Beauty in Disguise (17 page)

“Lady Dinsmore, to what do you refer?” asked Lord Dalton, who sounded completely bewildered. “Oh, I see. You are referring to my holding Miss Montgomery’s hands? Your expression quite shocked me a moment ago.”

“Do not dissemble,
my lord.
” Charity’s tone was dripping with disgust. “You have been dallying with our servant. You, sir, are no gentleman! The situation must be rectified.”

The smile was immediately erased from Lord Dalton’s face, and Lady Dinsmore elbowed her irksome daughter, whispering, “Charity, be still. You go too far.”

The tone of steel in Lord Dalton’s voice decided Charity’s reticence as her mother’s hasty warning had not. “No one in this house has been dallied with by me, and I resent your accusation even more on the part of Miss Montgomery. You owe her an abject apology on the instant.”

Lady Dinsmore tried to assuage Lord Dalton’s temper before Charity made any more stupid remarks. “My lord, you must not take Charity’s words to heart. She reads too many novels, and I believe they are quite unfit for such young minds.” She chuckled and came a little closer. “It gives them such a flair for the dramatic. It makes you want to quite laugh at them.”

“I assure you, madam,” he said in an icy voice, “I am not laughing.”

“But Mama, he was holding her hands—you saw it as well as I,” cried the confused young beauty.

“Lady Dinsmore,” said the earl, “I can see that an explanation is due
you.
” He emphasized the elder woman with a look of disdain for the younger. “But an apology is also necessary for the aspersions cast on a very honorable woman, whether an explanation were forthcoming or not.”

“Please,” cried Kathryn, “an apology is
not
necessary. I am aware this situation appears questionable....” She stopped, realizing that Lord Dalton’s explanation was certainly not clear to her; therefore, she could not offer it. “Can we not forget the entire matter?” She lowered her voice, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her. “May I please return to my room?”

“Lady Dinsmore,” said the highly indignant earl, “I know it is not a common thought that women have a code of honor.”

Kathryn’s eyes widened, and her mouth fell open at the audacity of the man before her.

“But I believe,” he continued, “women can be just as honorable as men, and if your daughter and Miss Montgomery
were
men, no less than the satisfaction of a duel would accompany those words.”

Kathryn felt joy for the first time in a long time, and she wanted to give him a standing ovation with thunderous applause. But sadness crept in as she imagined the enjoyment they might have had for a lifetime had she not made her mistake.

The word
duel
had the desired effect, and Charity blanched before quickly offering a shaky apology to her wayward companion. As if Lord Dalton had ever fought in a duel!

Between clenched teeth and with disjointed sentences, the beauty ground out her apology. “I beg your pardon, Miss Montgomery. I thought...I thought you might be in need of our assistance. I see I have totally misconstrued the situation. I never intended to question your honor. Forgive me for any slight you may have taken.” Her fists balled at her side added to the appearance that the apology was torn from her lips.

Charity looked at Lord Dalton for approval, which was all to the good. Had she waited for a response from Kathryn, she would have waited a long time.

He made the pretense of visibly relaxing, to let the encroaching chit know an actual duel had been averted. Though he did not know it, Kathryn could not wait to hear his next words.

“Very pretty, Miss Charity,” he generously offered. “I am sure Miss Montgomery has taken no offense.” He looked at Kathryn with raised eyebrows, expecting her assent.

She nodded stoically, now terribly afraid if she had to speak one word, a fit of laughter would overtake her.

“Lady Dinsmore,” he continued, “that explanation I promised you...”

“Oh, it is quite unnecessary, my lord,” said the toadying woman. “Miss Montgomery always behaves above reproach—you have no need to defend her to me.”

“Defend her?” He seemed dumbfounded. “No, indeed, I should think not. I owe you an explanation about your decorations.”

All three women now looked at the man before them, and he continued as if nothing out of the ordinary was taking place. “You see, I was afraid Master Jacob would want to use real water in the moat of his Martello Tower.”

“Moat? I...I...see,” muttered the lady, with no inkling whatsoever as to what he was talking about.

“Hence,” the earl continued, “I devised what I thought to be a perfect plan and snipped some of this shimmery blue material to take to the nursery with me. It would make the moat appear to
look
like water.”

“Martello Tower...” the befuddled woman echoed.

“The children were delighted with it, but Miss Montgomery gave me the scolding of my life.” He leaned closer to whisper to Lady Dinsmore, aware that they could hear every word he was saying. “She can be a bit of a termagant when angry, can she not?” Standing tall again, he said, “She demanded at once that I show her where I had cut the fabric, worried that all of your hard work might be damaged. I showed her that I took a piece from behind the draperies so as not to be noticeable. However, when she wished to assure herself of the truth of my words, one of the pins holding the fabric in place pricked her finger.”

“Cut a piece...?” said Lady Dinsmore, no longer even pretending to understand.

“I was examining her injury when you entered the room. I apologize again for any concern I might have given by using your party decorations.”

“To be sure...of course...as I said, no need for apologies.”

“Capital! Now if you will excuse us, we must return to the nursery to help Master Jacob finish the moat.” He turned and held a hand toward the door, indicating Miss Montgomery should precede him, which she did. “We shall join you again at tea. Good day, ladies.”

Kathryn heard the door to the dining room close behind them, but hurried toward the stairs, unable to keep a straight face, and afraid she would burst out laughing while still within earshot of her employer. “Of all the horrible performances I have seen in my life...”

“Tell me quickly, Kathryn, before we are interrupted again. Will you go with me to see your father?”

“I will think on it, my lord.” She did not tell him it terrified her to her very core. She did not think she could bear one more act of vengeance for the pain she had wrought so many years before.

Chapter Twelve

W
ith the contretemps earlier in the decorated dining hall, Kathryn was certain Mrs. Wimpole would suddenly be available to accompany her husband to dinner that night. So it came as quite a shock to hear a knock on the housekeeper’s door as a footman politely reminded her that the house awaited her arrival in the drawing room. She thanked him and then hastily ran to her room to wash her face and tidy her hair. That she had already eaten with the servants never crossed her mind.

She knew Lady Dinsmore must have considered it, but in the end, the lady would have reasoned Lord Dalton might take offense at her absence. A harried Kathryn entered the drawing room, and all eyes turned to her. She could only assume they had been speaking of her, so she curtsied and said at once, “I beg your pardon. I did not hear the dinner bell. Please forgive me for keeping you waiting.”

Kathryn took a quick glance at Lord Dalton. She knew no one would notice her looking from behind her glasses. But she saw all she needed to know in
his
eyes. He was angry, and he started toward her. Fortunately, he was halted by Charity’s voice.

“Pay it no mind, Kate,” said Charity, fawning as she herself came to the side of her companion. “We are only just ready to go in, and you have appeared in plenty of time. Here,” she said cordially, linking arms with a dumbfounded Kathryn, “what do you say
we
lead the dinner procession this evening? We shall cut a new dash!”

Charity must have been taken severely to task and was now dumping the butter boat over her. It appeared as if the young beauty finally understood Kathryn’s discourses on her temper, and began using the power of flattery in her quest to win the earl.

At dinner, it seemed to Kathryn that Lord Dalton accepted Charity’s attention happily. She could not stop herself from glancing across the table at him, and she thought he met her gaze on more than one occasion. He had been so different this afternoon—almost kind, but he now appeared to be perfectly content. And if it irritated her, then all the better.

After dinner, the ladies left the men to go into the drawing room, Lady Dinsmore taking Kathryn’s arm. “I wished to leave while we were on such pleasant footing. I am hoping charitable feelings will carry us through the rest of the evening.”

Kathryn had tried to excuse herself from the drawing room, but Lady Dinsmore was having none of it. “What with all of the work you have done for the party, you deserve a pleasant evening enjoying yourself.” Kathryn was surprised. With Charity on her best behavior, now would be the time to allow her to be alone with Lord Dalton, fully supervised by her parents and the vicar, but without her companion sharing his attention.

Lady Dinsmore stopped and turned to face her. “Kate, you have forgiven us the gaffe from this afternoon, have you not? I would not have had it happen for the world.”

“Please, my lady, you must have no fear on that score. It is I who am to blame. If we could all forget it ever happened, I would be quite content.” She certainly did not wish to be a fly in the ointment on this, their most affable evening to date. “If Charity agrees, I will join you.”

“Delightful! You may have guessed I gave her quite a dressing-down.” Kathryn closed her eyes for one second and sighed. Charity would only take so much from her mother before she would once again show complete disdain for her companion.

“I wish you had not, my lady.”

“Have no fear—it is now all forgotten.”

Lady Dinsmore may have forgotten it, but Kathryn had not. She had very little time to process Lord Dalton’s about-face and the discovery that he went to see her father. She did not know if she would go to see him. She wanted to, but nine years of abandonment could not be fixed in a day. Indeed, it might never be fixed.

As the gentlemen returned from the dining room, all Kathryn could think of was getting to her room. She suspected her reflections on this day would certainly keep her awake until the wee hours of the morning.

* * *

While sitting with Sir John and the vicar, Dalton lost track of the discussion of local people and places of which he had no knowledge. His thoughts drifted back over his own day, and he found himself smiling. The time with the children had saved him from Charity’s grasp, but more than that, he thought he had taken a small step in the battle to end the confrontation between him and Kathryn. And suddenly he wanted the war to end. Would she let it?

When they were alone those few moments in the dining hall, he had been faced with a woman who had come down in the world, but had more dignity than any woman of his acquaintance. He did not suppose he could think much higher of the intelligent, thoughtful woman he had loved nine years ago, but he saw a maturity that could only have been attained through the horrors of her life, horrors she did not succumb to. His estimation
had
risen, and he prayed that even if she could not bear him, she would at least see her father.

As far as he was concerned, it would take quite a bit more. And he was beginning to believe he had wasted the past two weeks. It was time that could have been spent getting to know her better, as she was now.

All of the qualities he was discovering in the gentle woman were beginning to change his view on women as a whole. He knew she had a wonderful sense of humor, but as he acted out the farce in the party room that afternoon, he was delighted that she had been so in tune with him, though she tried to hide it.

It was not just beauty or intelligence, or even a sense of humor. It included the full gamut of characteristics. He was in the presence of an honorable woman, despite the things that had happened in her life and the lengths she had gone to that had brought her to this place.

His musings were interrupted by Sir John. “Shall we join the ladies, my lord? Quite sure we should, before they come looking for us!” He laughed at his own joke, and the three of them repaired to the drawing room.

Upon entering, he could hear Charity once again abusing Kathryn for some slight. The recalcitrant child had not even made it through one evening with the polite behavior she showed before and during dinner.

Dalton was no fool. Kathryn was late for dinner because she had fully expected to be excluded from it. He had believed it himself until she appeared, a bit disheveled, in the drawing room. He began to take himself to task and wonder if any of his own people were treated with so little feeling. Had he himself been guilty of it?

“Oh, my lord,” Charity simpered, intruding on his thoughts. “Shall we play cards this evening? I am sure Mr. Wimpole and Kate will be happy to make up a foursome.” She gave no thought to the two she felt were completely beneath her.

He would begin to scrutinize the depths of the contenders for his heart much more closely from now on. The idea struck him—what if those contenders did not have the qualities and characteristics he saw in Kathryn? He was quite sure he could not do without them now.

To say that it was the most frustrating game of cards he had ever been a part of would be an understatement. Charity, in actuality, had no interest in the game, only in being his partner so she could send the most ridiculous hints that were both completely against the rules and always veiled with two possible meanings. The vicar and Kathryn beat them soundly.

The tea tray was a blessing, and he purposely seated himself in a straight-backed chair where Charity could not join him. He was overjoyed when she volunteered to play the pianoforte for him. When she was safely seated and actually playing, he rose to get two cups of tea and moved to the settee where Kathryn sat. As he handed her a cup, one look at her face told him she was well aware of the reasoning for his actions.