosalind asked innocently, “Do you mean to elope with Edward as well, Emmaline?”

Jeremy did not wait to hear her answer but flung himself away. “I shall meet you at the Cat and Hound within the hour,” he called over his shoulder. “You are to go nowhere until I arrive,” he told Emmaline and Edward grimly.

Her face very pale, Emmaline could do nothing but follow her friends to the street, where Edward quickly procured one of the hackneys hanging about hoping for fares. Nor did the fellow so much as blink when Edward gave as their destination the name of the posting house for the North road.

“Thank goodness for the stolid lack of curiosity of such fellows,” Edward said with a sigh of relief as they settled themselves in the carriage. He turned to Rosalind and said earnestly, “Now, Miss Kirkwood, it will take a little time to get there but you must not be nervous. Between us we have arranged everything and soon all will be well.”

“I cannot like an elopement,” she replied gravely, “but it seems the only answer. I wonder what marriage to Jeremy will be like.”

“Interesting, I haven’t the slightest doubt,” Edward told her coolly.

Emmaline leaned farther and farther back into the shadows of the carriage, unwilling to have either of her companions see her face. She was very much afraid that something of her distress must be showing, and indeed, if Rosalind’s faintness earlier had been feigned, Emmaline’s own was now very real.