The Unexpected Bride (8 page)

Darleston was silent for a moment, and then said evenly, ‘You already know why. I married once for love and look what happened. Even as we rompéd Boney Melissa was betraying me with Barton. If it weren’t for the succession I wouldn’t marry again, but I’m damned if I want my cousin Jack to step into my shoes. And I’m damned if I want to be dodging women like Caroline for the rest of my life! This seemed a good way of securing a sensible wife who wouldn’t expect me to dance attendance on her. I don’t mean to be in love with my wife and if she cuckolds me I can divorce her without any qualms!’

George had enough sense to make no comment on this explanation. They drove the rest of the way in silence.

Just as they were about to alight at the church, Peter turned to his friend and said, ‘Thank you for bearing with me, George. I don’t mean to bully the girl or make her the scapegoat for Melissa’s sins, believe me. I just don’t want any emotional tie. But if you think
it best I’ll speak to Miss Ffolliot before the ceremony to make sure she is not being coerced and that she perfectly understands the situation.’

George wrung his hand, ‘Better late than never!’ he agreed fervently.

They were greeted by the rector of the parish, Dr Pearson, who was a little surprised when the groom requested that he might be permitted to speak to the bride for a moment before the ceremony.

‘My lord, with all respect, this is
most
irregular. However, if you will wait in the vestry I will tell Miss Ffolliot when she arrives that you wish to see her.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ answered Peter, and followed the sexton to the vestry, where he awaited the bride on a very uncomfortable chair.

He was not kept waiting long. The bride, veiled and all in ivory satin, was escorted into the vestry by Dr Pearson, who then stepped outside to wait. Darleston cleared his throat, glaring at George who promptly followed the rector.

Nervously he cleared his throat and looked at his bride. He had forgotten how slender she was, almost fragile, he thought, and a faint scent of flowers accompanied her. Silently she waited for him to speak.

‘Miss Ffolliot, I realise this is a little late, but my groomsman has represented to me that you may have been coerced into taking part in this ceremony. I wished to ascertain that you had no prior claim to your affections and that you are indeed willing to marry me,’ said the Earl stiffly.

Penelope listened very carefully and decided that candour was the best approach. ‘My Lord, if I had taken you in dislike on the occasions upon which we met, or if my affections had been engaged, I should
have sent you a note recommending you to go to the devil. As it is I am aware that my brother’s behaviour has the potential to damage my family, so I am only too happy to marry you if it will save them pain. Like you I “formed an agreeable impression”. On that basis I am willing to become your wife.’ She felt a few qualms about her blindness and Phoebe, but told herself that his lordship would have expended more interest in selecting a new filly than he had on his marriage!

Peter blinked at his bride’s blunt assessment of the situation, but told himself firmly that she was definitely sensible, which was all to the good. ‘Thank you, Miss Ffolliot. George will be relieved that he is not assisting at a tragedy!’ he said, and could have kicked himself, but the bride said nothing as she moved to the door, although he could have sworn the odd noise she made was suppressed laughter.

Five minutes later Peter Augustus Frobisher, Earl of Darleston, was awaiting Miss Penelope Ffolliot at the altar steps, feeling that he was in for some surprises where his bride was concerned. His groomsman, on the other hand, upon noticing the bride’s twin sister in the church, had suddenly remembered an interesting piece of information about the daughters of the late Mr John Ffolliot. He wondered whether it was the part of a friend to warn the groom, but decided against it. That’s what you get for buying a pig in a poke! he thought with a certain wry amusement.

Penelope proceeded up the aisle on her brother-in-law’s arm, feeling extremely nervous about getting through the ceremony without making a fool of herself. She could see practically nothing in the dimly lit church. All her reliance was on the fact that she knew
the place very well and had been walked through the ceremony a dozen times. And thank God it was Richard at her side, rather than Geoffrey, although just where Geoffrey had disappeared to was a complete mystery to her. The knowledge that Sarah was just behind her was an added comfort.

Penelope’s confession of why she was doing this had touched Sarah’s childish heart to the core. She had known her sisters loved her but, that one of them would do this to save her from scandal made the knowledge very real to her. Sarah was no fool; she knew Phoebe was protected by Richard and that the brunt of society’s anger would have made it difficult for Mama to launch her into society. Sarah vowed to herself that there must never be anything she was not prepared to do for Penny.

So serious did she look that the groom was quite disconcerted by the frown on her face. He wondered if his bride was that solemn, but the memory of that stifled chuckle in the vestry reassured him.

The marriage service was brief and the bride and groom took their vows clearly. Penelope listened closely to the Earl’s voice. It was just as attractive as she remembered. Their brief conversation in the vestry had confirmed that. He sounds a little nervous, thought Penelope, but she was aware few others would realise this. Her own nerves must be much more obvious!

The Earl thought initially that his bride was suffering no nervous jitters at all. Until, that was, her hand was placed in his by Richard Winton. Then he became aware that she was trembling slightly. George’s comments on his behaviour rose mercilessly in his mind; he felt a cad. He could sense the girl staring at him
and gave her hand a comforting squeeze. At least, he hoped it was comforting.

As for Penelope, she had become suddenly aware of the Earl’s physical presence as he took her hand. The sun shone brightly through one of the windows and she was dimly aware of his height beside her, though his voice came from way over her head. She tried to stop shaking, but could not. Then, as she tried in vain to pierce her darkness and see him, she felt him press her hand gently. The trembling stopped and Penelope resolved to thank the Earl as soon as they were away from the church.

Darleston felt less guilty when his bride stopped shaking. He followed the rector through the service carefully, placed the ring on Penelope’s now steady hand and heard them declared man and wife. My God I’ve done it now. There’s no going back! he thought wildly, and then became aware that something was expected of him.

‘You’re supposed to kiss her, Peter!’ came George’s agonised whisper. The rector looked as though he were trying not to laugh.

Very carefully Darleston lifted the veil back from his wife’s face to gaze into her dark grey eyes. Strange eyes, he thought. They seemed to look straight through you, as though you weren’t quite there. He put a gentle hand under Penelope’s chin and bent to kiss her lightly on the mouth. Her lips were warm and soft. The Earl decided that he would definitely enjoy kissing her again later on.

Penelope was unprepared for this. Although she had known it would happen it was the one thing that had not been rehearsed, and the strange feeling of yearning which swept over her at the touch of his lips was a
complete surprise. She wondered if he had wanted to kiss her. George’s whisper had been quite audible to her, and she was unsure whether to be amused or miffed. She felt the Earl draw her hand through his arm to lead her from the church and realised that the hardest part was still to come. She still had to tell him that he had been duped to a certain extent, and that was beginning to weigh heavily on her conscience.

The bridal party moved to the Rectory, where Phoebe, Sarah and Mrs Ffolliot whirled Penelope upstairs to change out of the wedding dress, which had been worn by Phoebe a week earlier. ‘Darling Phoebe, thank you for letting me wear it. It was like being held by you all the time,’ said Penelope, hugging her twin. ‘Oh, Sarah! I couldn’t have managed without you. You were wonderful!’ Sarah blushed and blew her nose noisily.

‘Penny, are you sure you don’t want Richard to tell Lord Darleston?’ asked her mother.

‘Quite sure, Mama,’ said Penelope. ‘You see, if I don’t tell him it will be because I am scared. Even if it is all a bit irregular I don’t want to start by not trusting him enough to tell him myself.’

In no time at all it seemed she was being handed into the chaise. Some surprise had been expressed by the groom when he realised that Gelert was going to accompany them, and George had proved no help at all, saying enthusiastically to the new Countess of Darleston, ‘Just the thing, Lady Darleston. Peter was telling me how much he admired your dog!’

Peter had glared at him and given in gracefully, thinking that as the dog was bound to join the household anyway it might as well be now as later. He followed his wife and her dog into the chaise, and the
door was shut behind him by Richard Winton, who said in affectionate accents, ‘Behave yourself, Penny,’ then, in a more challenging tone of voice, ‘Look after her, Lord Darleston.’

His lordship accepted this blunt command with commendable meekness, merely saying, ‘I shall hope to receive both you and Mrs Winton at Darleston Court in the very near future so that you may assure yourself that I am doing so. Goodbye, Winton, and thank you.’

He noticed that as Winton stepped back from the chaise his arm was tapped by a nervous-looking old man who had sat at the back of the church with the Ffolliot’s upper servants. Peter rather thought that he must be the butler. He dismissed the matter from his mind as his bride spoke.

‘I am afraid Richard has become very older-brotherish since he became engaged to my sister,’ said Penelope apologetically as the chaise rolled away.

‘So it would appear,’ said Peter. ‘Are you tired, Lady Darleston? I dare say you were up early and have been very busy. Perhaps you would care to rest? We have some sixty miles to travel to Darleston Court.’

Concealing her surprise at the formality of his address, Penelope admitted that she had been awake early and that a nap would be welcome. Sleep was far away, however, so she settled herself back in the corner of the chaise to count to five thousand while she worked out how to start explaining herself to her husband. My husband, she thought. If only I could
see
him! I don’t even know what he looks like, only Phoebe’s description. She reached five thousand and sat up, ready to begin her confession, when a gentle snore informed her that his lordship was asleep.

It appeared to Penelope that a couple of hours passed before her husband awoke as they pulled into an inn-yard to change the horses. Lord Darleston procured a basket of food and they were on their way again. This was it, decided Penelope. She had to get it over with! Before she could start, however, Lord Darleston spoke.

‘My lady, I think it is important that I make my position quite clear to you at the start. As you are possibly aware, this is my second marriage. My first wife disgraced my name and I would not have chosen to marry again except for the recent death of my cousin and heir. His death means that the title must go, after me, to a man I consider totally unworthy of it. To be perfectly honest with you I have married to beget an heir. I am sorry if you are shocked at my plain speaking, but I deplore deceit and you had better know that I have every intention of…of consummating our union as soon as possible.’

Penelope was speechless. She laid one trembling hand on Gelert’s head and drew a deep breath. ‘It is my turn to be honest now, my lord. I…I am not the person you think I am!’

Darleston was puzzled. ‘What on earth are you talking about? You are, or rather were, Miss Penelope Ffolliot, aren’t you?’

‘Yes, but when you met me the first time, at Almack’s, it wasn’t me you met but my twin, Phoebe!’ said Penny desperately, and a trifle incoherently.

Absolutely staggered, the Earl stared at her in disbelief. Then, as he recalled odd differences between the girl he had danced with at Almack’s and the girl driving in the park and at the concert, he realised the mistake he had made.

‘Phoebe…I
thought
that was the name! What in heaven’s name were you two playing at, then? It was you, though, with your father that day and at the concert. I would swear it!’ said the Earl angrily.

‘Yes, that was me both times.’ Privately she was amazed he was so sure.

‘Why? Did you share your come-out to economise?’ This in a menacingly quiet tone.

‘No! I didn’t want a come-out. I simply went to London to be with Phoebe. Hardly anyone knew about me; when you met me you thought I was Phoebe, so I let you continue to think it!’ cried Penelope. ‘Then Geoffrey lost all that money, and it wasn’t the first time and we couldn’t pay, so he tried to force Phoebe to marry you, even though she was betrothed…’

‘He did
what?’
The shock and horror in the Earl’s voice were unmistakable. She gasped in fright as he took her roughly by the shoulders. This was too much for Gelert, who rose, growling fiercely in warning.

‘No, Gelert!’ cried Penelope.

Darleston released her and said in a milder tone of voice, ‘I beg your pardon. Please forgive me, I did not mean to startle you. You say your brother tried to force your sister to marry me?’

‘Yes. We knew you meant Phoebe, but she had just become engaged to Richard so I said I would marry you. It was true what I said in the vestry, my lord. I would not have married you if I had not liked you. Anyway, you didn’t seem terribly interested in whom you married or Mama would have told you. You shouldn’t have bought a pig in a poke!’ she finished, unconsciously echoing George Carstares’s unspoken thought.

‘Why the devil didn’t you tell me all this in the
vestry?’ demanded the Earl furiously. ‘Good God! I shall be the laughing stock of town if this gets out! Well, it needn’t alter my plans. You and your sister are so alike I dare say it doesn’t make any odds which of you lies in my bed tonight! Is there anything else I need to know? God help you if there is, my girl!’