Diana, page 3
It occurred to Oliver that he might find a bride his sister’s age, ten years his junior. The thought of a young miss straight out of the schoolroom didn’t appeal much to him. The women he admired were far more mature and productive. Rachel had begun designing gardens for members of the ton. Catherine, Duchess of Everton, authored children’s books and gave the proceeds to orphanages. Caroline, Countess of Mayfield, ran her own bookstore and tearoom.
Would he be fortunate enough to marry a woman who might offer him even more than children?
Rachel had made it her mission in life to help him find a wife. When last Season had ended with no viable prospects, she’d been disappointed that she’d let him down and promised this year would be the year. Oliver hoped so. At twenty-eight, he wasn’t getting any younger.
The carriage arrived at his townhouse, and as he disembarked, Amelia came running outside. She flung herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.
Pulling away, she studied him. “How is she? Better yet, how are you?”
Amelia spoke of their mother. Oliver returned now from the asylum where he’d placed her half a dozen years ago. The Countess of Merrifield had grieved so after her husband’s death that she’d literally gone mad. At first, Oliver had kept her at their country estate with two attendants managing her. That way, he and his siblings could still visit her daily. She’d grown wilder, though. Even violent. When she’d set fire to her room, he’d finally made the decision to place her in the care of experts. He visited now twice a year.
She never knew who he was.
“I’m sorry I make you go alone,” Amelia apologized. “I should be braver.”
He smoothed her hair. “She wouldn’t know you, pet.”
“Then why do you go?”
“Because I must.” He considered it his duty, and though she hadn’t been much of a mother to any of her children, he would visit until she was gone.
His sister slipped her arm through his and they went inside where tea awaited, along with his favorite cake.
Oliver smiled. “It looks as if you’ve gone by Evie’s Tearoom today. I’d know Mrs. Stinch’s cake by smell alone.”
“The duchess and I stopped there after my final fitting today. She’s doing a reading at the bookstore tomorrow and wanted to check with Lady Mayfield on the particulars.”
“How did your fitting go?” he asked, grateful that Catherine had taken Amelia under her wing and allowed her own modiste, Madame Toufours, to create a few ball gowns for his motherless sister.
Amelia’s face lit up. “My dresses are heavenly, Oliver,” she proclaimed. “I can’t wait for the ball the Evertons will hold. You will escort me, won’t you?”
“Of course. We’ll go with Lord and Lady Merrick.”
“Do you think Lady Merrick will find you a wife this year?”
“That’s her plan,” he said with a smile.
Amelia looked unsure of herself. “I wonder if she could help me find a husband.”
He laughed. “That won’t be a problem, Amelia. In fact, I’ll be beating beaus off with a stick as they swarm around you.”
“Don’t do that!” she cried. “Promise me you won’t chase any away.”
“Only the horrid ones,” he teased.
She gasped. “You think I’ll attract horrid suitors?”
“Not at all. But if you do find any dreadful men pursuing you, you must let me know. I’ll make sure they understand their attentions are not wanted.”
Slightly mollified, Amelia took a second piece of cake.
“I hope we’ll both find a good match, Oliver.”
As much as he longed for children, he hoped for the very same thing.
And if love grew between him and his wife someday, that would make life all the sweeter.
“You’re going to have to decide on a governess, Diana,” Derek told her at breakfast. “The agency I contacted will want an answer soon. The Season starts next week. Things should be settled in order to give Finn and Mena time to adjust before you’re gone so much.”
They’d been in London a week, staying at a rented townhouse since the de Wolfes didn’t own any property in London. Her brother insisted that help be hired to manage the twins since Diana would be busy attending social events every evening until the wee hours of the morning. She would also be expected to make calls and receive visitors, as well as attend tea and garden parties in the afternoons. Finn and Mena would need supervision during her frequent absences.
The trouble was, Diana didn’t like any of the applicants the agency had sent. The women were too old or too young. Too unbending and a stickler for rules or too timid to enforce any kind of discipline with two high-spirited children. She wanted to find just the right woman to place in charge of the twins. Already, they were unsure regarding the number of events their mother would attend without them. Mena had asked why children couldn’t go to all the social activities being held. Diana had been hard pressed to explain that children might get in the way of her search for a husband. She hadn’t yet informed the twins of her plans to end the Season with a husband for her and a father for them.
Still, she had taken Finn and Mena to various places throughout the city during the past week, wanting to spend every available moment she could with them as the three explored the city together. They’d walked through several of the parks and even flown a kite yesterday since the wind had been so accommodating. She’d taken them to the British Museum and they’d even gone for ices at Gunter’s. A whole new world was opening up to Finn and Mena, though the two had insisted they still share a room, if not a bed together. She’d had them placed across the hall from her and got up several times a night just to check on them. She found it lonely in her bed, sleeping by herself after having a child snuggled on each side the past six years.
It made her wonder about sharing a bed with her future husband. Her parents never had. They’d had their own bedchambers and she couldn’t ever remember seeing one in the other’s. She supposed someone had visited the other, at least four times during their marriage, since Mama had birthed four little de Wolfes. Would Diana’s husband wish to sleep with her in his bed—or hers? She had no idea what protocol was involved. All the things her mother should have told her before Diana had her own Season had never been confided once she’d found herself with child and exiled from Esterley. With Mama dead and gone, she had no one to ask. She would have to navigate the waters of the Season and her hopeful future marriage without Mama’s advice and support. That thought saddened—and terrified—her.
“I have two more applicants to see later this afternoon,” she told Derek. “I promise I will make up my mind after that. Ask Thea if you don’t believe me. She’s sat in on most of the interviews with me. The women who’ve come have been lacking in one area or another. Sometimes several.”
She wished someone like Thea could be hired to look after Finn and Mena. Diana had enjoyed getting to know her sister over the past two months. Thea had only been eleven when Rafe de Wolfe separated the sisters. Thea had grown up in those years Diana had missed, becoming a beautiful, thoughtful, energetic young woman. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t make her come-out this Season, after all. A week before they were scheduled to leave for London, Thea had broken her leg. Attending ton events on crutches wasn’t an ideal way to enter society. She wouldn’t be able to dance or walk in the park or ride in Rotten Row. Because of that, her sister had decided to delay her come-out until the following year.
Still, she’d traveled with them to London to support Diana. Thea had been a great help with the twins but Diana couldn’t expect her sister to look after two active children in her condition, thus the need for a temporary governess. Once the Season ended, decisions regarding the twins’ future would need to be made. If she did wed, her husband would have as much say as she did regarding Finn and Mena’s education—if not more, being the man of the household. Finn would be of an age in the next year or two to be sent off to school, while Mena would most likely stay at home and need a fulltime governess at that point.
These thoughts made it imperative that Diana find a kind man, who would if not love her children, at least accept them and treat them well. She must first look for the qualities of a good father in the men she met before ever thinking of her own needs. Her life revolved around her children. If she could choose the right man, Finn’s and Mena’s futures would be secured.
“Do you have plans today?” Derek asked as he closed his newspaper and took a final sip from his teacup.
“I’m taking the twins to a bookstore.”
Books had been a precious commodity. The twins only had a handful. After feeding and clothing them, Diana had scraped together money to send them to the vicar for lessons the year before. She’d already taught both to read and they could also write some. Because of her limited income, books were seen as a luxury.
London, though, had not only new but used books available. Bookstores seemed to be on every corner in the city. With the pin money Derek had given Diana, she’d not only taken the twins places across the city this past week but was ready to start buying them books. She’d seen an advertisement for a bookstore only blocks from where they were staying in Mayfair, one that boasted of a large collection of children’s books and an area for children to play. Today was the day a well-known author was reading from her latest book. She hoped not only to have the twins hear the author but wanted to purchase a copy of her book as well. The fact the author was a duchess fascinated Diana to no end. Even without the twins, her curiosity would have led her to Evie’s Bookstore for the upcoming reading.
Derek stood. “Enjoy your day. I’m off to meet with our London solicitor regarding your dowry and then I plan to stop by the club. Some old school chums are coming into town for the Season and I’d like to catch up with them.”
Her brother had graduated from Oxford last spring and had begun learning what he could about running Esterley during the past year. With their father’s death and Derek being thrust into his new role as Earl of Reston, she was happy he had time to meet with friends. She’d been familiar with several of them from his Harrow days since Derek had proven popular and was always bringing friends home to visit Esterley. She doubted she’d recognize any of them nowadays. They’d been young lads the last time she saw them and would have grown into men as her brother had. Looking at Derek, Diana couldn’t help but think how the last time she’d seen him he’d been all gangly arms and legs, with a voice that went up and down faster than a musical instrument. In the seven years they’d been apart, Derek had become a handsome, assured gentleman who would only grow more handsome as the years passed.
He’d be the one escorting her to ton events, the invitations coming through him since she hadn’t been out in society before, but he’d told her at twenty-two he had no intentions of taking a bride. He’d confided running the estate and their other properties was already challenging enough without taking on the responsibility of a wife. He did promise he’d have some of his friends dance with her, though she doubted any would be interested in a woman older than they were, with a ready-made family, to boot. Her past would be known by Derek’s friends—and how many others in London?
Diana went upstairs and, as usual, found Finn and Mena in Thea’s room. Her sister, due to the plaster on her leg, chose to take her morning meal in her room in bed. It made it easier to have a tray brought up while she kept her leg stretched out. The twins, already fast friends with their aunt, insisted they, too, eat upstairs with her every morning.
“You aren’t even dressed, children,” she said.
“We just finished breakfast, Mama,” Finn said. “We’ll get dressed now.”
“But you’ll still need to brush my hair, Mama,” Mena insisted. “I like how you put the bow in just right.”
“All right, off you go.”
Alone now with Thea, Diana said, “We’re down to the last two applicants. They’re coming this afternoon at three and half-past.”
Thea pushed her tray aside. “They’ve been simply awful. We should have brought someone from home with us.”
“You know why I insisted we hire a governess in London. Must I remind you of my reputation?”
“Do you truly think a governess from home would have disparaged you to your own children, Diana?”
“You’ve been sheltered, Thea. I can see you think the best of everyone. That’s not the case with a good number of people. Gossips abound, from the highest ladies of the land to the lowest parlor maids. I have a better chance of finding someone in London who hasn’t prejudged me than a Northumberland hire.”
“I only wish I could take care of them,” Thea said. “It would solve everything.”
“You may spend as much time with them as you wish. They already adore you. They’re quite energetic, though. In your present condition, you would have no way of keeping up with them and making sure they stayed out of trouble.”
Her sister shook her head. “You say that, Diana, but I can’t see them as troublemakers. They are angels.”
Diana snorted. “As a youngest daughter of a family, I can tell you’ve never been around children. The most angelic-looking ones are usually the very devils themselves. I’m not saying Finn and Mena are badly behaved. Far from it. They are very sweet—but they are most curious. It’s that curiosity that gets them into scrapes sometimes.”
Just as that same curiosity had gotten her into trouble seven years earlier.
“What outing are you going on today?” Thea asked.
“I’ve decided we’ll visit a bookstore called Evie’s. Supposedly, it has the largest collection of children’s books for sale in London, plus there’s an author doing a guest reading today.” She paused. “Would you like me to bring you something back to read?”
“I’d like that. Thank you, Diana. Whatever you think is suitable.”
She bent and kissed Thea’s cheek. “I’ll find you something interesting,” she promised as she lifted the tray to return it to the kitchen.
“Leave that,” her sister calmly reminded.
She sighed. “I can’t help it. I’m so used to cleaning up everything around me.”
“I still don’t know how you did it, Diana. Had children. Twins, even! Did all of your own cooking and cleaning without help from servants. And then had time to sew for others.”
“Sewing helped me earn a living,” she reminded her sister. “The other things were done out of love for my babies.”
“Well, I know you’re going to find a man who will worship you. You’ll never have to do a menial task again, as long as you live.”
“Let’s hope so,” she said brightly. “I’m off to see that the twins are dressed and ready to go.”
Exiting the room, Diana paused once she closed the door behind her. She didn’t have the same confidence Thea had. The closer the opening of the Season came, the more she worried that finding a husband would be much harder than her siblings expected. They loved her but she knew she came with massive flaws, including a reputation that would prevent most men from even choosing to make her acquaintance.
She only hoped there would be one brave man among the many bachelors perusing the Marriage Mart that would be an ideal father for Finn and Mena. That was enough to ask for.
Diana put aside her girlish notions of finding a man to love her. She’d searched for love once and look where that had gotten her. After being an outcast for seven years, she was ready to come in from the cold. She didn’t care whom she married. What mattered most was discovering a man who would make her respectable again and allow her children to be accepted into society.
Love be damned.
Chapter Three
Oliver never missed one of the Duchess of Everton’s readings at Evie’s Bookstore. Not only was Catherine a friend, via Rachel, but he enjoyed watching the joy on the faces of the children who attended the event. They all gathered in a large clump in front of Catherine, enraptured by her energy and the animated voices she used. Their mamas or nannies or governesses stood in rows behind their charges and then bought the latest book their little ones had just heard so they could stand in line for the duchess to autograph their copy.
Though the majority of the turnout was made up of women, Oliver always could count on the men in his close circle of friends to show up. Chief was the Duke of Everton, who always brought his ever-growing brood to hear their mama’s reading. Evan, Marquess of Merrick, would accompany Rachel. Catherine’s sister, Leah, the Countess of Alford, would be there with Alex, her earl.
Oliver had grown particularly close in the past year to the Earl and Countess of Mayfield. Caroline owned Evie’s Bookstore and Tearoom. Her husband, Luke, was brother to the Duke of Everton, and a man who loved children as much as Oliver did. Luke and Caroline now had a son of their own a year after they’d wed. It gave Oliver hope that this time next year he could finally be a proud papa.
If he found the right woman in the coming months.
He entered the tearoom first and went straight to the kitchen, where Mrs. Stinch and Mrs. Baker, two sisters, worked their magic.
“Lord Merrifield!” Mrs. Stinch proclaimed. “Here for the duchess’ reading?”
“That—and your baked goods.”
“Your sister was here only yesterday,” Mrs. Baker said. “She bought some of your favorites.”
“Alas, they’re almost gone. When it comes to the sweets you two heavenly creatures create, I seem to have no willpower. Would either of you mind making up a box for me to take home? I’ll pick it up after the reading.”
