Читать книгу A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Murder - Dianne Freeman - Страница 9

Chapter 2

After seeing George out, I returned to the library to share the good news and was surprised to find Lily less than thrilled.

“I can’t believe you told Mr. Hazelton.”

Even Leo’s cheeks reddened, and once again he refused to meet my eye.

Dear, perhaps I shouldn’t have told him. Though I considered George as almost my husband, these three were unaware of our engagement and understandably did not see him as family. I sat down on the window seat, facing my sister and her fiancé.

And lied.

“I told him nothing, Lily. I simply stated the two of you were unwilling to wait another eight weeks and were threatening elopement.” I made a mental note to ask George to forget he knew anything about Lily’s condition.

“So he offered his family home for our wedding ceremony?” Leo looked unconvinced.

“Well, I did mention my objections to the elopement.” I shrugged. “And then he offered.”

Lily nodded and seemed to accept the idea, but Leo watched me with suspicion. “It’s possible he just guessed there might be more to your decision than impatience,” I added. “But since he made the offer of hosting the ceremony, and your family, at his brother’s home, he does not appear to be either judging nor condemning your behavior.”

At this Leo turned an even brighter red, something I hadn’t thought possible.

“Why do you hesitate?” I spread my hands. “Does this not provide the perfect solution?”

“I would say it does,” Hetty said from her perch against my desk. “But this is rather a large favor, Frances, don’t you think? I’m just a little surprised at your willingness to accept it.” She eyed me suspiciously. “This is the type of favor a close family member might offer.”

A hint of a smirk played at the corner of her lips. Aunt Hetty saw George as the perfect match for me and had hopes of a marriage between us. Knowing I had the power to send her into transports of delight tempted me sorely to tell her the truth, but with Lily and Leo in this awkward position, it was perhaps not the right time.

“Mr. Hazelton is such a close friend to us all, he feels part of the family. And for Lily and Leo’s sake, or more for their mothers’ sake, I chose not to look too closely at the propriety of accepting his offer.” I raised a brow. “Call me a coward if you must, but I’d rather not have to explain to them why their children eloped.”

Hetty’s smile gave way to a look of horror at the prospect of such a task. “No, I cannot blame you for that. But it brings to mind another bit of trouble. Daisy will be arriving with your brother in only three days. If we are all gone to Hampshire, how is she to know where to find us?”

Daisy was my mother. Though she’d been christened Marguerite, her father, an amateur botanist, quickly dubbed her Daisy, a name that bothered her not a whit until we all moved to New York, and Mother tried to break into the Knickerbocker society. To her, the name Daisy seemed too indicative of the lower classes. But her secret slipped out, and much to her disappointment, once she was known as Daisy, the name stuck.

“Leo’s parents won’t know either,” Lily said. She’d perked up a bit as if she was just beginning to realize this plan might actually work.

“Can you send a message to your parents, Leo?” I asked. “I understand they have gone to visit one of your father’s factories.”

“I’d rather not give them too much warning,” he said. “My mother would likely drag my father back home so she could orchestrate the proceedings or attempt to change our minds.” His lips twitched upward on one side. “Now it is my turn to be called cowardly, but I’d prefer to leave instructions with the butler and have them come to Risings upon their return home.”

Lily nodded her agreement, and I suppose I understood. Armed with a plan, they wanted nothing to interfere with it. Even a well-intentioned mother.

Which left only our mother to worry about.

“I suppose I can do my part and take care of Daisy,” Hetty said.

I turned to see her taking a deep breath as if bracing herself against the onslaught of my mother’s ire.

“Define ‘take care of,’ ” I said. Visions of Hetty locking Mother in a spare guest room passed through my mind.

“I’ll stay behind to meet them, tell them about the change in plans, and escort them to Risings the following day.”

“That’s very kind of you, Mrs. Chesney.” Leo looked doubtful. “Though I don’t know how else we’d manage it, are you certain you don’t mind?”

“I’m sure, my dear boy.” She leaned forward and patted his hand. “Lily’s brother, Alonzo, is accompanying Daisy on this trip. He’ll be a great help to me.”

“What about Leo’s sisters?” Lily asked. “And Mr. Treadwell.” She turned to Leo. “He’s to be your best man, is he not?”

Leo had not yet caught Lily’s excitement. His brow furrowed when he turned to me. “As long as you’re confident Mr. Hazelton won’t consider it an intrusion, I can see this is a much better solution than eloping.” The taut line of his jaw relaxed as he squeezed Lily’s hand. “And I would very much like to have my family at our wedding.”

“They were all included in Mr. Hazelton’s invitation, so you can be assured they’ll be welcome.” I glanced around at my partners in intrigue. “Are we all agreed to this plan?”

“Agreed,” Leo said with authority. “And thank you, Lady Harleigh.”

I received nods from Lily and Hetty, and that was that. I left it to Leo to take care of the travel arrangements and round up his siblings. We had our own arrangements to make, and we’d best see to our packing.

* * *

Leo shared my love of organization, and between the two of us, we managed to shuttle a mass of luggage, five maids, a valet, one nanny, and one eight-year-old to Victoria Station in time to board the train to the town of Harroway early the following morning. The adult guests, we assumed, could manage their own transport to the station.

Yet, as the time drew near to depart, six of us found ourselves on the platform, tapping our toes as we waited for Leo’s elder sister, Eliza, and her husband, Arthur.

Leo craned his neck, hoping to spot his sister in the stream of fellow travelers. “Are you certain Eliza said they’d meet us?” This was the third time Leo had asked the question of Anne, his younger sister, and each time she answered with an increasing level of heat.

“They are adults, Leo. If they don’t arrive in time, I’m confident they can find their way to Risings without us.”

All the Kendrick siblings, at least the ones I’d met, resembled one another. The sisters both had a softer version of Leo’s chiseled features. All three had a downward tip to their noses, brown wavy hair, and the same eye color—coffee with a dollop of cream, yet I’d never say their eyes were alike. Leo’s were round and wide and the proverbial window to his soul. One had only to look into his eyes to know his mind and heart. Clara, the youngest had half-moon-shaped eyes that sparkled and tipped upward at the corners as if they were smiling even before she did.

At the moment, Anne’s could only be described as impatient, and I didn’t think it was all due to her sister’s tardiness.

“Miss Kendrick’s right, old man. I think we should board.” The suggestion came from Ernest Treadwell, another member of our party. We had a slight acquaintance as we moved in the same social circles. In his mid-twenties, he was tall, lean, fair, and wore an air of entitlement, hardly unusual among the young men of his class. The second son of a viscount, he would neither inherit the title nor ever want for money, as the family was enormously wealthy and his allowance generous. Nothing was expected of him but charm and good manners. He could meet those expectations when he chose to do so. He struck me as an odd friend for Leo, but they’d been close since their school days, so there must be something to Treadwell I didn’t quite see.

Leo finally agreed we should wait no longer, but as Treadwell assisted the misses Kendrick into the train car, someone hailed Leo from farther down the platform. The Durants had finally arrived.

“Just in time,” Leo said. He took my arm and assisted me up the step to the train, then turned to provide the same service for his sister.

Once inside, Arthur Durant slipped across the compartment with a nod to acknowledge the group, while Eliza stood in the doorway blocking Leo’s entrance. Shifting her to the side, he moved around her and introduced the two of us.

Eliza had her mother’s good looks—a flawless complexion, rounded cheeks, pointed chin, and golden-brown hair—combined with the same wide, brown eyes as Leo. Hers narrowed upon spotting Treadwell.

“Good morning, Mrs. Durant.” Treadwell touched the brim of his hat and gave her a crooked smile. “So pleased you could join us.”

With a sniff, Eliza took a seat next to me. “Forgive us for being so tardy,” she said. “I had such a difficult time convincing Durant to accompany me. He was most determined to stay at home and see to business.”

“Right. Seems as though someone ought to.” Durant had removed his hat and overcoat and balanced a document case on his knees. The lines between his dark brows led me to believe the scowl he wore was of a permanent nature. It made him look older than I suspected him to be, but with a beard covering his jawline and chin, and spectacles blurring his eyes, I found it difficult to venture a guess at his age, though his disposition was easy to read. I might pity Eliza if she did not look equally irritable.

As Leo hadn’t known how many of his siblings would be traveling with us, he’d taken a first-class compartment in a Pullman car. This was fortunate since we were eight now that the Durants had arrived. There was plenty of room inside for all of us, but I was still pleased I’d decided to have Rose travel with Nanny, Bridget, and the other maids. Rose’s manners were good, but I didn’t know if they’d stretch to accommodate the two-hour trip.

I needn’t have concerned myself. The train was barely underway when the bickering began between Leo’s younger sisters.

I’d met Clara and Anne at my first dinner with Leo’s parents. Anne had impressed me as an intelligent young woman, not yet married at the age of twenty-three. I felt certain she’d love nothing more than to join her father in the world of business. As that was not an option, she occupied herself with lectures, committees, and reading. Leo’s youngest sister, Clara, not yet eighteen, wanted nothing more than parties, balls, and fetes. Hardly uncommon pursuits at her age. Though they had their differences, they had seemed well-mannered and got on as well as any two sisters might. I now suspected that amity was due to the presence of their parents.

Within fifteen minutes of our departure, I was to find out what they were like without the watchful eye of their mother. The compartment we occupied was spacious and fitted out with comfortably upholstered chairs situated against both the forward and rear walls, carpet, curtains, and a table along the side, all of which made it feel like a smallish sitting room. Leo and Durant took two seats along one side of the compartment and made a makeshift desk between them, leaving not quite two seats beside them. Regardless, Anne and Clara chose to squeeze into the space. The result was explosive.

“You are sitting on my dress!”

Anne looked up from her book and rearranged the skirts between them. Peace reigned for less than thirty seconds.

“Stop reading over my shoulder,” Anne said, never lifting her eyes from the book.

“I am not reading over your shoulder. Who but you would want to read such boring, dusty old tomes? Why didn’t you bring a novel to read?”

“If I did, you would read over my shoulder.”

“Aha! So you admit I am not now reading over your shoulder.”

“If you weren’t, you would not know what I was reading. And why didn’t you bring a novel of your own if you wish to read so badly?”

The bickering continued for a quarter of an hour at least. I cast a glance at Lily sitting next to Mr. Treadwell a seat away from me. Though they were directly across from the girls, they seemed not to notice and maintained a conversation that had Lily smiling. I began to wonder if I was the only one bothered by the argument.

“The two of you are behaving like children.” The outburst came from Eliza. Her fine brows were drawn together, her dark eyes narrowed. As she leaned in toward her sisters, her profile to me, she looked for all the world like a hawk poised to attack her younger siblings. “I’d expect you to behave better in company than you do at home.”

Her rebuke seemed rather harsh. The two sisters jerked back in surprise, but in the space of time it took to draw a breath, they joined forces against Eliza, and the worst kind of caterwauling ensued.

Through it all, Leo and his brother-in-law remained oblivious. The two men busied themselves with some documents, though how they were able to concentrate at all amazed me. I could take it no longer.

“Anne.”

All three young ladies turned their gazes on me, surprised to hear someone else speak.

“Why don’t you trade seats with me? I believe the light is better here for your reading.” I stood before she could answer, giving her no choice but to comply. With the exchange made, I sat on the bench next to Clara, with Lily and Treadwell now across from me. Eliza pulled out some needlework and Anne returned to her book.

Perhaps this new configuration would allow us some peace. I gave Clara a smile. Dressed in a tailored traveling suit of plum wool, her warm brown curls upswept and supporting a tiny hat with a matching plum feather, she looked very grown up. I had to remind myself she was still only seventeen and not yet “out.” “Have you spent much time in the country, Miss Kendrick?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I really haven’t traveled much outside of London. Once to Oxford when Leo was at school there. My parents travel for business of course, but they leave us at home.”

“Then this should be rather exciting for you.”

But I’d already lost her attention. I followed her gaze to Lily and Treadwell, who were still in conversation and—heavens! His hand rested atop her hand, which rested atop her knee.

It lasted less than an instant. Lily laughed and moved her hand. Treadwell pulled his back. In the next moment, he leaned forward to say something to Anne.

Lily’s expression was perfectly calm—no blush, no glance about to see if anyone had noticed. Surely, my imagination had exaggerated his touch, blown it up into something more intimate than it really was. Lily loved Leo. Of that there could be no doubt.

Treadwell was Leo’s closest friend and a gentleman. Not that a gentleman couldn’t be a bounder, but Lily had no interest in men who had nothing with which to occupy themselves but their own entertainment. She wanted a man like our father, who worked and made something of himself. I undoubtedly imagined the incident and should put it out of my mind. I glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed and caught Eliza just as she turned away, her lips tightly compressed. Perhaps I hadn’t imagined it. Would she say something to Lily? Or worse, to Leo?

“Clara, can’t you see you’re crowding Lady Harleigh?” Eliza’s tone was sharp.

This brought me from my reverie to see the girl leaning almost into my lap and nearly clipping my jaw as she shot back into her seat.

“I am not,” she said.

“You were.”

The balance of the trip continued in this manner. A short silence, followed by bickering, followed by admonishments, and a full-scale argument. When Eliza snapped at her sisters, I wondered if she was truly annoyed with them, or upset by Treadwell’s forward behavior to Lily, and taking her anger out on the girls. By the time we arrived at the Harroway station, I had reached the end of my tether and could not have suffered their company for another mile.

As the train came to a stop, I smoothed a hand over my skirts, chasing the wrinkles, and straightened my hat. Once I felt presentable, I glanced around the compartment and realized everyone waited for me.

“Shall we?”

Leo stepped around me and opened the door. Before my foot hit the first step, George reached up to hand me down. He had never looked better to me. With his homburg in hand, the sunlight cast a sheen on his dark, neatly trimmed hair. His suit was impeccable; a light gray with a darker waistcoat. And there I stood, rumpled from travel. His smile told me however disheveled I might be, he was delighted to see me.

“How lovely you’ve come to meet us,” I said, loathe to release his hand once I’d reached the platform. “I thought you’d be shooting.”

Apparently, George didn’t want to break the connection either. He brought my hand up to his chest and drew me away from my travel companions. “And miss your arrival? I wouldn’t think of it.”

We paused at the end of the busy platform to wait for the others. “How was the trip?” he asked.

“Next time, I think I’ll sit with Rose and Nanny.” I boggled my eyes. “Or perhaps the luggage.”

I brightened at the sound of his laugh. “That bad?”

“No, I am just feeling peevish.” With a sigh, I returned his hand and clasped my own in front of me. The rest of our group would soon catch up with us. “The Kendrick girls are not quite the traveling companions I’d hoped for, but all will be fine, I’m sure.”

“Then you’ll be delighted to hear I have two conveyances to take us back to Risings.”

“You are my hero,” I whispered as Lily and Leo brought the Kendrick party our way.

“We’ll have to take the footbridge to cross the tracks to the carriages,” George said. “Shall we be on our way?”

George led our little group off the platform toward the stairs with Leo by his side. I turned to see if Lily was nearby as I’d hoped to avoid sharing a carriage with the Kendrick sisters. Of course, she lagged behind. I parted my lips to urge her to keep up just as another train pulled into the station with a screeching of brakes.

I chose to save my breath until the noise subsided, but then a new disturbance caught my attention—a rumble and banging up ahead. I glanced up at the stairway to see a cart full of baggage fairly flying down the steps directly at George and Leo. I gaped in horror as bags and trunks fell off the cart and tumbled down the stairs. In one fluid motion, George clamped a hand on Leo’s arm and jumped to the side as the bags and cart landed on the pavement with a crash and a cloud of dust.