Frederica Read online

  She hardly knew how to keep her countenance. She had not met George, but if his youngest sister were to be believed he was a lively young gentleman, already bidding fair to become one of those choice spirits ripe and ready for any form of jollification, and resenting nothing so much as what he called his brother’s jobations. Nor had the result of a grave lecture addressed to Felix been happy. Not only had it banished from Felix’s head all contrition for having alarmed his sisters, but it had instantly transformed Jessamy into a hot partisan. All his bristles up, Jessamy had demanded to be told what right Cousin Buxted had to shove his oar in; and although he had later offered Buxted a stiff apology for this incivility he cordially agreed with Felix that the fellow was an encroaching windsucker, a prosy bore, and, probably, a slow-top into the bargain.

  Remembering this incident, Frederica was obliged to choke down a chuckle before she responded: ‘I daresay you are right, cousin, but if ever I should be married it won’t be because I wish to provide my brothers with a – with a mentor!’

  ‘I only said that because I thought it might be – because I thought you might regard my offer more favourably!’

  The humble note in his voice touched her, but she shook her head; and when he began, in rather stilted language, to enumerate and describe the various excellent qualities in her character which had excited at first his admiration, and then his ardent desire to make her his wife, she checked him even more decidedly, saying kindly, but with a little amusement: ‘I am very much obliged to you, cousin, but pray say no more! Only think how much your mama would dislike such an alliance!’

  He looked grave, and sighed; but replied: ‘I hope I am not lacking in respect for my mother, but in such matters a man must decide for himself.’

  ‘Oh, no, you must not marry to disoblige her! Recollect how much she depends on you!’

  ‘You must not think I am unmindful of my duty to her, or that I make you an offer without long and careful consideration,’ he said earnestly.

  Her eyes danced. ‘No, indeed! No one could think that! I’m excessively flattered – I can’t tell you how much! – but the long and short of it is that I’m not hanging out for a husband – in fact, I don’t in the least wish to change my single state! It suits me very well: far better than I should suit you, Carlton, believe me!’

  He looked disconsolate, and said nothing for several moments. But after turning the matter over in his mind, he smiled, and said: ‘I have been too previous, for which you must blame the natural impatience of a man in love. I fancy that your thoughts have hitherto been so wholly devoted to the interests of your family that you have had none to spare for your own future. I shall say no more on this head now, but neither shall I despair.’

  He then took his leave; and with real nobility Frederica forbore to regale Charis with an account of the interlude. She was not tempted to tell anyone of Mr Moreton’s offer, for it was simply made; and she liked him too well to betray him. She declined it as gently as she could; but when he sighed, and said, with a faint smile: ‘I feared it!’ her eyes twinkled irrepressibly.

  ‘And now are quite cast-down.’

  ‘Well, of course I am!’

  ‘But also just a trifle relieved! Confess!’

  ‘Miss Merriville! No, I swear I’m not!’

  ‘You will be,’ she assured him. ‘You know how comfortably you go on as a bachelor, and how very much you would dislike to be tied to a wife’s apron-strings.’

  He laughed a little ruefully, but denied it. ‘I shouldn’t dislike being tied to your apron-strings.’

  ‘Or to play the mentor to my brothers?’ she asked, quizzing him. ‘You would be obliged to include them in your household, you know!’

  ‘Yes – at least, won’t they live with your eldest brother?’

  ‘Oh, no! Poor Harry! They would drive him distracted! He is too young for such a charge – too young to command either respect or obedience. Besides, he and Jessamy would be at outs within a sennight!’

  ‘I see. Well, I know nothing about rearing boys, but I would do my best!’ he said heroically.

  She laughed, and held out her hand to him. ‘Even though your blood runs cold at the very thought of it! How kind you are, my dear friend! Thank you! What a fix you would be in if I did accept your offer! I shan’t, however, so you may be easy!’

  He took her hand and kissed it. ‘Not quite that. May I still, and always, count myself your friend?’

  ‘Indeed, I hope you will,’ she replied cordially.

  She could not help laughing a little, when he had gone, but kindly. There had been enough dismay in his face, swiftly though he had recovered himself, to strengthen her belief that it would not be long before he was thanking providence for his escape. The intrusion into his care-free existence of two such enterprising young gentlemen as Jessamy and Felix provided her with a vision that appealed instantly to her sense of humour. Only Buxted, she thought, could make sadder work of bridling them. Alverstoke could do it, and without rousing even the shadow of hostility, because they had decided, for inscrutable reasons, that he was a person eminently worthy of respect. But at this point her musings came to an abrupt halt. She was obliged to give herself a mental shake, renewing a resolve not to think about Alverstoke at all. This was not easy. Whether he knew it, or not, he had developed an uncomfortable habit of intruding upon her thoughts; and to allow him to do so could only bring her to fiddlestick’s end. That was certain; and she hoped she had enough commonsense to realise it. Enough pride, too, not to add to the number of his victims. He was a confirmed bachelor – far more so than Darcy Moreton, who carried a warm heart in his breast. There was no warmth in Alverstoke, and no softness. If he was kind it was for his own ends; when it pleased him to make himself agreeable he could be the most delightful of companions; but his treatment of his sisters, and of anyone who bored him, was ruthless. Hard, cold, and selfish: that was Alverstoke! And a rake into the bargain, if the on-dits were true. Probably they were, but one must be just, even to such an abandoned character: he had shown no signs of the rake in his dealings with her, or with her lovely sister. She had on one occasion suspected him of trying to get up a flirtation, but had soon decided that she was mistaken. Moreover, it was only fair to acknowledge that although he had consented to sponsor her and Charis with no other motive than a malicious wish to infuriate his sister Louisa, he had been extremely kind to Jessamy and Felix as well. Still being just to his lordship, she recalled the expedition to Hampton Court, which must surely have been intolerably boring to him; the readiness with which he had rescued Lufra from an untimely end; and the skill with which he had handled Jessamy. It was impossible to discover in these activities any base, ulterior motive: he had behaved as though he really were their guardian, so that she had come, insensibly, to regard him as one to whom she could turn in any difficulty. This vexed her, for she had not previously looked for support or advice; and she had a shrewd notion that if she were to maintain her own strength she must not allow herself to fall into the habit of depending upon his. For some unknown reason it amused him, at present, to befriend the Merrivilles; but he might grow bored at any moment, shrugging them off as easily as he had adopted them. For what, after all, she asked herself, did she know about him? Nothing much beyond what the gossips recounted: not even if he liked her above the average! Sometimes she had been encouraged to think that he did; but at other times, when he let half the evening slip by at some assembly before strolling over to exchange a few words with her, she had been convinced that he regarded her with indifference. Which, when one thought the matter over dispassionately, was in all likelihood the truth; for if the truly dazzling beauties who showed themselves perfectly ready to receive his addresses bored him (as they demonstrably did), how much more must he be bored by a country-cousin endowed with no more than passable good-looks, and long past the first blush of her youth? Indeed, when she considered the handsome Mrs Parracombe, or the dashing widow who was commonly thought to be his latest flirt,