Chapter 27

Chapter 27

The next day, Aldham Park seemed shrouded in silence. The family members gave each other a wide berth, heads down in shame if they were forced to meet and interact. Both his wife and his progeny went to great lengths to avoid Sir Francis, other than to apply for quarterly allowances and his signature on bills to be paid. For his part, he kept to his study and slept on the daybed in his dressing room.

Despite the gloomy atmosphere, at mid-morning, Lenora crept down the stairs, hoping there might be something set out in the dining room or kitchen to serve as breakfast.

She found her mother in the dining room, speaking quietly with the housekeeper. The housekeeper, face appropriately grave, was nodding and saying, “Yes, m’lady,” and “No, m’lady,” when comment seemed necessary.

Lenora hesitated at the door. She didn’t want to interrupt, but she was hungry, and she could see a steaming teapot on the table, accompanied by a mound of sugar biscuits.

“Come in, Lenora,” Lady Temple said. “The tea is freshly brewed, and the cook just sent up the biscuits.”

“Thank you,” Lenora said, sidling around her mother to sit at the table.

Lady Temple dismissed the housekeeper and sat at the table opposite Lenora. “As you might guess, this is going to create quite a scandal,” Lady Temple began.

“Yes,” Lenora said, her heart sinking in her chest. “I should rather imagine it will.”

Lady Temple calmly poured the tea, first for her daughter and then for herself. “Have a biscuit,” she said. “In times like these, one must keep up one’s strength.”

Lenora picked up the nearest biscuit. It was a delicate thing, topped with coloured sugar sprinkles. She bit into it, letting it melt on her tongue. There was scarcely any substance to it at all, but the fresh sweetness helped clear her head and let her focus. Keeping her eyes on her mother, she politely took three successive sips of tea.

Lady Temple also sipped her tea and then set her cup down. “Your brother will be down momentarily. I’ll wait for him because I’d rather only say this once.”

August quietly let himself into the dining room. “I’m here, Mother. What is it you want to say?”

“I shall go to Europe,” Lady Temple said decisively. “I would like to take the two of you with me. There is nothing to be gained by mewing ourselves up here or even in London, for this is sure to be a ninety-day wonder. Mr Hooper has no sense of decorum, but he does have a way of catching the conscience with a play.”

“Indeed, he does,” August said. “I should have planted Father a facer weeks ago and taken you both away.”

“Oh, dear, no,” Lady Temple said. “That would have been the worst thing you could have done. Your restraint was admirable, August. Calling your father out for pistols at dawn or even a bout at Sharkey’s would have only focused the spotlight on us that much sooner — and given that insufferable playwright more ink for his pen.”

“I suppose so,” August said. “But I could see that you were suffering, and now Lenora must feel the disgrace, too. It really is too bad of Father to have behaved so. As for that tutoress, or whatever you might call her . . .!”

“I feel very sad for her,” Lady Temple said, cutting across what promised to become a diatribe. “I am sure that it must have been flattering to have had the master’s attention at first. But soon, she found that she was trapped. She could not tell him no, but at the same time, she was betraying the trust placed in her to set a socially acceptable example for Lenora.”

Lenora picked up a more substantial biscuit. This one was stuffed with currants and smeared with a butter creme frosting. Her stomach felt hollow. She understood why her mother wanted to leave the country. By going back to their quiet life in the provincial French village, she would get them all away from the tittle-tattle of both Bath and London gossips.

But her heart twisted at the thought of being so far away from Dorian, even though he was betrothed to another. The biscuit felt dry in her mouth and threatened to stick in her throat, but she chewed resolutely. Perhaps if she swallowed enough of them, it would fill the hollow place in her middle.

Sadly, the biscuits seemed to make a hard knot in her stomach that her cup of tea did nothing to dissolve. While she debated whether declaring a bad case of megrims or having strong hysterics would best serve her personal aims, there came a knock at the door.

The maid’s light footsteps went down the hall, and then the butler came to the dining room door.

“There is a gentleman to see Miss Temple,” he announced in lugubrious tones. “Do you wish to see him?”

With Reuben arrested, August seated at the table, and her father upstairs in the study, there was only one person a “gentleman to see her” could possibly be. While Lenora struggled to get her thoughts in order, Lady Temple said, “Show him in. If it is who I think it is, he can join us for breakfast tea.”

The butler vanished and returned, trailing after Dorian, who was saying, “I know the way. I’ve been here often enough!”

“Dorian!” Lenora cried, jumping up from her chair and nearly spilling her teacup.

Lady Temple gave her daughter a quelling look, then delicately held out her hand to Dorian. “How good to see you, Lord de Clare. How are you holding up?”

Dorian took Lady Temple’s hand and bowed over it to precisely the correct degree to honour a lady of long acquaintance. “I hope I am not intruding. I came to see Lenora and apologize to all of you. I swear I knew nothing of the content of Charlie’s play.”

“I believe you,” Lenora hastened to say. “It has certainly proven an embarrassment to us all.”

“No doubt of that,” Dorian agreed. “I believe that was his intent. Although, perhaps not as explosively as it has turned out. When I saw him this morning, he seemed immensely pleased with himself. But he is returning to London for his own personal safety.”

August gave a bitter laugh. “I can certainly see where he might. If I saw him today, I’m not at all sure I could refrain from planting my fist squarely in the middle of his face.”

“Which is no doubt why he left at earliest light,” Dorian said. “I am not at all sure he had slept before leaving. Early rising is not at all his forte.”

There was a general round of soft laughter.

“Lenora, might I walk out in the garden with you?” Dorian asked when the merriment died away.

Lenora glanced at her mother, who gave her a tiny nod of permission. “I would be glad to,” she replied.

The garden was still slightly damp from the night’s rain, but the paths were dry enough for a pleasant stroll. They walked in silence for a brief while.

“Emma has broken off our engagement,” Dorian said abruptly. “She says that while she appreciates the sentiment of my father’s intent, no one asked her how she would feel about a lifetime as second-best.”

Lenora stopped and turned to face Dorian. “Second best?”

“You are, and always have been, my first best,” Dorian said. “Lenora, will you marry me? If you are my wife, I believe I can protect you from the worst of the gossip about your mother and father.”

“What about the seven-day wonder of Jonathan Hall’s escapades?” Lenora asked. “While my father is certainly guilty of infidelity, he has done no worse than many another gentleman. Mother already knew about the affair and had studiously turned a blind eye to it. August also knew, but both had chosen to attempt to protect me from the knowledge of what my tutoress and my father were doing.”

Dorian sighed, looking more than a little guilty. “Sadly, so true. The two are not comparable. One, no doubt, was harmful to your family. The other … discovering that my godfather used our patients as test subjects, then attempted to cover up their deaths as an epidemic raging through our hospital population . . . the enormity of it is so huge I can scarcely take it in.”

“Poor Emma,” Lenora said. “What will become of her now?”

“Since she does not wish to be married to me, I shall do my best to help her locate and marry a suitable husband.” Dorian smirked, his eyes crinkling with his knowing grin. “I think I know of just the person.”

“Who?” Lenora asked. “After this, she is damaged goods and will have a hard time on the Marriage Mart.”

“Have you not seen how August looks at her? Even though she has tried to conceal the letters, Emma has had a long-standing correspondence with him. I came across one of his epistles in the drawing room this very morning.”

Lenora just gaped at him for a moment. “That is just amazingly brilliant,” she said. “I’ve long been a major embarrassment to my brother. A quiet, well-behaved wife might be just what he needs.”

“Whereas I shall delight in your ever-changing moods, your fits and starts, and impulsive altruisms,” Dorian assured her. “Lenora, I do not for a minute believe that Charlie meant to create the kind of stir that developed from his play. Nonetheless, it will be a long time before I forgive him for the harm he has caused many good people, especially you.”

“And Emma?” Lenora could not keep herself from asking.

“Yes, and to Emma. Jonathan’s activities had to be stopped, of course. But without the play, it could have been done much less publicly, with less embarrassment to his daughter.” Dorian sighed and looked off into the distance.”

“Mother plans for us to go to Europe,” Lenora said.

“An excellent plan,” Dorian said. “If I join you there, will you receive me, Lenora? I know we shall quarrel often; you see me as more a brother than lover, but is there the slightest chance you might see me in a different light? I was so used to you; I didn’t realize my feelings myself until I wrote your music.”

Lenora gave him a coy glance from under her lashes. “So now you see me as something other than a sister?”

Dorian stopped walking and turned to her, holding out his hand. “I see you as I should have seen you from the beginning: as my other half, as the person who will make me complete. Lenora, I know I’ve behaved miserably, but could you give me the slightest crumb of hope?”

Lenora placed her hand in his and looked up at him. “Hope of what, Dorian?”

He folded his fingers around hers. His fingers were warm and strong, the skin on them soft as befit a surgeon or musician. They warmed Lenora and sent a warm feeling to the hollow place inside her. “That you might become my wife.”

“More than a crumb, Dorian,” Lenora said, holding tightly to his fingers. “Come ask me in France, and I will give you an answer then.”

Dorian smiled warmly at her and raised her fingers to his lips. “I will see you there. Start planning your trousseau, for I am quite serious about this.”

Lenora smiled back, for her world had finally turned right side up despite recent events. She looked up into his face and said, “Don’t be too long. You never know what might happen.” But in her heart, she knew that she would wait for him as long as it took.