The Earl's Inconvenient Wife

‘Before you offer to help me, I must warn you that, even backed by your approval, I expect to meet with a considerable amount of disapproval. If goaded, I might be...irresistibly tempted to do something outrageous, just to live down to society’s expectations. Which, of course, would further my goal of discouraging suitors.’

‘It might encourage the unscrupulous, though. You’re too intelligent to do anything stupid, I hope—something that might place you in actual danger. Men can be dangerous, especially to women they think invite their attentions. Sadly, my dear, with your looks and reputation, it wouldn’t take much for them to make that assumption.’

Was it only his imagination, Giff wondered, or did Temperance once again turn pale? But then she shook her head, colour returning to her cheeks.

‘I don’t intend to encourage any man and I certainly wouldn’t agree to meet one alone, if that’s what you are warning against. If provoked, I might feel compelled to best some smirking gentleman in a race through Hyde Park—in front of a full complement of witnesses. Or I might accept a dare to drive a curricle down St James’s Street past the gentlemen’s clubs,’ she added, chuckling when Giff groaned.

‘You are indeed your mama,’ Lady Sayleford said, her eyes lighting with amusement. ‘But wiser and forewarned. I do hope, though,’ she added, sobering, ‘that you end up happier than she did.’

After a moment of silence, as if she were weighing whether or not to speak, Temperance said, ‘She...she loved Christopher’s father, didn’t she? Sir Julian Cantrell? I’ve never asked her, not wanting to dredge up sad memories, and everyone else puts me off. I overheard Aunt Gussie telling Gregory that Sir Julian was the love of her life. That he loved her, too, enough that he was prepared to be shunned by society for marrying a divorced woman, only Papa refused to divorce her. I’m sure you know the truth. Won’t you tell me?’

Lady Sayleford remained silent as well, so long that Giff thought she would refuse to answer. Finally, she said, ‘I don’t agree that it does a girl any good to have the truth withheld from her. It’s not as if, growing up a member of the Vraux Miscellany, you have any maidenly innocence to protect!’

‘That’s true,’ Temperance agreed with a wry grimace. ‘So—you will tell me?’

Lady Sayleford sighed. ‘After Vraux refused Felicia the divorce she pleaded for, I half-expected she and Cantrell would run away to America. But she loved Gregory and knew, if she fled, she would never see her firstborn again. She gave up Sir Julian instead. It nearly broke him, especially after he discovered she was carrying his child. By the way, I’m glad he was later able to reconcile with Christopher; a man should have a relationship with his own son, even if he can’t claim the boy outright. It was only after Felicia lost Sir Julian that, once very circumspect, she became...careless of her reputation. She must have been devastated, else she would never have been taken in by your father.’

‘Marsden Hightower?’

‘Marsden Hightower,’ Lady Sayleford confirmed with a curl of her lip. ‘Rich, handsome, charming—and a cad of the highest order. He boasted of his conquest all over town, let slip lurid details of the rendezvous he persuaded her into—meeting him in some hostess’s boudoir in the midst of ball, or in the shrubbery at some garden party! Details too deliciously scandalous not to become the talk of society—or to thoroughly offend the hostesses at whose events the purported dalliances had taken place. She was never forgiven—not that, being Felicia, she ever expressed remorse.’

‘She would have confronted the rumours with her lips sealed and her head held high.’

Lady Sayleford nodded. ‘And so she did. Despite the reputation she acquired, she never took a married man for a lover and she had countless opportunities to do so. A distinction I recognise and appreciate, even if many of society’s harpies do not.’

‘Is that why you still receive her, when most of the high sticklers will not?’

‘I admire honour, as I admire courage. Especially honour and courage maintained when one is given no credit for possessing them.’

‘Thank you for telling me the whole truth.’

Giff sat in shocked silence. He’d always accepted what rumour said about Lady Vraux, disdaining her as a selfish Beauty who took lovers to gratify her vanity with no thought to the harm her conduct would do her family. When Temperance told him his godmother invited the scandalous Lady Vraux to her home, he’d assumed the Countess did so on a whim, to demonstrate her mastery over society.

After hearing the truth, he realised with some chagrin that he, who prided himself on treating people as he found them rather than believing what rumour whispered, had done exactly that with Lady Vraux. He had to admit a grudging admiration for her courage—and for the courage of the daughter who had always believed in and passionately defended her.

Lady Sayleford gave Temperance a regretful look. ‘Unfortunately, knowing the true origin of your mother’s reputation doesn’t change your present circumstances, my child.’

‘No. But it does confirm what I’ve always known—that Mama is not the amoral, self-indulgent voluptuary society accuses her of being. But then, of what value to society is truth? It will believe what it wants, regardless.’

Lady Sayleford nodded. ‘If you know that, you are well armed to begin a Season. I shall enjoy hearing about your escapades.’

Giff was smiling—until the meaning of that sentence penetrated. ‘Hearing about them?’ he repeated. ‘Won’t you be accompanying her to social events?’

‘To every frippery Marriage Mart entertainment that attracts silly young girls and nodcock young gents on the lookout for rich brides? Certainly not! I shall accept only those invitations that interest me, just as I do now. But I will introduce Miss Lattimar before I turn her over to Angela and make sure it’s known that I will be watching to see how each member of society receives her.’

‘Very well, I’m reassured,’ Giff said, relaxing a bit.

‘Besides, it’s not me she needs to watch over her. In order to be truly protected, she’ll need a gentleman standing guard. You, Gifford.’

Looking as alarmed as he felt, Temperance said, ‘Lady Sayleford, is that truly necessary? Surely having a chaperon by my side every minute will afford sufficient protection! I never meant to embroil Giff in a social round he surely doesn’t want—’

‘Don’t be argumentative, child,’ Lady Sayleford said, cutting her off. ‘It won’t hurt Gifford to attend a few society functions. How else is he to find the rich bride a rising politician needs? Cyprians are well and good for pleasuring-seeking, but a career in government requires adequate funds and a suitable hostess.’

Her remarks were, of course, spot on, but that didn’t mean Giff appreciated them—especially not in front of Temperance, who had recently preached from the same sermon. Feeling colour warming his face, he said, ‘Thank you for the advice. But I’m not prepared to act upon it just yet, so don’t be getting any ideas.’

Lady Sayleford smiled. ‘What else has an old woman to do, but get ideas? My dear,’ she continued, turning back to Temperance, ‘do you think your father will agree to have Angela chaperon you?’

‘If you approve of her, I don’t see why he would object.’

‘Just to make sure, I’ll pen him a note. Tell him I’m grateful he’s sparing my old bones as your sponsor by allowing my great-niece to act in my place. Vraux does like to keep things safe, even if he can’t...care for them like normal folk. In any event, I’ll sweeten the agreement by sending him a medieval mantelpiece Sayleford once outbid him for.’

‘Oh, no, ma’am!’ Temperance protested. ‘I wouldn’t want you to part with one of your husband’s treasures!’

‘Nonsense! I’ve been trying to dispose of the hideous thing for years. What better use to make of it than to dispatch it to someone who might actually appreciate it?’

Temperance laughed. ‘My mother’s reputation might be based on falsehoods, but yours is not. You are wise, as well as all-knowing!’

‘There must be some benefit to growing old, other than the ability to interfere in other people’s lives with impunity. But since I’m so wise, let me offer you one more bit of advice. Don’t be blind, fixing yourself so narrowly on a single goal that you fail to see the alternatives that present themselves. As they always will. Now, I shall consult my calendar, but I think next week will do for an introductory tea. That will give me enough time to summon Angela. So drink up, Gifford. You’ve accomplished your purpose and it is time for me to rest.’

With that, they finished their tea, then stood as his godmother made her majestic departure.

Standing in the hall while the butler summoned their carriage, Temperance said, ‘Lady Sayleford is amazing! I’d like to be her one day.’ Then she shook her head, her expression rueful. ‘But then, I’d have to be respectable to begin with.’

‘You are less of a hoyden than you used to be,’ Giff observed. ‘I thought you displayed remarkable restraint today. I was initially afraid you might attack with nails and fists when she insulted your mother.’

‘She was taking my measure, I think. And I’m not as thoughtless and impulsive as you seem to believe. At least, not all the time. For instance, I intend to keep my chaperon close by whenever there are gentlemen about, so I really don’t think you need to attend social events to watch out for me. You’d probably be bored to flinders and hate every minute of it.’

‘I hope to sidestep that fate—not because it would bore me, but I would rather avoid eligible young ladies for a while longer, despite my godmother’s forceful advice.’

Conversation halted as, his tiger having brought his curricle to the entrance, they exited the house and mounted the carriage.

‘If I thought you were going to be compelled to supervise me, I would never have asked for Lady Sayleford’s sponsorship,’ Temper continued after he’d set the horses moving.

Giff shook his head. ‘Too late to withdraw now! If I know my godmother, by the time we reach Vraux House she will already have written to summon her great-niece.’

‘I shall be happy enough to proceed, as long as we can convince her not to drag you into the bargain. No point going to market when you aren’t ready to buy anything.’ She sighed. ‘I only wish I didn’t have to spend time in the Marriage Mart, but since I must, I’ll cheer myself with the hope that it might not be for long. With any luck, it will soon be evident that I attract only fortune hunters and fast young men looking to lure the “wanton” into the shrubbery.’

Giff didn’t find that prospect very reassuring. Neither type of man was likely to respect Temper—and the latter could, as his godmother had pointed out, actually pose a danger to her.

Maybe he ought to drop by a few of the entertainments she attended, just to make sure she was safe.

‘It pains me that society will try to paint you in that light. When we both know that neither you—nor your mother, it turns out—possess such a character.’

‘As I told your godmother, people will think what they want, regardless of the truth. But in this instance, I’m glad of it. It should require only a little push to have society confirm that I don’t respect its rules, ensuring that no respectable gentleman will pay me his addresses.’

‘Just as long as you are not targeted by the truly disreputable.’

‘As long as I have a chaperon clinging to my side, I hope I am! Everyone knows disreputable gentlemen are the most charming! Except for you, of course, Giff. You’re respectable and—alluring.’

The change in her tone—from amusement to warmth of a different sort—pulled his gaze from the road to her. The yearning he read in her eyes fired his always-simmering attraction into full-on arousal.

Fierce, intelligent—and so beautiful. He had an almost overwhelming urge to lean down and kiss her.

The curricle hit a bump, jolting him back to the job of controlling the horses. But his palms were sweating and his breathing uneven when he pulled up his team in front of Vraux House.

‘You needn’t see me in,’ she said as his tiger jumped down and trotted over to help her out of the vehicle. ‘I shall try not to be too outrageous, so hopefully your kindness in intervening to help me won’t come back to haunt you.’

He looked at her full in the face this time, struck anew by her beauty—and the softened lips and molten gaze that confirmed the strong current of desire coursing through him was unmistakably mutual. For a long moment, they simply stared at each other.

She reached a hand out, as if to touch him, then drew it back again. ‘Thank you, Giff,’ she whispered, then turned away to let his tiger help her down.

Ridiculous, to feel an instant bolt of envy because that skinny, pock-faced boy was touching her—as he wanted to so fiercely and mustn’t.

Fists clenched on the reins, Giff watched her walk into Vraux House—both regretting and hopeful that his part in the launching of Miss Temperance Lattimar’s Season had just been completed.

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