Chapter 3
His promise still haunted her thoughts the next day. “I will do my best to make you happy, Dorothea Flammel.” Dory wondered if her father had said the same to her mother before they married. If he had, had he meant it at the time? What had happened between her parents that change his desires from love to torment? Had her mother refused him too many times or had his eyes wandered elsewhere and his promises wandered as well?
She shook off these thoughts. “It doesn’t matter,” she said to her empty room. “I am not in love with Thomas Wheel, so he can never hurt me that way.”
“Did you say something, my dear?” Her mother asked from the doorway.
There was not a piece of lace in decorating her room. Frilly décor made her uncomfortable and too much like an average debutante. The green silk drapery around her bed shone in the late morning sun and her walls, stripped of pink, were covered with warm cream damask. Her desk was a sturdy little table and there was not a ribbon in sight. It held several pieces of music that had ink splatters and scratches all around. All frills were neatly tucked away and brought out only for adornment and fashion. She kept a small harp in the corner of the room and she played it each night to relax before bed.
Dory turned to find her mother standing just inside her room consulting a piece of foolscap and smiling. She had not overheard her daughter’s mutterings or she would not be so happy. With a sigh of relief, she said, “Nothing, Mother. Can I help you with something?”
“I was just making a list of tasks that will need to be done for your engagement ball. You will need a new gown, of course, and I thought I might have one as well.” She looked up from her list and smiled like a girl of sixteen. “I am the mother of the bride after all. Then we will need to have a new set of ear bobs for you. I adore you in emeralds. You like them, don’t you?”
“It is all a bit premature since there has been no formal engagement yet, Mother. How well do you know Lord Hartly?”
Margaret frowned, once again distracted from her list. “Know him? He is an earl, he is rich beyond your needs, and he wants you for his wife. What more do I need to know?”
“I had hoped to marry for love,” she lied.
Now her mother’s frown turned fierce. “Don’t be stupid, Dorothea. I raised you better than that. Love is for the poor and for fools like your friend Elinor.”
“You forget, Mother, that Elinor is a Duchess now,” Dory said.
Her mother huffed in disgust. “Raised to the rank. Not a family title and little money.”
“She still outranks you, Mother, and Kerburghe has done quite nicely in spite of a father who left his family near poverty. I heard they have three carriages.” Dory could have cared less about how many vehicles her friends owned, but she knew her mother would be impressed even though she’d never admit the fact.
Shrugging, Margaret said, “I will admit that His Grace has done better than I expected and that friend of yours snapped him up handily. She is more devious than I gave her credit for. However, this talk of love makes my skin crawl and I will have no more of it. We expect an offer from Lord Hartly before the week’s end and you shall be married at the end of the season.”
“He is a miserable little toad,” she said, keeping her temper simmering just below the surface.
Her mother’s eyes narrowed. “He is an Earl. You will be a Countess. You will do your duty to your family and marry where you are told and that will be that. Do you understand me, Dorothea?”
Anger filled her head with roaring but she kept her temper in check. She couldn’t let on about her plans. “I hear you fine, Mother. You are clear in the fact that my happiness is of no concern to you, as long as I marry a wealthy lord of the realm. The fact that he is wretched and lecherous is of no concern to you either.”
Margaret’s face softened. “Once you are married you can do as you wish. Don’t you see? Hartly is perfect. He will pay your father’s debts and be in the ground before long. After that, you will inherit a comfortable settlement and a nice piece of land in the country. I have been very specific in how you are to be taken care of after your husband’s death.”
She imagined that her eyes were as big as teacups. Not only had her mother planned her wedding to this horrible creature, she had also planned his funeral. She should have known there would be money exchanged. Her father never could manage his lands and his bad habits.
Her mother took her silence as agreement and went back to her list. “I was thinking you should be married in a light green to bring out the color of your eyes. I know you don’t like frills, but I think I shall have St. Georges sprayed with lilies.”
“Lilies seem appropriate.”
Margaret did not catch the sarcasm or did not care to connect the flower with funerals. She nodded and said, “I am planning our most fantastic ball this year in honor of your engagement, my dear. You will be the most celebrated debutante of the season.”
“I am sure it will be an event to remember, Mother.”
“Of course, it will and we have only a week to make all the preparations. Not much time at all.” She left the room still consulting her list.
Dory sat at her desk and pushed her musical compositions aside. She pulled out a piece of foolscap and wrote a quick note.
Sir,
My parents will announce my engagement before the end of the week. I apologize for the need for expedience but once an agreement is signed the damage shall be irreparable.
D.
With shaking hands, she sealed the note and asked a footman to deliver it within the hour.
* * * *
“You are going to do what?” Daniel Fallon, the Earl of Marlton asked in a pitch that hurt Thomas’s ears.
“I think you heard me well enough, Daniel.” Thomas accepted a note from his butler’s beefy hand. “Thank you, Crowly.”
Crowly bowed and left the room.
Daniel ran his hand through his dark blond hair, causing some of it to escape from the queue at the back of his skull. He looked rather mad as he rose and paced. The pacing was a joke within his circle. When they were young, Daniel’s title was imminent and they called this the “earl walk.” “You plan to elope with Dorothea Flammel, the daughter of an earl? Have you lost your mind?”
Thomas laughed, in part because he could not help but laugh every time Daniel did the “earl walk,” and also, he had to agree with his friend. “Maybe, but I cannot abide seeing her sold off to Hartly like a piece of chattel.”
“What do you mean, sold off?”
“After the lady came to me for help, I made some discreet inquiries, and learned that Flammel is deep in debt to Hartly. He has already paid him quite a tidy sum and the final payment is his only daughter’s hand in marriage.”
“Does Dorothea know this?” Daniel asked.
“I do not think so. She would have mentioned it.”
Daniel frowned. “I agree the business is distasteful, but marrying her seems extreme. This is a rather large gesture to make to a girl who is the sister of your friend. You will spend the rest of your life with the woman, Tom. Have you thought of that?”
He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “I have thought of everything. I must marry eventually. The lady is beautiful, talented, smart, and I like her more than most of the ninnies running around the London ton these days. She loves music as much as I do and I adore listening to her play. I don’t think it is a bad match for my part. She is the one who is stepping down. I am a mere mister and she could have been a countess. The lady came to me and not the other way around.”
“I know you find her intriguing, Tom. I am just concerned that your return to London will be less inconspicuous than you anticipate. This could ruin key relationships in your business dealings. Flammel may be an ass but he is an Earl and his word still holds sway in England. And Hartly…”
“Is a repugnant toad. Would you have me abandon Dory to that pig? You know his reputation. Even at his age he chases every skirt that crosses him. You saw the way he looked at your own wife at Bromley’s last night. My servants tell me he has impregnated no less than five of the girls on his staff and one this year. Tosses them to the street once they’re with child. I cannot allow her to be married to such an animal.” He pounded his fist on the desk.
Shaking his head Daniel heaved a sigh. “Will you go to Gretna then?”
“I think not. I don’t like the stink of gossip that comes along with marrying there.” Thomas broke the seal on the note Crowly delivered. He read it and frowned before pushing the missive aside. “It seems my plans must be completed with more expediency than expected. Flammel will sign an agreement before the week’s end.”
“What will you do?”
Thomas smiled. “It so happens we know a duke living in Scotland.”
Daniel smiled too but he was shaking his head.
“I know you think me mad.”
The earl shrugged. “She’s a good girl. No frills about her. She will not send you to the poor house over bits of ribbon and lace but she may bankrupt you with the purchase of musical this and that. I am worried that the way this marriage is to be carried out will open the two of you up to a world of censure.”
“The ton shall have their gossip for a while and then they will forget and we will go on as any married couple does.”
Daniel shook his head. “I hope you are right, Tom. I really hope that for your sake you are right.”
* * * *
Dory’s voice was unsteady as she admitted, “I think Mr. Wheel has changed his mind.”
Sophia rose and closed the door to her parlor against any ears that might be listening. Servants could sometimes carry gossip to the worst places. “I am sure that’s not true, but what makes you think so?”
“I sent him a note two days ago, indicating my engagement is imminent and I have not heard a word from him. Perhaps he has come to his senses.” She sighed, and all her dismay pressed out of her lungs in the tiny noise.
Sophia rang the bell for her maid. A few moments later a young woman with dark hair and eyes opened the door and said, “Yes, my lady?”
“Thank you, Anne. Is his lordship in the house?”
“I believe so, ma’am.”
“Would you ask him to join me here, please?”
The girl curtsied and fled.
“Where is Marie?” Dory asked.
Sophia had brought a maid with her from Philadelphia when she arrived in London. Marie had continued as her maid when she married so her absence was surprising.
“We’ve promoted her to housekeeper. She’s capably running the entire house ever since Mrs. Wallace retired,” Sophia said.
Dory’s eyebrows rose. “An American housekeeper must have been quite a change for the staff.”
“They are bearing up very well.” Sophia smiled.
A firm knock sounded on the parlor door heralding Daniel’s arrival. He strode in and kissed his wife’s cheek and took her hand, before noticing her guest. “Dorothea, how delightful to see you.” He bowed.
Dory stood and made a small curtsy. “How do you do, my lord.”
Daniel smiled. “I have learned from my stunning and wise wife that in the privacy of one’s home, when no one can hear, we should call our friends by their Christian names. I would be honored if you would count me as your friend.”
She brightened, “Thank you, Daniel. It is an American custom I am quite fond of, just as I am fond of your wife.”
“The two of you will make me blush,” Sophia said.
Daniel kissed his wife’s hand still clutched in his. “I assume I have been summoned for more than a salutation, my love.”
“Yes. Has Thomas changed his mind about marrying Dory?” Sophia was as direct as ever.
Dory wished she could climb under the settee and disappear.
Daniel’s eyes sparkled with mirth. “I do not believe so. I spoke to him yesterday and he was making plans for the happy day.”
Dory breathed out in a huge sigh she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
Sophia frowned. “Why has he not answered Dory’s note?”
“That I cannot say. He received the note when I was in his company and he set several of his plans into action. Perhaps he does not believe a response is necessary until he can relay those plans. Did you request an immediate response, Dory?”
“I did not,” she admitted.
Daniel came and sat on the chair in front of Dory. “I have learned during my short marriage that men and women are different in their expectations. I am sure that Thomas will contact you as soon as he has something to impart but probably not before.”
“Thank you, Daniel. You are very kind.”
The earl’s mouth turned down in a frown. His focus grew far away for a moment before his gaze returned to Dory. “Forgive me, Dory, but we are friends, and just as I did with Thomas I shall caution you in the same manner. This elopement will be infamous. You will find a great deal of censure when you return to London and will not have the benefit of a title to hide behind. I fear you will both lose a great deal by entering into this marriage.”
Dorothea sat up straight in her seat and raised her chin. “I appreciate your concern, but I believe the risk is worth taking. I don’t care about the titles as others might.”
His lips tipped up in a half grin. “Please don’t think me a snob, Dory. I have been friends with Thomas for many years. He is like a brother to me, just as your brother is. I would do anything for Thomas, Markus, or Michael. My life would not be half as rich without them as my closest friends. I only worry that once the gossip begins, you will both find life in society difficult, and that can put a strain on any marriage, especially when you will not have the support of your family.”
A tear escaped Dory’s eye. “Forgive me, Daniel. I am far too used to having to defend myself and I forget who my true friends are. I know you want to protect me. Thomas and I are lucky to have such wonderful support from you and Sophia. My brothers may support our marriage. Adam is still young, but Markus has long been the only relative whom I trust. You are correct, my parents will likely disown me when the news reaches them.”
He was nodding. “Except for Markus that is a probable outcome.”
“If I did not believe Thomas and I could make an amicable marriage I would not go through with this. He is kind and we have much in common. I am determined to go ahead with our plan.”
“You may be sure you will continue to have our support regardless of how the rest of the ton responds to your nuptials.”
“Of course, we are on your side.” Sophia rushed over, knelt in front of Dory, and took her hands. “We will do whatever you need in the days and months to come.”
“Thank you.” Tears managed an escape and Dory brushed them aside.