The Rebel Bride (9 page)

“I’m not exactly the height of fashion, am I, Lilly?” She stepped back and regarded herself ruefully in the mirror, making a moue at herself. “Well, no matter, it’s not that important just so long as I don’t gain enough flesh so the buttons won’t meet.”

Lilly felt a stab of indignation. It was disgraceful how Sir Oliver treated his daughter.

“You look just fine, Miss Kate. Now, just let me twitch this pleat in place. There.”

“You are quite kind to say so, Lilly. But so untruthful. However, a compliment shouldn’t ever be turned away. I’ll savor this one fully, I promise you.” She gave Lilly an affectionate hug, picked up her riding gloves, and made her way with a light step downstairs.

She took a deep breath, planted a smile on her face, and squared her shoulders.

R
obert Bleddoes rose with alacrity and hurried over to greet her. He was dressed in his usual brown broadcloth, eminently suitable for country wear, as he had once informed her. Harry, who now affected the “windblown” fashion made stylish by Lord Byron, had sniffed disdainfully at Robert’s close-cropped brown hair, declaring him to be the complete flat, which, truth be told, he was—a conceited, arrogant, complete flat.

“Good morning, Robert,” she said, extending her hand. “To what do we owe this unexpected pleasure?”

Robert bowed ponderously and clasped Kate’s proffered hand in his longer than necessary, but she pulled it firmly away.

“Good day to you, Miss Katharine. May I say that you are in great looks today.”

“I would prefer that you did not say something so utterly untrue, Robert, but since you have already, I suppose it would be inhospitable of me to cavil.” She watched him closely as he blinked in an effort to understand her words.

He brightened. “Ah, my dear lady, you have such a ready wit. I see that you are jesting with me. Jesting is suitable for a young girl, so it doesn’t bother me at all. A few more years and you will grow more properly reserved, I doubt it not, particularly with kindly superior nurturing.”

She wanted to hit him on his head with a fireplace poker, then kick all his superior nurturing to York, but she managed to contain herself. She pictured her father’s reaction and forced a very false smile. “Do take a seat,
Robert. What news of Bonaparte do you have for me today?” With Napoleon’s defeat and his subsequent departure to Elba, Robert, for the past six months, had never arrived at Brandon Hall without some bit of news to give credence to his visits.

He cleared his throat, beaming at her with approval. “I had thought that you and Sir Oliver, of course, would find it of great interest that the Allies will convene this fall in Vienna to determine the fate of France.”

She didn’t tell Robert that the earl had already discussed this interesting topic with her and that as a result, she found his news to be not entirely accurate. “It’s a critical step in restoring a balance of power,” the earl had told her. “Lord Castlereagh, our ambassador, has a mighty difficult task facing him, particularly after the bad will resulting from the Czar’s visit to England in June.”

“Actually,” she’d said with a laugh, “it was more the Grand Duchess Catherine who nearly flummoxed the Regent.”

He laughed and ruffled her hair, the braid coming unbound beneath her old hat. Just that one afternoon, she’d sneaked out of Brandon Hall wearing her boy’s clothes and they’d gone fishing.

She answered Robert now with only a ghost of humor in her voice. “How very kind you are to ride such a great distance to so enlighten me. Why, I wish I could pack my bags this instant and accompany our ambassador to Vienna. I do wonder, though, how much diplomacy will actually be conducted, with all the routs and balls and soirees.”

Robert pondered her words with great seriousness and finally announced, “Ah, you are attempting to jest with me again, my dear. You would, of course, have no desire to travel out of England. Foreign travel is not at all the thing for well-bred English ladies. And your jests about our men of power, well, naturally they are not quite the thing. These men will comport themselves with high propriety.”

Kate forced a smile and a nod, allowing the veil of boredom to close over her. She listened politely as
Robert regaled her with the happenings of the past week. His mother was in fine health, barring, of course, her anxiety over the chill he had contracted.

Kate, knowing her duty, said, “Nothing serious, I hope, Robert. You seem to be quite well now.”

Robert was delighted with her expression of concern. Though he thought the Miss Brandon to be a bit too vivacious upon occasion, he had always dismissed it as girlish spirits. Now, for instance, the true womanliness of her nature would be apparent to anyone.

He expanded most willingly upon the topic of his health, anxious to allay her concern about his illness.

Kate was near to screaming with vexation when Robert’s commentary was halted by the entrance of Filber, announcing the earl of March.

She nearly leapt from her chair, a radiant smile on her face. Rescue was at hand. She walked swiftly to the earl and stretched out her gloved hand.

Julien lifted her hand to his lips and murmured softly so that only she could hear his words, “My poor Kate. My timing is exquisite, is it not? What have we here? Dare I take it for a suitor?”

She bit her lip to keep from laughing aloud and raised her eyes to him in silent warning.

“Humph!” Robert had risen and stood alarmingly red-faced, his eyes narrowing upon the unwelcome intruder.

“Oh, do excuse me, Robert.” She pulled her hand slowly from the earl’s. Somehow she hadn’t noticed that the earl had held her hand overlong, much less kissed her fingers lightly.

“Mr. Robert Bleddoes, this is the earl of March, our neighbor.” She added smoothly, “The squire has been good enough to bring us news of Napoleon this morning.”

A strange transformation came over Robert. He appeared to shrink visibly, and he was able to murmur only a strangled greeting to the earl.

Julien seemed not to notice the stumbling phrases that were proffered and performed his greetings with his customary grace. He found himself being scrutinized, from
his exquisitely tied cravat to his polished Hessians. He bore up under this well, quelling the set-down that rose automatically to his lips for such behavior. He thought with well-concealed amusement that much could be forgiven a man who was so obviously smitten and hiding it so poorly.

Julien was glad that he’d remained silent, for a chance glance at Kate’s face showed her to be in an agony of apprehension.

Robert managed to recover a modicum of self-assurance and observed in a tight voice, “I did not know that your lordship was acquainted with Sir Oliver.” He realized that he didn’t show to advantage next to the earl, that somehow his serviceable brown breeches and coat seemed perhaps a bit bland, perhaps a bit too serviceable, as if he and his clothes were fading slowly and inexorably into the wainscoting. His lordship wore a superfine light-baize coat that fit so well it seemed a part of him.

Robert cast a surreptitious glance at his near-conquest to see if he could read her feelings about her noble guest. What he saw sent red flashes of danger shooting through his mind. He reluctantly pulled his eyes away when he became aware that the earl was answering him.

“Yes, Miss Brandon and her brother were riding in the village. We met there.”

“But Harry isn’t here any longer.”

“True, but I contrive to make do with his sister. She is, upon occasion, sufficiently charming. And she fishes well, for a female, of course. Do you not agree, sir?”

“Well, naturally, certainly. Of course I agree. She is all that is charming and modest and demure. I say, do you really fish, Miss Katharine? Surely not.”

“She tries, sir, she tries. Perhaps some years from now she’ll come close to my skill.” To his surprise, she seemed to have lost her tongue, and Robert was tugging unconsciously at his cravat, even while he reddened with anger. Julien felt laughter bubble up but sternly held his amusement in check. He shifted his attention back to the
squire, who looked fit to slay him, and asked easily, “What news have you of Napoleon?”

Robert drew himself up at this opportunity, knowing that his brilliant mind would now be admired and duly appreciated. His mother had assured him that he was brilliant, that he should himself be traveling to Vienna. “I was telling Miss Katharine that Bonaparte is safely secured on Elba and that the Allies will convene in Vienna this fall to determine his fate.”

“How very interesting. Is there nothing else going on?”

Thinking that he had impressed the earl, Robert proceeded to favor the company with his opinions on Napoleon, Tallyrand, and the Restoration of the Bourbons. It didn’t occur to him to halt because, after all, his mother had always assured him that his political knowledge was unrivaled and that she could listen to him for simply hours. It had never occurred to him to doubt her assessment.

“Why, Robert, you constantly amaze me.” Kate couldn’t bear it another moment and threw herself into the breach. She was well aware that the earl’s forbearance was stretched to the breaking point and that soon he would tell Robert what a toad he was, all in very smooth verbiage, but he would do it and she would understand, and Robert would come to as well, perhaps after he’d had a week to think about it. “It’s amazing how you never lose yourself in a tangle of words. How you contrive to remember so much is astounding. You must be very pleased with yourself.”

Robert’s chest expanded under this ambiguous praise, and he seemed quite content to take her words at their face value.

Kate eyed Robert for a moment and said, not unkindly, “I regret, Robert, that his lordship and I must leave now. I have promised to inspect a new hunter and must indeed keep my word. I know you will understand, for you are so sensible.” With those words Kate firmly shook the bewildered squire’s hand, turned quickly, and rang the bell cord. Filber entered in only a moment. She
hoped he’d been vastly entertained at the keyhole. She didn’t fault him for this habit. Life here was normally grim, so any enjoyment to be found should be savored.

“Filber, do show Squire Bleddoes out. He must be taking his leave now.” She propelled him straight to the door, her hand on his arm.

Robert found himself in a quandary. He wouldn’t have minded leaving were it not that Miss Brandon would be left alone with the earl. Though he knew his own worth, he had heard that females were highly impressed by a man’s rank and fortune. The earl was undoubtedly a dangerous marauder. But for the moment there seemed to be nothing he could do about it. As he reached the open doorway, he turned and said with as much calm as he could muster, “A pleasure, my lord.” He executed a quick bow and followed Filber from the room.

Kate waited until she heard the front door close. She then closed the door to the drawing room and leaned against it, heaving an undisguised sigh of relief.

Julien said in a meditative voice, “I do hope that he will not call me out. I have no one available to act as my second.”

“Perhaps Filber . . .” She giggled.

Julien continued in the same meditative voice, “I suppose that now I must purchase a new hunter and make you promise to inspect him.”

“Oh dear, I hope I haven’t put you in an unhandy situation, but what would you have had me do? Tell him he is a prosy bore and demand that he leave?”

“Something of the kind,” Julien said. “You are, after all, Kate, quite gifted with words and never one to draw in the clutch. The powers above know you’ve pinned my ears back a goodly number of times in the short time I’ve known you.”

“It is something I cannot do,” she said slowly.

“Why the devil not?”

“My father would not like it.”

Good Lord, he thought, had Sir Oliver envisioned that country bumpkin as a suitable husband for his daughter? The thought was appalling, yet he wasn’t really surprised.

He stepped forward and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. “Forgive me. I shouldn’t have spoken so. I wouldn’t for the world cause you discomfort.”

She raised her eyes to his face and saw a good deal of kindness and concern written there.

She broke the power of the moment by giving her head a tiny shake and said, “You might well wonder why Robert is allowed to run free in Brandon Hall. But now he is gone, and I don’t wish to think any more about him. That is, my lord, if you do not mind.”

“As if you would care if I minded or not.” With some effort he forced himself to remove his hands from her shoulders. Actually he wanted very much to kiss her, to hold her close to him, to feel her breasts against him. He wanted her to kiss him back, to put her arms around him and squeeze him to her.

He noticed the shabby riding habit, the same one she had worn on the several occasions they had gone riding together. Damn Sir Oliver.

Kate caught the brief look of anger in Julien’s gray eyes. Perplexed, she asked, “What’s wrong? It can’t be something I’ve said, for I know I’ve been most guarded in my every word to you. Do you not agree with Robert that I’m demure and modest, even though he’s shocked to his toes that I, a female of supposed decent breeding, actually indulge in fishing?”

“No, none of that. You’re a hoyden and utterly without guile and really quite clever. Now, I can’t seem to think of a place in the neighborhood that would have a hunter for sale.”

“I can see that from now on I must be more careful in my choice of fibs,” she said, giggling.

“Particularly when it involves my pocketbook.”

She felt instantly contrite. “Oh, dear, now I’ve been grossly impertinent. I do beg your pardon, Julien. Are you short of funds?”