Courtship In The Regency Ballroom: His Cinderella Bride / Devilish Lord, Mysterious Miss

Just as Hester began to clamber down the steps of the caravan, the party on horseback broke through the trees at the perimeter of the tan.

Her breath froze in her lungs as she saw Lord Lensborough, Mr Farrar, Julia…

They were all staring at her in as much stupefaction as she felt herself.

‘Hester,’ Julia squealed. ‘Whatever are you doing here?’

As Hester stiffened in horror, Lena reacted to the threat these strangers represented by winding her arms more tightly about Hester’s neck. What was she to say? Her uncle had made her promise that his daughters would never find out about her relationship to the gypsy clan. And now, seeing the expression of utter disgust on Lord Lensborough’s face, she could understand why. Tonnish people did not mingle with the offscourings of society, nor did they permit their womenfolk to do so. In his eyes she had overstepped the boundaries of propriety so far she could never find a way back.

She wondered briefly why she felt so crushingly disappointed by his reaction.

‘I could ask you the same question,’ she replied defiantly, giving Lena a reassuring kiss on the cheek so that she would know the anger was not directed at her. When Hester set her down on the ground, Lena grabbed hold of her skirts, clinging to her side, though she kept her eyes trained warily on the intruders. While the other menfolk about the tan slowly began to shift into defensive positions, Jye climbed down from the steps of his own caravan, coming to stand next to Hester, with Lena between them.

‘Friends of yours, Lady Hetty?’ he asked in a voice that was meant to carry across the frosty air of the clearing, as he stooped to gather Lena’s free hand into his own.

‘Yes, Jye, but I didn’t invite them.’ Her eyes came to rest on the malicious smirk on Lionel’s face. Of course. He had known she would come straight here given the chance. He had dropped veiled hints from the first that he could make trouble if she did not play along with him. She had resisted him. So now she would pay.

‘Those ladies are my cousins,’ she explained to Jye and Lena. ‘Miss Julia Gregory, and Miss Phoebe Gregory. The gentlemen, Lord Jasper Challinor, Marquis of Lensborough, on the bay gelding, and his friend Mr Stephen Farrar are guests at The Holme. I am sure they mean you no harm.’

‘You have left Mr Snelgrove out,’Julia cried. ‘It was he who brought us here. He said he had a surprise for us, but I never expected it would be anything like this. This is the surprise, Mr Snelgrove?’she half-turned in her saddle to ask him. ‘This quaint little gypsy camp?’

Hester did not bother to wait for his reply. Lena had been tugging at her skirts to get her attention, and as she bent, the little girl whispered, ‘Is that the marquis you told us about? The one wot knocked you into a ditch and left you standing there in the road all muddy?’

‘Yes, dear,’ Hester confessed, ashamed now that she had spoken so heatedly about him that day, less than a week ago. But she had still been angry with him, and she had needed to explain to Jye, and the other gypsy elders, why she had come to them empty-handed. She couldn’t have borne it if they had refused her access to Lena.

‘But he didn’t mean to do it, you know. You don’t need to be afraid of him.’

‘I ain’t afraid,’ Lena declared, glowering at the offending horseman. Lady Hetty held one of her hands, and Jye the other, and she had complete confidence that these two could shield her from the wickedest of marquises.

One of the women sashayed across to where the girls sat their docile mounts, and held her hand out, palm upward.

‘Tell your fortunes, pretty ladies?’ she wheedled.

‘Oh, how thrilling,’ Julia trilled. ‘That is why you brought us down here, isn’t it, Mr Snelgrove? To have our palms read by a genuine gypsy fortune teller. How clever of you to think of such a diversion when we confessed how dull we all felt today.’

Phoebe cleared her throat nervously. ‘Do you think we ought, Julia? I am not quite sure Papa would like it. Lord Lensborough, what do you think?’

Lord Lensborough could not repeat out loud what he was thinking while Julia and Phoebe, in their innocence, could hear. There stood the woman he had thought he would marry, holding the hand of a little girl with a riot of dull copper curls that exactly matched hers, a sharp little nose spattered with freckles just like hers, while the expression of wary defiance matched that of the sullen, dirty gypsy who held her other hand. His lips curled into a derisive sneer. What a charming family tableau.

This resolved so many of the mysteries surrounding her behaviour. The guilt he had read on her face when he had encountered her in the stable yard, her resentment at his suggestion he ride with her and those flowers she had about her hat, that he had thought so girlishly whimsical—why, they were nothing more than a fanciful token from a penniless lover to his high-born mistress.

That was why her uncle had her horse removed and stabled with a neighbour, to prevent her from succumbing to the temptation of sneaking down here to meet with her gypsy lover and her illegitimate child.

‘I think,’ he finally managed to growl through clenched teeth, ‘that you should do just as you wish.’

How would the deceitful hussy brazen her way out of this situation? Did she think she could look to him for aid now? Let her think again!

‘Then I am going to have my fortune told,’ Julia declared. ‘After all, Hester is already here, so I am sure Papa can have no objection. Why should we not go where she does?’

Jye turned to Hester and gave her a look that his lordship could only interpret as a reaction to their guilty affair having been found out. And Hester’s face, as she gazed back at him, was deathly pale.

For all she cared, he might as well not be there—all her attention was on this other man, this dirty ruffian. This…this nobody!

He became dimly aware, through the darkness that seemed to be swirling round him, blotting out everything but the sight of the two guilty lovers, that Snelgrove was leaning over to take hold of Julia’s reins so that the silly chit could dismount.

‘Come close to the fire, then, pretty lady,’ the gypsy woman said, ‘and I will see what is writ in your hand.’

Julia giggled. ‘Oh, this is so exciting. I had no idea you got up to such larks under the pretext of visiting Em. Have you had your fortune told already?’

‘No.’ Hester darted forward. ‘Nor do I ever wish to.’

‘Why not?’ Julia’s brow wrinkled with perplexity.

‘If something good is going to happen to me, I would rather it came as a lovely surprise. And if something bad is to befall me, I would not want to live in permanent dread of its advent.’

Emily chose this moment to emerge from Jye’s caravan with the remnants of their ragged pupils and hurry to Hester’s side.

‘I must side with Lady Hester on this matter, Julia,’ she said sharply. ‘It would be the height of folly to do such a thing without your father’s permission. Does he even know you are here?’

‘Well, of course not. We did not even know there were gypsies camping on The Lady’s Acres until Mr Snelgrove brought us, so how could we have told him?’

‘I thought as much.’ Emily rounded on Mr Snelgrove. ‘Why must you always be so intent on stirring up mischief, Lionel? Don’t pretend you don’t know how Sir Thomas would feel if he were to learn you had brought his girls down here, never mind encouraging them to have their fortunes told.’

‘There is absolutely no need for him to know,’ Lionel retorted. ‘We can guard Hester’s little secret as well as you.’

Jye clenched his fists and took an involuntary step towards the sneering horseman. Swiftly, Hester reached out and grabbed at his arm. ‘Don’t, Jye,’ she cried. ‘You will only make it worse.’

Flinging herself in front of him, she rounded on Lionel. ‘You are very much mistaken if you think I have any secrets from Uncle Thomas. The first thing I shall do when I return home is to tell him exactly what has happened here today. And what passed between us last night.’

Lionel’s sneer turned to a furious scowl.

‘And if you—’ she whirled to face Julia ‘—have your fortune told I will tell him that also.’

‘There is nothing more despicable than a tale bearer,’ Lionel sneered.

‘N…no…’ Julia said, ‘Hester is right.’ Sadly she took one last look at the gypsy woman, before admitting, ‘I knew all along it was not quite the thing, and I know what Papa would say if Hester had to tell him.’ She added generously, ‘I quite see why she would feel she had to. Thank you, Hester.’

As Julia went back to her horse, the gypsy woman strode towards Hester, and with a ferocious glare, spat contemptuously on the ground at her feet.

‘Here.’ Stephen Farrar urged his mount forward a little, and tossed a handful of coins to the woman. ‘This should make up for losing the wages of your craft.’

‘Well, God bless you, sir.’The woman was all smiles again. ‘I would wish you luck, but you don’t need it. You have the desire of your heart within your grasp.’ Seeing his puzzled expression, she cackled, ‘At least, all you have to do is reach out, and you could touch it.’

Hester saw a tremor run through his entire frame just before he wheeled his horse towards the edge of the clearing, saying, ‘It’s frightfully cold out here, Lensborough. Don’t you think we ought to be getting the ladies home?’

‘Oh, yes, please,’ Julia said. ‘I should very much like to go home now.’

Silently, Lord Lensborough swung himself down, and with his reins looped over his arm, he bent and cupped his hands to help her remount.

‘You should be getting back now, too, Hester.’ Emily shook her shoulder gently. ‘You look quite white with the cold.’

‘If you wish to escort Miss Dean home, Snelgrove,’ Lord Lensborough said, ‘I will lead Nero back to the stables. She should not have to walk back alone.’

It was a dismissal, and though Snelgrove might have resented his lordship’s tone, there was nothing he could do but dismount from his borrowed horse, and surrender the reins. Taking Emily by the arm, he bowed to the entire company, and, casting Hester one last triumphant look, set off across the fields.

‘Time to leave, madam.’

Hester ignored Lord Lensborough’s peremptory command. Dashing a tear from her cheek with the back of her hand, she knelt in the grass and enveloped Lena in a fierce hug. Lord Lensborough turned away abruptly, muttering under his breath.

‘Will you be coming back soon, Lady Hetty?’ the child asked, twisting out of her embrace. ‘I do like them biscuits.’

Over the top of her head, Hester caught Jye’s attention. ‘If I can…’ she cast her eyes meaningfully towards her cousins as Mr Farrar led them away ‘…of course I will.’

Jye nodded once in acknowledgment of her unspoken message.

‘I’ll take good care of her for you, Lady Hetty,’ he promised gruffly.

‘I know.’ She got to her feet, brushing dried bracken and wood ash from her skirt. ‘You always have. And you will send me word, won’t you, if ever you’re in trouble?’

Jye nodded, swinging Lena up on to his broad shoulders, while Hester turned hastily away. She could no longer check the tears that began to roll silently down her cheeks, and, not wanting Lena to see them, she swiftly made for the track that would lead her home, pushing blindly past Lord Lensborough, who stood almost directly in her path.

She had not got far into the copse before she felt a hand tap her roughly on her shoulder.

‘Here,’ he said curtly, ‘take this handkerchief and blow your nose.’

‘Thank you,’ she replied mechanically, taking it. ‘You are very angry with me again, aren’t you?’

‘Are you surprised?’

‘Yes.’ She blew her nose. ‘Uncle Thomas warned me what to expect, but I had begun to think that you—’

The ferocity with which he uttered a few choice expletives set Hester back to the moment they had first met. This was the real Lord Lensborough: black hearted and black tempered. She had only imagined he was kind and decent.

A feeling of dread washed over her. Might he be so outraged by her impropriety that he would change his mind about marrying one of her cousins? Might they be tainted in his eyes by their very association with her?

‘You won’t suspend your courtship of my cousins because of this, will you? Neither they, nor my aunt, knew anything about my visits to the tan.’

‘Am I to infer from that remark that your uncle did?’

When she nodded, he said, ‘By God, this beggars belief.’ Hester reeled. ‘How can you be so intolerant?’

‘Intolerant? Who could tolerate being so deceived?’

‘We did not set out to deceive you…particularly. My uncle just did not want anyone to know. Especially not my cousins, or my aunt. He said it would distress them.’

Lord Lensborough made an odd choking noise.

‘So you see, they are entirely innocent. You do believe me, don’t you?’

‘Oh, yes. Unlike you, your cousins are exactly what they appear to be. A blank slate upon which I may write whatever I wish.’

Hester saw red. ‘How just like you to say such a horrid thing. Julia and Phoebe are people with feelings, not blank slates for you to write on.’ She clenched her fists. ‘And for your information, I don’t care how improper you think it is for me to mingle with the raff and scaff of society. I love Lena, and I will never be ashamed of her. If that offends your notion of propriety, then I’m glad. Why would I want an unfeeling, heartless block like you to approve of me?’

He flinched, as though she had struck him. ‘We should not keep the horses standing in the cold,’ he said, and turned down the track.

He was aware of Hester thrashing through the undergrowth behind him, but he couldn’t bear to turn and look at her, not even when he heard a tell-tale sniffle.

How could her uncle permit her access to a lover while she lived under his roof? Or introduce her to his guests as if she were respectable? Did he not care so long as she kept her activities secret from the more innocent females in the family?

All that talk of shyness. He had known from the first it was all humbug. It was guilt that made her awkward around single men. She knew she could never marry a decent man, or encourage one to hope. That was why Sir Thomas had warned him off.

But then why, if he did not want all this to come out, did he not keep her out of sight altogether?

His pace picked up as his mind whirled. The family probably did not have the means to pack her off to some estate deep in the country and forget her. And if her uncle tried to separate her from his other womenfolk, within his house, they would start to ask awkward questions.

So why did she not simply live with her gypsy lover?

That sort of scandal was bound to get out, and his own daughters would be ruined by association.

On the whole, Sir Thomas had followed the only course he could. Ejected the bastard child, and sworn Hester to secrecy to protect the good name of his own daughters.

Though he could never like Lionel Snelgrove, he supposed he had to be grateful that he had forced Hester’s secret into the open. It had saved him from committing the ghastly blunder of proposing to a woman who had given birth to a bastard sired by a filthy gypsy. He didn’t think he would ever have been able to live that down.

Chapter Nine

‘Uncle Thomas, I’ve ruined everything.’ Hester stumbled into the workroom where her uncle was pottering amongst his collection of snuff jars.

‘I very much doubt that, my dear,’ he said, smiling at her. ‘But you are at liberty to confess exactly what mischief you have been up to.’

‘I went to see Lena today. I know you asked me not to, but Julia and Phoebe had gone out riding with Lord Lensborough and his friend, so I thought it would be quite safe. I never thought they would ride in that direction.’

‘Ah.’ Sir Thomas carefully replaced the lid of the jar he’d been inspecting.

‘Of course they saw me. And it was just as you said it would be. Lord Lensborough was really, really angry with me. And just when I was beginning to think he was…’

Shakily, Hester sank on to the chair beside her uncle’s desk.

‘Because you had convinced him of the worth of one sort of charity, he would be sympathetic to other causes?’ He shook his head. ‘Setting up a trust to honour his brother’s memory is a far cry from thinking it acceptable for a well-bred girl to mix freely with vagrants.’

‘Yes, and then Julia said it could not be wrong for her to be there since you permitted me. Of course, if she thinks that, then Lord Lensborough will never marry her.’

She got to her feet and laughed a little hysterically. ‘All I have achieved by persisting in my visits is to dash my cousins’ hopes of a good match.’

‘Hester, do try to calm yourself. We do not know that there will be any repercussions.’

‘But Lord Lensborough said such horrid things, and I lost my temper and called him names.’

To Hester’s surprise, her uncle chuckled. ‘Did you though? I should have liked to have seen that.’

‘No, Uncle, it was dreadful of me.’

‘I hope it may do him good to be called a few names. There are a few names I have been tempted—no, no, let that pass. Did he give you any reason—now think carefully, my dear—any reason at all to justify your wild fears that your deeds have given him an adverse opinion of my girls?’

‘No. No, he referred to them as a clean slate.’

‘There, you see. It might all blow over. Although, to be frank, I must confess I don’t really care if the match with Lord Lensborough goes ahead or not. I just want my girls to be happy. If he is as harsh as you seem to think, then perhaps he is not the man for them.’ He turned, frowning. ‘Hester, would you do something for me? I know that I have forbidden you to speak to anyone of Lena’s true identity. I foolishly hoped we could keep her very existence a secret. But perhaps it might be for the best if Lord Lensborough knew the whole.’

‘Everything?’

‘Yes. If you tell him how ill you were at the time, how seeing your brother’s baby brought the spark back to your eyes…’ his own eyes softened with tenderness ‘…perhaps then he may condone my granting you limited access to your niece, illegitimate though she is. If you tell him I hadn’t the heart to ban all contact from all you seemed to have left of your brother—’

‘It wasn’t like that,’ she flared. ‘I wanted to right the wrong he’d done. I had thought my brother was a good person, but he used that woman, then abandoned her and the child!’

Sir Thomas held up his hands in a placating gesture. ‘He didn’t really abandon Lena, though, did he? He died before he even knew of her existence, I dare say.’

‘That doesn’t make it any less dreadful.’

‘No, no.’ He sighed. ‘What a mess that young scamp left behind.’ He shook his head ruefully. ‘I know it will be painful for you to speak of it, but…’

‘Of course I will tell him, if that is what you want. I would never forgive myself if some action of mine caused any of you grief.’ Hester hung her head. ‘Do you think it would have been better if I had stayed away from Lena altogether?’

‘Who can say? I did what I thought was for the best for all concerned. For you, for Lena herself, for my own girls too, of course. If any harm has been done today, it is my responsibility.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘Though I could never have foreseen a man like Lord Lensborough stumbling upon your family secret.’

‘No.’ Her eyes filled with tears. She could never have foreseen just how much impact the marquis would have on her life either.

The atmosphere around the dining table that evening was so oppressive that even Stephen was unable to lift the gloom. Lord Lensborough was in a foul temper, which he took no trouble to conceal. Julia drew his wrath down on her head by making a series of unwise observations, while Phoebe was too nervous to speak at all. Hester was unaware that she was unwittingly fuelling his anger by keeping her head bowed meekly over her plate when he particularly wanted her to feel the full force of his displeasure that she was there at all. Even Lady Gregory, who was not usually sensitive to atmospheres, was relieved when the ladies could withdraw at last.

‘What,’ she asked, ‘has happened to put him in such a fearful temper tonight?’

Julia and Phoebe exchanged glances, and shrugged their shoulders. They’d agreed it would be better all round not to mention their visit to a gypsy camp since it appeared inexplicably to have upset everyone so much.

The only person who seemed his usual self was Sir Thomas. He ate a hearty meal, impervious to the shudders and sighs of his womenfolk, and when they’d left and the covers had been withdrawn, he raised his first glass of port to his lips with a smile.

‘Had an interesting day, have you, my lord? I hear you went out riding with my girls over to The Lady’s Acres.’

Lord Lensborough’s eyes narrowed as Sir Thomas passed the port his way, but he did not rise to the bait.

‘Hester told me you were not very pleased when you found her visiting her friends.’

‘Naturally I disapproved,’ he snapped.

‘Really, my lord?’ He raised his eyebrows in exaggerated astonishment. ‘She was chaperoned by Miss Dean, as she always is when engaged on her charitable work. She has been regularly visiting those folk for the past six years without once coming to any harm. Is there some fact I may have overlooked, perhaps? As the local magistrate, it has become my habit not to form a judgement until I have all the facts clearly presented to me.’

Lord Lensborough’s fingers clenched about the stem of his wine glass. This man’s barely veiled rebuke was the outside of enough. As he fixed his host with a cold stare that usually had the effect of wilting any opposition, Sir Thomas calmly reached for the nutcrackers.

‘Are you quite sure your subsequent treatment of my niece was justified?’ he challenged. ‘Had you enough facts at your fingertips to warrant giving her such a scolding that she came home to me in tears?’

Stephen winced as the walnut that Sir Thomas held in his hand shattered, sending pieces of shell skittering across the table top.

Of course he was justified. He was still honour bound to marry one of this man’s daughters, which meant that he would have to acknowledge their wanton cousin as a relation of his own. Sir Thomas expected a great deal if he hoped he would brush aside an indiscretion he had concealed from the world for six years.

Six years. Lord Lensborough took a gulp of port. Six years ago, Hester would have been about fourteen years old. So young. She could have been scarce thirteen when that child was conceived. Which meant she would have been too young to understand what she was doing. Or—a cold lump seemed to form in his chest—what was being done to her. Could Sir Thomas’s leniency stem from the fact he was shielding her from the results of a crime committed against her?

Oh, God. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut for a fraction of a second. Poor Hester. No wonder she was so skittish around men. Although—he regarded his host’s untroubled countenance through narrowed eyes—attempting to bring her out into society had still been a mistake. Even if she was not at fault, and they wanted her to be able to lead a relatively normal life, it was quite wrong to attempt to deceive a decent man into marrying her. He downed his glass of port, and poured another.

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