Page 8 of An Earl Most Inconvenient (Regency Mishaps #2)
CHAPTER 8
“ W here do you think the best place would be to buy a new dress for Grace?” Diana asked, turning to her friend Cecelia as they walked through the gardens of Cecilia’s home. The estate at Holloway was very grand indeed, with an impressive array of flowers beginning to bloom as springtime progressed, and Diana enjoyed visiting her friend there as often as she could, even though sometimes it was awkward to see the Duke. But she tried to ignore the memories of rejection that his presence sometimes triggered in her; there was no use dwelling on the past, she told herself.
“Well, I usually go to Brown’s, as you know,” Cecilia replied. “But perhaps if you have a grand gesture in mind, then it would be better to go somewhere else?”
Diana shook her head. “Brown’s will do quite well, I think.” She remembered her anxiety about the state of the ledgers and realized that if she did buy Grace another new dress, it could not be an extravagant one.
The late afternoon sun case a warm hue over the picturesque scene, but Diana felt unsettled as they continued along the path, the gravel crunching under their feet as they went.
“You seem rather distracted, my dear,” Cecila observed. “Shall we sit down, and you can tell me what’s troubling you?”
Diana agreed, and the two ladies sat down on a bench under a willow tree next to the lake, its branches trailing in the water below. The scene was perfect and Diana wished that she could enjoy it more. But until things were resolved between herself and her sister, she knew that she could not feel at east.
“Grace and I have had a disagreement,” Diana explained. “And ever since, she has been very distant with me. I feel that I cannot relax at all, until we have reconciled our differences.
“But you are normally so close,” Cecilia said in surprise. “What is it that has caused such a disagreement?”
“I think that she feels I have overstepped some invisible boundary between us,” Diana explained. “Since our mother died, I have always felt a sense of responsibility for Grace, and now as she navigates the marriage market, she needs more guidance than ever.”
“Bu Grace thinks you are interfering?” Cecilia asked.
“That is exactly it,” Diana replied. “I knew that you would understand.”
“Well, it was just the same for me with my brothers, when I met the duke,” Cecilia replied. “Oh, I am sorry to mention it…”
Diana shook her head, trying to ignore the slight reaction she felt in her chest at the mention of her friend’s brothers. “It is no matter, Cecilia. We have been friends for some time now, and I do not feel any sadness now that my courtship with the duke came to nothing. It is you that he fell in love with, and it is quite right that it is you that he married, and not me.” She paused and looked at her friend, with her deep brown curls and piercing green eyes. “And you are the perfect duchess, of course!”
“You flatter me,” Cecilia replied. “And frankly, at the moment I do not feel a perfect anything.” She placed her hands on her belly, slightly swollen with early pregnancy. “It is all rather exhausting, as you will find out for yourself one day.”
“I am not sure that I will,” Diana said, a little pensively, gazing out over the lake as she spoke.
“That is nonsense,” Cecilia protested. “I am sure you will find a perfect match this season, as well as Grace.”
“It is you who are talking nonsense,” Diana chided gently. “But let us not talk of me. It is Grace that I want to talk about. I hope that a gift of a new dress will bring her round. I cannot bear it when we are at odds with one another.”
“Was there a particular incident at the ball which triggered your argument?” Cecilia asked.
Diana paused. She knew that the conversation now could become rather awkward, but she trusted her friend, and there was no other way to get her advice if she did not tell her the whole story.
“I feel rather guilty,” Diana said. “My intentions are only to look after her, to protect her.”
“And who are you protecting her from” Cecilia asked.
“Your brother, the earl,” Diana admitted, then waited for her friend’s response.
Cecilia laughed softly. “Protecting her, from Tristan?”
“You know his reputation, Cecilia! I know that he is your brother, but surely you can understand why I am concerned?”
“Can Grace not make up her own mind about him?”
“She thinks that she can,” Diana explained. “But she is so young and so inexperienced. And if there is a scandal, or anything untoward happens, then her reputation will never recover.”
“Nor yours, either, by association,” Cecilia conceded.
“I do not care about it, for my own sake,” Diana insisted. “But Grace is so beautiful, and so kind and sweet-natured. She should marry a gentleman of unimpeachable character. She deserves to be happy, more than anyone, and I do not believe that Tristan will make her happy.”
“But perhaps Grace should be the judge of that,” Cecilia said. “As I said before, I feel for her in some ways, as my brothers tried to control my choices when it came to my marriage. And I did not like it at all. Perhaps you should give her more credit.”
Diana paused and chewed her lip thoughtfully. “Perhaps I should,” she said slowly, but she knew in her heart that she would struggle to enact such a promise. “It is so very hard, though, for both of us, since the loss of our mother. And our father, you know, he leaves us to our own devices somewhat.”
“Some ladies would be glad of that,” Cecilia said with a smile.
“Yes, indeed,” Diana agreed. But I am too sensible for that, she added inwardly. Perhaps that was the problem, after all. She was too sensible, and not open enough to great dreams of love and romance. But she could not change who she was, and she was not sure that she wanted to.
“And what is it that you have against Tristan, if you do not mind me asking?” Cecilia asked.
Diana felt a wave of embarrassment crashing over her. “I am sorry, Cecilia. I hope I have not offended you?”
Cecilia let out a melodious laugh. “Please, think nothing of it! I am well aware of what people say about him, and the many facets of his personality. But please, Diana, I would urge you not to listen to everything you hear. I do not know every detail of what he gets up to, of course, but I am sure that not all of it is true. I feel sure that Alistair would have spoken to him rather firmly about it, if there was any suspicion of really bad behavior.”
Diana did not know what to think. Of course Cecilia would see the best in her brother, it was only natural. It was just the same for her; she knew that Grace was not perfect, but she was blind to her sister’s faults all the same.
“Oh, but he is infuriating!” Diana blurted out, as thoughts of Tristan took over her mind once again. That bold eye as he stared at her, that curve of his mouth before he smiled. “Really, at the theater the other night, he was quite unbearable!”
“What did he do that was so terrible?” Cecilia asked.
Diana paused. She did not think she could even repeat what Tristan had whispered in the darkness, let alone confess to how it had made her feel. “He – well, he wanted to sit next to Grace.”
Cecilia laughed again. “And is that such a terrible thing?”
Diana shrugged. “I do not feel at all comfortable about it. He tells me that his intentions towards her are honorable, but I find him impossible to decipher.”
“It sounds to me as if you have been spending rather a lot of time thinking about my brother,” Cecilia said, with a wry smile. “Are you sure there are not other reasons for your objecting to him marrying your sister? Perhaps you have other ideas in mind for him?”
“It is not like that at all!” Diana insisted, feeling a flush creeping up over her cheeks again. “I promise you, he is the last man on earth I would ever consider marrying. And since that is the case, it makes sense that I should be cautious about his intentions towards Grace!”
“Well, there is nothing to be ashamed of if you have been charmed by him, Diana. You would not be the first,” Cecilia said in a teasing tone, playfully nudging her friend. “And nor will you be the last, I am sure. Tristan always has the same effect on ladies. They seem powerless to resist his charms.”
Something about the thought of other ladies succumbing to Tristan’s charms made Diana’s stomach twist. She could hardly bear to think about it. “Well,” she said, as firmly as she could manage. “It is all irrelevant. There is nothing between him and me, and I hope that nothing will come of his pursuit of Grace. If I cannot make her see sense, hopefully she will come to the right conclusion herself.”
“Perhaps it will all become clear at the house party next week,” Cecilia said. “It will be a good opportunity for Tristan and Grace to get to know each other better, at least, and perhaps spending more time with my brother will allay your fears about him. You have accepted the invitation, I take it?”
Diana nodded. Every ounce of her had wanted to refuse the earl’s invitation to come to his estate for a house party lasting several days, just one week form now. But she knew that if she did so, it would attract attention. Why would she and her sister choose to be absent from such a key event in the season, especially when Grace was ripe for marriage this year? No, they would have to go, and hope that there were no untoward consequences arising from the decision.
But Diana was dreading it all the same. As she and Cecilia walked back to the house, chatting of inconsequential things now, she felt that sense of unease overtaking her again. In only a few days’ time, she would see Tristan again. Not only would she have to fight to protect her sister from his charms, but she would have to work hard to resist them herself. She would not let him make a fool of her, no matter what.