The Unaccomplished Lady Eleanor (10 page)

BOOK: The Unaccomplished Lady Eleanor

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‘
Thank you, Mr Lovell,
’
pronounced the
d
owager
with
an appreciative smile
,
as she raised her glass of claret to her lips.
‘
My sentiments exactly.
’

‘
Actually, Aunt,
’
piped up James, holding a
forkful of pie before his mouth.
‘
I must disagree with you.
I would be most interested to learn if Lady Eleanor has an opinion regarding the current war with the French.
’

‘
I
ndeed I do, sir,
’
admitted Eleanor enthusiastically, her passion for political discussion causing her cheeks to flus
h and her eyes to shine
.
‘
I believe that the Emperor Napoleon is a
n astonishingly clever man
,
but
the Duke of Wellington
is far more-
’

‘
Good gracious, girl,
’
puff
ed
a
visibly
appalled
Lady Ormiston.
‘
That is quite enough.
James, please do refrain from encouraging her. The next thing she will
be telling us is that she is a b
lue
s
tockin
g
a
n
d I really cannot think of anything more unbecoming than
that
. I
t is going to be difficult enough to find a man to take her without any added complications. Now let us move o
n to much more genteel subjects
. T
ell me, Mr Lovell, what do you think of the appalling weather we are having for this time of year?
’

The baleful look that
Derek
Lovell shot Eleanor before turning his attention to the
d
owager
, was returned with one equally as defiant
. A
n exchange which firmly established that there was to be n
o love lost between Lady Eleanor Myers and Mr Derek Lovell
.

FOUR

D
uring Eleanor’s first two weeks at Whitlock, a r
outine began to establish
, with the assorted residents of the
castle involved in a
diverse mix of activities – some
more gratifying than others. Whilst Eleanor was forced to spend
her days
in the instruction of the boring accomplish
ments Lady Ormiston
deemed
‘
necessary
’
, Derek Lovell appeared to be having a much more pleasurable time. The man had settled into the habit of leaving the
c
astle dressed to the nines every evening
a
nd not returning until after breakfast the following day
. Then,
he would take to his bed and not be seen again until the following evening when the same sequence of events would be repeated. James
,
too
, appeared to have
quite
a hectic social life, accompanying Lovell on several occasions or, just as he had done on Eleanor’s first evening at
Whitlock, flying out of the castl
e at short notice, following the receipt of yet another mysterious note.

This particular evening
,
the
pair
had obviously
adapt
ed
their routine
somewhat
and, to El
eanor’s chagrin, were
present in the dining
-
room when she entered. As if that unpleasant surprise wasn’t bad enough, Giles then made an announcement that
caused
her heart
to
sink
a shade
further.

‘
Lady Ormiston will not be joining you for dinner this evening, my lord
.
She is feeling
somewhat …
drained
after … recent activities.
’
This last statement was followed by an accusing glare at Eleanor.

James gave a snort of laughter.
‘
Can’t say I’m surprised,
’
he
chuckl
ed, regard
ing Eleanor with twinkling eyes.
‘
A
fter all she’s had to put up with of late.
’

As Eleanor took her seat, Lovell gave another
of his odious sneers
. Although this filled her with an overwhelming urge to slap his smug face, she did her utmost to
ignore him.
Instead,
furiously shaking out her
napkin, she
addressed herself
to James.
‘
And what,
sir
, do you mean by that precisely?
’

J
ames regarded her with a
superior smile.
‘
Only that I think anyone forced to spend a day in your company, Lady Eleanor, would find themselves a little …
sapped
of energy
. P
articularly as you see
m
devoid of the most basic
accomplishments.
’

Ano
ther disparaging snigger from Derek
Lovell caused a bubble o
f indignant rage to swell in Eleanor’s
stomach. She speared him with a contemptuous glower before turning her eyes once more to James.

‘
Well, that would depend, would it not,
on what one defines as an
accomplishment
?
’

‘
Indeed it would, Lady Eleanor
. And may I take it from that statement that you do not class the subjects in which you are currently undergoing
instruction as accomplishments?
’

‘
No, I do not, sir. I would class those s
ubjects as
frivolous entertainment
.
’

James gave a languorous smile and tilted his head to one side.
‘
Then pray do enlighten us, Lady Eleanor, as to
your
accomplishments.
’

‘
I have a great many,
’
replied Eleanor resolutely,
as she
reach
ed
for a bread roll.

Derek
Lovell sniggered lasciviously,
as he raised
a glass of claret to his pale, thin lips.
‘
None that would be of any interest to a gentleman though, I’d wager.
’

James, ignoring his friend, raised a dubious eyebrow to Eleanor.
‘
Do you indeed?
’
he asked, the corners of his mouth tugging upwards.
‘
Then n
ame me one.
’

‘
Very
well
,
’
replied Eleanor coolly, breaking open her roll.
‘
Chess.
’

Derek Lovell almost choked on his wine.

‘
Chess?
’
e
choed
James i
ncredulously
.
‘
Forgive me, Lady Eleanor, but chess
is a game of some intelligence
; a game requiring
skill and concentration. It is certainly not a game for young ladies.
’

Eleanor shrugged nonchalantly.
‘
While it is obvious from your
friend’s
comments, sir,
’
-
she flashed Lovell a disgusted glare
-
‘
that chess is not the usual game in which you indulge with young ladies, I can assure you that it is quite within our capabilities.
’

Another titter from Lovell caused her flesh to crawl.
‘
Oh I can assure you, Lady Eleanor,
that the games in which we
indulge with young ladies,
most certainly
do
not involve
chess
. But tell me
, how are you at something much more …
entertaining
?
’
His eyes roved over her
, coming to rest on her bosom.
‘
How are you at, for example … Faro or … Hazard? Are such games also within your
capabilities
?
’

Eleanor resisted the urge to cover her chest with her hands.
‘
I
ndeed they are, sir
, h
owever I do not partake in such dissipating pursuits. Gambling is for fools.
’

His eyes j
erked
up to meet hers.
‘
Are you calling me a fool, Lady Eleanor?
’

E
leanor met his gaze with equal
coolness.
‘
I have no idea, sir
.
Am I?
’

‘
That’s enough, Lovell,
’
cut in James, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
‘
What I am most interested in is for Lady Eleanor to prove her chess theory to me. Will you do me the pleasure in joining me in a game after dinner, Lady Eleanor?
’

Eleanor began spreading
her broken roll with
butter.
‘
If you wish,
’
she replied prosaically.

‘
Oh, I do,
’
replie
d James fervently.
‘
I wish very much indeed.
’

James Prestonville,
current Marquis of Rothwell
,
scratched his head. He was flummoxed. How on earth had this chit of a girl managed to achieve checkmate in so few moves? It wasn’t even that he
was a bad chess player. H
e was one of the best at
Brook
s
’s,
having beaten all of the members there at one t
ime or another. But he
had never been beaten quite so quickly
himself
. He scanned the board
: w
ith his queen surrendered long ago, and a bishop and a castle ready to pounce on his king whichever way he moved, he was well and truly beaten.

‘
Well, Lady Eleanor,
’
he
sigh
ed, a
bemuse
d smile playing about his lips.
‘
I
believe
that is checkmate.
’

‘
It would appear so,
’
smil
ed Eleanor sweetly.
‘
So d
oes that mean that you would now like to retract your earlier statement regarding inferior female intelligence?
’

James snorted
with
laughter.
‘
It was one game, dear girl.
’

‘
Then perhaps you would like me
to
demonstrate my point ag
ain
?
’

‘
Perhaps I would. Set
up the board
.
’

There was nothing more pleasing, pondered Eleanor
,
as she positioned her queen in the final move of the game, than beating such an arrogant opponent as the Marquis of Rothwell.

‘
Blast,
’
he cursed
,
as
he sized up his second checkmate position of the
evening.
‘
Perhaps we should
make it the best of five games, Lady Eleanor. Set the board up again.
’

Derek Lovell
,
now apparently
bored with hanging around for his playmate, suddenly hea
ved his
wiry frame out of the leather wing chair where he had been lounging with the newspaper.
‘
Come
on, old chap.
Time to stop playing with little girls and go out and find ourselves some serious sport.
’

Eleanor sho
t him
a revolted glare.

James, on the other ha
nd,
did not even look at the man, but i
nstead
c
oncentrated on setting up the chess pieces on his side of the board.
‘
I think
I shall give it a miss tonight, Lovell. You go on without me. Ask Stevens to order the carriage for you.
’

‘
Hmph,
’
snorted Lovell
,
as he marched towards the door.
‘
As you wish
. B
ut there’s
, e
r
,
j
ust one thing,
’
he said, pausing with his hand on the brass knob and turning back to James.

‘
What’s that?
’
enquired James, still intent on the
chess board.

‘
Well, I couldn’t have a
word in private
, could I?
’

‘
Oh
,
don’t mind me, Mr Lovell,
’
smile
d Eleanor archly.
‘
I
f I’m not m
istaken, Lord Prestonville, I
believe Mr Lovell is about to ask you to loan him some money. Now what was it I said earlier about gambling?
’
She placed a finger on her lips and raised her eyes to the ceiling as
if
desperately trying to recall that particular piece of information.