Chapter 7

7

Bella ran up the stairs after saying goodbye to Lord Brooke, intent on reaching her room as quickly as possible so that she could have privacy in which to contemplate what had just happened between them. Unfortunately, Issie waylaid her before she could achieve her goal. And when Issie caught sight of the caricature Bella still held in her hand, Bella was forced to tell her what had happened at Ackermann’s. (Though Bella decided not to mention the kiss that had occurred on the carriage ride home, since Issie disapproved of Lord Brooke so.) But the part of the story that upset Issie the most was when she discovered that Bella had taken Miss Adams in her place.

“Who is this girl, anyway? Who are her family?” Issie asked.

Bella looked at her cousin in shock. “Do you hear yourself, Issie? You sound just like your mother.”

“I do not!” Issie exclaimed, horrified at the accusation, but then, thinking back to what she’d just said, had to acknowledge the truthfulness of Bella’s remark. “Well, maybe I do, a little, but Mother would have asked those questions because she was pompous and arrogant, not out of concern and love for you, as I did.”

“I appreciate your concern, but just because Miss Adams’s family aren’t blue bloods who came over during the Norman Conquest doesn’t mean she has any nefarious purpose in befriending me.”

Issie sniffed, and it was such a Lady Strickland mannerism that Bella gave her a significant look. “What?” Issie asked. “Why are you looking at me like that? My nose itched.”

“Then I suggest you not raise it so high in the air,” Bella replied. The two girls glared at each other, before Bella started laughing. “What are we even arguing about?”

“Miss Adams,” Issie said, and though her expression had cleared, her tone made it obvious she was still feeling left out.

“If you had the chance to meet her you’d discover she’s a very amiable, sincere young lady. In fact, I befriended her because she reminded me of you.” Issie didn’t look reassured by this statement, and Bella realized she was probably jealous of Catherine; perhaps even afraid the other young woman would replace Issie in Bella’s affections. And since the cousins had been almost exclusively in each other’s company from the time they were very young children, Bella could sympathize with her fears. Her tone softened and she said: “I will arrange for you to meet her very soon, Issie. We can walk in the park together one morning. Who knows, perhaps you and Miss Adams will become bosom friends and I will be the one feeling left out.”

“I highly doubt it. You should be careful, Bella. She could be an opportunist taking advantage of your popularity to bask in the reflected glory.”

Bella laughed at the idea of the very awkward and outspoken Miss Adams being a wily opportunist, and realized Issie would recognize how wrong she’d been as soon as she met her. In the meantime, there was no point arguing with her about it, so Bella turned to leave, hoping she could finally achieve a few minutes of privacy to daydream about Lord Brooke before she had to dress for the theatre. But she stopped in the doorway to turn back and say: “You needn’t be concerned about her origins, at any rate. I’ve been told she’s connected to the Adamses of Hampshire.” She quickly shut the door behind her after making that announcement, congratulating herself that she’d had the last word.

Unfortunately, instead of taking an instant liking to each other, as Bella had hoped, the two ladies appeared to immediately dis like each other.

They met on an excursion to Hyde Park, and Bella had planned for it to occur early in the day to avoid most of the crowds. She thought this would have the advantage of making Issie feel more at ease, while also lessening their chances of running into as many of her own acquaintances. She did not want to be forced to introduce Issie to a lot of people, for both their sakes.

Issie reminded Bella that she could not call her by name while they were together. “Because, while it would not seem odd if I called you Belle or even Bella when your name is supposed to be Isabelle, it would seem very strange if you called me Issie when my name is supposed to be Arabella.”

Bella agreed that such a thing would definitely provoke suspicion, even in a trusting person like Catherine, and so they finally decided Bella would avoid calling Issie anything at all. But, if absolutely forced to do so, she’d address her as “Cousin.”

Bella wondered at the wisdom of what they were doing, but there were only a few weeks left in the season, and Issie’s health had improved so much that Bella felt it would be unkind to keep her confined to her room. She also wanted Issie to have the opportunity of meeting other young people, as she’d been so sheltered in the past.

So Bella had decided upon this innocuous outing and was excited when she was able to persuade Issie to come. Although it didn’t get off to a very auspicious start.

Both Miss Adams and Issie were inclined to be possessive of Bella, and as they’d each taken her by the opposite arm during their walk, Bella felt she was in danger of being torn in two. Particularly as Catherine, being taller and athletic, was inclined to walk at a much faster pace than the smaller, weaker Issie. Finally, Bella suggested they stop and sit on a nearby bench. “That way you and my cousin will have more of an opportunity to get acquainted,” she explained to Catherine, who seemed disappointed that they’d come to walk in the park and were instead sitting as if they were in a drawing room.

Once they’d settled themselves on the bench, however, Issie hit upon the very topic Catherine would have preferred to avoid. “Exactly where in Hampshire are you from, Miss Adams?”

Catherine turned to Bella, panic-stricken, and Bella answered for her. “I never said Miss Adams was from Hampshire, just that she had family connections there.”

“I beg your pardon,” said Issie. “Where do you come from?”

Catherine continued to look petrified but managed to utter: “Derbyshire.”

Bella decided she should intervene and direct the conversation away from Catherine’s family background, before Issie began to wonder why Catherine looked so very self-conscious. “Miss Adams greatly enjoys sketching,” she told Issie, before turning to Catherine and saying: “I believe I told you, Catherine, that my cousin is artistic as well.”

But Catherine, terrified to say anything that would somehow reveal her lowly origins, merely nodded in reply, and there was an awkward and uncomfortable silence as Bella tried to think of something else the two young ladies had in common.

Unfortunately, one thing they did have in common, though they didn’t yet know it, was walking toward them at that very moment.

Mr. Peckham, having caught sight of Bella, was eagerly making his way to her side. He did not usually walk in the park so early, but he had recently had a new pair of trousers made and wanted to debut them to a small audience and gauge their reception before appearing in them at the more fashionable hour. They were in the Cossack style, which he had not previously favored as they seemed clownishly overlarge to his eyes, accustomed as he was to wearing very tight breeches or pantaloons in the evening and equally tight trousers during the day. The Cossack trousers had been introduced to London society when Tsar Alexander and his entourage of Cossack soldiers had visited in 1814 for the peace celebrations, and they had been diligently copied by enterprising gentlemen directly afterward. But Mr. Peckham’s tailor had convinced him that they were now, four years later, about to experience a resurgence in popularity, and that he was the man to lead that revival.

Therefore he now found himself in very high-waisted, striped trousers that puffed out at the hips, before gradually narrowing to his ankles, where they ended in straps that slipped under the soles of his feet. He felt self-conscious and extremely uncomfortable in such a great expanse of fabric. (Though it could be supposed that the roominess around his hips would have had the opposite effect.)

Bella, who was at her wit’s end coping with Issie and Catherine, completely forgot about the caricature of a few days prior, and greeted him with a relieved smile. This was not at all the case with Catherine, who jumped up from the bench before he had even reached their side and said angrily, “You have some cheek, Mr. Peckham, to walk boldly over here like this!”

Mr. Peckham, who had no idea to what Miss Adams was referring, immediately assumed she was criticizing his trousers, and his cherubic face turned bright red and fell in dejection. At the same time he was struck by what an attractive picture the young woman made as she stood there confronting him, and he wondered why he had never noticed her before.

Catherine’s generous, shapely figure was emphasized by the military-style walking dress and pelisse she wore, and its deep red color complimented her dark hair and eyes. In her anger she’d forgotten her usual shyness and awkwardness and was holding her head up high and proud and had her hands on her hips in a confident pose. It seemed to the embarrassed but admiring gentleman watching her that her eyes were practically emitting sparks, they shone so.

Issie, who had never met Mr. Peckham and at first did not know who he was, pieced it together after Miss Adams addressed him by name.

“Is he the one who lost his button?” Issie asked Bella in an aside that was quite audible to all present.

Miss Adams turned to her, their differences forgotten, and said, “You are correct, Miss Grant. This is the man who wronged your cousin.”

Issie, who had at first not been overly concerned by the tale of the lost button, had grown angrier the longer she’d thought about it, as more was at stake than just Bella’s public humiliation. It did neither of them any good to have such unflattering attention brought to Bella while she was masquerading as “Lady Isabelle.” It also concerned her that there was now visual evidence of Bella’s masquerade, though she had been relieved to learn that Lord Brooke had bought every copy. Still, Issie was almost as displeased with Mr. Peckham as Catherine was, and she rose from the bench to walk forward and lock arms with the other young lady standing belligerently before him, and treated him to her best imitation of her mother’s frigid glare of disapproval.

Mr. Peckham, who was beginning to comprehend that it was not his trousers that were the problem, looked helplessly toward Bella. “Lady Belle, I do beg your pardon,” he said, though he was unsure exactly what crime he was apologizing for. It had now been a week since the button incident had occurred and he had already apologized profusely for that, and he had no idea that there had been a caricature drawn and displayed afterward.

Nor did Bella wish him to find out about the caricature, because she knew he would be horribly crushed and humiliated. So it was her turn to glare, but she directed it at the two ladies who had so nobly risen to her defense. “Do not worry, Mr. Peckham. Miss Adams and Miss Grant are very fond of me and perhaps a little too eager to defend me from any perceived slights,” she said, and though this still did not make the cause of the offense any clearer to Mr. Peckham, he was able to understand that at least Lady Belle was not angry with him.

But now the two young ladies who had been furious with Mr. Peckham found that some of their annoyance was directed at Bella, since she should have been grateful to them for their loyal defense, instead of taking the side of the guilty party. So when Bella took Mr. Peckham’s arm and resumed walking, the two young women, who had initially taken each other in dislike, now walked arm in arm behind the couple and, by means of grimaces, rolls of the eyes, and whispered complaints, found themselves in complete sympathy with each other.

Though she had achieved her goal of helping Issie make a new acquaintance, Bella wondered if she should have been more careful about setting such a goal. Because when she’d told Issie that she and Catherine might become bosom friends and that she’d be the one feeling left out, she hadn’t realized she was such a gifted prophet.

However, after dismissing Mr. Peckham and squeezing herself into her former spot beside the two ladies, she had soon worked herself back into their good graces, and they were laughing and chatting happily when they heard themselves being addressed.

“Lady Belle, Miss Adams,” a masculine voice called, and Bella’s heart began beating at an accelerated rate even before she saw Lord Brooke’s face.

The ladies had been so engrossed in their own conversation they had not seen him approaching, and so Bella had no option but to introduce him to Issie.

She and Issie had discussed it before venturing out together again in public, and they had concluded that Lord Brooke had only met Issie once, more than five years ago. Surely, he wouldn’t recognize her all these years later. She was now a mature young woman, not a child, and the exercise and diet regime had changed her appearance even further. So, while Issie would never have sought him out, and neither did she want to spend lengthy periods of time in his company, she and Bella were no longer panic-stricken by the fear that were he to meet Issie again he would immediately guess their secret. Though they couldn’t help feeling a trifle nervous now that the moment had arrived.

But it did not appear that he had any suspicions at all. He reacted very courteously to the introduction, bowing over Issie’s hand and telling her how pleased he was to meet her. “Your cousin speaks of you quite often,” he said with a warm smile, “and I was disappointed I have not had the opportunity to meet you before now.”

Issie did not say much, merely nodding and offering a slight smile in return, but Bella was relieved that there was nothing in Issie’s behavior to give away the fact that she’d already met Lord Brooke and had taken him in dislike.

There was also the distraction of Catherine’s presence, which Bella did not know whether to be grateful for or not. Miss Adams did not appear at all shy with Lord Brooke, and somehow when they resumed their walk she was the one who ended up on his arm, with Bella trailing behind them with Issie. As they walked, Catherine enthusiastically told Lord Brooke about how they’d seen Mr. Peckham earlier and she’d been able to give him a resounding set-down.

The ladies had been on their way out of the park when they’d encountered Lord Brooke, so after Catherine told her story he took his leave of them. Bella reflected that, now that she’d decided to try to make Lord Brooke fall in love with her before revealing her true identity, she seemed to be continually thwarted in this endeavor. Or at least, she’d been prevented from spending time with him without Catherine Adams being present, as well.

But before leaving, Lord Brooke turned to address Bella directly. “Lady Belle, I spoke to your great-aunt and she agreed that we could go riding together tomorrow. I will arrange for a mount and see you at eleven. Until then,” he said, with a smile for her and her alone.

“I look forward to it,” Bella replied, repenting of the slight resentment she’d felt toward Catherine for monopolizing Lord Brooke. However, when he was walking away (but still appeared to be within hearing distance), Catherine said in her usual, overly loud speaking voice: “Mrs. Mullins calls Lord Brooke ‘The Uncatchable Catch,’ but I think you may have caught him, Lady Belle.” And Bella felt that, this once, she may have been a little too quick to grant forgiveness.

Bella was thrilled to be on the back of a horse again; it had been much too long since her rides in the country, and while Rotten Row in Hyde Park could not compare to her rambles around Fenborough Hall, it was still very pleasant to feel the spring breeze rustle her hair and the bay mare she rode respond to her slightest command. But what made it most exciting of all was the presence of Lord Brooke, who was the picture of health and vigor astride his black Arabian stallion, and who frequently looked over at her with a smile that seemed to imply he was as delighted by her presence as she was by his.

The Serpentine, its waters sparkling in the late morning sunlight, ran parallel to their riding path, and they eventually dismounted to walk alongside it. They did so in companionable silence for a few moments, before Lord Brooke said: “I was pleased to finally have the opportunity to meet your cousin, and to find that she does not appear as sickly as I’d imagined her to be. I hope that her health is improving?”

“It is. She has improved tremendously since we’ve come to town. She has a new physician, a Dr. Jordan, who is absolutely marvelous,” Bella said enthusiastically.

“An older, fatherly type, this Dr. Jordan?” Lord Brooke asked.

“On the contrary. He’s probably your age, if not a year or two younger. And surprisingly handsome.”

“ Surprisingly handsome? That’s an interesting turn of phrase.”

“His appearance surprised my cousin, at any rate,” Bella said, giggling. “She’s had no familiarity with young, handsome doctors. Or handsome men in general.”

“I see. Perhaps that explains her rapid improvement,” Lord Brooke suggested.

“I definitely think it had something to do with it,” Bella agreed. “Somehow she’s more responsive to his admonishments that she exercise and eat regularly than she’s ever been to mine.” Bella said this in a self-mocking tone and Lord Brooke smiled in response.

“You told me before that she came to live with you as a young child. Does she have any money of her own, or is she fully dependent on you and your family?” he asked.

Bella reminded herself that she had to be on guard, because it would be easy for her to make a slip now that he was asking questions about her own background, yet she had to reply to him as if she were Issie. “She has a small competence, but not enough to set up an establishment of her own,” Bella said, though it felt strange to be speaking of herself in the third person. Still, this was a good opportunity to discover how Lord Brooke viewed impecunious young women of absolutely no consequence. “She was three when she came to live at Fenborough Hall.”

“And if your mother wasn’t particularly motherly to you, she probably showed even less affection to a poor relation,” Lord Brooke said sympathetically.

“You’re right; my cousin was not treated kindly at all. The family did not approve of her parents’ marriage, you see.” Bella then proceeded to outline her own family background while telling the story as if she were Lady Isabelle. She explained to Lord Brooke that Lord Strickland’s younger brother had been expected to marry an heiress from a neighboring estate, so when he broke it off it caused a major scandal. And it was made even worse when he eloped with the daughter of a village apothecary. Bella paused to look up into Lord Brooke’s face and gauge his reaction to this shocking misalliance. However, if he disapproved, his expression and voice gave no indication of it.

“He sounds like a very courageous man, to go against the wishes of his family, and society as a whole. As a younger son he probably had even more reason to make an advantageous marriage, so to marry an impoverished young woman was a very unselfish act.”

“ I’ve always thought so,” Bella said. “Of course, Lady Strickland, my mother, did not agree.”

“No, I can very easily imagine what her reaction would be,” Lord Brooke said dryly.

“I found out recently that she wanted to send…my cousin to the workhouse after her parents died.” Bella had to remind herself again halfway through this speech that she was supposed to be Issie. She was still so angry and upset at what Lady Dutton had told her that it had nearly caused her to forget her role.

“That’s unconscionable!” Lord Brooke said angrily. “Send a three-year-old, her own niece, to the workhouse? I beg your pardon, I know she was your mother, but I found her a difficult woman to like on the few occasions we met, and this just confirms my poor opinion of her.”

“You needn’t beg my pardon. I was not at all fond of her. She made my life miserable,” Bella said, and no longer knew if she was speaking as Issie or herself. Both, she supposed. Issie would have agreed with everything Bella had said about Lady Strickland, even though she was her mother.

“I am so sorry,” Lord Brooke said, stopping and turning to look at her. “You didn’t deserve such treatment.”

“No one deserves such treatment,” Bella said.

“You are right, of course, but it particularly pains me to think of you being treated in such a way. You’re so bright, and lovely, and…so very sweet,” he said, his voice lowering. He reached for her hand, and though she wore kid gloves, he pushed up the lace ruffle of her sleeve to expose her wrist and, raising her hand, pressed a kiss on the bare flesh he’d uncovered. Bella shivered in response to the featherlight caress, but then she heard an approaching horse and rider and quickly pulled her hand away.

The horseman was known to Lord Brooke and they greeted each other, but Bella was relieved when he didn’t stop to talk, as it would have interrupted her conversation with Lord Brooke and she might not have been able to find a way to return to the topic of her “cousin’s” parentage. She realized that, while Lord Brooke seemed to be sympathetic to what she’d described of her real situation, she still was not sure if he would ever contemplate making a marriage like her father had; one based on love, and not family connections or obligations. And this was the perfect opportunity for her to find out.

So she took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and asked: “Would you ever consider making such an unequal match, like my uncle did? Marrying someone poor, and from a lower class of society?”

He looked surprised by the question and shot her a piercing look. “I haven’t had to consider it,” he finally said, “as I’ve not met someone in that situation who ever tempted me into marriage.”

This was not a very satisfactory answer, in Bella’s view. “But if you did…” she prompted.

“Are you asking this for curiosity’s sake, or because you are seeking advice for yourself?” he asked.

“Why would I be seeking advice for myself?” Bella asked, confused.

“I am not sure. Perhaps you have met someone from a lower class of society, maybe from the professional classes, and are considering following your uncle’s example.”

It took Bella a moment before she realized he was referring to Dr. Jordan. He obviously had misconstrued her praise of the man and was now imagining she was contemplating an alliance with a socially obscure doctor. Which the real Lady Isabelle was contemplating. It was all too comical, and Bella laughed. And when she did, Lord Brooke’s serious expression lightened.

“Have I misinterpreted matters?” he asked hopefully.

“Entirely. I am not contemplating such a match,” Bella said. “I was asking merely for curiosity’s sake, and to gain a better understanding of your character.”

“That is a relief. Because, while I am not at all jealous of Mr. Peckham, competing for your affections against a ‘marvelous, surprisingly handsome’ physician, not to mention one who rescued your beloved cousin from the brink of death, seems like a task beyond my abilities.”

“I think you underrate yourself,” Bella said, with a flirtatious look, and he laughed in response.

“Perhaps I do. Would you like to enumerate my good qualities, so that I will be encouraged to continue in my courtship?” Lord Brooke asked.

“Oh, no,” Bella said with a saucy smile. “I would not like to encourage you so much that you cease to make an effort.”

“Believe me, my lady, courting you is not an effort. It’s a pleasure.”

Bella looked up and their eyes met, and the words he spoke and the tone he spoke them in, combined with the warm glance he bestowed upon her, caused a curious tightening of her stomach.

And then he returned to their previous subject. “While it’s true, as I mentioned earlier, that I’ve never been tempted to court a woman from a lower class of society, I’ve also never believed bloodlines, rank, or social status are indicative of a person’s true worth. It is a source of wonder to me that Lady Strickland’s narrow-minded prejudices did not negatively affect you, and that you are so openhearted and accepting of others,” he said, his gaze so warm and admiring that she could almost imagine he was touching her. But at the same time she very much knew he was not, and she felt a pang at the knowledge he could not take her into his arms, there in the middle of Hyde Park.

“ You are a wonder to me, Bella,” he said huskily. “Whoever first called you that was very wise, as you are not only exceedingly lovely of face and form, but beautiful at heart.”

And then, just when she thought he would take her in his arms regardless of their surroundings, they were hailed once again by an acquaintance and the opportunity was lost.

Upon returning to the Duttons’ townhome after her ride with Lord Brooke, Bella was dismayed to run into Lord Dutton, whom she hadn’t seen since their encounter in the breakfast parlor weeks earlier.

They met in the hall, outside the drawing room, and Bella bobbed a slight curtsy with a murmured, “Good afternoon, my lord.”

“Good afternoon,” he replied. “May I speak with you a moment?”

She nodded and he turned to walk into the drawing room, passing the footman who was stationed at the door. She followed, and after she’d entered the room he closed the door.

“I will not keep you long. I merely wanted to inform you, outside of the servants’ hearing, that you need not be in fear of meeting me. I will not give away your and Lady Isabelle’s secret.”

Bella was embarrassed that this very distinguished gentleman was aware of their deception. “I am so sorry, my lord. What must you think of us, deceiving your wife, and the rest of society, in such a way?”

“As far as Lady Dutton is concerned, she began this by deceiving herself, so you need feel no guilt on her behalf,” Lord Dutton replied.

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s true her eyesight is not good; she needs spectacles and vanity prevents her from wearing them, but she also chose to believe what she wanted to believe. When presented with you and your cousin, I am sure she could not bear to accept that the sicklier, less attractive, socially awkward Lady Isabelle was related to her, and that you were the despised product of a misalliance. If you and your cousin had not exploited her assumption for your own reasons she would have eventually been forced to accept Isabelle as her niece, but when you did not correct her she obviously concluded her instincts had been proven correct. However, I think if you hadn’t begun your little masquerade the consequences would have been far worse. She would have been constantly disappointed in Isabelle and made sure she was aware of it, and your cousin’s stay in London would have been miserable, to say the very least.”

“Thank you for explaining this to me, my lord. It does relieve my mind of some of the guilt I’ve felt at the deception we’ve been engaging in. Issie has had to live with disapproval and disdain her entire life and it would have been distressing to both of us if she’d had to endure more of that these past two months,” Bella said.

“Yes, well, you needn’t explain yourself to me, but I did want you to know that I have no plans to expose your secret. In fact, I am curious to see how long you can successfully dupe London society.” Lord Dutton permitted a slight smile to cross his unexpressive, aristocratic face.

“I hope we’re successful for the last three weeks of the season, at least,” Bella said, with a grimace.