Page 1 of Trusting Miss Austen (Miss Austen #3)

Derbyshire, August 1799

‘Mark my words, you are going to fix this, Felicity!’

Seraphina Fitzroy stood before the mantelpiece, hands on her hips, and fixed me with a thunderous glare.

I met her accusing gaze in silence, my mind still reeling from Lucinda’s shocking revelation.

We’d moved to the privacy of the parlour after Max heard Seraphina screeching and strode into the entrance hall to see what was happening. He’d taken one look at Lucinda’s tear-streaked face and ushered us into the adjoining room. Our servants were discreet, but only human. Any hint of a drama would naturally draw their curiosity, and this was a juicy piece of gossip indeed .

‘Calm down, Seraphina,’ said Max, now positioned between Lucinda and me on the sofa. ‘What on earth is going on?’

Seraphina’s sapphire eyes pierced me like a dagger. ‘Are you going to tell him, or should I? ’

I gulped and twisted my hands in my lap. ‘Uh, be my guest.’

Of course Max had to know, but it was marginally better coming from Seraphina’s lips. I had a feeling the less I said about my acquaintance with Dorian Hart, the better.

‘Very well.’ She took a deep breath and lifted her prominent chin.

‘I placed my daughter in the explicit care of your wife, Max. She agreed to chaperone Lucinda in Bath and introduce her to society with the intention of meeting a suitable husband.’

I screwed up my nose at that. Seraphina had forced me into the role of chaperone! But I kept my mouth shut and let her continue.

‘When Lucy wrote to me saying she was being courted by a man called Dorian Hart, I immediately turned to you for further information from your wife about his character. She wrote back saying everything was in hand and Lucy was quite safe!’ Her voice rose an octave.

I shifted in my seat as I felt Max’s thigh muscle twitching .

‘But now I discover this wasn’t the case at all,’ she continued. ‘My daughter was never safe with that man, and it is all Felicity’s fault!’

‘I don’t understand,’ said Max, sounding confused. ‘Yes, we know Dorian Hart is a rogue, but I thought he was no longer on the scene. Has he been writing to Lucy or—?’

‘She’s expecting his child, for God’s sake!’ spat Seraphina, deciding not to mince words.

Max’s whole body jerked; and Lucy, on his other side, started sniffling anew. ‘Oh no,’ he breathed, sounding horrified. ‘No no no! ’

‘Oh yes yes yes! ’ said Seraphina tightly. ‘She’s two months gone. My doctor has confirmed it. She was seduced at Hartmoor Castle, where your wife was supposed to be chaperoning her.’

Max’s head swivelled slowly round to me, and my heart sank when I saw his face. His usual healthy complexion was deathly pale, and his eyes were wide with shock. His jaw clenched and unclenched in quick succession, and I knew I was in deep trouble if I did not defend myself immediately.

I leapt up from the sofa and rounded on Seraphina. ‘I did everything in my power to protect Lucy at Hartmoor! I even locked her into her room. In fact, I locked all of us ladies in!’

Max gaped at me. ‘You locked everyone into their rooms?’

I rubbed the back of my hot, sweaty neck. ‘Well, yes, after I found out Dorian wanted to marry Lucy for her money. He and his friend Mr Smith-Withers were on the port ... It was a precaution ...’

Max’s eyes narrowed.

Too late I realised that my nervousness at being confronted by Seraphina had caused me to slip up. This was a detail of our stay at Hartmoor that I had not previously given to Max. Neither had I relayed my bribery attempt or Dorian’s subsequent attempt to seduce me. It was purely for Max’s own protection that I had not done so. He had a hot temper and was very protective of his womenfolk. There was no telling what he would do if he found out that Dorian had tried to ravish me with raspberries and cream.

The steely glint in Max’s eyes suggested that he was about to interrogate me further, but fortunately, Lucinda came to my rescue.

‘Please, Mama, Uncle Max. It was not Aunty Fliss’s fault!’ she cried. ‘She had no idea what was happening ... Dorian used a secret passage ...’

Now it was my turn to be confused .

A secret passage?

But even as I thought it, I surmised it was possible. For a rogue who knew Hartmoor castle like the back of his hand, anything was possible. There had been a secret passage from my bedroom to his art studio, so why not one to hers? And had I not escaped through one in the dungeon to the inn? The entire castle was probably riddled with them !

‘I ... I don’t know where the passage led to. He didn’t tell me. All I knew was that it was in my wardrobe. He came through on the first night we arrived, and I almost died of fright when the wardrobe door creaked open, especially as we had just been talking about ghosts ...’

‘Wait a moment,’ I said. ‘The first night?’

She nodded, lowering her eyes, and I groaned inwardly.

Locking her in had not made the slightest bit of difference! Dorian had planned on having access to her from day one. He had even gone so far as to tell her to pick the pink room because it matched her ‘pretty colouring’ .

I had thought I was clever, but I was not. If I had been really smart, I would have kept Lucinda in my room with me, where he could not touch her.

Still keeping her eyes downcast, she said, ‘It was not entirely Dorian’s fault either. I wanted to learn ...’ She drew a quick breath. ‘ Things . I thought that if we were going to be married, then I should know how to please him. And he agreed. He said to think of it as a higher education, one that I would not receive from a governess or my parents ...’

Seraphina’s face turned puce.

Oh Lord, I thought. If she ever gets her hands on Dorian Hart, she’s going to kill him.

** *

It was well after midnight by the time we showed Seraphina and Lucinda to their rooms. We kept a few made up in case of unexpected visitors so they had fresh sheets on their beds at least, if not water to wash in, since I wasn’t going to rouse a maid at this time of night.

Seraphina wanted to keep discussing the issue, but the rest of us were exhausted, Lucinda especially. And I pointed out that she needed her rest since she was expecting. I nearly said that she also didn’t need to be dragged halfway across the countryside just so her mother could accuse me of my ‘misdemeanours’.

But there was no point adding fuel to the fire. I was already on Seraphina’s blacklist and couldn’t quite see how I was going to get off it. Her insisting that I ‘fix’ Lucinda’s problem was futile. What was I supposed to do? Travel back in time?

Max was worryingly quiet as we prepared for bed. Now that the initial shock had worn off, I couldn’t fathom what he was thinking. I looked over at him from the washstand where he was lying under the covers, as still as a statue, staring up at the ceiling. I joined him presently .

‘What is on your mind, dearest?’ I enquired tentatively. I did not think I could bear it if he was angry with me too, not after having borne the brunt of Seraphina’s temper .

Max sighed despondently. ‘I was thinking that Dorian Hart has effectively ruined Lucy’s life.’ I stiffened, and he said quickly, ‘I am not blaming you, my love. I know you did everything in your power to sever their connection once you found out his true nature.’

He reached for my hand, his warm fingers immediately striking warmth into my cold ones, and my tension eased.

‘I know I said it would be recompense if she married Harrington, but he will never want her now,’ he continued. ‘Not when she has been sullied by his brother—and even more than that, carrying his child! He would have to be a saint or a fool to propose to her, and all the while, the scoundrel himself gets off scot-free.’ Max rubbed at his jaw dejectedly. ‘If I thought it was the best thing to do, I would jolly well make Dorian marry her. But under the circumstances, I think it would cause Lucy even more pain.’

I breathed a sigh of relief at hearing him say that. Dorian Hart merrily partaking in family Christmas dinners and playing footsie with me under the table was the last thing I wanted .

‘We have to look on the bright side,’ I said. ‘Lucy and Harrington have been writing regularly to each other since our trip to Bath, and he is proving himself to be a solid, dependable suitor. There is always a chance that he will want Lucy, even once he finds out she is expecting. We should let him decide for himself rather than being so quick to judge. He still cared for his fiancée, Rose, and was quite prepared to marry her despite her involvement with his brother. It was Rose who ultimately did not want him .’

‘Hmm,’ said Max, sounding unconvinced, and a pang of fear entered my heart. What if it had been me? I wondered. What if I somehow had been carrying another man’s child after we were engaged, would Max still have wanted to marry me? It was bad enough that he had married beneath him, but a scandal of that nature would have been hard for a gentleman of his standing to overlook. I doubted very much whether I would be lying next to him in bed right now if that had occurred.

‘We cannot rely on him. We need to devise a plan that protects Lucy’s reputation,’ Max went on to say. ‘And all of ours.’

He was right. If word got out, the disgrace would ruin the Fitzroy family name. None of us would be able to hold our heads up in society .

***

The next day, after breakfast, I extricated Lucinda from Seraphina’s clutches and took her for a walk in the garden. Judging from the paleness of her face and faltering steps, she had not slept well.

Keeping the conversation casual, I chatted about the lovely weather (sunny with a light wind) and pointed out the latest improvement that Max and I were making to the garden (a pergola). But Lucinda was not attending, and I could hardly blame her. What was a pergola when your life was on the verge of being ruined?

‘Have ... have you been ill at all?’ I asked her tentatively, knowing that morning sickness was common in the first three months.

She shook her head and drew her shawl around her with a shiver, though the day was warm. I gestured to a wooden bench and suggested we sit for a while. We sat without speaking, staring out at the raised beds of petunias and daisies that were in full bloom. Bees hummed, flying from flower to flower.

‘If you do not mind me asking, how did your mother find out?’ I asked eventually. ‘Surely she is not privy to your time of the month?’ But I would not put it past Seraphina to mark off the calendar each month to assess her daughter’s fertility. She was determined that Lucinda should find a suitable match, and it was why she had packed her off to Bath like a prize cow with me as chaperone in the first place. However, her daughter having a child out of wedlock was most certainly not the master plan .

‘Mama read my private journal,’ said Lucinda dejectedly. ‘I was stupid enough to leave it open on my dresser. I was attempting to write a romantic novel and use my life experiences, as Aunt Jane had encouraged me to do. But I gave my main character the name Luella, so I suppose Mama became suspicious.’

‘A romantic novel?’ I repeated, taken aback.

Lucinda nodded. ‘Yes, it was a way to make sense of my feelings for Dorian Hart and his betrayal. Unfortunately, the story turned into more of a horror than a romance as Luella stabbed him to death.’

I tried to stifle my chuckle, but it still escaped. And Lucinda huffed a small laugh. ‘Anyway, when I was out visiting my friend Alice, Mama went into my room—for what purpose, I do not know. But she happened to see my journal and decided to read the whole thing! She called me into the parlour when I returned and demanded to know if the story was based on fact because the male character who visited Luella’s bedroom and seduced her was an Italian man called Dario.’

‘Oh dear,’ I murmured, thinking that Lucinda needed to work on her character names if she wanted to disguise her private life in future.

‘Mama was shocked at what I had written, and I admit it was rather detailed on the particulars, for I was writing what I had experienced! Then she enquired when I had last had my monthlies, and I could not remember at first. When she pressed me, I recalled it had been in Bath, just after we arrived. “But you have had none since?” she asked me, and it was then I realised that I had not and said as such. Mama’s face went pale, and she gripped the back of the sofa and looked as if she might faint. Then she started getting angry, and there was some shouting ... Well, you can imagine. It was as much of a shock to me as it was to her—probably more so!’

Lucinda’s voice wobbled, and I took her hand and held it tightly. ‘Go on, dearest.’

She took a shuddering breath. ‘I had not imagined that this would be the outcome of my ... encounter with Dorian. The first night he came to my room, he lay beside me on the bed, and we kissed, and it was lovely. He told me that he cared for me and that he would propose soon and that he wished to ... consummate ... our engagement. I told him I thought it was sinful to do that before our wedding night. But he said it was perfectly fine and everyone did nowadays, and would I rather not be modern than old-fashioned?’

I shook my head. ‘Of course he would say that,’ I muttered. ‘Despicable man.’

‘The next night, he talked again of marriage, and I said I wanted to learn how to please him. He undid his breeches and instructed me. I suppose I must have done it well enough as he was ...’ She looked around and lowered her voice. ‘Extremely satisfied. ’

I raised my eyebrows, feeling shocked at her speaking so plainly and that this had been going on without my knowledge!

‘Oh, I know you must think me base, Aunty Fliss,’ she said hurriedly. ‘Yet I did it because I wanted him to consider me a grown woman, and I thought I would be his wife.’

I gulped, unsure if I wanted to hear any more details, but Lucinda was on a confessional roll.

‘In truth, this was why I did not want you to spend the night in my room. After Mr Smith-Withers told us about Royden’s ghost and I almost fainted, Dorian whispered in my ear that I need not be afraid as he would come to me that night and comfort me. He told me he wanted to return the favour I had given him. And oh he did, and it was so pleasing! I told him afterwards that I loved him and would do anything he wanted.’

Blast , I thought. I had been right to be bothered about him saying things that I could not hear. I should have insisted I stay in her room!

‘But the night after that, everything was different,’ she said. ‘I was so happy to see Dorian appear in my room because he had been ignoring me all day. I thought I had annoyed him and he had come to kiss and make up. However, he seemed very agitated. I hugged him and spoke kindly to him, and he relaxed. But one thing led to another ... We both got caught up in our desire. Before I knew what was happening, he was on top of me and ... well ...’

She looked out over the garden, pressing her lips together into a flat line.

‘I cried a little afterwards as it had hurt, but he did not comfort me. He did up his breeches and said that my future husband would thank him for “breaking me in”. I was confused and said that I thought he was going to be my husband. But he said he didn’t know what I was talking about and accused me of trying to trap him into marriage. He sounded so cold and distant. It was like he was a different person. When I realised that I had been a naive fool and that he had tricked me, I let out a loud cry of distress, and he swore and swiftly left through the wardrobe. Then you came in and thought I’d had a bad dream.’

I listened to her with growing dread, realising that the night in question was the same night Dorian had encountered me in his art studio, where he had tried to kiss me with little success. And when he’d tried to lift up my dress, I’d slapped him. I groaned inwardly, remembering the surly look on his face. I roused his anger, and he took his revenge on Lucinda! It is my fault she’s with child!

I buried my face in my hands. ‘I am so sorry, Lucy. Your mama is right to blame me. I blame myself too!’

But Lucinda would hear none of it. ‘Oh no, Aunty Fliss,’ she said kindly, putting an arm around my shoulders. ‘Please do not. And do not listen to Mama. She is only looking for a scapegoat. But she was not there. If she had been, she would have seen how well you tried to protect me. I was so enamoured with Dorian that I eagerly believed everything he said. I thought we would be married. That is why I allowed him to take liberties with me. If I had known he had no intention of marrying me, then I would not have.’

I thought back to my conversation with Jane at Hartmoor and how we’d decided not to tell Lucinda that Dorian was nefarious in case she didn’t believe us. We should have told her immediately. What a mess!

I straightened up with a sigh and patted her hand. ‘And what of his brother, Harrington? He has no clue, I take it?’

‘No, and that is the worst thing of all,’ said Lucinda quietly. ‘Mama wishes me to conceal it from Harry so he never finds out.’

‘Do you believe he cares for you?’

Lucinda nodded. ‘We have not met in person since I left Bath. But his letters are affectionate, and I believe he holds me in high regard, as I do him.’

‘But if he finds out you are expecting his brother’s child?’

She shook her head. ‘Mama fears he will run away as fast as he can, and I am inclined to agree with her. What happened with Rose was so painful that I do not think he could bring himself to marry me if he knew. So if he did propose, I would have to keep it from him. But how could I ever do such a thing? He is a good man!’ She burst into tears, and my heart sank.

Max was right. Lucinda’s future happiness was in dire straits indeed!