Mr. Malcolm's List (5 page)

Mr. Malcolm reined in, at first looking a little displeased
at the interruption but then regarding the interloper with delight.
 
“Henry, old man, this is a surprise.”

“Yes, well, I decided to sell out and join the ranks of you
idle gentlemen wastrels.”

“Are you sure you’re up for it?
 
It can be quite exhausting,” Mr. Malcolm
said, grinning at his friend.
 
He then
remembered his lady companion and turning to her, said, “Miss Dalton, may I
present Mr. Henry Ossory?”

“Miss Dalton?” Mr. Ossory said, at the same time Selina was
saying, “Mr. Ossory?”

The handsome, fair-haired young gentleman wearing a black
arm band looked at first surprised and then delighted.
 
“Miss Selina Dalton?” he asked, smiling at
her.

Malcolm eyed them a little jealously.
 
“I take it you two are familiar with each
other?”

“Miss Dalton was an excellent friend to my uncle’s
widow.
 
I am actually here in
London
because I wished to thank her for her kindness to my aunt.”

“I am very pleased to meet you, sir,” Selina told him.
 
“I esteemed your aunt very highly and I wish
to express my condolences to you.”

“Thank you,” Mr. Ossory said, his bright smile fading for a
moment.
 
“She was a plucky old
thing.
 
I am sorry I did not get to see
her once more before she died.”

Mr. Ossory’s horse whinnied and he reached down to pat
it.
 
“I should probably let you resume
your drive, but I would be pleased to call on you, Miss Dalton, if you would
give me your direction.”

“I am staying at the Thistlewaite’s townhouse in

“Thank you.
 
I will
call on you shortly.
 
Good day, Miss
Dalton. Malcolm.”
 
Mr. Ossory rode away,
leaving Mr. Malcolm and Selina alone together once again.

“What a fortuitous meeting,” Selina told Malcolm as she
watched Mr. Ossory ride away.

“Quite,” Mr. Malcolm rejoined, rather grimly.

Four

Selina returned from her drive to find a seething Julia
waiting for her.
 
She had barely entered
the house before Julia pounced on her and pulled her into the now empty drawing
room.

“Selina!
 
Why did you
drive out with Malcolm?
 
We agreed it
would be better for you to avoid being alone with him for a few days longer to
ensure you captured his interest.”

“I apologize, Julia.
 
It just seemed the thing to do.
 
Besides, I am not so sure this idea of yours is such a good one.
 
I like Mr. Malcolm.
 
He does not seem arrogant to me.”

“You are naïve.
 
I
told
you that he trifled with me and humiliated me.”

“But he told me that he only escorted you to the opera.
 
That does not seem such a heinous crime.”

“Did he mention the list?
 
Did he tell you about my eyelashes?” Julia said, growing agitated.

“What?” Selina asked.

“He is so critical, so judgmental.
 
Nothing pleases the man.
 
Just wait until he starts weighing you
against that list of his.
 
You’ll
discover just how unpleasant he can be.”

“Please calm down, Julia.
 
You are overwrought,” Selina said, becoming seriously alarmed.
 
Julia sounded quite hysterical blathering on
about eyelashes and lists.

“Selina, please say you’ll help me.
 
There is nothing I can do to touch him; he
holds all of
London
society in his palm.
 
This is the only
way, don’t you see that?”
 
Julia had
grasped Selina’s shoulders and Selina was dismayed to see that tears had formed
in Julia’s eyes.

“I just do not think he is the villain you paint him,
Julia.
 
Perhaps you should spend more
time with him, get to know him better.”

Julia stomped her foot like a child having a tantrum.
 
“I do not wish to know him any better!
 
I want him humiliated, as I was.”

“I think you are overreacting to the situation,” Selina
said, convinced now that her old school friend suffered from nothing more than
wounded pride.
 
There was a long pause
while Julia regained her composure and drew herself up haughtily.

“And I think that I made a mistake in inviting you
here.
 
Perhaps you had better return to
Bath
.”

Selina stared at Julia, surprised that she could be so
vindictive.
 
“Perhaps you are right,” she
told her, and turned around to leave the room.

Julia ran to block the door, preventing Selina from
leaving.
 
“Please, Selina, I was not
serious about you returning to
Bath
.
 
Please stay.”

Selina continued to stare at Julia coldly.
 
“I do not think I would like to stay under
these circumstances.”

“I understand,” Julia said.
  
A tear formed in her left eye and ran unheeded down her cheek.
 
“Everyone takes his side,” she said sadly.

“I am not taking any side—”

“It is all right,” Julia said, smiling bravely.
 
“I have known you for years and you have known
Malcolm less than one day, but I realize I cannot compete with him.
 
He has this effect on all women.
 
He exercises some kind of power over them.”

“He did not exercise any power…” Selina started to say and
then faltered.
 
Could Julia be
right?
 
Selina felt more strongly
attracted to Malcolm than any other man she had ever met.
 
Whenever his hand swept against hers,
whenever he grinned at her with that perfect mouth and those even white teeth,
whenever he stared at her from those dark blue eyes, she was shaken to the core
of her being.

 
Julia watched Selina,
a knowing smile on her face.
 
“I am just
asking you to think on it, Selina.
 
Just
think on it.”

“All right, Julia.
 
I
will.”

“Good,” Julia said, clapping her hands together in
glee.
 
Selina could only marvel at the
mercurial moods of her friend and hope she would not have occasion to witness
them again.

Selina spent a restless night thinking it over, and was
unable to reach a satisfying conclusion.
 
Was Malcolm a scoundrel who made a career of breaking women’s hearts or
was Julia merely a spoiled brat, out for revenge?
 
It was difficult to know, and Selina finally
realized the only way to determine the truth was to spend more time in
Malcolm’s company.
 
Since this was what
she wanted to do anyway it was not hard for her to convince herself this was
the best course of action.
 
But she
determined to be on guard.
 
She did not
want to be the latest in Malcolm’s string of conquests.

After breakfast, she and the Thistlewaites awaited the
morning callers in the drawing room.
 
Selina hoped Mr. Malcolm would call and could barely contain her
excitement at the prospect.
 
When Reeves
announced to the ladies that they had a caller she was sure it was him.

“Who is it, Reeves?” asked Mrs. Thistlewaite.
 

“A Mr. Ossory, Madam.”

“I am not acquainted with Mr. Ossory,” Mrs. Thistlewaite
said, looking bewildered.

Selina had nearly forgotten her meeting with Mr. Ossory the
day before but, although she was a little disappointed he was not Malcolm, she
was pleased at the opportunity to further her acquaintance with a young
gentleman Mrs. Ossory had always spoken of very favorably.
 
“It is all right, Mrs. Thistlewaite,” Selina
told her.
 
“He is an acquaintance of
mine.
 
I should like to see him.”

“Certainly, dear.
 
Show him in, Reeves.”

Mr. Ossory was shown in and introduced to Julia and Mrs.
Thistlewaite, who expressed their pleasure in meeting him.
 
Selina was struck anew by the handsome
appearance he presented and, if she hadn’t already made Mr. Malcolm’s
acquaintance, felt she may have been in danger of falling victim to Mr.
Ossory’s boyish good looks and open countenance.
 

He spent the requisite fifteen minutes in conversation with
the three ladies before requesting the honor of a drive with Selina.

Selina acquiesced and found herself helped into yet another
sporting vehicle and once again led off in the direction of
Hyde
Park
.

“I am not sure if you are aware of the fact that my aunt
mentioned you many times in her correspondence with me, Miss Dalton,” Mr.
Ossory said.

“No, I was not aware of it.
 
I am not surprised, however.
 
Your
aunt never once treated me as someone in service, but always as a beloved
friend and a—a
companion
in the truest sense of the word.”

“I know she was quite fond of your mother and looked upon you
as she would a granddaughter.
 
Which is
the reason I sought you out.
 
I did so at
her request.”

“How kind of you.
 
I
must confess I had a certain amount of curiosity about you, as well.
 
Your aunt spoke often of you to me.
 
I am very pleased to have this opportunity to
make your acquaintance.”

“I feel likewise.
 
However, I must admit to yet another motive in seeking you out.”

Mr. Ossory paused and seemed loath to continue.

“Yes?” Selina prompted him.

“I came to town to meet you because it is my belief that my
aunt desired us to make a match.”

Selina’s could feel her heart begin to beat uncomfortably
fast.
 
“What,” she paused to clear her
throat, then continued a little more calmly, “what gave you that impression?”

“Her letter to me before her death.
 
In it she wrote:
 
‘It is my desire that you and Selina make a
match.’”

“Oh.
 
I see.
 
Then it appears you interpreted her meaning
correctly.”

Selina found herself too shy to meet Mr. Ossory’s gaze.
 
There was an awkward silence between them
until Selina peeked over at Mr. Ossory, who was at that moment looking at
her.
 
Their eyes met and suddenly Selina
found herself giggling.
 
Mr. Ossory began
laughing as well.
 

“Yes, her words were rather plain.
 
Unless of course she was speaking of
cribbage.
 
She could have meant that we
should engage in a cribbage match.”

Selina struggled to regain her composure.
 
“Or chess!
 
Could she not have meant that we should have a chess match?”

Mr. Ossory shook his head solemnly.
 
“I am afraid not.
 
My aunt knew me to be a very poor chess
player.”

They were still laughing, while managing to offer
suggestions for various matches such as “Cricket” and “Vignt-et-un,” when they
were interrupted by the approach of Mr. Malcolm.
 
Mr. Malcolm found himself in the unenviable
position of having to repeat his greeting twice before his friends noticed his
presence.

 
“Good day, Henry,
Miss Dalton,” he said a second time, walking his horse beside the slowly moving
curricle.

They finally looked up and Mr. Ossory brought his team to a
halt.
 
“Malcolm!” Mr. Ossory said, his
open countenance radiating good humor.
 
“How nice to see you.”

“Good day, Mr. Malcolm,” Selina said pleasantly.
 

“It appears I have interrupted a humorous discussion.”

“Oh, it was nothing of consequence.
 
We were just discussing a letter Mr. Ossory
received from his aunt,” Selina told Malcolm.
 
Malcolm, never having met Mrs. Ossory, had no comment to make on that
subject.
 
The three fell into an
uncomfortable silence.

“I wondered if you were to attend Lady Hartley’s ball this
evening,” Malcolm finally said.

“I believe I am,” Selina said.

“Excellent.
 
Perhaps
you can save me the first waltz and the supper dance.”

“I would be pleased to.”

Selina, realizing that they were excluding Mr. Ossory from
the conversation, turned to speak to him.
 
“And you, Mr. Ossory, do you attend Lady Hartley’s ball this evening?”

“Unfortunately, no.
 
I
am unacquainted with Lady Hartley.”

Mr. Malcolm could barely suppress a triumphant grin.
 
He was very pleased to be getting Selina away
from his so-called friend for the evening.
 
Then he chanced to look at Selina, who was staring at him with a
beseeching expression on her lovely face.

“Perhaps I could arrange something,” he heard himself say,
and was rewarded by a bright smile from Selina.
 
He was less pleased by the grin on Henry’s face, although he managed a
polite response to Henry’s effusive expression of thanks.

“I shall see you both this evening,” Malcolm said, and rode
away.

Selina and Mr. Ossory resumed their drive, but for some
reason Selina was unable to find the same contentment in Mr. Ossory’s presence
that she had experienced just moments earlier.

Selina went to her chamber upon her return from her drive,
thankful to have escaped a meeting with Julia.
 
She wanted to rest before her long evening.
 
Her one experience attending a ball thus far
taught her she should expect to be out until the early hours of the morning.

She pulled back the curtains that surrounded her bed to find
Julia laying there, fully clothed and sound asleep.

“Julia,” Selina said.

There was no response.

“Julia,” Selina said a little louder, reaching out and
gently shaking her.

“What?”
 
Julia said,
blinking.
 
“Oh,” she said, and
yawned.
 
“I was waiting for you to return
from your drive.
 
Apparently I fell
asleep.”

“Apparently you did,” Selina said.