“I, for one, can’t wait to find out.” She walked into the drawing room, her stride long as a boy’s, all possible because her full skirt was slit like very wide-cut trousers, giving Jason a smile scary enough to curl his toes. “I had Petrie bring the tea. Ah, does that please you, Jason?”
CHAPTER 23
Jason nearly fell over. A siren’s voice coming out of a filthy face. Lord Renfrew rose quickly to his feet, nearly en pointe. He said in a loud voice, “I am very pleased, my dear, very pleased indeed. I always believed you were delightfully accommodating.”
“Did you really, my lord? How very gallant of you to say so. May I ask why?”
Lord Renfrew gurgled deep in his throat.
She preened, black face and all.
So she’d heard that, had she? Jason walked to her, stopped not a half-foot from her nose and reached out his hand. He began twisting a long tangled hank of hair that fell nearly to her breast. He leaned closer, his warm breath on her cheek, lust in his eyes. “You smell like smoke.”
She batted her eyelashes, but didn’t move, felt his fingers wrapping round and round her hair. She said, “Does it displease you, Jason, the smoke? I do so ever wish to please you.”
“I will think about that.” He tugged her hair, then stepped back. “Please don’t sit down in that dirty dress, Hallie. Our furniture is new and it would be a shame to dirty it up so soon.”
Lord Renfrew pulsed with questions, none of which he could ask in Hallie’s presence, dammit. He cleared his throat. She looked over at him. A witch, she looked like a witch. What if she wanted to touch him? Perhaps he should step back so she couldn’t easily reach him. “Perhaps, Miss Carrick—Hallie—you’d best go to your bedchamber and prepare yourself.”
“Prepare myself for what exactly? Oh, you mean the way I do for Jason?”
Jason shook his head, wagged his finger at her. “You baggage, where are your manners? You will shock poor Lord Renfrew. Who did you say you were, Lord Renfrew? A longtime friend of Miss Carrick’s? Perhaps a friend of her father’s? You don’t have a grandfather still living, do you, Hallie?”
“No, my father’s father died many years ago, long before I was born. My father became Baron Sherard when he was only seventeen. Genny’s father died when I was only five.”
Lord Renfrew said, “I came into my title two years ago. I am Viscount Renfrew, you know.”
“I didn’t know,” Jason said, “but it has a nice ring to it.”
“I would like my tea.”
“Certainly,” Hallie said, pouring a cup and nearly spilling it in his lap when Lord Renfrew said to Jason, “I am a very close friend of Miss Carrick’s. Indeed, it would be more accurate to say that we were beyond close. I never met her father, although I would have met both her parents if things had progressed in the smooth way they were meant to progress.”
Hallie said to Jason, “It’s hard to be smooth when one is picking flowers in another garden, don’t you think?”
The air pulsed with hot silence, until Jason said, voice limp as a dead lily, “So you excel at growing flowers, my lord? Perhaps you will give us advice on what to do with our gardens. My mother planted the primroses beneath the front windows. Alas, neither Hallie nor I have much of an eye for blooms.”
“I don’t either,” Lord Renfrew said, and added a fourth spoonful of sugar to his tea.
“Then why would you be picking flowers? Oh, I see, you are a romantic, not a connoisseur.”
Lord Renfrew stirred another spoonful of sugar into his tea. It was nearly painful to watch him drink it, but Jason nodded and continued to smile.
“Look here,” Lord Renfrew said, waving his teacup, so full of sugar Hallie was surprised he could lift it, “none of this is to the point.”
“What is the point?” Jason asked politely.
“It is very strange to have a lady standing whilst the two of us are sitting.”
“Possibly so,” Jason said. “However, unlike you, I am not slurping tea in a lady’s presence. I think Hallie must realize how thoughtful and polite I am, thus making her more accommodating.” He gave her a smile that would have made Mrs. Millsom swoon again.
Lord Renfrew saw that smile, knew there was power in that damned smile, and it burned him to his feet. Bastard, damned toad of a second-son bastard. He’d always recognized that the Sherbrooke twins were considered very handsome men, but since he himself wasn’t an affliction to the female eye and had always been admired by both men and women—perhaps women a bit more than men, as he’d been told many times—he hadn’t begrudged them their additional dollop of physical beauty. He did now. He saw the clout of that beautiful face aimed at Hallie, and hated the man to his toes. He wanted to seduce her, he wanted her money. This wasn’t to be borne. “Miss Carrick, I am Lord Grimsby’s guest, Viscount Merlin Grimsby of Abbott Grange. I am here to ask you to attend a ball this Thursday evening, a ball in my honor, and you would be my special guest.”
Jason leapt to his feet. “A ball? Did you say a ball? I haven’t been invited to a ball since my return to England. I would be delighted to attend, my lord. I shall bring Hallie with me. Do you have a suitable gown, Hallie?”
“Will it be a costume ball, sir?”
“No. It will be a regular sort of ball. Actually, Mr. Sherbrooke, I only—”
“I believe I packed away a lovely medieval maiden’s gown in one of my trunks. A pity it isn’t a costume ball.”
“I am certain the gown is lovely, Miss Carrick—Hallie—but it is, as I said, a regular sort of ball. Mr. Sherbrooke, about the ball, I can only invite—”
“I know what you are thinking, my lord,” Jason said, “and you are right to be concerned that I have been out of civilized England for too long, that I have nothing fashionable to wear. I will ask my brother. He’s the viscount, you know, and he is always a well-dressed fellow. Sometimes he gives me his last-year britches, sometimes even his coats. Very few stains since his valet is such a superb fellow.
“As for Hallie, I believe my brother’s wife could lend her something. Don’t worry, my lord, both of us, I fancy, will look quite dashing.”
“Miss Carrick is rich; she has many gowns, all lovely. Besides, since she is rich, surely she wouldn’t lower herself to borrow anything from your blasted sister-in-law.”
Hallie said, “I must say it’s ever so predictable you remembered the groats in my pockets, though I’m not surprised. I think a ball would be delightful. Thank you for inviting us. Jason, do you know Lord Grimsby?”
“Oh yes, though I haven’t seen him in a long time, since James and I were at Oxford and observed him with a delightful young lady who, I believe, was no relation to him at all.”
“Now, see here, Mr. Sherbrooke. Lord Grimsby wasn’t all that old then.”
Hallie said, “Isn’t Lord Grimsby married?”
“I was being indelicate,” Jason said. “When James and I were quite small, Lord Grimsby let us ride his prize pigs, big pigs, you understand, so fat they could barely walk and thus weren’t hazardous to the health of two three-year-old boys.”
“Your father let you ride pigs?”
Jason nodded. “He said if we could stay on Ronnie and Donnie’s backs for three minutes without sliding off, we would be ready for our own ponies.”
Lord Renfrew said, disdain radiating from his lovely tall self, “I have never ridden a pig in my life.”
“Well, I haven’t since I was three-and-a-half and my father set me on my first pony. How about you, Hallie?”
“I wish I had the memory of a fat pig from my childhood, but alas—you know that my father and I sailed everywhere when I was little and the deck rocked too much for livestock to roam about.” She turned to Lord Renfrew. “Perhaps you were too young to remember your pig-riding.”
“Of course I would remember. I don’t.” He shut his mouth. He was in Bedlam. This was absurd, ridiculous. Both his host and hostess were smiling at him, ready to offer him more tea, ready to misunderstand
what he said. He rose, bowed in Hallie’s direction, sighed, knew there was no hope for it. It was either both or none. “I will see you Thursday night. Mr. Sherbrooke, it’s been pleasurably irksome to meet you.”
He bowed again and nearly ran from the drawing room. They heard Petrie’s rapid footsteps toward the front door. “Oh, my lord, do give me just a moment. The door is heavy, it must be opened just right. I am re-prepared, and at your endless service.”
They didn’t hear a word from Lord Renfrew. The front door closed, a bit on the loud side. A moment later, Petrie appeared in the drawing room doorway. “How very odd, Master Jason, the gentleman didn’t take his hat or cane, and you can be sure I held them both out to him.”
CHAPTER 24
The Dauntry mare, Penelope, was made at home in the stall next to Delilah’s, where it soon became apparent that they didn’t like each other. Jason and Hallie watched Henry jerk Delilah back before she could sink her healthy yellow teeth in Penelope’s lovely chestnut neck.
“It’s because of Dodger,” Jason said to Hallie. “Both Delilah and Penelope want him. They know they’re beautiful, used to winning, and have sharp teeth. What will we do?”
“Let them tear each other’s manes out,” Hallie said.
Jason laughed. “What a sight that would be. No, it’s a sight I never want to see again in my life. Put her in the end stall, Henry.”
Henry looped Penelope’s lead reins around his hand. Her new accommodation was probably too close to Dodger’s stall because Delilah whinnied, tossed her head, and kicked out, making the wood shudder. As for Piccola, she continued to chew on her hay, her eyelids heavy. Dodger looked up to see what the excitement was about, saw Penelope swaying toward him, and nodded his big head. “I swear his ears perked up,” Jason said, “when Penelope came into his view.”
Henry called over his shoulder, “I will take his sultanship into a paddock so we’ll have no more carryings-on between the ladies.”
Hallie said slowly, “I don’t think I have laughed so much in a very long time.”
“With Elgin hanging about, I can believe it. You’re lucky to be rid of him.”
She shuddered. “I once thought he was very amusing.” She turned to leave the stables, paused a moment, turned back to him. “But not now. I am going to try to balance our expenditures with our profits. Will you check my figures later?”
He nodded, watched her stride back toward the house. He remembered the Wyndhams—the laughter, the shouting, the arguing, natural to a house with four young children. He missed that very much.
Both Jason and Hallie met at the top of the stairs at eight-thirty the evening of the Grimsby ball. They stared at each other.
Jason, because he was older, more experienced, more used to dealing with ladies than Hallie was dealing with men, said easily as he took her arm, “I don’t know, Hallie. Corrie has this lovely pale green gown that is the perfect shade for you. But this blue? Don’t mistake me, it’s lovely, and I’m sure the style of the gown is fashionable, but the truth? That particular shade of blue makes you the slightest bit sallow.”
She poked him in the stomach with her left fist.
He grinned down at her. He was so beautiful in his formal evening clothes it would make any living female so dizzy with excitement, she just might fall over, or vomit. “All right, not a sallow patch can I see on you. You look quite the thing. I’m glad Martha kept your hair simple, the braids look very fine on you.”
“She told me she’s the best braider this side of London, that the profusion of crimped curls defeat her. She patted my hair when she was done with me, said better braids for me than little sausages. As for you, Jason—” She drew a deep breath. It wouldn’t be wise to tell him the truth—that he looked like a god, so absolutely perfect, every artist in the world would have wanted to sculpt him, or paint him, or murder him when their wives got a look at him.
Thankfully, Petrie called out from the foot of the stairs before she could say something stupid, “Ah, Master Jason, every lady between the ages of fifteen and one hundred and five will believe you have the best valet in the entire world. It’s a treat you are to the senses, sir, a treat. Forgive me, Miss Hallie, you look as lovely as one could expect a female to look. Ah, isn’t this exciting? Our first ball in the neighborhood.”
“As for me what, Hallie?” Jason asked.
“I had a temporary affliction of my brain,” Hallie said. “Forget it, Jason.”
He was grinning as Angela came out of the drawing room looking like a fairy queen, all in pink and white lace. “Oh my dears, both of you look splendid. Oh dear.”
“What’s wrong, Angela?” Jason asked her, taking a quick step toward her. Since he hadn’t released Hallie’s arm, he pulled her with him.
“It’s Cook.”
“What about her?”
“She’s breathing hard. I fear the worst.”
Jason spun around to see Mrs. Millsom standing not two feet from him, staring up at him. He caught her before she hit the floor.
Jason, Hallie, and Angela didn’t arrive at Lord Grimsby’s lovely old manor house, Abbott Grange, built during the early years of Queen Anne’s reign, until nine o’clock. The night was warm, little gusts of wind stirred the oak branches, and the moon nearly full.
“What a perfect night to be out and about,” Angela said, and patted Hallie’s knees. “Or inside and about, for that matter. And you will have a lovely visit with your family, Jason. How very nice of your father to lend us one of his carriages. I hear that your father has known Lord Grimsby forever.”
Hallie said, “Will your grandmother attend as well, Jason?”
“Yes, I believe so. Do you know, I’ve never seen her dance? My father told me once when she was young, she danced until the sunrise. However, since Angela will be there, who knows?”
Angela said, “Lydia told me yesterday she was coming. I told her you would dance with her, Jason. James as well.”
“If she can meander around the dance floor with her cane, we should have no problem,” Jason said.
Hallie said, “I plan to ask James if he has fond memories of the pigs.”
“He will,” Jason said. He gave Angela a grin to smite her dead.
“Poor Cook,” Angela said.
“Don’t encourage him, Angela. His head is already so big—not much heft up there to speak of, just air—it’s ready to float.”
Abbott Grange sprawled over a half acre, every window filled with light, probably a good five hundred candles lit, Hallie thought, wondering at the expense and the sheer number of fingers required to light that many tapers. There were more carriages than Hallie could count lined along the entire perimeter of the long drive. After Angela and Hallie were handed down by two liveried servants who looked to Jason as if they’d come directly from a boxing match, he thanked John Coachman, whose name was really Benjie, and slipped him a bottle of Mr. McFardle’s fine ale from his tavern in Blaystock.
“This could be in London,” Hallie said behind her hand as the three of them joined another dozen guests wending up the wide, deep stone steps past liveried servants holding flambeaux high above their heads. They were no sooner announced to the sixty or so guests in the Grimsby ballroom, than a young man’s voice said, “By all that’s wicked, isn’t it Jason?”
A lady’s voice said, “I believe it must be since the girl with him isn’t James’s wife.”
“Jason, is that really you? You’re home at last?”
“This is the young lady who—”
“Jason, you look tanned as we ever did in the summer as boys. Remember that time at Punter’s Pond?”
“She’s far too pretty to be a partner. Look at that gown.”
“My God, man, it’s been too long. Welcome home.”
Jason was laughing, shaking hands, clapping backs, a huge smile on his face, and he didn’t let go of Hallie’s hand. He introduced her and Angela to all the gentlemen and ladies who crowded around him. Hallie curtsied, nodded, pr
esented her right hand to be kissed a dozen times, and smiled. The ladies were a bit on the cool side, but as Jason had said when they’d first walked in, “They’re my friends. They’ll accept you fast enough.”
“Goodness,” Angela said from beside Hallie, fanning her face. “Our Jason certainly knows everyone. He’s very popular, Hallie. Is this ball really in honor of Lord Renfrew?”
Hallie said, “Difficult to believe. Now, a lovely get-together for his hanging, that I can believe. He’s over there, Angela, speaking with that young lady with all the black hair. Drat, he’s coming this way.”
Lord Renfrew swept down on her, ignored Jason, and took her hand in his. She gave a little tug, but he wasn’t about to let go. He gave her a man’s look that she recognized quickly enough, and asked her to waltz.
She chanced to see a half a dozen ladies, none of them older than she was, coming straight at Jason in the form of a wedge, the lead girl a lovely blonde, no more than eighteen, with an impressive chest that was on prominent display. Jason was trading jests with a man he appeared to have known since he was born, unaware of the approaching armada. She smiled up at Lord Renfrew. “I am sorry, my lord, but I have already agreed to dance with Mr. Sherbrooke. I will need my hand. Would you please escort Mrs. Tewksbury over to Lady Lydia?”
The wedge was nearly on him. She heard one gentleman say, his voice near a squeak, “I remember this all too well. The devil take it. Why, I—”
Hallie grabbed Jason’s arm. “I’m saving him, sir. Jason, come along quickly or you will be swept away.”
Jason knew female determination when he saw it, grabbed Hallie’s arm, and laughed as he let her pull him through the crowd to the dance floor. The musicians had just started up a rousing waltz.
“I’ve seen your prowess on the dance floor, sir; I am ready to be impressed.”
Jason smiled down at her, clasped her firmly, and whirled her around in wide circles for nearly five minutes. Hallie was panting when he finally slowed. “That was quite wonderful, Jason.”