The Marriage Maker and the Widows, page 13
She had known Lord William Brandon ever since her first Season, when he was the polite, dependable Lord Brandon, part of the large group of amiable men who could be counted upon to fill her dance card if she ever had a need for it. She had never before felt anything out of the ordinary toward him. And yet, there was something comforting about him. She had been conscious of it ever since Charles’s death. Whenever she had the pleasure of meeting Lord Brandon, his mere presence made her feel infinitely better able to confront the abyss of her loss.
She thought of their time in Edinburgh before her husband’s death. Those had been days filled with joy and laughter. Lord Brandon was always about the house, dropping in whenever the fancy took him, to play cards with Carlyle or to chat about Oxford days while seated by the fire. They had been such a merry party, the three of them. And now that pleasant, easy world was gone forever. Helena sighed. She wanted to weep, but after a year and a half of insatiable grief, her tears seemed to have dried up.
* * *
The next morning, William arrived as early as was remotely polite. Lady Carlyle was still upstairs, so he gave his card to the elderly butler and waited in the hall. The butler came back and instructed him to wait in the library. William entered a cluttered room with walls of books on two sides, a fireplace with an anemic fire in the grate, and a desk at the rear, set under the only window the room boasted. The trunk containing Lord Carlyle’s papers had been pushed against the desk.
A quick perusal of the books indicated that the Wickersham family had once been connoisseurs but had likely not purchased anything new in the last half century. Out of curiosity, Lord Brandon extracted a book of sermons and coughed as a cloud of dust rose into the air. Clearly, the house staff had not seen fit to clean this room in the last half century either.
After twenty minutes in idle wait, light footsteps approached. William steeled himself for the sight of Lady Carlyle and hoped that this daily exposure might hasten a general insensitivity to her infinite charms. She opened the door quickly and shut it quietly behind her, then advanced into the room, her hand extended. “Lord Brandon, I hope that this visit implies that you have had a chance to read the Bow Street report?”
She was dressed fashionably in a muslin gown, with a shawl thrown round her shoulders and her hair pulled up on her head and secured with a small piece of lace. The simple clothes merely highlighted her natural beauty. He was struck once again by the grace of her movements. He had danced with her at Almack's, before her engagement to Carlyle, and the memory of how she felt in his arms still haunted him. He wondered when she would dance again now that she was officially out of mourning. He had been told that she had declined to do so at Almack’s.
William brushed her hand with his lips, afraid to linger too long and break his composure. “I did, and what I found there profoundly shocked me. It is plain that poor Carlyle was killed on purpose. Could Bow Street do nothing further to find the murderer?”
She shook her head. “Officer Stephens was most apologetic, but the ruffians were very skilled at covering their tracks. Bow Street was unable to locate his ring and watch. Come, help me take the papers out of the trunk. We can sort them on the desk.”
They organized the papers into piles of receipts and correspondence and other papers that defied category. Then they spent several hours reading. Lord Brandon applied himself to the estate papers. Everything seemed to be in order, as far as he could tell. Carlyle had always been a cautious businessman, and his accounts showed a slow growth in revenues under his steward’s management. The Carlyle estates were respectable but not extensive, and it was widely known that Helena Dunham had brought to the marriage a large dowry, as befitted the only child of a wealthy Scottish baron.
William then sorted through a stack of notebooks that Carlyle had filled with a miscellany of ideas and observations. He opened one and realized that it must have dated from their time together in Oxford, because it contained notes of Carlyle’s expenses for food and lodging and various pieces of commentary, including a rather pithy joke about a professor. William chuckled.
“You have found something to amuse you?” Helena said with a smile.
He showed her the notebook. “Carlyle was a great wit. I’m afraid I had forgotten how often we used to laugh together.”
Helena nodded. “He could be quite amusing when he chose to be. You know, in looking back upon events, I think something troubled him before his death. There was a feeling of tension when he spoke of the trip to London. When I asked, he said it was a routine visit, but I sensed it was more. Do you think there was something amiss with the estate accounts, perhaps a theft or something else that would have forced him to go to London and sort it out?”
“I can see nothing amiss from the accounts we have here. Did you ask the solicitors? They would know what took him to London to meet with them.”
Helena threw up her hands. “The solicitors were not well pleased to have to deal with a woman. It was only through the use of bald threats that I was able to access Charles’s papers at all. As to their conversations with him, they would only tell me that it had to do with estate business and, if I wished to know more, I should seek the guidance of the new Lord Carlyle.”
“Lawyers are a plague, to be sure,” William replied. “So, if it wasn't estate business that caused him to worry, what could it have been?”
“I do not know.” Helena sighed. “I wish that Charles had taken me more into his confidence. He was so intent on protecting me from any annoyance or worry that he left me ignorant of many things. I was supposed to be his helpmate in life, and yet, here I am, unable to understand why he went to London in the first place. When you marry, Lord Brandon, do not make the same mistake.”
“I will not, I assure you,” William replied fervently. And then colored a little. “We men are too apt to discount the intelligence and perspicacity of women. I am sure that half the ills of the world might be addressed if we did but listen to the ladies.”
Helena appeared to study him a moment, and then she looked back down at the papers. “We have been at this work for more than two hours and I find myself a little thirsty. Shall I call for some refreshment?”
“Yes,” William replied. She walked to the bell pull. He couldn't help but follow her with his eyes. The last few moments had been a revelation. He had always marveled at her wit and intelligence and supposed that she had been perfectly content in her marriage. The thought had never occurred that perhaps Carlyle had not valued her as he ought. William had the fleeting desire to tell her that he could be the husband Carlyle had not been but controlled the impulse.
A tray with tea and biscuits arrived and brought with it Lady Wickersham and several large pug dogs, including Georgie.
“My dear, here I find you. Ah, Lord Brandon, my niece told me that you were to assist her with her late husband’s papers. Have you been able to make head or tails of the matter?”
“I am making the attempt, Your Ladyship.” He bowed over her hand.
“I declare that papers are, of all things, the most tedious! When my husband died, I sent the lot of them to Mr. Varney. You remember that fussy old lawyer we had, Helena?”
Helena nodded and then interrupted the flow of her aunt’s discourse by handing her a cup of tea.
“Lawyers can be more difficult than the papers, in my experience,” William said. Something landed on his foot. He looked down and saw that Georgie used his boot as a pillow.
“Georgie has taken quite a shine to you.” Helena handed him his tea and a small plate containing several biscuits.
“I’m not sure if it is me or my boot.” William took a seat.
“Georgie is a good boy,” Lady Wickersham said. “Just like all of my babies.” She addressed the pug chorus, “Aren’t you?” And then to Helena, “So, what have you discovered? Did that horrible Cousin Reginald steal the silver or something?”
Helena gave William a look that indicated that a distrust of Cousin Reginald’s accounts had been her explanation for William’s presence. “Nothing that dastardly, as of yet, but we still have some way to go. I may not be able to go shopping with you this afternoon, dear Aunt, if we wish to complete the project today.”
Lady Wickersham, chewing thoughtfully on a biscuit, replied, “It is no matter. When one gets to be my age, one can go shopping or not. I think I shall stay home, in any case. The house has been inundated with callers since your arrival. I have spoken with so many people this morning, the exertion has quite sapped my strength. That Mr. Northcutt is quite witty, I find. He stayed for more than half an hour discussing all the town gossip. The Northcutts were always an amusing family, even if they hadn’t any resources. I knew his mother, Sophia, but she was a Hartley, so I suppose that doesn’t count. Here, Georgie, don’t lick Lord Brandon’s boot. It isn’t good manners. No, if all the callers were half so agreeable, their visits wouldn’t be quite so tiring, but the men just sit there silently and stare at the floor. I told them you were indisposed, Helena, in case they task you with it later.”
Lady Wickersham dropped a handful of biscuit crumbs on the rug and there was a sudden scurry of pug dogs at her feet. Even Georgie abandoned Lord Brandon in the hope of a bit of biscuit. “So, I think I may rest up before dinner.” She turned to William. “You are, of course, invited to break bread with us.”
He stood and bowed. “I would be honored, indeed. Thank you, Lady Wickersham.”
“I will tell them to lay a place for one more. Come my dears, time for your naps.” She whistled through her teeth and the small herd of dogs abandoned the search for crumbs and trotted obediently after her. Georgie stayed, however, and after the door closed, flopped down in front of the grate.
“Please forgive my aunt’s manner, Lord Brandon. She is very dear, but, as you can see, quite eccentric,” Helena said.
“I find her manner charming.” He returned to the desk. “Perhaps we should continue our work, for I shouldn’t trespass on your hospitality beyond dinner.”
“Yes, and I promised Aunt that we would attend Lady Pantage’s ball this evening. Will you attend?”
“I had thought of it,” he replied, certain that nothing would keep him from the ball if Helena were to be there.
“Then let us return to the task once more.”
They reviewed and sorted Lord Carlyle’s papers for another hour and a half, with very little to show for their efforts. Lord Brandon dug to the bottom of a pile and picked up another notebook. It, too, addressed their time together at Oxford but told a different story. “The Black Kings. Why, I had completely forgotten!”
“What?” Helena said.
“A group of us called ourselves the Black Kings. We met for cards and so forth. Carlyle was the banker and the records keeper. Here is the notebook he used to kept track of who owed whom.”
“How many were you Black Kings?”
“Carlyle, myself, Northcutt, Crandle, Dichley, and several others. Even Reginald played with us, but he grew angry when he lost and made some terrible scenes, so we avoided having him, if we could.” Lord Brandon paused in fond memory. “Northcutt cut him up something fierce one time, but I suppose that was to be expected. Northcutt always did have a streak of luck, and Reginald didn’t want to honor his debts.”
“May I see the notebook?” Helena said.
“Yes, of course. Here, they are just scribbles, after all.”
Helena scanned the pages and then seemed suddenly overcome. “Charles was so young and lively,” she said. She sniffed and then turned over the stacks of papers in search of something.
“Please, Lady Carlyle, take mine.” Lord Brandon extended his handkerchief across the desk.
She received the handkerchief with a wan smile. “I don’t know why that notebook in particular should cause me to weep. I have been looking at his writing all afternoon.”
“I miss him, also,” William replied, his gaze fixed on her eyes. The tears sparkled on the ends of her long lashes.
Helena furiously dabbed away her tears, and William tore his gaze away from her perfect face. How he longed to find words of comfort, but nothing came to mind. Finally, he said, “Perhaps we should stop for today. I will come back tomorrow, if you like, or any day that suits you.”
“Yes, that is probably best.” She turned to the clock on the mantelpiece. “We must prepare for dinner, in any case. Here, please take the notebook as a memento of bygone days. I’m sure my husband would have wanted you to keep it.”
* * *
That night, Helena dressed carefully in a rose satin gown with embroidered roses at the bodice and down the pleats at the back of the dress. She had worn the gown many times before her widowhood, but this was the first time she had put it on since. She stared at her reflection in the glass, trying to see the carefree woman she once had been. She felt mortified that she had let anyone see her cry, even Lord Brandon. It was so unladylike and weak of her. She had promised herself that she would be strong. Of course, Lord Brandon had responded like a gentleman. He was so truly sympathetic. Nevertheless, it should not happen again. She pulled her face into a smile and girded herself for the ball.
Lord Brandon arrived punctually at Lady Pantage’s ball but discovered Lady Carlyle already surrounded by admirers. She wore the dress she had worn that night they danced together at Almack’s, and the memory overwhelmed him. As he didn’t think his nerves could withstand watching other men’s idle flirtations with her, he took himself off to the card room and found Northcutt in the middle of a game of faro. William was not a gambling man by nature and had only dabbled since his Oxford days. However, he knew enough of faro to know that Northcutt was experiencing his usual run of luck. He watched the game for a minute and then stepped into the hall. Someone behind him muttered, “Damnable.”
William turned. Reginald had followed him from the room. “I beg your pardon?”
“Not you. Northcutt.” Reginald, a small, thin man whose tailor had sought to correct the deficiencies of his person with large amounts of padding, affected a dandyish style that was more imitation than art. At this moment, his sour expression did nothing to add to the felicity of his appearance. He toyed with a profusion of fobs on his watch chain, which clinked together furiously. The sound was profoundly irritating.
“What do you have against Northcutt?” William said.
“He is a conniving snake.”
“I wouldn’t say that too loudly if you value your position in society,” William replied with some asperity.
“Don’t tell me he has you fooled? I thought you were more intelligent than that.”
William refused to be baited. “What wrong do you charge him with?”
Reginald shrugged. “He is a cheat and a liar, and I find his arrogance insufferable. If society knew half what I know, they wouldn’t hold him in such regard.”
William eyed Reginald shrewdly. “So, he has cut you out in some fashion? With a lady, perhaps?”
Reginald shot him a look. “I will only say that if Lady Carlyle thinks he will make her a good husband, she is sorely mistaken.”
William felt a spasm of disgust to hear Lady Carlyle’s name on Reginald’s lips, but controlled his expression. “Lady Carlyle is very beautiful. You can hardly fault Northcutt for pressing his suit with her.”
Reginald laughed contemptuously. “I am sure it is her money that attracts him, not her looks. My cousin knew what he was doing. Her widow settlement has all but beggared the estate.”
“And it is the money that tempts you also?” William said angrily.
Reginald hesitated.
“Your silence gives the answer. I wish you felicity in your hunt for a rich bride.” He turned on his heel and left, too furious to control his actions any longer.
William returned to the ballroom and saw Helena, still surrounded by admirers. She had that passive, polite look on her face that she wore when engaged in tedious conversation. He had seen it often enough in Edinburgh, out in society with Carlyle. Then she looked up and their eyes met. It was as if he could read her thoughts—she was trapped and seeking release.
He heard the band tune their instruments in preparation for a waltz and an idea came to him. He marched over to the group. “Excuse me gentlemen, but you must give way. Lady Carlyle, you promised me this dance and I will not be turned back from my purpose.” He held out his hand imperiously.
“But Lady Carlyle does not dance,” sputtered an elderly admirer.
Lady Carlyle smiled up at Lord Brandon with relief and placed her hand in his. “I have decided I must integrate fully into my old life,” she said to the others. “I’m sure I have strength enough tonight to dance.”
William pulled her away from the group. “I am sorry to force your hand, Lady Carlyle, but I could think of nothing else to do.”
“You have my warmest gratitude. I could not think how to break free. You are the most understanding man.” She looked up at him with a playful expression. “It will be just like old times. I hope I still remember how to waltz.”
He felt a rush of emotion so powerful that it prevented him from rational thought. “You wore that dress the only time I ever danced with you at Almack’s and it was like heaven. I have never forgotten.”
The music started in earnest and so she was prevented from replying. His arm encircled her waist, and his hand clasped hers firmly. He guided her for several measures, but then her body remembered the steps and she fell into the easy rhythm of the dance. Truth be told, she didn’t remember the occasion he mentioned, but now she realized that he was indeed a fine dancer—firm in his guidance about the floor. She looked up into his face and found his warm brown eyes fixed on hers, a charmingly lopsided smile playing about his mouth.
She studied his face, with its high forehead and long straight nose and strong chin. Lord Brandon was handsome, she realized with a start. She supposed the brilliance of Carlyle’s features allowed her to overlook Lord Brandon’s compelling attributes. And what had he meant about heaven? They did dance well together, she supposed... even effortlessly. Although, he probably danced well with anyone. So why was he yet unmarried?
