A Sisterly Regard (23 page)

Chloe rushed to his side and knelt beside him. She caught up the
hem of her dress and tried to wipe the blood from his chin. "Papa, how
could you strike him? I told you he saved my life."

"Ruined you, is more like it. Get up, pet, and get into Farwell's
curricle. I am taking you to your mother."

"No, Papa. I will stay with poor Lord Wilderlake." She pushed
him back as he attempted to rise. "Lie still, my lord. You are still
bleeding." She looked again at her father's companion.
What in the
world? Mr. Farwell?

Papa opened his mouth to roar once again, but Mr. Farwell
intervened. "Perhaps, sir, you should listen to their story. I cannot believe
that Wilderlake is guilty of stealing your daughter away in the
night."

He yawned into his lacy handkerchief. "How did he save your
life, Miss Hazelbourne?"

Chloe, still patting at Wilderlake's chin, stammered out a
disjointed version of her departure from home and the flight from
London. "And when we were at the inn, Papa, Jeremy said he had
changed his mind and no longer wished to marry me. He threatened to tell
all Society of our adventure." She omitted a description of her sickness and
the condition of Lord Everingham's clothing afterward.

Lord Wilderlake caught the hand that held the now bloodstained
hem. "What your daughter did not tell you, my lord, was that she was
revenged on him in advance." He told the part of the tale that Chloe, in
her embarrassment, had omitted. "I could see no other remedy for the
situation, sir, but to offer for her, and I did so. I hope you will entertain
my suit, Lord Gifford, for I have every intention of marrying your
daughter."

He raised Chloe's hand, still holding the hem of her gown, to his
lips. "It was I, sir, who was in your daughter's company at the inn last
night, not Everingham, for he had abandoned her. Therefore, it is I who
must make the honorable amends."

Papa still looked more confused than comprehending.
"Damme," he said at last. "I believe you are exceeding the demands of
honor, young man. But there's no two ways about it. Chloe must be
married, after last night. I'd not give her to Everingham, not after the way
he treated her. Young ass. No, not you my lord. Here, let me help you
up. Sorry I struck you, and all that. I was enraged."

"Understandably so, sir." Wilderlake stood, then helped Chloe
to her feet. "Reggie, may I suggest that we turn your rig and get back on
the road. Will you take Miss Hazelbourne up with you, so that her father
and I might become better acquainted?"

"But I want to ride with you!"

He caught her hand and raised it to his lips, pressing a lingering
kiss upon her knuckles. "My dear, your father and I have much to discuss.
Let us have this time to do so. We must come to an agreement on how to
go on when we get back to Town."

"But--"

"No, do not protest. I will be right behind you with your father,
and by the time we reach London, all will be arranged for our wedding
tomorrow. If you become overset, you may again suffer from the motion
of the curricle. Reggie is a good driver, and I will warn him to go gently."
He led her to the other curricle and lifted her into it.

Chloe, rendered speechless by his continued solicitude, obeyed.
He smiled at her before turning to Mr. Farwell. "Drive carefully, my
friend. You carry a precious cargo."

"I think you mean that, Herne," Mr. Farwell replied in a voice
quite unlike his usual mocking tone. "Well, well."

"So you have achieved your goal, Miss Hazelbourne," Mr.
Farwell said when he had got his team moving. "Your methods were
somewhat, ah, unusual, were they not? Are you sure that this is fair to
Wilderlake?"

"He asked me, Mr. Farwell. I did not propose to him," she
replied in a tone that might have frozen boiling water.

"After he had been put into a position that his honor required it.
You would have been better served if you had married
Everingham."

"How dare you!"

"Oh, we fops dare quite a lot, you know. I have seen your
temper tantrums and your treatment of your sister. I have no illusions
about you, Miss Hazelbourne. You will lead Wilderlake a merry dance. I
am not sure I like it, for he is my friend."

"You have nothing to say about it."

"More the pity. I would not wish him to marry a spoiled brat
with no thought in her head for anyone's wishes but her own. He is a fine
man, honorable and decent, and he deserves better than you."

"You are despicable. I will not listen to your insults." She turned
her back on him as well as she was able on the jouncing seat of the
curricle.

"My dear Miss Hazelbourne, you will listen to whatever I have
to say, for you are a captive audience. If you wish to have a happy
marriage, let me give you some advice."

She covered her ears. "Be quiet. I will not hear you."

He was silent for a moment, then he spoke in a gentler voice.
"Listen to me, Chloe Hazelbourne. I will tell you something that may save
you coming to grief later."

She removed her hands from her ears, but continued to stare at
the road ahead.

"Your sister told me that you are often willful, but not unkind
nor uncaring until lately. Because she thinks well of you, I will give you
the benefit of the doubt and believe you are not spoiled beyond
redemption."

Chloe hunched her shoulder and tried to resist the strong
temptation to listen to whatever he had to say about the man she would
marry.

"Lord Wilderlake--Herne Bradburn--is a gentleman of high
principles. He will never mistreat you nor will he neglect your creature
comforts. As long as you strive to be a conformable wife and do not
disappoint him, he will treat you with the kindness and consideration you
expect. But if you ever go beyond what his rather overdeveloped sense of
propriety considers to be the bounds of good behavior, he will become icy
cold and withdrawn. If he ever does withdraw from you, all will be lost.
Herne has seen what extravagance, selfishness, and a care-for-naught
attitude can do to the members of one's family. He will be completely
unforgiving, should you show symptoms of any of these traits. He has
spent the past ten years paying for his father's and grandfather's profligacy.
He will not tolerate it in a wife."

Anger flared in her breast.
I am not profligate.
Yet she
could not resist asking, "What do you mean, he has paid?"

"Have you never heard of Herne's father and
grandfather?"

"No, I know nothing about his family."

Reggie told her how the third Viscount Wilderlake had gambled
and caroused and dallied with ladies and women of the other sort until the
ton
had withdrawn from him in horror at his loose living, even in
an age when such activities were more kindly looked upon. So great had
been the third viscount's fortune that he had not been able to waste it all
before he died.

The fourth viscount, Wilderlake's father, had married Herne's
mother for her fortune. "Instead of taking her on a honeymoon, he took
her to the remote castle in Cumbria and immured her there, remaining
with her only long enough to father Herne."

Chloe forgot her pique in her fascination with Mr. Farwell's
narrative.

"I believe Herne was scarcely a month of age when he returned
to Town, thereafter ignoring his family. Had there not been a trust,
settled on Herne by his mother's father, he would not have even been sent
to school, so little care had his father of him.

"By the time Herne came down from university," Mr. Farwell
continued, "his father had wasted his entire fortune and mortgaged the
estate to the hilt. He died in a gutter in London, frozen to death after
having apparently fallen there in a drunken stupor. Herne was left with a
mortgaged estate and creditors snapping at his heels. He barely managed
to convince the creditors not to foreclose. For ten years he has labored
with only one goal in mind--to lift the mortgages and restore some of the
family's former fortunes.

"He has, he tells me, some way to go before the estate is back in
the condition that it was before his grandfather began wasting it. The
whole experience has given him a detestation of selfishness and
extravagance. He could forgive you anything but that, Miss Hazelbourne,
so you would be well advised to tread very carefully."

Chloe said nothing for a while, thinking deeply. Finally she said.
"I cannot forgive you for your earlier words, Mr. Farwell, but I do
appreciate your advice. I do not wish to be unhappy. Lord Wilderlake has
promised me that we shall spend part of each Season in London, so I will
not be imprisoned in Castle Wilderlake like his mother was." She sighed,
not yet entirely ready to relinquish her dreams, yet knowing they were
lost to her forever. "But life will not be as I had dreamed.

"I slept little last night, and I thought much. I should have
listened to Mama and Cousin Louisa more, and taken their advice. When
Lord Everingham threatened to have his mother tell Society of my
mistakes, I was convinced I had ruined my whole life.

"Lord Wilderlake is kind and thoughtful. I will try to be a good
wife to him. I owe him so much. And I will be married, which is the
important thing." She bounced a little on the seat. "Oh, Mr. Farwell, it
will be so wonderful to be married, and not to have to wear only demure
muslins and always be chaperoned and everything. I know I shall love
it."

"Just remember what I have told you, Miss Hazelbourne. Herne
will, I think, be a kind and indulgent husband, but you will have limits. He
will not tolerate any improper behavior, nor will he accept horns."

"Oh, I would not do anything like that," she exclaimed,
shocked. "How could any woman ever be unfaithful to her
husband?"

"Some find it easy." There was none of the usual ennui in his
tone.

"I never could. I may have chafed at the restrictions on
unmarried girls, Mr. Farwell, but I am not immoral."

"Only selfish and willful."

"I suppose I am. And spoiled, too, my sister says. I've always
hated to be told what I cannot do, and recently--since my Season was
twice postponed--I have felt driven to go my own way, no matter the
consequences."

"Herne will expect good behavior, but I doubt that he would
ever reprimand you if you misbehave. His way is to withdraw and become
cold."

"I could not bear that. Thank you Mr. Farwell. Perhaps you have
just saved my marriage. I could not stand to be unhappy, you
know."

"But you were willing to marry for a title and money, and
without love."

"One does not need love to be happy," she said airily. "I have
seen my Mama and Papa for long enough to know that a good marriage
depends on more than two people being happy together. I thought I liked
Lord Everingham. But I think I will be happier with Lord
Wilderlake."

"I hope so."

* * * *

The conversation in the other curricle was more businesslike.
Wilderlake informed Lord Gifford of his prospects and described the
lengths to which he had gone to recoup the family fortunes. He confessed
to being slightly short of funds at present, but said that his investments in
woolen and cotton mills should start paying off in a year or two.

Lord Gifford expressed his satisfaction that Chloe would not be
impoverished. He admitted to being extremely impressed with
Wilderlake's business acumen. "By gad, sir. I may come to you the next
time an investment opportunity presents itself." By the time the two
curricles had reached London, Wilderlake and Lord Gifford had gone far
toward becoming friends as well as prospective relatives and had, in
general, agreed upon the terms of the marriage settlement.

They pulled up in front of the house off Grosvenor Square just
behind Reggie's curricle. Phaedra burst from the front door as Wilderlake
pulled his horses to a stop. Chloe tumbled from Reggie' curricle and the
sisters embraced, laughing and crying together. Lady Gifford stood in the
doorway, her expression apprehensive.

"We're home, Isabella," Lord Gifford called out. "And all's
well. Edgemont, send someone to walk these horses." He climbed down
as a footman ran from the house. "Here, Wilderlake, let the lad take the
reins, and come in. Meet the rest of the family. You too, Farwell."

Reggie refused the invitation. "No sir, I think I would be better
gone. You will want to speak
en famille
tonight. I will call in the
morning, if I may."

"Hold, Reggie," called Wilderlake. He strode to the other's
curricle. "You must stand up with me tomorrow, or whenever we get the
arrangements made. Oh, God, and I still have to tell my mother. Look
here. Could you go and get her? I would appreciate it no end. I do not
want to leave Miss Hazelbourne to face her mother and sister without my
support."

"Of course, Herne. And I will endeavor to tell her nothing
except that you have asked for her. I'll leave it to you to break the news
that she is to have a daughter-in-law."

"Tell her whatever you must to bring her here, old man."

"She will come. Would you doubt my ability to charm a lady
into accepting me as her escort?"

Wilderlake laughed. "Never. And my mother has a tendre for
you, you know." He reached out his hand and clasped Reggie's, aware of
how much he owed his old friend. "Thank you, Reggie. I...thank
you."

He stood there on the steps for a moment after Reggie departed.
At last he squared his shoulders and went in to greet his soon-to-be
relatives.

A mild hysteria took hold of all in the Hazelbourne household
when Chloe was returned to them. Phaedra was too overcome with relief
at having her sister safe to do more than ask again and again, "Chloe, are
you sure you are quite all right?"

Mama uttered not a word of blame or rebuke. Everyone ignored
Lord Wilderlake while the embraces and reassurances went on.