Page 35 of The Marriage Game
At Westmoreland House, Lord Fane stared moodily into the fire, an empty brandy glass in his hand. Agatha watched him anxiously. “Teddy?”
He looked up.
“Is it Miss Darcy?”
Before he could respond, his mother entered the room in a swish of silk. She frowned at her son. “It is not like you to drink your troubles away,” she said, coolly. “I hope you are not fretting over the Darcy chit.”
Her son looked up at her, fury in his eyes. “I will thank you not to speak of her that way.”
“I am told that she canceled your plan to drive out with her, and she was not particularly warm to you at Almack’s,” Lady Amelia persisted. “I am certain that she does not have the right temperament for a match between you to succeed, and she knows it.”
Lord Fane rose from his chair; towering over his mother, he said, through clenched teeth, “Stop. Just – stop.”
Undeterred, she continued. “I understand that Lady Arabella will be at the Hampton’s ball tonight. I suggest you attend the event and turn your attention to her.”
But her son was already making his way out of the room.
Agatha said, quietly, “He is in love with Miss Darcy, Mother. He will not pursue Lady Arabella or anyone else.”
“In love? Do you truly believe this?”
“I do. I have seen them together. If you want him to be happy, you will assist this match in any way that you can. You must stop deprecating Miss Darcy; you are simply pushing him away from you.”
“And is love important enough that he would marry someone who could not truly assist him in his life?”
Agatha hesitated. She had never spoken of this to her mother, but perhaps now was the time. “Mother, Teddy and I were well aware of your relationship with our father.”
Lady Amelia bristled. “I have no idea what you mean, Agatha. And I will thank you not to meddle in things that are none of your concern.”
“But it is my concern, Mother, and Teddy’s as well. You and Father fought constantly. Our home was a battleground, and Teddy and I vowed never to marry someone we did not love. We did not want the life that you and Father had together, even if it meant that we would never marry at all.”
Lady Amelia closed her eyes.
“I am sorry, Mother. I do not intend to hurt you. But you must understand Teddy’s feelings in this regard, as well as my own.” Agatha left the room before she could see the tears in her mother’s eyes.
***
The next day, Lady Amelia called on the Countess of Matlock.
“Would you care for tea, Amelia?”
“No, I thank you. I have come to discuss a serious topic.”
“If you wish to warn my niece away from your son, I think you need not fear. I understand that she is no longer encouraging his suit.”
“Do you know why?”
“I believe your words about the responsibilities attendant upon the wife of the Earl of Westmoreland discouraged her, just as you had hoped.”
Lady Amelia sighed. “I was wrong, Eleanor.”
“In what way? I think you may be right; Georgiana is rather shy. That said, though, I think she has come out of her shell a good deal this Season and might be better equipped than we had thought to manage those responsibilities.”
“My son is in love with her.”
The Countess stared at her guest. Finally, she said, “Well, that changes things.”
“It does, yes. May we not now encourage the match?”
“I will speak with the Darcys.”
“I thank you, Eleanor. I hope you will apologise to them for any offense I may have given, and assure them that I will give Miss Darcy my full support if she does become Lady Fane.”
***
The Countess resolved to visit Darcy House the next day, but tonight she needed to speak to her husband about Richard’s situation.
“The tradesman’s daughter?” The Earl’s brow creased.
“Yes, Henry, but that is hardly the point.”
He shook his head. “The boy could do better.”
“But this is the young lady he is in love with. Do I need to remind you about our first-born and his wife? And if the tradesman’s daughter gets him out of the Army, I will love her forever, regardless of her birth.”
“I take your point,” the Earl said, heavily. “What is the difficulty, then? She would be lucky to get him.”
“The problem is Richard. He began his courtship of Miss Bingley by insulting her on the dance floor. He continued his courtship by performing a character analysis of her, not a favourable one, at dinner at Darcy House.”
The Earl scoffed. “And you think he loves her??”
“Then he rescued her from a threatened compromise at Almack’s; he threatened to kill the gentleman in question.”
“He WHAT?”
“Yes. He has sent her flowers, Henry.”
“Flowers? Richard?”
“Yes, And then he went to visit her after the difficulties at Almack’s to make certain that she was well. After that visit, he told me that her hair has five different shades in it, and that her eyes are like jade with golden flecks.”
The Earl’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.
“So, yes,” the Countess concluded. “He is in love with her. She has twenty thousand pounds, so they could live fairly comfortably. But Richard asks, quite rightly, what he would do with himself if he left the Army. He cannot imagine himself becoming a gentleman of leisure. Our Richard is a man of action; he is not cut out to spend his time worrying about how his cravat is tied.”
“Have you a plan, m’dear?”
“Not yet. I thought I would talk with Darcy.”