Regency Romance Collection: Regency Fire: The Historical Regency Romance Complete Series (Books 1-5) Page 4

  “Tell me, Sir, did my cousin ever concentrate whilst he was at Eton?”

  “Not for a moment.” Gabriel smiled at her, and when she suddenly burst out laughing, he found himself mesmerised.

  Evelyn Godfrey threw her head back and laughed in a most unguarded manner. It was a genuine laugh, nothing like the perfunctory little laugh she had given Richard Cunningham at the wedding and had taken Gabriel entirely by surprise. And, as unguarded as her laughter was, it was still most ladylike and appealing. As she continued to laugh, her generous rosy lips revealed white and straight teeth. She really did have the most wonderful smile.

  “I rather suspected as much,” Evelyn said as her laughter began to subside.

  “I say, you’re both being awfully rough on me,” Stuart complained, and Evelyn and Gabriel looked at each other and laughed again.

  Gabriel was so caught up in the moment that he had almost forgotten his very reason for trying so hard to make her his own. It was almost as if the attraction were enough in itself.

  However, Gabriel was keen not to lose sight of his main intention, nor do or say anything that would disturb his plan and dishonour his father’s memory.

  “Well, I shall leave you to discuss me whilst my back is turned, my dear guests,” Stuart remarked and began to rise. As Evelyn looked up at him with a little concern, Gabriel was keen that she should not think the whole thing a plot.

  “I say, you’re not a terribly good host,” Gabriel said and laughed. “What is so important that you need to leave Lady Godfrey and I without your company?”

  “I am afraid that I am having my Aunt Agatha to dinner tonight,” he said and looked at Evelyn. “You know her well, of course,” he added with a grimace.

  “Indeed, I do,” said Evelyn, also pulling a face.

  “And I have just realised that I have not given the cook my ideas for the menu. I must just dash out for a few moments and do that, for you know what Aunt Agatha is like, and how very hard to please she is.”

  “Indeed, I do, cousin. I wish you luck with it,” Evelyn said and shook her head.

  “You are not fond of your Aunt Agatha, Lady Godfrey?” Gabriel immediately engaged in conversation, hoping that he would take her mind off the fact that they were being left alone suddenly.

  “I’m afraid not. But please do forgive me, I should not speak so.”

  “Oh please, I rather like hearing people’s frustrations at their relatives. I have tiresome aunts enough of my own. In fact, I rather think I have enough to share. Tell me, Lady Godfrey, would you like another one, or is Aunt Agatha enough?”

  “Oh, I say!” And, once again, Evelyn threw her head back and laughed. “That really is terribly funny. It is also very naughty of you.”

  “I rather think a little naughtiness is not such a bad thing, My Lady,” he said and smiled again. Despite the fact that she smiled back, Gabriel sensed some unease and did not want to ruin things. He really needed to play this very carefully. She was engaged, after all, and it would be no easy thing to steal her away, even if she finally did find him more attractive and appealing than the prospect she was currently saddled with.

  “I must say, Lady Godfrey,” Gabriel went on, suddenly keen to put their conversation on a more comfortable tone, “that I really am terribly sorry to have intruded on your afternoon tea with your cousin. He did tell me once I arrived that you were coming, and I insisted I leave you both to your afternoon. However, I daresay you know Stuart well enough to know that he would not hear of it. As always, Stuart takes everything in his stride and finds every stitch of company arriving at his door as rather fun.”

  “Indeed, he does, Sir,” Evelyn agreed and Gabriel was relieved to see that her equilibrium had returned. “My family and Stuart’s are perhaps not quite as close as they might be, but I have always found Stuart himself to be very easy company. He has a wonderfully light heart and a distinct lack of seriousness that I find rather refreshing. It is a quality that I think is very much lacking in Society today.”

  “Indeed it is, My Lady, because everybody is so concerned with appearances. For instance, tell me your thoughts on the food that Lord and Lady Borden provided for the wedding guests.” Suddenly Gabriel was truly keen to know Evelyn’s opinion.

  “I think such obvious waste is a disgrace, Sir. It was by no means over-calculation. Rather it was a statement for all to see. There are too many poor and hungry in this country alone for such a display to be anything other than an offence.”

  “I agree. What angers me is that much of it is done to gain the approval of any Dukes in the room. I do not find I approve at all, either of the waste or the sycophantic behaviour.”

  “Is a Duke not but a man, after all?” Evelyn said and smiled at him.

  “I am glad that you think so,” Gabriel said and paused to think for a moment before continuing. “I do not imagine that you would be so easily impressed. By a man’s title and home, I mean.”

  “Well, it is rather decent of you to say such a thing, especially when I am engaged to be married to a Duke,” she said and laughed. “And I daresay there are many who would not agree with you. Of course, any young lady betrothed to a man of such a title is rather exposed to the suspicion and whispered comments of others.”

  “Perhaps others who would wish themselves in your position?”

  “Sometimes,” she said, thoughtfully. “But others are perhaps simply cynical. And perhaps they have a point to make, in truth.”

  “How so?”

  “It is rather hard to put into words. I suppose what I am trying to say is that it is likely to be clear to all that I would not have chosen Lord Cunningham for myself. It is the way of things. My father’s Earldom suffers bad fortune which means that I, in turn, lose my right to choose my own life. I am not complaining, you understand, but rather I understand the cynicism. It is unlikely that I shall ever be in love with my husband. But that is the way of most marriages, is it not?” Evelyn suddenly flushed as if she realised that she had said a little too much.

  “And it being the way of things, I rather think the whispers and the cynicism rather hard. After all, the nay-sayers will undoubtedly know you have no control over it all, yet still, they persist. It is rather low of them.” Gabriel found himself a little up-ended. In just a few brief sentences, he found himself suddenly wanting to protect Evelyn. Not just from the people who would whisper and pour jealous scorn upon her upcoming nuptials, but from the nuptials themselves. So smart and beautiful a woman was not to be wasted on a man as lacking in personage as Richard Cunningham.

  “And yet I have no doubt you might have thought something similar yourself.” Evelyn was staring at him intently as if studying him for his reaction. Gabriel knew it would do him no good to lie. She would know it, and he could not bear to be lessened in her eyes.

  “Having seen you together only once, I must admit I would never imagine that you had fallen in love with Cunningham, nor would I ever imagine you could, not even with familiarity and the passage of time.” He bowed his head a little as if in apology for his words.

  “I thank you for your honesty.” Evelyn’s bright blue eyes were fixed upon his own. Gabriel felt helpless to look away and briefly thought of all the times he had held others captive in his own gaze. He had even tried it upon Evelyn.

  “I found I dared not risk a lie, even a placating one.” He smiled at her. “For I think you would have known it immediately.”

  “I thank you for the compliment. Most men do not care for skill and intellect in a woman.”

  “Well, I do. I should rather spend a lifetime with a smart woman who argues with me rather than a week with a woman who agrees with my every movement.”

  “Indeed?” Evelyn said and cocked her head to one side as she regarded him. “Then you truly are a most unique sort of a man, Sir.”

  “Right, that’s Aunt Agatha’s comforts all dealt with,” Stuart said as he blundered back into the room. Gabriel would have given anything for just a few more
moments alone with her.

  Chapter Six

  As Evelyn sat in the vast drawing room at Horndean Hall, she noted how, once again, she felt herself most uncomfortable. It wasn’t the room itself, which had been most tastefully done. Everywhere was a pale blue, the colour of duck’s eggs, with the scrolled edges framing the wall panels all picked out in glorious white. The immense drapes which hung about the great windows were all in white too, making the space so light and bright. The couches were all identical, each one covered in a velvet which was a slightly deeper blue than the walls. The armchairs had been upholstered in a heavy calico in cream and dark blue, the fabric of which was an intricate Toile de Jouy depicting hunting scenes.

  The couches were really rather comfortable, far better than Evelyn’s family had at Gorton Hall. And yet, despite the physical comfort, Evelyn felt even more at odds than ever.

  In truth, she had never been comfortable inside the walls of Horndean Hall. There was something about the occupants and the relationship between them that unsettled Evelyn, although she could not have said why.

  “How lovely you looked at the Borden wedding, dear.” Prudence Cunningham, the Duchess of Horndean, turned to look at Evelyn. Something about her searching gaze told Evelyn that the compliment was no more than a platitude. Prudence hardly regarded her at all, and Evelyn thought it quite likely that the Duchess would not have been able to recall any of the details of Evelyn’s appearance at the Borden wedding at all.

  “How kind, Duchess,” Evelyn said, all her breeding and mechanical manners issuing forth. “I thank you.”

  “Indeed,” the Duchess said, a little coolly.

  Evelyn knew very well that the Duchess had no real feelings for her one way or the other. Like so many mothers of titled men, Evelyn had been chosen by the family for her suitability in terms of her own title, but she herself was of little consequence. In truth, she wondered if Prudence Cunningham was the sort of mother who wanted the right wife for her son and no wife for her son all at once.

  “And I enjoyed the wedding very much,” Evelyn added, simply for something to say when the conversation seemed to have died altogether. How on earth would Evelyn manage to live at Horndean Hall when she was finally married? Richard had sat quietly letting his mother and sister do all the talking, almost as if he were entirely bored. In truth, he had never paid Evelyn a great deal of notice, except to look her up and down in a rather ungentlemanly way. No doubt all that he required in a wife was beauty and silence. Evelyn shuddered involuntarily.

  “I do hope you’re not coming down with something, Evelyn dear.” Eleanora, the elder of Richard’s two sisters, said waspishly. “I should not like to fall ill myself on account of whatever it is you have.”

  “I have no illness, Eleanora,” Evelyn said and bravely attempted something like a warm smile. “I just felt a little cold; that is all.”

  Evelyn did not like Eleanora one bit. Although at three and twenty, she was the same age as Evelyn herself, Eleanora talked to Evelyn as if she were just a child. Looking very much like her father with her dull brown hair and blue eyes, Eleanora certainly had inherited her personality entirely from her mother. Both Prudence and Eleanora seemed perpetually dissatisfied with life and everyone in it and were never embarrassed to openly disparage others, even if they were in the company of new acquaintances. They both had a tremendous air of self-entitlement and never altered their manners or comments to suit their company. As far as both women were concerned, they were Cunninghams, and the Cunninghams were the most powerful and important family in the North of England.

  “But still I should like you and me to take a turn about the lawns. You will just have to wrap up warm,” Eleanora said and gave Evelyn a look which made her feel instantly anxious.

  “Well, if Richard does not mind,” Evelyn replied, hoping that her fiancé might put up some objection and finally be of some use to her.

  Richard simply looked up and shrugged. He could not have cared either way. At that moment, Evelyn despised him. He never did or said anything to keep her good opinion of him, and Evelyn was finally realising why that was. He had the same sense of entitlement; he did not have to win her over because she was already his. Why should he bother to get to know her? Evelyn felt almost as if she were less than nothing to him.

  Evelyn thought back to her afternoon having tea with Stuart Penhaligon. The Duke of Calgarth had been interested in every word she uttered. Not only that, but he had been keen to seek her opinions in various subjects. How very engaging to be in the company of a man who did not think of you as having importance equal to that of a hat stand. Not to mention Gabriel Farrington’s handsome face and mesmerising eyes. Also, Evelyn felt rather sure that their meetings had been somehow orchestrated as if the Duke of Calgarth had particularly wanted her company. In truth, Evelyn had not yet decided whether she should be flattered or suspicious. She would give it greater thought when she had time alone.

  “Shall we go?” Eleanora barked and rose to her feet. Evelyn leaped to her feet also.

  For a moment, she felt sure that Eleanora had read her thoughts and seen the Duke of Calgarth there. Of course, she knew that was ridiculous, but she had a very good idea that the two families were far from being allies.

  The two women stopped in the entrance hall long enough to wrap their cloaks about them. Eleanora had not spoken one word to her as they made their way outside and into the crisp, fresh air.

  Eleanora seemed almost to be marching; she was walking so fast. Evelyn found herself suddenly having to try to keep up with the taller woman.

  “An acquaintance of mine saw you at an afternoon of tea and bridge,” Eleanor said, making her statement sound rather more like an accusation.

  “Presumably at the home of my old friend Amelia Merriweather,” Evelyn answered, fighting to keep the annoyance she felt from showing itself in her voice.

  In truth, Evelyn was furious. If her fiancé’s sister were keeping a check on her movements, Evelyn would certainly have something to say about it.

  “Indeed,” Eleanora said as she turned her rather dead looking blue eyes upon her. “You spent much of the afternoon in the company of the Duke of Calgarth, did you not?”

  “Yes, he was partnered with my cousin for bridge. So?” Evelyn tried to remain defiant, although her mouth had gone a little dry with fear.

  “You will not do so again,” Eleanora’s tone was entirely menacing, and Evelyn was stunned by it.

  “I beg your pardon?” Evelyn tried to sound affronted rather than defensive. And yet, why should she not speak with Gabriel Farrington? What business was it of Eleanora’s?

  “You surely know of the feud that exists between our families. You dishonoured my brother with your behaviour. You will not do it again.”

  “How dare you speak to me that way, Eleanora! I am going back into the house, and you can keep your opinions and instructions to yourself in future.” Evelyn was furious.

  “If you do not heed my words, I shall inform my mother of your transgression,” Eleanora seized Evelyn’s arm and held her fast, pinching the skin painfully.

  “Release me this instant!” Evelyn said as she twisted and turned under the larger woman’s grip. “And how have I transgressed, pray tell? You are making things up.”

  “I am awfully good at making things up, my dear. If I tell my mother what you have done, then you will be all the sorrier for it. You would not disrespect one of her sons and live without consequence. She will terminate your engagement and blacken your name for several counties. You will never have a prospect of marriage anywhere in England if I tell her that you have been consorting with our enemy.”

  “Consorting? You are being perfectly ridiculous.” Finally, Evelyn pulled free of Eleanora’s grasp, but she did not leave. She knew she would be better armed for hearing everything that the vile creature had to say, threats and all.

  “You will not speak with Gabriel Farrington again; nor any of the Farrington family. I give you this on
e warning. If I hear of it, I shall tell the Duchess, and she will make you sorry you were ever born. She will shame you and your entire family without a second thought. Do not cross me, and do not cross my mother. Heed my words, Evelyn, for your own sake.” Eleanora spoke the last in a gentler tone, almost as if she were giving Evelyn nothing more than kindly advice.

  Something about the duality of the woman made Evelyn suddenly want to strike her. She did not want Eleanora to make any attempt at friendship, for they would never be friends; not now, not ever.

  “I should like to go back to the house now,” Evelyn said with a practiced smile.

  She did not want to verbally agree to Eleanora’s demands. She could not. Something about saying it loud would diminish her. But neither did Evelyn want to lock horns with Eleanora, for she truly believed that she and her mother could behave in a most evil way and without remorse of any kind. Smiling her acceptance was the only way out as far as Evelyn could see. She needed to be away from the awful woman and have time to gather her thoughts and think about what must be done.

  “Yes, it’s turned rather cold Evelyn, dear,” Eleanora said, all kindness and smiles as she gently linked her arm through Evelyn’s.

  As they walked back to the house, Evelyn could still feel the skin of that same arm smarting as the bruises began to develop.

  Chapter Seven

  The two weeks that Gabriel had spent watching Evelyn’s comings and goings from Gorton Hall had truly paid off. He had quickly discerned that she rode out into the rugged, perpetually windswept countryside several times a week, and always in the mornings. She always went for an hour, and no more, and the only thing that Gabriel had not been able to discover was any sort of pattern to it. She did not have particular days of the week on which she rode out, so Gabriel had been forced to lay in wait for her for three mornings straight, hoping that she would appear.