She rose, and gave him her hand, saying playfully: "It will be well for you if he does, Gilly!"
He kissed her hand, and then her cheek. "Yes, very true! He sounds a terrifying person, and would no doubt make short work of a plain Mr. Dash of Nowhere in Particular. Thank God I am a Duke!"
Chapter 21
| |
When the news was broken to Belinda that she was to go to stay with a kind lady in Laura Place, she looked very doleful, and said that she would prefer to stay with Mr. Rufford, because ladies were always cross, and she did not like them.
"You will like this lady," said the Duke firmly. "She is quite a young lady, and she is never cross."
Belinda looked beseechingly at him. "Please, I would like to find Mr. Mudgley!" she said.
"And so you shall. At least, you shall if I can discover where he lives."
Belinda sighed. "Mr. Mudgley would not let Mrs. Pilling put me in prison," she said. "He would marry me instead, and then I should be safe."
"I shall do my best to find him for you," promised the Duke;
"Yes, but if you don't find him I shall not know what to do," said Belinda sadly.
"Nonsense! We will think of something for you,"
"Oh!" said Belinda. "Will
you
marry me, sir?"
"No, that he will not!" declared Tom, revolted.
"Why not?" asked Belinda, opening her eyes at him.
"He is not such a gudgeon as to be thinking of marrying, like a stupid girl!" Tom said contemptuously.
The Duke intervened rather hastily. "Now, Belinda, you know you don't want to marry me!" he said. "You want to marry Mr. Mudgley!"
"Yes, I
do
," agreed Belinda, her eyes filling. "But Uncle Swithin took me away from him, and Mr. Ware did not marry me either, so what is to become of me?"
"You will go with Lady Harriet, and be a good girl, while I try to find Mr. Mudgley."
Belinda's tears ceased to flow. She looked very much awed, and asked "Is she a
lady
, sir?"
"Of course she is a— Oh, I see! Yes, she is Lady Harriet Presteigne, and she will be very kind to you, and if you do as she bids you she will not let Mrs. Pilling send you to prison. And what is more," he added, perceiving that she still seemed unconvinced, "she is going to fetch you in a
very
genteel carriage! In fact, a lozenge-carriage!"
"What is that?" asked Belinda.
"The crest on the panel—a widow's crest."
"I shall drive in a carriage with a crest on the panel?" Belinda said, gazing at him incredulously.
"Yes, indeed you will," he assured her.
Tom gave a guffaw. "Stupid thing! He's bamming you!"
Her face fell. The Duke said: "No, I am not. Tom, if you cannot be quiet, go away!"
"Well, I shall. I shall go out to see the sights. Oh, Mr. Rufford, there are some famous shops here! The waiter told me! Would you be so very obliging as to lend me some money—only a
very
little!—and I swear I will not get into a scrape, or do the least thing you would not like!"
The Duke opened his sadly depleted purse. "It will be no more than a guinea, Tom, for buy some cravats I must, and I am pretty well run off my legs."
"What a lark!" exclaimed Tom. "Won't you be able to pay our shot, sir? But Pa will do so, you know!"
The Duke handed him a gold coin. "I trust it will not come to that. There! Be off, and pray do not purchase anything dreadful!"
Tom promised readily not to do so, thanked him, and lost no time in sallying forth. The Duke then persuaded Belinda to pack her bandboxes, and went out to send his express to Mr. Mamble. By the time he had accomplished this, and returned to the Pelican, Belinda had finished her task, and was indulging in a bout of tears. He strove to reassure her, but it transpired that she was not weeping over their approaching separation, but because she had been gazing out of the window, and Walcot Street, which she knew well, put her so forcibly in mind of Mr. Mudgley that she now wished very much that she had never left Bath.
"Well, never mind!" said the Duke encouragingly. "You have come back, after all!"
"Yes, but I am afraid that perhaps Mr. Mudgley will be cross with me for having gone away with Uncle Swithin," said Belinda, her lip trembling.
The Duke had for some time thought this more than possible, and could only hope that the injured swain would be melted by the sight of Belinda's beauty. He did not say so to Belinda, naturally, but applied himself to the task of giving her thoughts a more cheerful direction. In this he was so successful that by the time Lady Ampleforth's barouche set Harriet down at the inn, the tears were dried, and she was once more wreathed in smiles.
Having seen the carriage from the window, the Duke left Belinda to put on her bonnet, and ran down to meet his betrothed. She was looking much prettier, he thought, than on the previous evening. There was quite a colour in her cheeks, and she was wearing a very becoming hat of chip-straw, trimmed with lace and rosebuds. She gave him her hand, encased in a glove of lavender kid, and said with a mischievous smile: "Grandmama was excessively diverted. She would have come with me, I do believe, if she could have done so. But she does not go out very much now, and never before noon. And I must tell you, Gilly, that I thought it best not to tell Charlie that you had come to Bath, for I am sure he would roast you dreadfully if he knew the whole! Then, too, although he is the dearest of brothers, he could never keep a secret, you know."
"You are very right!" he said, "I had not thought of it, but I foresee that I must spend my time dodging any acquaintances whom I may see until Nettlebed makes me respectable again. Will you come upstairs? Belinda is waiting for you in the parlour. I must warn you that she is a little afraid of you, and fears you may be cross!"
"Afraid of me?" Harriet said, surprised. "Oh, I am sure no one ever was!"
"I am sure she will not be when she has seen you," he returned, handing her up the stairs.
He ushered her into the parlour, saying: "Here is Lady Harriet come to fetch you, Belinda!"
The two ladies stood for a moment, staring at one another, Belinda in childlike curiosity, Harriet blinking as though she had been dazzled. She had expected to be confronted by a beauty, but she had formed no very definite picture of Belinda from the descriptions afforded her, and was unprepared for such a radiant vision. She knew a pang, for It seemed to her incredible that the Duke should not have fallen a victim to Belinda's charms. She could not forbear stealing a wondering glance at him. She found that he was looking at her, and not at Belinda, an enquiring lift to his brows. She blushed, and stepped forward, saying in her soft voice: "How do you do? I am so glad I am to have the pleasure of your company for a while! I hope you will be comfortable with me."
"Oh, yes, thank you!" said Belinda dutifully, curtsying. "But I do not like hemming handkerchiefs, if you please."
"No, indeed! It is the most tedious thing," agreed Harriet, her eyes twinkling.
Belinda began to look more cheerful, but it was plain that she was not entirely reconciled to the prospect of staying in Laura Place, for she asked: "Shall you keep me for a very long time, ma'am?"
"Oh, no, only until the Duke has found Mr. Mudgley!" said Harriet, guessing that this was the assurance most likely to be welcome.
Belinda looked bewildered. "But I don't know any Dukes!" she objected."I thought Mr. Rufford would find Mr. Mudgley for me. You
said
you would, sir!"
"Oh, dear, I beg your pardon, Gilly!" Harriet said, in a good deal of confusion. "I thought—I meant to say Mr. Rufford, Belinda!"
"But he is not a Duke!" exclaimed Belinda, quick shocked.
Looking quite as guilty as Harriet, Gilly said: "Well, yes, Belinda, as it chances I am a Duke! I had meant to have told you, but it went out of my head. It doesn't signify, you know."
Belinda gazed at him, an expression in her face of mingled incredulity and disappointment. "Oh, no, I am sure it is a hum!" she exclaimed. "You are teasing me, sir! As though I did not know a Duke would be a much grander person!"
Harriet said in a stifled voice: "He is very grand when he wears his robes, I assure you!"
"Well!" Belinda said, quite disillusioned. "I thought a Duke would be very tall, and handsome, and stately! I was never so taken-in!"
The Duke bowed his head in his hands. "Oh, Belinda, Belinda!" he said. "Indeed, I am very sorry. I only wish I may not have destroyed your faith in Dukes!"
"But do you wear a coronet, and purple robe?" asked Belinda.
"No, no, only one of scarlet cloth!"
"Cloth! The shabbiest thing!" she cried. "I thought you would have worn a velvet one!"
"Ah, but it was lined with white taffeta, and doubled with four guards of ermine!" he said gravely.
"Gilly, don't be so provoking to the poor child!" said Harriet, controlling a quivering lip. "You know that was only your parliamentary dress! I am sure you have a crimson velvet mantle for state occasions, for I know Papa does. Don't look so sad, Belinda! Indeed, it is a very grand dress, and I will show you a picture of it presently, in a book belonging to my grandmama."
"I should like to see it," said Belinda wistfully. "And of course, if you are truly a Duke, sir, no wonder you do not wish to marry me, if you cannot find Mr. Mudgley! It would not do at all, for whoever heard of a Duke marrying a foundling? It would be the most shocking thing!"
He said gently "I am sure it would be a very lucky Duke who did so, Belinda, but, you see, I am already betrothed to Lady Harriet."
She was quite diverted by this, and after exclaiming at it, and looking speculatively from him to Harriet, politely wished them both very happy. The information seemed in some way to reconcile her to her immediate fate, and she went away presently with Harriet perfectly complacently. She much enjoyed the experience of driving in a barouche, and a tactful suggestion from her hostess that they might go shopping together in the afternoon made her clasp her hands tightly together, and utter in palpitating accents: "Oh, ma'am, do you mean it? In the modish shops on Milsom Street? I should like it above anything great!"
"Then of course we will go," Harriet said, her kind heart touched.
This promise had the effect of casting Belinda into a beatific dream. Visions of silken raiment floated before her eyes, and brought into her flower-like countenance so angelic an expression that several passers-by stared at her in patent admiration, and Lord Gaywood, sauntering down the steps of Lady Ampleforth's house just as the barouche drew up there, stood rooted to the spot, his jaw dropping, and his eyes fairly starting from his head.
In her desire to be of assistance to the Duke, Harriet had not paused to consider what would be the effect upon her susceptible brother of Belinda's charms, but when she saw him apparently stunned by them she felt a little dismay stir in her breast. She said, as she alighted from the carriage: "Charlie, this is a friend of mine, who is coming to stay with me for a few days. My dear, it is my brother, Lord Gaywood."
Lord Gaywood recovered himself sufficiently to make his bow. Belinda said, with a happy smile: "Only fancy! Now I have met a Duke
and
a lord! I daresay they would never believe it at the Foundling Hospital, for I am sure such a thing never happened to any of the others!"
His lordship was considerably taken aback by this artless speech, but he was not one to worry over trifles, and he responded gallantly: "I am excessively glad to make your acquaintance, Miss—er—Miss—?" He rolled a fiercely enquiring eye at his sister, and was astonished to perceive that her face had become suffused with blushes.
"Oh, I am not Miss anything!" said Belinda, not in the least discomposed. "I am Belinda. I haven't any parents, you know, so I have no name."
Lord Gaywood swallowed once or twice, but soon pulled himself together. "Belinda is the prettiest name I ever heard!" he declared. "Allow me to offer you my arm up the steps!" He added out of one corner of his mouth: "Does the old lady know of this?"
"Yes, of course! Pray hush!" whispered Harriet, red to the roots of her hair.
"Well, if it don't beat all!" he ejaculated.
"What does?" enquired Belinda, looking up at him innocently.
"Why, you, of course!" he responded, without hesitation. "Dash it, you beat 'em all to flinders! Why haven't I seen you before? You can't have been in Bath for long, I'll swear!"