Under An English Moon (24 page)

“What could elicit such a somber expression, Samuel? I am sure your choice of future wife will please me if she pleases you. Whom you choose should be no concern of mine,” Reggie said. He looked to Phoebe whose eyes shone with love, and his heart fluttered at the pride he saw in her eyes.

“Very well,” Samuel said as if in doubt. “Her name is Sarah Tollerton. She owns the dressmaking shop in the village.”

Reggie thought he could not have heard correctly. A dressmaking shop?

“She what?” he asked.

“She owns the dressmaking shop in the village. You saw her only this morning when you took Mrs. Sinclair and Miss Warner to town. I assume they deduced almost immediately that my business there was not on behalf of our stepmother, but you did not.”

Reggie shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs. He vaguely remembered a young woman opening the door to the shop, dark hair, a pleasing countenance. She seemed to know who he was, but he had not previously met her as he had never before had occasion to frequent dress shops.

“A dressmaker, Samuel? You cannot marry a dressmaker!”

“Reggie!” Phoebe cried out. She rose swiftly and faced him. “Why ever not?”

Samuel turned to Phoebe. “I am surprised you need ask, Miss Warner. As you must know, Miss Tollerton is deemed to come from another class of people, though her father was born of a respectable family. As the youngest son of a squire, he took orders and became a country parson. Upon his death, he left nothing for his only daughter and, because Miss Tollerton was forced into the trades, she is considered an unsuitable wife for the second son of an earl.”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake, Reggie’s not like that,” Phoebe said. “Maybe your father is, but Reggie doesn’t think like that, do you?”

Reggie looked at his dear love who regarded him with a look of hope and trust in her eyes. He could tell her the truth...or he could lie, but he had sworn never to lie to her.

“It pains me to say this, both to you, Samuel, and to you, my love, but Miss Tollerton’s situation in life renders her an unacceptable wife for Samuel. No children of the Earl of Hamilton have ever married someone in the trades. It simply is not done. Father would never countenance such a match.”

Phoebe faltered and grabbed the edge of the settee, staring at him with wide eyes. Samuel turned away and headed for the buffet and a drink. Mattie wore an expression of disappointment and looked away to watch Samuel. Only William seemed to regard Reggie with anything resembling understanding.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Phoebe almost begged. Reggie understood she gave him an opportunity to retract his words, but to lie to her, to renounce everything he had ever understood about the nobility, forbade it.

“I do not jest, Phoebe. I think it must be different in your time.”

She looked over her shoulder toward Samuel who stood by the buffet but apparently did not hear Reggie’s accidental reference to “time.”

“Well, of course it is.” She jabbed a thumb unceremoniously toward her breast. “
I’m
different.
I’m
in the trades.
I’m
a nobody. How can you marry me but Samuel can’t marry Sarah Tollerton? It’s hypocritical!”

Reggie reached out a hand to her. “Phoebe, please. Let us speak of this in private. It is not the same.”

“No, it
is
the same,” she said as tears ran down her face. “I don’t know why you can’t see that, or were you marrying me
despite
what you considered to be a flawed upbringing? Sarah Tollerton and I are just alike—whether I work as a publisher or as a seamstress.”

“Phoebe, please,” Reggie said ineffectually. He did not know what he wanted. That she return the look of love to her eyes? That she desist in believing she and the dressmaker were of the same class? That the entire conversation had never begun at all?

Phoebe shook her head. “I don’t know you at all, do I, Reggie? This is the wife in the attic, isn’t it? This is the reason we can’t get married.” With that, she turned and ran from the room. He heard her footsteps pounding up the stairs.

Mattie rose to follow without a backward glance.

“Forgive me, Reggie,” Samuel said in a now-slurred voice. “It was not my intention to upset Miss Warner when I revealed my news. Although I did accurately predict how you would receive the news, I did not imagine this would occur.” He nodded over his shoulder toward the doorway.

“By this, do you mean the end of my engagement?” Reggie said in a strangled voice. He poured himself a drink.

William joined them. “I am at a loss for words, gentlemen. You both have my utmost sympathies.” He poured himself a drink as well. “Let us remove to the library where we may speak in private. Surely, there is room for compromise.”

Reggie followed Samuel and William into the library where the drink was more plentiful and more potent.

He slumped into a chair, unable to comprehend the ramifications of what had just occurred. Samuel threw himself into another chair, as morose as he. Reggie tried to find the wits to think of Samuel’s misery and what he must have suffered for some time as he fell in love with Miss Tollerton. But at the moment, Reggie could only think of his own misery, the end of his dreams.

“Come, gentlemen. It is not as glum as all that. Love is a wondrous happy thing. It is only people who remove the joy from it.”

Reggie stared at his stepbrother with a wry expression.

“Have you become a poet then, William?”

William smiled. “I have indeed. I am proof, gentlemen, that love will find a way. Though there be obstacles in your paths, I truly believe that love will conquer all.”

“I believed that as well, I truly did, but it has not come to pass,” Reggie said morosely. “I cannot change who I am, or not as much as apparently Miss Warner would wish me to. Perhaps she would be better off with someone of her own time.”

“Nonsense,” William said.

“I cannot help but feel that I have come between you and Miss Warner, Reggie,” Samuel said in an equally morose voice.

Reggie shook his head. “It was my words that Miss Warner objected to, Samuel, not you. I am the cause of the demise of our engagement. But I could not lie to her. Father would indeed never countenance a match between you and Miss Tollerton, and you must have his blessing.”

“Because I have no income of my own,” Samuel muttered.

“Yes, that is correct,” Reggie said.

“But I could learn a trade myself. I wish to become a solicitor. Then I could support a wife.”

“A solicitor!” William exclaimed. “What a capital idea!”

“A solicitor!” Reggie echoed. “When did you decide that?”

“Some time ago,” Samuel said, “after I knew I wished to make Miss Tollerton my wife. I knew I should need a profession, and the law holds interest for me.”

“Did you discuss this with Father?”

“Yes, I attempted to...on the same night that you stormed out and disappeared, a most inopportune time. He refused to hear of it and forbade me to speak of it again. I cannot study for the law without his financial assistance.”

“Well, there is one thing that you can aid your brother with, Reggie,” William said. “You can lend or give Samuel the money for his education, ensuring that he is able to support himself and a family independent of your father. For if you do not assist him, then what future has he as the second son of an earl? That of a poor
country parson
?”

At his last words, Reggie swung his head toward William who watched him with a raised brow.

“Egads!” Reggie exclaimed. “I had not thought of that. What was your future meant to be, Samuel? Did you and Father ever discuss such a thing? Surely, he didn’t insist upon you taking orders, did he?”

Samuel shook his head. “No, nothing of the sort. I have only recently imagined that my life must have some meaning, a function other than that of second son to an earl. It was when I met Miss Tollerton that I realized I served no purpose. I neither added nor took from society...from the world around me. I simply existed to read books.”

“An aimless existence,” William said quietly.

Reggie studied his brother. “What do other families do?” he mused.

“I believe second sons take orders, take a commission in the Army or Navy, or become physicians,” William offered.

“None of those interest me as much as studying the law,” Samuel said.

Reggie stared at the brown liquid of his brandy. Images of Phoebe’s distraught face haunted him, bringing an ache to his chest, but he tried to push them from his mind. His dimmed wits would only allow him to attend to one matter at a time.

“No, I cannot imagine you in any of those professions,” Reggie said with a wry smile. “I will pay for you to attend school, Samuel. William is correct. That is one thing I can do for you, and I am pleased to do so. Whether or not you choose to marry Miss Tollerton must be your decision and your decision alone.” He swallowed hard, trying to imagine what Phoebe might wish for him to say. “I will support you in your choice of wife, and she will be welcome in my home. I think she may wish to set up her own establishment though, and I imagine you would need to wait to marry until you have completed your schooling and are able to afford your own lodgings. I may be of assistance in that matter as well if you wish.”

William rose and clapped him on the back with a broad grin. “Well done, Reggie! That is more than any brother could hope for, do you not agree, Samuel?”

Samuel jumped up hastily and began to pace, albeit with a drunken tilt. “I cannot accept your generous offer, Reggie. How could I ever repay you?”

“Do not be a pudding head, Samuel,” Reggie said. “It is simply a matter of birth that I inherited my own money and you did not. I have enough for both of us.” He rose. “The matter is settled. Though how you broach the subject with Father is not. If you wish, I can accompany you when you speak to him.”

“About becoming a solicitor or my impending betrothal? For I do intend to ask Miss Tollerton to become my wife, Reggie.”

“Yes, I am firmly convinced of that, Samuel. Both. I will stand by both your decisions. You may rely upon me.”

“Thank you, Reggie. I could not wish for a better brother.” Samuel bowed.

“Well, gentleman, a good day’s work I would say. I must see to the rest of the house. My daughter must be wondering where her parents are. I imagine it is almost time for dinner.”

“I am for the village. Do not wait dinner for me,” Samuel said with a hesitant look in Reggie’s direction. “Is there anything I can say to Miss Warner to ease the situation?”

Reggie shook his head. “No, there is nothing. Thank you. I have disappointed her. When I first proposed marriage, she said she did not know me well enough, but she acquiesced and accepted my proposal. It seems she has reverted to her original concerns that we do not know each other well enough, and I must honor that.”

“I am sorry for it,” Samuel said quietly as he followed William from the library, leaving Reggie still seated.

“Yes, I am too,” Reggie said quietly. “Take a groom with you, Samuel. You have imbibed overly much to be alone in the saddle.”

“I will,” Samuel said.

****

An hour later, Reggie stepped onto the terrace of his new house and surveyed the soft purple hues of the river and the plains beyond as night settled onto the landscape. He should not have come but felt he could not stay at Ashton House for the moment. He did not think he could bear to see Phoebe at dinner, to feel the disappointment in her eyes as she regarded him over the dinner table. He had left a note for Mattie explaining that he would be absent from dinner, citing some vague errand.

He spied a stone bench against the wall that flanked the bay windows, and he sat down heavily. It seemed unlikely but it had only been a matter of hours since Phoebe had stood on the same terrace and admired the view, her hand entwined in his. The future had seemed bright and full of promise. Now, it seemed bleak and lonely. He had no intention of abandoning the purchase of the house for he would never return to his father’s house—not while his father still lived. He would be master in his own home, and the “castle,” as Phoebe had called it, would be his.

Soft moonlight glowed on the stone balustrade of the terrace, and he glanced up. The moon, seemingly still impossibly full, presided in the sky. Moonlight wishes, he sighed. They seemed so long ago.

He closed his eyes and tried to free his mind of all thought—memories both joyous and sad, smiles, embraces, the disillusionment in Phoebe’s eyes when she turned away. Exhausted, he leaned his head back into a crevice of the wall and he relaxed into sleep.

The sound of a horse’s snort and wheels awakened him, and he bolted upright, confused as to his location. The terrace of the new house. He turned to stride toward the front of the house but arrested when he saw Phoebe come around the corner. Moonlight lit her way.

“Phoebe? How did you come?”

She jumped as if startled by his voice.

“A groom brought me in the carriage. He’s waiting for me,” she said almost hesitantly. “I wasn’t sure you’d be here, but I thought you might.”

His heart pounded, and he knew not what to say. He held his breath and waited.

“I want to go home, Reggie, and you’re the only one who can help me do that.”

Only a superior strength from some inner aspect of his being kept him on his feet, for the searing in his heart seemed to weaken his legs. Could one man bear so much pain in a single day?

“As you wish,” he said hoarsely. “What can I do?”

She looked at him, startled. “That’s it? Okay? You’re not going to argue?”

He had not thought Phoebe to be a cruel sort of person, but he wondered at her now. Did she not understand how much agony he suffered?

“A gentleman does not argue with a lady, Miss Warner,” Reggie said in a leaden voice. “I would never seek to inhibit your desire to return to your own time.”

“How nice of you,” she muttered.

Reggie thought he saw the shine of moisture on her face but that seemed unlikely given her desire to return home. He had not understood the depth to which he had disappointed her. Her voice held a note of derision as if she despised him.