A Season of Romance Read online

‘Good. Good. I am so glad that you like it. Come down when you are ready. Make sure that Bess brings up hot water so that you can wash the dust from your hands. One cannot be too careful.’

  Adela assured her that she would take the greatest possible care and gently ushered her mother from the room, biting her lip to prevent a smile from escaping. She meant well but was hopelessly unrealistic.

  ‘Well, Bess,’ Adela said, sitting on the edge of the large tester bed and bouncing up and down to check the quality of the mattress, ‘I suppose we had best turn our thoughts to hot water.’

  Bess smiled. ‘I’ll pop down and fetch some. I’ll be but a minute.’

  Adela perched on the window seat as she awaited Bess’s return. She watched a blackbird pecking at berries and enjoyed the sound of a thrush sitting on a branch and singing its heart out. She felt a great weight lifting from her shoulders now that she had persuaded her mother to return to London on the pretext of wanting to involve herself in society. Nothing could be further from the truth. The prospect of society held no pleasures for Adela, but was preferable to her cousin’s unwanted attentions.

  Mama had lost her senses when Papa’s influenza turned into something more serious, eventually claiming his life. He had come through countless battles unscathed, yet fell victim to a cold. Adela shook her head at the irony. She had been seventeen at the time but had been required to take control and become the parent, nursing her mother through her grief and making decisions on behalf of them both.

  Their first port of call upon their return to England after endless delays had been Ripon, where Adela had consulted with her father’s lawyer. She wanted no misunderstandings about what property now belonged to her and Mama. Not the estate, obviously, but the carriage and horses that had conveyed them to London had belonged to Papa, and he’d had the foresight to list all such items of value and have them authenticated by his man to avoid unseemly wrangling.

  Daniel had been obliged to behave in a civil fashion because Mama insisted that they stay with him in what had once been the family home. Adela couldn’t think of any reason to oppose that suggestion, even though she disliked and mistrusted her cousin. He had been a cruel child, and upon making his reacquaintance as an adult Adela didn’t think that his character had changed a great deal during the intervening years. She saw the malice in his eyes when valuable ornaments excluded from his estate were carefully packed up for transporting to London.

  The onset of maturity had simply taught him to hide his true nature from those with whom he was not intimate, projecting himself as a caring and considerate young man. Adela was forced to admit that his superficial charm and suave good looks aided his cause, but she wasn’t fooled. She still recalled the way he once tormented a kitten for his own amusement when he had been fifteen and she’d been eight. He regularly bullied the stable lads into redoing work that had already been adequately completed when he came to visit, simply because he enjoyed exerting his authority.

  And now he was the Earl of Ripon, with a crumbling house and an estate that would take him years to turn profitable. She knew he had coveted the title, impatiently waiting for Adela’s father to die and living in fear that Mama would provide him with a healthy son and heir before he did so. But Adela had remained the only child and now Daniel had got what he wanted. She hoped he would find contentment—and stay as far away from her as possible.

  Adela suggested making their way to London as soon as her business with Papa’s lawyer had been concluded. She was uncomfortable with Daniel and disliked the amount of attention he lavished upon her. But Mama, probably at Daniel’s suggestion, found increasingly bizarre reasons to prolong their stay and began to drop heavy hints about Daniel being excellent husband material.

  Adela shuddered at the thought. She would prefer to die an old maid than allow such a man to have control over her. Besides, she sensed that it was not her that was the attraction, but her fortune, and the London house in particular. She knew from her father’s lawyer that he had assumed he would inherit it. He kicked up a terrible fuss when he discovered that was not the case, demanding proof and when it was produced, falling just short of accusing Papa of fraud. He insisted that his uncle had assured him Eaton Square would one day be his, but faced with a solid wall of legal opposition was eventually obliged to concede defeat. He had been careful to conceal his bitterness from Mama, but Adela had seen straight through his avarice.

  Bess returned with the hot water, distracting Adela from her introspective thoughts. Adela washed her hands and face and tidied her hair, then returned to the drawing room, where refreshments awaited them.

  ‘I shall drop a note to Lady Blenkinsop and let her know we are home,’ Mama said, sipping her tea and looking more animated than she had since Papa’s death. Adela had hoped London would have that effect upon her. Mama insisted that she had always enjoyed the hustle and bustle of a season in full swing. Hopefully it would help her to recover her spirits.

  ‘I think that is a very good idea,’ Adela said. ‘I shall enjoy seeing her again.’

  ‘What invitations shall we accept? Balls, parties, musciales, routs. I declare we have been invited everywhere.’

  Adela smiled. ‘Perhaps we should settle in first.’

  ‘Nonsense, my dear. You need to be seen. We must visit the modiste’s establishment first thing tomorrow and order you some new gowns.’

  ‘I have more than enough. I ordered a dozen before we left Paris—at your insistence, if you remember. Parisian fashions are á la monde according to you.’

  ‘Quite. But even so, I had forgotten how demanding a season can be. It wouldn’t create the right impression if you wear the same gowns too often. We must have a small, select soiree here as well, just so that you can be admired by the people that matter. And then…’

  Adela sipped her tea and allowed her mother to rattle on. She herself was not thinking about parties, ball gowns or dancing, but about horses. She wondered how quickly she could purchase a suitable mount, and vowed to speak with their coachman at the earliest opportunity. He would be able to advise her.

  Chapter Two

  ‘I am thinking of taking a sabbatical.’ Lord Ezra Bairstow, the Duke of Kingston’s only son and heir, reclined in a comfortable armchair in a quiet corner in the reading room at Boodle’s and made his casual announcement. ‘A prolonged one. My work for you is over.’

  The gentleman seated across from him called himself Gaunt, although that was not his real name. He worked at the heart of British politics, a faceless power behind the throne with the thankless responsibility for restoring relations and trade with Europe now that Napoleon had finally been defeated. He frowned at Ezra. ‘Good heavens, man. You’re in demand more than ever now. You can’t scuttle off quite yet. Your country needs you.’

  ‘Balderdash! I have spied for you for five years. There are no more secrets to be unearthed. Besides, we are now allies with the French.’

  Gaunt chuckled. ‘Hardly that. There are always secrets left to ferret out, my friend, and no one is more dogmatic or devious in that regard than you.’

  Ezra permitted his amusement to show. ‘If that’s supposed to entice me back into the saddle then you are wide of the mark. Your compliments are less than poetic.’

  Gaunt ignored the comment. ‘There are dozens of men who worked against British interests but were never exposed as traitors, and now pass themselves off as staunch and long-standing patriots. It makes me sick to think of all the sacrifices made by others, only for them to strut about, pretending to have always been loyal to King and country. Just because we are now at peace, it doesn’t follow that their crimes should go unpunished.’

  ‘Fine. Punish away.’ Ezra threw his head back and closed his eyes. ‘Nothing to do with me. I’ve grown weary of this game.’

  Gaunt allowed one of his significant pauses, causing Ezra to wonder what he was about to throw at him next. ‘You will know that Lady Gantz and her daughter have returned to London,’ he remarked casuall
y.

  This intelligence caused Ezra’s eyes to fly open. ‘Why the devil should I know a thing like that?’

  ‘I assume Lady Blenkinsop would have told you.’

  Ezra took a sip of Boodles’ excellent burgundy and savoured it on his tongue for a moment before allowing it to trickle slowly down his throat. ‘She is my aunt, not my informant.’

  ‘Gantz reported to you. You don’t believe he died of a snivelling cold any more than I do. So what’s to be done about it?’

  ‘What I believe doesn’t signify.’ Ezra lifted one shoulder in an elegant shrug, even though the subject far from disinterested him. ‘We must assume that whatever information he carried died with him.’

  ‘Wouldn’t be so sure about that, old chap.’ Gaunt’s relaxed pose mirrored Ezra’s, but both men were actually sharp and alert. The subject of Gantz’s murder, since that is what Ezra firmly believed it had been, stuck in his craw. He had failed a man whom he both liked and respected, a man who had risked his own life countless times in pursuit of a common cause, and the desire for revenge was never far from the surface.

  ‘You still think he was poisoned?’

  Ezra could have bitten his tongue off when the question found a way past it. He fully intended to find a way to avenge Gantz that didn’t involve him in Gaunt’s nefarious webs of intrigue. Ezra really had had enough of spying, political games and the dangerous liaisons that he sometimes barely managed to escape from unscathed. Excitement was all very well, but Ezra had responsibilities and couldn’t afford to push his luck indefinitely.

  ‘I’m sure of it. Foaming at the mouth, he was. Died within twenty-four hours. Never heard of a fever anything like it. Gantz was a fit, battle-hardened soldier. A head cold wouldn’t have killed him. But I can tell you this. No one we suspect of double-dealing got anywhere near him, so how was the poison administered?’

  Ezra shrugged, able to think of dozens of ways. ‘A servant bribed, I should imagine.’

  ‘Either way the daughter took control, kept everyone away from him once he was taken ill—but by then the damage was done. She conducted negotiations with High Command. He was buried in Spain, of course. No help for that. Then she comforted the distraught mother and got them back to England. Remarkable gal.’

  That information earned the elevation of both Ezra’s brows. ‘I saw her once or twice in Brussels, but we were never introduced. The chit would still have been a child when Gantz died.’

  ‘Seventeen at the time, now almost nineteen. Very capable by all accounts.’

  ‘Evidently.’ Ezra returned both feet to the ground and sat forward in his chair, waving an acknowledgement to an acquaintance who walked past. ‘If the information regarding the traitor’s identity was still amongst Gantz’s possessions, the girl would have found it by now and asked questions.’

  ‘An innocuous coded message? Unlikely.’

  ‘Then she most likely destroyed it.’

  Ezra set down his empty glass and shook his head at the hovering steward, declining a refill. ‘Then there’s nothing I can do. The identity of the traitor died with Gantz. Or Gantz died at his hand. I won’t upset the girl by asking indelicate questions. Besides, if anyone knows the answers it’s more likely to be the mother.’

  This time it was Gaunt who shook his head emphatically. ‘Empty-headed. The girl’s the one with the brains.’

  Ezra stood, having none of it. ‘You will have to excuse me. I have another engagement.’

  ‘Just keep an eye on the Gantz girl for me, old chap. Won’t be too arduous. She’s not a nincompoop, by all accounts. I hear she and her mother spent their first two months back in England as guests of her cousin, the new earl.’

  ‘Delightful,’ Ezra replied, quelling the desire to yawn.

  ‘My spies tell me that her cousin was sniffing around her petticoats, but she gave him the cold shoulder.’

  Ezra, who’d had the questionable pleasure of meeting the cousin at a couple of society events and found little to admire, conceded that the girl had excellent taste. ‘I dare say our paths will cross,’ he said, aware that he wouldn’t shake Gaunt off unless he made some sort of vague promise. Besides, he’d never admit it, but his own curiosity was piqued by the girl’s capabilities. Gaunt never offered false praise. What’s more, if he believed that the traitor they’d been chasing around half of Europe for five years was still alive and active, the chances were he was right. ‘My aunt and Lady Gantz came out together and have maintained their friendship—but of course I’m not telling you anything that you don’t already know.’

  ‘Let me know what you find out.’

  Ezra gave a wave and sauntered away, his thoughts turning to a decent game of cards. He didn’t actually have an alternate engagement. He had been thinking about calling upon his mistress, but decided against it. The lady’s charms were starting to wane. Cards would be more entertaining.

  *

  ‘We shall have to go to London, and soon.’

  Daniel, the new Earl of Ripon, swilled the wine around his glass, dissatisfied with the vintage. Like everything else his tight-fisted uncle had left for him to inherit, it was of poor quality. All the good stuff was long gone. Either drunk by the servants left to run the place or purloined by his conniving cousin, Adela.

  ‘I entirely agree,’ Daniel replied, quietly seething at the injustices visited upon him. ‘There is little entertainment to be had in this backwater.’

  ‘If you had tried harder with Adela, we wouldn’t be in this situation.’

  ‘I shouldn’t have to try, Mother. She should be glad to be noticed by me.’

  ‘True, my dear, but sometimes young gels require a little romancing. I know I did at her age.’

  ‘You were a rare beauty. My cousin most emphatically is not, so she ought to be pathetically grateful.’

  Daniel’s mother preened. ‘Oh, Adela is not so very plain. She is not beautiful, I’ll grant you, but she has a certain presence. A spirit that is not displeasing, even if her outspokenness and inability to remember her place is. Once must make allowances, I suppose. She had been dragged across the continent these past ten years like an unwanted parcel and hasn’t been taught how to behave. Anyway, it shouldn’t matter to you what she looks like. Her fortune is your only purpose. As it will be for dozens of other young bucks once word of her wealth spreads. She will be besieged, and her head will swell from all the attention. Best stake an early claim.’

  ‘I have no actual claim, other than kinship.’ The words slipped past Daniel’s tightly gritted teeth. He hated making the admission, but his mother knew the truth. She was a great deal more devious than him and he would follow her advice.

  ‘Then exert yourself.’

  Daniel twisted his lips, at both the taste of the wine and his mother’s suggestion. ‘I’ve tried being nice to her, but she appears disinterested. I don’t see what else you can expect me to do. I can hardly invade her bedchamber.’ Although he was willing to concede that the idea held merit. She had a very trim figure. Slim hips and firm, full breasts…but it would be best not to think about such arousing attributes in front of his mother. Wouldn’t be appropriate. ‘I suppose I could make myself her escort, deter others. If we’re living in her house it would seem natural.’

  ‘We shall have to live there. We have no alternative.’

  ‘Precisely my point. Lodgings in London at the height of the season are ruinously expensive. Besides, my aunt invited us. It would be impolite not to accept her offer.’

  ‘True, but we ought to delay a while. Otherwise it will make us look too needy.’

  Daniel’s ironic laugh owed little to humour. ‘We are needy. I finally get the title I’ve waited years to inherit. I mean, who else has an uncle who came through the entire war with Napoleon without meeting a glorious death?’ Daniel snorted. ‘It could only happen to me. But when he does finally turn up his toes, what do I get? This pile crumbling around my ears, this millstone, with no blunt to set it to rights. Adela knows
that and probably laughed behind my back the entire time she was here. She saw how little I’ve been able to do to put things right, so being shown up as needy hardly signifies.’

  ‘Stop sounding so sorry for yourself, Daniel. It isn’t seemly in a gentleman. We could stay with Lord and Lady Jordan, if you would prefer.’

  Daniel probably looked as shocked as he felt. ‘Hardly proper.’

  ‘It’s entirely proper. Lady Jordan is a leading hostess who is accepted everywhere.’

  ‘And you were her husband’s paramour for years. Everyone knows it. Neither of you were exactly discreet. I was ribbed about it endlessly at school.’

  ‘Don’t be vulgar, dear.’ His mother straightened her shoulders and patted a stray curl back into place. ‘That was years ago and Lady Jordan was glad to have his attentions distracted from her. We have a standing invitation to join them for as long as we like, and Adela won’t suspect you of pursuing her if we don’t jump at the opportunity to stay with her. If Adela sees you with other females, on the other hand, it might make her think again. Every woman wants what she cannot have—or what she already looks upon as hers without actually realising it.’

  ‘And what would that be?’ Daniel suppressed a yawn, bored with the subject.

  ‘She loves this house. It showed in her expression when she first arrived, and I dare say she would like to be tucked up here again, using her money to put it to rights. That will keep her occupied while you and I live in Eaton Square.’

  ‘It all sounds delightful,’ Daniel replied, taking a swig of his inferior wine. ‘But I think you are underestimating Adela. All that wandering about abroad has made her independent.’

  ‘All it requires is a little effort on your part. The young ladies will flock to you in droves because you have a title and are handsome—’

  ‘With pockets to let.’

  His mother flapped her hand, dismissing his impecunious state as nothing more than a mild inconvenience. ‘There are plenty of heiresses for you to look over. I dare say you won’t have much trouble charming whichever of them takes your fancy. None of them hold two sensible thoughts in their heads at any one time. They dream only of being swept off their feet by dashing suitors and gaining a husband ahead of their rivals.’