His Michaelmas Mistress Read online

“It’s another Ball,” Felix said, reading his invitation while Lucky did the same. “I didn’t think they held such things at Lark Hall, but I suppose they’ve decided to do it this year.”

  “They always hold the Michaelmas Ball,” Freddie said absently. “At least that’s what Lady Julia told me.” He felt heartburn coming on, and he looked down at the toast he had liberally spread with marmalade from Lewis’s estate in Somersetshire, Monksilver Abbey. “They hold a house party for those who come from faraway to attend. Apparently, many in the ton look forward to this ball, as Mr. and Mrs. Lovett really know how to throw a party. They spare no expense.”

  “Shall we go?” Lucky asked hopefully.

  “I think we should,” Felix agreed. “It would be rude not to, wouldn’t it? Besides, Doc and Mole will be going, and well, they’d come and give us hell, if we didn’t go. Come on, Freddie, time to come out of the hole you dug yourself, and crawled into.”

  “My lord,” the butler, Mr. Hargreaves came into the Breakfast Room and stared in turn at each of them. “The Gamekeeper, Mr. Browne, would like to see you.”

  “Send him in then, man,” Freddie said. For some reason, he didn’t really care for Mr. Hargreaves, and he couldn’t put his finger on what about the man unsettled him so. He should sack him, and hire someone else and yet, he didn’t have the heart for it.

  “I… Yes, sir,” he said, turning about, and leaving.

  A few moments later, the gamekeeper entered, hat in hand and looking bloody nervous.

  “My lord…the thing is…we have some awfully bold poachers.”

  “Isn’t it your job to catch those bloody blighters?” Freddie asked.

  Knowing how hard it was to go with scant in one’s belly, Freddie felt a smidgeon of compassion for the poor bastard doing it.

  “You don’t employ the use of mantraps, do you, Mr. Browne?”

  “Oh, no, sir. Lord Lumley couldn’t abide the infernal things.”

  “Good. Because I don’t want them used either.”

  “They should be illegal, they should,” Mr. Browne said. “Either way, sir, it is, as you say, my job to catch the blighters, and yet, they’re awfully sneaky. I haven’t been able to catch them yet.”

  “Is it really that important that you do? I do not begrudge a man the ability to feed his own family. I don’t think a few stolen hares or other small game would damage the Estate that much.” Freddie probably wasn’t looking at it the right way. He had far too much reason to sympathize with the poor devil doing it rather than condemning him for such a small transgression.

  “Oh, aye, sir, but he’s stealing, ain’t he? I mean,” Browne said nervously, scrunching his hat between his hands. “The blighters might not be poaching out of need, they might be poaching to sell the game on the black market, and as lord of this estate, all of the game on it, is yours.”

  “Aye, I know, Mr. Browne.”

  “And they could have contacts in London. You know they do a nasty business there in the Pubs where they use those in rural areas to poach for them, and then, they make a large profit that way by selling their loot. They travel in gangs, or so I have heard. I think this is a situation of greed, not need, sir.”

  “If there are a gang of the bloody bastards stalking this estate, they will be sorry for it,” Freddie said. “If you catch sight of the devils, I don’t want you engaging them alone. I want you to report back to me. Is that clear, Mr. Browne?”

  “Oh, aye, sir. They be cutthroats in those kinds of gangs. I ain’t going to risk my hide over it, not without some others to help me. I mean, look at me…I’m not that formidable looking, am I?”

  Freddie resisted the urge to laugh.

  Mr. Browne was right. He looked like he would blow away next to him and Felix, he even looked frail when compared to Lucky. Browne was tall and lanky, and didn’t have much muscle on him. Freddie didn’t even know how he’d secured the position of gamekeeper. He probably got it because he would take the pitiable wages that Lord Lumley provided to his staff.

  “Shall we go hunting for poachers, then?” Tiny asked.

  “Oh, that sounds like jolly good fun,” Lucky said. “It will be a welcome diversion, won’t it, Mouse?”

  Freddie shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose so. Anyway, the rascal or rascals, need to be dealt with. And,” he looked at them. “If they are doing it out of greed, and think they can get away with it because they are under the misapprehension that I am not a proper lord, they shall have a rude awakening.”

  “I…I will take my leave, then,” Mr. Browne said, hastily backing out of the room.

  Freddie watched him go with a bit of amusement in his heart. He didn’t know who the man was more afraid of, him, or the poachers.

  “Oh, aye. They will have to change their drawers,” Tiny chuckled.

  “They shan’t know what hit them,” Lucky laughed. “After we catch them, they shall beg us to take them to the local magistrates.”

  “Julia’s Uncle Edward is one of the local magistrates,” Freddie sighed heavily. “He’s definitely one of the big wigs in the area. And those that look at him roaming his grounds in his banyan would probably never guess it. Still, if I catch them, you’re right, Lucky, they will be begging us to take them to go before the local magistrates,” he chuckled.

  “Those buggers will be screaming bloody murder,” Tiny said. “They’ll take one look at Freddie, and faint dead away.”

  “No,” Freddie countered. “They’ll take one look at your face and faint dead away, mate.” He smirked. “It seems to do that to people. They take one look and keel over.”

  Tiny grinned. “He is finally coming round, Lucky. We only have to work on him a little bit more, and he’ll be back to the bloody bastard we all know and love so much.”

  “Don’t forget I’m a bloody bastard…” he paused, “but Felix, you’re an arsehole.”

  “That I am,” Tiny laughed in his loud way. “I make no bones about it.”

  “I only have one question, Freddie,” Lucky said slowly.

  “Aye?” Freddie said.

  “Aren’t we supposed to be acting like proper lords? Would proper lords go gadding about their estates hunting for poaching gangs?”

  “It’s my estate. That means, I can do whatever the ruddy hell I want, doesn’t it? I am lord of this domain. We’re not in the Army anymore, lads.”

  “If we were in the Army, you’d be our superior, Lucky,” Tiny pointed out.

  Lucky grinned. “That used to be such fun.”

  “Oh, aye, you could be such a sodding upstart,” Freddie said.

  They all laughed, finished off their breakfast, and prepared to go blackguard hunting.

  Freddie finally had something to distract him from how badly his heart ached for Julia. He couldn’t live like this much longer. He would have to battle for her heart, and if he was pressed too hard, he would steal her away and make her marry him, because he didn’t know if she’d allow him to woo her this time around.

  The courting might not happen, but the claiming would.

  Chapter Six

  Beatrice was trying desperately to keep her composure.

  Julia could see her left eyebrow twitching every few minutes. She knew why her mama would keep herself from saying anything, everyone was so relieved to see her out of her bedchamber that they were all walking on eggshells around her. Even her brother was on his best behaviour.

  “Do you have any thoughts of what you shall do today, dear?” Beatrice asked, in a sweet voice, while she stared at her with her eyebrow twitching, and her eyes darting furtively to the footmen standing nearby.

  “I think I might start the day off with some shooting or some archery,” she mused, sipping at her tea, “and then, I rather thought I might take a drive in my curricle, if the weather holds.”

  “Drive? Race, more like,” Richard snorted. “Are those chaps you race against active on Tuesdays?”

  “Why do you care, dear?” Beatrice asked. “And besides, your
sister knows how to handle herself in that bloody contraption. I just worry that she is not in the right frame of mind to be driving it.”

  “My frame of mind is completely sound, Mama.”

  Her mother eyed her warily. “You are sitting here in your housecoat, with your hair quite untidy, and your face unwashed, and your eyes look quite wild. I do not think you are prepared for racing yet. Mayhap, you ought to simply take a nice little ride through the village, or better yet, why don’t you and Richard walk down to Lark Hall and call on Alice and Edward? I am quite certain they would love to see you.”

  “Rose goes around in her housecoat and no one bats an eye. I do it, and everyone acts as if the world is ending,” she lamented.

  “Rose was recuperating from a severe fever when she was doing that. She was still quite weakened. That could be expected, and well, her father walks around in his banyan day after day, so really, who could blame her?”

  Julia sighed. “Is Thomas Somersby still there?”

  “I think so,” Beatrice said, sipping on her coffee, and reaching for a slice of toast.

  “Then, I might just steer clear of there,” Julia said sighing.

  Thomas Somersby always rubbed Julia the wrong way. His vociferous attitude quite undid her. Many probably wondered why she could tolerate Freddie’s boisterous ways. What they didn’t know was that Freddie usually showed a different, gentler side to her, and she loved that part of him.

  Thomas Somersby on the other hand, always had the uncanny knack to single her out, and when he did, she never knew what to say. He flustered her to no end, and she didn’t like feeling that way.

  “Oh, Thomas really isn’t that bad. Why, if I were inclined to marry again, he would be a good suitor. He hasn’t a title, but he has scads of money,” Beatrice said softly.

  She and Richard choked at their mother’s admission. Finally, Julia caught her breath.

  “Mama,” Richard gasped. “He is old enough to be our grandfather!”

  “Oh, dear, when you make those noises, you sound quite unladylike,” Beatrice rebuked.

  “I shall remember that the next time I choke on my tea, Mama. I hope…I hope you’re not going to be inclined to marry again,” she said, a little too desperately.

  Beatrice shrugged her shoulders. “I might. And aye, he is old enough to be your grandfather, but he is one of the handsomest men, even at his age. If I don’t get any grandchildren soon, what else shall occupy my time?”

  No one had the courage to remind her that when they were children, Beatrice left most of their care to the nursemaids. She didn’t take an interest in them the way that their Aunt Alice did with her children.

  Fanny, one of her mother’s pugs, walked under the table, and sat on Julia’s foot. She smiled. There was nothing quite like a little heartbeat at one’s feet.

  “However, I would be less inclined to marry, if you were to find your happiness with Lord Axbridge. I would be able to look forward to grandchildren that way.”

  Richard sat at the head of the table, and his eyes flickered between Beatrice and Julia as they sat opposite each other. For being normally so reserved and disinterested in everything, he seemed awfully enthralled right now.

  Julia kicked her brother in his shin, and smiled serenely at her mother.

  “Damnation, that bloody well smarted,” he muttered.

  “Richard, language, please. I can’t deal with those kinds of words this early in the morning,” Beatrice lamented.

  “I do apologize, Mama. I daresay I have quite forgotten the time. I should away.”

  “Oh, don’t go rushing off now, Richard. Why…Mama, we really should think about finding a suitable young lady for him. It is high time he was married, don’t you think?”

  His eyes widened, and he looked as if he was about to ring a fine peal over her. She wished him luck with their mother around. Beatrice’s eyes brightened. “Oh, aye, Richard, you should settle down. You are older than your sister, and you haven’t really made an effort to catch any young lady’s eye. It is time I should become the Dowager Countess of Tisbury. You should try to find someone at the Michaelmas Ball.”

  Julia groaned. “I quite forgot about that one. I don’t think I want to attend this year, Mama. I really don’t feel up to it.”

  “If you do not go, you will disappoint your aunt and your uncle. They rarely ask anything of us, and they always attend the balls of ours that matter, so you shall do the same. And I want you home in time to dress for dinner tonight. We have been invited to Lark Hall, and you shall not disappoint them.”

  Julia grumbled. She loved how her mother took her choice out of any situation. She ruled over her quite like a little autocrat, and she did it with style.

  “Some fashion magazines came in the post the other day, Julia. Why don’t you just stay at home, do some shooting or archery, or whatever else strikes your fancy, and then, you can come back inside, and spend the rest of the day with me? We shall study the magazines like you read your books, and we can make plans to hit the shops like a hurricane the next time we go to London.”

  “I already spent a pretty penny on a wedding trousseau that I can no longer stand to look at, much less, wear, Mama,” Julia said, sighing.

  “Oh, my darling daughter, you have always spent a good deal of gingerbread on your wardrobe before? What stops you now? You know no one at this table minds if you take that trousseau and give it to your personal maid…or…” Beatrice brightened visibly, “You could invite dear little Ruby over and ask her if she’d like anything, and I am quite certain the Miss Prices wouldn’t be opposed to taking a few frocks off your hands. You might as well get rid of the whole lot, and we shall commission a new trousseau for you when the time comes.”

  “Thank God, we are not like Tobias Avondale,” Richard said.

  “Why is that, dear?” Beatrice asked innocently.

  “Because he couldn’t afford to keep the two of you in new frocks, spencers, pelisses, redingotes, capes, cloaks, fur muffs, hats, bonnets, scads of gloves, and whatever the hell else you two decide to buy.”

  “Well, I suppose I could invite Ruby over tomorrow, as I plan on holding the Moonrakers meeting, then…”

  “Oh, well, you had best start writing out missives, and get one of the footmen to deliver them, or they won’t know that the meetings are being held once again. I am quite certain that Rose and Iris will like seeing you up and about. Secluding yourself from the world, just doesn’t suit your gregarious personality, Julia.”

  “Oh, I don’t send out missives, Mama. I send everyone a snippet of lace, and that tells them the meeting is on for the following day, and if they have the afternoon free, they come. A few footmen can deliver them, and they know where they have to go.”

  “You will have to send a rider out to Maidstone Manor, and Wylye Hall, you cannot expect one of our footmen to run out that far.”

  “No, indeed, Mama. Oh, this shall be such fun.”

  Julia sighed. If she took her curricle out today, she knew where she would be going. She would be going to return something to Freddie that she never should have kept this long. She had his betrothal ring, and it was about time, she gave it back to him.

  “And, Julia, dear…”

  “Yes, Mama?”

  “You need to do something about Lord Charles. The poor man is quite out of sorts. He shows up here every single day. And every single day, it falls upon your brother and me to turn him away. It is rather vexing. Lord Charles looks quite wretched. He is staying at Avondale Abbey, and I am quite certain he would like to see you. You owe him that much. You owe him closure. You cannot keep stringing him along like this.”

  “I know, Mama. I know, I do,” she whispered.

  She sighed. Today might not turn out to be as fun as she thought it would be.

  Love was hard, and she wished she could turn her heart to marble like the many statues of white marble Gods and Goddesses that were in Castleton Court’s majestic ballroom.

  Ea
ger to escape her mother, she stood up.

  “Off then, dear?” Beatrice asked.

  “Aye. I shall prepare the lace to be sent out, and then, then, I think I shall go out for a ride, and see where the day takes me.”

  “Make certain it takes you to Avondale Abbey, and stop off first at Lark Hall, and fetch yourself a chaperone, or chaperones,” Beatrice advised.

  “Yes, Mama,” she said dully, leaving the Breakfast Room.

  She didn’t know who she would enlist to play chaperone.

  Violet and Lily usually stuck with each other, and Simon wasn’t much help either. As for the other children at Lark Hall, she doubted any of them would want to tag along with her.

  Her closest companions, Rose and Iris were married now, and she doubted that either one of them would pop in before she left, and she didn’t know if she felt like taking a ride out to Maidstone Manor, or Wylye Hall. She would probably have to settle for Ruby. Ruby was a dear little thing, but she hardly said a word, and was afraid of the bloody world.

  Julia felt a little left out. Rose and Iris had found their happiness, and left her behind. Bitterness welled in her mouth. She couldn’t resent them for what had happened to her. It wasn’t their fault that Charles had returned from the dead, nor it was it their fault that her big brawny bridegroom had decided to call off their wedding. Fanny had followed her from the Breakfast Room. For whatever reason, she had decided to become her little friend.

  What she needed today was to find someone who was a peep of day boy, or girl. She needed someone who would readily kick up a lark with her, and unfortunately that someone wasn’t Ruby Massey.

  She could keep putting off the inevitable, but at some point, she’d have to meet with Charles. She couldn’t bear it if he tried to pull her back into his embrace. She would have to keep him at an arm’s length, so she would need a good chaperone. Now…who would she pick for that coveted position?

  *****

  “Mama,” Richard sighed.

  “Yes, Son?”

  “I think we really ought to have told her about how that bit of gossip concerning her, Freddie and Lord Charles showed up in The Times. Uncle Edward shall know about it, and possibly, Lord Cary, and Lord Everley, might know as well. It would be disastrous if she were to find out from someone outside of Castleton Court.”