Fortune's Lady (17 page)

The money from her winnings that she would bring with her and her connection with Reggie might help, but even then it would take a good deal of convincing to win the acceptance of the respectable folk around Kennington. Having spent her life in the country, Althea knew that one could not do business, could not survive in the country, without the approval of those respectable people.

But first she had to get safely away from London and her parents. Once that was successfully accomplished, then she could worry about her reputation in the country.

Chapter 19

Althea went to bed that night in a somber mood. In the space of little over a week she had lost one person she had begun to look upon as a trusted friend, and now she was about to lose someone who had been almost a brother to her for as long as she could remember. While it was true that she had been longing to be independent and on her own since she had left the schoolroom, now that she was faced with the very real prospect of it, she found it a trifle dismaying.

The first thing to do, dutiful daughter that she was, would be to lay her plans before her parents and offer them a chance to give her their blessing. She did not expect anything from this course of action except dismay and opposition, but if by some miracle they were prepared to let her go her own way, she did not want to lose the opportunity to remain in their good graces.

They were dining in that evening. The dowager had already sent word that she was tired and would be having supper in her room. Provided with such an opportunity, Althea seized it, and when the servants had left after clearing away the main course, relaying the table, and serving the dessert, she began. “Papa, Mama, I have been giving a great deal of thought to my future and I have no wish to make a brilliant marriage. I would so much rather live a quiet life in the country. I now have enough set aside to purchase my own estate and I wish to do so, with your blessings, of course.”

There was a moment of profound silence. “I have never heard of anything so absurd. Become a rustic? It is simply not good
ton,
Althea. I am sure I have told you that times out of mind,” the duchess declared.

Very deliberately the duke laid down his spoon and dabbed his lips with his napkin. “Althea, I thought we had made it clear to you that in families such as ours, marriage is not a choice, but a duty.”

“I know, Papa. But I will not be carrying on the name. The line does not depend on me for an heir.”

“That makes no difference. You have the blood, and you still owe it to the family to contract an alliance that will strengthen its position and add to its glory. Now that is the end to it. I will hear no more of these foolish notions. We have raised you to be worthy of your name, Althea, to ally it with the noblest families in the land. Naturally, you will do that.”

“Yes, Papa.” It was no use. Althea had not expected it to be, but in spite of herself, she had cherished the vain hope that if she proved steadfast in her desire not to marry they might take it seriously.

“I certainly hope that you are going to wear the new pale blue crepe dress from Madame Celeste to the opera this evening. It is vastly becoming and the embroidered lilies with the pearl trimming are sure to become the rage once you have been seen wearing it,” the duchess broke in brightly as though she and her daughter had been talking of nothing but frills and furbelows during the entire meal. “And you know that Lord Spottiswode has made it a point to assure himself that you will be there so you must be in your very best looks.”

“Yes, Mama.” Althea could only be grateful that it was the opera and not a ball they were attending, for it would give her time to think. She was not about to give up on her dream, but she did need to develop the best possible strategy for achieving it.
Think of it as a card game,
she kept telling herself.
Consider what cards each side holds and what risks it is willing to take. It is boldness as a card player that wins games for me; it will have to be the same in real life.

Thinking about it in those terms made it easier to plan, and it also brought another card player to mind.
Grandmama!
Althea had long been aware that her grandmother was not entirely happy living as a permanent guest in her son’s household.
I
do not believe that she likes living under Papa and Mama’s thumbs any more than I do. Then I shall offer her a chance to gain her freedom as well.

Buoyed by this thought, Althea was even able to welcome Lord Spottiswode to their box with a modicum of civility later that evening, and she endured his ponderous conversation with such admirable restraint that the duchess was able to look positively smug for the rest of the evening as she intercepted envious glances from other boxes. It was clear that gossiping tongues would soon spread the rumor that this Season’s incomparable was about to make a brilliant match.

A touch of fatigue might have made the Dowager Duchess of Clarendon miss the opera, but she was awake bright and early the next morning and already immersed in the
Times
when her granddaughter knocked on her door.

She looked sharply at her granddaughter as she entered. “Out with it, my girl. There is some mischief afoot that I can clearly see. You only wear that expression when you are looking forward to a day slopping around the stables or when you have a very good hand indeed.”

“You are correct, Grandmama. I have been dealt a very good hand indeed. And as usual, I have come to ask you to be my partner.”

“Oh, what is up?”

“Reggie is going to India.”

“Good. It is time that lad escaped from that family of his. Their bone-chilling respectability would dampen even the highest of spirits.”

“And he has given Kennington to me.”

“He has, has he!” The dowager’s sharp eyes could just detect the faintly discernible blush that stained her granddaughter’s cheeks. There was certainly more to this story than was being divulged, but in time, no doubt, the entire truth would come out. In the meantime, however, she banished any hint of the curiosity consuming her and forced her expression into one of polite interest.

“Yes. He knows that I want an estate of my own and he says I would be a better manager for Kennington than he has been.”

“That lad has a good deal more in his brain-box than I have given him credit for.”

“The thing of it is, Grandmama, Mama and Papa will not permit me to do such a thing.”

“That was certainly to be expected. Henry will not rest until he has married you to a future prime minister, and your mother will not allow that to occur unless he is a leader of fashion—a combination so unlikely that you could be in the marriage mart for quite some time, I fear.”

“But I loathe it, Grandmama.”

The dowager’s eyes softened. “I know you do, my dear.” She laid a comforting hand on Althea’s shoulder.

“So help me escape it all. Come with me, Grandmama. Let us go to the country and live the life
we
wish to, not the life Papa and Mama have planned for us.”

“Come with you!”

“Yes. You do not like being under Papa’s thumb or subject to Mama’s whims any more than I do. You
know
you do not. And if you come to the country with me, it will make it a completely respectable establishment in the eyes of the neighbors. In general, I do not care about my reputation, at least not in the
ton,
but in the country, if one wants to do any sort of business at all, one at least must be respectable.”

“I do not see how it is to be accomplished.” The dowager shook her head, but the sparkle of interest in her eyes betrayed her desire to be convinced of the possibility of her granddaughter’s scheme.

“Oh, as to that, I have thought it all out. I shall send Jem to make arrangements for a post chaise. He is devoted to me, and the promise of an eventual position as coachman at Kennington will be inducement enough. I know that Mama is planning to spend an afternoon closeted with Madame Celeste on Thursday and Papa can always be counted on to be at his club. Since we will be living simply we will not require a great deal of baggage, so it should be easy enough to slip away if we are careful. I shall leave a note telling Papa and Mama that we have gone, but not where we have gone. They will undoubtedly concoct some plausible story to account for our absence, which they will circulate among the
ton,
and by the time they discover our whereabouts, it will be too late. Besides, if you are with me, Papa can hardly force us to return even if he does find us. Oh, please say that you will, Grandmama.”

The dowager would have been no proof against the pleading expression on her granddaughter’s face even if she had not found living in her son’s rigidly formal establishment to be a dead bore. But having witnessed Althea’s misery in London, and now seeing her eyes alight with happiness at the prospect of returning to the country, she did not have the heart to refuse her.

Althea’s grandmother had hoped that somehow the Marquess of Harwood, who had been figuring increasingly in the picture lately, would supply a solution that would not only be acceptable, but highly gratifying to both Althea and her parents, but apparently she had been mistaken in that hope. She had been certain that a special understanding had arisen between her granddaughter and the marquess, but Althea’s eagerness to leave London, and the care and thought she had obviously put into planning her escape seemed to belie that possibility. The dowager sighed. If it was not to be, it was not to be, but it was a great pity.

“Very well, child. I shall join you in this madcap scheme of yours. I just hope it does not convince your papa that I am fit for nothing but the madhouse.”

Althea rose to fling her arms around the dowager. “Thank you, Grandmama. I
knew
I could count on you to help me. You have always come to my aid, and I shall never let Papa make you go anywhere you do not wish to be. Now, I must be off to speak to Jem and Jenny and see if I can convince them to cast their lots in with me.”

“Of course you can count on me, miss,” was Jem’s immediate response when Althea sought him out in the stables some lime later. “You saved me, and that makes me your man always. I’ll be happy to do whatever you wants.”

“Thank you, Jem. I am afraid I am asking you to do rather a lot. I cannot take John Coachman from his comfortable post, so I will need you not only to hire me a post chaise, but to be my groom and coachman when we get to the country.”

Jem positively swelled with pride at the prospect of these new responsibilities. “Jem’s your man, miss, wherever you go.”

“Thank you.”

Jenny, however, took a good deal more convincing. Older and more worldly than Jem, she foresaw all the many complications attendant upon such an adventure. “Oh, my lady, whatever will your parents say? The duke is powerfully set on your marrying someone important, not to mention Her Grace.” The little maid looked troubled.

“I know Jenny, but they will just have to learn that they cannot control the outcome of everything in their lives. I know it is asking a good deal of you. You would be leaving an important and powerful household for a very simple establishment. And you will not be so near your family as you are at Clarendon, but Kennington is not so far distant. Naturally I shall not need the services of a lady’s maid at Kennington so much as I do now, but in a household with so few servants, your position will be a great deal more important than it is now.” Althea’s voice trailed off as she watched Jenny struggle with the decision. There would no longer be the excitement of helping her mistress get ready for the most fashionable balls and routs in the land, but neither would she be subservient to anyone but her mistress.

Jenny wavered, but only for a moment. “I think I should like to go with you, my lady.”

Althea let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Jenny. I shall be in need of a friendly face.”

And so, the major hurdles were overcome. She had a household, albeit a meager one. Now all that remained was to move that household to Kennington with as little commotion as possible.

It would require a great deal of work, but Althea was more hopeful about her life than she had been since her first Season had stopped being an event still far in the future and had become a reality.

Chapter 20

All the energy and invigoration that Althea’s plans gave to her existence seemed to have drained from Gareth’s. Since losing the contest with her for Kenning-ton he found that he had lost all enthusiasm for gaming of any kind. Somehow, every possible opponent who challenged him to a game lacked either the wit or the spirit, or both, to make playing against him worth the marquess’s while.

Oddly enough, the person who first pointed out this enervating state of affairs was the person who gave him a clue as to the reason behind it.

Maria Toscana, draped languorously across silken pillows, regarded him curiously under seductively lowered lids as he lay exhausted in her boudoir after a vigorous session of lovemaking. “My lord, it seems to me that something is troubling you. What is it?”

“Troubling me? Nothing. Do I act as though something is troubling me?”

The dancer’s eyes drifted hungrily from his broad shoulders to his slim hips and powerful legs. “No. You do not
act
as though anything is troubling you, but there is a look in your eye that tells me.”

One corner of his mouth quirked in a rueful grin. “You are a clever woman, Maria. Yes, something is troubling me. I lost an entire estate in a simple card game.

“You have won and lost, mostly won, fortunes on the turn of a card, my lord. You will win it back again. No one can beat you consistently. In the end you will win. You always do.”

“No, Maria.” He shook his head slowly. “This time I have met my match. It was not the luck of the draw that was against me this time; it was superior skill.”

“Not necessarily. Are you sure she did not win against you because she had more to lose than you did?”

“She!  How did you know it was a
she?”
Gareth sat bolt upright in astonishment.