The Barefoot Baroness

Chapter Fourteen

Lunch was successful, and as the baroness was safely disposed with Talman for the afternoon, Laura agreed to sit for Hyatt in the garden. It was not to be a formal painting, but only a pencil sketch, done by the fountain, with a wide-brimmed bonnet to protect her from the sun.

"I shall be soaking wet by the time you finish," she scolded. "The spray is drenching me." This was a gross exaggeration. Actually, she enjoyed the cooling breeze, which carried a refreshing moisture in it.

"It will give your hair a curl."

"Now you are deriding my coiffeur. If I am not careful, I shall end up in your gallery of social misfits. I notice I do not merit an oil painting."

"They are frippery stuff. I really prefer my engravings. Perhaps I shall have this engraved."

They bickered and flirted and enjoyed a lovely afternoon. Guests stopped from time to time to watch Hyatt at work. He could hardly ask two Cabinet ministers' wives and a marchioness to leave, but they were well bred enough to keep their comments to a polite minimum. At four-thirty he set down his pencil.

"You can see it now, if you wish," he said.

Laura hopped up and went to examine his sketch. "Oh, it's lovely!" she exclaimed. "I wish I were as pretty as that."

It was lovely, too, but not in the exaggerated manner of his society paintings. He had caught her with a particularly sweet smile, one she didn't know she possessed. She looked all soft and warm, as if she were in love. The knowledge of what caused it brought a flush to her cheeks.

"With my compliments," he said, handing it to her.

"Would you mind signing it?" she said. His pencil sketched a tall, bold H, followed by a squiggle, and the date. Then he turned the paper over and wrote something on the back.

He was just handing it back to her when Talman came pelting forward. "Is the baroness not with you?" he asked.

Olivia and Hyatt exchanged a shocked look. "We thought she was with you," Laura said.

"No, she got tired before we had been out an hour, and we came back. I have been giving Mama a hand with the arrangements for tonight's party. The baroness said she was going to join you two in the garden."

Laura felt the gravest misgivings. "We haven't seen her since lunch. Is her mount in the stable?"

"It must be. We left them there more than an hour ago," Talman replied.

"That's plenty of time for her to have shabbed off again," Hyatt said. "Let us have a look."

The three of them darted to the stable, to learn that the baroness had returned not ten minutes after returning with Talman and gone out again.

"Did you send a groom with her?" Talman demanded, for he wanted to blame someone for the situation.

The groom shook his head. "She said she was just hacking about the park. She didn't want an escort."

"You shouldn't have let her go alone."

"She was very insistent, milord. Shall I send someone to look for her?"

"I'll go myself," Talman said through clenched teeth. He cast an accusing eye on Laura and added, "How very strange. The baroness has a broad streak of independence, has she not?"

"You must not worry, Lord Talman," Laura said, to appease him. "The baroness is an excellent rider, and she would not have left your property."

"It is not Miss Harwood's fault," Hyatt said, rather angrily.

"We'll help you look," Laura said.

"No need for you to trouble yourself, Laura," Hyatt said.

Talman called for his mount, Hyatt for another, and they went galloping off. As Laura was wearing a light muslin gown, she could not join them, but she set off through the park at a swift pace on foot, knowing it was a vain effort. She felt that if she did not walk off her temper, she would strike Olivia when she was eventually brought home.

At the bridge, the baroness had long since tethered Briar and stood hand in hand with Yarrow, gazing down into the water.

"The visit has been horrid," she pouted. "And when I go back, they'll ring a peal over me. Talman has no notion of entertaining guests. He made them tour his stupid old house all morning. But tonight he is having a rout," she said, cheering at the prospect.

"Daresay the old goat plans to make an offer."

"He will be a duke one day," she said, to incite Yarrow to jealousy. "He's ever so rich, with half a dozen estates."

"You have your own title. You don't have to marry to gain a handle. As to six estates-why, a man can only live in one house at a time. Nothing but a nuisance, having to run six houses for your poor relations to batten themselves in."

"How large is your estate, John?" she asked.

"I'll come into an abbey when my old Uncle Charlie sticks his fork in the wall. How big is your place?" He knew the baroness was a great heiress but had not yet determined the exact extent of her holdings.

She adopted her moue and said, "You sound as if that's all you're interested in."

"By the living jingo! That's not true. You asked me first. I am in love with you. I have been wanting to kiss you ever since I first spotted you, dancing in your bare feet in that park. Just like something out of an old Greek fairy tale. Phoebe, or Diana, or one of those nymphs."

"You never did kiss me," she said encouragingly.

Yarrow felt he had been too slow, and he grabbed her into his arms for a violent embrace. Despite her waywardness, Olivia had never been kissed by a man before. She had pictured a more civilized attack. A little sweet talk first, then a kiss on the fingers. She was frightened and pushed Yarrow away.

Deuce take it, she had as well as asked him to kiss her, he thought. He held more tightly and pushed his lips against hers, while she wriggled to free herself.

That was how Talman found them: Yarrow forcing his attentions on the struggling baroness. Talman let out a holler and came galloping forward, ventre a terre. He dismounted, grabbed Yarrow by the collar, and kicked him into the river. Yarrow landed on his back and lay, spluttering and cursing. Seeing he was only a boy, Talman did not feel obliged to challenge him to a duel but satisfied himself with a few rough words.

"If I ever see your sniveling face on my property again, I'll set the hounds on you. Now be off. Come along, Baroness."

Olivia looked from one to the other. She had felt strange stirrings of excitement when John kissed her, but really he did not look at all attractive, all soaking wet and spluttering as he dragged himself from the water. Talman looked much more handsome. And besides, she was deeply embarrassed.

"Let us go home at once," she said, glaring at Yarrow.

She mounted and went docilely along. If Talman had been the least bit sympathetic, he might have won a bride that day. He was now convinced, however, that the baroness was not the bride for him. A hussy!

"It was unwise of you to venture into the woods alone," he snipped. "You said you were too tired to continue our ride."

"I suddenly felt much better. We can continue our ride now, if you like."

"It will be best if I turn you over to your aunt."

"You won't tell her, Lord Talman!"

"Certainly I shall. I shall also advise that she keep a closer watch on you. If you are determined to make a cake of yourself, Baroness, you might at least have the courtesy not to do it while under my father's roof."

There was no hope of dissuading him. Olivia had suspected from the beginning that he was one of those stiff gentlemen. This being the case, she didn't bother trying, but thought about John instead and how it had felt when he held her tightly against his hard chest. He was a real man, and he kissed like a man. Talman, she felt, would not be so delightfully savage. Her daydreams had been sadly dull, compared to the reality of lovemaking.

Lord Talman sent her upstairs and went at once to report to Mrs. Traemore. A guest, Mrs. Campbell, seeing his angry stride, hovered outside the drawing room to admire a marble statue of Apollo. Talman was too upset to close the door properly, thus allowing Mrs. Campbell to hear every word that passed, and even to see the duchess's face.

Mrs. Traemore and Mrs. Harwood sat with the duchess, looking at old drawings of Castlefield. They were all three bored to flinders and welcomed the intrusion, until they heard its cause. Mrs. Traemore and Mrs. Harwood went upstairs at once to chastise Olivia. Unfortunately for Mrs. Campbell, they closed the door behind them, but the eavesdropper had heard enough to be assured of a sensation when she purveyed her gleanings.

"I was never so taken in in my life," Talman said to his mother. "I thought her unspoiled, natural. She is a hussy to the tip of her toes. I regret that she is to spend two more days with us."

His mama shook her head at his stupidity. "Don't be such a gudgeon, son. Do you forget you have two younger brothers who are on the catch for a monied bride? Either Rodney or Rufus would snap at her. Pity they ain't here this weekend. I'll send them to London next week. You must keep up a show of friendship with that saucy piece and let them have a go at the tin mine."

"I would not wish her on either of them," he felt obliged to say, although he soon realized his error. "Rufus is not at all nice in his demands for a bride. Such a baggage as the baroness would suit him excellently.”

"I rather think Rodney…”

He looked surprised. "Rodney? Surely Rufus-"

"Either one. Now send a note up to the baroness, asking how she is feeling. Ask her for a dance this evening. Not the opening minuet, mind. That will raise expectations. The aunt is quite conversable. shouldn't mind having her for a connection. My sawbones is coming to have a look at her back."

The baroness received Talman's note with ill-concealed glee. She enjoyed showing it to her aunt and Mrs. Harwood, after they had cut up so rusty. Most of all she enjoyed showing it to Laura, who thought she was so perfect. Laura had spotted Talman and the baroness from the park and dashed to the house to hear the story.

"Lord Talman is not so disgusted as you feared, cousin," Olivia crowed, handing the note over. "He apologizes for his temper, you see, and expresses every concern for my comfort."

Laura could only conclude that Talman was in love with the baroness. Nothing else could account for this about-face. She had heard the whole story from Lord Hyatt when she returned from searching the park.

He had heard it from Lady Sumner, who had it from Mrs. Campbell, who had 'accidentally' overheard Lord Talman from the hallway when he brought the baroness to Mrs. Traemore. There was no hope of keeping the tale quiet now.

"It might be best if the baroness not attend the rout this evening," he had suggested. "I fear Talman will ignore her. He is very high in the instep, you must know. There is no telling what the baroness might do if she feels she is being ignored."

"I shall try to convince her to have a headache."

"Which does not mean that you must stay away," he added.

"I daresay I am tainted as well, and I have not a tin mine to wash away my sins."

Reading Talman's note, she had to wonder how he had overcome his scruples and asked Olivia to give him a dance at the rout. She suspected the hand of Hyatt and went belowstairs to see what she could learn. She found him loitering about the drawing room to intercept her. He drew her into the library.

"I knew a large dot had magical magnetic powers to attract gentlemen," Laura said, "but surely Talman is not dangling after her fortune. He is as rich as Croesus." She mentioned the note.

"Richer," Hyatt said. "That cannot be it. I wonder if the twins will be here. That might account for this volte-face. They are not so stiff as Talman, nor so well greased. That is only a surmise, of course, based on nothing but my reading of human nature."

Talman's change of attitude remained a mystery, but as it cleared the way for a less harrowing visit, it was welcome. Dinner that evening was to be a grand affair, with guests from the neighborhood joining the party. Even more guests would come later for the rout party. A sense of excitement invaded the house, as servants darted to and fro, arranging flowers and chairs in the ballroom and preparing the feast. The ladies had to spend considerable time preparing their finery, and Laura soon went upstairs.

With added guests, the seating at dinner was subtly rearranged. Lord Talman did not sit beside the baroness. To show his continued pleasure with her party, however, he sat beside Laura, and conversed politely during dinner. Hyatt sat at her other side, giving her the two most eligible partners at the table. She noticed that Talman was livelier with the lady on his other side than with her, and she asked Hyatt who she was.

"That would be Lady Elizabeth Grange, Lord Dinsmore's eldest daughter. She was the odds on favorite to win Talman before he met the baroness. Not one of this or any other Season's livelier belles, but not unattractive. With no real claim to beauty, she has at least escaped the family failing of a squinty eye and is well dowered. I rather think she will be rising in his esteem now.”

"Pity, but then he and Olivia really did not suit."

Hyatt looked uncertain. "I thought we had agreed that opposites attract. Lady Elizabeth and Talman are as like as peas in a pod. Your baroness would have brought life to Castlefield."

They glanced down the table, where the baroness, undismayed by the stiff jaws all around her, was making excellent headway with a Lord Justin, a younger son who required an heiress and had no objection to Cornwall.

"That was your theory, Hyatt. I did not express agreement. Now that this has happened, I find I do not agree at all. There would be constant bickering if two such unlike creatures were shackled for life to each other."

He listened, suddenly serious, and frowned. "But then, you know, old married folks come to resemble each other after a decade or two. I daresay that two opposites would rub along better than you fear."

"The few intervening decades of disagreement might not bother the livelier partner. I think the quiet one would suffer."

He gave a bold smile. "Don't give me my conge yet, Miss Harwood. I sense that you are not so quiet as you have been letting on. I have noticed a quite delightful propensity to argue with every word I say. Do you know, I believe you have been shamming it all along. You are as bad as the baroness. It is your lack of a tin mine that has been keeping you in line all the while."

She smiled blandly. "You misread the cause for my docility. It is that I have wisely chosen friends who are not at all quarrelsome."

"Sounds damned dull to me," he laughed.

Laura did not agree verbally, but as she reviewed her few past romantic associations, she had to admit that none of the gentlemen was very dashing. Mr. Meadows was fairly typical. She had forgotten all about him, since striking up this little flirtation with Hyatt. How much had she really cared for him, when she could forget him so easily? She knew that Lord Hyatt would linger longer in her memory.

When she went abovestairs to put the last touches on her toilette for the dance, she glanced at the sketch Hyatt had done. She remembered that he had written something on the back of it, and turned it over. She read, "To Lovely Laura, in thanks for a memorable visit."

How thoughtful. She smiled fondly. Memorable? It would be memorable for her, but she did not doubt for a moment that Hyatt would forget it and her as easily as she had forgotten Meadows. In any case, she had this lovely memento. She would frame it and hang it in her bedroom. But first the flirtation would continue for a few hours. Hyatt had asked her for the opening dance.