Cupid's Choice: She's a shy beauty in distress. He's a chivalric gentleman. (25 page)

“Indeed, I am very proud of you, my dear,” said Mrs. Caldar.

The butler came in again, this time with the intelligence that Sir Frederick was asking to see her ladyship and Miss Holland.

“Ah! Now we shall see whether this little drama shall have a happy ending or not,” said Lady Smythe. “Lord Holybrooke, Colonel and Mrs. Caldar, pray step upstairs to my private sitting room, where we shall comfortably await events. I must send a note round to my bishop, in any event.”

“Bishop?” repeated Colonel Caldar in bewildered accents.

“All in good time, my dear,” said Mrs. Caldar calmly. “I feel certain that her ladyship will explain everything to us.”

“I shall indeed explain it to you, sir, but upstairs,” said Lady Smythe firmly. She looked over at Guin. “My dear, I trust you are ready to meet with Sir Frederick?”

Guin clasped her hands tightly together. There was a nervous fluttering in her stomach. “I think so, my lady.”

“Guin?” asked Lord Holybrooke softly, inquiry in his eyes.

Guin smiled at her brother, understanding what he had left unsaid. “I must do this on my own, Percy.”

Lord Holybrooke nodded and went swiftly from the sitting room. Colonel Caldar and his wife left, as well.

“Very well! I shall have Sir Frederick sent up,” said Lady Smythe. She followed Lord Holybrooke and the Caldars from the room, and quietly closed the door.

So it was that when Sir Frederick entered the sitting room, thanking the butler civilly for showing him in, that he discovered only Miss Holland awaiting him.

He stopped short, then slowly came forward a few steps. He looked across at her in some puzzlement and concern. “Miss Holland? I came as soon as I had your note. I felt anxious when I read it. What is amiss? How may I be of service?”

“Sir Frederick!” Guin clasped and unclasped her hands. It was harder than she had imagined it would be to broach what burned in her heart. Again, upon seeing the kindness in his handsome face and hearing his politely worded query, the trepidation rose up inside her. Surely he could really have no overwhelming desire to wed her. He could not really love someone like her.

She started again. “Sir Frederick, I—I—” She turned away, her hands coming up to cover her burning cheeks. “Oh, how I wish I wasn’t such a timorous mouse!”

She heard Sir Frederick chuckle. Then he was close behind her, and his hands dropped comfortably onto her shoulders.

“Come, Guin! We have become too good of friends to find ourselves unable to reveal our thoughts to one another,” he said.

Guin took courage from the humorous quality in his voice, even though there was nothing in his words to encourage her. She turned under his hands so that she could look up into his face. In a breathless voice she asked, “Did you indeed offer for me, Freddy?”

Sir Frederick’s smile was wiped from his face. He stepped back from her, his hands dropping to his sides. “I thought you would have been told.”

Guin nodded. “I was, but not by my mother. It was Percy who told me. He quarreled bitterly with Mama over it, for he knew what would be my feelings when I learned of it.”

Sir Frederick grasped the salient point. “Your feelings?” His closed expression became suddenly intent. “What do you mean, Miss Holland? You are going to wed Mr. Lloyd.”

“That is Mama’s notion of a good match, but it is not mine. I have refused Mr. Lloyd’s offer,” said Guin baldly.

Her breath felt suddenly constricted in her throat as she saw a strange light kindling in his brown eyes. She hurried to finish all that she wanted to say. “Sir Frederick, I am not a great beauty or terribly sophisticated or even a well-trained hostess, such as you must require in a suitable wife, but—oh, Freddy! I do most sincerely love you, and if you will still have me—”

“Have you? My dearest darling!” Sir Frederick gathered her swiftly into his arms, smothering her with hard kisses, nearly crushing her with his impassioned embrace.

Guin made an inarticulate protest, and instantly he loosened his hold, though he kept his arms close about her.

Sir Frederick looked down into her face, his blazing gaze devouring her. Guin blushed rosily under the warmth of his scrutiny. “Oh! You mustn’t look at me just so. It—it makes my heart pound.”

“I am glad,” said Sir Frederick simply. He kissed her again, then regretfully set her a little away from him. “I love you profoundly, Guin. But we cannot be wed. We have not your mother’s consent, and you are underage.”

“But Percy, who is head of the family, gives his approval, and my uncle has brought a special license, and Lady Smythe is sending for a bishop,” said Guin with triumph. She laughed breathlessly at the bewilderment crossing his face.

Sir Frederick threw up his hand, shaking his head. “A moment! You go too fast for me, Guin. What is all of this?”

Guin moved apart to pull on the bell rope. She looked at him, her eyes gleaming with laughter. “I see that I must have Lady Smythe and the others help me to explain it to you. I think it only fair to warn you that I have every intention of wedding you out of hand, sir!”

When Lady Smythe and her guests came into the sitting room, it was to be greeted with the sight of Guin sitting quite close beside Sir Frederick on the sofa, her head on his shoulder and her hand clasped in his.

Lord Holybrooke whooped and stepped forward. As Sir Frederick rose, he enthusiastically grasped his hand and shook it. “Sir Frederick, I wish you and my sister very happy.”

“Thank you, but—” began Sir Frederick.

“Well, my dears, it turns out very well indeed,” said Lady Smythe approvingly, stooping to kiss a laughing Guin on one blushing cheek.

“As to that—” said Sir Frederick.

“I’ve got the special license right here,” said Colonel Caldar, patting his pocket. At his shoulder, Mrs. Caldar nodded and smiled.

“But, sir, I cannot wed your niece out of hand,” said Sir Frederick, finally able to get out a full sentence.

“Pooh! Nonsense!” said Colonel Caldar. “No such thing. Nothing more respectable than having myself and my wife and her brother in attendance.”

“I am head of the family. Besides, I will talk my mother round to accepting it afterward,” said Lord Holybrooke breezily.

“Nothing could be more respectable than a private ceremony, performed by a bishop of the church, with family and friends in attendance. Lord Holybrooke shall send a notice to that effect to the
Gazette
,”
said Lady Smythe. “It is already widely known you have accepted a post in Paris, Sir Frederick. If you and your bride choose to honeymoon in the French capital, I am certain none shall wonder at it.”

Sir Frederick burst out laughing. He drew Guin up to stand beside him. With his charming smile, he said, “It appears that we are to be wed willy-nilly, my dear. Shall you dislike it?”

“Oh, no! I am quite, quite ready,” said Guin with a blazing smile. “But I must tell you that I do not wish Mama to reside with us once we are returned to England. I do not think that would be at all comfortable.”

“No, by God!” exclaimed Sir Frederick, struck forcibly.

“I shall take care of Mama,” said Lord Holybrooke, squaring his shoulders manfully.

“Thank you, Percy,” said Guin, bestowing a luminous smile on her twin. “I knew I could count on you.”

The butler entered for the last time, to convey a whispered intelligence to Lady Smythe. Her ladyship turned once more to the assembled company. “The bishop has arrived!”

With great presence of mind, Lord Holybrooke plucked a bouquet of roses and baby’s breath out of a vase and handed them to his sister. Colonel Caldar straightened his coat and took his wife’s hand. Lady Smythe ushered in the bishop.

Sir Frederick clasped his bride’s hands, and together they faced the future.

A month later, in Paris, Guin received a letter from her brother. As she perused it, a smile on her face, her eyes widened in astonishment. She looked up, seeking her husband’s face across the breakfast table. “Freddy! You will never guess! Mama is to be married!”

Sir Frederick paused in buttering his toast. He looked his interest. “Indeed? Who is the unfor—I mean
fortunate
fellow?”

Guin started laughing, tears actually starting to her eyes. Through her mirth, she exclaimed, “Why, none other than Mr. Howard Lloyd! Freddy, Mama will one day be a marchioness!”

“Will she, by Jove! And she will have any number of residences of her own, I expect! I always liked that fellow Lloyd!” exclaimed Sir Frederick.

Other Books by Gayle Buck

The Righteous Rakehell   

Mutual Consent     Willowswood Match    

The Demon Rake

Love’s Masquerade    

The Fleeing Heiress     Cassandra’s Deception    

Belle’s Beau

Magnificent Match    

Honor Beseiged

Lady Althea’s Bargain    

Love For Lucinda    

Frederica’s Folly

Chester Charade    

Cupid’s Choice

Lord Darlington’s Darling    

A Chance Encounter

The Waltzing Widow     Tempting Sarah

Lord John’s Lady

Lord Rathbone’s Flirt

The Desperate Viscount    

Hearts Betrayed

The Hidden Heart

Miss Dower’s Paragon Lady Cecily’s Scheme

Regency Tales

Old Acquaintances     Holybrooke Curse

Christmas Cheer     Season of Joy

Regency Tales: Christmas Collection