The Reluctant Debutante: A Sweet, Regency Romance (Ladies of Mayfair Book 4) Read online

  “We do not live far from the park, so you need not escort us home. We shall be fine on our own. But thank you so much for all you have done.”

  Victoria hoisted Daniel into a more comfortable position, and then grabbed Vanessa’s hand. Just before turning away she remembered her manners. “It was a pleasure to meet the three of you. Goodbye.”

  Bryghton found that he did not want to see her leave. “May I call on you some time?”

  Drake and Alfred looked at him in shock. The duke tried to ignore them but could not suppress a wry grin over the absurdity of him asking a lady if he could call on her.

  Victoria surprised them all. “Thank you, your grace. Please do not think I am unaware of the great honour you have paid me, but I do not think that would be wise. I do not receive guests.” With another curtsy, Victoria turned and walked away, Pansy and the other girls hurrying after her.

  Chapter Four

  The three men stood watching the small group walk away, with varying degrees of disbelief imprinted on their features. Bryghton, trained from birth to reveal as little of his feelings as possible, had a nearly impassive face despite being the most shocked.

  “What just happened?” asked Drake.

  “Your brother was turned down for the first time in his life,” said Fred with exaggerated, sarcastic politeness.

  The duke turned to his companions with a sardonic grin. “You two could be at court as jesters, you are just that funny.”

  Drake looked at his brother in inquiry. “Why would you ask her if you could call on her? While she seemed to be a perfectly lovely young woman, you would never go to the devil’s house, no matter how wonderful she might be.”

  Fred draped his arm around the young man. “Do not trouble yourself, your all-knowing brother no doubt has some plan to use this encounter to our advantage in some way.” Then, turning to the duke, he asked, “So, what is your plan? How are you going to use the earl’s niece to exact revenge?”

  Loath to admit that the thought never even crossed his mind while he had been speaking with her, the duke put them off for the time being. “The plan has not yet been fully formulated.” Not wanting to pursue the topic, Bryghton looked down at himself. “What do you think? Am I still passable, or must I return home and change before we continue on with our outing?”

  Ever accommodating, Fred reassured his friend, “Never fear, Bryght. You look perfectly fine. Just brush off your knee there a little bit and no one will ever know you had been crawling along the bank of the Serpentine this afternoon.”

  Despite his discomfiture over the mention of Pickering, Drake hastened forward to act as valet and assist his brother back into his tightly fitted jacket.

  “Even though it was strange to have run into her, I suppose it is good that we decided to cut through the park on the way to Jackson’s. I must admit to being uncomfortable over any mention of the earl, but as a gentleman one must always be ready to come to a lady’s aid no matter who her relatives may be.” Drake admitted this almost reluctantly, and his brother laughed at his expense.

  “You are quite correct, young cub. Now let us be off—I shall need to go a couple rounds to work off the energy generated from that wee bit of a scare.”

  Alfred turned a look of surprise upon the duke. “Were you actually scared, Alcott?”

  “I am man enough to admit that when I saw the little boy tip over the edge and the lady jump in after him, I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I cannot say if it was fear, but it was undoubtedly uncomfortable.”

  The duke’s companions had to admit they had felt the same, so they merely nodded. The three men climbed back onto their now restless mounts and continued on their way.

  Despite his expertise in the ring that day, it was clear the duke’s attention was elsewhere. Drake was ecstatic to come so close to besting his older brother, and he gloated over his near win.

  “I have never in all my life come so close to beating you, Bryght. I must be getting better at boxing.” The young man was almost giddy with glee.

  Not wanting to burst the youngster’s bubble, the duke smiled indulgently. Fred was not nearly so circumspect. “Surely you realize it was merely the duke’s inattention that allowed you to actually plant him a facer.”

  “Be that as it may, you cannot dispute the fact that I did draw some claret. That split in his lip does not lie,” declared the young man with pride. “It does not matter how it happened, as long as I did not blindside him.”

  “Let him be, Fred. The cub displayed to advantage. I was distracted, but he is correct. I should never have allowed my thoughts to get in the way. It was a fair fight, Drake, and you did well. I would say you are improving. We shall have to go a couple rounds again soon.”

  Grinning with delight at his older brother, Drake left the sporting club with his two companions, the three gentlemen setting off towards St. James Street to enjoy a brief repast at White’s before going their separate ways for the evening.

  “You have been rather quiet,” Bryghton commented to his brother after they had waved off Lord Lynster.

  Drake’s shrug demonstrated his lack of interest in discussing the matter, but the duke persisted. “Come on young cub, ‘fess up to your big brother. What is troubling your mind?”

  “I have been thinking about Lady Victoria,” Drake admitted with reluctant slowness.

  “Might I ask why?”

  “She was so brave jumping in to save the little boy like that, without any concern for her own well-being.”

  He paused for so long that Bryghton thought he was finished with his statement, but then Drake continued. “I was thinking about the fact that she is no doubt innocent from any involvement in her uncle’s schemes, and we should not involve her in any revenge we might be seeking. In fact,” he warmed to his topic, turning bright eyes to regard his brother closely, “I think you should leave any revenge solely to me. It was my mess from the beginning. You should not be involved with pursuing the earl. And if you wish to seek a closer acquaintance with Lady Victoria you should not consider my feelings on the matter.”

  Bryghton was shocked into silence momentarily. Recovering himself, he kept a tight rein on his feelings as he answered. “But Drake, of course it involves me! What the earl did to you was despicable. And I feel very responsible. Not only because you are my little brother and I am the head of our house—as such I would feel as though I were involved anyway, but also because I should have ensured you were better occupied. If I had realized how bored you were, I would have satisfied your need for occupation within the dukedom. You would not have then felt the need to try to earn your own blunt through the earl’s questionable investment prospects.”

  Drake shook his head in denial. “I wanted to prove to you that I did not need your patronage, that I could do it on my own.”

  “You always were ridiculously independent,” chided Bryghton, fondly.

  Drake again offered a negligent shrug. “If I failed to mention my appreciation for how little recrimination you have offered, I apologize. It was a foolish decision to spend all my money buying into Pickering’s scheme. And then when I made myself a laughing stock by going after him at his club! You curtailed any lectures you so obviously wanted to offer, and instead sent me on the rounds of your estates to oversee the stewards. Not only did that teach me so much—things that I will need to know to run my own estate after it recovers from the mortgage I placed on it—but it also got me out of Town to wait for the scandal to die down.”

  “Drake, my boy, I do not think there was a scandal. Yes, it was a touch irregular to try to challenge the earl to a duel over a business deal gone wrong, which is how many think of it, but there are far more shocking affairs going on regularly, so no one is overly concerned with your little scene.”

  “Be that as it may, I was mortified by the entire ordeal and I appreciate how you handled it. Despite how you occasionally speak to me as though I were still at Eton, you did not ring a peel over me, nor
did you attempt to thrash me.”

  “How could I have thrashed you when Viscount Dalton had already done a rather thorough job of it for the insult he felt you had offered to his uncle?”

  Drake’s face took on a thunderous cast, but he forbore to comment on that. “As I was saying, you need not pursue vengeance against the earl. It is my affair, and you need not avoid contact with his niece in order to spare my feelings. She seemed lovely, and I am certain I would soon get over my discomfort at any mention of her uncle.”

  “My boy, I am not certain what you think took place today, but while Lady Victoria is uncommonly good looking I cannot overlook her connection with the Earl of Pickering. I appreciate your generous offer of absolution from the feud, but I do not want it. I did not care for the earl before he fleeced you, I despise him now, and cannot stomach the thought of pursuing any sort of connection with him.”

  “Well, then, why did you ask her if you could call on her?”

  “That, young cub, is a mystery.”

  Giving his brother a dubious look, Drake finally allowed the subject to drop, and bade the duke a fond farewell. Bryghton remained behind at the club for a few moments longer, staring into his glass of brandy as he contemplated their conversation and the events of the day. Shaking his head to rid himself of the doldrums, the duke realized there were no answers to be had in his glass, so he tossed back the rest of his drink and strode with purpose from the club.

  Chapter Five

  Victoria huddled in her room near the nursery, wishing there was a fire going. She was rarely allotted the luxury of having a fire during the day unless she had fallen ill. The shiver deep in her bones made her think that might not be far from the truth, but she hesitated to make more work for the servants since they were constantly kept so busy by her aunt and uncle. Her uncle was such a pinchpenny he kept the barest minimum of staff, so all the help were terribly overworked. She was still debating with herself whether or not to disturb any of the servants when Pansy scratched on her door.

  Catching sight of the young lady huddled under the quilt, the young maid bounded into the room. “Oh, m’lady, don’t say you’ve gone and catched the cold! What should I do, m’lady? Should I fetch Mrs. Marks?”

  “Do not trouble the housekeeper, Pansy. I am finally starting to feel warm. I was just so worried about little Daniel that I waited too long to get my own wet clothes off,” Victoria replied in an attempt to soothe the distraught nursemaid.

  “I think you should ring for someone to fetch you something,” Pansy insisted.

  “Well, a cup of tea would be quite lovely, I must admit.”

  “I’ll tell Mary to fetch it right off, m’lady,” said the young maid, her tone earnest.

  “Thank you, Pansy. Are the children settled in comfortably after their scare?”

  “Oh, m’lady, do not worrit your head over them, they are playing as though nothin’ out of ordinary happened a’tall.”

  “Well, that is good, so they will not miss me if I wait here a few moments longer.” She sighed with relief.

  “You just go and take all the time you want, m’lady.” Pansy bustled around the small room, dragging another blanket from the wardrobe to drape it over her young mistress. “You need to warm up quick like and not catch your death. I don’t think I can handle those children on my own, m’lady.”

  Victoria could not prevent the dry chuckle at this self-serving statement. “I will do my best to survive in order to accommodate you and the children.”

  Realizing how her words had sounded, Pansy had a good laugh at her own expense. “So sorry, m’lady. I promise I didn’t mean it that way.”

  Victoria smiled warmly. “Never fear, Pansy. I took no offense. But if you would not mind leaving me be for a few minutes, I would dearly love to close my eyes and rest.”

  “Oh m’lady, say no more. Of course I’ll leave you be. You jest close yer eyes and get a wee rest.” The young nursemaid bustled around a bit more, but then finally left Victoria in blessed silence.

  Victoria tried to get a short nap, but when she closed her eyes all she could see was the handsome face of the Duke of Wychwood peering down at her from the bank of the Serpentine. His warm green eyes had twinkled at her, even though he had considered her foolish beyond belief. Despite his haughtiness, which she usually found to be most off-putting, she had been drawn to him in some way she could not comprehend.

  Leery of men in general, as she had spent most of her life at finishing school where the only male figure was the aging dancing instructor who had been brought in once a week, Victoria had been struck almost mute in the company of the three noblemen. It was only her concern for the children that had forced speech from her lips.

  When the duke had asked if he could call on her she had very nearly swallowed her own tongue in shock. She asked herself yet again, Why would the handsome man want to visit me? And a duke, at that? Not that it mattered why. There was no chance of her ever entertaining a visitor. She could never imagine asking her uncle or aunt for permission. Her position in the household felt tenuous enough without her asking such a request. Victoria shivered at the thought of the scene that would no doubt ensue.

  Sitting up in her bed, Victoria flung off the covers and forced herself to climb out. Nothing would be accomplished by wool-gathering, she admonished herself. Daydreaming about handsome dukes was a pointless activity. She would probably never see the man again. The children were no doubt wondering what had become of her. With a final sigh, Victoria slipped her shoes back on and left her room, making haste to return to the nursery.

  “Aunt Victoria!” Gwendolyn announced with delight as Victoria stepped into the room. All the children stopped their activities and ran to embrace their favourite relative. “We were so worried when Pansy said we were not to disturb you.” The serious young girl looked truly troubled over the thought of something being amiss with her beloved “aunt.”

  Returning the girl’s warm embrace, Victoria soothed, “Have no fear, I am here,” before winking exaggeratedly at her young cousins, causing them to laugh uproariously. Not wanting the youngsters to be troubled on her behalf, she quickly turned the subject.

  “What have you all been up to since returning home?”

  This may not have been the best choice of conversational gambits, as Daniel hastened to pout. “Pansy and Mary made me have a bath, Aunt ‘Toria. I hate having a bath.”

  Swooping in to hug him, Victoria laughed. “I know you do, darling, but you were probably stinky from our adventure in the park.” She took a deep breath. “Now you smell delicious.”

  The little boy giggled. “Good enough to eat?”

  “I think so. Definitely good enough to tickle.” She promptly suited her actions to her words. The rest of the children joined in as they all gave way to giggles and squeals of delight.

  Into this scene walked Everett. As the oldest, he had a terribly inflated opinion of his own importance. Being only eleven, he still hovered between the nursery and young manhood.

  “What is going on in here?” he demanded with hauteur.

  Looking up from the heap they were in on the floor, the other children blinked at him while they struggled to control their giggles. Victoria was the first to find speech.

  “Hello, Everett. We were just playing. Did you enjoy your time with your tutor?” she asked kindly, despite the urge to roll her eyes at his superciliousness.

  “Of course, Aunt Victoria. It is very important that I complete my studies if I am to succeed at Eton.”

  “Of course it is. Which is why the rest of us try our very best to not disturb you while you are busy with your schoolwork. But now you seem to be done. Would you care to join us in some games?”

  Trying to remain aloof, Everett struggled to suppress the little boy side of himself that could not help asking, “What kind of games did you have in mind?”

  The younger children longed for the attention of their big brother, so Felicia, the middle child who was forever
trying to broker peace, generously offered, “If you would like to play with us, you could pick the game.”

  Everett could not resist this offer. He put his haughtiness aside for a time and fell in with his siblings. “I say we play spillikins,” he declared with glee. Felicia ran to the cupboard to grab the sticks as the other children cleared a space on the floor.

  Victoria watched happily as the children played together in temporary peace, taking turns trying to pick up each one, giggling at each other as other sticks were jiggled and a turn forfeited. The doting guardian smiled proudly as the older siblings made allowances for little Daniel’s lack of skill, voting to allow him two turns to their one because, as Everett said somewhat condescendingly, “he’s just a baby.”

  There was almost a scene over this comment, as Daniel wanted to belligerently deny such a declaration. Peacemaker Felicia stepped in once more with reason. “But Daniel, don’t be upset. If Everett says being a baby means you get two chances, you should be happy.”

  There was no argument for this, even for a three-year-old, so the game continued in harmony. Everyone was amazed at the end when five-year-old Vanessa was found to be the winner. Her small but steady hands had managed to pick up the most sticks from the haphazard pile.

  “All right, children, it is almost time for us to go have a visit with your parents, so you should tidy up, comb your hair, and wash your hands. We will be having our supper when we come back to the nursery.” Victoria bustled about helping the children ready themselves for the daily ritual of visiting briefly with the earl and countess. It was her least favourite time of day, but she never revealed this to the children.

  Gwendolyn quickly arranged herself and, always such a little helper, made herself useful by combing Daniel’s hair and retying Vanessa’s sash.

  “Thank you, Gwennie. You tie the best bows.” Victoria grinned at the young girl while she finished straightening Felicia’s bow.

  After examining all five children, Victoria glanced in the mirror to ensure her hair was sufficiently tidy, and then they all marched down the stairs to be briefly examined by the Bartley parents.