Anne Herries - Regency - Mischief & Marriage - Secret Heiress / Bartered Bride

Mr Hastings returned with a waiter and their champagne. The cork was popped and they toasted one another, laughing and smiling.

‘I say, that fellow is rather rude,’ Jack said, giving a young buck in the audience a frown for his impertinence. ‘He had been ogling you for the past ten minutes, Miss Bancroft. Shall I go and tell him to mind his manners?’

‘Oh, no, he is probably admiring Kate,’ Eliza said. ‘She has many admirers.’

‘Yes, I am certain she does,’ he agreed. ‘She is very pretty—but of course you are beautiful, Miss Bancroft—or may I call you Miss Eliza?’

‘Oh…’ She was flustered by his request. ‘If you wish it, I see no reason why not, Mr Hastings.’

‘You must call me Jack,’ he said and grinned at her. ‘I am certain we shall all be great friends. I shall ask Mama to invite you all to her dinner next week.’

As the bell to announce the end of the interval rang then, Eliza was saved from making a reply as the gentlemen left. She caught the mischief in Kate’s eyes, but refrained from asking what she thought so amusing.

The third interval brought another stream of visitors to their box, all of them gentlemen, or, in one case, a lady known to them with her nephew, who had just joined her in Bath. Eliza hoped that Lord Seaton might return, but he did not; though she enjoyed the performance very much, she was disappointed not to have seen more of him.

He was much in her thoughts when she went to bed that evening, but she slept peacefully without dreaming.

Next morning was spent running small errands for Lady Sarah, and greeting Kate when she arrived for nuncheon.

‘I am looking forward to our drive this afternoon,’ Kate said. ‘Mama told me she intends to visit Lady Sarah so you must not worry that she will be alone.’

‘Your mama is very kind,’ Eliza said. ‘Lady Sarah wished to stay home for once, but she will be pleased to see Lady Julia—they are such good friends.’

‘Yes, they are,’ Kate agreed and put on an innocent air. ‘Mama has known her all her life. They remained friends after… the trouble with Lord Manners. Lady Sarah has no secrets from my mother.’ Kate’s eyes sparkled with mischief. ‘Mama generally tells me most things, but she has merely hinted at something concerning you… she thinks she knows your secret, Eliza.’

‘My secret?’ Eliza’s heart pounded. Could Lady Julia have discovered that she was a lovechild? ‘I have no secret, Kate. I cannot think what you mean.’

‘You need not be afraid. Mama has not told me exactly, and neither of us would wish to harm you—but you may confide in me, you know. You are not quite what you seem—are you?’

‘Kate…’ Eliza’s cheeks burned—it seemed that Lady Julia must know the secret of her birth. ‘Please do not mention… I would not wish it generally known.’

‘I knew it,’ Kate crowed and squeezed her arm. ‘Not a word shall pass my lips, I promise. Now, tell me, what did you think of Mr Hastings? Does he not seem an agreeable sort of man?’

Eliza was relieved to have the subject changed. She could not imagine how Lady Julia knew that the Bancrofts were not her parents, but it seemed that she did somehow.

‘Mr Hastings seems very agreeable. I think he and Lord Seaton are close friends.’

‘Yes, that is a fortunate thing,’ Kate replied. ‘I do hope we shall be invited to dinner. I should like to see more of the agreeable Mr Hastings—would not you?’

‘What bee have you got in your bonnet now?’ Eliza was determined to put the embarrassing moment behind her. Kate had promised not to reveal her secret, and though the girl loved to gossip, she would surely keep her word?

Kate smiled and shook her head. Eliza laughed, because she suspected her friend thought Mr Hastings might make Lord Seaton jealous.

When the gentlemen arrived they were both driving smart phaetons with beautiful horses, and both had a young tiger standing up at the back. Kate walked confidently towards Mr Hastings’s rig and was assisted up the steps to sit beside him on the driving box. Eliza approached Lord Seaton’s phaeton with less confidence, feeling a little shy. She had thought they might all go together in an open landau driven by a coachman and was unsure it was a good idea to be seen alone with a gentleman. It was perfectly acceptable for Kate, of course, because the tiger was there for propriety’s sake, but Eliza was a companion and she feared it might look as if she were getting above herself. A gentleman of Daniel’s rank would hardly be courting a humble companion.

However, Lord Seaton’s smile made her forget her fears. His expression was warm, if a little troubled, and he showed great consideration in seeing her settled.

‘I do not think it will be too cold for you,’ he said as she took her seat beside him. ‘However, my tiger has a blanket should you need it.’

‘I am sure I shall not be in the least cold. The sun is very warm and the breeze is most welcome.’

‘How little fuss you make on any account.’ Daniel smiled at her, but she saw a shadow in his eyes. ‘Are you always so forgiving, I wonder? I think what I have to tell you this afternoon may prove upsetting, Miss Eliza… I hope I may call you by your name, as Jack does?’

‘Yes, certainly, my lord.’ Her eyes opened wider as she looked at him curiously. ‘You sound very serious?’

‘I am. Do you think you could call me Seaton, as my friends do? I think Daniel in private, but that may be a step too far just yet?’

‘I think it might be inappropriate, my… sir,’ Eliza said and felt her cheeks getting warm. ‘There is a distance between us, even though you have been kind enough to make nothing of it. Perhaps you should tell me what is in your mind? I think you are troubled—is it on my account?’

‘You are always so perceptive.’ Daniel glanced at her as they left the busy main street and turned off into a quiet country lane. ‘It might have been better had I waited until we could walk alone—but my tiger may be trusted. Even if he could hear us, he would never breathe a word. Would you, Will?’

‘What’s that, my lord?’

Eliza smiled. ‘Are all your servants so well trained?’

‘I rescued Will from the streets of London, where unscrupulous fellows were preying him on. He is grateful for some reason. I really do not know why. I am not an easy master to work for.’ A smothered laugh turned hastily into a cough told Eliza that the tiger’s hearing was perfectly sound. ‘So we may speak freely.’ Daniel hesitated, then, ‘A rumour has started in Bath concerning you, Miss Eliza. I am sorry to tell you that stories are circulating concerning your fortune.’

‘Concerning my fortune? I have none.’ She looked at him in surprise. ‘No, how foolish! Where do the gossips get these stories?’

Hearing an expelled breath, she turned her head to look at him. ‘You do not mean… you could not have thought…’

‘If I am the cause of the rumours, it was a careless remark I made to an acquaintance Carstairs on the evening of the assembly,’ Daniel said. ‘I believe the gown you wore made some people think you were one of the débutantes and he was curious as to who you were. He asked me if I knew your fortune and I told him it would not be enough for him. Unfortunately, he took it into his head that I was trying to put him off, because I intended to make an offer myself. The story has spread, and, as with all such tales, it has grown. You are now believed to be a secret heiress.’

‘But that is terrible,’ Eliza cried, shocked by his words. ‘That must be why all those… how shallow people are…’ Her hands trembled in her lap, but she clasped them firmly together. Had that been what Kate meant? She had thought something different. She would take the first opportunity of disabusing her friend of the idea that she was an heiress. ‘To make so much of a careless remark…’