“They are really quite handsome, both of them,” Fanny replied diplomatically, trying hard not to reveal how envious she was of her archenemy.
But in vain, as Emma’s small knowing smile told without words. Fanny guessed it wasn’t too hard to figure out, as she had been staring at them with fire in her eyes for several minutes.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there will be an announcement not too far in the future,” Emma said superciliously. “Charmaine is too beautiful to remain unengaged for too long, now that Hereford has finally returned to England.”
Fanny faced a temptation to blurt out something stupid, like telling Emma how she’d overheard the conversation in the restroom, or saying that Devlin certainly didn’t act like a more-or-less-engaged man when he was with her. Instead, she changed the subject.
“So you are Sebastian’s guest today? I must admit I found it a bit strange when I heard about you two, as I didn’t even think you knew each other.”
Emma blushed, not at all happy with Fanny’s choice of subject. “When your brother heard I was going to miss today’s picnic, he nicely enough asked me to join your family. It was courteous of him, because I like picnics and would have been sad not to attend.”
“Oh, really?” Fanny snorted. “And here I thought it was just because Mother felt sympathy for you and forced him to accompany you without regard for his feelings about it.”
She regretted her harsh words as soon as they left her lips, but it was too late. Emma turned pale with shock, obviously without a clue that Sebastian had been coerced into inviting her.
Fanny started to apologize, but Emma murmured an almost inaudible, “Please, don’t,” before she turned abruptly and left.
“Emma?” Fanny groaned with embarrassment, feeling lower than low. It wasn’t Emma’s fault Charmaine and Devlin could be courting. And it certainly wasn’t Emma’s fault Fanny felt upset over Devlin gazing a bit too admiringly at Charmaine. She had done nothing but be a true friend. It was Fanny who was behaving like a fool. She surprised herself by her own behavior. She had reacted like a woman madly in love, one who wanted to mark her territory, not the well-behaved debutante of good family she was supposed to be. Was this how you knew you were in love?
“What’s the problem, my dear?”
Rake put his arm around her waist as he joined her at the food table, and she welcomed his loving embrace. He kissed the top of her head, and she sighed again, but this time it was a contented sigh. He had always been her favorite uncle and her best friend, ever since she was a little girl.
“I heard Charmaine tell her friends she was being courted by Devlin.”
“What?”
It was amazing how much better she felt, just because of Rake’s obvious surprise.
“Do you think it could be true?” she asked him and almost held her breath, waiting for his answer.
He didn’t answer her at first, his eyes darting from Devlin to Charmaine, as if just looking at them would give him his answer.
“No, I don’t think it’s true. Or, to put it a little more honestly, I know it isn’t.”
“How can you be so sure?” she asked, although she knew the only way he could know was if Devlin himself had told him about it.
But Rake was not interested in retelling his conversation with Devlin, as his head was filled with the delicate problem of the incomparable Charmaine.
“What I would like to know is why Charmaine tells such a lie? She can have anyone she wants, so why go for Devlin? And why entrap herself with a snare of lies? It is quite a big thing to tell your friends you are courted by someone, especially as she has no reason at all to believe it will actually happen.”
“Doesn’t she?” Fanny frowned toward the conversing couple. “I disagree with you there. She has all the reasons in the world, starting with the obvious one. She is the most beautiful young woman of the
ton
. Men with lesser titles than Devlin’s have married a pretty face to make the family heirlooms look good when she carries them.”
“So young, and yet so full of knowledge of the crudity of the real world.” Rake grinned at her. “I just wish you would use this rare wisdom more randomly and not save it only for Charmaine.”
Fanny ignored the remark about her random intelligence, as her head was filled with the delicate problem of Charmaine and her maybe-suitor Devlin.
“All those proposals she has received from most of the unmarried men of the
ton
must have gone to her head. Otherwise I can’t think of anything to make her so confident about Devlin wanting her.”
“He can’t have met her much, as he came to London at the end of the last season and didn’t attend any of the official social functions,” Rake said as he pondered Fanny’s words. “And as far as I know, they haven’t met during the off season, as Devlin has not been anywhere near London or Berkshire. I guess I have to agree with you. She must be relying on the fact there is no one who can match her beauty. She must think a proposal is only a couple of days away if she plays it right. I mean, just look at them. She’s practically showering him with attention, and any other man would have been down on his knees already, begging her for mercy.”
“But not Devlin?”
Rake smiled. “No, not Devlin. You see, I know from a really good source that his interest is captured by another woman, one who knocked him off his feet yesterday.”
Fanny blushed, feeling very pleased with her uncle’s answer. So Devlin had told Rake he was interested in her? How nice.
She looked at the gorgeous couple again, and this time she met Devlin’s gaze. He gave her a wink and a smile, and all her doubts disappeared. Rake told the truth, she was certain of it, because Devlin would not be so openly flirtatious with her if he were courting the woman at his arm.
Fanny blushed, and she could tell Devlin found her reaction funny, as she could see his shoulders move as he chuckled.
Charmaine, catching the direction of his glance, apparently didn’t like her beau looking at another woman. As she walked farther from Fanny, Devlin, being a gentleman, had no choice but to follow.
However, this time Fanny didn’t mind.
She had her answer. Devlin was not courting Charmaine. For the moment, he was all hers, although she was realistic enough to take it for what it was, an attraction. The season had just begun, and there was too much going on during the next three months to guarantee the attraction would last.
But for now, she and Devlin had started something, and she could hardly wait to find out what would become of it.
With a last glance at Charmaine, who hung on Devlin’s arm flaunting her most flirtatious smile, Fanny said, “I never thought I would say this, but somehow I feel sorry for her.” She frowned. “She is the most beautiful person ever to set foot in an English ballroom, and yet she has to lie about being courted. Penny says Charmaine has had over a hundred eligible bachelors asking for her hand, but she has refused them all, to everyone’s surprise. I can’t help but agree with you. There is something more to it.”
Rake nodded thoughtfully.
“Penny has been wondering why she keeps saying no,” Fanny continued. “When Lord Dane asked for her hand, she refused him, too, and Penny got really worried, as she knew he was very special to her sister. She said Charmaine had once admitted she wouldn’t mind moving to Yorkshire, where he has his country estate, if he ever would propose. Nevertheless, when he finally did, she told him no.”
Rake looked at her with astonishment.
“Really? Lord Dane?”
“Penny said she turned him down in the most brutal way, and it is such a mystery. One day she was madly in love with him and spoke nothing but good about him. But the next day she called him every horrid name she could think of and said she didn’t want to hear his name again.”
“How strange. I know Lord Dane, and he is a good man, honest and kind. His fortune is quite large, and his family is well connected. He would have been a really good choice for a girl without a dowry to speak of.”
They looked at Charmaine where she stood, laughing and flirting with Devlin and her constant ring of other suitors. She was perfect, not a hair out of place. She looked just like the stunning diamond of the first water that she was.
And yet both Rake and Fanny pitied her.
“Well,” Rake mused. “Maybe we should talk to Penny and ask her if she knows something more, so we can stop this scandal before it happens. Our friends in the
ton
will destroy her if they ever find out she lied about being courted by Devlin. They like nothing better than to knock a goddess off her pedestal.”
Fanny directed their steps to where Penelope stood with Lord and Lady Nester, and one moment later they were chatting amiably.
Penelope’s mother was of an agreeable personality but a little naïve and too easily impressed. Penelope loved her dearly, but sometimes she got impatient with her vagueness.
Her father, on the other hand, was the jolly kind, and his loud, booming laughter could always be heard over any crowd’s chatter. Fanny didn’t know much about him, other than that he wasn’t a rich man, and that he was impressed with her family.
He always made a big fuss about her whenever she paid Penelope a visit, sometimes so much it became awkward and embarrassing.
Lord Nester was extremely pleased when they joined his little group, and Fanny thought he would have hugged Rake if his wife weren’t at his arm.
“Lord Richard,” he beamed. “How nice of you to join us!”
He nodded lightly toward Fanny, not quite so impressed by her, as he had known her since she was a wee little girl.
“It’s our pleasure,” Rake drawled, and Fanny had to bite her lip to stop the laughter that threatened to burst out over his obvious lie. “Have you been enjoying the picnic, my lady?” he asked Lady Nester.
Before the good lady had a chance to open her mouth, her husband gave his loud, booming laugh.
“Of course we have. It has been a real treat. The ladies have most certainly outdone themselves this year, turning this boring park into such a wonderland of flowers and colors.”
Lady Nester opened her mouth again, but her husband continued to ignore her.
“And the lemonade…” He kissed his fingers and continued in the worst French accent ever heard, “
C’est magnifique
.”
“Yes, very good indeed,” his wife agreed, bobbing her head, clearly giving up any thought of having an opinion of her own.
“Pity, though, Charmaine isn’t here with us. She would have loved your company. But she is so popular, you know, and we can’t hold her to us more than a few minutes before someone ushers her away. But for you, Lord Richard, we can call her over.”
Lord Nester waved his hand toward his eldest daughter, and Penelope looked nauseous. Her father wasn’t the best with etiquette, and Fanny knew Penelope sometimes found him terribly embarrassing.
Rake saved her from having to endure her father’s shouts by grabbing hold of Penelope’s hand.
“We just want to borrow Penny for a short while, and we will soon be back with her. If it’s all right with you, of course?”
Before Lord and Lady Nester could say anything, Rake practically dragged the girls away, heading toward the outskirts of the picnic area, where they could talk more privately without anyone overhearing.
“I’m so sorry,” Penelope breathed when they halted. “He is a little too eager sometimes, and tends to forget himself.”
“Nothing to speak of.” Rake shrugged.
Fanny let go of his arm and went to a stone bench at the side of the walkway, where she sat, gently spreading the skirt of her gown. Penelope joined her, and Rake paced to and fro before them, as he had a habit of doing when he had something on his mind.
He was a delight to look upon, this big, splendid man with dark brown hair and light gray, laughing eyes. After Devlin, he was the most sought-after bachelor in the
ton
. He was not highly titled, as he was a mere seventh son of a duke, and because of this the mamas placed him only second in the most-wanted-for-a-husband list.
Still, no woman had yet made him even consider marriage, and Fanny had a feeling he had no intention of ever getting married. He led a good life as it was, and there was no lack of willing women throwing themselves in his way in their eagerness to put themselves between his sheets.
This was unfortunate for Penelope, since she had been madly in love with him for many years. Rake had never noticed Penelope’s admiration. As far as Fanny knew, he had never thought about her other than as his niece’s friend.
“Fanny and I feel we have to talk to you about your sister,” Rake blurted out, having finally decided how to start this uncomfortable conversation.
“W-what?” Penelope stuttered, caught off guard.
“As you are Fanny’s friend, I think there is no other choice for me than to inform you about this first.”
He sat down between the two women and grabbed Penelope’s hands. If someone else had looked in their direction, they probably would have thought he was going to ask her to marry him, which would have been funny indeed, if it weren’t for Penelope looking devastated.
“Oh, my God,” she said in a harsh, broken voice. “You’re going to marry Charmaine.”
Chapter 11
Rake became still.
“No, of course not,” Fanny said, rushing in to break the awkward silence. “Rake doesn’t even like Charmaine, as you are aware.”
Penelope looked from Fanny to Rake, who stared at her with a strange look in his face.
“You’re not? You don’t?” she asked him with tears in her eyes.
He blinked a couple of times before he let go of her hands and stood up. He opened his mouth, then closed it again as if he didn’t know what to say.
Suddenly, without another word, he bowed and left them sitting there by themselves.
“What was this?” Fanny mused, looking at her uncle’s disappearing back. Penelope opened her purse and lifted her handkerchief to her teary eyes.