Forsters 04 - Romancing the Runaway Read online

  “Possibly, but most of the girls at Miss Frobisher’s establishment were from better families than mine. I was only accepted there because I have a decent brain.”

  “Your scholastic accomplishments raised the tone of the establishment?”

  “Possibly, but I’ve always known that I won’t be accepted by the gentry, nor do I wish to be.”

  Gabe opened his mouth to argue, and then closed it again. She was right, and sensible enough to know it. Her father had been a cit, and as such society’s doors would be closed to her.

  “Believe me when I tell you that the delights of the ton are greatly exaggerated.”

  “Is that why you’re not there now?”

  He smiled at her. “It’s possible to have too much of a good thing.”

  “I dare say you’re pursued by young ladies the entire time you’re there.”

  Her candour was invigorating. “Why would you think that?”

  “Really, Lord Gabriel, are you so anxious for compliments that you pretend not to know what a valuable commodity you actually are?”

  “A commodity?” Gabe’s lips twitched. “What a charming description.”

  “You know exactly what I mean. Any graduate of Miss Frobisher’s academy is aware that single young gentlemen deemed suitable for admittance to the ton are fair game on the marriage mart. My fellow students raison d’être and their only topic of conversation was the best ways in which to find suitable husbands. And,” she added, her eyes sparkling across the space that separated them, “how to make a good impression on the best prospects before the competition.”

  Gabe laughed. “That’s true enough, but—”

  “I don’t think you actually appreciate just how many shattered hearts your family alone are responsible for.”

  Gabe probably looked as confused as he felt. “I’m not sure I understand your meaning, Miss Cantrell.”

  “Louisa Marshall was the authority on eligible partis—”

  “Lord Marshall’s daughter?”

  Miss Cantrell arched a brow. “You are already acquainted with Louisa?”

  “I know Marshall. Don’t recall meeting the daughter.”

  “She only came out this season.”

  “Ah, that would explain it. But excuse me, I interrupted your charming explanation.”

  “Well, as I was saying, Louisa kept a journal that catalogued every eligible gentleman in terms of age, title, wealth, appearance and likelihood of being drawn into matrimony sooner rather than later.”

  “Goodness,” Gabe said faintly. “I’d be happy to learn which attribute was deemed the most important.”

  “Oh, a gentleman could be excused for being short of blunt, provided his title carried suitable gravitas to make up for that unfortunate circumstance. All my friends were agreed on that score. Although, of course, they thought it would be much better if he was well established financially also.”

  “Naturally,” Gabe said, highly entertained. “But what of his looks? Surely they played a major part in the decision-making process.”

  “Not in the least. Warts, gout, even missing limbs—especially missing limbs if they were romantically sacrificed for king and country—could be overlooked if title and wealth were sufficient.”

  “I see.” Gabe didn’t think there was anything remotely romantic about battlefield sacrifices but kept that opinion to himself. “But what of love, Miss Cantrell? Surely cupid’s arrow must be an important factor.”

  “No.” She furled her brow. “Now that you mention it, I don’t believe I heard it alluded to at all. All the young ladies would have preferred an amiable, personable partner who didn’t scold or beat them, but they were level-headed enough to realise that wasn’t a realistic expectation.”

  “Ah,” Gabe sighed. “Such cynicism in ones so young.”

  “It’s all very well for you to mock, Lord Gabriel, but young ladies of Louisa’s breeding are taught from the cradle that it’s their duty to snare suitable husbands, regardless of the dictates of their own hearts.”

  “Perhaps, but I fail to see how blame for their failures can be laid at my family’s door.”

  “Nothing could be more easily explained.” Her engaging smile heated the frozen air. “Your brother the marquess was near the top of the list.”

  “Hal?” Gabe spluttered with laughter. “Pray excuse me, Miss Cantrell, but I wish I’d known. Rob and I would have enjoyed some good sport at his expense if we had.”

  “Oh, he would have got his revenge,” she said breezily. “Don’t imagine that you and Lord Robert escaped Louisa’s eagle eye.”

  Gabe sobered immediately. “Ah, I see.”

  “There was only one person ahead of the marquess in terms of consequence. A duke, I understand, but he’s quite old and curmudgeonly and even Louisa admitted that he was unlikely to suit. Which meant your brother was every girl’s first choice.”

  “And then he married Leah. How very disobliging of him.”

  “Precisely so, although Louisa wasn’t too heartbroken since she thought he might be a little too old for her, and he was known to dislike the ton.”

  Gabe made a mental note to have his own disinclination for society more widely circulated.

  “And so,” Miss Cantrell said, her eyes sparkling with mischief, “she set her sights on Lord Robert and was very pleased with her strategy to have him notice her too.”

  “This I must hear.”

  “And so you shall.” Miss Cantrell paused to guide her horse around a fallen branch. “Louisa was nothing if not thorough in her research and knew all about Lord Robert’s interest in chess. And so she endured hours and hours of tuition in the game. Even though she hated every moment of it, her determination meant that she became quite proficient. She was all prepared for her launch into society this season, secure in the knowledge that she’d stolen a march over her rivals and had a failsafe method of attracting Lord Robert. Louisa is very beautiful, by the way.”

  Gabe, highly entertained, tried very hard not to laugh for fear that Miss Cantrell wouldn’t tell him anything more about her fellow schoolgirls’ matrimonial machinations. He’d always known that young girls went to considerable lengths to snare husbands, but hadn’t realised quite how seriously they took the matter, nor how young they were when they started their research.

  “She cried for two days together when news of an exotic Sicilian contessa reached us and it became apparent that Lord Robert was about to marry her. All that tuition at chess, for nothing.” Miss Cantrell’s lips quirked. “Such a waste. Louisa never was an attentive pupil at Miss Frobisher’s, you see. One of the reasons I was accepted into their set and my humble origins overlooked was that I could help with their homework.”

  “Presumably Louisa had someone else on her agenda in the event that her ruse with Rob failed?”

  Miss Cantrell said nothing but her lips spread into a wicked smile.

  Gabe threw up the hand not holding the reins. “Then it seems I escaped just in time.”

  She sent him a not unsympathetic look. “You must have felt like you were under siege the entire time you were in town. I can only hope that Louisa doesn’t get to hear of my being here alone with you, and how it came about.”

  “You think I might finish up with half of Miss Frobisher’s students camped out on the estate if she does?” Gabe shuddered. “That gives us another reason to keep your stay here confidential. I did save you from freezing to death, Miss Cantrell, ungentlemanly though it might be to remind you of the fact. The very least you can do in return is to protect me from your predatory friends.”

  She canted her head and shot him a challenging smile from beneath the brim of her hat. “I didn’t imagine you to be such a coward, Lord Gabriel. What possible harm can a few young ladies do to you?”

  “I will gladly slay dragons for you, Miss Cantrell, but facing your school friends is simply asking too much.” He shook his head. “A journal of eligible partis indeed.”

  “Wouldn’t you l
ike to know what it said about you in that journal?” she asked with a saucy smile.

  “Absolutely not! In this case, ignorance is most definitely bliss.”

  Gabe turned Murphy along a path that wouldn’t take them past the barn Miss Cantrell had hidden in. He imaged she’d prefer not to see it again for a while—if ever.

  “If you knew, you would be better prepared to face them.” Her expression was full of mischief. “After all, presumably you will have to make an appearance in the ton again sooner or later and they’ll be lying in wait. I was merely trying to be helpful.”

  Her sort of help Gabe could definitely do without. “Thank you for your concern but my brothers know all the tricks when it comes to avoiding entrapment. Indeed, they invented half of them themselves and were happy to pass on their advice.”

  “Fine, but don’t say you haven’t been warned.”

  “Warning duly noticed.”

  Miss Cantrell changed the subject. “How lovely it must be to have such a large family.” She sighed with apparent regret. “It’s only ever been Papa and me, but now it’s just me.”

  Gabe felt for her, even though he didn’t think she’d made the statement to invoke his sympathy. She would be a grave disappointment to her friend Miss Marshall for not exploiting her current situation to her advantage. But then, if she did that, he probably wouldn’t feel compelled to keep her here. Miss Cantrell had lost her father when she was at an impressionable age and clearly felt unloved when, vulnerable and in mourning, she removed to the Peacock’s household. He was glad, suddenly, for Miss Frobisher’s regime. At least Miss Cantrell had had some sort of stability there.

  “You yearn for a family but are determined not to marry and have one of your own?”

  “Quite determined,” she said, jutting her chin. “My desire for siblings was a momentary weakness but I’m quite recovered from it now. Besides, what you’ve never had you don’t miss.”

  They reached a sheltered piece of ground free from frost.

  “Shall we give them their heads?” Gabe suggested.

  “By all means.”

  They raced one another at a flat-out gallop for several miles. Gabe assumed he would need to hold Murphy back, just to make the contest fair. In the end it proved to be unnecessary since Miss Cantrell was more than a match for him. Murphy had a longer stride but the cob she rode was strong and fresh so the horses kept pace with one another. She leaned forward, oblivious to the chunks of hard earth thrown up by the thundering hooves, a broad smile on her face as she encouraged her mount forward. Both horses responded with enthusiasm. Her cob put in an energetic buck but Miss Cantrell merely laughed aloud and kept her seat.

  When they eventually drew rein at a stand of trees, they were neck and neck.

  “An honourable draw,” Gabe said.

  “You held back!” she cried indignantly.

  “Not at all.”

  Miss Cantrell, breathing heavily, laughed at the same time as she patted her horse’s sweaty neck. “Even so, I’ll beat you the next time,” she warned him.

  Gabe was unable to reply since his entire attention was taken up with admiring the rise and fall of her breasts as she struggled to regain her breath. Tempting was the word that sprang to mind. Yes, it suited her perfectly but Gabe now wondered if, in his desire to act honourably, he might have taken on more than he could manage in the shape of Miss Cantrell. Far from encouraging her to stay, he needed to get her away from the Hall and out of his life at the earliest opportunity, all without endangering her.

  Fortunately he enjoyed a challenge.

  “Right, this way,” he said, collecting himself.

  “This estate is vast,” she said as they continued with their tour. “A person could get lost in it for days.”

  “Which is why you won’t be discovered here. You didn’t pass through the village to get here and so no one’s seen you.”

  “How do you get to the village from here? It’s five miles by road. Is there a shorter way?”

  “Why the interest in that route?” He bestowed a suspicious glance upon his companion. “You’ve mentioned it several times.”

  “Oh, no reason.” But she appeared rather flustered. “It’s just idle curiosity, nothing more. I feel more in control if I know the geography of the place where I happen to be.” She offered him a disarming smile. “It’s been that way ever since I lost Papa and have had to fend for myself. Besides, I did warn you that I have an enquiring mind.”

  “Yes, you’re certainly inquisitive.” He pointed to a path leading to the west. “That cart track reduces the trip into the village by a good two miles. The servants use it all the time.”

  “I see.” She turned her head and regarded him with a serious expression. “No one knows I’m here, Lord Gabriel, and indeed I’ll soon be gone. Even so, we ought to talk about—”

  “Later. Let’s enjoy the outdoors for now and let our worries take care of themselves.”

  “You have a privileged man’s way of procrastinating. As though you expect your difficulties to take care of themselves because they know better than to disoblige you.”

  Gabe wondered if she realised she was being impolite, or if she was deliberately trying to provoke him. Either way, he chose not to take offence since he rather enjoyed her blunt manner. “You look on me as a procrastinator?”

  “Certainly I do.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not persuaded that you’ve taken my situation seriously. Nor do you appreciate the implications for yourself if we’re found here together. Or is it that I’m so far below you in the social order than no one will think anything of it if we’re discovered together?”

  Gabe dealt her a sharp look. “I hope you don’t actually believe what you just said.”

  She didn’t seem deterred. “What else am I to think when you refuse to take my situation seriously?”

  “Believe me, Miss Cantrell,” he said, turning Murphy in the direction of home, “I understand the matter far better than you give me credit for.”

  “Then why won’t you discuss it with me?”

  “And waste this gloriously freezing day?”

  She laughed and he sensed the tension draining out of her. “Yes, let’s not waste it.”

  Gabe pushed Murphy into a trot. “Come, let’s get back home. Your nose has turned red with cold.”

  “Thank you for pointing out my defects,” she said in a miffed tone.

  Gabe laughed. “I didn’t say it wasn’t becoming.”

  By the time they returned to the yard, they’d been out for over two hours and hadn’t covered half the estate.

  “You must be chilled to the bone,” Gabe said, taking Miss Cantrell’s arm to help her back to the house.

  “I have difficulty feeling my fingers or feet,” she admitted. “But apart from that, I’m absolutely well.”

  Gabe made sympathetic noises. “One of the perils of riding out for so long in these conditions. I should have suggested turning back before we did.”

  “And I would have been angry if you’d made allowances, or curtailed your pleasure for my sake. You wanted to check the condition of that dry stone wall on the northern perimeter.”

  “But now I suggest you have luncheon in your room and regain your strength. I have business to attend to but perhaps you’ll do me the honour of dining with me again tonight. Then,” he added, fixing her with an amused smile, “I shall be at leisure to dwell on your difficulties.”

  Chapter Five

  Miranda ascended the stairs as fast as her ankle would permit. She was encouraged to find that she could put all her weight on it and that the resulting discomfort was bearable. That was just as well since she had a long walk ahead of her that afternoon. She had a meeting to attend, and Lord Gabriel’s suggestion that she rest, tempting though the prospect might be, wasn’t a luxury she was at liberty to indulge.

  Jessie brought her a luncheon tray and Miranda ate quickly, her head full of the morning’s outing as she did so.

  �
�We found this in the attics, miss.” Jessie held up a garment she was industriously stitching. “It’s an old gown of Lady Felicity’s. She’s Lord Gabriel’s sister. The family call her Flick. Her ladyship is much shorter than you but I thought, with a little ingenuity, I could refashion it to fit you.”

  Miranda was touched by Jessie’s thoughtfulness. “You don’t need to go to all that trouble.”

  “Bless you, miss, it’s no trouble. We found this lovely Flemish lace that would be wasted otherwise so I’m fashioning a flounce to go round the hem. By the time you wake up this afternoon, it will all be finished and you’ll have another gown to show Lord Gabriel this evening.”

  Miranda glanced at the lovely sapphire blue silk and felt a deep welling of affection for kind-hearted Jessie, a woman she barely knew but who appeared intent on mothering her. She must know that Miranda wasn’t a lady in the true sense of the word and yet she treated her as though she were. Few people had made her feel anything other than useful or inconvenient since the demise of her father. “You’re too kind, Jessie.”

  “I love sewing, miss, and I know you’ll look a real picture in this gown when it’s finished. A body like yours ought to be shown off.”

  “Will Lady Felicity mind?”

  “Lord above, no. She has no further use for the gown. That’s why it was in the attic, waiting to be given a new lease of life.”

  Jessie went back to her sewing and Miranda fell to thinking again as she finished her meal. Whatever had possessed her to tell Lord Gabriel about Louisa’s list of eligible gentlemen? Her face heated. He must think her foolish and immature, and Miranda prided herself on being neither of those things. The problem was that he’d made her nervous and whenever she got nervous, she had a tendency to chatter. It was a failing that she vowed to overcome.

  But not today.

  She found it difficult to come to terms with Lord Gabriel’s chivalrous protection of her interests, in much the same way as she was embarrassed by Jessie fussing over her. His lordship probably wanted to be rid of her. He definitely expected her to do as she was told, which presumably included remaining quietly tucked away here at the Hall until he deemed it safe for her to leave. He was right to assume that Mr. Peacock would have people looking for her, and Denby was one of the obvious places to do that looking.