Yes, Julia and Nicholas were very happy and deserved to be so. They were perfectly suited to each other. Thank goodness neither of them had ended up in a cold, loveless marriage such as so many of the ones Leorah saw around her. Her parents’ marriage, for example.
The relationship between her mother and father was nothing like what she imagined for herself. Trapped with someone who didn’t understand her, who didn’t feel any affection for her, who could walk by her with barely a mumbled greeting . . . it was her worst fear and sent a shudder through her.
Marriage to someone who disapproved of her, who tried to force her to conform to his own passionless ideal, was surely a fate worse than death.
Lord Withinghall was the epitome of that sort of man. How Leorah pitied the woman who should be so unfortunate as to marry such a cross, dour politician. Calling him a pirate was a compliment, and one he didn’t deserve, for it indicated there was some passion beneath that cold fa?ade.
CHAPTER TWO
Julia and Leorah sat knitting while Nicholas read the paper.
“That blanket is turning out quite lovely, Leorah.” Julia smiled and reached over to touch Leorah’s handiwork.
“It will keep someone warm next winter.” Leorah imagined giving it to one of the children at the Children’s Aid Mission, the charity where her brother and sister-in-law often donated both their time and their money to help the poor children in London’s East Side. Leorah was a practical person, and she liked the idea that something she was making would actually be of use to someone. Practicality of that sort, however, wasn’t normally valued by polite society.
From his chair in the corner, Nicholas broke his silence by rustling the paper he was reading and drawing it closer. He mumbled, “Oh, that’s bad.”
“What’s bad, my dear?” Julia asked, looking up from the shawl she was embroidering.
“It’s Lord Withinghall. Apparently someone is trying to embroil him in a scandal.”
“That horrid man? What has he done?”
“He isn’t horrid, Leorah. What makes you speak of him that way?”
“Do you need to ask?” Leorah stared at her brother. “He is rude and uptight and despises me particularly.”
“That cannot be true. He told me recently that he was sorry he had never made your acquaintance and planned to do so at the next possible occasion.”
“That must have been before Mr. and Mrs. Colthurst’s ball a week ago.” Leorah heaved a deep sigh.
“What did you do?”
“I shall ignore your insinuated accusation since sweet Julia is present.” She scrunched her nose at her brother. “It turns out we knew each other already, although we hadn’t been formally introduced.”
“Oh?”
“He was the man whose hat got ruined when I was riding through Hyde Park. I wasn’t watching where I was going. I told him it was an accident, but the man has no sense of humor. Can you believe he accused me of being ‘a reckless hoyden’? He said it was young ladies like me, with no sense of just decorum, who were bringing down English society, and soon we’d be as unseemly as the French.”
Nicholas stared at her, his eyes wide and his brows raised.
“And, unfortunately, I encountered him again three weeks ago when he criticized me for running through the maze at the Fortenburys’ home. What is a maze for if not for enjoyment?”
Nicholas laughed so hard and so long, Leorah put down her knitting and folded her arms and glared at him.
“I see nothing funny about someone calling me, your sister, a reckless hoyden and accusing me of being unseemly. You should be outraged. The man has such an air of self-righteousness. He’s proud and imperious and . . .”
Julia added, “And at the recent ball, he and Mr. Colthurst overheard Leorah and Felicity saying he resembled a pirate.”
Nicholas frowned, his brow wrinkling in puzzlement. “A pirate?”
“Never mind that,” Leorah said. “He is insufferable, and I’m sure he is sorry to have made my acquaintance. In fact, he practically said as much. If I ever see him again it will be too soon.”
“That sounds very peevish and unjust.” Nicholas adjusted his paper so that his face was concealed from the two women.
“Unjust? I am being neither peevish nor unjust. Why do you like him so much? Why take his side against your own sister?” Leorah picked up her knitting, but she was so angry she hardly knew what she was doing and had soon got her blanket into a snarl, making her growl under her breath.
“Edward, the Viscount Withinghall, and I were in school together as boys. He is two years older than I and once saved me from a thrashing by some older boys. He is a good sort of fellow, and he’s also from Lincolnshire. Our fathers were on friendly terms, and now he is one of John Wilson’s greatest supporters in his Children’s Aid Mission.”
“I am certainly grateful he did you that service when you were boys,” Julia said, sending an affectionate look toward her husband. “He seemed very courteous when I met him, though a little stiff and formal. But what was it you saw in the newspaper?” Julia asked. “You said there was something in the paper about him?”
Leorah went on trying to undo the tangled knot she’d made in her knitting, determined to be silent and say not another word about the odious Lord Withinghall. The sooner the subject of that undertaker-viscount was dropped, the better.
“It seems a young woman of dubious character is trying to say that Lord Withinghall had promised to give her exclusive rights, as it were, of . . .” Here he trailed off, looking up at Leorah. His gaze flitted to Julia and he cleared his throat. “That is to say, she claims she was his kept mistress, but the viscount refused to pay her the agreed-upon terms, including the stipend he receives as a Cabinet Minister. Apparently this was the story that came out a few days ago in the Morning Herald. But now the Courier is refuting her story, or at least casting doubt upon it, by saying that the woman in question has never been seen going in or coming out of Lord Withinghall’s house in Grosvenor Square, and he has never been seen anywhere near the woman’s lodgings on St. James Street. They also state that she is actually known to be the courtesan of someone else. And Lord Withinghall’s salary as a Cabinet Minister, as I know personally, is donated to the Children’s Aid Mission.”
Leorah raised her eyebrows at Julia.
“Oh yes, that is true,” Julia confirmed. “Lord Withinghall is the Children’s Aid Mission’s largest single supporter.”
Besides Nicholas and Julia Langdon, of course. They worked closely with clergyman John Wilson, who had created the charity to help the poor children and their families. How curious that a stuffy bachelor such as Lord Withinghall should give money to a children’s charity.
He certainly wasn’t spending his money on the latest fashions, for he dressed all in black and wore the stiffest cravat and the stingiest cut of coat.
“Poor Lord Withinghall.” Julia clucked her tongue against her teeth and shook her head as she looked over at her husband. “I can’t imagine that the accusations are true, but he will be mortified, no doubt.”