CHAPTER ELEVEN

Lord Reculver’s note requesting permission to call catapulted Anna into a combination of wild joy and incipient panic. If he was coming in person, it presumably meant that he had decided to accept her offer. And for the first time in her life, her appearance suddenly became a matter of paramount importance. She had her maid get out every one of her afternoon gowns and decided that she hated all of them. Why was every garment she possessed so boring? And some of them were worse than boring. They verged on dowdy . Then there was her hair; always the same, sensible styles – one for day and the other for evening. Fortunately, before insanity set in, common sense returned.

He had seen her before. He already knew what she looked like and how she dressed. So if, the day after tomorrow, he arrived to find her completely transformed he would know far more of what was in her head than she wanted him to.

She would have preferred to merely tell her mother that the viscount was coming and would wish to speak to her privately … but two reasons persuaded her otherwise. Firstly, she had to make sure that Mama wouldn’t intrude at the worst possible moment; and secondly, there was a remote chance that his lordship might feel it necessary to broach the subject with Mama first.

Consequently, over dinner the following evening, she announced that they might expect a visit from Viscount Reculver on the morrow.

A piece of fish impaled on her fork, Mrs Hawthorne froze and stared at her.

‘Why? What is he coming here for?’

‘I believe he may intend to make me an offer.’

‘For what? You already bought his unfortunate mother’s scent bottles, didn’t you? What else can he want?’

‘Me,’ said Anna. And waited.

The fish dropped back on the plate but Mrs Hawthorne continued holding the fork aloft. ‘ You? As in … as in …’

‘Marriage. Yes. I think so.’

‘But – but he’s a – a – ’

‘A viscount.Quite.’

Her mother’s eyes grew round and the fork dropped from suddenly nerveless fingers. Beaming, she said, ‘A viscountess, Anna – you’ll be a viscountess! I can’t believe it!’

Neither, in truth, could Anna. She said cautiously, ‘Let us not get too excited, Mama. It isn’t certain yet. And it won’t be until – ’

‘If you weren’t sure, you wouldn’t have said anything, would you?’ Mrs Hawthorne laughed. ‘Well. I won’t ask what you did to bring this about, Anna. Just tell me that no one knows about it.’

Anna stared at her and then realised how typical it was. Of course Mama would assume she’d found a way of forcing his lordship’s hand. After all, why else would he offer her marriage? On the other hand, it was better if Mama thought that than learn the truth.

‘Don’t worry, Mama. There will be no unpleasant rumours or gossip. Let’s just say that Lord Reculver and I have reached an understanding and leave it at that, shall we? And please do not indicate that you know anything about this until he and I have spoken and it becomes a reality – otherwise, it may not do so.’

***

Next day whilst driving to Worcester, Daniel found himself thinking more about Mr Grimshaw than about Miss Hawthorne. Although he couldn’t pin it down, he still had a prickling sense that something about both the man and the so-called ‘debt of honour’ wasn’t right. Yet it had to be, didn’t it? There was that letter from the bank to prove it.

It wasn’t until he was almost there that a startling possibility occurred to him. What if, as he’d sensed all along, Father had never incurred any such debt? What if Grimshaw was a fraudster? What if … and here was what might be the crux of the matter … what if the letter from Hoare’s was no more real than anything else?

It might be forged – and Daniel knew exactly how that could be done. Last year on Christian’s behalf, he and his friends had constructed something similar that purported to have come from the English Consulate in Constantinople. If they could do it, so could Grimshaw.Daniel and the others had got away with their forgery because no one was going to check with the Consulate. Grimshaw would get away with his because Hoare’s wouldn’t answer questions about one of their clients.

So … it could be done. The question, therefore, was whether it had been and, if so, whether there was any way at all of proving it.

Hawthorne Lodge was a large, graceful house situated amidst extensive gardens. As soon as he drew up in front of the door, a groom came to take his phaeton round to the stables and a butler appeared to usher him inside. Taking Daniel’s hat and gloves, he said quietly, ‘If you will follow me, my lord, Miss Hawthorne is in the library and has instructed that you be taken up directly you arrived.’

She’d probably prefer I didn’t run into her mother just yet , he thought. So would I.

Anna rose as he entered the room and offered him a cautious smile.

‘Welcome, my lord. I hope your journey was a smooth one?’

‘It was.’ Daniel took her hand, bowed over it and stepped back, reminding himself that he’d resolved to ignore the awkwardness of their situation as best he could and talk to her just as he would any other budding acquaintance. ‘From the little I’ve seen, you have a lovely home.’

‘Thank you. My father had the house built thirty years ago.’ Sitting down, she gestured to a nearby chair and, when he chose to remain standing, immediately drew an unwelcome conclusion. She said stiffly, ‘Perhaps I misinterpreted your coming here today. If so, I apologise. I assumed – that is to say, I had hoped that you were doing so in order to accept my offer. Is that not the case?’

‘Not exactly, no.’ At some point in the days since their last meeting, one thing had become plain to him. She deserved some consideration, however small, in return for what she would be giving him; and there was one simple thing he could offer. But first, pulling a folded paper from his pocket and handing it to her, he said, ‘Before we proceed, you ought perhaps to read that. It’s a list of my … liabilities … along with the name and direction of my lawyer.’

She looked down at the paper but made no move to open it.

Finally, setting it aside, she said, ‘No. That isn’t necessary.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Quite sure.’

Daniel drew a long breath. ‘In that case, Miss Hawthorne … will you do me the very great honour of becoming my wife?’

It was the last thing she had expected. For a moment, first shock and then the sweetness of his words stopped her breath. Unaware of the pleasure slowly blooming in her face, she said shyly, ‘Thank you. You … that was very kind of you.’

‘Is that a yes?’

‘Yes.’ She swallowed and then, without stopping to think, mumbled, ‘Why did you do it? You didn’t need to.’

‘I disagree. You were entitled to a proposal. On such a matter, isn’t every lady? So I asked. However, you’ll have noticed that I drew the line at going down on one knee. I suspected you might have considered that overdoing it.’

‘P-Perhaps.’

He smiled faintly and finally took the chair she’d offered.

‘Now … how shall we proceed? I imagine you will wish to be married from here, so banns in your local church would seem the most logical step. Yes?’

‘Yes. If that would also suit you, sir?’

Daniel shrugged. ‘Well enough. But do you think we might keep it quite a small affair? Aside from the fact that I have very few relatives who must be invited and only a select group of friends who are as close as brothers that I’d wish to be there, my family and I are still in mourning.’

‘Yes. Of course. I’ll do my best to stop Mama getting carried away,’ she promised. And thought, Although it’s not going to be easy. She wanted a title for me – any title. A baronet would have sufficed. But her seemingly unmarriageable daughter is going to be a viscountess and she’ll want to shout it to the world . ‘May I ask if your mother and sister are aware of – of any of this?’

‘They are aware that I intended making you an offer of marriage today. They are not aware – nor need they ever be – of precisely how it came about.’

‘And your friends?’ Aware of a slight change in his expression, Anna broke off and added quickly, ‘You need not tell me if you’d rather not.’

Just for an instant, Daniel considered lying. Then, deciding against it, he said, ‘They know the whole story … but it will never go beyond the four of them. And it’s likely that only three will be at our wedding. Lord Hazelmere’s lady is expecting their first child in a few weeks, so he won’t let her travel or leave her side himself just now.’ He’d have liked Christian as his groomsman but knew that it wasn’t going to happen. ‘I shall be asking Lord Benedict Hawkridge to stand up with me on the day. The other two who you’ll meet are Anthony, Lord Wendover and Mr Gerald Sandhurst. You’ll find all the necessary names and addresses there,’ he said, gesturing to the paper he’d given her. ‘But what about you? Who will give you away?’

‘Mama will probably ask Cousin Cordelia’s husband, Lord Maybury, to do it. We’re somewhat short of male relations.’ She sighed slightly, ‘And speaking of Mama … I suppose I had better introduce you to her so we can give her the good news.’

‘In a moment. I’m assuming you will be instructing Mr Landry to begin work on the legal side of things. I’ll write to my own lawyer tomorrow, giving my instructions. And after we’ve spoken to your mother, perhaps we might visit the local vicar and arrange banns and a date for the wedding. What do you think?’

Too many things to make sense of , thought Anna a shade dizzily. It’s all happening so fast. Why? So he doesn’t have a chance to change his mind? So he doesn’t have to see me again before the wedding? But she said, ‘By all means, my lord. Since you are – ’

‘Daniel,’ he interposed. ‘My name is Daniel. Please feel free to use it.’

Something warm yet oddly painful stirred in Anna’s chest.

‘Daniel,’ she echoed. ‘Thank you. And I agree. It makes sense to arrange matters with the vicar today. First, however, Mama.’ Rising and her mouth curling wryly, she added, ‘I advise you to beware, sir. She may well fall on your neck.’

If Mrs Hawthorne did not exactly throw herself upon him in gratitude, she did express her delight, refrained from saying anything tactless and rang for sherry so they could toast the happy news. Then she waved them off to the vicarage to set their plans in motion.

By the time Anna returned home, having bade farewell to her fiancé, she found her mother busily writing letters to what looked like everyone she’d ever known.

But instantly laying aside her pen when Anna appeared, Mrs Hawthorne said, ‘Heavens, Anna! You might have warned me that he’s so good-looking. I expected there to be something wrong with him but there isn’t, is there? Handsome, charming, beautifully mannered and a viscount! Never did I think you’d do so well for yourself!’ Pausing she shrugged and added carelessly, ‘He needs money, I suppose. But that scarcely matters. You’ve plenty of it. Unless he’s a gamester?’

Controlling a rare burst of temper as best she could, Anna said coldly, ‘No. He is not a gamester. For the last seven months, he has been trying to deal with the financial disaster left behind by his late father. And you will not refer to this again, Mama – either in my hearing or elsewhere and never, ever in front of Daniel. Otherwise I am very much afraid that we shall quarrel. And now I shall leave you to your correspondence and attend to my own.’

Upon which note, she spun on her heel and walked out.

***

The only letter she needed to write was to Mr Landry, apprising him of her forthcoming marriage, instructing him on the measures she wanted setting in place regarding Hawthorne’s and giving him the information he would need in order to open dialogue with Lord Reculver’s lawyers. The last of these was the reason she finally unfolded and read the paper his lordship had given her.

The page began with a meticulous and neatly laid out list of what Daniel had called his ‘liabilities’ – most of which bore a few words of explanation.

￡5,000 owing to Lord Hazelmere.

Originally my father’s loan from Fleetwood’s in the City but repaid on my behalf and without my knowledge by the earl on March 2 nd of this year .

￡1,850 My overdraft at Mason’s Bank, Gloucester.

￡2,000 – ￡3,000 Possible expenses at Reculver.

My estimate for the cost of immediate repairs, replacement equipment etc .

￡4,000 Apparently a debt of my father’s to Harold Grimshaw of Cirencester.

I have doubts about this and will be attempting to either verify or dispute it .

Total of the above: ￡13,850

In addition to these, there is also the cost of my sister’s Season and a respectable but not exorbitant dowry – which I cannot begin to estimate .

And finally, there was also a ￡2,500 loan taken out by my father which, thanks to your payment for the scent bottles etcetera, I have now discharged.

And below these was the address of Longhope & Son in Gloucester, followed by those of his friends.

Lord & Lady Hazelmere, Hazelmere Towers, Stanton St. John, Oxford

They won’t come but I’d like them to be invited .

Lord Benedict Hawkridge, 45 Dover Street, London

Anthony, Baron Wendover, Westcote House, Harbury, Warwickshire

Mr Gerald Sandhurst, Hazelmere House, Berkeley Square

Should you choose, you may also add

Lord Oscar Hawkridge, Belhaven House, Hanover Square

He may come from choice or Belhaven may send him .

Thoughtfully, Anna set the page aside. Lord Reculver – Daniel – was plainly efficient and possessed of a deep streak of honesty. She liked that about him. She liked it almost as much as she liked his smile and his pleasant voice … and quite a few other things which she refused to let herself list because contemplating them was dangerous to her peace of mind.

~** ~**~