A Charming Lady for the Intriguing Baronet: A Historical Regency Romance Book Read online

  Ophelia immediately blushed. “Oh, hush, Selina. ’Tis nothing, I assure you.”

  “Your rosy cheeks say another thing altogether. Do you think that we shall see him again?”

  Ophelia looked down and shrugged, her mumbles unintelligible.

  “What is this I hear? A suitor for our Ophelia?”

  “Do not make much of it, I beg you. A brief conversation does not a suitor make. I wish to enjoy our stay without the need to remember any past encounters with any gentleman. Now, if you will excuse me, I must freshen up for dinner.”

  Ophelia left the kitchen, her head held high. Selina had seen the longing looks her sister had shared with her young man, but she held back due to Selina’s ending failure during the Season. Ophelia was a dutiful and loving sister to a fault, but she would not allow her sister to give up her chance of love because of her. If Selina was to have love, she was confident that it would find her.

  Chapter 2

  Selina walked into the parlour that evening with great trepidation. Her mother and aunt were waiting for her, most likely calmly drinking their tea and chatting about how best to discipline her. When she entered the room, Ophelia was already there, looking meek and mild while sitting in a chair some few feet away from the stern-looking women. Selina raised her eyebrows at her sister, but Ophelia shook her head slightly, using her eyes to point at their mother. What? Selina mouthed. She just about saw Ophelia mouth ‘trouble’ before their aunt spoke to her.

  “Take a seat, Selina. Do not dawdle at the door. We have much to discuss.”

  Their mother nodded her head. “Quite so, Dorothy, quite so.”

  Selina quickly took a seat next to Ophelia, exchanging a knowing glance with her. This scene was all too familiar, and it always preceded a lecture of sorts. What have I done to deserve a lecture? Both her mother and aunt put their teacups down and regarded them with a disapproving stare.

  “Selina, you and your sister have the uncanny ability to cause me great distress,” her mother said. “Have you no notion of how to act like a proper lady?”

  Her mother certainly looked upset, and Selina had a sinking feeling that word had reached her of her impromptu rain dash. The fact that Ophelia had also been summoned for the lecture told her that their play in the kitchen had been revealed as well. Who would have disclosed such information, knowing that it would upset Mama?

  Mrs Albermale was not a woman who felt the need to report such things to her mother or her aunt, which only left Ophelia. Selina glanced at her sister, who was looking down, her gaze fastened on her shoes. What did you do, Phee? However, her sister would not volunteer the information, which meant that her mother had somehow forced the information out of her. Their mother was one person that neither of them could lie to.

  “What part of my actions has caused you such distress, Mama?”

  “Do not act surprised, Selina! Did you think that I would not notice Ophelia’s state of dress this afternoon? Besides being damp, she also had a potato peel stuck to her hair and her dress.”

  What ill luck! Mama must have intercepted Ophelia on her way to her room. It would not surprise me if Mama were stationed behind a door, just waiting to pounce upon any one of us in the hopes of catching untoward behaviour. Might as well be honest about it.

  “That was merely an accident, Mama. The peels were not meant to stick to her but hit her and fall off.”

  “Ah-ha!” her aunt interjected. “So you admit to playing childish games and turning my kitchen into a pigsty?”

  Selina shook her head. “Not in the slightest, Aunt. The mess was quickly cleared up. Your kitchen is as clean as it was when I first came in.”

  “Drenched in the rain!” her mother added. “Did you think that we would not find out? Your uncle saw you running through the rain, laughing as though you were delirious! What if we had guests and they had seen you? Do you not think, Selina? When will you learn that you are no longer a child, but a woman? Do you think that you will get a husband acting in such a manner?”

  Always back to the husband. Selina was tired of every situation becoming something about finding a husband. She had heard of nothing less since before the Season, making it nearly a year.

  “Mama, why does everything have to be about finding a husband? Ophelia and I were playing in the kitchen–there was no harm done. And I was caught in the rain while I was sketching Allan. There was nothing untoward about my or Ophelia’s behaviour.”

  “Selina!” Aunt Dorothy scolded. “You will not speak to your mother in such a manner. You are here to socialise with people of your own status with the purpose of securing a good match for you.”

  Selina scratched her brow, the only sign of frustration that she could exhibit without fear of repercussion. What is wrong with remaining single, for goodness sake? Becoming a spinster will not bring doom upon my family! Not that my intentions are to become a spinster, but it is hardly fair to be pressured into a marriage, not of my choice.

  “Aunt Dorothy, I would never dream of disrespecting my mother. I am simply explaining the situation for you to understand that they were harmless circumstances. There was no ill intent involved.”

  Her aunt shook her head, tsk-tsking as she did so. Aunt Dorothy was her mother’s older sister. The country estate that they were currently visiting belonged to her and her husband, Uncle Edmund. Selina had arrived with her family some days ago, and it had not taken long for her mother and aunt to start plotting and scheming the most desirable ways to secure a husband for her. Damage control had to be done due to her unsuccessful Season, and with the landed gentry in the area, it needed to be done quickly.

  “Selina,” her mother said, “we are trying our best to give you an enviable future. There is no hope for an unmarried woman, none at all. I do not have any sons that will inherit your father’s estate. Do you understand what this means? Should your father die, all that we have will be given to your cousin, William. If you do not marry, you will be without a home! Your only hope is to marry a man with a good fortune.”

  Selina was well aware of this, and she considered it most unfair. To have lived in a home for all her life, only to have it taken away because she was not the correct gender? It was no wonder that women rushed to be married. However, she also knew that her father would never leave her destitute and would ensure that she have an inheritance that she could comfortably live off for years to come. She would not need much money to live comfortably, for she was a simple girl. A good yearly allowance would stretch far for Selina, of that she was certain. Selina had no qualms with becoming a working woman, although the very thought might drive her mother into the grave.

  “You must learn to socialise with people of your own status, Selina. Your aunt has not opened her home to us for you to cohort with her servants. If a gentleman were to see how lowly you consider yourself, he would not pay you any attention. Many girls are competing for the best match, but your aunt and I are determined to secure your future. I just want you to be happy.”

  Happy with someone of her own status. I do not see that happening.

  “Mama, I know that my happiness is the root of all that you do, but I simply do not share the same view as you and Aunt Dorothy. I believe that we are essentially all born equal at birth, but money, status, and prejudice have set us apart from those that you consider lowly workers. They are honest people, and they possess more character than many of the people that you wish me to socialise with.”

  Aunt Dorothy gasped. “Scandalous child! Do you understand what you are saying? This is unheard of! Who are you to question the way that things are done?”

  “Aunt, it is not a matter of questioning, but of what is right and wrong. Working people may not have the wealth that we do, live in grand estates, attend lavish balls and dinner parties, and rub shoulders with royalty, but they experience the same emotions that we do. They have a family, just as we do. They get married, they mourn, and they experience joy just as we do. Money does not maketh the man, no matter th
e excuse that those in power choose to give.”

  Her mother’s shoulders dropped. “And do you think that sitting outside and sketching these people will make any difference to their lives?”

  “I sketch because I love to, and I am good at it. Watching people and sketching them is far better than being cooped in the house, painting flowers and fruit. I enjoy life, Mama, I really do. Why can you not see that?”

  “Because your mother lives in the real world, Selina,” her aunt answered. “Girls like you do not fit in because your heads are stuck in the clouds. Perhaps you are too young to understand the harsh realities of life, but it is my hope that you are not disappointed. You are my niece, and I wish to see you happily married and settled, but we cannot force you.”

  Selina saw how dejected her mother looked. It was important for her that her eldest daughter be married, but why did it have to be a wealthy gentleman? She was at odds within herself. Her whole being abhorred the idea of marrying a shallow and heartless man, but neither did she wish to distress her mother any further.

  “I will try to keep my ‘wild’ antics far from any prying eyes. I do not wish to disappoint you, Mama.”

  Her mother smiled weakly. “That is all I ask for, Selina. Just give this a chance; I beg you. You may be surprised.”

  Surprised by what? The fact that she was going to be right about the men that her mother desired her to bat her eyelashes at? Selina and Ophelia were excused, and they gladly left the room, competing to see who would reach the door first. This earned them another scolding, and they stopped being obvious about it, but there was still a gleam of harmless competition between them. Selina won this time, sticking her tongue out at her sister before running up the stairs to her room. She had a lot to think about, and none of it was particularly good.

  Selina took her journal out from its hiding place and sat down at her desk to pour out her troubled thoughts onto the blank pages. The conversation with her mother and aunt had upset her more than she was willing to admit, and she would have shared it with her sister as she usually did, but she wanted to keep this to herself. Not even Ophelia knew of her aversion, true aversion, to marrying wealth. Selina openly spoke of their dull personalities, their selfish and self-centred ways, as well as their heartless manner, but there was a story that she had yet to share.

  “I do not wish to sway Ophelia from her dream of marrying the perfect gentleman, but I do not believe that there is such a thing. Only men who use their wealth for evil deeds. Who is to say that she will not meet a supposed suitable match that would soon become a nightmare?”

  Thoughts of Jane filled her mind. She sighed.

  “Oh, Jane. If only you had never met that man! If I just only knew who he was, I would expose him for the world to see.”

  Jane had been her childhood friend, but Selina did not know of her whereabouts. Jane was their gardener’s daughter, a pretty young woman with a ready smile for everyone. She had only been two years older, but they were nevertheless kindred spirits. At the age of eighteen, Jane had fallen in love with a man, but she had refused to reveal him, only saying that he was a gentleman and the kindest man that she had ever met.

  Trinkets started to show up, some that Jane would wear and others that she would put away. Some were gaudy and cheap, but there were a few that raised eyebrows for they were far above the station of a worker’s daughter. This was what had alerted Selina to realise that the man had to be wealthy, and therefore part of the gentry. Selina had questioned Jane, and she had not denied it. Rather, she professed her love for him, still not giving his identity. At one point, Jane started to speak of marriage, of being whisked away from her dreary life to that of beautiful dresses, grand balls, and a home of her own to run with servants running around doing her bidding. Selina had been alarmed, to say the least, and somewhat suspicious. Why would the man not choose to reveal himself and speak with her father for her hand in marriage? Then one day, Jane had simply disappeared. It was only months later that she learned that her friend had been with child and had also been rejected by the father of the child. One sentence, in particular, had stood out for her.

  “He had said that she wasn’t of the right marrying type–that he was far above her in status. He could never marry a servant girl and ruin his chances of marrying a suitable gentlewoman.”

  Just speaking the words had her blood boiling. Her father had been the one to send her away to avoid prolonged shame, but he would not tell her where. The child would be three years old now.

  “The wealthy have longed believed that they can do whatever they want and get away with ruining the life of an innocent girl, all due to her status.”

  Selina had long since looked for her, but she had so far been unsuccessful. None of the other servants wished to help her, and that had perplexed her.

  “Perhaps Jane wishes not to be found by me. But I would not judge her! Far be it for me to throw the first stone.”

  Her parents were well aware of the situation with Jane, and yet they still insisted on marriage. Time would only tell if Selina gave into her mother’s hope for her eldest daughter.

  Selina could not stand being cooped up in the house any longer. Two days had passed since her scolding, and she had dutifully remained indoors to please her mother, but she could no longer bear to look at the walls surrounding her. Selina had managed to sneak past her mother and aunt, but she had no idea where her uncle and father were.

  “They could very well be outside.”

  She would have to take a different route, one that would take her away from the frequented areas of the estate.

  “Perhaps the river will be a perfect place for me. I know that there will be no fishing this day, so there is no chance of being found out.”

  Selina had organised with her sister to tell anyone who should ask about her whereabouts that she was taking a walk.

  “Although perhaps it was not such a wise thing to tell my sister. She can never lie to Mama, even when she wants to.”

  Their mother had a stare that could unravel one’s tongue rather quickly, but not Selina. She was accustomed to her mother’s antics and knew how to avoid her. Not that she frequently lied to her parents, but there were times that she simply needed to get away without the possibility of facing her mother’s disapproving stare.

  “Mama’s disapproval is the last thing that I need, considering the scolding I received a few days ago.”

  Selina took the servants’ exit out of the house, keeping close to shrubs and bushes that could quickly conceal her should anyone come walking by. This meant that she went much farther than she had expected to, not recognising the clearing that she stepped into. Was this still part of her uncle’s country estate? She wasn’t so sure. The river was there, moving quickly and smoothly as it flowed.

  “This is certainly the river, but it is wider here. I cannot rock hop across it to the other side. Oh well, this side is as good as any. At least it is secluded–no one should bother me here.”

  Selina looked around, smiling. This was going to be the perfect scene for her next sketch. She found some comfortable-looking ground to sit on, feeling a particularly spongy area.

  “This grass is wonderfully thick and soft–I could sleep on it! But there is no telling if an adder was to appear out of nowhere in search of warmth and cuddle up next to me.”

  Selina shuddered at the thought. She was not keen on snakes, or any other reptile for that matter. Once she was settled, her sketchpad, charcoal, and stolen fruit arranged around her, she got to work, roughly outlining the scene before she started to bring it to life. Selina had the foundation of her sketch in place when she heard the horses’ hooves. Frowning, she looked up to see a man coming towards her, leading two horses on either side of him. She should have been alarmed: she was alone in a secluded area, and a stranger was approaching. But oddly enough, she wasn’t. Selina watched the man come closer, wondering if he would stop and speak with her.

  Alexander spotted the young woman lo
ng before she had looked up from whatever it was she was huddled over. It was the flaming-red hair that had first caught his attention, and the fact that there was someone on his land. She was a trespasser, but Alexander did not see the need to publicise that. As he neared her, he noticed her curious gaze. Most young women would have been frightened to meet a stranger, especially a man, but she clearly wasn’t. Alexander didn’t know whether he should stop and greet her, or merely lift his hat and be on his way. He didn’t find it surprising when he stopped.