Jilted in January (3 page)

“Miss Leyton?” he called out. “Are you all right?”

She didn’t answer, but he was now convinced it was indeed her and kept on.

“Miss Leyton?”

He paused on the edge of a small clearing where someone had placed a stone bench to find Miss Leyton sitting there, her head bowed and her shoulder turned away from him.

“Go away.”

He ignored her faint command and, having two sisters of his own and recognizing a damsel in distress, advanced farther into the circle until he could sit down beside her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked gently.

“Nothing.”

Again, having dealt with sisters, he ignored her flat statement and waited patiently beside her. There was a piece of paper clenched in her fist.

“Have you received bad news?”

She shuddered.

He tried again. “I do hope your brother is well?”

“My brother is perfectly fine, thank you.”

Ah, progress. “And your sister?”

“She too is in excellent health.”

He waited another few moments, but she offered no more information. “Then what has upset you?”

She finally looked at him. “My betrothal has been broken off.”

“Good Lord!
How
?”

“By wont of my betrothed marrying another woman.”

Her brown eyes were bright with tears, and her chin was at a defiant angle, daring him to feel sorry for her.

He struggled to control his unexpected leap of happiness at her news and tried to sound dispassionate. “That was remarkably thoughtless of him. And how did you find out this news?”

“From my faithless brother, who attended the wedding.” She thrust the scrap of paper at him. “He told me that it was for the best—that Henry had changed and was no longer the man I had known and loved.” Her mouth twisted. “He advised me to find ‘another’—as if I am able to do that being buried in the countryside with a group of old biddies and no money for a Season.”

“With all due respect, Miss Leyton, your brother sounds like a fool.”

Her arrested gaze met his. “Yes, he is. How kind of you to notice that.”

“Then perhaps you are better off without both of them?”

She twisted her hands together in her lap. “I suspect you may be right, but it is extremely mortifying to be jilted. I was starting to assume Henry would be returning soon and had shared my plans with him for our wedding. Mayhap that’s what scared him into marrying someone else.”

“If it did, then he is also a fool.” Colin cleared his throat. “Has Henry written to you himself?”

“Not yet. My brother says he intends to do so, but he’s probably too busy enjoying the pleasures of married life to be bothered communicating with an aging spinster.”

He tried not to wince at the bitterness of her tone. “You are hardly that, Miss Leyton.”

She glared at him. “
I’m twenty-five.
”

“And I’m thirty, but I refuse to believe either of us are in our dotage.”

“You’re a man. You can marry whenever you please.”

“Not if I have neither fortune nor property to offer a woman. Who would choose to marry a nonentity like me? I work for my living.”

“At least you can do that. All I can do is become a governess or a paid companion, and apparently, according to my brother and sister, that is not
an acceptable choice for a Leyton
and would bring shame upon
them
.”

Colin hid a smile. “In truth, Miss Leyton, I can see no reason why you won’t be happily engaged to be married again soon. You are intelligent, resourceful and…”

“Not beautiful enough to be married without a fortune. I am blessed with a mere competence.”

He studied her clear profile. “I think you underestimate yourself. Many men value more than just a pretty face. Myself included.”

She heaved a sigh. “It doesn’t matter, does it? I’m stuck here until the new duke is found. I promised Great-Aunt Maude that I would stay and support her.”

Colin rose and offered her his hand. “And then after that, perhaps you could go and stay with your sister in London? I am sure she would be more than willing to chaperone you through a Season.”

She rolled her eyes. “You obviously don’t know my sister, Violet. Nothing is allowed to disturb the order of her world or put her to too much effort. She lives to be cossetted and admired, not to aid her older and plainer sister. She’s never forgiven me for getting engaged before she did.”

“You don’t know that for certain,” Colin pointed out as they walked back together in the direction of the stables. “Marriage might have changed her.”

His answer was an inelegant snort, which made him want to smile again. At least Miss Leyton hadn’t cried all over him. He appreciated that immensely.

“Do you intend to write to your brother?”

“No. Nothing I have to say is fit to put in a letter. I will look forward to seeing him face-to-face on his return. He says he will be home before the end of the month.”

“Where exactly is he going to reside?”

She paused to look up at him a crease between her brows. “That’s a good question. I suppose he might come here. Our home in Great Dunmow is let to a retired military couple until the end of this current year. And Great-Aunt Maude thinks the world of him.”

“She would.” Colin tucked her gloved hand back into the crook of his elbow and continued along the path. “She is somewhat susceptible to a charming young man.”

“Well, you should know.”

“I am hardly young, charming, or a member of your family.”

“My great-aunt hopes the new duke will agree to sponsor me into society. She says that if he already
has
a family, they will all have to be presented at court anyway, so he might be inclined to include one more impoverished family member, such as myself, amongst the crowd.”

“And what if he isn’t married?”

“Then I assume that now that I am a spinster, she will expect him to offer me a larger dowry to get rid of me or marry me himself.”

Colin glanced down at her resolute face. “Would you do that? Marry a man you’ve never met before?”

“And become a duchess?” She stopped walking and bit down on her lip. “I’m not sure. I always assumed I’d marry for love, and look where that has gotten me. Mayhap it is time for me to be more like my sister and marry for position and wealth.”

Colin stared at her as an unexpected sense of disappointment settled in his stomach.

She raised her chin again. “You think I am being mercenary, don’t you?”

“I think you are upset because of your broken betrothal,” he said carefully. “I cannot believe you would marry a man you could never love.”

“I suspect you are right. Shall we go and visit the cottages and forget we had this horrible conversation? I would much rather concentrate on doing something positive than dwell on my sorrows.”

He bowed and brought her gloved hand to his lips. “That’s the spirit, Miss Leyton.”

“Thank you for being so kind to me.” Rose stared straight ahead at the stables, willing herself not to cry or further embarrass her companion.

He raised his eyebrows. “I did no more than any friend would do for another.”

“I’ll wager you even had your handkerchief ready in case I threw myself on your chest and cried my eyes out.”

“I have to admit it wouldn’t be the first time that has happened to me.” He showed her his folded handkerchief. “I have two sisters and was often their only confidant.”

“Your sisters were very lucky to have such a considerate brother.”

He shrugged. “I hardly had a choice in the matter. As the youngest son, I was at home with them for the longest time and went from being something of their pet to their champion.”

“They were most fortunate. My brother always viewed me as an irritant. I am beginning to suspect he’s the one who bullied his friend into offering for me in the first place so I would no longer be on his hands.”

“That seems rather… unlikely.”

“You don’t know my brother. He is remarkably managing.”

He inclined his head and offered her his arm. “Shall we proceed to the stables now?”

She took the hint and walked alongside him.

“I have embarrassed you.”

“Not at all, Miss Leyton.”

“I should not have confided in you so readily. I do apologize.”

“We are friends, are we not?”

“Unconventional ones.”

“Which is the value of not having a duke and his duchess living on the estate, making us all behave. I doubt the duchess would’ve let you come and help me with the estate.”

“That is true. The dowager duchess and Great-Aunt Maude are far too busy scoring points off each other to care about me.” Rose said. “And I have enjoyed working alongside you very much. You have given me a purpose in life, which most unmarried ladies of my acquaintance struggle to find.”

“You are perhaps exceptional.”

He steered her around a fallen log and opened the gate that led into the stable yard.

“No, I don’t think I am. But young ladies are not allowed to use their intelligence except to catch a husband. I’m not sure if I can be bothered to turn myself into a breathless debutante again.”

“Once you are over your… disappointment, I’m certain you will feel differently.”

“I’m not sure about that.” Good Lord, she sounded so uncertain. It was most unlike her, but her whole world had changed, and she had no idea what to do about it.

Mr. Ford attracted the attention of Mr. Coyne, the Irishman who ran the stable yard and tended to the deceased duke’s race horses.

“Good morning, Mr. Coyne.”

“Good morning, Mr. Ford, Miss Leyton. The gig’s ready for you. I’ll get young Joey to bring it round.”

“Thank you.”

Rose waited quietly beside her companion until the gig arrived. The shock of her brother’s unexpected letter settled inside her like an unwelcome wave of freezing water. She’d been engaged to be married since she was seventeen, and now she was no longer young or about to become Henry’s wife. It was quite peculiar. She was free of ties but also more dependent on the dukedom than she had been before. She had become just another poor relation scrabbling to gain the duke’s favor…

“Miss Leyton?”

Mr. Ford was waiting patiently to help her step up into the gig. Gathering her skirts, she took his hand and moved forward. He had been most kind to her, but would he now prefer her not to bother him? She would miss his company most grievously. He was funny, charming, and more than willing to consider her opinion, a phenomenon unknown among the other gentleman of her acquaintance. As an unattached female, her freedom to help him had now been lost unless she provided herself with a chaperone.

Resolving not to think about that or any of her other problems, Rose looked straight ahead. If this was to be her last outing with Mr. Ford, she was determined to enjoy every minute of it.

Chapter Three

“And they all lived happily ever after… amen,” Rose murmured most irreverently, her words drowned out by the loud snores coming from Great-Aunt Maude. With a relieved sigh, she placed the Bible back on the stand beside her chair and peered closely at her oblivious relative. After months of reading to her aunt, she was an expert in gauging exactly when the old lady had fallen into a deep, untroubled sleep, which meant she could escape the confines of the darkened drawing room.

She wanted to go down to the land agent’s office and see if Mr. Ford needed any help, but after her emotional outburst two days before, she was still rather embarrassed. She wasn’t quite sure why, because he had been perfectly
lovely
to her. She took a turn around the room and glanced out of the window, which overlooked the drive up to the house. She wanted to rest her cheek against his coat and let him hold her and pet her and…

That
was why she was reluctant to disturb him. His kind behavior had stirred her long-submerged romantic senses, and that was not what he had intended. He was just acting in a brotherly way, having no feelings for her at all—which was just as it should be.

The crunch of horses’ hooves coming up the gravel drive drew her back to the window where two men dressed in military uniform were approaching the house. Rose slowly raised her hand to cover her mouth.

It couldn’t be—could it?

Picking up her skirts, her blood pounding in her ears, she ran out onto the landing that looked down over the black-and-white-tiled entrance hall. The butler was walking slowly toward the front door, his expression forbidding. Within moments, he was hidden from Rose’s view as he opened the door and said something she couldn’t hear to the unexpected guests.

Boot heels and spurs clinked against the marble tile as the two officers came farther into the hall. Taking a deep breath, Rose turned on her heel and ran the other way as if she’d encountered the devil himself.