Lord Exmouth's Intentions. ANNE ASHLEY
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half-smile. There was no denying that the highly complaisant and faintly indolent Dowager was an appalling influence. To be fair, though, she ought to accept the lion’s share of the blame herself for not displaying more strength of character and halting her meteoric descent into that wicked pit of dissipation. On the other hand, it had to be said in her own defence that she had been battling against tremendous odds during these past days. Why, even his lordship had actively encouraged her to do precisely as she wished!
Although Daniel had made his feelings on the matter perfectly clear at the outset by announcing that friendship was all he demanded from her at this present moment in time, since their arrival in Brighton he had been unfailingly thoughtful, touchingly attentive to her every possible need.
She paused as she reached the bottom of the stairs, and stared thoughtfully in the direction of the breakfast-parlour door, unaware that her expression had been softened by a quite spontaneous, tender little smile.
She found it hard to believe now, but it was true none the less that, although she had readily agreed to the suggestion when it had first been made, she had, surprisingly, not found it easy to look upon Daniel merely as a friend. Which was all the more curious because she had never found it in the least daunting to converse with him, not even when they had first met in London.
Her father’s particular calling had ensured that throughout her life she had, on a fairly regular basis, come into contact with people who had suffered recent bereavement. Consequently she had known precisely what to say to Daniel from the first, and had never experienced the least awkwardness in his presence. A slightly closer relationship had initially, she was forced to own, proved a different matter entirely, however.
Not having been blessed with any brothers had, she supposed, substantially limited her experience of the opposite sex, and although her Perceval cousins, Hugo and Lowell, had been frequent visitors to the vicarage, she had acquired precious little knowledge of the workings of the male mind from either of them. During childhood she had been inclined to look upon Hugo, some ten years her senior, as a most superior being, sophisticated, charming, and slightly unapproachable; Lowell, being some six years his brother’s junior, had always seemed to her, and still did for that matter, little more than an endearing scamp, always ripe for any lark. Consequently, living under the same roof as Lord Exmouth had turned out to be something of a revelation.
Daniel, she had swiftly discovered, possessed the most wonderful sense of humour. He certainly appeared to enjoy indulging in bouts of light-hearted banter, and the frequent exchange of the swift repartee, but there was nothing of the mischievous schoolboy in his nature. Far from it, in fact! He was every inch the fashionable gentleman, accomplished and refined, and yet not remotely high in the instep. This was perhaps why she had managed eventually to dispense with those last barriers of reserve, and had come to feel so completely relaxed in his company, more so, surprisingly, than in her own father’s.
No one would have supposed for a moment that Robina held her new-found friend in such high esteem when she entered the breakfast-parlour a moment later to discover him, as expected, already seated at the table; least of all Daniel himself, who was not slow to perceive the slightly troubled look in her strikingly pretty, clear blue eyes.
‘What’s the matter, my little bird?’ Ever the polite gentleman, he rose to his feet and waited until she had slipped into the chair beside his own before resuming his repast. ‘Did you have trouble sleeping last night?’
‘How could I possibly have trouble sleeping, Daniel, when I have been given, I do not doubt, the most comfortable bed in the house?’ Without the least show of reticence, Robina began to help herself to coffee and a delicious hot buttered roll. ‘And that is precisely what concerns me. If I’m not very careful, I’m likely to be ruined by both you and your mother.’
‘Now there’s a tempting thought!’ he muttered before he could stop himself, but fortunately she appeared not to have heard. ‘How precisely have Mama and I fallen from grace?’
‘You both spoil me shamefully. Yes, you do,’ she reiterated when he looked about to refute this. ‘You have been so kind, giving up so much of your time in order to keep me entertained. And as for your mother…Oh, Daniel! She came to my bedchamber after we had retired last night, bringing the box containing that lovely garnet necklace of hers and matching earrings.’ There was no mistaking the agitation in her voice. ‘She insisted on making me a present of them, and I found myself in the position whereby to have refused would have made me appear so very ungrateful. And that I assure you I am not! But she really ought not to give me such things.’
‘I couldn’t agree more!’ he announced, surprising her somewhat, for he sounded genuinely annoyed.
‘Then—then, you’ll have a word with her on—on my behalf?’ she ventured, fervently hoping that she would not be causing trouble between mother and son. ‘Suggesting kindly, I hope, that she ought not to—to give me such things?’
‘Most assuredly I shall, child. You may rely upon it,’ he responded, frowning dourly as the door opened. ‘And there’s no time like the present,’ he added as the object of his evident displeasure, joining them early for once, entered the breakfast-parlour.
‘What’s this I’ve been hearing, Mama!’ he demanded the instant she had seated herself in the chair opposite. ‘What do you mean by presenting Robin with that set of garnets, may I ask?’
‘Why shouldn’t I, dear?’ the Dowager replied, betraying no obvious signs of resentment at the faintly dictatorial tone. ‘They were mine to dispose of as I saw fit, and they will look much prettier displayed against young skin.’ Glancing across the table, she was not slow to notice the twinkling mischief in his dark eyes. ‘What is the matter, my son? Do you disapprove of my giving Robina such a gift?’
‘Most assuredly! Why didn’t you present her with the rubies?’ Daniel almost burst out laughing as Robina’s knife fell from her fingers to land on her plate with a clatter. ‘I’ve always considered garnets trumpery gauds, as well you know.’
‘Well, dear, I couldn’t give her the ruby set, now could I?’ the Dowager pointed out in her defence. ‘They are amongst the family jewels, and are kept safely locked away at Courtney Place. Besides which, they are not mine to give.’
Ignoring the flashing look of reproach from a certain highly disgruntled quarter, Daniel leaned back in his chair, looking for all the world as if he were giving the matter due consideration. ‘I do not think I would give Robin the ruby set in any case, not unless she had her heart set on them, that is. No, I would be more inclined, with her delicate colouring, to deck her out in sapphires. What do you think, Mama?’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake!’ Robina buried her face in her hands, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. ‘I give up!’
‘Yes, you may have a point there, dear,’ her ladyship agreed, sublimely ignoring the muttered interruption. ‘Sapphires certainly emphasise blue eyes and a fair complexion, but don’t discount the rubies, my son. With that beautiful dark hair, she could carry that particular stone very well, too.’
Wickedly enjoying himself at his darling guest’s expense, his lordship finished off the last mouthful on his plate before reaching for the journal conveniently placed nearby. ‘By the by, Mama. Darling Robina, here, feels that we are spoiling her, and being far, far too kind. So I have decided to remedy this misconduct on our part by taking her out in the curricle this morning.’
A brief glance in Robina’s direction was sufficient to inform the Dowager that the girl was as much puzzled by this pronouncement as she was herself. ‘I’m evidently being foolishly obtuse, but I do not immediately perceive how jaunting about the town in an open carriage is likely to remedy the situation, my son.’
‘Because yesterday, when Robin and I were strolling about the town, our attention was momentarily captured by the sight of that outrageous Lady Claudia Melrose making an exhibition of herself again by tooling a high-perched phaeton down the middle of the street. And young madam here, far from scandalised by such behaviour, was not slow to express her admiration of the dashing lady’s skill, nor her wish