Rhonda Woodward (20 page)

This offer finally pushed her out of her speechless shock. “No, Mr. Harding! Thank you, but that will not be necessary!”

His eyebrows arched, and he looked a bit flabbergasted. “Miss Thorncroft, I have been instructed to explain that the earl is one of the wealthiest men in the Kingdom and to show you—” He opened one of the accounting books and pointed to several places.

Mariah held up her hands in protest. “Please, Mr. Harding. I certainly believe you. Truly, there is no need to go any further with this.”

Mr. Harding frowned and began flipping through the ledger pages. “May I at least show you the column that shows his gambling wins and losses? You will see that, averaged out over the last several years, his lordship is well in the black.”

With the cold, bereft feeling melting from her heart at every word, a slight smile began to curve her lips. “I am sure he is, Mr. Harding.”

***

The Reverend Mr. Petersham paced in front of Mariah as she stared at him with wonderment.
What next?
she mused as a delicious thrill went down her spine.

She waited for the tall gentleman to speak, thinking he looked very distinguished with his black clothes and his shock of white hair.

“Miss Thorncroft, I am keenly aware that this is a matter of the utmost delicacy. Though we do not know each other, I would beg you to feel free to ask me any question you deem necessary. I have been instructed to give you my candid opinion on the Earl of Haverstone’s character—in all respects.”

Clasping her hands together in her lap, Mariah inclined her head. “I appreciate your frankness, Mr. Petersham.”

Smiling, he finally seated himself in the wing chair opposite her. “I have known the earl since he was a baby. Of course, he was Viscount Morley until the death of his father. As a child and young man, he was high-spirited, curious, extremely quick-witted, and keenly intelligent. He has always exhibited a natural ability to lead that I believe has enabled him to be an excellent steward of his holdings.” He paused for a sip of tea.

By the sincere eagerness in his voice, it was apparent to Mariah that Mr. Petersham very much liked and respected Stone.

Setting his cup down, he went on, his tone growing more serious. “At rather too young an age, he inherited all the rights and privileges of his rank. Although he has always put his responsibilities first, he has reveled just as hard as he has worked. It is a fact, Miss Thorncroft, that men of such power and privilege are often sophisticated when it comes to—shall we say— worldly matters.”

He paused, watching for her reaction.

“I do understand,” she said evenly.

Evidently satisfied that she was not about to turn missish, he resumed his narrative. “The earl has met and tested all the temptations men of his rank invariably face. Quite beyond anything we mere mortals contend with, I assure you,” he said with a smile. “Through our frequent and frank discussions over the years, I believe there are few temptations that the earl cannot resist, if only by the simple fact that he has given in to most of them at one time or another. Forbidden fruit holds no allure for the earl. I can say without reservation that I believe the earl would make a committed, devoted, and faithful husband.

“Furthermore, though his father died when the earl was only seventeen, he had his father’s excellent example for those years, and I believe he would strive to emulate his parents’ happiness in his own marriage. Do you have any questions for me, Miss Thorncroft?”

For a moment Mariah’s heart was too full for her to speak. “Just three. How did the earl look when last you saw him?”

Mr. Petersham thought for a moment. “He looked extremely tired and rather grim.”

“And are you going to be seeing him soon?”

“Yes,” he said with a smile.

“When you see his lordship, would you be so kind as to inform him that I am leaving for my home in the morning?”

“Certainly, Miss Thorncroft.”

Mariah took a very deep breath and held her hand out to him. “Thank you so very much, Mr. Petersham. You will never know what our time together has meant to me.”

Chapter Twenty-one

Mariah arrived at Thorncroft Manor late in the afternoon. She felt bone-tired, and her moss green traveling ensemble looked a bit disheveled from riding in the coach since last night.

The sight of George running down the front drive to meet her brought a weary smile to her face.

By the time the coach rolled to a stop at the front door she saw the rest of her family waiting for her on the steps.

Alighting, she looked from her mother to her father, too weary to read their expressions. Had it really been more than a fortnight since she had departed for Kelbourne Keep? she wondered as she glanced up at the handsome half-timbered Tudor house.

Her mother stepped forward and opened her arms. “Come up to your room, Mariah, love. You look too tired to talk right now.” Without a word she stepped into her mother’s warm embrace, feeling very happy to be home for the first time in a long while.

As her mother held her, she felt her father pat her back and she heard Steven say, “Welcome home, Mariah.”

They all trooped in, leaving George chattering to the coachmen. Stopping in the middle of the foyer, Mariah looked around, surprise coming to her tired features. “Mama! The foyer looks so different!” she exclaimed.

“Do you like it?” Mama queried as they moved toward the staircase.

“Very much. It is so elegant.” Her gazed traveled around the room, admiring the new spacious feeling and the noticeable lack of gilding.

“I decided to start with the foyer. I will work on the salon next. Your father is ever so pleased with my new decorating scheme.”

As she walked up the staircase, Mariah thought about how much her life had changed. It seemed only fitting that the house should change as well.

As much as she wanted to tell her mother what had occurred during her stay at Kelbourne Keep, she also wanted to keep it close to her heart for a little while longer, to savor this wonderful feeling until everything was settled between her and Stone. She was also too tired to think, certainly too tired to answer any questions.

“I think I would like to go to bed now,” she said, sending her mother a weary smile.

“Of course. Would you like something brought up on a tray?”

“No, thank you, Mama.” Turning to her father and brother, she said, “I will see you both in the morning.”

They bid her good night, and her mother continued to walk with her to her room. When they had reached the door, Mama turned troubled eyes to Mariah. “I hope you will not be angry when I tell you what I have done.”

A frisson of alarm halted Mariah’s hand on the banister. “What has happened?”

Mrs. Thorncroft’s smooth brow puckered. “Well, I received the loveliest invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Spence-Jones asking us to join them at their home, Wick Hill, in the new year. I accepted. I do not wish for you to think that I am disregarding the discussion we had before you left for Kelbourne Keep. I only accepted because I found the Spence-Joneses delightful, not because I believe there will be any eligible gentlemen attending the house party.”

At the concern on her mother’s face, Mariah threw her arms around her, hugging her close and laughing with delight and relief. “I would love to visit Mr. and Mrs. Spence-Jones!”

Mrs. Thorncroft returned her daughter’s embrace warmly. “That’s all right, then. Now sleep well so you will be bright enough tomorrow to tell us of your visit to Kelbourne Keep.”

The next morning, right after breakfast, Yale, the butler, informed Mariah that her father wished to see her in the library. Thanking him, Mariah immediately set aside her napkin and left the room.

“Well, my dear, we have much to discuss,” her father said as soon as she walked into his library.

“Yes, Papa,” she said quietly, taking the seat next to him.

Mariah wondered how much her father knew about her and the earl. She had concluded days ago that Stone must have come here first. How else would he have known that she had been visiting Kelbourne Keep, or the terms of her dowry? Even so, for Mama not to have mentioned the earl’s visit seemed rather astonishing.

Holding her breath, she waited for her father to speak.

“He’s an imperious sort, isn’t he?” he said without the least hint of annoyance in his voice.

“Yes, he is rather,” she agreed with a tentative smile, knowing exactly who “he” was.

Papa sent her a curious look, then continued. “The earl, to my utter shock and surprise, made known to me his intention to pay court to you. I am not ashamed to admit that I was a touch flummoxed by this pronouncement—I say pronouncement because it certainly could not be characterized as a request for my permission. It took me a moment to recover myself, because I had gathered from your mother that you wanted nothing to do with the earl.”

Mariah swallowed, completely unprepared to explain to her father how she had fallen in love with Stone. “What did you say then, Papa?” Mariah asked instead of responding to his implied question.

“I made it very clear to him that your mother and I would not put any pressure on you to accept his suit.”

Mariah’s jaw dropped. “You did?” Her voice almost squeaked.

He nodded emphatically. “Your mother and I had a long talk after you left for Kelbourne Keep. Your unhappiness since coming home from your visit to Heaton was unmistakable and very concerning. We have never seen you so melancholy. If the earl had anything to do with your depressed spirits, then I was not going to make any arrangement with him without first discussing it with you.”

Mariah stared at her father, unable to speak for a moment. His unexpected words so touched her that tears instantly pooled in her hazel eyes as she gazed up at his troubled features.

“Thank you, Papa. That you would set aside your long-hoped-for desire for me to marry a title has made my heart whole,” she said, her voice breaking on a little sob as she leaned into his arms to hug him.

He returned her embrace, patting her back reassuringly. “So you do not mean to have him, then?”

With a big sniff, Mariah pulled back and looked up at her father, smiling through her tears. “Not at all. I mean to have the Earl of Haverstone or no one.”

Her father, looking startled and perplexed, opened his mouth to question her just as his wife stepped through the open library door.

“Here you are, Mariah. I wish to go to the village this afternoon and thought you might accompany me.”

“Certainly, Mama,” she said with shining eyes. “But first, I have something to share with you and Papa. Would you come in and sit with us?”

Casting a questioning glance from her daughter to her husband, Mrs. Thorncroft crossed the room to the chair opposite the settee.

Clasping her hands together, Mariah took a deep breath, hardly knowing where to begin. “I know you both think that I cut short my visit to Kelbourne Keep because I have been unhappy. Indeed, I was unhappy, but not anymore. I came home because I wanted to be with my family when the earl returns.”

Mrs. Thorncroft’s furrowed brows showed her confusion, “But Mariah, love, why would the earl be returning? You made it abundantly clear that you did not wish to marry him, and your father and I have respected your wishes.”

“I know, Mama,” she said earnestly. “And you have no idea how happy that has made me. But while I was at Kelbourne Keep, the earl did something so astonishing and wonderful that everything has changed.”

Mariah then told her avidly listening parents about the three men the earl had sent to her. She barely got through the story for the tears constricting her throat. Even now, she found it a marvel that someone as proud and private as the earl would send emissaries to plead his case.

“Mariah! This is astounding,” her mama cried. “I had decided not to mention the earl’s visit for fear of upsetting you. Now I scarce know what to say. Are you sure? Truly, now that the moment is here, I would not wish you to wed someone you do not hold in the highest regard.”

“Oh, Mama,” Mariah whispered, jumping up to embrace her mother in her chair. “I do have the highest regard for the earl. He is the most wonderful man in the world. Next to Papa, of course.” She cast an impish smile to her father as she pulled back from her mother.

Mr. Thorncroft stared at his daughter with a thunderstruck expression. “Do you mean to say that you could have snared an earl without the thirty thousand pounds?”

Mrs. Thorncroft shook her head at her husband’s pained expression. “Too late now, Edmund,” she said with a laugh.

***

The next day Mariah sat in the salon doing her best to read a book that Julia had sworn she found impossible to put down. Maybe the fact that she kept looking out the window to the front drive every few moments explained why she had not read past the third page.

When Steven strolled into the room, she gratefully set aside the book with a smile. Moving to the window, he turned to her and asked, “Mama told you of the invitation she received from Mrs. Spence-Jones?”

Mariah recognized what she had always referred to as his “offhand face,” and smiling a little replied, “Yes, she did. She is beyond excited.”

Slowly, he began to pace. “I received an invitation from Mrs. Spence-Jones as well. She is quite a gracious woman, and I am very gratified to be included on her guest list. She also mentioned that Lady Davinia would be visiting Wick Hill in March.”

Raising a brow, Mariah shifted in her seat to get a better look at him. “Indeed? I think it is rather telling that Mrs. Spence-Jones would include such information in her letter to you. I hope you intend to accept the invitation.”

“I believe I shall. The renovations and improvements on the foundry should be well under way, so being away for a couple of weeks should not cause any problems.”

“Oh, Steven, being droll does you no credit,” Mariah told him with a teasing laugh. “There is no doubt in my mind that Lady Davinia specifically told her cousin to include the information that she would be visiting Wick Hill.”

Steven seemed to be having difficulty suppressing a grin and cast her a sheepish look. “I am much too modest to assume such a thing. But I have decided that I would not be overstepping myself to send Lady Davinia a letter—just a friendly, conversational letter—until we meet again.”

“I think that is a very good idea.”

“And what of you, Mariah? You have been sitting in this room all morning, staring out the window. What are you waiting for?”

Mariah’s laugh was full of delight. “All my life, I have always hated waiting. Probably because I never knew what I was waiting for. But this time I have no doubts. Steven, I know the earl came to dinner while I was away. Did Papa not tell you what transpired between them?”

“No, we were all quite surprised to get the note from the earl saying he was visiting the area. The honor rather bowled us over. I thought Mama was going to have to resort to her hartshorn.”

“I would bet that she did,” Mariah said dryly before he continued.

“As usual, the earl was an engaging dinner companion. You were conspicuous by the fact that you were not mentioned even once during the meal. After dinner he, father, and I enjoyed an excellent port and talked of politics and horses. After a bit, the earl, with exquisite politeness, requested a private word with Papa. They stayed closeted for more than half of an hour, and then the earl said a charming good-bye to us all and left. He came back the next morning to fence with George, but declined to stay for dinner, saying that he had another appointment. If I did not know that you think him an unabashed, unmitigated rake, I would have suspected he was making an offer for you.” His jovial laugh told her that he thought this notion a complete impossibility.

Mariah decided not to share her astounding news with her brother, thinking it would be rather delicious to see the look of surprise on his face when the earl arrived.

Just then the rest of her family came into the salon. Mama, looking lovely in a celadon tea gown, smiled at her children. “Good. Now that we are all gathered in one place, I wish to discuss our guest list for Christmas. Now that we have made so many new friends we must start a new one.”

All of a sudden her youngest son’s excited shout cut off her words. “Look! A bang-up coach is coming up the drive.” George pointed out the window, and all the family moved forward to see a large coach and four coming up the drive in the distance.

Mariah’s heart stilled for a moment, then began to race at a frantic speed. Finally! Though she had waited in a high state of agitation for this moment, she was suddenly trembling with shyness.

Hastily checking her hair with shaking fingers, Mariah was glad that she had chosen to wear one of her most flattering ensembles: a heavy silk gown with fitted sleeves in a lovely shade the modiste called “ashes of lilacs,” with a matching ribbon threaded through her coif. She wanted him to see her at her best— unlike most of the occasions when they had been together, she thought wryly.

Mrs. Thorncroft whirled toward her daughter. “Mariah, sit over there,” she said, waving her hands toward the other side of the room. “The light is so much more flattering. Now, Edmund, Steven, you stand by the fireplace so when the earl is shown in, the first thing he sees is Mariah. George! Come away from the window at once!”

Laughing, Mariah’s father did as his wife bid.

“What is happening?” Steven asked with baffled amusement at his mother’s strange behavior.

“The earl is here!” Mrs. Thorncroft cried, waving him to the fireplace.

Quickly, Mariah moved to the settee, smoothing her lilac gown. Suddenly, all the things she had been longing to say to Stone vanished from her mind. Feeling a flush rising to her face, she found herself unable to look at her parents and instead stared into the fire blazing in the hearth.

“Now where will I sit?” Mama looked around the room in alarm.

With a pounding heart, Mariah listened as George described the scene outside.

Standing on his tiptoes, he pressed his nose against the windowpane. “The horses are matched chestnuts. The coachman is taking the curve at a fast clip. They’re pulling to a stop.”

Fighting the urge to run downstairs to the drive to meet him, Mariah tried to compose her expression, but knew that the hot blush on her cheeks gave away the true state of her emotions.