To Win the Lady (9 page)

‘Then I am
doubly fortunate to have arrived back in town at the same time. It is the
merest chance, for I had determined to stay in the country.’

‘Oh, but Lady
Hereward said she was sure you would return for her ball. She said...’

‘You served
with Wellington, did you not?’ Georgie put in to cover her sister’s
ingenuousness. ‘Do tell us about the great man. They say he can be rather
short-tempered on occasion.’

He smiled.
‘Yes, but he has every right to be angry if he is let down. He accords praise
where it is due and apportions blame in no small measure if he thinks it is
deserved. I am proud to have served under him.’

‘Were you at
Waterloo?’

‘Yes, and in
Spain before that.’

‘And now the war
is over what will you do?’ Felicity asked. ‘I believe Captain Melford means to
return to his regiment. Will you do that?’

‘No, Miss
Felicity, my soldiering days are done. I must leave the colours and be a
dutiful son.’ He paused to smile down at her. ‘My father tells me it is time I
settled down.’

The remark
brought floods of colour to her cheeks for it seemed to confirm that he was
indeed looking for a wife, but she was saved from having to reply for they were
entering Hyde Park and taking their place in the long procession of other
carriages: barouches, landaulets, phaetons, curricles, which were filling the
carriageway, all proceeding at a pace which was hardly faster than a man could
walk. It seemed as if half of fashionable London was out to see and be seen in
that one small corner of the capital.

All thought of
sustained conversation was abandoned as they found themselves greeting and
being greeted by everyone they had met in the last week. Georgie was astonished
at the number and could not remember half their names, though Felicity seemed
to have no difficulty and was enjoying herself hugely. She looked remarkably
pretty in her face-framing bonnet with its ribbon bow securing it under her
chin; her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkled so that the young blades
found themselves eaten with envy for the handsome man who escorted her. Georgie
was forced to admit that her sister had made a hit.

They were just
leaving the park on their way home, when they were hailed by a man on horseback
who had been riding along the Row.

‘Oh, it is
Captain Melford,’ Felicity cried. ‘Do let us stop and speak to him.’

Richard called
to the driver to pull up close to the rails which divided the Row from the
carriageway and John reined in to greet them. ‘Your servant, ladies,’ he said,
calming his horse with an outstretched hand on its neck, for it was not pleased
to have its exercise so abruptly halted. ‘I trust I find you in good spirits?
Good afternoon, Richard. I perceive you could not stay away from town, after
all.’

Richard smiled.
‘Do you blame me when I have two such beautiful ladies to escort?’

‘No, though I
don’t think it was very sporting of you to cut me out.’ He turned to the girls.
‘I called at Holles Street earlier but you had left.’

‘Did you?’
Felicity asked, colouring prettily. ‘We are sorry we missed you, are we not,
Georgie?’

‘Yes, of
course,’ Georgie said.

‘I went to ask
if you would care to ride with me,’ he explained. ‘But this dog got there
first.’ He grinned at Richard. ‘No matter, there is always another day.’

‘It will have
to be soon,’ Felicity told him. ‘Georgie is going back to Rowan Park soon and,
though Aunt Harriet will quite happily chaperon me in a carriage, I do not
think she will want to ride.’

‘Then let us
all four go,’ John said enthusiastically. ‘How about it, Richard? Shall we all
ride in Green Park tomorrow?’

‘If the ladies
are agreeable,’ Richard said, smiling at Georgie with eyes that seemed to be
teasing her. ‘But I fear Miss Paget will find riding in town a sad
disappointment after the Rowan Park gallops. I doubt there are suitable
hedges.’

‘Hedges?’
queried Georgie, determined not to let him have the upper hand. ‘We are not
going hunting, Major. A simple hack is what is intended, is it not, Mr
Melford?’

John, who did
not understand the crackling tension between his friend and the elder Miss
Paget, laughed uneasily. ‘Of course. But if you prefer something a little more
strenuous, then Hampstead Heath or perhaps Richmond...’

‘Oh, no,’
Felicity put in quickly. ‘That sounds a little too boisterous and I am not the
rider, my sister is. The park will do me very well.’

‘I think the
gentlemen are teasing us, my dear,’ Georgie said. ‘And I think it is very
uncivil of them. I have a good mind not to ride at all.’

‘Oh, but you
must!’ Felicity cried. ‘If you do not go I cannot and I should like it very
much.’

‘Very well.’
Georgie, who could not deny her sister anything it was in her power to give,
relented. ‘But we shall have to hire mounts; Aunt Harriet has only carriage
horses.’

‘Leave that to
me,’ John said. ‘I will undertake to bring mounts to your door, if you state
the time.’

‘For me, you
may call as early as you like,’ Georgie said. ‘But I think we must observe the
proprieties and not set out before the streets are aired. Shall we say ten?’

‘Ten it shall
be,’ he agreed. ‘I would offer to accompany you home, but I am engaged to call
on Lady Hereward with my mama in half an hour.’ He touched the brim of his
riding hat and rode away, leaving Richard to accompany the girls back to Holles
Street.

It took only a
few minutes and for the first five of those he seemed to be too engrossed in
watching Heacham negotiate the press of traffic to have much conversation, but
as soon as they were out of the park he turned to Felicity and enquired about
her preferences for a mount, gently drawing from her the information that
although she could ride quite well - any daughter of Sir Henry Paget would be
required to learn at an early age - she had not her sister’s skill and would
prefer not to have too spirited an animal. Georgie, watching him from under the
brim of her bonnet, saw him relax, as if the news that the younger girl was not
also a madcap rider was a relief.

‘Georgie rides
like a man,’ Felicity went on, then, because she was suddenly afraid that she
had said something disparaging, added quickly, ‘Not that she is the least like
a man really.’

He turned and
gave Georgie a wry grin. ‘So I had observed.’

Georgie, who
was not sure if he meant that he had observed the way she rode or the fact that
she was not like a man, could find no reply to this, even if one was expected,
and she was glad they were drawing up at her aunt’s door. By the time he had
jumped down and handed them both down, instructed Heacham to walk the horses
until he returned and accompanied them to the door, a reply was not necessary.

Tibbet, an old
campaigner who had been engaged as a footman by Colonel Bertram when he became
too old for soldiering, admitted them to the cool hall. A bowl of sweet peas stood
on a table and filled the air with perfume. ‘Mrs Bertram is in the blue salon
with Lord Barbour, Miss Paget,’ he said.

Georgie ignored
Richard’s sharp intake of breath as she took off her shawl and hat and handed
them to the servant. ‘He came to see my aunt?’

‘No, miss, I
formed the opinion it was you he wished to see.’

‘Oh, you have
made a hit!’ Felicity cried. ‘And you did not say a word of it to me.’

‘Didn’t I? It
must have slipped my mind.’

Richard gave a
loud grunt which made them both turn towards him and he quickly changed it to a
cough. Of all the men in London who could have attached themselves to Miss
Paget, it had to be Barbour. ‘Your pardon, ladies, but I must take my leave,’
he said. He could not face the man in Mrs Bertram’s drawing-room where the
rules of etiquette obliged him to be polite. ‘A pressing engagement.’

‘Will you not
stay and meet Georgie’s admirer?’ Felicity asked him. ‘I must admit I am
excessively curious.’

‘Felicity!’
Georgie cried. ‘How can you be so rag-mannered?’ She turned to Richard, her
face flaming. ‘I must apologise for my sister, Major. She is sometimes less
than tactful.’

‘Not at all; I
find her candour delightfully refreshing.’

‘Then you will
stay?’ Felicity asked.

‘I am already
acquainted with the gentleman,’ he said, endeavouring to keep the frigidity
from his voice but aware that the elder Miss Paget was not easy to deceive. `I
will call tomorrow as planned, unless...’ He looked directly at Georgie, making
her squirm uncomfortably ‘unless Miss Paget would like to change her mind?’

‘Of course I
haven’t changed my mind,’ she said quickly. ‘Felicity wishes to ride with you
and I shall chaperon her. There is no more to be said.’

She watched him
as he bowed himself out and then, with a sigh, went to join her aunt, followed
by her sister. Lord Barbour, who had been ensconced in an armchair by the
hearth, rose ponderously to his feet and hurried forward to bow over Georgie’s
hand.

‘So sorry to
miss you, my dear Miss Paget,’ he said. ‘Said I would call, if you remember...’

‘So you did,’
she said lightly. ‘I forgot. May I present my sister Felicity?’ She turned and
quelled her sibling’s inclination to giggle with a furious look. ‘Felicity,
this is Lord Barbour.’

He inclined his
head towards her. ‘Your obedient, Miss Felicity.’

‘His lordship
has been here this past half-hour,’ their aunt said, trying not to sound as if
she was complaining, though it had been excessively tiring trying to follow the
gist of his lordship’s staccato conversation, laced as it was with horsey allusions;
he was worse than her brother-in-law and Henry had been bad enough. ‘We have
had a most interesting prose, have we not, my lord?’

‘Indeed?’ said
Georgie, with a sinking feeling; that she had been a subject of their discourse
she did not doubt. ‘I am sorry I missed it.’

‘Oh, you will
be apprised of it, do not fear,’ his lordship said. ‘Your aunt has given me
permission to invite you to ride with me. Got a new mount, you know. Black
stallion. Not tried his paces yet. Told you’re a bruising rider y’self.’

‘I cannot think
who told you that,’ Georgie said, giving her aunt a meaningful look. ‘I do not
care for the term; it smacks of cruelty.’

‘No, wrong
thing to say,’ he corrected himself. ‘Meant capable. Capable, that’s the word.
What do you say? Will you ride with me tomorrow? Bring your sister if you
want.’

‘Oh, but we are
going riding tomorrow in Green Park,’ Felicity said before her sister could
stop her. ‘With--’

‘I am sure Lord
Barbour does not want the details, dearest,’ Georgie interrupted her. She turned
to their visitor and gave him the benefit of a sugar-sweet smile. ‘I am sorry,
my lord, but I am already engaged for tomorrow.’

‘Later, perhaps
a carriage drive?’

‘We are taking
tea with Mrs Melford. I am sorry, my lord, you seem to be out of luck.’

‘The next day,
then? You do not go back to Rowan Park before the week is out, do you?’

‘No, but...’

‘Georgiana will
be pleased to ride with you the day after tomorrow,’ Mrs Bertram said, frowning
at her niece. ‘Tom Dawson will accompany her.’

‘I have no mount.’
Her excuses were wearing thin, she knew it, and she knew she was exasperating
her aunt, but she really did not see why she should be thrown at this
unattractive man. If she had to marry, then why could it not be someone a shade
younger and with a little more countenance?

Her aunt told
her the answer to that in less than flattering terms when his lordship had
taken his leave, after promising to provide her with a suitable mount and to call
for her two days hence. ‘It is no good you playing hard to get, my girl,’ she
said as soon as Felicity had left them to go to her room to change. ‘He does
not strike me as a patient man and you may lose him.’

‘I wish that I
might.’

‘How can you
say that? You are fortunate that he is interested. You are not in the first
flush of youth, you know, and you have no call to turn your nose up at him. He
is wealthy and generous to a fault. Why, he told me that he has a mare he
thinks you will like. He hinted he would make you a present of it, if you
pleased him.’

‘I am to be
bribed, is that it?’

‘Not at all,’
Mrs Bertram said, realising she had made a grave error. ‘You will not be
coerced into marrying someone you take in aversion, I promise you, but do give
him a chance. You will not be committing yourself if you agree to ride with
him. And even if he were impatient enough to offer for you so soon, which I
doubt, for he is a man of breeding and knows how to go on, you do not have to
answer him straight away. Give yourself a chance to become better acquainted
with him.’

‘And if after
that I say we shall not suit?’

‘Then no more
will be said.’ Her aunt sighed melodramatically. ‘Though where else you will
find another opportunity like it I declare I do not know. And you really ought
to be married before your sister.’