Beauty in Disguise (12 page)

“I do not know what number it is, sir. I forgot that. But it is the one below Chichester. Miss Montgomery has seen several in Lewes near where she grew up and in Brighton...did you know the one in Seaford has a real moat around it?” Once started, his excitement grew and he could not talk fast enough. “Miss Montgomery took us to see it on her day off from Charity.” He looked directly into Lord Dalton’s eyes and asked the question burning in his mind. “How do
you
know about the towers, sir?”

Dalton sank to the floor to inspect Jacob’s project from a closer vantage point. “My home is in Rye, Jacob. Do you know where that is?” At the shake of the boy’s head, he continued. “It, too, is in Sussex. In any event, Rye has
two
Martello Towers, and I must claim myself as excited by them as you seem to be. You are quite the expert!”

Kathryn could see the exhilaration on Lord Dalton’s face at pleasing Jacob. She just wanted to slip away. How could he be so charming one moment and so cruel the next? Perhaps it would be better if she told Lady Dinsmore and be done with it.

“I always thought there should be more than one cannon in each tower myself, and I appreciate your greater effort to protect England’s shores.”

She could tell that Lord Dalton was now enjoying himself immensely. He addressed the boy again. “Suppose you and I were to add a moat to this great creation?”

Jacob’s screech of delight surprised Lord Dalton, and he laughed heartily.

“May we, Miss Montgomery? May we please? That would be splendid, sir!”

She watched the smile disappear as they turned to her expectantly. They must see no change in her, so she pretended sternness.

“Very well, minx. If Nurse agrees, you may attempt to build your moat. But there are conditions. First, you must get your father’s permission to importune his guest, and you must promise to be completely satisfied with whatever amount of time Lord Dalton may spare for you. Finally,” she said, growing very serious, “you must
promise
there will be no real water!”

Lacey started to giggle, and within moments Jacob and Lord Dalton laughed, teasing Jacob about flooding the nursery. The noisy clearing of a starched-up throat interrupted their joy, and all heads turned to see a very stern Jarvis standing in the doorway. He made no particular comment about earls sitting cross-legged upon the nursery floor; however, his expression clearly showed his thoughts on the matter.

“Lord Dalton, Sir John has asked me to inform you that he has been waiting for you in the stables this half hour or more.”

“Please tell Sir John I will attend him directly. I will fetch my gloves and join him in the stables.”

“As you wish, my lord.”

“Well, my friends, it seems I must say farewell for the nonce. I thank you for an agreeable morning, and perhaps we may enjoy the pleasure again before I leave Trotton.” He bowed quite regally to both children, then turned to Kathryn. “Please forgive my intrusion into your own time with the children,” he said formally while bowing. She curtsied in deference.

“Your servant, ma’am.”

Kathryn flinched at the coldness in his voice. She was so thankful he remained kind to the children, but if his primary intention was to hurt her, he had succeeded. Her hope that his stay would be a short one died as she thought about the party to be given in his honor and the promise to Jacob of building a moat. Would the consequences never end?

She had spent the past nine years regretting the loss of his love. Apparently, God did not think that was long enough.

Chapter Eight

“I
vow, Papa, if I hear one more word about your hideous hunters, I shall die of boredom.” Charity rapped her fan across her father’s arm as she laughingly said the words, but made it clear to all in the room that she was bringing the subject of horses to a close.

They were assembled in the gold salon for tea, and it was evident from the moment they gathered there that Charity was bursting for attention. Unfortunately, several interruptions by other members of her family only fed her frustration.

It began when Nurse entered the room with the children. Their jubilant excitement when they caught sight of the earl caused them to forget propriety and run to him, all legs and words.

“Bless my soul, children,” began Lady Dinsmore, “what can you be about, accosting his lordship in this manner? Do calm yourselves at once.”

“You must not scold them, Lady Dinsmore,” Lord Dalton quickly entreated. “I fear I brought this on myself and had no idea I should be the cause of disrupting your tea. It is I who should be apologizing, I assure you.”

“Oh, Lord Dalton, you must be all about in your head,” said Charity, waving away his words. “In what way could
you
possibly be responsible for this unruly conduct?”

Kathryn determined that Lord Dalton should not draw fire upon himself, and interceded in his defense. “Charity, His Lordship has done nothing to warrant the blame. In that you are correct. He was kind enough to visit the children in the nursery this morning, and they have quite adopted him.” She smiled slightly as she lowered her voice, addressing Lady Dinsmore. “I should have warned them that their manners in the nursery have no bearing on their manners during tea.”

Sir John choked on a scone. “The devil you say! Is it for these ragamuffins you kept me waiting in the stables this morning?” After swallowing a gulp of brandy to clear his throat, he slapped his thigh and laughed. “If that don’t beat the Dutch!”

Jacob, understanding his father’s jovial mood, decided it was the perfect time to put forth his request, and ran to stand beside his father’s chair.

“Papa, Papa, I have a mo...ment...tous favor to ask,” he said, looking at Lord Dalton for approval. His Lordship and Kathryn chuckled at the same time, and Dalton quickly looked away from her.

Fortunately, Jacob barely drew breath. “Papa, Lord Darton offered to help me build a moat for my Martello Tower. Can he, please, oh, please, Papa?”

Sir John looked even more perplexed than before. He cleared his throat, not certain why his guest would wish to spend a morning entertaining his youngest child but not about to question it. “Of course, my boy,” he addressed Lord Dalton. “We told you we were as informal as you like. But you must not allow little Jakey to make a pest of himself, what?”

“Little Jakey” took umbrage at both the nickname and the accusation. “I already promised Lord Danton I would do most of the work myself,” he said in a dejected voice.

“Indeed, Sir John, Master Jacob is not a pest, and it was I who offered. I have a fondness for children, and it will be no hardship, I assure you.”

That was the point at which Charity became tired of being ignored.

“Darling,” her mother chimed in for the first time, “why not let Miss Montgomery take the children their tea, then we may talk of the party.”

Kathryn reminded herself that this was supposed to be a surprise to her. “A party?” she said, knowing it would go a long way to keeping Charity happy. She herself was having a hard time staying in the same room as Dalton. She did not think she would survive his coldness.

“My dear, you were not with us when we discussed this with Lord Dalton when he was here before. We are to have a small dinner party for his entertainment.” Lady Dinsmore smiled at her daughter as she spoke.

As Kathryn already knew, she was to be called into service for this and began making a mental list of the items such an endeavor would entail. Charity would be of little help, and Lady Dinsmore just barely managed to keep control of the household routine. But she found she did not mind. It would be a change in her normally mundane disagreements with Charity, and she would remain too busy to be hurt by Lord Dalton’s arrows.

“When is this party to be?”

“We have not as yet set the date, but may we do so now, Mama?”

Lady Dinsmore appeared quite content with her daughter’s congenial behavior. “That is a splendid idea, my dear. While we are all gathered, we may decide on the perfect time. I suggest we have it a week from today. His Lordship will only be here another week or so, and I believe the Farnhams are leaving for Brighton sometime in the next fortnight.”

“But Mama, shall we have enough time to get the invitations out? It will not be very much notice. Perhaps we should wait the full ten days.”

Kathryn could read Charity like a book. She assumed putting it off would give her more time to bring Lord Dalton up to scratch. She could see the machinations in Charity’s mind all too clearly. What a boon it would be if she could make it an engagement party!

“I hate to be a fly in the ointment,” Dalton said contritely, “but I do not know that I will be here much more than a week. I have almost decided which horses will suit me, and there are few left to test.” When the sound of someone loudly clearing his throat reached his ears, he smiled. “Of course, there is also the matter of a certain moat we discussed earlier.” He became serious again. “If it would not be too much trouble, a week from tomorrow would be quite amenable for me.”

“It is settled, then,” Lady Dinsmore said at the same time Charity whined, “but the invitations.”

Kathryn knew her cue. “Charity, I will write them out this afternoon, and they may be delivered tomorrow.”

“Of course!” she exclaimed. “It will give you something to occupy your time while I entertain Lord Dalton.”

Kathryn put a smile on her face and reminded herself that what the girl said was true. It would always be someone else’s place to entertain Lord Dalton, especially now.

* * *

No, this was not right at all. He was not sure exactly what he was expecting, but it was not her docile acceptance. It only made him feel mean. He wanted her to know how
he
felt. She had left him shattered nine years ago. She had played him for a fool by running off with Salford. And she had not told him who she was during his first stay. He wanted her to feel the pain he felt, not go into a protective shell that kept his uncharacteristic barbs at bay.

Worse, this was all making him feel guilty. He had nothing to feel guilty about! At least that’s what he kept telling himself. He knew it was ungentlemanly, but did she not deserve a small upbraiding? Each time he purposely said hurtful words, God pricked his heart. But he ignored the prodding and waited for the next opportunity. He hoped it would give him more pleasure than it had thus far.

His thoughts turned back to the present conversation, and he watched as the sly minx treated her companion as a servant. She gave no thought to Kathryn’s feelings. Perhaps Charity would succeed where he did not. Perhaps he
and
Charity together would bring about the desired reaction!

“I must beg leave to help, Miss Charity.” He spoke to her in a sweet tone of voice he had never used before. “Is there not some way in which a male may be useful in these circumstances?” He knew his offer to be unusual, but he doubted anyone other than Kathryn would notice. More the better.

“La, my lord. You love to tease me.” The girl’s flagrant flirting had brought about a reaction from the wrong person! “You must not trouble yourself in the least.” She placed her hand on his arm and looked up at him with adoring eyes. “But you are a dear to offer.”

Dalton was suddenly struck by the seriousness of the situation in which he now found himself. This was no schoolgirl flirtation; the child was trying to trap him into marriage! Had he been invited here for that purpose? No, he could not believe Sir John to be such a schemer. The chit was definitely getting help from her mother. He saw it clearly now, but had it actually been a plan? He could only hope it had been conceived after his arrival.

He must be on his guard in the future. He had no intention of being leg-shackled to a spoiled brat. No, he decided he could not risk using the chit to irritate Kathryn. Dalton suddenly transferred his gaze to her companion, praying he saw no duplicity there. He needed to see her eyes; he would detect the truth there. No! He would not believe it of her, despite their current contretemps.

He knew what he must do. He would keep Kathryn and the children as close to him as possible. It would not be difficult; they were already at tea every day, and she joined them each night for dinner. It would still allow him the opportunity to avenge himself on Kathryn, but would protect him from the grasping daughter of the house. He could not imagine a fate worse than being married to a spoiled, coddled child who thought her beauty gave her the right to ride roughshod over others.

“My lord—” the sugary voice was much too close to his ear “—there
is
one way you could be of assistance, though I hope it is not a task too onerous.” Her eyelashes fluttered, and he walked to the tea tray to set down his cup and to put a room’s distance between them.

“In what way, Miss Charity?” he questioned, trying for the perfect balance of aloofness and interest.

The girl did not even seem to notice. “Perhaps tomorrow we could go on that drive we have had to put off since you were called away. I could show you the countryside, and we could deliver the invitations as we went. Why, we could take a picnic and make an afternoon of it!”

Lady Dinsmore turned to Kathryn. “Kate, dear, perhaps you would consent to chaperone Charity with Lord Dalton tomorrow?” He silently thanked the matron, though she was not aware of it. Kathryn would be no threat to Charity, but if he were any judge, she could put a damper on the girl’s outrageous conduct and make her quite uncomfortable in his presence.

Dalton would get her to join them if he had to move heaven and earth to do so.

“Your mother is quite right, Miss Charity. Running the horses, I have seen little of the actual farms or the people on your grounds. I would be delighted at the prospect.”

“But we are not visiting the tenants, my lord. We need to deliver the invitations. They will not be included.”

Even Dalton understood Charity’s real concern. She wanted to deliver the invitations so all of her friends could see her accompanied by an earl. The more envious she could make them, the better. Well, he had little interest in seeing either, so he would let them decide.