Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

E linor had never been to Grafton Hall before. She’d met Caroline, the viscountess, once when they’d both been visiting Mrs. Hepworth and she’d been very gracious. Mrs. Hepworth had mentioned to Elinor that Caroline had survived the death of her first husband and had been reduced to working as a seamstress before she’d met Viscount Grafton and married him. Such stories gave Elinor hope that she too could rise above her past and make a new life for herself.

She glanced up at Thomas who had a firm grip on her hand as they joined the crowd of people in the large medieval hall beside a roaring fire. Elinor hadn’t seen so many elegantly dressed ladies since she’d last attended a ball with her stepmother. Not that she’d been allowed to dance or take her place in society. She’d stayed mainly in the kitchen waiting for commands from her family about needing a shawl, or a hem pinning up, or a curl rearranged. The staff had treated her as one of their own and she’d been glad of the company and the copious amounts of food.

“Mrs. Smith and Mr. Totton,” The butler said their names to the host and hostess who stood at the bottom of the stairs greeting guests.

Elinor curtsied and Thomas bowed. When she looked up, the viscount was staring right at her. She’d always thought her stepmother had the coldest eyes in the country but there was something about the viscount that made her shiver.

“A pleasure, Mrs. Smith.” He took her hand and kissed it, his gaze lingering on her face. “I don’t recall meeting you before.”

“Mrs. Smith is Mr. Totton’s housekeeper,” the viscountess said with a smile for Elinor.

“Lucky man,” murmured the viscount. “A real beauty.”

“Mrs. Smith is far more than that, sir,” Thomas said. “She is an exemplary cook and housekeeper.”

“Please enjoy your evening, ma’am.” The viscount bowed. “And save me a dance if you would?”

“I—” flustered, Elinor looked at the viscountess.

“You’ve frightened her, Francis,” Caroline said. “You don’t have to dance with him if you don’t wish to, ma’am. He won’t press you.”

Thomas took Elinor’s arm and steered her past a footman with a tray of drinks and into the large drawing room beyond where the carpet had been taken up to allow for dancing. There was a string quartet tuning up, but no one was dancing just yet.

“Don’t concern yourself about the viscount, Mrs. Smith. He’s perfectly respectable since his marriage.”

“He looks like a pirate,” Elinor said.

“He did have something of a reputation in Millcastle before he settled down,” Thomas admitted. “He owns the inn you arrived at for one and used to live there. He’s not a man I would cross.”

Elinor took a deep breath and looked up at Thomas. “I am determined to enjoy this evening. I will not allow my silly fears to ruin it before it has begun.”

“Good,” Thomas said. “I’ll wager neither of us have been invited to dance at a viscount’s house before,” he said. “Well, you might have been.”

“Not to dance,” Elinor hastened to reassure him.

In reply, Thomas took two glasses of champagne from one of the passing footmen and held one out to Elinor.

“Happy Christmas, Mrs. Smith.”

“And to you, Mr. Totton.”

They clinked their glasses together and Elinor drank her champagne down in one gulp. If she did have to dance with the fearsome viscount, she’d need all the courage she could muster.

Somewhat to her surprise, Elinor began to enjoy herself. She danced first with Thomas, then Mr. Hepworth, and two other gentlemen she didn’t know who were most complimentary. It was the first time she’d actually danced at a ball having learned all the steps from her mother in anticipation of her coming out in society, but never having been given the chance to use them.

Viscount Wesley-Grafton came to find her and claimed the supper dance she’d promised to Thomas. He somewhat reluctantly gave way to the viscount’s claim, but Elinor could sense that he was uneasy. Filled with champagne and the reckless courage that had driven her to escape her stepmother’s home, Elinor placed her hand in the viscount’s and allowed him to lead her out on the floor.

He danced very well—well enough to maintain a conversation, which Elinor still found somewhat difficult.

“You are something of a puzzle, Mrs. Smith,” the viscount said.

“In truth, I am quite boring, sir, I can assure you.”

“Boring in the sense that you are currently living the kind of life where you will not be known as who you really are?”

Elinor’s gaze snapped to his face. “I beg your pardon?”

“You’re a Redmayne.”

She concentrated on her steps as they rounded the corner and still hadn’t thought what to say before he continued speaking.

“I remember there was quite a scandal when your mother died, and your father remarried rather quickly. I also happen to know that the woman he chose to marry was a grasping harpy. I assume she made your life a misery.”

“She—” Elinor looked desperately at the door. “I cannot discuss this while I dance, sir.”

“Then let’s adjourn to my study, shall we?”

“There is no need. With all due respect, this matter has nothing to do with you.”

“You might be surprised to hear that it does.” He met her gaze, a steely determination in his eyes that made her realize that unless she wished to cause a scene, she should do as he asked. “Please, Mrs. Smith.”

She nodded and he walked her off the dance floor, through the hall and into a candlelit room lined with books. He lit another set of candles and poured them both glasses of what she assumed was brandy,

“Here. Take this. You’re as white as a sheet.”

“Can we not pretend this never happened, sir?” Elinor asked desperately. “I’m not doing any harm. I’m simply trying to live my life without fear of being exposed.”

“With a face like yours?” The viscount shook his head. “You’re far too recognizable. Your mother was a famous beauty and you’re easily her equal.” He took her elbow and led her to a chair. “Sit down before you swoon.”

“I thought that coming to Millcastle would keep me hidden.” Elinor gave up any hope of denying who she was. “I still don’t understand what it has to do with you.”

The viscount sat down, his glass in his hand, and studied her. “Perhaps you’ll allow me to explain my interest. None of what I am about to tell you reflects particularly well on my character, but I was a different man, then, angry, wild, and reckless with my possessions and myself. I liked to gamble and that was where I met your stepmother, Lavinia. She worked at one of the most notorious gaming houses. Her specialty was persuading stupid young men to relinquish their fortunes at her table and to lavish money on her extravagant tastes. She was instrumental in the death of one of my closet friends.” He paused. “How she got her claws into your father I’ll never know, but she did, and he was foolish enough to marry her.”

As he seemed to require a response, Elinor nodded.

“In truth, I had hardly given the matter much thought until recently when I was in London, and I encountered a member of your family.” He finished his brandy and set the glass down. “Or to be more precise, I was present at an altercation between your stepbrother and your brother.”

Elinor pressed her hand to her bosom. “My brother’s in England?”

“Yes, as I’d crossed paths with him in India during my military service, I must admit, I was more inclined to believe his side of the story than that of Lavinia’s wastrel son, Denton.”

She couldn’t think about Denton, his face too close to hers, the reek of spirits on his breath…

“You spoke to Robert?”

“Yes, after we’d sent Denton away with a flea in his ear.” Viscount Grafton lit a cigar. “We sat down together to reminisce about India and what had happened to your family since your mother’s death. Robert was obviously worried about what had become of you.”

There was a knock at the door. The viscount looked up in irritation and was about to deny entry when Thomas came into the room, his gaze on Elinor.

“Is everything all right, Mrs. Smith?”

“What in God’s name do you want?” Viscount Grafton demanded. “This is a private matter.”

“I would prefer it if Mr. Totton stayed.” Elinor faced down the viscount. “He knows that I have been hiding in Millcastle.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that at least, Mr. Totton. I was beginning to wonder whether everyone in Millcastle was too dense to wonder why Mrs. Smith ended up in their midst.”

“Perhaps because they mind their own business, sir?” Mr. Totton refused to be cowed.

“This is my business.” The viscount glared at him. “As I have just been explaining to Lady Elinor!”

“ Lady Elinor?” Mr. Totton looked at her.

“She’s the daughter of an earl, the title comes with the peerage,” the viscount explained. “If you insist on staying, sit down, and stop guarding her like a watchdog. I, of all people, mean her no harm.”

Elinor turned to Thomas as he took his seat. “Viscount Grafton knew my stepmother before she married my father and does not have a high opinion of her.”

“I have no objection to anyone risking everything to improve their life, but I cannot abide leeches,” Viscount Grafton said. “And Lavinia was never satisfied. She enjoyed making people suffer.”

Elinor wrapped an arm around her waist as she remembered her stepmother’s almost casual cruelties—killing Elinor’s dog, selling off her horse, firing all the staff who’d been employed by the previous holder of her title—the list went on and on. She almost startled as Thomas’s fingers closed around hers, enfolding her hand in his warm clasp.

“She was incapable of kindness,” Elinor said.

“I’ll wager she was a lot worse than that. I’m not surprised you ran away.”

“I felt I had no other choice.”

The viscount nodded. “It was a brave thing to do. Are you aware that your family have put it about that you are a thief and the reason why their finances are in such a precarious state?”

Elinor raised her chin. “I took my mother’s jewelry. It belonged to me, not the estate, and I have the legal documents to prove it.”

“Good, because you might need to prove that in court.”

“As I have no intention of returning to my family, I see no need for litigation.”

“But your brother might.” The viscount paused to offer Thomas a drink, which he declined. “He returned home to find his late father’s estate almost bankrupt. Only the bravery of the family solicitors has prevented dear Lavinia and her brood from taking everything.”

“Poor Robert.”

“He is intent on righting the wrongs and proving they lied about you.”

“How does he know that I am still alive?”

“I might have had something to do with that,” the viscount said. “I saw you at church last year, and you immediately reminded me of the whole Redmayne scandal. When I met your brother again, I put two and two together and guessed exactly why you were hiding in Millcastle.” He took a breath. “It’s not entirely my fault because Lavinia had already told Robert she had paid people to acquire information as to your current whereabouts and was considering whether to set the authorities on you. She refused to tell him more than that. It would be just like her to use such information to blackmail him into backing down on his threat to take her to court.”

“You mean she’s known where I am all the time?” Elinor briefly closed her eyes. “Dear Lord. I thought I’d been so clever.”

Beside her, Thomas cleared his throat. “That does solve one matter I’ve been pondering, my lord.”

“What is that?”

“I inadvertently stumbled across an advertisement in the newspapers asking for information about a violet-eyed young lady. I wasn’t sure if the advertisement had been placed by Mrs. Smith’s, I mean, Lady Elinor’s friends, or by her foes. But if this Lavinia knew where Mrs. Smith was all the time, I must assume the information was needed by her brother.”

“He did say he’d been placing discreet advertisements in the papers, but he feared that after a year, the trail had gone cold.”

Elinor struggled to maintain her composure as the two men talked over her.

“Does Robert wish to see me?”

“Yes, of course.” The viscount looked at her as if she was being silly.

Elinor abruptly stood. “I must ask you not to contact him until I have made my mind up as to whether I wish to see him .”

She had the satisfaction of seeing both of them look confused.

“What is there to think about?” the viscount demanded. “He’s your brother. He’s worried sick about you. The sooner you see him, the sooner you can resume at least some semblance of your real life and your place in society.”

“I am asking you, my lord, not to do anything until I am ready.” Elinor faced him, her gaze lifted to his, her hands fisted at her sides. “Is that too much to ask?”

The viscount sighed. “No, of course it isn’t. This has been something of a shock to you.”

“Thank you.” She curtsied and headed for the door. “I’ll let you know when I’ve made my decision.”

Thomas watched her leave and rose to his feet as well. “If you’ll excuse me, my lord, I’ll go after her and make sure she’s all right.”

“You care for her, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Thomas wasn’t prepared to deny it even in this exulted company. “I’m sure once her usual good sense returns, she’ll be more than willing to meet with her brother.”

“One might hope so. He’s going to need all the help he can get to claw back at least some of his fortune. Lady Elinor might have important information to help him achieve that.” The viscount paused, “If I might be blunt, Totton? If she does regain her place in society, she won’t need to work for her living.”

“I am well aware of that, my lord.” Thomas bowed. “Now, if you will excuse me.”

He went out into the hall and looked around but there was no sign of Mrs. Smith. Music flowed from the open doors into the ballroom, but he doubted she’d gone back in there. He took a deep breath and told himself to remain calm. If there was ever a time Elinor had needed his strength and support it was now—even if it meant she left him forever.

He’d known in his soul that she wasn’t his to keep, but the prospect of her departure hurt far more than he’d anticipated. He’d grown to care about her immensely and the thought of his house without her presence within it made him feel cold.

“Mr. Totton?”

He turned to find Mrs. Hepworth behind him.

“If you are looking for Mrs. Smith. I saw her go into the conservatory at the back of the house. She seemed a little out of sorts.”

“I’ll attend to her, ma’am.” Thomas bowed. “Thank you.”

He asked one of the footmen to direct him toward the conservatory. The man insisted on accompanying him to the door while relaying with some pride that the viscountess had recently added it to the house on the recommendation of her brother-in-law who was a famous botanist.

Thomas thanked the footman and went inside. The combination of rotting vegetation, humidity, warmth and strong fragrances was quite something. Candles set in jars lined the paths, making it easier to see in the green gloom. Thomas took the first path, his ear picking up the sound of running water as he reached the center of the space where a fountain stood surrounded by stone benches.

His heart stuttered as he recognized Elinor sitting on one of them, her gaze fixed on the fountain. He went and sat beside her, but she didn’t look at him. He considered what to say first.

“I’m glad that your brother is still alive and on these shores.”

She didn’t immediately reply.

“Surely that gives you joy?”

She looked down at her hands, which were clenched together in her lap. “Does it?”

“I thought?—”

“You thought you knew better than me, sir. You kept information to yourself that might have lessened the shock of the viscount’s revelations.”

Thomas rapidly recalculated his approach. “I was trying to protect you.”

“What right did you have to assume that I needed to be protected? I’ve survived this far by myself. The least you could’ve done was given me the choice to decide whether I wished to answer the advertisement or not, but you thought you knew better than me.”

“Elinor, this is hardly fair. Perhaps you’d do better to direct your anger at?—”

She rose to her feet. “Oh, don’t worry, sir. I have enough anger for all of you. For the viscount for interfering, for my brother’s long absence where he gave me not a thought, and for you thinking you knew better than me.”

“I was trying to find out who placed the advertisement before I approached you with my findings.” Thomas stood, too. “I didn’t want to alarm you.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You didn’t trust me to deal with my own problems because you thought you knew better.”

“Not at all.” An unaccustomed sense of hurt stirred in his chest. “I was afraid for you.”

She looked away. “You told the viscount something you should have told me first.”

Thomas let out his breath. “I agree that wasn’t well done of me, but in my defense, I was simply trying to help.”

“Help.” She shook her head.

Thomas was no longer prepared to be passive. “My attempting to solve the riddle of the advertisement has little to do with the viscount’s decision to meddle in your family’s business.”

“Ah, so you’re blaming him?”

“I am simply attempting to draw a line between two completely different situations.”

“How are they different?” Elinor asked, her chin in the air. “I simply see two men thinking they know better than I do—three if I include my brother who only wishes to find me so that I can bolster his legal defense.”

“I doubt that’s entirely true,” Thomas said. “From what the viscount said, your brother’s been looking for you for quite a while.”

She drew herself up. “Please tell me you didn’t answer that advertisement.”

“Of course, I didn’t.” He met her violet gaze. “You should know me better than that.”

She was the first to blink. “I thought I knew you.”

He took a step back. “Everything I did was with the best of intentions. I would never willingly hurt you.”

A tear ran down her cheek and his heart twisted. “Elinor, I want only the best for you, that is all.”

She went to speak and then walked away from him, just as he’d always feared, and had tried so hard to prevent. He stood there for a while watching the graceful fall of the fountain until he could breathe properly again. In attempting to keep her safe, he’d closed his fist too tightly, and just like the water, she’d slipped through his grasp leaving him with nothing but regrets.

As he exited the conservatory, the same footman came up to him.

“Mr. Totton? The viscountess wishes to speak to you.”

He followed the footman into the medieval hall where his hostess awaited him. To his surprise Elinor was with her. She looked far too pale for his liking and was avoiding his gaze.

“Mr. Totton,” the viscountess said. “Mrs. Smith will be staying with us tonight, so do not worry about her wellbeing, we will take good care of her.”

“Of course, this place is far more suitable, isn’t it?” Thomas couldn’t help himself. “No one could expect a ‘lady’ to lower herself to my standards.”

“I thought you’d prefer to be rid of me, sir,” Elinor spoke.

“Why in God’s name would you think that when I have done nothing but keep you safe for the past year?”

“Mr. Totton…” There was a warning note in the viscountess’s voice. “I don’t think this is helpful.”

“You’re correct, my lady.” He bowed. “I’ll take myself off. Merry Christmas to you both.”

Elinor bit her lip as Thomas walked away. She hadn’t meant to make him angry; her own misery was hard enough to deal with.

“I think he’s quite upset,” the viscountess murmured. “Who would’ve thought it?”

“Upset? He was angry.”

“Men often display their feelings in the most contrary of manners,” the viscountess said. “Francis is particularly terrible at it. Getting him to admit to experiencing any emotion is a constant battle.” She paused. “Does Mr. Totton have reason to be angry with you?”

“I was quite harsh with him earlier,” Elinor admitted.

“Justifiably so?”

“I… felt as if he and the viscount were attempting to manage my life for me.”

“Men tend to do that as well.” The viscountess drew her arm through Elinor’s and turned to the stairs. “I’ve sent for your belongings from the Hepworths, and they’ll be here shortly. Come up and see your bedchamber and I can introduce you to your maid.”

Elinor was shown into a beamed bedroom with two small windows on one side. The viscountess adjusted the curtains and set the fire in the grate alight.

“You’re in the older part of the house. It’s quieter here so the party won’t disturb you if you don’t want to come down again.”

“I do have something of a headache, my lady,” Elinor admitted. “This is not quite how I expected my day to end.”

In truth, she’d hoped she and Thomas would end the day together in his bed, but why was she surprised? Nothing had ever gone right in her world since her mother’s death.

“Would you be comfortable calling me Caroline?” the viscountess asked. “I’m not one for formality.”

“Mrs. Hepworth told me that you and your sisters worked in the dressmakers on the square when you first lived in Millcastle.” Elinor sat beside the fire.

“That’s correct,” Caroline joined her. “The viscount was my landlord. I only met him because my mother gambled away the rent money and I had to ask him to wait to be paid,” She paused. “My first husband had died and left me penniless with two sisters and a mother to support. I was willing to do anything necessary to survive, which is why I agreed to be Francis’s mistress.”

Elinor hoped her surprise didn’t show on her face as Caroline continued.

“Which is why I have so much sympathy for what you have gone through, Mrs. Smith. Francis told me about your family and how you had no choice but to escape them.”

“I think my stepmother would have arranged for my death if I’d stayed much longer,” Elinor blurted out. Goodness she must be tired because she couldn’t seem to stop talking, but the viscountess was such a sympathetic audience.

“How horrible for you. And how lucky you were to meet Mr. Totton.”

There was a question behind her words that Elinor understood all too well.

“Mr. Totton truly saved me, ma’am, and asked for nothing in return.”

“How refreshing,” Caroline said. “And how unlike my own husband who was determined to get his money’s worth from me.”

Elinor gazed at her, uncertain how to respond until Caroline laughed.

“Don’t look so worried. I soon turned the tables and I made him grovel quite satisfactorily before I agreed to marry him.”

Elinor shivered and rubbed her bare arms. “I asked the viscount not to contact my brother until I had made up my mind as to whether I wished to do so.”

“Yes, Francis told me.” Caroline paused. “Although I am at a loss to understand why.”

“The viscount said that my stepmother knows where I am and that she told Robert.”

“And?”

“If he truly wished to see me, don’t you think he would have forced my stepmother to reveal that information to him?” Elinor asked. “He obviously didn’t think it was a priority until he realized he’d need my testimony in his legal case.”

“I expect he was too busy fighting with your stepmother to think of anything but that,” Caroline said. “I sound like I’m making excuses for him but I truly understand how you must be suffering. There is nothing worse than feeling you have no control over your life and that your very existence depends on others.”

Elinor could only nod in agreement.

Caroline went over to the bed and turned down the quilt. “I’ll send Aggie up to you immediately. There is a Boxing Day hunt that gathers at the hall early tomorrow morning but Francis doesn’t participate. His friend, the Duke of Thorsway will officiate in his stead which means the majority of my guests will be gone all day. I’ll tell Aggie to bring you your breakfast in bed so that you can have a quiet day to consider your options.”

“Thank you, my lady,” Elinor bobbed a curtsy. “I mean, Caroline, and please call me Elinor.”

“Please don’t worry. Now Francis has taken an interest in this matter, I’ll wager things will work out for the best.”

She walked over to the door, her silk skirts rustling behind her. “Good night, Elinor and Happy Christmas.”

Left alone, Elinor sank down into the chair beside the fire and watched the leap of the flames even as tears blurred her vision. She was almost too tired to think. All the months she’d been afraid of Lavinia dragging her back to London to face charges of theft paled into insignificance beside being used as a tool to blackmail her brother Robert.

Elinor wiped her tears away with her fingers. She’d been unkind about Robert’s motives but what could he have done differently? Even she knew you should never give into blackmail, especially by Lavinia, who didn’t play fair at the best of times and was now fighting for her life and her children’s future.

Not that Elinor had any pity left in her for Lavinia. She didn’t deserve it. Perhaps the fact that Robert had tried to find her using more surreptitious means by placing the advertisements meant he’d been trying not to draw attention to his actions while he continued to deal with his stepmother. If only Thomas had shown her the advertisement earlier, she could’ve replied to it. Except, in the misguided belief that he somehow knew better than her, he’d decided to keep that information to himself and that she found hard to forgive.

But was it fair of her to absolve her brother of fault and not forgive Thomas?

She swallowed back a sob as the door opened and a cheery-faced red-haired maid came into the room.

“Good evening, miss. Her ladyship said I was to take very good care of you indeed. Now shall I help you out of your dress? Your things have arrived from the Hepworths.”