Never Trust a Scoundrel (16 page)

T
hat evening, just after the sun had set, the carriage turned down a lane guarded by imposing stone columns on each side, signaling the entrance to Madingley Court.

Grace watched Daniel's face, but he betrayed no expression. He'd been almost reserved on the drive to his home, as if he were regretting bringing her. She had known this would happen. After all, his family might think that he was interested in marrying her, which was far from the truth. But perhaps she could use this to her advantage. How could Daniel be truly redeemed if not in the eyes of his family? She would let them think what they wanted about her, let them think that he was actually considering marriage. It would give them hope for his future. And perhaps he would see that his marriage would give his mother so much pleasure.

“So what should I know about your family?” Grace asked.

Daniel turned his impassive gaze from the window and back to her. Ruby was ignoring them,
staring at the grounds of the ducal estate. Grace figured it must be so huge that it would be a while before the mansion came into view.

“Many of my family will be in London for the Season,” Daniel said.

“But not your mother.” She felt excited and nervous, and didn't understand why. But she would be seeing a side of Daniel that he'd kept hidden from her, and she was looking forward to it.

He tilted his head. “No, not my mother. You seem most curious about her.”

“Of course! I've admired her symphony for much of my life—but I will not mention it,” she added before he could speak. “Who else will be there?”

“My aunt Isabella, the duchess. She is not one for London.”

Grace remembered that she was a Spaniard, and not of royalty. Her life could not have been easy among the
ton
.

“Her daughter Elizabeth is just out of the schoolroom, so she'll be with her mother. My aunt Rosa and her husband Professor Leland have just emerged from a year of mourning for their son, so they, too, are in London with both their daughters and daughter-in-law.”

“You have a cousin who died? I am sorry.”

“Matthew was killed in battle in India. They never found his body in the midst of a fire, so my aunt has had a difficult time worrying that he is not at peace. When I last saw them in town, I
thought perhaps it was still too soon for her, for she had accepted only a few invitations.”

“So only your mother, an aunt, and a cousin will be at Madingley Court.”

“Disappointed?” he asked, while his mouth tilted in a half smile.

“Of course not. Fewer names for me to remember.” And it was his mother whom she most wanted to meet. “Will they be bothered that you bring a woman home? Or is it a regular occurrence?”

He chuckled. “Not so regular, but you already know that. It's why you wanted to come.”

She wished she didn't blush so easily. “Do not take for granted my curiosity. So how will you explain my presence? You'll of course want to make clear that you are not courting me.”

“I'll make it clear,” he said easily.

She felt a bit disappointed. “How?”

“We were looking over your property. How could I not visit my own mother when I'm nearby?”

She sat back, feeling satisfied. Though his face became shadowed in gloom as the light faded, they did not bother to light a lantern. When they took another turn, the woods on either side suddenly seemed brighter with a faint glow. Grace frowned and let her window down.

She couldn't hold back a gasp as she saw Madingley Court. It was a towering castle of pointed turrets and battlements and hundreds of windows, many of which were lit from within. The castle stood out against the blackness of the night,
as if it had always protected Cambridgeshire from the dawn of knighthood.

“Rather large, isn't it?” Daniel said with amusement.

“Surely you must have gotten lost in there.” Grace was unable to tear her gaze away.

“Only a time or two. Then I discovered it was far more fun to
pretend
to be lost.”

“And worry your mother unnecessarily.”

“Remember, she grew up here, too. She was not easily fooled. But others were.”

“Your father.”

He didn't answer, although his faint smile remained in place.

It took a long time for the carriage to drive past the castle, and then they turned into a courtyard and pulled up beneath a columned portico.

Daniel helped them out, and he must have seen Ruby gaping upward at the many floors, for he said, “Do not worry about finding your way around, Ruby. The housekeeper will take good care of you.”

The entrance hall soared two stories above their heads, with statues in recessed alcoves along the walls, and a marble inlaid floor.

An older woman in a black dress, white apron, and a lace cap waited for them, and her plump face broke into a smile at the sight of Daniel.

“Master Daniel,” she said, “it is so good to see you.”

“Mrs. Townsend, you look radiant, as always.”

He took her hand and kissed her knuckles, and her face went as red as an apple.

“Master Daniel, you are too cheeky.” She turned to Grace and didn't bother to hide her curiosity.

“This is Miss Grace Banbury and her maid, Ruby,” Daniel said. “We had business in Hertfordshire, and she agreed to allow me to visit my mother before we returned to London.”

That hardly satisfied the housekeeper, who looked between them with interest. And
that
satisfied Grace. Let the staff believe that Daniel was finally settling down.

“When we saw the approaching carriage,” Mrs. Townsend said, “I informed the family, who agreed to delay dinner. Now they'll be happy they did. It will be served in an hour. Miss Banbury, will that give you enough time to prepare?”

Grace looked past the housekeeper to the next room, a great hall with groupings of furniture scattered about and swords and shields decorating the walls. “Surely it will take us that long to reach a bedroom.” She smiled.

“Not at all, miss,” the housekeeper said. “By the time we reach a guest room, your luggage should already be there. Master Daniel, you can see yourself to the family wing.”

“Of course. Miss Banbury, I shall see you soon.”

 

Daniel was almost expecting his mother to appear in his bedchamber, but somehow she con
tained herself until he reached the drawing room. He paused in the doorway before she saw him, and he was glad that she seemed unchanged in the three months since he'd last seen her. But the mourning gown she'd been wearing since her husband's death always made her look more pale and drawn. She was alone in the grand room, and she gazed pensively into her wineglass. Probably wondering what he was up to by bringing a woman home with him.

At last she saw him, and her loving smile was the same as always. He went in and kissed her cheek, and she pulled him down beside her for a hug.

“Oh, Daniel, it has been too long,” she said, smiling up at him.

“You only have to come to London, Mother. It is not far.”

She waved a hand. “I don't miss it a bit. There is always too much going on here. I was going to tell you about Miss Wadsworth, who has just come out this Season, but I guess I don't have to now.”

“You would deprive me of gossip?”

“As if you cared about that. But no, I can see you've managed to find a lady all by yourself. Will wonders never cease.”

“She is not my lady, Mother,” he explained patiently. “Her name is Miss Grace Banbury, and she was showing me the property I recently purchased from her family.”

Something flickered in her eyes. “Oh, Miss Banbury. The duke mentioned her.”

“What did Chris have to say?” he asked warily.

“Only that she seems taken with you. I hope you are not leading the girl on.”

“I'm not, Mother.” He wondered what Chris had
really
said.

Before he could say more, his aunt Isabella entered the room with his cousin Elizabeth. They both gave glad cries upon seeing him, and he was hugged and kissed thoroughly. Though Aunt Isabella was a duchess, she dressed in the conservative clothing she preferred. She was never one to draw attention to herself, probably because her dark Spanish skin and black hair, now touched with silver, did it for her. She had never blended in with pale English beauties, and he had always felt a kinship with her.

Elizabeth had her mother's deep black hair, but her skin was the paler color of a peach, and she blushed with happiness on seeing Daniel.

When Grace entered the room, she stopped uncertainly in the doorway, staring at the happy reunion. The immediate family was already so much larger than hers that she had a hard time imagining what it must be like when they all got together.

An older woman dressed in mourning was the first person to notice her and sent a curious, subdued glance her way. At first Grace thought that Daniel's aunt, the one mourning her son, must have been in residence, but then she realized that this must be Lady Flora, Daniel's mother. She was a tall woman, like her son, and there was a resem
blance in the cheekbones and the same chocolate-colored eyes.

“You must be Miss Banbury,” said the woman suddenly, and the other three people all turned to look at her.

Daniel came to her, and she found herself absurdly grateful that he would not leave her to explain herself. He held out his elbow, and she put her hand on it, letting him lead her into the largest drawing room she'd ever seen. She tried not to gape at crystal chandeliers spaced over her head amidst classical paintings, or the intricate carving along the hearth she could have stepped into.

“Mother, Aunt Isabella, Elizabeth, this is Miss Banbury,” Daniel said, “Miss Banbury, meet my mother, Lady Flora, my aunt, the duchess of Madingley, and my cousin, Lady Elizabeth.”

Grace curtsied to the ladies, almost surprised when they all did the same. She had never met such a group of exalted people before, and she felt like the simple country girl that she was. How had Daniel kept from laughing when he saw her small manor at Maran Park?

Lady Flora smiled although Grace still saw the reserve shadowing her eyes.

“Miss Banbury, how good to meet you. I understand that you grew up near our part of the country.”

“Not a day's journey away in Hertingfordbury, my lady. Although that property now belongs to your son.”

“Ah yes, how good of you to show it to him.”

Though Daniel's mother was the height of civility, Grace sensed that she was being weighed, and knew that traveling with Daniel had not helped her in their eyes. She calmed herself by remembering that if Lady Flora knew what her son was truly doing with her, he would be the one suffering her censure.

Daniel led her into the dining room, and Grace tried not to gape at the table, which stretched down the length of the room to seat at least fifty people. They all sat at one end, the women grouped around Daniel at the head of the table.

Everyone was so polite to her, and Grace was able to relax and watch the interplay between mother and son. Though this was a different Daniel than the relaxed man he'd been at Enfield Manor with Viscount Wade, there was still an ease, a comfortableness about him now that he was home. He had been raised much as his cousin, the duke, who was also born of scandal; why had Daniel turned his life so differently? She was getting glimpses of the depths of him.

“Miss Banbury?” Lady Flora said after the bowls of Julienne soup had been taken away.

Grace smiled at her. “Yes, my lady?”

“So your family home now belongs to my son,” she said directly.

Lady Elizabeth, several years younger than Grace, coughed into her napkin as if her food had gone down the wrong way.

“Yes, my lady,” Grace said, tensing.

“You sold it to him?”

Before Grace could speak, Daniel said, “I dealt with her mother.”

Lady Flora gave her son a measured look. “Miss Banbury, if you are her only child—”

“Oh, I am not, my lady,” Grace interrupted. “I have a brother, Edward Banbury. He lives in London now.”

“So your family has property there, as well.”

May God forgive her for lying, but all she could say was, “Yes, my lady.”

“Please forgive my forthrightness,” Lady Flora said with a sigh, “but does your mother know you've come here?”

Grace didn't understand the undercurrent flowing through the room, although she imagined her unorthodox journey with Daniel to be the reason. “She is traveling in the north, my lady. But my brother knows.”

“Mother, Miss Banbury is not a young girl,” Daniel said impatiently. “And we traveled with her maid attending us at all times. Now can we please enjoy our dinner? You were about to tell me of Mr. Abernathy's outdoor dinner party. Surely it was ruined by the rain.”

Grace felt a bit nauseated. Daniel's young cousin was sneaking fascinated glances at her as if Grace were an established courtesan. Lady Flora was nothing but polite and continued occasionally to draw Grace into conversation with the others. Grace had known she would be a curiosity to Daniel's family, but had never imagined it would be so grueling. But, of course, they were in a so
ciety so far above hers. They must believe her a terribly inappropriate match for Daniel. After all, until the duke married and had a son of his own, Daniel was his heir. She'd come here thinking she could redeem him in the eyes of his family, but had now realized that seeing her partnered with Daniel did not appease them.

After dinner, she felt a moment's panic when Lady Flora suggested that Daniel could meet them later in the drawing room after he'd smoked one of his terrible cigars. But Daniel had demurred, insisting that as the only gentleman, he would remain with the ladies. Grace should have been grateful that he was looking out for her, but she also found herself annoyed. He had surely known how his mother would react to her presence. Why hadn't he warned her, so she could change her mind about traveling farther with him?