His Lordship's Desire

Diana flung her arm off her forehead and rolled over on her side. What was the point of going over old times? The past was the past. It was true that she and Alex had become companions, riding out together every morning. He had friends in the neighborhood, but he didn’t despise her company when he had nothing else to do.

She had adored him. He was two years older than she, and a boy. She’d looked up to him and admired him and felt honored whenever he sought out her company. Sally, at five, was too young for her. She’d dreaded the day when he would be going back to school.

I fell in love with him when I was seven years old, she thought now as she lay restless in her bed. It wasn’t fair. He was the only friend I had. I didn’t have a chance.

Well my eyes are opened now. I might have loved him, but he didn’t love me. Not really. If he had truly loved me he never would have left me to go into the army.

She curled up into a ball and finally she fell asleep.

The next two weeks were busy as Lady Standish made ready to move her household to London. True to his word, Alex retired William, who was not at all adverse to the idea of being the master of his own time in a snug little cottage close to a good fishing stream, and Alex found a younger replacement, an ex-soldier who had been wounded and retired from the Peninsula army. Thomas lacked the smooth, finished manners of their old coachman, but he was an excellent driver.

The butler, Henrys, would be coming with them to London, as would the cook, Lady Standish’s personal maid, the young maid who helped to look after Sally, and Alex’s valet, who had come back from the Peninsula with him. As Alex was bringing three riding horses as well as the carriage horses, several grooms would be accompanying them as well. Margaret and Maria were staying at home with their governess, Lady Standish not wanting the children underfoot while she was so preoccupied.

The Sherwoods had far fewer encumbrances than did the Devizes. In fact, they had only one trunk that was filled with all their clothes.

On the morning that they started out for London, there were five carriages—two for the family plus three hired vehicles to carry the servants and the luggage. Alex drove his father’s phaeton, an open, high-wheeled carriage with room for two or three people on the front seat. He had asked Diana if she would like to ride with him, but she had told him to take Sally.

“She gets sick if she travels for too long inside a carriage. She will do better in the phaeton,” she said. “I, on the other hand, prefer to ride in the comfort of the carriage.”

He had acquiesced and so had the chance to spend several hours in the sole company of his sister. She had written to him faithfully during the three years that he was in the Peninsula and had been his chief source of information about Diana. He thought he would use this chance to pump her for as much information as he could get about her best friend.

“Is Mama footing the bill for Dee’s come-out?” he asked bluntly after they had finished driving through the village.

“Of course,” Sally said. “There is no way Cousin Louisa could afford such a thing herself. Papa wouldn’t have done it. He liked Diana, but he felt he was doing enough by housing her and her mother. But Mama and Cousin Louisa are very close—and have become even closer since Papa died.”

“So it was Mama’s idea to bring Diana out with you.”

“Actually it was my idea,” Sally said. She tied her bonnet a little more tightly against the wind. “It will be much more fun for me if Diana is with me—she has a way of making the world around her seem brighter, more exciting. And she’s not a bit shy—like I am.”

“It was nice of you, Sal,” he said soberly. “Not every girl would want to be compared to Diana.” He turned his head and smiled at her. “But you have turned into a very beautiful girl, yourself.”

Sally blushed. “Thank you, Alex. My only real worry is that Mama said that Diana’s lack of money would limit the number of men who would ask for her.”

Alex felt a little relieved by this assessment. The fewer rivals he had, the better.

Sally shook her head. “I don’t agree with Mama, though. I think Diana has a very good chance of catching a rich man who won’t need her money. She is so very beautiful, you know. And besides that, she’s fun.”

Alex frowned.

“You used to be such good friends,” Sally continued. “Then you went off to war and she hardly mentioned your name the whole time you were gone. And now that you’re home, you still don’t talk.”

“She was angry with me for joining the army,” Alex said stiffly. He was staring straight ahead, over his horses’ backs. “I hardly think I should be punished for serving my country.”

“I think it’s because of her father,” Sally mused. “She never forgave him for going away and leaving her and her mother. Life hasn’t been easy for them, Alex. If it wasn’t for Mama, I don’t know what would have become of them.”

“He was a soldier,” Alex said. “He had to follow orders.”

“Yes. That’s precisely why Diana doesn’t like soldiers.” She put a brief hand on his knee. “Give her time, Alex. She’ll get over her anger once she gets used to having you around again.”

“Hmmph,” Alex said.

“I have to confess that I’m a little nervous about this come-out business,” Sally said.

They were crossing over a wooden bridge and the horses’ hooves thudded hollowly on the boards. “Why?” he said with surprise. “You’ll be one of the belles of the season, Sal. You’re so pretty and you’re the daughter—well, I suppose you’re now the sister—of the Earl of Standish. The Devizes are one of the best families in the country. Men will be lining up to marry you.”

“But what if I don’t love anybody, Alex? I don’t want to get married just for the sake of getting married. I want to marry a man I love!”

He tapped one of the horses lightly on the flank to encourage him to move up. “There’s nothing wrong with that,” he said. “No one will try to push you into a marriage you don’t like, Sal. If you don’t meet anybody this season, then you can come back next year and try again.”

She gave him a smile of relief. “I’m glad to hear you say that,” she said. “Mama sounds so determined to push me off…”

“All mothers want brilliant matches for their daughters. But if you want to hold out for love, you do that, Sal.”

She straightened her shoulders. “I will,” she said.

Five

Diana had never been to London, and she stared out the window as the carriage rolled along the busy streets of the nation’s capital. There was so much traffic! And noise! And dirt! She was used to her quiet little corner of Berkshire; London was a big change.

The Devizes’ London residence was a solid, substantial house made of brown brick and red dressing, like many of the other houses on the fashionable Grosvenor Square. The family and servants piled out of the coaches and phaeton and Diana stretched her legs and her back as she stood on the pavement outside the front door of the house. She was not accustomed to sitting still for such a long period of time and she felt like taking a nice brisk walk to loosen up her muscles. But the rest of the family was already moving toward the front door, and she followed.

Alex, Lady Standish, Sally, Mrs. Sherwood and Diana all trooped into the green marble entrance hall. The housekeeper came running to welcome Lady Standish and while the two women were talking, Diana peered into a small anteroom set off by round columns that opened off the right side of the entrance hall. The floor of the anteroom was done in black and white squares of marble and there was a portrait of a man in a white wig hung over the alabaster fireplace.

Henrys now came in the front door and Lady Standish presented the butler to Mrs. Daughtry, the housekeeper, as if she was presenting royalty. Henrys was followed by the cook, Monsieur Lapierre, who was presented as if he were God.

Mrs. Daughtry volunteered to show Henrys and Lapierre to their respective domains but Lady Standish said that the family would establish themselves without assistance.

“Let us all go to our bedrooms first,” Lady Standish said. “I think we need to freshen up.”

“Good idea, Mama,” Alex said, and Diana found herself following everyone down the passage to the great curving staircase. The staircase was painted white, with a polished wood railing, and in the roof above the third story was a large window, which allowed for natural illumination during the day.

The bedrooms were on the third floor, except for the master bedroom suite. When they had reached the second floor, Lady Standish said, “Alex, you should have the earl’s bedroom now.”

He looked a little uncomfortable. “It is not necessary for you to vacate it, Mama,” he said. “I don’t want to push you out of your room.”

“No, I want you to have it,” she insisted. “It is the right thing to do and I shall be perfectly happy in the yellow bedroom. It has a dressing room attached and is exceedingly comfortable.”

He stood for a moment looking at her and frowning.

“I mean it,” Lady Standish said firmly. “You must take your proper place both in the family and in society. The master bedroom is yours.”

“Well…” Alex said slowly. “If you are sure.”

“I am very sure.”

Alex nodded and went off through the second-floor drawing room while the rest of them climbed the stairs to the third floor. Lady Standish opened the first door that was on their left and said to Diana, “This will be your room, dear. Servants will be coming shortly with water for you to wash up.”

“Thank you, Cousin Amelia,” Diana said, and walked into the largest bedroom she had ever occupied. It had blue-painted walls, a white stucco fireplace and a blue Turkish rug on the floor. The bed was large and hung with blue draperies, and a comfortable-looking upholstered chair was pulled up in front of the fireplace. There were two windows set high in the walls so they could let light in over the top of the building next door.