Chapter Fourteen
Mary still wasn’t speaking to me the next day. When I paid the tithe and entered Vauxhall Gardens, dismissing Pauline to mingle with Emily, Rose’s maid, I found both my friends standing in a knot in front of the main pavilion.
Mary whispered to Rose and Lord Hartfell near the statue of a gentleman in the act of tipping his hat. When she noticed my approach, Mary cut the conversation short, turned on her heel, and strode toward the line of dinner boxes. In front of one with the curtain drawn back, several gentlemen conversed. I recognized Mr. Dendroid’s tall, slender figure. Mary joined the men. Given the animosity between her and Dendroid at their last meeting, I doubted she would have done so had she not still been angry with me.
Stifling a sigh, I turned to Rose and her husband. “Thank you for inviting me,” I murmured as I reached speaking distance.
She exchanged a puzzled glance with her husband. “Francine, don’t be daft. I organized this outing for your benefit. You do still want me to find you a husband, right?”
My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. This was my chance to stand up to her to tell her no, I didn’t want a husband after all, but I’d stood up to Mary and look at what that had gotten me. The last thing I wanted was for both my friends to be angry with me. Besides, Rose was only trying to help. Maybe she’d find me someone I could picture spending my life with. And maybe that statue would grow wings and fly off into the bright afternoon sunshine.
I swallowed and tried to smile. “Yes. Thank you. I appreciate your help.”
Rose beamed. “Good, because I went through a lot of trouble to organize this last minute. I’m afraid not as many gentlemen could attend as I’d hoped.”
Because of the late invitation or because of me?
My friend gestured to the knot of men. “Mr. Johnstone was able to rearrange his schedule and join us.”
So I’d noticed. “And the others?”
“Your friend Mr. Beckwith and Sir Phillip Trentham.”
I stifled a groan but couldn’t withhold my sigh. “The Cheswick nephew?”
Rose looked apologetic. “I kept receiving refusals. I was desperate.” She glanced over my shoulder toward the knot of men. “He must be desperate to marry you, because he only received his invitation this morning.”
I gritted my teeth. “Not me. He isn’t interested in me. He’s interested in my dowry.”
“Won’t he inherit enough when his uncle passes?”
I shrugged. What did I know about the Cheswick finances? They might be in dire straits. Maybe he needed a wife with deep pockets. Whatever the case, I did not want to be that wife.
Hartfell answered, “I haven’t heard of any money troubles, though Lord Cheswick doesn’t often come to White’s. It might be hushed up.”
I didn’t want to talk about Sir Scandent or his family’s fictitious money troubles. I glanced toward the knot of men and Mary, who had her back to me. “Perhaps we shouldn’t keep them waiting.”
“No, of course not.” Rose slid her hand onto her husband’s sleeve, and together we strolled the twenty feet toward the group. As we walked, she laid out her plan for the afternoon. “I thought we’d start with a tour of the gardens, to give you opportunity to shine.”
“Me?” I frowned.
“Yes, you.” She nudged me with her elbow. “Smile. Look like you’re happy to be here.”
We were in a garden—of course I was happy to be here. Though perhaps the company Rose had chosen wasn’t all to my liking.
I smiled. Through clenched teeth, I muttered, “You know I’m not the most loquacious in a group. What makes you think I’ll shine?”
Rose cocked an eyebrow. “We’re in a garden. With plants. You’re never without something to say about a plant. Impress them with your intelligence and your scientific pursuits.”
That sounded like precisely the way I’d chased Scandent from the parlor yesterday. Then again, perhaps Rose’s idea wasn’t the worst. If he opted to leave, I wouldn’t have to suffer his company, nor the leers he seemed apt to give me of late. No matter what, I resolved not to find myself alone in his company. I’d learned my lesson.
As we strolled within earshot, I fell silent and tried my best to present an inviting mien. It came easier to me once Julian turned. He smiled at me, his eyes dancing, and I felt a bit less like a spectacle.
“Miss Annesley.” Dendroid bowed over my hand. “You look angelic today.”
I never felt that way, but I didn’t argue with him. What did it matter how I looked one way or another? Rose wanted me to demonstrate my mental prowess, so that was precisely what I would do. Nevertheless, I thanked him politely and greeted the other two men. Mary pretended like I didn’t exist. She examined her fingernails as Rose announced her intention to go for a stroll down one of the paths.
Mr. Dendroid offered me his arm first. “May I escort you?”
Rose radiated triumph. Her eyes were alight with it.
I inclined my head. “Of course. Thank you.”
To my surprise, Mary accepted Julian’s escort. Scandent chose to stroll on my other side.
Rose led the way down the path, starting a conversation about the warm, sunny weather of late. I pressed my lips together to keep from commenting on that subject. Rose already knew my thoughts about how damaging it was to the plants.
Scandent dawdled near a flowering shrub. He snapped off a flower and strode to me with purpose, offering it to me with a flourish. “The rose family does contain the most seductive of plants, wouldn’t you say, Miss Annesley? For you.”
Seductive? I dropped my hand from Dendroid’s sleeve as I hesitantly took the flower from his fingertips. A smug smile twisted his lips as he straightened. He thought he’d proven something to me. What, I didn’t quite know.
Behind me, Julian detached from Mary and took a step closer. Awareness of his presence permeated my shoulders and I relaxed marginally. I was among friends. Scandent wouldn’t—couldn’t—harm me. Nor could he win in a battle of wits, even one I hadn’t been aware I was playing. I considered the pink rose in my hand before I answered.
“I don’t know that I agree with you, Sir Phillip.” From the corner of my eye, I caught Julian’s smirk. It strengthened me.
Scandent, on the other hand, clenched his jaw. A twitch winked in the left side. “No? A rose is considered the flower of love, is it not?”
“I suppose.” I twirled the rose between my fingertips. If he’d bothered to ask me, I would have told him to leave the flower where it was. Not only was it a common bloom that I didn’t care to add to my collection, but he hadn’t gathered a proper cutting. I could try, but I doubted I would be able to save it. Essentially, he had killed the flower for nothing.
Lifting my gaze from the mesmerizing sway of the petals, I added, “But the rose family, Rosaceae, contains so much more than the common rose. Are apples seductive? Plums? Almonds? They’re all a part of the same family. I think you meant to say genus instead.”
A small crease formed in between Rose’s eyebrows as she studied me. What? I was demonstrating my intelligence, exactly as she’d wanted. She shouldn’t think poorly of me if in so doing I had to deliver a dressing down when a man overstepped. Or had I been overreacting? If Julian had said the same thing, I would have laughed and chided him over his misspeaking. Perhaps I would have teased him about the apples, too.
Scandent offered a smile, but it didn’t hold the least bit of friendliness. “Perhaps you are paying too much heed to the semantics. You knew perfectly well what I meant.”
I had, but it had been entirely too brazen for him to speak such nonsense. Let alone in front of the entire group. He deserved a set down, but my courage had wilted. I pressed my lips together, hoping someone would step in. I glanced at Mary. Surely she would put him in his place?
My friend stood with her arms crossed. Her braid was pulled over her shoulder and her glare was sharp enough to cut glass. Although her mouth was set in a slim line of disapproval, she didn’t step in. When I met her gaze, she hiked up her chin in stubborn defiance. The look in her eye dared me to ask her for help.
She would give it if I asked, of that I was certain. She would come to my rescue in such a way that let me know she would support her friends, whereas I would not. Nevertheless, asking was a temptation. If it wouldn’t have made me a spectacle, I might have done so. I looked away instead.
Julian stepped between me and Scandent. His posture was bristling. “What makes Miss Annesley such a treasure is her attention to semantics. She has a quick mind and sharp intellect. Why shouldn’t she show it?”
Scandent’s expression turned stony. “I never said she shouldn’t show it. She deliberately mistook my meaning.”
Oh, dear. There wasn’t going to be a row between them in the middle of Vauxhall Gardens, was there? I exchanged a worried glance with Rose. She stood with her hand over her stomach as if queasy. Perhaps I ought to apologize, even if Scandent had been the one out of line.
“Well I, for one, am enjoying learning something new. I had no idea that apples are so closely related to roses.” Julian sounded sincere. As he turned to me, his eyes twinkled and his mouth turned up at the corner. He offered me his arm. “Will you walk with me, Miss Annesley, and tell me more?”
“Of course.” My voice was small, but my gratitude outweighed the Earth. It bathed me in a warm, fuzzy feeling that I felt down to the soles of my feet. As I slipped my hand onto his arm and we resumed walking, it didn’t matter that I’d now earned the glares of both my friends.
I had Julian. I always had and I always would. As we strolled arm in arm and I entertained the group with interesting facts about each new species of plant we passed, I’d never felt more at peace. No one interrupted me, except to mutter insincere responses of interest. Julian, meanwhile, actually listened. As a boy, he’d listened, too—albeit reluctantly and with a sarcastic comment or two. As a man, he seemed more apt to learn. Or if not learn, at the very least take an interest in what I found fascinating.
We’d written to each other about everything for years. Until now, when I strolled with him and chattered on about the sort of things I might briefly commit to a letter between the events of my life, I hadn’t realized how much I’d been missing. My heart ached at the thought of him leaving again, of us communicating by letter and not face-to-face.
It was inevitable though. He had his farm out in Leicestershire, and I would be mired in the commitments involved in being my father’s daughter. Parties I didn’t care to attend, entertaining people I had nothing in common with, and shutting myself away with my plants whenever possible. Letters wouldn’t keep me from missing him, but they would have to be enough. He had a fiancée, after all. And I…
I loved him. Maybe I always had. He’d been such a constant in my life for so long that I didn’t want to contemplate a future that didn’t include him in some way. Even if we could be nothing more than friends.
As we came upon a bench flanked by statues of giggling nymphs, Rose excused herself and begged to sit. Mary chatted with Hartfell about hunting, of all things. Julian pulled me off a little to the side.
“Are you feeling all right?”
“Of course.” I smiled. “Why wouldn’t I?”
He glanced toward Scandent and Dendroid, who appeared to be having a serious conversation just out of earshot. I frowned. That couldn’t bode well, could it? Rose, her hand on her stomach as she tilted her face up to the sky and shut her eyes, didn’t appear to notice.
“Never mind.” Julian turned back to me. “I have a favor to ask, if you’re willing.”
“Of course.” I leaned closer, intrigued.
“I have a meeting in a couple days with a man seeking investors for an expedition involving plants. You’re much more knowledgeable than I am on the subject. Would you care to accompany me and give your opinion as to whether it would be worth investing my money?”
My lips parted. For a moment I couldn’t speak. He wanted my expertise? No man sought out the opinion of a woman regarding matters of business, least of all me.
“Will you help? If you’d rather not…”
“Of course I will!” I had to fight the urge to throw my arms around his neck and hug him. If we’d been alone, I would have. No man took my botany expertise seriously, not even Papa. The fact that Julian did…
He smiled, lighting up like the sun. “Brilliant! Thank you, Francine. You’re a rare gem.”
I flew my colors at the compliment.
Apparently through with his conversation with Dendroid, Scandent swaggered up. “Are we quite done here? I’m famished.”
Rose opened her eyes, a brief flicker of irritation crossing her face before she smoothed it. I suspected she wouldn’t be inviting Sir Scandent to another of her events, for which I could only be glad. If I had to marry, he was lower on the list of desirable prospects than a worm.
Unfortunately, he was still well-connected, which meant that when he turned to me and offered his arm, I had no choice but to accept. “Miss Annesley, I believe it’s my turn to escort you?”
Rose should have invited more women.
As we strode down the path, he chose a punishing pace, one that my shorter legs and injured ankle couldn’t support. I staggered as I tried to keep up. “Please. Can we slow down a smidge?” I clenched my teeth to try to hide the white shadow of agony afflicting me.
To my surprise, he complied. When he glanced over his shoulder, he seemed satisfied that the others were keeping up to the pace we set, albeit they were out of earshot. I forced a smile and tried to be polite as I hobbled along. “Lovely weather we are having this summer,” I said weakly, though I meant nothing of the sort.
“I am most pleased with the heat this summer.”
I suppressed a shudder at his suggestive tone of voice. When I canted my face to read his expression, his leer sent a chill down my spine. He hadn’t seemed very tall before, but then I hadn’t stood so close to him.
His gaze lingered at my bosom before rising higher. “I’ve seen you several times now, keeping company with Mister…” He trailed off, as though waiting for a name. When he glanced behind him, his meaning became clear.
He didn’t remember the name of someone he’d been keeping company with this afternoon?
I stifled a sigh. “Mr. Beckwith. We’ve known each other since childhood.”
“Beckwith. I recognize the name. I believe he has brothers.”
I nodded.
Scandent’s gaze bore into mine. “Do you have an understanding with him?” he asked bluntly.
“Understanding?” I should have chosen a red dress today. Then my skin would have matched. “No,” I said flatly. Final.
It was the truth. Even if…
He is engaged. Yes, but we’d kissed. He knew me better than anyone else, and I knew him. If I was going to have an understanding with anyone… I’d never even considered such a thing before. The notion should appall me. But with Julian… I trusted him, body and soul.
The corner of Scandent’s mouth lifted in amusement or disbelief. Maybe both. “I see.” He leaned closer, closing the distance between us. “You look ravishing today, Miss Annesley.”
All of me or just my breasts?
On the next step, I purposefully trod on his toes. He said nothing more. As we reached the main pavilion again, the others caught up to us. I dropped Scandent’s arm on the first opportunity. Mr. Dendroid used his long-legged stride to his advantage as he approached us. His posture was stiff, his demeanor aloof. When he was two paces away, he stopped and gave a shallow bow. I curtsied out of reflex.
“Forgive me, Miss Annesley, but I must be off.”
He was leaving? Scandent smirked as the other man loped toward the exit as though his shoes were on fire. Eager for any excuse to extract myself from Scandent’s hold, I limped up to Rose as she and the rest of the group arrived. Julian once again accompanied Mary.
“Mr. Den—” I coughed before I spouted his nickname. “Mr. Johnstone is leaving? I thought he was one of my main suitors.”
Rose looked pained. Shooting her husband an apologetic look, she towed me toward the edge of the path and let the others pass to claim their supper box. “He was.” She pressed her hand over her mouth but didn’t quite manage to stifle her sigh. “I’m afraid I have bad news. Francine, were you in the bachelor quarter of Mayfair?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. By will alone, I managed not to look over my shoulder at our other friend. “With Mary.”
A weary expression overtook Rose’s face. “You were seen sneaking away from the back of Lord Sutton’s house.”
I was chaperoned! I opened my mouth, but the words never emerged.
Rose added, “I’m afraid the additional scandal was too much for Mr. Johnstone. He’s withdrawn his suit.”
I’d lost a suitor? Not just any suitor, but the man who Rose thought liked me the best, for myself. I glanced at the group—at Julian—for support. I met Scandent’s smirk instead. His conversation with Mr. Dendroid… Scandent had done this. He had lost me a suitor. Why? For my dowry? Perhaps his aunt and uncle pressured him to make the match. Or perhaps he enjoyed chasing and ruining a woman in the eyes of Society. Whatever the case, I couldn’t count on him not to spread crippling gossip about me.
Thanks to him, I had no chance at all of finding a husband. I expected the knowledge to hurt me, but instead I felt…numb. It seemed as though I would have to go through with Mary’s idea of ruining my reputation, after all, and hope it would be enough to stall my father’s hand. At that moment, I wasn’t terribly optimistic on that count. If I was doomed to a life in a convent in a few short days, then I was going to take what I wanted while I still could.
What I wanted was Julian.