Page 7 of Gentlemen of Honor (Bennet Gang Duology #2)

Unwanted Callers

Lydia frowned in annoyance when Hector clomped up to the drawing room doorway to announce Miss Bingley and the Hargreaves. Mr. Bingley’s guests had already called three afternoons in a row but today, after Mr. Bingley and Cousin Robert had arrived to take Jane and Mary riding, Lydia had not expected the need to encounter the Hargreaves. Nor did she want them here. Although they’d become more subtle in their attempts to meet Thomas and Matthew after their initial visit, Lydia knew their goal had not changed. She was also suspicious that they’d called while Jane and Mary were out with Mr. Bingley and Cousin Robert was on purpose. Between them, Jane and Mary had derailed every attempt the Hargreaves had made thus far to meet Lydia’s little brothers.

For most of their second call, Lord Franklin had devoted his time to flirting with Jane. Mr. Bingley had turned an unfortunate shade of burgundy before Jane was able to take him aside for a quiet word. After that, he’d looked on Lord Franklin’s attempts with sour amusement, rather than pique, and his lordship had desisted. Lydia didn’t know if the change was because Jane proved stoically uninterested, or if losing the delight of tormenting Mr. Bingley took away Lord Franklin’s joy in the endeavor, but he’d switched his attention to Kitty.

That had a predictable effect and, by the end of the Hargreaves’ third visit, Kitty was certain that she and Lord Franklin would marry before the year was out. What she appeared uncertain about was their mama’s lack of enthusiasm for the idea. Being denied Mama’s usual support decidedly confused Lydia’s older sister.

Normally, Lydia would find a certain amount of enjoyment in Kitty’s discombobulation, but Lord Franklin’s behavior was too mean. He was deliberately misleading Kitty, and Lydia didn’t like it. Or him.

Miss Bingley and the Hargreaves were shown in and Mama offered them tea with a certain lack of enthusiasm. Miss Hargreaves accepted immediately, slanting a look at her twin.

“Tea with you is always a delight, Mrs. Oakwood,” Lord Franklin said. “But I would prefer to heighten my appetite and see more of your lovely home, if I may persuade Miss Kitty to provide me with a tour?”

Kitty popped to her feet before Mama could reply. “I would be more than happy to.” She hurried across the room to him.

“I will ring for a maid to accompany you as you show Lord Franklin about this floor of the house,” Mama said stiffly, emphasizing ‘this.’

Kitty laughed, a light, merry sound that Lydia had often heard her practicing in her room. “Do not be silly, Mama. There are servants everywhere. It is not as if we will be alone.” She raised her eyes heavenward, then exchanged an amused look with Lord Franklin, who smirked back.

“I want to take the tour too,” Lydia said with a bright smile.

“You do not need a tour,” Kitty snapped. “You live here.”

“But I want to see our home through your eyes,” Lydia said sweetly.

Kitty scowled at her.

“I am certain Nathan would enjoy seeing more of this lovely house as well,” Miss Hargreaves announced.

Everyone turned to her younger brother, who ducked his head, his cheeks coloring. Because he always sat beside her and because he wasn’t as boring or horrible as his older siblings, Lydia had learned from Nathan Hargreaves that he was seventeen, some fifteen months older than she was, and that his passions were reading, horses, and playing chess. She also had the distinct impression that while he obeyed his older siblings, he did not necessarily care for Lord Franklin and Miss Hargreaves, who treated him much as they did their footmen.

He also had sandy brown hair that was a touch too long and tended to fall across his forehead, and gray-green eyes like a moss-edged pool in a lovely, hidden forest glade.

Not that Lydia cared about his hair or his eyes, him being a Hargreaves.

“Do you not, Nathan?” Miss Hargreaves pressed.

Nathan bobbed his head, shuffling over to join his older brother and Kitty.

“Good.” Lord Franklin slapped his brother on the back in a gesture of comradery that made Nathan wince. “You can escort Miss Lydia and keep her well entertained .”

Did others hear the command in Lord Franklin’s words, Lydia wondered as she joined them. She didn’t know what, precisely, Lord Franklin wanted his younger brother to do, but she knew it involved her and that his lordship was adamant .

Miss Bingley looked about the room nervously, and Lydia suspected that she, too, did not trust the Hargreaves’ intentions. “I will remain for tea, and thank you for it, Mrs. Oakwood.” She moved around the table to join Mama on her couch, taking Kitty’s place.

Lydia wondered if Miss Bingley wanted a word with Mama, or if she merely sought distance from Miss Hargreaves. Their typical sitting arrangement always left her sharing the couch across from Mama and Kitty with the other miss.

“Shall we?” Nathan mumbled, proffering his arm.

Lydia placed her hand on his sleeve and they followed Kitty and Lord Franklin from the drawing room as Miss Hargreaves took her usual spot.

“You, to be certain, have seen the drawing room,” Kitty began as they started down the hallway. “On the other side of the hall, those doors secure our ballroom. It is hardly large enough to be called such, for we can host no more than a dozen couples and still have room for the musicians. I imagine it is nothing compared to the ballroom you will have once you are earl.”

“No, it is not,” Lord Franklin said blandly.

Kitty laughed as if he’d issued the wittiest comment ever.

They carried on through the house, seeing the dining room and library, various parlors, and the morning room. There, Lord Franklin turned to Kitty and asked, “What of a portrait gallery? I imagine you were a lovely child.”

Kitty shook her head. “We do not have one. We have only one small painting of my father, and Papa Arthur only permitted one as well, because Mama was so vehement. She has not commissioned a single painting of me.” Kitty said that with a pout before she brightened. “There are my paintings. I am certain you have noticed them, but some returned from the framer only yesterday and have now been hung.”

Lord Franklin’s smile was akin to a grimace as he said, “I would be overjoyed to see them.”

They returned to the entrance hall, where Kitty pointed out her most recent creations.

“They are lovely.” Lord Franklin straightened from peering at one. “Any gentleman would be pleased to have such a lively addition to his decor.”

If Lydia had any doubt left that Lord Franklin was insincere, his admiration for Kitty’s terrible paintings would have dispelled it. She barely contained a derisive snort.

“Once I am married, I will devote myself to creating hundreds of them for the enjoyment of my husband,” Kitty said a touch breathlessly.

“But what I would truly care to see is your schoolroom,” Lord Franklin continued as if Kitty hadn’t spoken.

Under Lydia’s hand, Nathan tensed.

So, that was Lord Franklin’s true goal. He hadn’t given up on meeting Thomas and Matthew. “Mama said we were to show Lord Franklin about on this floor,” Lydia reminded.

“Perhaps we should see the garden instead?” Nathan blurted.

Lydia wanted to pinch his arm. Her brothers were far more likely to be in the garden or the stable than their schoolroom. It was Nanny Hill’s naptime.

“The garden is far more pleasant and interesting than the schoolroom,” Kitty agreed.

Lord Franklin smiled down at her. “But I wish to see where a young Miss Kitty learned her letters. To picture you there, toiling away to become the perfect miss you are.”

Kitty gazed up at him, entranced. “Yes. Certainly.”

“But the schoolroom is not on this floor,” Lydia protested. “Mama said this floor.”

Kitty cast her a quelling look. “I am certain she meant no such thing. You will have Lord Franklin thinking we hide some dark secret.” She turned a smile on him. “This way.” She started up the staircase, his lordship hastening after her.

Pursing her lips and hoping that her brothers were dodging their afternoon lessons as usual, Lydia followed with Nathan.

They found the schoolroom empty, Nanny Hill obviously having retreated to her room for her nap. Lord Franklin picked up one of the books scattered about, taking in the title. He set it down, next examining Matthew’s spyglass. He peered at it with unnerving intensity before returning it to the desk where he’d found it.

Laughter sounded outside and he crossed to the window, Lydia dragging Nathan over to join him. She couldn’t see Thomas and Matthew but they were definitely below for their voices rose again, this time in argument. Like as not, they were inside the walled garden.

While Lydia and the two brothers stood in the window, Kitty babbled on about how lovely her penmanship was.

“I am certain I will see examples of it someday,” Lord Franklin said, cutting her off mid-sentence as he turned. “But now, I would like to take you up on your offer to show me the garden.”

Kitty, her mouth open but her words stilled, pulled her lips down in a frown. “I did tell you that the schoolroom would be boring. ”

“So you did, and I should have listened to you.”

“You will learn to in time,” Kitty said with a laugh, mollified.

Lord Franklin’s answering smile was flat.

Not seeming to notice his disdain, Kitty linked her arm through his and they returned to the entrance hall. There, they waited while various servants fetched their outerwear, Kitty expounding on her paintings.

Once they were insulated against the late November cold, they strode down the front steps with Lord Franklin proclaiming, “I would very much care to see the lovely garden we spotted out the schoolroom window.”

Lydia just bet he would. On Nathan’s arm, she tromped after his lordship, glaring at his back as Kitty led the way along the front of the house. What would Elizabeth do? How would she stop this?

They rounded the corner and started down the side of the house, the walled garden visible at the far end of the garden. Beyond it, Lydia glimpsed the stable set against the hillside and hoped her brothers had taken whatever game they were playing in there.

Her mind flailed as they passed Papa Arthur’s favorite dove-themed fountain. Should she pretend to turn her ankle? Would Lord Franklin stop to help her, or merely carry on, leaving her behind with his younger brother? Ahead, Thomas’s and Matthew’s voices sounded in the garden. Lord Franklin lengthened his stride.

Nathan halted, catching Lydia back.

Casting him an annoyed look, she pulled her arm free of his and made to continue on.

He reached out and caught her hand, sending a jolt of surprise through her. His voice low and intense, he said, “My brother and sister are not to be trusted. They are certain your younger brothers are the earl’s true heirs. They will attempt to…to eliminate them.”

Lydia gaped at him, startled more by his plain speech than the content, for she’d already suspected as much. “What are they planning?” she whispered back.

He shook his head, dusty-brown hair falling across his forehead. With his free hand, he pushed it back into place. “I do not know, but they are merciless. I am certain they murdered our older brothers.”

“Can something not be done? Can you go to the earl?”

“He is the one who covered up what they did. He used his influence to keep them from being accused. It is in the nature of family tradition for the title to be ruthlessly fought for.”

Just as Papa Arthur’s letter said. “A higher authority, then? The Crown, even?”

Nathan shook his head once more, again disarraying his sandy locks. “The Crown has turned a blind eye for centuries, only administering discipline for the most blatant, outrageous offenses. The rest, they ignore.”

“But—”

“Don’t be a baby, Thomas,” Kitty’s high-pitched voice said, reaching Lydia’s ears and cutting into her protest. “You heard Lord Franklin. It is all the thing in Town.”

Shock went through Lydia. She narrowed her eyes at Nathan Hargreaves, yanking her hand free. “You kept me here,” she snarled, whirling away.

“I did not,” he protested as he hurried after her. “I did not mean to.”

She didn’t even bother to look at him as she rushed down the path to the sound of more chatter in the garden. How could she be so foolish? Nathan was a Hargreaves. He was on Lord Franklin’s side.

“Since your older brother is too much of a coward, you try, Master Matthew.” Lord Franklin’s harshly edged words cut through the cool November air to reach Lydia as she burst into the walled garden.

“No,” she cried, just as Matthew took a swig from a flask.

Matthew started coughing.

Lord Franklin took back the flask and snapped it closed.

Lydia barreled up to him. “What did you give to my brother?”

Matthew sputtered, gasping, his expression alarmed.

Lord Franklin raised a fine eyebrow, looking down at her. “I am merely acquainting the young men with real French cognac. It is the drink of choice for all refined gentlemen, and something these lads have obviously been denied, living as they do in a house full of women.”

“It’s only cognac, Lydia,” Thomas said, but he was watching his brother, his expression worried.

Matthew still hadn’t stopped choking. “It burns,” he blurted, tears building in his eyes as he clutched at his throat.

“Give me that flask,” Lydia demanded of Lord Franklin.

He shoved it in his pocket. “Certainly not. It is a family piece.”

“Lydia, you are being rude,” Kitty added in a tone of protest. “Lord Franklin is our guest.”

“It really hurts.” Matthew’s words bordered on a sob.

Lydia stood to her full height, leaning in so her face was as close as she could get it to Lord Franklin’s without standing on his feet. “What did you give him? What is in that flask? Tell me.”

He cocked that eyebrow again, making her want to rip it off his face. “Or what? I do not take orders from a little country miss who is not even out.”

“Then take orders from me as head of this household,” Thomas said, his fists clenched at his sides. “What did you give my brother?”

Lord Franklin looked down at Lydia’s brother and laughed. “You may be the very image of my cousin, but you have none of his presence. Return to your schoolroom, boy.”

Kitty gave a nervous titter. “Now, let us not be uncivil.”

“It hurts, Lydie,” Matthew sobbed, squeezing his throat.

She turned to him to see a line of blood leaking from his nose. A jolt of fear shot through her at the sight of her little brother’s distress. She pulled out her handkerchief.

“What have you done?” Nathan growled at his older brother, gripping his arm.

“Do not be dramatic,” Lord Franklin replied as Lydia applied her handkerchief to Matthew’s nose. “The boy merely cannot handle his drink. Miss Kitty, the garden no longer entertains me. Let us return to the house.”

“Ah…I should help my brother.”

Dabbing at Matthew’s nose and trying to stem the trail of blood as tears slid down his cheeks, Lydia could hear the hesitation in Kitty’s voice.

“I am certain your sister has things well in hand.” Lord Franklin had returned to his smooth, charming voice. “I require the loveliness of your presence to put this unfortunate incident behind me.”

“Very well, my lord,” Kitty replied.

Hearing gravel crunch behind her, Lydia turned to Thomas, who hovered beside her and Matthew, his face pale. “Follow them. I don’t want her alone with that man. When you get to the house, have Hector send for Nanny Hill, and when you get to the parlor, ask…” Lydia hesitated. She wished Elizabeth were here. That was who she most wanted. “If Mary is back yet, ask her to come, too, but don’t alarm Mama. We’ll be in Matthew’s room. I’ll take him there.”

Thomas, looking very serious, hurried away.

“I can’t breathe,” Matthew said, and hiccupped.

Lydia turned back to him in alarm. “You can’t breathe?”

“Because you’re shoving that up my nose,” he mumbled.

The sudden tension in her shoulder eased somewhat and she lessened the pressure she was applying to Matthew’s nose. “Does it still burn?”

He nodded. “Not as much, though.”

“How much did you drink?” Nathan asked, coming around to the other side of Lydia’s brother. “Did it start burning immediately? ”

“As if you do not know what he’s been given and how it works,” Lydia snapped, glaring at him.

Nathan shook his head. “I do not. I swear, I was not trying to keep you back.” He met her gaze, appearing quite wretched. “I was trying to warn you.”

“Well, you seem to have helped your brother either way.” With that, Lydia turned from him and gently lifted the handkerchief to ascertain if Matthew was still bleeding. “Come, we need to get you to your room.”

“I can help,” Nathan said quickly.

“You have done enough, Mr. Hargreaves.”

Grabbing Matthew by the arm, Lydia started from the garden, hoping Nathan wouldn’t follow. She didn’t know if she believed him or not, but she was angry with him either way. And with herself. Elizabeth would never have been distracted into letting Lord Franklin speak with their brothers with only Kitty there to intercede, which she obviously hadn’t.

Taking in Matthew’s white, blood and tear-streaked face, Lydia wished she had another handkerchief. She pressed the one they did have on him. “See if there is a clean corner to wipe your eyes.”

Matthew accepted the bedraggled, likely ruined square. “What did Mr. Hargreaves help Lord Franklin do? Why did he say Thomas looks like his cousin?”

Lydia slanted a look at him. “What did he say to you?”

“He said he’s a lord and very popular in Town and that we have no men to guide us on being gentlemen and he offered us cognac, but Thomas said no, so Lord Franklin said he would laugh at any man who married into so uncouth a family, and then Kitty called us babies and said we were embarrassing her in front of him.” His voice small and wretched, Matthew added, “I didn’t want to embarrass Kitty. I know how important it is to her to be married.”

Lydia scowled. Behind them, not close, she heard Nathan Hargreaves leave the walled garden, his boots plodding dully on the gravel path.

“Did Lord Franklin know the cognac would hurt?” Matthew asked.

“He did,” she replied before she could think better of it.

“Why would he want to hurt me?”

Lydia pursed her lips. How much should she tell him? Obviously, telling her brothers nothing hadn’t worked well. They’d been totally unprepared for Lord Franklin’s attack. “Because Lord Franklin is afraid that Papa Arthur was meant to inherit something he wants, which means that you and Thomas are now meant to inherit it, but if something were to happen to both of you, then it would be Lord Franklin’s again. So you and Thomas cannot trust him.”

Matthew turned wide eyes on her. “What will we inherit?”

Lydia shook her head. “Come, we’ll get you to your room and Nanny Hill and Mary will look at you. Once you’re feeling better I will tell you and Thomas all about it.”

Lydia escorted her little brother through the kitchen, where the staff paused their work to eye him in alarm, and then up to his room. She didn’t know if Elizabeth would approve of her telling Thomas and Matthew what she knew, but it didn’t really matter. Elizabeth wasn’t here. Lydia was, and she felt that telling her brothers would keep them safer than not telling them…but she would also write to Elizabeth.