An Honest Deception (15 page)

The
next morning, both Eynsford and Lady Morgan were awake long before the
Exencours stirred between their lace-trimmed bed linens. Letitia, as always,
had much to do in caring for her children and household, so she had the comfort
of routine to steady her, despite her anxieties about her acquaintance with the
supposed Mr. Markham.

Eynsford,
however, was at the mercy of his emotions, and vexed Boothby nearly to tears by
ruining no fewer than four neckcloths before declaring himself satisfied. He
was as careful with the remainder of his attire, and his valet did at length
have the satisfaction of seeing the marquess leave his hands as perfectly
turned out as any gentleman's gentleman could hope for.

After
an unusually light breakfast Eynsford had his curricle brought round, and
Chisholm was startled to find that they were driving to Kensington with the
marquess dressed as a gentleman of fashion, rather than an aspiring solicitor.

“A
mighty fine turn out for visiting Kensington, my lord,” Chisholm said, his grin
audible in his words.

“Boothby
was pleased with my appearance Chisholm, I hope that you will also find me a
credit to you,” the Marquess replied.

“As to
that, there’s not a gentleman in the kingdom who handles the ribbons better
than you my lord. But you might spook the lady, coming to visit her in all this
state, she being a shy sort of filly, as you might say.”

“Chisholm,
I recognize that your long service with me requires me to overlook much, but I
really must ask you not to speak in such a way of the future Lady Eynsford,”
his master responded.

Chisholm
lapsed into an astonished silence, but Eynsford, who felt as though he could
hear the groom thinking, merely smiled to himself. He had no doubts that his
suit would prosper, and occupied his thoughts during the drive with happy
visions of a loving and delighted Letitia.

Nellie
was very surprised to see Mr. Markham appear on the doorstep so magnificently
attired, and even more astonished when he presented his card. Since she showed
no signs of immediately recalling her duties, Eynsford said, “I’ll show myself
up,” and left her goggling in the hall.

A few
moments thought had reminded Eynsford that Letty had forbidden him to call, and
he was reasonably certain that if presented with his card she would declare
herself not at home. Opening the door of the morning room, he found Letitia at
her desk, head bowed over her account books. Eynsford, knowing of her financial
worries, found this sight very touching, and stood for a moment, gazing at the
picture she made as the morning sun created a halo around her flaxen curls. He
longed to banish her cares, and see her anxious expression replaced with
laughter. After a few seconds, she looked up and turned towards the door,
obviously expecting a member of her staff. Briefly, her mouth formed an ‘O’ of
surprise, then a smile flitted across her face, to be replaced instantly by a
look of deep distress. She rose from her chair.

“Lord
Eynsford, last night I requested that you not call here again. I beg that you
will leave,” she said with dignity.

“My
dear Lady Morgan, I know that you are angry with me, but I
think you have misunderstood me,” he replied.

“There
is no misunderstanding, my lord. You have misrepresented yourself to me. I do
not care to continue an acquaintance with a person behaving so. I must ask
again that you leave.”

“You
have misunderstood me, because I have misunderstood myself. I disguised myself
as a solicitor because I remembered your beauty and charm. I was piqued by your
refusal to meet me again, and determined that I would do so, whether you wished
it or not. But my continued visits led me to hold you in an increasing regard,
and I have long regretted the falsehood on which our friendship was founded.”

“I can
assure you that you do not regret it half so deeply as

“Lord
Eynsford,” responded Letty with unmistakable annoyance. “It is unfortunate
that, knowing my feelings about gentlemen of fashion, you chose not to respect
them. However, I am the one most at fault here, for I was careless, and longed
for the comfort of a trusted friend. Isobel told me that I must begin as I
meant to go on, and at the first opportunity, I have allowed myself to be taken
in like the veriest fool. I am bitterly ashamed of my behavior, and your
presence in my house only serves to remind me of my folly.”

At the
end of this self-critical speech, Letty's emotional distress was plain.
Eynsford, who felt forcibly how much grief his originally light-hearted
masquerade had caused her, was overcome, and crossed the room to her, grasping
her hands in his.

“Lady
Morgan, the error is mine, but upon my word, I had no intention of distressing
you so. It was a crass folly on my part to impose on you, but I have now
realized that what I feel for you is admiration and love. Letitia, will you
marry me and make me the happiest of men?”

Letty
turned very pale. She loved Mr. Markham, she knew, but what were her feelings
for the Marquess of Eynsford? His reputation was one of a haughty and
disagreeable man, he was on great terms with the dissolute and unreliable
Prince Regent, he had deliberately deceived her over a period of months;
Letitia considered these facts and her resolve hardened.

“Lord
Eynsford, I am well acquainted with the unhappiness which can result in a
marriage when deception is the basis for relations between the parties,” she
remarked calmly. “I do not choose to enter into another such.”

“You
cannot think that I would be a husband like Lord Morgan,” said the marquess in
a surprised voice. “I think you know me better than that.”

“But I
do not know you at all, Lord Eynsford,” was the reply. “Isobel assures me that
you are an excellent friend, but I have had experience of gentlemen who are
delightful friends and dreadful husbands. As the Marquess of Eynsford, I have
seen you but once, when you were in the company of the Prince Regent, and only
respect for his position prevents further comment. I had a high regard for Mr.
Markham, but all that must now be finished. I have little reason to believe
that you are one in whom I may safely place my trust, and that of my children.”

Eynsford
heard her out, astounded. He dropped her hands and stood gazing seriously into
her lovely countenance. “You have made your feelings very plain, Lady Morgan,
and I now only wish that my folly hadn’t blinded you to the reality of my
regard and love for you. I regret our entire acquaintance if it has led to
this. But do not refuse me, I beg, without telling me how I can begin again,
and earn your trust.”

“Lord
Eynsford, there is nothing that I can tell you. I am distressed beyond words by
this entire business, and only ask you again to leave me in peace. I am not yet
even one year widowed; for me to encourage your attentions in any way would be
quite improper. I wish only to manage my house, rear my children and find
tranquility. All I ask of you is that you respect my feelings in the future as
you have not in the past.”

As she
spoke, Letty crossed the sitting room and opened the door. Good manners
demanded that Eynsford follow her lead, and he moved to the doorway.

“If you
insist, Lady Morgan, I will obey your commands,” he said. “Please accept my
sincerest apologies for any and all offenses that may be laid at my door. I
regret them deeply, and hope you will remember that I am at all times your
servant to command.”

Eynsford
took her hand, and pressed a far from casual kiss to her fingers, and strode
from the room. In the hallway the maid handed him his hat, her eyes growing
wide at his stormy countenance.

Unsmilingly,
he marched to his curricle, now pulled up respectably in front of Lady Morgan’s
home, rather than lurking in the park. Chisholm cast one look at the marquess’
face, and pressed his lips together. So, the lady had a mind of her own, he
thought. Well, his lordship had more women falling at his feet than was good
for him. Perhaps it would do him no harm to be shown that he could not always
have his way.

Letty
closed the morning room door, and stood leaning against it. She did not know
what to think; Eynsford’s proposal had astonished her. Although she had passed
an unquiet night worrying about the revelation of Mr. Markham’s identity, she
had not expected the marquess to offer her marriage the next morning. Tears
forced themselves from under her eyelids. She had lost Mr. Markham, and his
friendship would not be replaced. Under Lord Eynsford’s exquisite dress and air
of fashion, she had not been able to detect the sensible and agreeable man who
had befriended her in Kensington Gardens.

Only
when he had asked her how he might begin again, had a hint of Mr. Markham
peeped out from behind the supercilious mask of the Tulip of the Ton. Perhaps
Isobel was right, and she had sent him away to no purpose. A recollection of
Mr. Markham threatening the Bishop of Mainwaring flashed before her mind’s eye,
and Letty wondered how she could have failed to realize then that Mr. Markham
was not what he seemed. Seating herself on the sofa, she burst into tears and
indulged in a hearty cry.

Lord
Eynsford drove back to London at a furious speed, his mind churning. It had not
occurred to him for even a moment that Letitia might reject his suit. He was,
after all, the Marquess of Eynsford, perhaps the greatest prize on the Marriage
Mart. Women by the dozens threw themselves at him each Season, hoping to be the
one who could bring him up to scratch, while, should he desire a less
respectable connection, he could have his pick of the knowing society wives or
dancers at the opera house. For the past weeks he had devoted himself solely to
Lady Morgan, and now she had the temerity to hold against him a simple
deception, one that he had been forced into by her own obstinacy.

Chisholm
watched with alarm as his lordship careened around a corner, barely missing a
landau carrying an elderly gentlewoman. He opened his mouth to say something,
but, catching a glimpse of his lordship’s face, restrained himself. He would
simply have to hope that the marquess’ innate skill prevented him from
overturning the curricle.

Rather
than returning to his townhouse, Lord Eynsford drove to Eynsford House, where
he tossed the reins to a relieved Chisholm. “Wait for me,” he ordered, and
leapt down from the curricle. Striding up to the house, he rapped on the door.

“Ah,
your lordship,” said the butler as he opened the door. “Your mother will be
pleased to see you.”

The
marquess tried to arrange his features into a smile, with indifferent success.
He handed his hat and gloves to the butler. “Where is my mother, Hartby?” he
asked.

“Lady
Eynsford is in the small sitting room with Lady Emmelina,” replied the butler.

The
marquess nodded and headed up the stairs briskly. He entered the sitting room
to find his mother and his younger sister perusing the latest copy of
La
Belle Assemblée
.

“Phillip!”
Emmelina squealed, leaping to her feet and throwing herself on his chest. “How
wonderful to see you!”

The
marquess smiled down into his sister’s face, and gave her a friendly kiss on
the cheek. “How are you, my dear?” he asked.

“Oh,
lovely. But I am so bored with lessons and walking in the park with my
governess. Mama tells me that I am to come out next Season, though, so soon you
will be able to dance with me at a ball!”

“That
will certainly enliven the most boring evening for me,” he said gallantly. He
turned to his mother, who glared up at him.

“So
it’s you, is it?” she said. “I wondered what that racket was. What are you
doing here?”

Phillip
took her hand gently in his and pressed a kiss to it. “Is there any reason I
can’t visit my mother on a fine afternoon?” he asked.

“No
reason at all, except you rarely do,” she responded. “I’m not ill, Phillip, so
whatever are you doing here? Don’t you have a prize fight to watch or a horse
to bet on?”

A smile
lit Eynsford’s eyes. “You are impossible, Mother. I find I am in need of your
advice.”

Her
eyebrow shot up. “My advice? The last advice I gave you was to find a suitable
wife, but I haven’t noticed you doing that,” she commented. “What advice could
I possibly give you that you might heed?

“Ah,
but I have sought you out; your other advice was unsolicited,” countered the
marquess.

“What
is it, then?” asked the dowager. “You see me all agog.”

The
marquess cast a glance at his sister’s curious face. “Perhaps Emmelina could be
excused,” he said gently.

“Nonsense,”
said his mother. “The child comes out next season, and it will do her no harm
to hear how men of the world live. She might even learn to be careful around
gentlemen such as her brother. This isn’t about one of your lightskirts, is it?”

“It is
not,” replied Phillip, to Emmelina’s obvious disappointment. “I’ve never had
any trouble handling them.”

“So,
there’s something you can’t handle on your own, is there?” said the dowager. “Out
with it, my boy.”

The
marquess seated himself on a chair across from his mother, and then paused,
giving his sister a glance. Her eyes met his, lively with curiosity. He
shrugged.

“You
ordered me to find a woman I wish to marry,” he said. “I have done so.”

The
dowager sat up and cast him a sharp look. “Never tell you mean to offer for the
Ravenscroft girl?” she said. “My friends have done nothing but gossip about
your dances with her for the past month.”

“Of
course I don’t mean Lady Pamela,” said the marquess. “She seems like a nice
child, but I have no intention of marrying a child.”

“It’s
not that horrid Lady Mowbry is it? I won’t have it, Phillip. She may be the
daughter of a baron, but she has no
ton
.”

“No, it
is not the lovely Lady Mowbry. How do you know about these things, Mother?”

“There
is very little that you do that I do not know about, Phillip, though I usually
keep my mouth shut. Bear it in mind. And you too, Emmelina, in case you are minded
to get up to any mischief next year.”

The
marquess gave his sister a sympathetic smile. “I think that you don’t know
about this, Mother. I proposed to a woman this morning; she is well-born,
gently bred, kind, gracious, and lovely.”

The
dowager stared at him. “When are you to be married?” she demanded.

“That
is the problem,” said Phillip quietly. “She won’t have me.”

“Won’t
have you! You mean to say that she turned you down?”

“She
did indeed.”

The
dowager gaped at him. “What kind of a ninny would refuse you? Phillip, are you
trying to gammon me?”

He
shook his head. “I am not teasing you, Mother. I asked for her hand in
marriage, and she refused me.”

“Well,
I can scarcely believe it,” said the dowager.

“Nor
can I,” said the marquess. “The wind was certainly taken out of my sails. But
she had reason. I have badly deceived her.”

“Who is
this woman, and what have you done to her?” asked the dowager.

Phillip
hesitated and glanced at Emmelina. “I’ll not have her name bandied about,” he
said quietly.

“If that’s
true, she’s the first woman whose name you’ve had a care for,” snapped the
dowager. She glanced at Emmelina. “Your sister will keep her mouth shut. She’s
not such an idiot as she seems.”

Phillip
looked down at his hands. “She is Letitia Winwood.”

“Lord
Morgan’s widow?” His mother shook her head. “She’s of good stock, Phillip, and
I recall that she is quite lovely, but why a widow with children? Surely you
could find someone with fewer entanglements who actually wishes to marry you.”

“I’m
sure I could,” agreed the marquess. “But it is Lady Morgan I wish to marry.”

“What
did you do to her?”

“I beg
your pardon?”

“You’re
handsome, you’re likeable when you choose to be, you’ve a title, and you’re far
richer than you deserve to be,” observed his mother. “Women are fairly lining
up outside your door. If she won’t have you, there must be a reason.”

The
marquess looked slightly shamefaced. “I deceived her as to my identity,” he
said.

The
dowager sat back in surprise. “You did what?”

Phillip
squirmed slightly in his chair under his mother’s eagle glare. “She refused to
meet me, or to go out in public, so I put myself in her way and introduced
myself as Mr. Markham, a solicitor.”

His
mother gave a bark of laughter. “A solicitor! You look nothing like my
solicitor, I give you my word. She must be a ninny after all.”

The
marquess’ lips tightened. “She is not a ninny. She is innocent and trusting,
but she is also brave, kind, and intelligent. Besides, I had Boothby obtain a
badly-made suit for me to wear when we met.”

The
dowager laughed at the notion of her son wearing a badly-made suit, and then
paused as she digested this. “Well, she seems to have hooked you, and so there
must be something special about her. Refused to meet you, did she? That must
have stung.”

“It did.
At first I was determined to become re-acquainted with her out of curiosity,
and perhaps pique, but in the end, I found her to be everything I could wish
for in a woman.”

“Are
you sure she doesn’t know who you are and her innocence is a ruse?”

“Then
she would have accepted my proposal,” said the marquess quietly. “No, she is
quite sure that she will have none of me. She much preferred the solicitor to
the nobleman.”

“And
you want me to untangle this for you?” asked the dowager.

“I
thought you might have some advice for me,” said Eynsford. “You have it on
every other occasion.”

“My
advice, Phillip, tends to be for situations that are reconcilable. You have
treated this girl very poorly, and I imagine far more is going on here than you
have told me.” She glanced at Emmelina, who was staring at them avidly. “I
won’t go into that now. But I would have had your father’s head if he tried
such nonsense on me, and I can hardly blame Letitia Winwood for sending you
away. I’d have done more than that; you would have had the rough side of my
tongue, to be sure.”

Eynsford
grinned ruefully. “I might have fared better if she’d given in to her temper,”
he said. “She was very restrained.”

“That
doesn’t bode well for you, my son. Intelligent, restrained women are hardly the
sort you’re used to.” The dowager sighed. “I suppose you must play a waiting
game. You will need to show that you too have restraint and can be patient. Rushing
the woman along just because you want her is a stupid thing to do—-she’s not
out of mourning is she? That fool husband of hers can’t be dead six months.”

“No,
she is not out of mourning, but there was little to mourn in Lord Morgan,” he
replied.

“It
doesn’t matter that he was a useless wastrel who is missed by no one, it
matters that she needed time to arrange her life,” his mother pointed out. “You
may love her all you wish, but she has to fall in love with you as well. Harrying
the poor woman because you have decided to honor her with your affections is
unlikely to win hers. If she’s not drawn to your money or your looks, then you
will have to seek a deeper connection.”

“I
believe she is not displeased with my person—” began Eynsford.

“I
imagine she’s not!” interjected the dowager with a knowing look.

“—but
she was most vehement in her refusal.”

“She’s
had a shock, and you’ve injured her pride. Surely you don’t expect her to
concede immediately? You’re the ninny here if you can’t see that. You’ll have
to prove to her that your feelings are consistent and sound. I’d not have you
either, my boy.” The dowager folded her arms and glared at him.

“I
suppose you have the right of it,” said Eynsford slowly. “It did not occur to
me that this was something I could not put right immediately with a marriage
proposal.” He rose gracefully to his feet. “I’ll be on my way, but I thank you
for your thoughts.”

His
mother shook her head as he bowed over her hand. “I never thought I’d given
birth to such a fool,” she said tartly. But then she squeezed his hand. “If you
want her, I want you to have her,” she said. “You are normally able to charm
the birds out of the trees, but this case may be different. Not that it won’t
be good for you; you’ve never had a woman resist you before.”

Eynsford
nodded. “Thank you, Mother,” he said. He gave his amazed sister a hug, and left
the room, his eyes thoughtful.

“Let
that be a lesson to you,” the dowager said to Emmelina. “You can’t put your
trust in the words of a man—-not even your own brother!”