A Little Mischief (8 page)

A few minutes later he went upstairs and entered Gretchen’s room. She was sitting up in bed, pillows propped behind her head.

“Oh, Danny!” she cried when he rounded the doorway into her bedchamber. “Thank heavens you’ve returned. What’s going to happen to me?”

He walked over to her and sat on the edge of the bed. He smiled at her, realizing he had not been much of a brother to her lately. With his father’s and brother’s deaths, she was his responsibility, and he’d left too much to his aunt. He wouldn’t leave London again until Gretchen was properly wed.

“Nothing as serious as we were led to believe by Miss Winslowe.”

“But I killed Mr. Throckmorten.”

“No, no, Gretchy, you didn’t. I don’t want to hear any more talk like that come out of your mouth. Mr. Throckmorten was not in Miss Winslowe’s garden, dead or otherwise.”

Her eyes rounded in hopeful confusion and her sobs quieted. “Are you sure?”

“Very.”

She wiped her eyes with her handkerchief and sniffed. “Where is he?”

“No doubt he’s at the nearest pub or club continuing to drown himself in liquor.”

“How do you know this?”

Daniel told Gretchen how the garden was empty when he arrived with Isabella and what he believed happened to Throckmorten. He insisted Gretchen failed to strike him and that he had just passed out from drinking too much. He left out the part that he planned to pay Boswell Throckmorten a visit as soon as he finished talking to her.

“Oh, Danny, I’m so glad he is not dead. I didn’t want him to be dead.” Gretchen threw her arms around her brother and hugged him tightly. “I’m so happy you’re home. I told Isabella you would know what to do. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, young lady. We’re not through. I want to know what were you doing in the garden alone with Mr. Throckmorten.”

Gretchen lowered her head. “I arranged to meet him there.”

“Did he try to harm you? Is that why you hit him?”

“No, I got scared after I saw him in the garden. I asked him to leave, and he didn’t want to, so I picked up the statue and hit him.”

Daniel took a deep breath. He wanted to be firm with Gretchen and he wanted to throttle Throckmorten, but it was difficult when over the years Daniel had asked many different young ladies to meet him in secret. He’d always considered it human nature to want to break the rules.

He didn’t feel that way anymore. He was an earl now, and his sister’s guardian, and with that came certain responsibilities. Instead of breaking the rules, he needed to enforce them.

“What you did was serious, Gretchen. Do you realize that? If this got out I’m not sure we could repair your reputation.”

She looked up at him. “I knew it was wrong. But Mr. Throckmorten was so handsome I was flattered when he noticed me.”

“You will have plenty of handsome men noticing you. But they need to be the right young men. In the meantime you can’t agree to meet alone with any of them. Do I make myself clear on that?”

She nodded. “I promise I won’t do it again, Danny. I don’t ever want to see him again.”

“Good.” He took her arms down and held her hands in his. “I’m glad that you have faith that I know what is best for you, because I must insist that you have nothing else to do with Mr. Throckmorten or Miss Winslowe.”

Gretchen leaned back against her mountain of pillows. “Isabella? Why? I—”

“She and her aunt left you vulnerable to compromise, and I can’t forgive that. You should have never been allowed to roam freely in their garden. Your reputation could have sustained irreparable damage.”

Gretchen lowered her head. “It was my fault. Not theirs.”

He lifted her chin with the tips of his fingers forcing her to look at him. “It’s sweet of you to want to accept all the blame for this incident, but you can’t. It was Miss Winslowe’s group. You were in Miss Winslowe’s care, and she failed in her responsibility to you.”

“But I—”

“Shh,” he said with growing solicitude. “Do not cross me on this, Gretchen. Aunt Mattie has obviously allowed you too much freedom to choose your own friends and make your own plans. I intend to be more particular about who you associate with now that I’m home. And that is especially true for men such as Mr. Throckmorten.”

A contemptuous expression settled across Gretchen’s pretty face. “Don’t worry, Danny. I don’t ever want to see him again.”

He wanted that whole debacle over and done with.

“I need a promise that you’ll stay away from Miss Winslowe as well.”

“But I so enjoy our reading group. Please don’t take that away from me,” she pleaded.

“I must. I can’t trust you in her care. Now I want your word.”

Gretchen continued to hesitate for a moment but finally said, “I promise.”

“Good. Now, do you feel like getting out of this bed and dressing for the parties?”

Her eyes brightened. “Yes, if I didn’t kill Mr. Throckmorten, there’s no reason why I can’t go and enjoy the parties.”

“No reason at all. Now up and get dressed for the evening. A dance or two with the right gentleman is just what you need.”

Gretchen gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Danny.”

Daniel rose from the bed and looked down at his sister. “And I’ll take care of Miss Winslowe.”

Five

He couldn’t keep his eyes off her. It was insane, really. Miss Winslowe was the last woman he wanted to claim his attention, but for some strange reason he found himself looking for her among the gorgeously gowned women and faultlessly dressed gentlemen.

It was easy to tell himself that his only interest in her was to watch her and to make sure she stayed away from Gretchen. It was much harder to convince himself that was true.

The party had been a crush all evening with far too many people invited for Lord Gleningwold’s house. Every time Daniel thought he’d move on to another party in search of Boswell Throckmorten, he’d spot Miss Winslowe again and thoughts of leaving fled. He’d gone to the man’s house earlier, but he wasn’t home. Daniel wanted to make sure the man stayed away from Gretchen.

Isabella was especially captivating tonight in her low-cut gown adorned with pearls, lace, and a cascade of golden-colored ribbons flowing from the high waist. When he’d met her earlier, she had looked very prim and proper in her afternoon dress, bonnet, and cloak.

Tonight she looked stunning with her honey-colored hair swept up in curls. And all the other gentlemen in attendance knew it, too. She was not without plenty of beaux at her side.

Daniel had been introduced to a bevy of lovely young ladies throughout the evening. He’d even danced with three or four of them before he stopped signing dance cards. Halfway into his second dance Daniel hung his head over the prospect of spending the next five weeks going from party to party searching for a young lady who would make a suitable match.

When it came to a wife, Daniel didn’t even know what kind of lady he was looking for. How could he just consider appearance when they were all at least pretty if not downright lovely? Most of them seemed eager enough to secure his admiration and obtain his fancy, and some of them were pleasant to converse with.

How could he have known it would be so difficult to pick out a wife? No doubt an arranged marriage would have suited him fine. Not a one of the ladies he’d met so far tonight intrigued him like Miss Winslowe had.

She had captivated him. She was lovely with her blond hair threaded with ivory- and gold-colored ribbons and arranged neatly on top of her head. Her skin was a beautiful, tempting shade that made him think of lighted alabaster and it looked kissably soft.

He’d kept his distance from her all evening, but that hadn’t kept him from seeing that her green eyes sparkled with laughter and confidence whenever she talked. She was poised and charming with everyone she talked to. After their chaotic encounter this afternoon, he was certain he never wanted to see her again, but his eyes kept searching the crowd for her.

Miss Winslowe was obviously intelligent and challenging. She was also trouble. Daniel had enough to manage right now without getting interested in a lovely menace.

Maybe he should put off finding a wife for himself and concentrate on finding a husband for Gretchen. Yes, that seemed to be the more sensible thing to do. Once he had her safely betrothed to an acceptable gentleman, he could then turn his attention back to finding a young lady to marry.

Too, it was Gretchen’s first Season and he’d wanted to see her properly engaged before everyone started heading to their country homes to avoid the summer heat. He would have to do what his aunt Mattie had failed to do. He was going to see to it that Gretchen took calls from only the right gentlemen.

But at the back of Daniel’s mind was the thought of what would happen to the Colebrooke lands if he should meet with an unfortunate accident as his brother, who died before having an heir. Daniel couldn’t bear the thought of the estate going to his cousin Bradford Turnbury.

Daniel had no doubt Bradford would gamble away the family fortune and all the lands that weren’t entailed before a year was up. If Bradford’s father hadn’t left him a sizable yearly allowance, Daniel was sure the man would be in debtor’s prison by now.

Daniel’s attention strayed back to Miss Winslowe. She was talking to their host, Earl Gleningwold. She stood taller than the short and rotund man, but by the smile on the older man’s face she had enthralled him with her charm.

Her smile was bright. Not once had he seen her use her fan or flutter her lashes. She was much too poised to rely on such feminine devices to gain or hold a man’s attention.

It was no wonder she had a dozen young ladies in her Wallflower Club. He could see how she put everyone she talked to at ease. As he watched her, Daniel was struck by the realization that he was attracted to her the way a man was attracted to a woman he wanted in his bed.

Why was that? When the room was full of beautiful young ladies, why was his body telling him Miss Winslowe was the one he wanted?

“Have you met her?”

Daniel turned to see Chilton Cummerford standing beside him. “Who?”

“Don’t feign innocence with me, Danny. It won’t work. You haven’t been able to take your eyes off her since you arrived.”

“You lie.”

Chilton gave him a devious smile. “Not by much.”

“By enough.”

It was one thing for Daniel to admit his attraction to Miss Winslowe to himself but quite another to admit it to his best friend. And there was no way in hell he’d tell Chilton about the debacle that happened with Miss Winslowe earlier in the afternoon. Daniel only wanted to forget about that.

“I should be happy to introduce you.”

“To whom?” Daniel said with some smugness.

Chilton laughed. “All right, Danny. We’ll play this your way. To the lady you are watching. Miss Winslowe, of course.”

Daniel folded his arms across his chest and gave Chilton an annoyed look. “I think you deliberately misled me earlier in the day when you spoke of her.”

“Truly? In what way?”

“From the way you talked about her, I thought her to be a shriveled-up old spinster who had nothing better to do than stir up mischief.”

“Really? I don’t remember saying anything about her age. I believe I said I’d leave it to you to form your own opinion of her. And by the way you’ve been watching her, I’d say you have and it’s good.”

Daniel looked out over the crowded dance floor again. It had always been a nuisance that Chilton knew him so well. In his younger days it hadn’t bothered him, but now it did. Privacy was more important to him than it used to be.

“I’m not watching her specifically,” Daniel lied to his friend and felt no guilt in doing so. “This is my first party in over a year, remember? I’m looking over all the young ladies tonight.”

“In that case, come let me introduce you to Miss Winslowe.”

Daniel looked at his friend. “We’ve met.”

Chilton’s eyebrows shot upward. “You don’t say? When?”

“Earlier.”

“Did you find her charming?”

“Not in the least.”

Chilton grinned. “You lie.”

Daniel turned to his friend and smiled. “Not by much.”

“By enough.”

Chilton and Daniel both laughed heartily at their mimic of their earlier conversation. “It’s good to have you back in Town.”

Daniel nodded. He was glad to be back in London, but he didn’t look forward to the two tasks ahead of him. He needed to find a husband for Gretchen and a wife for himself before the Season ended. That didn’t give him much time.

“How has she escaped marriage?” Daniel asked, searching the room for Miss Winslowe again.

“Who?”

“Are we going there again?”

Chilton chuckled. “No. I guess not. It’s your first party, and already you’ve set your sights on the one lady you’re not likely to get.”

Daniel knew Chilton was issuing him a challenge that he fully expected Daniel would take him up on, but he wasn’t falling for that.

“Believe me, Chilton, I do not have any designs on her, but if I did, what makes you think I couldn’t entice her to marry me?”