A Suitable Bride Read online

  The weather had improved and was more like summer today. ‘Shall we take a stroll around the gardens before our supper arrives? My parents have gone out to dinner so there’s no likelihood of an unexpected meeting.’

  Grace put on her bonnet and tied the ribbons under her chin. She tilted her head and smiled at her reflection, satisfied that despite her unfashionably brown skin she wasn’t an antidote. She had two of the three necessary requisites to make a good marriage – money and appearance – however she rather thought that her lack of the third – pedigree – might prove to be more important than possessing the other two.

  Her three dogs joined them on their walk and she decided to extend their promenade to the ornamental lake so she could throw sticks for the animals to fetch. Miss Newcomb remained at a safe distance as this activity was taking place.

  ‘I’m soaked to my petticoats but the weather’s so warm I’ll be dry before we reach the house.’ She sighed as she called the trio to follow. ‘I’ve been thinking about my dogs and my horses and have decided that I’ll take Rufus and these three with me. I don’t trust my father not to dispose of my pets in my absence.’

  Miss Newcomb looked aghast. ‘You cannot take these animals with you. Such a thing is just not done in society. Children and pets remain at home – it’s the way things are done in the ton.’

  ‘Fiddlesticks to that! Silchester Court must have dozens of dogs running about the place, and an extra horse will hardly make any difference at all. After all there will be our four carriage horses to accommodate as well.’

  Her governess raised her hands in surrender. ‘I see that whatever I say you’ll go your own way, so I must accept your decision. I sincerely hope it’s not one you live to regret.’

  Miss Newcomb had no wish to visit the stables so made her way inside leaving Grace to ponder on her decisions. She could hardly take the dozen broodmares, the half a dozen yearlings and four new foals with her but she was equally determined her father would not sell them off therefore alternative arrangements must be made.

  The head groom, Collins, greeted her with a smile. ‘I reckon the grey mare will foal tonight, Miss DuPont, have you come to see how she does?’

  ‘No, I’ve come about something far more important.’ She explained her dilemma and then made her outrageous suggestion. ‘I shall be leaving here next week and have no intention of ever returning. The night before I go, you must remove from here and take them all to Mr Rankin’s farm. He has more than adequate stabling and plenty of good pastureland and is more than happy to accommodate you all until I can make other arrangements.’

  He slapped his thigh. ‘I know the place well, it’s a grand idea, but don’t you think Mr DuPont will look for us? He’ll not be happy to find these valuable beasts have vanished.’

  ‘I doubt he’ll be bothered, at least not at first. In fact as he rarely comes down here he might not even notice. It’s fortunate that the stabling for his horses is elsewhere. I have sufficient gold to tide you over and will send you more if necessary.’

  The matter settled satisfactorily she returned to the house and just had time to change before Miss Newcomb and the supper trays arrived. Over their meal she made another radical suggestion.

  ‘I wish you to call me by my given name in future, I consider you my friend. I’ve no idea what your first name is – would you be prepared to allow me to address you informally as well?’

  ‘My name is Sarah, and I’d be honoured if you choose to call me by that. However, Grace my dear, it might be better if you call me Aunt Sarah – what do you think? We have no wish to raise any more eyebrows than we have to.’

  ‘Aunt Sarah it shall be. I hope you’ll stay with me whatever happens next. Although the bulk of my dowry will go to my husband, whoever he might be, I shall have an annuity of £2000 to spend as I please. If you have no wish to remain in my new household then I’ll buy you a cottage nearby and give you a pension so you may live in comfort.’ She reached out and clasped her hand. ‘Whatever you decide to do, dear Aunt Sarah, I wish you to remain part of my life as you are the only family I have now.’

  *

  Bennett was delighted with the arrangements for the house party. Everything he’d suggested had been put into place and he couldn’t remember there ever being such excitement at Silchester Court. His older brother strolled into the billiard room.

  ‘There you are, Madeline is searching for you waving another paper. I don’t blame you for hiding.’

  ‘Despite the vast size of your establishment, Beau, this is the only place that’s not been invaded by staff wishing to primp and plump everything in their path.’ He pointed out of the window towards the newly refurbished boathouse. ‘Even that has been attacked. I much preferred it in its faded state – I just hope I manage to find myself a bride after all this conspicuous expenditure.’

  ‘It’s been so long since we had a function of this size that standards had been allowed to slip. We stand on no ceremony amongst ourselves, but we must keep up appearances when we have house guests.’

  He was about to reply when his sister burst in still waving the letter Beau had mentioned earlier. ‘At last. I’ve just heard from Great-Aunt Agatha – it’s an unmitigated disaster.’ She pushed the paper into his hands and he saw at once it was a letter and not a list.

  He quickly scanned the contents. ‘Damnation! How in the name of Hades did word get round that I’m looking to marry for money?’

  Beau reached out and flicked the paper from his hand. ‘Not ideal, admittedly, but not an unmitigated disaster. There might well be a few polite cancellations from those who wish their daughter to not only marry an aristocrat, but a wealthy aristocrat.’

  ‘We’ve only invited girls with substantial dowries so I don’t see why anyone will refuse to come on that account. I’m irritated that somebody close to the family has been gossiping.’

  Madeline retrieved her letter. ‘It can’t be because of the invitation list – I was very careful not to invite just heiresses, but a mix of suitable candidates. Anyway, there’s nothing we can do about it now. I also came to tell you both that a diligence has just arrived piled high with a miscellany of punts, rowing boats and sailing dinghies. Our neighbours have been very generous. I thought you might like to oversee their storage, Bennett, as it’s your idea to have activities involving them.’

  ‘Excellent, Madeline, I’ll come with you now. I can’t work out what sort of races to organise until I know what crafts are available.’

  He spent a pleasant afternoon helping the labourers unload and his younger brothers joined him. ‘We’ve got three punts, five rowing boats and the same amount of sailing dinghies. There are also a couple of coracles – God knows where they came from.’ Aubrey was wearing only his breeches and he was plastered with green weed and mud from fooling about in the lake.

  Perry, the more circumspect of the two, had removed his boots and stockings but kept on his shirt. ‘I’ve counted the poles and the oars and we’re one short of the latter. The dinghies all have a sail of some sort so there’s no problem with them. Not sure what we need to propel the coracles along.’

  ‘Some sort of paddle, I saw two in the bottom of the cart and put them in with the punt poles. Let’s see who can go the furthest before we fall in.’ Aubrey tossed one of the coracles into the water and then jumped in after it, sending a cascade of water over both his brothers.

  Bennett was still in his boots and was not amused. ‘You’re a nincompoop, little brother, and if you were not already in the lake I’d toss you in myself. Perry, are you going to take him up on his challenge? You’re so wet you might as well. I need to see how stable those things are before I include them in the aquatic events.’

  Perry carefully lowered the second coracle into the lake and, holding steady with one hand, gingerly stepped in. The vessel rocked wildly for a moment and then stabilised. ‘I say, this is rather fun. Come on, Aubrey, I’ll race you to the island.’

  Each of them had
a paddle and used it vigourously. Initially the boats spun but then they worked out how to move forward and they were off. They were excellent swimmers so if they did fall in there would be no problem, especially as the lake was only deep around the island.

  He tossed a coin to each of the labourers and the cart driver and wandered off to see if the magnificent maze was now ready to be used by the guests. The six feet tall yew hedges had been clipped back and the pathways cleared of brambles and weeds. He could hear his sisters laughing from somewhere in the depths.

  ‘Girls, did you remember to take in your flags? You could be lost in there for days if you didn’t,’ he called out cheerfully.

  ‘We’ve always been able to find our way out, Bennett, as you very well know. We’ve just placed the last clue for the treasure hunt at the centre.’

  ‘I wish you hadn’t told me that, I intend to participate in this event myself with one of our guests – now I shall have an unfair advantage. I could go directly to the centre of the maze and miss out all the other clues and thus win.’

  The girls appeared at the exit flushed and happy. ‘That would do you no good, brother, as you need all the clues in order to solve the conundrum and reach the prize.’

  ‘Excellent. I was dreading this house party but now I’m actually looking forward to it. Apart from the odd village fête when Mama was alive there’s never been anything like this. I was down in the village yesterday collecting a few items from the smithy and was stopped by a dozen or more people who could talk of nothing else. Not only are we going to enjoy ourselves, but we’ve also brought extra work and income to our tenants and the villagers.’

  ‘Strangely enough the entire staff is as excited as we are to be having so many extra visitors. We have eighteen families coming which will mean almost seventy sitting down to dine. Peebles is worried we won’t fit everyone around the table and is considering using the small dining room as well as the grand.’

  ‘Please don’t burden me with these details, Madeline, I’ve no interest in domesticity as you know.’ He smiled and gave each sister a brotherly hug before continuing on his way to the stables. He was reassured by the head groom that they could accommodate the extra horses by turning most of them out into the paddocks. A dozen extra men had been employed to help for the month.

  He wandered along the open loose boxes patting equine noses and pulling silky ears – even here the festive atmosphere had spread. He stopped at the end box, the one that contained his own mount, Lucifer, a magnificent black stallion.

  ‘Good afternoon, my boy, I see you’re eager to be turned out for the evening. I hope you won’t let me down when we have the races as I’ve staked my reputation and a good deal of my blunt on you winning.’

  The horse dropped his head and slobbered over his shirt. A groom had overheard his remark and popped his head over the half door of the adjacent box.

  ‘There’s not a horse in the country who can better Lucifer, my lord. He’ll win every race right enough.’

  Here the servants were treated well and the relationship between family and staff was relaxed. ‘I sincerely hope you’re right, but several of our guests are bringing their own riding horses and there will be fierce competition.’

  *

  The journey from Surrey to Hertfordshire was not overtaxing and didn’t necessitate an overnight stay. Grace had everything planned and although Lady Peabody, in her latest missive, had said that they were not expected until Tuesday or Wednesday, her ladyship intended to arrive on the latter. Grace decided she would leave on the Tuesday and thus avoid having to say insincere farewells to her parents who had naturally read Lady Peabody’s letter for themselves.

  Collins had spirited away all the horses from the stud during the night, and had twenty guineas to pay for his and the horses expenses. Her parents had entertained the night before and not retired until the small hours which meant they were unlikely to be up before noon.

  ‘I’ll not be sanguine until we’re a distance from here, Aunt Sarah. I keep thinking my father will appear and prevent me from leaving.’

  ‘Annie is already outside waiting for us. I’m glad the journey is no more than five hours for I fear that travelling in this warm weather with your three dogs inside with us might be rather unpleasant.’

  ‘The boys will be on their best behaviour, and I told Peterson not to feed them this morning. We are stopping at a hostelry for refreshments at midday and they can…’

  ‘Please, my dear, I’ve no wish to hear any more about those dogs of yours. I cannot imagine why you wished to keep them after you found them abandoned in that ditch two years ago. You could have given them away quite easily for despite their unpleasant habits they are all handsome animals.’

  ‘Ginger, Buster and Toby must have spaniel and terrier in their ancestry. They have a spaniel’s coat and a terrier’s build and I think they are the most beautiful dogs in the county. Not the best behaved, admittedly, but certainly intelligent and affectionate.’

  Her team of matched greys had never looked better and the unfortunate groom who was riding Rufus was having difficulty staying in the saddle. Immediately Grace went over and took the stallion’s bit. ‘That’s quite enough of that, my boy, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to stretch your legs later. If you don’t behave yourself I’ll leave you behind.’ The horse calmed at her touch and the groom touched his cap and grinned his thanks.

  The three men who were coming with her knew they were unlikely to return to DuPont Manor but were all happy to accompany her on this adventure – none of them had ties to the neighbourhood and were eager to be employed by her future husband, whoever he might be.

  It was no secret that she was going in search of a partner. The staff she was bringing with her were totally loyal and would not gossip and reveal her lack of pedigree.

  The journey to Silchester Court was accomplished without mishap and a little after three o’clock they turned between massive granite gateposts and onto an immaculate, weed-free drive.

  Grace hung out of the window hoping to catch a glimpse of the place she was to live for the next few weeks, but the drive was more than a mile long and the house hidden from view.

  ‘It has occurred to me, Grace, that by coming a day before your sponsor you’ll draw attention to yourself. With hindsight I think it might have been better to have stayed overnight somewhere and arrived at the same time as Lady Peabody – after all, she is supposed to be your godmother.’

  ‘Far too late to worry about that as we’re in view of the house now and I swear I’ve never seen anything so palatial in my life. I thought that DuPont Manor was big, but this is twice the size. We shall need a map to find our way about the place.’

  The dogs, who had been curled up in the well of the carriage sleeping peacefully, woke up and began to wag their tails and sniff excitedly at the door. Despite their lack of manners, they knew better than to jump onto the squabs.

  The carriage swung in a slow circle and rattled to a halt in front of an impressive portico. There were several immaculate footmen in dark green livery and demi-wigs waiting to attend to them. The dogs were becoming frantic, scratching at the door and whining.

  ‘Very well, I shall let you out, but don’t get lost.’ Grace opened the carriage door and the animals shot through. She watched in horror as they flung themselves at the gentleman who had come to greet them. He lost his balance and tumbled backwards. This was not an auspicious start to her visit.

  Chapter Four

  Bennett was returning from the stables when he saw a smart carriage turn into the drive, he scarcely looked at that, what caught his attention was a magnificent chestnut following along behind. Who the hell was this? He could hardly greet the newcomers smelling of the stable. He ran through the list of today’s expected guests and, as far as he was concerned, everybody on that list had already arrived – so whoever this was they weren’t expected today. His curiosity was piqued and he decided to remain despite his appearance.


  It took a further fifteen minutes for the cavalcade to arrive and in this time he’d had ample opportunity to study the stallion in detail. There was no doubt about it, this horse if ridden by a competent person, might well beat Lucifer.

  He strode forward, waving the footmen away, intending to open the door of the carriage himself. At the precise moment he was leaning forward to grasp the handle the door flew back and three dogs hurtled out sending him sprawling backwards.

  Not content with knocking him over the wretched animals then proceeded to jump all over him and cover his face with their wet, pink tongues. As he lay there a girl jumped from the carriage and attempted to remove the dogs from his chest.

  ‘Get off you stupid animals. The gentleman wishes to get up.’ As fast as she removed them they returned obviously thinking this was part of the game.

  He’d had quite enough of this. ‘Off. Now.’ His sharp command did the trick and the three instantly removed themselves and not waiting for further scolding they raced towards the shrubbery where a cacophony of bird call followed as they put up a small flock of pheasants.

  He sprung to his feet and brushed the dirt from his clothes. The young lady was watching him nervously, and well she might.

  ‘I do beg your pardon, my dogs are usually very well mannered.’

  Her voice was well modulated and pleasant and if he hadn’t been so angry he might have been more conciliatory. He stared at her and her hopeful smile faded. ‘I am Lord Sheldon. Who, might I ask, are you? Have you missed your way as I don’t believe you are expected here?’

  ‘I am Miss DuPont, Lady Peabody is my godmother. I apologise for arriving a day earlier than my sponsor.’ She met him glare for glare and this didn’t improve his temper.

  He didn’t bow – far too late for the civilities. ‘Then I suppose you had better come in, Miss DuPont. However, your animals may not.’ This was not only uncivil it was downright rude and he was about to apologise when she closed the gap between them. To his astonishment she poked him in the chest and he almost lost his balance a second time.