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

‘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.