The Lady And The Military Man_Conquer My Heart Page 9

  "Grove wants money. Of course. No surprises there… For Babette's dowery, he says. My heavens. Whenever I think that the man could not disgust me more, he manages to do it… He intends to marry off Babette — he calls her his daughter — to Mr. Thomas Knightsbridge. He informs me that she is already betrothed. The notice has gone to the newspapers."

  "Who's Mr. Knightsbridge?" Henry asked. "Show me the letter." She took the letter from her sister, and read it.

  "What can we do?" Jane asked.

  "There's nothing we can do," Catherine said. "Philip's aunt — Miss Grove — is perfectly respectable. She's never married, and has lived retired for years."

  Jane understood what Catherine didn't say.

  Catherine held out her hand for Henry to return the letter. "My dear," she said to Henry. "Jane and I will be busy, so I need you to return some calls for me."

  "Me? Calls? Alone?"

  "No, Bunny will accompany you. I'm sending you with her because I want you to collect the latest gossip. Listen to what's being said. Chat to the servants… grooms and footmen, maids. You're good at that. We need to know whether there's any gossip about Grove and Babette. Can you do that?"

  "Of course I can." Henry sounded offended at the idea that she couldn't.

  "Good. Please find Bunny… I know she has an engagement later this afternoon. Give her my compliments, and ask her to make my calls for me. You'll find the cards in my sitting room."

  "Bunny will want to go shopping too," Henry grumbled.

  "Good," Catherine said briskly. "Ask her to buy you a couple of bonnets. If Mother returns and discovers that I've allowed you to become freckled, she will blame me." Catherine nodded to Cormac. "You'll accompany them."

  Finally the door closed behind Henry and Cormac.

  Catherine tossed the crumpled letter onto the library table. She pulled out a chair, then sat at the table with her elbows on it and her face in her hands.

  Jane saw that Catherine was close to tears.

  "That man – there must be something we can do," Jane said.

  "No, there isn't. Babette will marry Mr. Knightsbridge. All my hopes for her…"

  "He must be a gentleman — surely? What if I went to Major Grove, and spoke with him?" Jane didn't want to say that if Catherine went, she'd arouse her husband's antagonism. "We need to know more about Mr. Knightsbridge. I might be able to persuade the major to allow Babette to come back to us… Until her wedding."

  Catherine waved her hand. "I'll set Doyle on it. He'll learn everything there is to know about Mr. Knightsbridge." She thought for a moment, making circles on the table with her fingertip. "I'll send a message to Kelly. He can accompany you."

  "No!"

  "Yes — you can't see Grove alone. You know what he's like." She narrowed her gaze on Jane.

  "He wouldn't…" Jane firmed her lips. Surely Major Grove wouldn't make any advances on her?

  "He would, he’ll try to frighten you. It would amuse him,” Catherine said. "Besides, you can't visit him in his set at the Albany. Kelly will ask him to Branxton House, and you'll see him there. Tell Grove that we wish to attend Babette's wedding, and to have her wedding breakfast here."

  The next morning, Jane received a letter from Lord Alex. He told her that The Pirate seemed completely recovered. The two men he'd hired to guard the horse had vanished from their lodgings. "Good heavens," Jane said.

  "What is it?" Catherine asked.

  She and Jane had just returned from riding in the park, and were reading the mail while they breakfasted.

  Jane shook her head. "Alex says that Major Baker-Cornhill has bought The Pirate from him… He's placing the horse with a trainer, and will race him."

  Cormac entered the breakfast room, and bowed to them. "My ladies, Lord Keaton Beaumont called. He left his card, for Lady Jane." He handed Jane a card.

  "Early in the morning to be paying calls," Catherine said to Cormac, while she buttered another piece of toast.

  "Yes ma'am. His lordship has just returned to London from Keaton Manor. He said he would call on Lady Jane late tomorrow afternoon, if he may."

  "Kelly won't be pleased. He doesn't like Tommy," Catherine said, her eyes alight. "Well, well… Tommy, yes indeed… You'd have a ready-made family with him."

  Jane blushed, but refused to be drawn into conversation about Lord Keaton Beaumont.

  Major Grove

  "So my wife sent you as her emissary?" Major Grove said cheerfully.

  Kelly had collected Jane in his carriage. When they reached Branxton House, he took her straight to the garden where Major Grove was waiting for them.

  Grove was seated in the shade of a large tree, at a circular table, sipping a glass of wine. He stood when they walked towards him. "Lady Jane," he bowed. "Kelly."

  Kelly held Jane's chair until she was seated. The two men sat as well. A footman offered her wine, but she shook her head. "A glass of lemonade would be welcome."

  Major Grove's message had said that he wanted to have their conversation in the garden. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was warm. Jane wore a broad-brimmed hat at Catherine's suggestion.

  "How is Babette?" Jane asked.

  "She tells me that you were preparing her for a London season. There won't be any need for that now. She's betrothed."

  Jane knew that she couldn't argue with him. She realized that Catherine had been right when she refused to allow Jane to meet Major Grove alone. His eyes wondered over her suggestively. He grinned slightly when Kelly tensed and leaned forward in his chair.

  "We would like to attend her wedding. I don't know what arrangements have been made for the wedding –"

  "The wedding? Why — it will be a small wedding at home, at Tyre Hill. My aunt doesn't like it, but Knightsbridge has some women — his relations — who will take care of the arrangements. Catherine needn't trouble herself." He paused, and his gaze hardened. "I'm aware Catherine doesn't like it, but Babette is my daughter."

  "Yes, of course. However, Babette will need some support from her friends."

  "Doesn't need support — getting a husband. That's support enough for any woman." He paused. His expression changed into a knowing look. "Keaton Beaumont's moved into a set at the Albany. Says that he hopes to take you to Vauxhall. I'd avoid him if I were you, my lady. Disaster. He's no money, and you've no money either."

  Kelly had leaned forward again. He growled. "Watch what you're saying, Grove."

  Jane glanced at Kelly and shook her head repressively. She knew that Major Grove wanted to annoy her. She wouldn't allow him the satisfaction of succeeding. She smiled tightly and cleared her throat. "Yes, that's so — Lord Keaton Beaumont left his card." Jane kept her tone mild, and shrugged. "We met at Newmarket."

  "Bit of a brangle there. Your brother messed it up completely. If you're going to pull horses, people shouldn't know that you're doing it. Whole point of it — senseless otherwise."

  Jane's eyes widened. For a moment she couldn't breathe. How dare he? Grove had just called Lord Alex a cheat.

  Then Major Grove's tone grew serious, and he leaned towards her. "It's nothing to me, but you're almost a member of the family. So I would not like to see you come to harm, Lady Jane."

  "What do you mean?" She frowned, puzzled.

  He glanced at Kelly. "This will interest you too. Keaton Beaumont's put it about that he was in Italy these five years." He snorted. "In seclusion, with his children — so sad, enough to make women weep — his story is designed to do that. The man's a complete humbug. Never left Italy, he says. Castle in Tuscany, he says, and so on and so forth…"

  He paused, and smiled grimly. "Well, he wasn't. I had it from a good friend who was visiting when Keaton Beaumont fetched up at the Albany… He says he knows for a fact that he saw Keaton Beaumont in Paris in the weeks after Waterloo. And saw him again, with a member of General Bonaparte's staff at on Elba."

  Kelly shrugged. "So, Keaton Beaumont was in Paris. So were thousands of other good Englishmen. As
for Elba — that's just 12 miles off Tuscany, where Keaton Beaumont was living. Bonaparte ruled the island… No reason for Keaton Beaumont not to visit there. Pure curiosity, I imagine. You're suggesting something else?"

  "I'm not suggesting anything — I'm telling you what I heard, Kelly." He chuckled. "And this was news to you, of course — Wellington's man, and you didn't know of this."

  Jane glanced at Kelly, who smiled blandly at Major Grove. "Well, I thank you for the information, Philip."

  "You may think it's a nonsense, but his lies are important. Why lie? I don't like or trust the man, and he's interested himself in Lady Jane."

  Jane thought that the conversation was veering away from Babette. She bit her lip. No doubt Major Grove had intended to divert her from her goal. "Mrs. Grove would like Babette to have her wedding breakfast at Eardley House."

  "Why not?" Major Grove leaned back in his chair. "It's all one to me. Solves a problem. My aunt doesn't like the house full of Knightsbridge's female relations, and there's no reason Catherine can't have the breakfast at Eardley House, if she wants to pay for it."

  "You agree?"

  "Certainly. As long as Catherine agrees that Babette will marry Thomas Knightsbridge and stops fussing about it. My wife's a managing woman. I know her. She saw Babette and made all sorts of plans, but Babette is my daughter, not hers. I decide on the man she marries, and my decision is Thomas Knightsbridge."

  "We were preparing Babette for her season, but now, we need to prepare her wedding clothes. Would you allow Babette to stay with us at Eardley house to make that easier?"

  Major Grove shook his head. "No. No — I won't have that. She stays where she is. She has to accustom herself to the idea of marriage, and I won't have Catherine putting ideas in the girl's head. Knightsbridge is a good man, he will give her a good life."

  "You mean that he is not a gentleman."

  "He's a gentleman right enough. Fine house. Keeps his carriage, but I grant you — not a gentleman as my wife would have it. He's not a member of the fashionable world, and will never be. He's a merchant. A very wealthy merchant. It's a good marriage for the girl."

  Jane looked down at her hands. She knew that Catherine would be disappointed that Babette would not have a season. But at least the major had agreed that the wedding breakfast would be at Eardley house. That was a victory of sorts.

  "Thank you major." She stood. "Thank you for agreeing to see me. I know that Mrs. Grove will be pleased that Babette will have her wedding breakfast with us. We will arrange for her wedding clothes, and we'll call on her at Tyre Hill."

  Kelly made no comment in the carriage. He seemed preoccupied.

  Jane found herself thinking about Lord Keaton Beaumont, and Italy. She didn't believe that he'd lied. Why would he? "Living in Italy" meant exactly that. It didn't mean that he'd never left. Why shouldn't he travel to Paris, or to Elba?

  After seeing Lady Jane safely back to Eardley House, Kelly directed his coachman to take him to Horse Guards.

  So Lord Keaton Beaumont hadn't been solely in Italy for five years, as he was telling everyone. What had he been doing? Grove had a point when he said that the man had lied. To make such a point of living in seclusion…

  Why had he been in Paris, and most importantly, whatever had he been doing on Elba?

  He rubbed his forehead. Questions would be asked. They'd have to dig into Tommy Keaton and find out exactly what he'd been doing for five years.

  He didn't like the idea that Keaton Beaumont had taken an interest in Lady Jane either. He knew that the man didn't have any money — everyone knew it. His family estate had been leased while he was away, but it was mortgaged. His wife hadn't brought any wealth to the marriage.

  It was an unwritten law. Impecunious noblemen didn't marry impecunious women. So why was the man interested in Lady Jane?

  Probably for the same reason you're interested, he thought, and chuckled at himself. Lady Jane was an attractive woman. Now that she'd given up her goal of dowdiness during her former occupation of guiding debutantes, she was very attractive indeed.

  He considered Major Grove. Philip Grove was no man's fool. Yes, he was a drunkard, a gambler, and an unrepentant womanizer, but he was a clever man for all that. If he thought that there was more to Keaton Beaumont than appeared on the surface, it was wise to pay attention.

  He decided that he would write to Ninon while he was at Horse Guards. By now, she was somewhere on the ocean, on her way to St. Helena. He wanted to know whether she had ever seen Keaton Beaumont anywhere within or close to Bonaparte's orbit.

  By the time he'd walked into Horse Guards, he'd made up his mind that he would pay close attention to Keaton Beaumont. And to Lady Jane.

  Chapter 8

  Lord Keaton Beaumont called just after five o'clock, to ask Jane to walk in the park with him.

  Jane and Catherine were in the library, discussing Babette. Jane was making lists of wedding clothes that Babette would need.

  Jane looked up and shook her head. She had decided to refuse the invitation. "Mr. Morley, my compliments and apologies to his lordship, but please say that I cannot join him."

  "Wait." Catherine, who had been leaning against the library table with her arms folded, stared at Jane. "What's this?"

  "Major Grove made some remarks about Lord Keaton Beaumont," Jane said softly. "I have no wish to —"

  "He made remarks, did he? Well, my husband is a fool," Catherine said roundly. "Why would you listen to him?" She turned and spoke to the butler."Inform his lordship that Lady Jane requires a few minutes."

  Then she turned back to Jane, and raised her eyebrows.

  Quickly, Jane explained what the major had said. "He pointed out that I have no money, and neither does Tommy. Besides — the fact that Major Grove would mention Tommy means that people are talking. I can't have people gossiping — I have Lady Margaret's season to consider, and besides, Tommy is looking for a wife. I can't be that wife."

  Catherine snorted. "Walking in the park with the man hardly constitutes a betrothal," she said. "Go."

  "He wishes me to attend Vauxhall with him."

  "Agree to go."

  "But –"

  "Let's have some plain speaking, Jane. You're still young enough to marry, and to have a family of your own and children. One day old Lord Kennystowe will be gone, and Lord Alex will marry. Then Kennystowe Castle will no longer be your home. Consider — you will have no home. Other than charity, of course. You may be happy to see yourself as an old spinster aunt to your brother's children, but I am not."

  Catherine paused for a moment. She tapped her chin with her finger. She sighed. "My dear, I'm not suggesting that you marry Tommy," she said gently. "I've always found Tommy a boring person… Yes, he does everything he should, but he's colorless… Kelly however is different. He is not colorless. Rather too colorful, if you take my meaning. So if you decide that you want Kelly and wish to bring him up to scratch, you'll need to take measures. Make him jealous."

  Jane's eyes opened wide.

  Catherine laughed. "Oh my dear, the look on your face… Kelly can't take his eyes off you, and you light up when you're around him. It's delightful, but Kelly isn't a young sprig of the aristocracy newly on the town — that man is a hardened bachelor. He's never shown the least inclination to remarry — and that's why you need to be seen out and about with Tommy. Make Kelly jealous, that's the thing."

  Jane inhaled sharply. She didn't know what to say. Kelly affected her. She hadn't realized it was so obvious. But she didn't want to marry, did she? She scrubbed her face with her hands.

  "Come." Catherine straightened, and walked to the doors. "You'll be ready in a few minutes — you don't need to change. That blue walking dress will do very well. Wear your new hat with it."

  She wouldn't be allowed to refuse, it seemed.

  Ten minutes later, in Jane's dressing room, Lizzie quickly brushed out Jane's hair. Then she braided it, and settled Jane's new blue velvet hat over the braids,
tilting the hat slightly to the side. "Very elegant, ma'am. The blue of the hat makes your eyes look larger — it brings out the blue in the grey… You have very pretty eyes."

  Jane stood, and Lizzie helped her into her short navy pelisse. Then she accepted her tan York gloves and reticule, and walked downstairs.

  She'd had time to think, so Jane had decided that she would walk with Tommy, but she would be honest. He must know that she had no dowery at all.

  Henry and Bunny were in the foyer when Jane came downstairs. They had just returned home.

  Henry looked up at her. "Jane, how fine you look. Where are you going?"

  "Walking in the park with Lord Keaton Beaumont."

  "Tommy is here?" Bunny asked. "I haven't seen him in years… I'll pop into the drawing room to welcome him home." Bunny hurried into the small downstairs drawing room.

  Henry set down the two hat boxes she was carrying. "You look lovely, Jane."

  When Jane reached the bottom of the stairs, Henry said softly, so that Morley and Cormac wouldn't hear. "Use Keaton Beaumont to make Kelly jealous." Then she walked upstairs, smiling.

  Jane winced. Did everyone in the household know that she…

  She told herself not to be foolish. She was 29. A spinster, and much too old to develop a tendre for any man, much less the son of an earl. Kelly was a flirt — and the Duke of Wellington's spy.

  A couple of mornings later, Jane was surprised to receive a message from Lady Margaret. Would Lady Jane take her shopping? The footman from Branxton House was waiting for a reply, so Jane told him to say that she would call on Lady Margaret in the early afternoon.

  She was alone at breakfast. Henry dawdled during their ride in the park, and had remained at the stables. Catherine was already closeted with her man of business, going over her monthly accounts. Bunny never came downstairs for breakfast, preferring hot chocolate and toast points in her rooms.