Page 4 of The Case at Castle Rock Cove (Beau Monde Secrets #4)

M iss Hadfield waited until Phoebe was happily playing in the back garden and Cousin Sarah was in her room napping before she spoke to Willa about the meeting in the churchyard.

“Willa, please help me with this mending.”

The polite request did not fool Willa for even a second. The mending was only a pretext for the scolding she was about to receive. Still, Phoebe’s clothes did need to be mended. Neither Willa nor Mama had brought a lady’s maid with them to handle such chores, and it was not fair to leave all the work to Miss Hadfield.

Willa picked up one of Phoebe’s pinafores and threaded her needle. She had some idea of what her former governess meant to say, but she preferred to wait for her to speak rather than rushing in with excuses.

“I would like to know what you meant when you said that you had exchanged a few words with Mr. Radcliffe.” Miss Hadfield spoke placidly, and her eyes kept following the movement of her needle.

But Willa heard the keen steel edge behind Miss Hadfield’s question. She bit her lip, struggling to contain all the excuses and objections she wanted to make. The warmth of Cousin Sarah’s welcome and her invitation to call showed that there could be no harm in Mr. Radcliffe. Even so, Willa swallowed uneasily.

“I am waiting for your answer, my dear.” Miss Hadfield’s voice remained as gentle as ever. She rarely needed to raise her voice to hold her pupils’ attention.

Willa put down her mending with a sigh. “Since coming to Newell, I’ve been so very bored. One day, I wrote a letter, put it in a bottle, and tossed it off Castle Rock Point. Mr. Radcliffe found it and answered my letter. That is all.”

“And you encountered him after church entirely by chance?” Miss Hadfield caught Willa’s gaze and raised her eyebrows.

A flush heated Willa’s face. “We made an arrangement to meet,” she mumbled. “But—”

Miss Hadfield cut her off before she could say another word in explanation. “Wilhelmina Selwyn, do you mean to say that you arranged a clandestine meeting with a young man ?” She invested the words “young man” with as much contempt as if she had said “criminal” or “highwayman.”

Willa’s face burned with shame, but she did not look away. “I thought he was a girl.” Her blush would have deepened, if that were possible. “What I mean is, we did not sign our full names in the notes. Just initials.” She twisted her fingers together anxiously, knowing how ridiculous it sounded. “I only knew that I was corresponding with someone called B.R. I didn’t think to ask how old or young B.R. was, or whether they were a man or woman. I assumed I was writing to a lady, though I don’t know why.”

She did know why, though. She had been hoping for a friend, someone who could enter into her interests and keep her company. Mr. Radcliffe might be a fine, upstanding gentleman, but she could not gossip and giggle with him as she’d imagined.

Miss Hadfield set aside her own mending. She rested her chin on one hand for a long, thoughtful moment. “I see that you have already realized how foolish your assumptions were,” she said gently. “But do you understand how close you came to scandal? You maintained a clandestine correspondence with a young gentleman, then snuck around behind our backs to meet him in secret!”

“I did not!” The heat in Willa’s face now came from anger. “I deliberately chose a public place to meet. Just in case... in case something went wrong.” Cousin Sarah and Miss Hadfield had been only yards away the whole time.

“So you did know you were doing something dangerous.” Miss Hadfield did not wait for an answer. “It was well for you that you chose to meet in the churchyard. If you had met him in some lonely, isolated spot, he could have done anything to you. You could have been hurt. Or ruined.”

Willa gulped. “I don’t think he is the sort of person who would do something so wicked,” she whispered. “He only wanted someone to ride with him in the park. His grandfather’s park, I mean. And he was going to share his books with me.” A murderer would not offer to loan her Frankenstein , would he?

“No, I imagine he’s no murderer. Mrs. Trimmer has only good things to say about him,” Miss Hadfield grudgingly admitted. “He seems to come from a very respectable family. Heir to a baronetcy, to boot.” She darted an odd, sideways look at Willa.

“What does being heir to a baronetcy have to do with anything?” Willa protested. She blushed again when she finally realized what Miss Hadfield meant. “He wasn’t there to court me, Haddy! He didn’t even know I was a young lady.”

“You think he didn’t know,” Miss Hadfield retorted. “He might have figured it out somehow. Though he looks a little young to be on the hunt for a wife. I ought to ask your cousin if she knows how old he is.”

“Oh, no!” In her mortification, Willa could only stare at the floor. “I am sure he did not think of me in the light of... of a potential bride. We were only going to ride and talk about books together.”

“And he might not be objectionable as a companion, Willa. But if you ride with him, you must take a groom with you as a chaperone. And you are not to exchange further letters with him, whether by bottle or by post. At least not until you are betrothed.” She fixed a stern look on Willa.

Willa buried her face in her hands, not sure whether to laugh or cry. Miss Hadfield stubbornly persisted in discussing B.R. as a potential suitor, but that wasn’t what Willa wanted at all! She had only wanted a friend.

“I wish I’d never heard of Benjamin Radcliffe,” she grumbled.

“Now that is nonsense.” The governess spoke briskly as she picked up her mending, suggesting she had finished her lecture. “You knew perfectly well when you came to Newell that there was no guarantee you would meet any eligible young men here, let alone a handsome man who shares your interests. You ought to consider yourself fortunate.”

Willa laughed bitterly. “Haddy, you can’t have it both ways! You can’t claim that it was terribly improper for me to meet Mr. Radcliffe, then turn around and congratulate me on the new acquaintance.”

The governess smiled. “On the contrary, both things can be true at the same time. Even an improper action may have beneficial results. But mind, you are not to go running after Mr. Radcliffe. If he wishes to encounter you again, he will make it happen.”

“Yes, Miss Hadfield.” Willa picked up her needle again and resumed mending. She felt certain Miss Hadfield misunderstood the situation, but she had no idea how to convince Haddy that Mr. Radcliffe had no intention of courting Willa. For all she knew, he might not plan on seeing her again at all.

*

But Willa was proven wrong on Thursday afternoon. That day, Mama felt well enough to leave her room again. She lounged on the sofa, a fashion journal in hand. Willa sat at the writing table in the corner of the parlor, writing a letter to one of her uncles. She had so little news to share that it was hard to fill a page.

Uncle Rowland’s news from London was always more interesting than anything Willa could write, anyway. As secretary to the Marquis of Reading, he heard both the latest political developments and the spiciest on-dits . He had a gift for retelling an anecdote, too, which he put to good use in the newspaper column he wrote under a pseudonym.

Meanwhile, Willa could think of nothing better to write than that the sky was grayer today than yesterday.

Phoebe stood before the window, peering out in the hopes of spotting a passing dog, so she was the one who first noticed the visitors. “There’s a carriage here!” she squealed. “A carriage with a coat of arms!”

“It is hardly surprising for a carriage to bear a coat of arms,” Miss Hadfield observed. But she rose to her feet and peered around the curtain. “Ah,” she said in a tone of deep satisfaction, “it is young Mr. Radcliffe, and I suspect that lady accompanying him is his aunt.” She rested a hand on Phoebe’s shoulder. “Phoebe, I believe you and I ought to go practice penmanship in the dining room and leave this room to the grown-ups.”

“Why don’t I ever get to talk to the interesting guests?” Phoebe whined.

Miss Hadfield gentled her voice. “Because you are still a schoolgirl. But you have only a few years left before you come out.”

Willa smiled at her sister. “Enjoy childhood while you can,” she advised. “There are even more rules you have to follow once you grow up.”

Rules about who you could spend time with, and for how long, and in what settings, for example. Rules about what to wear for every occasion, with the risk of being labelled a “quiz” if one chose poorly. Rules—her disgruntled thoughts came to a halt when the housemaid opened the parlor door.

“Miss Marlowe and Mr. Radcliffe,” she announced.

The guests stepped into the room, and everyone turned to greet them. Miss Marlowe, a tall woman whose hair had begun to gray, walked with a sturdy wooden cane. She gently elbowed her nephew, prompting him to bow.

“It is good to see you out and about, Miss Marlowe. Won’t you take a seat?” Cousin Sarah glanced at Mama, who responded with a subtle nod. “Lady Inglewhite, may I present Miss Marlowe, of Marlowe Tower, and her nephew, Benjamin? Mr. Radcliffe, I should say.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you.” Mama might have said more had not a fit of coughing overtaken her. “I beg you will forgive my cough. We were all of us quite ill some weeks ago, and I have yet to make a full recovery.”

“I know well how that goes.” Miss Marlowe grimaced in sympathy. “My own health is rather uncertain, at best.”

“Won’t you please take a seat?” Cousin Sarah gestured to the few remaining armchairs. The sitting room, like most of the house, was on the smaller side, but it had been elegantly furnished with modern rosewood furnishings.

Willa expected Mr. Radcliffe to sit next to her, so they could easily talk to each other. Instead, he sat in the chair nearest the door, as if he wanted to be able to escape in a hurry if the conversation went south. He sat stiffly, looking as uncomfortable as a child forced into paying a call with his elders.

How odd! Could he be younger than he looked? Willa had guessed he was about her age, if not a little older. She studied him surreptitiously and came to the same conclusion. Tall and well-muscled from his riding and walking, “B.R.” certainly looked like a grown man rather than a youth.

And, she admitted to herself, Miss Hadfield was right about him being handsome. Threads of gold glinted in his dark-blond hair, and though she sat too far to see his eyes well, she clearly remembered their vivid-green color. If Mr. Radcliffe were dressed in evening clothes and dropped into a London ballroom, debutantes would swoon!

“I will not take up too much of your time, Mrs. Trimmer,” Miss Marlowe said. “I am sure having houseguests keeps you busy. But I wanted to extend an invitation to dine with us this Saturday. Of course, your guests are most welcome to join us!” She nodded politely in the direction of Lady Inglewhite, then turned her head to include Willa in the gesture.

Willa darted a glance at Mr. Radcliffe, but he was still staring down at his feet. She felt increasingly confused. She had initially assumed that he’d called to see her again, but he hadn’t spoken a word. She wasn’t sure he’d even so much as looked her in the face. He couldn’t really be that shy, could he?

Cousin Sarah glanced at Mama, asking a silent question with a lift of her brows. Mama nodded in response.

“I am afraid my health does not permit me to dine out yet,” Mama said graciously. “But I am certain my daughter would love to accompany Mrs. Trimmer.” A pointed look at Willa made it clear which response Mama expected.

“Indeed, I would be delighted to accept your invitation, Miss Marlowe.” Willa hesitated, not certain whether she should admit that she already had some acquaintance with Mr. Radcliffe. Did his aunt know about the letters they’d exchanged?

Mr. Radcliffe cleared his throat. “You might enjoy looking at my collection of artifacts from the beach, Miss—Lady Wilhelmina, I mean. I would be happy to show them to you. And to Mrs. Trimmer, of course.”

He finally looked Willa in the eye. But he looked pained, as if he didn’t really want to see her at Marlowe Tower. Willa’s heart sank, and her smile faltered, though she promptly forced it back into place.

“Splendid!” Her feigned enthusiasm didn’t sound convincing even to herself.