An Affair of Honor (30 page)

Since Sir Henry had called only for the purpose of escorting Lady Agnes to an afternoon card party, by the time it did occur to Nell to wonder how the old gentleman had come by his information, he had departed, and it was beyond her power to ask him. So she put the question out of her mind and invited her niece to come to her sitting room for a comfortable coze.

Rory agreed readily enough, although her manner was somewhat subdued, and once they had seated themselves in chairs near the fireplace, where the remains of the morning’s fire still glowed, Nell smiled and said cheerfully, “Surely you are not still afraid I mean to scold you, my dear?”

Rory shook her head. “No, ma’am, though I daresay I deserve it, and I was utterly astonished when Huntley didn’t bellow at me. Even when he rescued us from that tiny cave, he said nothing about my manner of dress or of the fact that I had done such a foolish thing. He only warned me to mind my step on the path.”

“Foolish thing, Rory? Last night you insisted—”

“Oh, I know what I said, and it was true enough that it felt like a great adventure at the time. Only when Gideon pointed out how I had frightened him, well then I could see of course that I had not behaved very wisely.”

“Goodness!” Nell exclaimed. “Don’t tell me the major actually read you a scold!”

Rory laughed at her incredulous tone. “Of course not. He never does, you know. At least not like Huntley does. Gideon doesn’t ever bellow. He does have a way of speaking, however, which makes me feel ashamed of myself in one way and … and, well, good in another.” She paused, looking thoughtful. “I don’t suppose I can make you understand what I mean, Aunt Nell, for I’m not at all sure I understand it myself, but when Huntley bellows at me, it makes me angry, and I want only to defy him further. On the other hand, when Gideon only frowns, I want to smooth the frown away, and when he is displeased like he was when I drank the gin and a little last night—only then he was glad, too, of course, because I could give him information about the gentlemen—Well, anyway, then he makes me feel sad that I’ve displeased him, but glad at the same time that he cares enough to be displeased. Oh dear, it all sounds perfectly idiotish put into words. Do you understand at all what I mean?”

“Rory,” Nell said firmly, “you must on no account marry Huntley.”

“No, I can see that now. In fact, I have been thinking it would be a good deal better if I were to marry a man more like Gideon.”

“Not
like
him, you goose. You must marry the major and no other.”

Rory sighed. “I should like that above all things, ma’am, only Mama would never permit it. Gideon is
not
the Earl of Huntley. She sets great store by—”

“Clarissa sets greater store by wealth than by title,” Nell cut in, speaking practically. “Have you got any notion how the major is fixed? He can scarcely be an officer in a cavalry regiment, particularly
that
regiment, if he was born without a shirt.”

“No, of course he was not,” Rory agreed with a chuckle. “I don’t know his exact circumstances, of course, but I do know that he owns what he calls a snug property in Somerset, and a house in London as well, so I am persuaded he’s no pauper. Still, he hasn’t got as much as Huntley, and he
is
a younger son, so—”

“So was Huntley a younger son,” Nell pointed out, “so we must hope your mother considers that fact in its proper light.”

“Aunt Nell!”

Nell had the grace to look contrite. “I know—an abominable thing to say, and I’m sure I wish no ill fate upon the major’s brother. But the fact of the matter is that your mama, once she hears about Aunt Agatha, will lose no time in pushing forward your marriage to Huntley. I doubt we shall even be able to persuade her to listen to a catalogue of the major’s qualities and virtues. And even if you can prevail upon her to let you call off your betrothal—”

“She would still refuse to entertain the notion of my marriage to Gideon, and I should be packed off back to Kent the moment Aunt cocks up her toes. Whereupon,” Rory continued bitterly, “Gideon’s regiment will doubtless be sent to the Continent for years and years, and—” She looked up in dismay. “Oh, Aunt Nell, we must
do
something!”

“Exactly what I thought, myself,” Nell agreed. “And much as I deplore the necessity, I fear there is nothing for it but for you and the major to elope.”

“Elope!” Astonishment vied with excitement in Rory’s expression, and excitement won the day. “The
very
thing! Oh, Aunt Nell, think how romantic it would be! To ride off to Scotland with dearest Gideon at my side—Oh, it would be beyond anything wonderful!”

Nell’s conscience suffered a brief pang at these blithe words, but she calmed it by repeating firmly to herself that there was no other way. Time was the important factor. When she suggested somewhat diffidently that the major might not cooperate, Rory scoffed, insisting that while it might not be a matter of utter simplicity, she had no doubt that she could, as she inelegantly phrased it, bring him up to scratch.

“For I daresay he won’t quite like the notion at first,” she admitted candidly, “however, once he is brought to see how desperate is the case, he will do whatever I ask of him.”

Nell still had her doubts, especially when Rory suggested that it would perhaps be better to wait until she could see the major under natural circumstances rather than to risk setting up his back at the outset by sending for him. Since they expected to encounter him at Lady Blanchard’s ball on Thursday evening, Nell forced herself to agree to the slight delay. Huntley would surely be in London for some days yet, and Lady Agnes’s letter, sent off to Chatham by the morning post, could not bring Crossways and Clarissa down upon them for at least five days or more.

As it happened, they chanced to meet the major the very next day at Donaldson’s Library, but Rory had no opportunity for more than a brief private word with him before he was off again. Nonetheless, she told Nell she had no doubt now as to the outcome of her campaign.

“I told him I was utterly cast down,” she said when they had returned to Upper Rock Gardens, “that I had had the most distressing news and didn’t know where to turn. And do you know, he offered to send immediately to his commanding officer excusing himself from duty for the rest of the day just to help me sort out my troubles? Is that not promising, ma’am?”

“Indeed it is,” Nell agreed, “but why did you not encourage him to do so, Rory? We might have been well on our way to a solution to our difficulties.”

“Well, we wouldn’t,” returned that young lady in her frank way, “for he would be—in the cold light of day, you know—more than likely to say I must discuss the thing with Mama, and offer to speak himself to Papa. But that would not serve, Aunt Nell. You know it would not.”

“But will he not make the same suggestion tomorrow night?”

“No, for there will be a moon then, you see, and music in the background, and I shall be so very melancholy, and under circumstances such as those he would never deny me anything. You will see, Aunt Nell.”

Nell could not share her confidence, but after two days of listening to Lady Agnes’s plaintive comments on the thoughtlessness shown by her twin sister in choosing such an inauspicious moment to cash in her accounts, and to Kit’s bemoaning of the fact that he, too, would be forced into mourning just when he was beginning to find his feet among the
beau monde
, she found herself hoping against hope that Rory’s efforts would be successful.

Even Sir Henry, placidly reassuring, did little to lift her spirits. He had better luck with Kit, promising him that since he cared little for formal parties anyway, his activities would be curtailed very little in the event that he was, in fact, plunged into mourning again. Sir Henry even managed to cheer up Lady Agnes, though Nell hadn’t the slightest notion how he had achieved such a feat.

Thinking of her mother only gave Nell more qualms; for, if by some happy circumstance, Rory did manage to convince the major to elope with her, and if Huntley was not so furious with Nell herself for conniving at such an outrageous act that he refused to make her an offer—assuming, she reflected morbidly, that he would make her one under any circumstances—and if she accepted him, she would be leaving Lady Agnes to cope alone with the management of both the large household and Kit, as well. The thought disturbed her only briefly, however, before she thrust it aside, determined to deal with it only if and when the need arose.

Upon arriving at Lady Blanchard’s house on the Steyne Thursday evening, Nell found herself scanning the company quite as anxiously as her niece was doing, and it was with the profoundest relief that she saw the major coming to greet them. She knew that there was nothing whatever she could do herself to aid matters at this point. All her dependence must be upon Rory. Consequently, she accepted the offer to dance whenever it was made and was very gay, pretending she had not a care in the world beyond wondering who would be her next partner.

The look on Major Talcott’s face when he took polite leave of her some time later, saying he must return to his regiment, was not such as to encourage her to believe her niece had met with any great success. But Rory, when questioned in the carriage on the way back to Upper Rock Gardens, expressed airy confidence, informing her aunt that she had done the trick.

“But he looked as grim as could be when he left,” Nell protested.

“Oh, he was a little vexed, just as I thought he would be,” Rory returned carelessly. “But when I explained to him that there is simply no other recourse, he agreed to meet us on the Downs at noon tomorrow.”

“Us! Why does he not come to fetch you at the house?”

“Well, because … because I never thought of it,” she answered, speaking rather quickly. “Besides, if I am with you, no one will suspect a thing, will they? And later you can just say you don’t know where I’ve gone, and we shall be long gone before anyone suspects the truth. I could wear my boy’s clothes, I expect, and ride to meet him alone, like Phoebe Hessell went to her Samuel, but you would not like that, and I think he would not like it, either. Moreover,” she added with the air of candor that had become so familiar, “I think he is more likely to believe the situation is truly desperate once he sees that you have no objection to our elopement.”

“Oh, Rory, I don’t know about this,” Nell said, as all the horrors of what she was encouraging her niece to do began to come home to her. “An elopement is a very serious step to take, you know. Your reputation—”

“Pooh, I shan’t care a rap for that if I can have Gideon for a husband,” Rory retorted. “And I shan’t have to face Mama and Papa or Huntley until it is done, so that won’t matter either.”

But Nell knew that she would have to face them, and the thought gave her a sleepless night. Not that she was particularly worried about Clarissa or Crossways, but Huntley would be livid, and that fact did worry her. No matter how often she told herself that she had dealt successfully with his temper before, she could not convince herself that she would enjoy dealing with it upon this particular occasion. If she could be sure she was doing the right thing, it would be easier. But she could not. She knew perfectly well that Rory had little comprehension of the severe consequences that would attend a Gretna Green marriage. But Nell knew, and she was not at all certain she could reconcile herself with her conscience. Only the knowledge that all speed was necessary—and a lurking suspicion that Huntley would forgive her once he perfectly understood her reasons—kept her from throwing back her covers and hastening to inform her niece that she could not allow her to take such a desperate step.

The morning and Rory’s glowing, confident face helped a great deal. If the child herself was so certain of the rightness of her course, who was Nell to deny her the opportunity to seek her happiness? By eleven o’clock they were ready to depart. Nell ordered their horses brought around in the ordinary way, and if Joe wondered about the satchel his mistress ordered him to tie securely to her saddle, he said not a word. At last, their grooms trailing behind, the two ladies set out to meet the major.

Not until she actually perceived him riding up the hill from the wood did Nell truly believe he would be there. Nevertheless, when she realized that the look on his face was not one of pleased anticipation but rather the opposite, she could not say that she was completely astonished. The two grooms fell prudently behind, and beside her, Rory gave a little sigh.

“Oh, dear.”

“Rory, I thought you said—”

“Well, perhaps I overstated his willingness a little,” Rory admitted in a small voice.

“By the look of him, I should say you overstated it by a great deal.”

Major Talcott, his brow furrowed in thunderous anger, was upon them in a trice. He spoke first to Nell, his voice under rigid control. “I am both glad and a little disappointed to see you here, Miss Lindale, for I didn’t believe her ladyship when she said you were party to this ridiculous start. I had no doubt, however, that she would come herself, and feared she would not have the good sense to provide herself with an escort, which is the only reason, believe me, that you find me here.”

He said nothing whatever of Nell’s good sense, but it was forcibly brought home to her that Rory had grossly misled her, that young lady having believed as usual that her own wishes would prevail over any opposition. In truth, the major had flatly refused from the outset to be party to an elopement that would most surely put an end to his promising military career. When he repeated that refusal in no uncertain terms and said he would escort them personally back to Brighton, Rory spoke up at last.

“Gideon! You could not be so cruel. Why, Aunt Nell’s very presence must
prove
to you that our case is desperate!”

The major’s response to this near wail was to favor her ladyship with a hard look before he dismounted, dropped his reins casually to the ground, and strode over to remove her without ceremony from her saddle. Setting her none too gently upon her feet and retaining a firm grip on her elbow, he glanced balefully up at Nell.