Chapter Fourteen
In the event, the landlady’s plentiful selection of meats and cheeses remained scarcely touched as Maitland, reaching out for the bottle of brandy he had ordered along with his meal, refilled his glass for the third time and moodily lounged back in his armchair.
He wished to God that he had never allowed himself to be dragooned into volunteering his services for what had turned out to be, in all respects, a complete wild- goose chase. And, if that were not sufficiently demoralising, he thought, savagely, as he tossed back yet another mouthful of the fiery spirit, there was the added ignominy of having fallen head-over-heels in love with a girl who was, without doubt, the future intended of one of his dearest friends!
Having spent much of the day puzzling over why the pair seemed so set on preserving what was, to him, a rather unnatural silence about their attachment, he could only suppose that they were acting in accordance with some ancient family ritual or other that obliged them to wait for an official announcement. And, having followed this line of reasoning to what seemed to him to be the most logical end—given that the matrimonial intentions of the heir to the title were likely to be of considerable interest to a good many of the landed gentry in the area—he had arrived at the conclusion that the coming Saturday’s ball would make an ideal occasion for such an announcement. All the more reason for him to cry off, he chastised himself, although he knew that he could no more do that than fly to the moon. As he had told Georgianne, it was not in him to admit defeat until every vestige of hope was gone—a quality that had always served him well enough in his days with the military, but one which, in the present circumstances, looked set to be of no use whatsoever!
The clatter of carriages pulling up to the hotel’s front entrance brought him to his feet in an instant. Muttering imprecations under his breath, he strode over to the open window, intending to latch it shut against the worst of the noise. But then, as he focussed his somewhat bleary eyes on the two vehicles just below, he immediately snapped to attention. Gresham carriages, by Jove! And who should be stepping down from the first of them than the very subject of his melancholic reverie!
Carefully placing his still half-full glass back on the table, he walked across the room to the marble washstand, poured the entire contents of the jug into the washbowl and thrust his head into it, gritting his teeth as the chill of the water crept up over his ears.
The cold ducking having left him a good deal more alert than he had been five minutes previously, he towelled himself off briskly and, flinging open the wardrobe door, dragged out his dress-clothes. Ten minutes later, he was standing in front of his mirror, wrestling with a third attempt to arrange his necktie to his satisfaction and thanking a divine providence for the hotel’s excellent laundry service!
His hair still slightly damp, he flew down the stairs to join the bustling crowd of noisy revellers that was presently making its way into the assembly room, the larger of the hotel’s two dining rooms wherein, as he was soon able to see, the tables and chairs had been arranged around the walls in order to leave the centre of the floor clear for dancing.
Since there was still a good deal of movement going on around him, it was some little time before he managed to spot the Gresham party and he was somewhat taken aback to see that his cousin, Fenton, was already engaged in a deep conversation with Stephanie Highsmith. Doing his best to appear totally nonchalant, Maitland strolled across to the group and, with a courteous bow, paid his respects to the dowager countess.
‘I must confess that I hardly expected to find you frequenting such a mediocre gathering, ma’am,’ he said, endeavouring to keep his eyes off Georgianne, who looked quite entrancing in a simple chiffon gown of the palest green and her hair, as he was delighted to note, still dressed in the new softer style.
‘I hardly expected to be here myself until a couple of hours ago,’ replied the old lady, giving him what he could only describe as a rather searching look. ‘But, the young folk would have it and, since it would seem that every one of my cow-hearted relations considered themselves far too high in the instep to put in an appearance, here, as you see, I am, young man!’
‘For which I am quite certain that your young ladies are most grateful,’ he said gallantly. ‘Do I have your permission to solicit a dance with one or other of them?’
‘Help yourself, Mr Maitland,’ she chuckled, waving him away with her fan. ‘Although, I dare say you might find that one or two of them are a little on the young side for you!’
‘Not too young to dance with, I assure you, ma’am,’ he grinned, as he turned to greet Catford who, having selected a nearby seat, was presently doing his best to assure two of his pretty young cousins that he was perfectly content to sit and watch, while they took to the floor.
‘But couldn’t you just try a line dance, Eddie?’ cajoled Lady Alice, the more buxom of the pair. ‘It’s mostly only walking and I really shan’t mind if you don’t feel up to doing the twirling around!’
‘Maybe later, Alice,’ he replied, giving her a gentle smile. ‘But, since the reason I agreed to bring you all here was so that you could all let off a little steam, I would feel happier to see you tripping the light fantastic with someone who is a little more sprightly than I am at present.’ Cocking his head at Maitland, he raised a questioning eyebrow, to which signal his friend gave an immediate nod. ‘I’m sure that Will here would be more than happy to twirl you around the floor.’
‘Nothing would give me greater pleasure, Lady Alice,’ lied Maitland, as he offered the girl his hand and led her across the floor to join the line of waiting couples. ‘Although, I have to admit that it is some time since I indulged in one of these.’ Groaning inwardly, he wondered why it had never occurred to him that country assemblies meant country dances.
‘I hear that it was all cotillions and waltzes when you and Cousin Eddie were in Belgium,’ said his young partner, as the fiddlers started up and the dance began. Looking across the room to find her cousin regarding her with a slightly wistful smile on his face, she added, ‘The poor lamb was always such a good dancer!’
‘And he will be again, I promise you,’ replied Maitland reassuringly, as he stepped forwards to twirl the lady opposite around before returning her to her partner, then collecting his own partner again and moving on to change places with the pair on their left, in accordance with the movements of the dance. Out of the corner of his eye, he had caught a glimpse of Georgianne, some four or five couples further down the line and, mentally crossing his fingers in the fervent hope that the music would continue long enough for him to reach her, he tried to convince himself that a couple of twirls with her was better than nothing!
Sadly, when that moment did at last arrive, there was barely enough time for the two of them to exchange more than the briefest of greetings before the music compelled them to move on again.
To his great relief, the dance reached its conclusion on the next change and he was able to return his flushed and laughing partner to her grandmother’s side.
‘Thank you so much, Mr Maitland,’ said Lady Alice, dipping her knee to him in a dainty curtsy. But then, as she turned to see her cousin rising stiffly to his feet, she cried, ‘Oh, Eddie! You really must try to stop getting up every time one of us comes anywhere near you. At this rate, you will be up and down like a Jack-in-the-box all evening!’
‘Can’t be helped, my dear,’ returned Catford, with a wry grin. ‘I’m afraid I’m far too long in the tooth to change my ways now.’
‘Then I shall stay here beside you and make sure that you do sit still,’ she averred, as she plonked herself down at his side.
‘I’m not a cripple, Alice,’ the viscount reminded her gently. ‘I wouldn’t have brought you if I had known that you intended to waste the whole evening sitting next to me. Apart from which, I need to have a word with Will. Look, I see young Berkeley signalling you. So, do run along and enjoy yourself, there’s a good girl.’
‘You wanted to speak to me, Cat?’ asked Maitland, unable to prevent a slight feeling of unease, as he lowered himself down on to the seat that Lady Alice had recently vacated. He could not help wondering whether Catford had taken offence at some aspect of the friendship that was developing between himself and Georgianne, but he need not have concerned himself, for the viscount merely wanted to thank him for all the time and effort he had put in that morning on his cousin’s behalf.
‘She was quite her old self again, when she got back,’ he declared gleefully. ‘I swear that it’s been some time since I’ve seen her looking so happy. Whatever you are doing to bring her out of her shell, old chap, I beg you to keep up the good work!’
Maitland’s eyes travelled sideways to where Georgianne was sitting, several places away, cheerfully chatting to her grandmother. Making up his mind, he rose quickly to his feet. ‘Then, if you’re sure you have no objection, Cat, I believe I might ask Miss Venables if she cares to take to the floor?’
‘Why on earth do you think I would have any objections,’ asked Catford, a puzzled frown on his face. But Maitland, his mind keenly focussed on the matter in hand, was already out of earshot.
‘I trust that you will give me the pleasure, Miss Venables?’ he said, holding out his hand and willing her to accept.
‘Off you go, Georgianne,’ ordered the dowager, pointedly digging her granddaughter in the ribs. ‘You didn’t come here to sit nattering to me all night!’
‘Don’t talk nonsense, Grandmama!’ laughed Georgianne, as she rose to her feet and placed her hand into Maitland’s. ‘You know perfectly well that I hang on your every word!’
‘Humph!’ retorted the old lady, making skilful use of her fan to hide her smile. ‘Take her away, young man!’
With a contented grin on his face, Maitland was only too happy to oblige her ladyship. It was, however, somewhat disheartening to discover, as he was shortly about to do, that the dance into which he was leading Georgianne was nothing more than an eightsome reel, a fairly boisterous dance that rendered conversation impossible. Nevertheless, it was better than nothing, he told himself.
Georgianne, for her part, had been delighted to find Maitland in attendance at the assembly for, as she had frequently heard her older cousins remark, ‘Most gentlemen are hardly likely to opt for dancing if they are faced with a selection of other manly pursuits!’ Therefore, she was more than gratified to be dancing with him, eightsome reel or no.
After her visit to the stables that morning, when Everton had assured her that Olympus was responding very nicely to her treatment, followed by the highly exhilarating gallop that had quickly restored any possible loss of self-confidence that she might have suffered, she had made up her mind to make the most of every one of the precious minutes in which she found herself alone with her cousin’s friend. For, if she were any judge, there were bound not to be that many left. Along with the rest of her family, she was well aware that he and his cousin had scoured the whole area and beyond for some clue as to his missing relative and, whilst she could not help but be sorry that all of Maitland’s hard effort had come to nought, her most pressing regret was that this failure to turn up any useful information would mean only one thing. His imminent departure!
With that rather depressing prospect now uppermost in her mind, she then proceeded to fling herself wholeheartedly into the dance, bestowing upon him the widest of smiles at every turn and retaining hold of his hand for the merest fraction of a second longer than was, perhaps, altogether necessary. All of which rather unexpected behaviour on her part being more than enough to render her already highly vulnerable partner into a state of utter confusion.
In truth, Maitland was finding that he could scarcely take his eyes off her, so completely mesmerised was he by her curving lips, her dimpling cheeks—not to mention the highly provocative swaying movements of her body as she chasséed gracefully across the circle! And what in God’s name was that challenging expression in her eyes all about? he asked himself in bewilderment. Had he not known better, he would have been prepared to swear that his good friend Catford’s future bride was actually flirting with him!
It was with a certain amount of relief that he heard the fiddlers executing their final tuneful flourish, signalling not only the end of that particular set of dances, but also the call to the supper room.
Unfurling her fan, Georgianne wafted it to and fro in an effort to cool her heated cheeks. ‘That was almost as invigorating as this morning’s gallop, Mr Maitland,’ she proclaimed breathlessly, as she tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and gave him another of her captivating smiles. ‘I can hardly wait for tomorrow’s run!’
‘You are still intent upon repeating this morning’s exercise, then?’ ventured Maitland, in a vain attempt to divert his mind from the prurient fantasies that were presently taking shape therein.
‘Goodness me, no!’ she replied, with a gurgling laugh that did nothing to help Maitland’s struggle to maintain his composure. ‘I was rather hoping that we might take a run across the heath—Brandy proved not to be too bad, as it happens, but we can really put her through her paces out on the heath.’
‘You aren’t nervous about meeting up with this dreaded highwayman, then?’ he asked curiously. Every other female he had come across had blanched with fear at the very mention of the subject.
‘Well, I might be, if it were later in the day and if I were travelling in one of Gresham’s carriages, with a few hundred pounds’ worth of jewellery slung round my neck.’ She twinkled up at him. ‘But, in my opinion, no highwayman worth his salt is going to drag himself out of bed at sunrise to accost a couple of mere riders when some of this potential booty—’ she waved her hand around the room, indicating the large number of females present who were quite happily displaying their largesse upon their necks and fingers ‘—could well be his for the taking a couple of hours later.’
‘That’s quite true,’ he acquiesced, as he shepherded her into the crowded supper room where, upon looking around, he perceived that Catford had already commandeered a table for his party. ‘But the man would be a fool if he chose to strike tomorrow. I believe that the local watch committee has already drafted in the militia. As a matter of fact, I have it on good authority that there is a troop of dragoons quartered around the town.’
‘Well, that’s settled it, then,’ replied Georgianne, taking her seat, with a satisfied nod. ‘And, since it is highly unlikely that any of this present company will rouse themselves from their slumbers much before ten o’clock, we will have the heath to ourselves and be back home long before the rest of the world is even stirring!’
‘I look forward to it,’ returned Maitland, with a slightly forced smile, not entirely sure whether, in fact, he did or not. However, he was more than certain that the feeling of utter helplessness that had threatened to engulf him not five minutes earlier was not an experience that he cared to repeat. And if, on the morrow’s outing, Georgianne chose to continue her pitiless bombardment on his fragile emotions, he might well find himself to obliged to disregard the fact that he was a gentleman and teach her a lesson that she would not easily forget!