Behind the Mask (House of Lords) (21 page)

Still, he was not looking forward to what lay on the other side of the door they were stopping at. Eleanor put her hand out and turned the knob. “Are you ready?” she asked.

He nodded.

She pushed the door in, and he allowed her to precede him into the room.

Lady Sidney was, thankfully, alone. She was seated at the small desk in the corner, her attention fixed on a letter. But she looked up when the entered, smiling. “Oh, Eleanor!” she cried, leaping up. “Thank goodness you’ve returned. I have just had a letter from Lady Pennethorne saying that she and her husband are in residence. Will we have to invite them to the festivities, do you think?”

Colin suppressed a groan. If there was anyone he did
not
wish to see, it was Lord Pennethorne, especially not now.

“Mama, we have something to tell you,” Eleanor said.

“Oh?” After her prematurely exuberant reaction the other day, Lady Sidney sounded cautious.

Eleanor nodded. Colin flattered himself that her smile was genuine as she said, “Lord Pierce has asked me to be his wife, and I have agreed.”

Lady Sidney looked from Colin to her daughter and back. “Oh, Eleanor!” she said, and she flung her arms around her. “I am so happy. What wonderful news.” She released her daughter and smiled up at Colin. “Lord Pierce,” she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “I could not be happier. We will start planning the wedding right away—perhaps Christmas, Eleanor?”

“No, Mama,” Eleanor said, her voice sounding rather hollow. “We are to be married on Tuesday.”

Lady Sidney looked confused for a moment. Then, as if understanding the situation, she said, “I see.” There was a pause, and then her expression brightened. “Well, we will have all our friends and neighbors here to celebrate, won’t we? And the Princess Victoria! How lovely that will be. You and I will have to begin making arrangements right away, dear. Lord Pierce, will you excuse us? There is so much to talk about.”

“Of course,” Colin said, though he still clung to Eleanor’s hand.

“It’s all right,” she mouthed as Lady Sidney bustled across the room.

He squeezed her fingers and turned to go. As she closed the door behind him, Eleanor gave him a quick wink.

Once he was out in the hall, Colin did not waste much time wondering what his fiancée and her mother were discussing. There were too many things to be done, and not a moment to waste.

First, he must find Strathmore, who had hopefully returned from the village by now, and tell him what had happened.

Eleanor stood for a long moment with her hand on the doorknob. But at last her mother cleared her throat, and she could delay no longer. She turned to face Lady Sidney, who had arrayed herself on the little sofa.

“Eleanor,” her mother said, her expression suddenly serious, “what on earth have you done?”

She crossed the little room and sat down beside her mother. “I am sorry to have disappointed you, mother,” she said woodenly. “But the fact is that Leo has decided it would be best for Lord Pierce and I to marry right away, before the princess arrives.”

Lady Sidney sighed. “I understand, Eleanor. But really, how could you be so foolish? Of all my daughters, I had always thought it would be Maris with whom I would be having this conversation. But not you, dear. Never you.”

Eleanor felt hot tears stinging her eyes. She could not look at her mother. Though she had told herself she was not sorry for what had happened, she could still feel the shame of having to face her mother in this moment. She bit her lower lip. She would not cry. She
refused
to cry.

“There, there,” her mother said, taking her hand. “He will be a good husband, Eleanor. You have chosen wisely in that regard, at least.”

Eleanor nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“And you know,” Lady Sidney said, “your father and I were wed rather hastily, and I would say that we were very fortunate in our marriage.”

“You were?” Eleanor asked. She had never heard her mother say such a thing before.

Smiling, Lady Sidney nodded. “It was when he was visiting Grandling,” she said, referring to her family’s country seat, a sprawling park in Cornwall. “We took a boat and rowed out to the island one afternoon. We meant to go just for an hour—it’s not far across the lake, as you know. But he forgot to tie up the boat, and we ended up getting stranded out there. It was nearly midnight before the boat drifted back to the dock and someone realized where we had gone, and by then my father was so furious that there was no other option but for your father to offer for me. I think he had meant to do so anyway, but still, I thought it was all rather romantic.”

Eleanor had to smile at that. She knew that her parents had truly loved each other. Her father’s death seven years ago had been a great blow not only to Eleanor but also to the rest of her family. Even now Lady Sidney had not gotten over the loss. Leo had suffered too, Eleanor knew, having to become the head of his family when he was barely twenty-four. He had not been ready, and the grief and weight of his duties combined had overwhelmed him for a while. But he had come into his own. If he had been any other man, Eleanor might have rebelled, have insisted that she and Colin wait to marry until everything had blown over, but she trusted Leo’s judgment.

“You will make the best of this, Eleanor,” her mother said now. “You are strong, stronger than I was when I found myself suddenly the bride of a man I barely knew. You will take this in stride. I have every confidence. Now, then, which dress do you think you will wear? We must plan your flowers to match.”

Colin met Strathmore coming in from the stableyard. “Any news from the village?” he asked.

“The what?” Strathmore asked absently. “Oh, the village. I—no.”

Colin frowned. Had Yates’s death gotten the better of the man? He did not have time to worry about it now. “Come into the library,” he said. “There’s a great deal to talk about.”

“What’s happened?” Strathmore asked as he closed the door behind them.

Colin sighed and dropped into a chair. “It’s a long story, I’m afraid. I have a great deal to tell you. But perhaps you’d better tell me about Conroy first.”

Strathmore nodded, though he looked curious. “We arrived at Hafeley quite close to supper,” he said. “Sir John kept us waiting all through the meal, which vexed Lord Sidney more than it did me, I suppose. But at last he came, and he was quite apologetic when he realized that he had made a viscount cool his heels in the study.”

“Of course he was,” Colin said.

“Anyway, I explained the situation and then Lord Pierce made the appeal. Sir John said he understood the situation and the danger, but that the Duchess of Kent would not be changing her plans.”

“Did he consult with the duchess?”

Strathmore shook his head with a resigned smile. “I suppose he knows her views well enough,” he said meaningfully. Colin did not have to ask what he meant. It was widely rumored that Conroy and the duchess were lovers, that it was because of their connection that she allowed him so much control over her daughter. But Colin thought it went deeper than that. Sir John had control not only over the princess, but over her mother as well. He would feel no need to consult the Duchess of Kent’s wishes because he had no reason to believe they would differ from his own.

“We did our best,” Strathmore said.

“I’m sure you did,” Colin assured him. “I thank you for it. Now we must turn our attention to our plan of action for the princess’s visit. But first I have some news for you.”

Very concisely he explained to Strathmore what had happened between him and Eleanor. He left out most of the less salient details, but there could be no doubt that the man understood exactly why a wedding would be taking place. Still, Strathmore nodded thoughtfully when Colin had finished the tale. “Well, I suppose you could do much worse,” he said after a lengthy silence.

Colin laughed. “Thank you for not throwing my warning upon our arrival back at me,” he said, remembering ruefully how he had cautioned Strathmore to be careful around the Chesney girls.

“Would there be any point?” Strathmore asked. “It is what it is. There is nothing we can do to change the situation now, and we must make the best of it.”

Grateful for the opportunity to turn the conversation back towards ground where he was more comfortable, Colin asked, “How early can we expect Colonel Taylor’s regiment?”

“They were marching up from Stokesby yesterday. If they stop tonight in Filby they should be here shortly after ten tomorrow, I would think.”

“Good. That will give us some time to prepare.”

“And it will give Lord Sidney a good start to Norwich,” Strathmore added, grinning. When Colin glared at him he said, “Sorry, My Lord, the temptation was too great to resist.”

“Don’t worry, Strathmore. I think I deserve to have a little fun poked at me. I have been quite the ass this last week, and Viscount Palmerston always says that an agent who cannot admit his failures is doomed to repeat them.”

“I have heard him say that,” Strathmore said, “though I don’t think he had this sort of situation in mind.”

“No, probably not,” Colin had to agree.

“Where is Lady Sidney planning on putting the men?”

Colin put a hand over his eyes. Suddenly he felt very tired, and a good deal older than his twenty-nine years. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they pitch tents behind the stables,” he groaned. “This situation is rapidly unraveling, Strathmore. I will be grateful for the men, who will likely make it all but impossible for the Serraray to approach the house unnoticed, but if I have to spend the next week listening to them complaining about the lack of conveniences, I think I will go mad.”

“Crawley will help with that, My Lord. He’s a former enlisted man, you know, and he’ll be able to work with Colonel Taylor.”

“Good. But there are still three days until he arrives with the princess’s party.”

Strathmore nodded.

“We’ll just have to get by without him,” Colin said.

“Indeed. I’m sure we’ll manage, My Lord. Now, then, Mrs. Clarence has given me a list of the entertainments planned for the princess’s visit.” He retrieved three sheets of paper that had been laying at one end of the table and handed them over. Colin scanned the list. If this was Eleanor’s work, he was more fortunate to have her than he knew. The woman could be a drill sergeant with how carefully every minute of the princess’s visit was plotted out. There were timetables for breakfast, luncheon, tea and supper, musical evenings and riding parties and dinners. But when he reached the bottom of the last sheet Colin groaned. “A masquerade?”

“I have already voiced my concerns,” Strathmore said, “but apparently the Duchess of Kent adores a masquerade, and made clear to Lady Sidney that she would love it above all things if there were one during their visit. There are guests lists here somewhere,” he added, picking up his folio and rifling through it. “Aha,” he said, pulling out another sheet. There were three columns of names, printed in a tiny, crabbed hand.

“There must be two hundred people here,” Colin said despairingly.

“Yes, but Mrs. Clarence says they only expect about half that number to be able to attend. Some won’t come because the distance is too far to travel in one night, others are still in town or otherwise occupied, though who would pass up the chance at a masquerade attended by the heir to the throne I don’t rightly know.”

“Indeed,” Colin said. “But this poses a considerable challenge. All the other events will have smaller guest lists. But for a masquerade ball in August all the entertaining rooms will have to be opened as well as the gardens. There will likely be a buffet supper and rather too much drinking. Things can get rapidly out of hand, and I have no desire to be distracted by drunken Greek gods and pirates.”