Gail Whitiker - Improper Miss Darling

How did one capture something so magical? What colours did one use to replicate the translucence of its wings and the iridescent shading of its body? She thought about that for a while, mixing colours in her mind, and reached down for her palette—only to see a pair of dark-brown boots standing in the grass a few feet away.

‘Good afternoon, Miss Darling.’

Emma knew the voice. Having heard it at dinner, she would have recognised it anywhere. But it was the last one she had been expecting to hear in her garden today. ‘Good afternoon, Lord Stewart.’ She raised her head and peered at him from beneath the brim of her bonnet. ‘If you are looking for my father, you will find him in the house, most likely in his study.’

‘Thank you, but it was you I came to see.’

‘Oh?’

‘I wondered if we might have a chat. If you do not mind me singling you out.’

‘That would depend on what you were singling me out for.’

‘I wish to talk to you about a matter of considerable importance.’

‘Oh dear, that does sound alarming.’ Emma put down her brush. ‘Pray, forgive my attire. I was not expecting visitors.’

‘No apologies are necessary. You look charming.’

Emma was too much of a lady to roll her eyes, but she was sorely tempted to do so given how easily the lies fell from his tongue. She was wearing a wide-brimmed sunhat with ribbons tied loosely beneath her chin, a painter’s smock liberally smudged with paint, and though her hair was pinned up, she could feel the breeze tugging at loose wisps. Charming was decidedly not how she would have described her appearance. Still, he hadn’t come with a view to courting her.

‘Very well, Lord Stewart, you have my undivided attention. What is this important matter you wish to talk to me about?’

‘Your sister, my brother and the unfortunate inequity of the match.’

Emma’s eyes widened in shock. Mercy! The man certainly didn’t beat around the bush. ‘You will forgive me if I say I am somewhat taken aback by the remark, my lord.’

‘I would have been more surprised had you said you were expecting it,’ Lord Stewart acknowledged. ‘But it is a subject I believe warrants further discussion.’

‘I fail to see why. The inequity of the match obviously wasn’t of concern to your brother when he asked Linette to marry him.’

‘Of course not. My brother is romantic by nature and more impulsive than is wise.’

‘Attributes shared by my sister, I’m afraid.’ Emma looked up, shading her eyes with her hand. ‘But what’s done is done, wouldn’t you agree?’

‘Forgive me,’ he said, belatedly aware that his position was causing her to stare directly into the sun. ‘Perhaps we could take a walk?’

‘As you like.’ Emma put her brushes into a pot of water, then stood up and removed her smock. ‘You do not tether your horse?’ she asked, looking past him to the elegant thoroughbred grazing freely beyond.

‘There is no need. He never wanders.’ Lord Stewart stared at the easel for a moment. ‘Impressive. You have a knack for blending colours so that they seem to melt into one another.’

‘It is an attribute of watercolours. If a line is drawn too harshly, you simply brush a wash over it and the line softens. It is a very forgiving medium.’

‘Only to those who know how to use it.’ Lord Stewart smiled. ‘You obviously do.’

It was a new and unusual experience to be complimented by a gentleman. Emma was used to most of the flattery going to Linette, but she had to admit to a warm glow of pleasure at hearing Lord Stewart praise her work. ‘Thank you, but I am an amateur at best. My brother is the true artist in the family.’ She fell into step beside him. ‘So, you wish to talk about the unsuitability of the match between Linette and your brother.’

‘Please don’t misunderstand, Miss Darling,’ he said quickly. ‘Your sister is a lovely young woman with pleasing manners and a charming personality. But you cannot deny the disparity in their social situations.’

‘Of course not, but your brother obviously doesn’t care and given that your parents have not forbidden the match, I don’t see what business it is of ours.’

He stopped, frowning. ‘May I speak honestly, Miss Darling?’

‘I wish you would.’

‘Then I will tell you that my parents are not pleased with the engagement and that they would very much like to see it come to an end,’ he said bluntly. ‘Particularly my father.’

Emma turned to look at him. ‘Is that why he was not at dinner the other night?’

‘No. His doctor has restricted him to bed, but I am not entirely sure he would have come had he been feeling well enough to do so. He has very strong opinions about the obligations owed to one’s family.’

Emma wished she could have said she was surprised, but how could she when Lord Stewart was echoing her own concerns about the inequality of the match? ‘Why did your father not voice his concerns when your brother first made him aware of his intentions to approach my sister?’

‘Because Peter didn’t tell him of his intentions until it was too late,’ Lord Stewart admitted. ‘Now, relations between them are strained to the point where it is difficult for either of them to speak about the situation with any degree of rationality.’

‘I am sorry to hear that,’ Emma said slowly. ‘Does the countess also object to the marriage?’

A pained expression flashed across Lord Stewart’s face. ‘That is not as simple a question to answer. My brother holds … a very special place in my mother’s heart. Above all, she wants him to be happy.’

Emma supposed it was not an uncommon failing of mothers, to wish their children well, but it was obviously a feeling not shared by her husband. And their antipathy towards the marriage at so early a stage did not bode well for Linette’s future relationship with her in-laws. ‘What did you hope to achieve by mentioning this to me, Lord Stewart?’

‘Before I answer that, I would ask you a question.’ He stopped by the base of a large tree and crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Is your sister marrying my brother for love or for what she stands to gain by becoming his wife?’

It was only because the nature of the question caught her so completely off guard that Emma did not immediately take offence to what was a highly impertinent enquiry. ‘Of course she loves him. Linette is not in the least mercenary. She would never marry if her heart was not fully engaged. You cannot be expected to know this, of course, but she has spoken of nothing but your brother since the day the two of them met.’

‘I feared as much,’ he said. ‘Love is always harder to discourage than gain.’

‘But surely it is not your place to discourage the relationship,’ Emma said. ‘If they are truly in love—’

‘Oh, I believe they both think themselves in love, Miss Darling, but will it last? You strike me as being a sensible young woman, one who knows what the world is all about. And it is not about kindness and love. It is about establishing one’s place through the acquisition of power and wealth. Love plays very little part in that.’

Emma said nothing, not at all sure she liked being coupled with this man when it came to their feelings about matters of the heart. She might not dream about finding romantic love for herself, but that did not mean she belittled it when it came to others.

‘Does that also apply to your forthcoming engagement to Lady Glynnis?’ she asked boldly. ‘Is that union also based on the premise of what each of you stands to gain, with no consideration for love or other feelings?’

He raised one dark eyebrow. ‘I did not come here to discuss my relationship, Miss Darling.’