Wallflower (Old Maids' Club, Book 1) (36 page)

Claremont had tried to secure a hack
for their conveyance, but Noah was impatient to get to Shelton
Hall. Leith agreed that they shouldn’t wait. After a few minutes,
the three had left on foot. Up until coming across Lady
Kibblewhite—and her just-as-bad companion, Lady Plumridge—Noah had
thought it a fine solution. Now, he wished he was safely enclosed
in a rickety, smelly carriage where he could hide from
them.

But why had the two gossips already
left Shelton Hall? On foot, no less? This seemed highly peculiar
for the pair of them.

“
Good afternoon, Lady
Kibblewhite,” he somehow forced himself to say. “And to you too,
Lady Plumridge.” Noah and the other gentlemen tipped their hats. He
moved to the side of the path, hoping to allow the gossipmongers to
pass so he could continue on his way without further
delay.

He shouldn’t have bothered hoping. For
that matter, he needn’t have bothered moving out of their
way.

Lady Plumridge placed one of her
pudgy, gloved hands on Noah’s arm and clucked her tongue. “Such a
shame, Lady Kibblewhite, would you not agree?” She looked up at him
with feigned sadness in her eyes.

“
Indeed it is,” her
companion said. “But at least the wedding has not taken place yet.
Lord Devonport isn’t quite a cuckold, not yet.” Lady Kibblewhite
turned to Noah with an earnest stare, even as he felt the blood in
his veins turn to ice.

A cuckold? Surely she hadn’t heard
Oglethorpe’s claim. Ladies were not allowed inside White’s. But
Shelton had heard.

Noah closed his eyes while she
continued. “Though I would advise you to leave Lady Tabitha to Lord
Oglethorpe. She has made her bed, my lord. Let her lie in
it.”

He couldn’t allow them to believe
Oglethorpe’s boast. “You are mistaken, ladies, I can assure
you.”

Lady Plumridge pinched
closed her lips, until they looked exceedingly out of place on her
broad face. “And
we
can assure
you
that you are mistaken.”

“
Indeed,” Lady Kibblewhite
crooned, “not only has Lord Oglethorpe been sure to inform half the
gentlemen at his club of his conquest, but Lady Tabitha has
confirmed his assertion.”

“
She wouldn’t have,” Leith
said. “She’d never agree such a thing had happened.”

“
Oh, I wouldn’t be so
sure, if I were you, Lord Leith.” Lady Kibblewhite narrowed her
eyes up at him. “But really, we must be off. The gathering at Lady
Marcheford’s at-home, I’m sure, will be desperate to hear the
latest.”

“
That they will,” Lady
Plumridge agreed.

Before he could stop them, they had
scurried away down the walk. Claremont turned to Noah and Leith,
his eyes wide. “There’s no truth to that, is there?”

Leith cursed. “At this
point, does it matter? The whole of the
ton
will have heard it by
tonight.”

“
And hearing something is
all it takes for it to be considered absolute truth,” Noah
finished. “Let’s get to Shelton Hall. We’ll explain
there.”

They continued on foot, moving faster
now. By the time they arrived, the butler showed them into the
drawing room where only Shelton and Raynesford remained, their
expressions black.

“
Excellent,” Shelton
drawled. “We were just getting ready to head out and challenge
Oglethorpe. You can come along to watch.” He stood and checked his
watch fob. “But then again, just issuing the challenge might not be
such a great show. You’ll come tomorrow? A duel in the morning
might make the wedding seem more exciting.”

Claremont perked up. “There’s to be a
duel? Fantastic. Helen never lets me have fun anymore, but that
should brighten my outlook for the week.”

“
You can’t challenge him.”
Noah frowned. They were Tabitha’s brothers, true. But she was going
to be his
wife
.
“I’ve already done so. We’ll meet at dawn.”

Shelton scowled. “I could
challenge him, too. I
should
challenge him, too.” He scrunched his eyes
together, revealing a crease above his nose. “For that matter, I
should challenge you.”

“
So Tabitha has explained
what really happened, then?” Thank God. He only hoped she was none
the worse for wear after the encounter. The Shelton brothers’
wrath, he could handle; a crying, distraught Tabitha, he could
not.

“
Yes,” Raynesford said.
“And she’s damned lucky that it was you she met for an assignation
and not Oglethorpe.”

“
She might not be so lucky
tomorrow,” Shelton said. “If Devonport kills Oglethorpe in his
duel, and then I kill Devonport for taking liberties with her
before the wedding, she’ll be left with no options.”

“
But with her honor well
defended,” Leith cut in sardonically.

Shelton nodded.
“Precisely.”

“
She won’t have to worry
about that.” Noah heard the front doors open and close, but ignored
the sound. “There’s no reason for Shelton to kill me, since I fully
intend to marry Tabitha. The wedding will take place as planned. No
need for that duel.”

“
You’re taking all the fun
out of my day.” Shelton crossed to look out the front window,
crossing his arms over his chest. “All that will be left is your
bloody wedding.”

“
And his duel with
Oglethorpe,” Raynesford said.

The sound of a woman clearing her
throat came from the double doors of the drawing room. Noah turned,
hoping to see Tabitha, but instead found Miss Faulkner. “Is Tabitha
in her chamber, then? Uncle Drake sent for me. Said there was a bit
of an emergency.” She planted her hands on her hips and glowered at
the lot of them. “From what I heard from Lady Kibblewhite on my way
over, it seems to me there is more than a bit of an emergency,
though. She was telling everyone she passed on the street. Lady
Plumridge was on the other side of the street, no doubt doing more
of the same.”

“
Bloody hell.” Shelton
walked to the sideboard and poured himself another whiskey, downing
it and refilling before he continued. “I
will
challenge him, too. Be sure you
don’t kill him, Devonport. I want a turn.”

Raynesford focused on his cousin.
“She’s in her chamber, Jo. Elaine is with her. Keep her out of
trouble.”

“
From the sound of it, I
ought to stay here and keep all of you out of trouble. Or perhaps
you’ve forgotten that I’m a better shot than the lot of you by
far.” Miss Faulkner narrowed her eyes at Noah. “Well, I know
nothing of your aim, Lord Devonport, so I suppose I can’t make that
claim.”

Shelton swallowed another mouthful of
his whiskey and grimaced. “Just go upstairs and be sure she stays
put until the wedding tomorrow, Jo.”

She glared at Shelton, but remained
silent before spinning on her heel and leaving them. Leith’s eyes
remained transfixed on the sway of her skirts as she left for a bit
longer than they ought to have done.

Claremont shook his head. “Ordering Jo
about was a stupid move, Toby.”

“
I have never been afraid
of your sister, and I don’t plan on changing that now. Just because
you’re petrified of her retribution doesn’t mean the rest of us
should be. Don’t be sore with me for putting her in her place when
you should have done that and more a long time ago.”

“
You think rather highly
of your own abilities.” Leith chuckled. “No man will ever put
Josephine Faulkner in her place.” He sounded like a man who knew
that to be truth all too well.

Claremont brushed off Shelton’s
comments. “Do you still want to duel Oglethorpe when Devonport’s
done with him?” His voice was eager, excited. Like he could think
of no better way to spend his day. By gad. “We should go find him,
to make your intentions known. Make sure he accepts.”

“
I think one duel in a day
will be more than enough,” Raynesford said. Shelton started to
protest, so Raynesford merely raised his voice to be heard over his
brother. “Devonport’s challenge has already been accepted. And
since he is the one who will be married to Tabitha, it is his right
to be the one to defend her.”

Finally. Someone who could see
reason.

“
We can at least all come
along to watch, then can’t we? Making it through the entire day
otherwise will be more trying than I can manage. And I suppose we
might have to clean Devonport up before we rush him off to the
church.”

Noah had to stifle the laughter that
threatened to overwhelm him at Shelton’s pout. He’d not seen a
grown man pout that he could remember in his life. “We can’t very
well expect you to suffer the boredom of a day without a
duel.”

Raynesford, in his ever-serious
manner, eyed his brother for a minute before turning to Noah.
“We’ll all come with you in the morning, and then we’ll be sure you
meet Tabitha at the altar. I’m not going to take any
chances.”

“
Of course.” At last,
perhaps they were all in agreement over how things would
proceed.

Shelton returned to the sideboard and
helped himself to yet another whiskey. “Anyone else want a drink?
Devonport?” He waved the bottle of whiskey around, as though the
motion would entice Noah into accepting the poison.

He tried not to lose the
contents of his stomach just from the thought of drinking more
whiskey. “None for me. But should we perhaps send word up to
Tabitha that I’m here to see her?” He’d seen enough of
everyone
but
Tabitha for the day.

~ * ~

“
I can’t have just heard
you properly.” Tabitha plopped down on her bed and shook her head,
thinking maybe it would clear the cobwebs filling her
ears.

Jo did have a diabolical
streak, but this went beyond her typical fodder—and it was directed
at Tabitha, not at one of the men of the family. Jo wouldn’t do
that to her. Not now. Not when Tabitha was still reeling over her
family knowing what she and Noah had done the previous night. Not
when she was trying to face the fact that the most notorious
gossips in the
ton
were in the midst of executing her downfall. Would
she?

“
I thought you said that
Noah had challenged Lord Oglethorpe to a duel. This is supposedly
in addition to the duel Toby intends to have with Oglethorpe, which
I was already aware of, and a duel between Toby and
Noah.”

Elaine looked up from the embroidery
sampler she was working on by the window. “It sounds to me like you
heard your cousin quite plainly.”

“
Lainey seems to have the
way of it.” Jo took a seat in the Louis XIV chair closest to the
hearth and crossed her ankles, thumbing through the fashion plates
displayed on the table before her. She either neglected to notice
or ignored the fact that Elaine visibly blanched at Jo’s pet name
for her. “You really ought to try harder to keep up,
Tabby.”

“
But that’s all
preposterous.”

“
Preposterous or not,
that’s what I heard.” Jo frowned at the fashion plate in her hand
and set it aside, moving to the next one. “And why, pray tell, is
it preposterous for the men who love you to wish to defend your
honor?” Her tone had turned mordant for the question.

“
This isn’t a question of
my honor,” Tabitha spluttered, flopping onto her back and
stretching out over the counterpane.

Elaine raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t
it?”

“
Of course it isn’t. No
matter what the gossips say about me, the truth will eventually
become known when I have nothing to do with Oglethorpe and I
instead marry Noah tomorrow.”
If
she were to still marry him tomorrow, that is.
Tabitha was beginning to rethink her decision, based on the fact
that her intended was behaving in such an idiotic manner as to
challenge the blackguard to a duel. She shoved those thoughts aside
for the moment. “What this is about is a group gentleman, each
trying to exaggerate his own prowess in a bid to impress the
others, or perhaps to impress me, in one case. This can only
lead me to wonder when they’ll work out that a bleeding hole in the
chest can only lead to my distress.” Granted, in Toby’s case she
might be glad for impending death.

No, even she couldn’t be glad for
that.

Lily’s nurse knocked at the door then,
begging Elaine for a moment’s time. Elaine ducked out to go see to
her daughter.

“
You didn’t react in even
a remotely similar manner to Isaac’s duel with the Earl of Loring
several years ago,” Jo said. “Unless I am mistaken, you even
encouraged me to take matters into my own hands.”

Tabitha sat up again so
briskly she felt dizzy from the blood rushing back down from her
head. “There is no comparison between the two situations. None.
Loring had attempted to ravish Bethanne, and then he
did
ravish Miranda and
refused to marry her to restore her reputation. How can you even
attempt to make such an association with what is happening here?”
Thank goodness Elaine was gone for the moment. Tabitha hadn’t even
thought about what she was saying until she’d already said
it.