Page 1 of Escape of the Bridegroom (Escape #2)

I n the library of Wolverton Hall, time stood still.

Aidan, the ninth Baron Wolf, stared at his younger brother with the curious sensation that life was now forever divided into before this moment and after—if they were not to remain forever in this silent bubble of doom.

But, no, clearly, Aidan had misheard. He forced his eyes to blink, his lips to move. “Must give the old ears a clean. I thought you said your debts of honour amount to ten thousand pounds.”

Patrick, standing rigid and white in front of the empty fireplace, said hoarsely, “I’m afraid it is so. I’m sorry, Aidan.”

Slowly, Aidan sank into the armchair he had been about to sit in before Patrick blurted out his “difficulty.”

“Sorry,” Aidan repeated. The word didn’t seem to have any meaning. “I don’t have ten thousand or anything like it. We’re done for.”

Patrick tugged hard at his hair, then threw himself into the chair opposite. “I can’t explain it, let alone excuse it. I was unforgivably stupid, because I began by winning a considerable amount which let me play deep for a change...”

“And let you lose all the quicker.”

“Exactly.”

For an instant, Patrick actually sounded pleased by his brother’s understanding, so Aidan spelled out the rest, which they had both grown up knowing.

“There is no money. There is never any money. Everything that is not entailed is already mortgaged to the hilt or sold. Even selling the few remaining horses wouldn’t bring anything like enough. It’s not the sort of sum we can hope to borrow from friends. We’re rolled up. Unless...” A faint flicker of hope struggled. “I suppose the play was fair?”

“Oh yes,” Patrick said gloomily. “We were at White’s.”

“Of course you were.”

“The devil’s in it,” Patrick agreed. “But the situation might not be impossible. There may be a way to borrow it.”

Aidan groaned. “The moneylenders all know me. I used them when I was younger than you and nearly ruined the estate paying them off. They won’t touch us.”

“I know, I asked them already,” Patrick admitted. “I didn’t want to come to you with this but I can’t fix it on my own.”

“Can’t fix it at all, Patrick.” Like his brother, Aidan was a sociable man, of a happy-go-lucky nature. But he was not extravagant. He enjoyed life in the country among old friends, with occasional sorties to town. He had always stayed just about afloat, and had even begun to implement some new improvements to the land that should yield a little more. A drop in the ocean now.

One had to pay debts of honour. They would have to try to spread it over many years, which would affect everything and everyone, not least their own people, whether tenants, servants, family dependents....

“Whom do you owe?” Aidan asked, with a last fading hope.

Patrick closed his eyes. “Wilsborough. Graves, and Manning. Plus a few hundred to Dale.”

“Well, Dale probably won’t dun us, but the rest...” Aidan shuddered. “Are they still in Town? I’ll go up tomorrow, see what I can negotiate with them.”

“You’ll hate that,” Patrick said hoarsely. “ I hate it. I’d give anything to undo that night but I can’t. Even shooting myself would only land you with the debt instead. But the thing is, I have found a way out. Dale told me about it.”

“About what?”

“About this cit. Romilly. Rich as Croesus and common as muck. He’s been known to lend to the odd indigent gentleman in return for favours—the use of a name in his business, a word in Parliament, that kind of thing.”

“I doubt he’d lend us ten thousand for my influence in Parliament,” Aidan said dryly.

“You’d be surprised. He’s so full of juice he doesn’t know what to do with it all.”

“Well, I’ll drop in and make a suggestion,” Aidan said sarcastically.

“I’m serious. He was pleased enough to see me when I tried—most amiable fellow you could meet. Thing is, he’s got everything he could ever want, except acceptance into the upper echelons of society, because you can’t buy that. For a few introductions and invitations, I believe he’d lend the money at very reasonable interest.”

Aidan stared at him. “Seriously?”

“Oh yes, he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it for me. I’m a younger son, untitled, but you’re a baron, peer of the realm and all that.”

“So he’d hand me ten thousand just for inviting him to dinner?”

“You probably wouldn’t even need to have him . He knows he stinks of the shop. But he’s got daughters, beautiful, educated, well-mannered daughters. They’d brighten any party if only people invited them. People like you, Aidan. Any number of hostesses would be happy to invite the Misses Romilly just to please you. Susanna would do it too. And no one would regret it.”

“Wait a minute,” Aidan said, blinking away the vision of his sister Susanna’s face when asked to invite a couple of vulgar, over-dressed nobodies to her select parties. “How do you know these girls are such paragons? Not saying I care. For ten thousand pounds I’d introduce a beggar’s ugly offspring to Lady Jersey.”

Patrick was blushing. “Well, I’ve met them. The younger one, Miss Miranda Romilly, is quite out of the ordinary. Encountered her at Vauxhall and courted her favours, to tell the truth.”

“You should know better,” Aidan said austerely. “That sort will get you in trouble and straight into parson’s mousetrap. Stick to opera dancers and women of our own class who understand the game.”

“Yes, yes, and I was in no position to set her up anyway, even before I lost the ten thousand. But after Dale told me about her father, I did go and call on them, had a pleasant chat with Romilly himself. He was impressed. I may not be a rich man, but I do know everyone who is anyone amongst the ton.”

“Not when you don’t pay your debts of honour you won’t,” Aidan said flatly.

Patrick sighed. “I daresay he’s aware of that. Still, thanks to Miranda, he did me the courtesy of listening, and though he declined to lend me the money, he did suggest he would be open to a visit from you . You being head of the family, and a baron.”

Aidan shook his head, frowning. “It can’t be as simple as that.”

“Well, he must be a hard-headed man to have gathered all those pots of spare money,” Patrick allowed. “I daresay he’ll wring a lot of promises out of you that you’ll be obliged to stir yourself to keep. Obviously, I’ll help where I can. But it must be worth a try, Aidan. Only think of the humiliation of negotiating with the likes of Wilsborough and Graves.”

Who were unlikely to budge an inch. Still...

“I don’t believe in fairy godmothers,” Aidan said bleakly. But when it came down to it, did he really have any choice?

***

H E WENT UP TO LONDON the following morning, traveling on the mail coach from Great Wolverton and arriving at the Wheel Inn in London in time for dinner. He took a room there and immediately composed a note to Mr. Romilly at the address Patrick had provided, stating that he would do himself the honour of calling at Mr. Romilly’s abode at ten the following morning. Should this not be convenient, a note to that effect could reach him at the Wheel.

A boy was sent with his message, leaving Aidan with too much time to think.

If life was really as simple as walking up to a complete stranger and asking him to hand over ten thousand pounds in return for persuading a hostess of the ton to invite his daughters to a party... No, it was nonsense. Patrick must have got the wrong end of the stick, clutching at straws because of his own guilt.

A guilt he undoubtedly bore. Aidan should have annihilated him verbally, if not thrashed him too. To have got into such a state that he owed a sum of money he must have known he could never pay back... to have dropped it all on Aidan’s shoulders, making a nonsense of everything he was trying to do...

The trouble was, Aidan had not really been trying to behave responsibly for very long himself. He had his youthful moments of folly, if not on quite such a grand scale. The Wolf estates had been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy for generations and the fact had never truly troubled Aidan. He muddled through, riding his luck, borrowing from friends when he had to, paying it back as soon as he could, juggling tradesmen’s bills, occasionally robbing Peter to pay Paul, as the saying went, but never truly reneging on any debts. And no one could say he did not enjoy life. Much like Patrick.

He had also felt too numb yesterday to punish his brother as he fully deserved. It struck Aidan now, over dinner at the inn, that if by some miracle Romilly parted with the cash, it would be too easy, that it would teach Patrick nothing except that he could carry on doing exactly as he liked and something would always turn up to solve his problems. Aidan’s grip on the purse strings would have to tighten. Patrick would have to find some way to earn his own money or at least stop spending it.

But there was no point in even considering such ideas. Aidan did not believe in miracles or in saintly cits. He knew in his heart he would be going from Romilly’s house to Wilsborough’s. And the rest.

He tugged at his cravat, which felt too tight and hot and uncomfortable.

Bloody Patrick, I will never forgive you for this...

Better for Patrick probably if he never did. Only he knew he would. He only had one brother.

After a restless night and too little sleep, Aidan broke his fast and walked to Russell Square, off which resided Mr. Romilly and his family.

A liveried footman opened the door to his knock, took his card, and without any fuss, led him straight upstairs to Mr. Romilly’s study.

This was a pleasant apartment overlooking the square, light and bright, with comfortable furnishings that were yet just a shade too opulent for good taste. A small man—presumably Romilly himself—rose from behind his large, highly-polished desk, beaming with apparent pleasure.

He bowed low. “My Lord Wolf. I am honoured to meet you at last.”

“Mr. Romilly,” Aidan said coolly, inclining his head. “Thank you for receiving me.”

“How could I not? It is not every day we welcome the aristocracy to our humble abode. Besides, I have the pleasure of Mr. Patrick Wolf’s acquaintance, so I almost feel we are old friends.”

Romilly spoke with a distinctly plebian accent, a rather odd mixture of northern England and London’s east end. But although he made no effort to disguise his speech, he wore an expensively tailored coat and he smelled not of the shop but of the finest sandalwood soap.

Aidan, who was never high in the instep, would have been happy enough, despite his embarrassment, to shake hands with the man, but Romilly clearly felt it would have been presumptuous to offer. Instead, he indicated the well upholstered chair at the opposite side of the desk.

“Please, sit down, my lord. A small sherry perhaps? Or a brandy?”

“Thank you, no.” Aidan sat down.

“Then you will allow me to ring for tea.”

“Not on my account, sir,” Aidan said firmly. “Though I beg you will feel free on your own.”

“Well, I’m convinced too much tea rots a man from the inside out,” Romilly said cheerfully, and at last resumed his chair. “How is young Mr. Wolf?”

“In excellent health when I left him yesterday at Wolverton Hall.” There was no point in beating about the bush, and Aidan wanted the matter dealt with so that he would know how much crawling he was going to have to do with Wilsborough and the rest. “Although he is rightly and thoroughly ashamed of himself. He tells me he acquainted you with his...trouble.”

“His trouble which inevitably has become yours,” Romilly said sympathetically.

“Indeed. I shall come to the point, sir. I am in need of a loan to pay my brother’s debts. The estate cannot support it, as I am sure you know, and yet my brother seems to think that you might be willing to help us.”

Romilly beamed. “I am a tradesman, my lord. I know you gentlemen don’t like to hear it, but we are all traders at heart, whether we are trading cotton, wheat, money, horses, or favours. I have plenty of what you currently need most, and I am sure you have something that I need. There is always a deal—a trade, indeed—to be made.”

“I have nothing to secure a loan upon,” Aidan said bluntly. “My property is all entailed or already mortgaged. As I presume my brother told you, he needs ten thousand pounds. I cannot ask you for such a sum without security, but if you will lend a portion of it over a long period, I might be able to negotiate the rest with the gentlemen concerned. I should be obliged if you would tell me at once. Is it something you might consider, or am I wasting your time and my own?”

Romilly smiled again. “I do not consider my time wasted, sir, and I hope, neither will you. I am in a position to lend you the full ten thousand—or even double that to help bring your estates into order—without any interest at all, in return for certain favours that will benefit my family.”

Aidan gazed at him, at first unable to believe his ears. And then, dangerously, he began to hope.

Squashing that hope, he said honestly, “I cannot imagine any favour in my power to bestow is worth ten, let alone twenty, thousand pounds.”

“Ah, well that is because you are not looking at things from my position. I am a humble man by birth, Lord Wolf. I might have made a great deal of money, but that will never buy me respectability, nor the best society for my daughters and grandchildren. In short, I have gone as far in life as I can go without you. As you, it seems, have gone as far as you can without me.”

“It is a generous way to look on the matter,” Aidan said ruefully. “What exactly is it you would want me to do for you?”

“Introduce my daughters to the ton.”

Dear God, was Patrick right and it was really going to be so simple? If so, why had no one bitten the man’s hand off before for such sums?

He swallowed. “I am not married, sir, so my efforts would be limited. But my sister, Lady Bryton, would be happy to invite them to her house for an extended party next month. Other invitations might well stem from that. And come the spring and the Season, I am acquainted with several hostesses who would be glad to invite the Misses Romilly. Once set on that road, I am sure your daughters will take Society by storm. From what my brother tells me, they are diamonds of the first water.”

Romilly preened unashamedly. “Miranda is a beauty. Eve, not so much, though she has qualities a discerning man would value even more. They were educated at Mrs. Elphinstone’s Academy for Young Ladies at Queen’s Square and will disgrace no one by their manners. Unlike their papa who is too old to change.”

“And that is all you want of me?” Aidan said, still disbelieving.

“ All ? It may seem little to your lordship, but it means a great deal to me that you are prepared to do your best for my girls. Can you promise me that much?”

“To do my best for them?” Aidan repeated, hope catching at his very breath. “And for you, sir?”

Romilly laughed. “Oh, I can see to my own affairs, my lord, but I cannot step out of my class. Now, I know a gentleman’s word is his bond, but being no gentleman myself, we’ll have it all written down and signed, nice and legal, and you may draw on my bank this very day. Now, are we agreed on twenty thousand?”

Aidan blinked. “No, sir, we are not. I’ll never pay off such a sum. Let us agree on the ten I requested.”

“As you wish,” Romilly said, drawing paper toward himself. “Let me just pour us a drink to celebrate our understanding...” He rose and poured brandy into two glasses. Presenting one to Aidan, he clinked it with his own. “To our new partnership.”

Numb with incredible relief, Aidan sipped, welcoming the burn of the liquid as a sign of life and reality.

As Romilly sat back down and began to write busily, Aidan watched him.

“That is all you want of me in return?” he said anxiously.

“Your best efforts for my daughters,” Romilly repeated distractedly, his pen still flying across the page as though he did not even have to think about the wording.

“Don’t you want to involve a solicitor?” Aidan said, with sudden shame at taking such advantage of the man.

“Damned leeches,” Romilly said mildly. “I’ve learned enough over the years to do without them now. For the most part. So, just ten thousand? Are you sure? It will make no difference to your side of the bargain. I shall not charge you interest.”

Aidan swallowed. “Call it twelve and I can make some necessary repairs on the estate.”

“Then shall we say over fifteen years? With extensions guaranteed for years of drought and bad harvest.”

“Very generous of you,” Aidan said sincerely.

“I really do want the best for my girls.”

“Very commendable of you. I wish I had done more to keep my brother in line. And myself!”

“Tush.” Romilly glanced up, his eyes twinkling. “If you had been so perfect, we would never have met.”

Aidan sipped his brandy, imagining Wilsborough’s face when he threw the money in his lap; planning the lecture he would read to Patrick and the promises they would both make to change their lives with this gift that was falling into their laps...

Aidan still felt bemused by the time Romilly pushed two sheets of paper across the desk to him.

“If you’re happy, we’ll have my clerk in to witness our signatures,” Romilly said. “There are two copies there, one for each of us, exactly the same. It binds each of us to what we have agreed. In the event that I break our bargain, you owe me nothing. In the event that you do, you must pay me all the money back. Is that fair?”

“Well, yes, except that you know I could not pay.”

“It will be a large debt,” Romilly agreed, “and in the event of it occurring, there would be interest. But there, we are men of our word, and you will not renege on doing your best for my daughters.”

How hard could it be?

Aidan read the document, which echoed so exactly the words Romilly had actually spoken, that he soon merely skimmed it, picking up the most important phrases.

Lord Wolf promises, to the best of his ability, to introduce Mr. Romilly’s daughters, Miss Eve Romilly and Miss Miranda Romilly, to his friends in Society and to otherwise promote their social standing to the best of his ability, as discussed and defined in this agreement...

Mr. Romilly agrees to give to Lord Wolf the sum of twelve thousand pounds to be repaid annually over fifteen years... except in the event of bad harvests when a further year will be added to the term of the loan...

Said twelve thousand pounds will be paid this day, the second of August 1813, to Lord Wolf...

“Well?” Romilly asked.

A small, fading voice in Aidan’s brain whispered still that this was too good to be true. But he was desperate, and God knew if he had to dance attendance on these females for entire Seasons, it would still be better than social and financial ruin.

Aidan met Romilly’s gaze. “I am getting the best of this bargain.”

“You are. But I believe we are in agreement?”

Aidan drew in his breath. “We are.”

Romilly beamed. “Then let’s have Henley in and sign, and we’ll get the money to you.”

He tugged the bell behind him and a gangly, balding man entered almost at once from a connecting door and bowed low to each of them. Solemnly, both Romilly and Aidan signed both copies of their agreement, and Mr. Henley the clerk signed as witness, and departed.

Romilly folded both documents, passed one to Aidan and placed his own in the drawer of his desk. Then he reached for the brandy decanter to refill their glasses.

“I expect you would like to meet my Eve before we drink to your happiness,” Romilly said, tugging a different bell rope by the fireplace.

Aidan, who was more eager to get his hands on the money, remembered his part of the bargain and said civilly. “I shall of course be happy to meet both your daughters.”

“Miranda is out, sadly. She will be upset to miss the first announcement of her sister’s engagement.”

Aidan blinked. “Engagement?”

“Send Miss Eve to us,” Romilly instructed the footman who had appeared at the door. And to Aidan: “Betrothal, if you prefer. What could be better for my daughters than the marriage of one of them to a baron? But you have a wonderful bargain, my lord! Eve will make an excellent Lady Wolf. If you apply for the special license today, I daresay you can be married within the week.”

Deliberately, Aidan set his glass down upon the desk. “I did not promise marriage.”

“Oh but you did,” Romilly said, smiling. “It is there in the small letters at the bottom of the page, defining your best and our agreed efforts to promote the social status of my daughters. Making one of them Lady Wolf would, after all, be your very best effort on their behalf.”