Dorothy Elbury – A Marriageable Miss (страница 2)

Furthermore she was confident that once Richard was set on a course of action almost nothing would change his mind.

Glancing across at him now, as he stood chatting to Charles, the youngest of her grandsons, her eyes softened. The 6th earl certainly cut a fine figure and was very personable to boot. If only he could be persuaded to take himself a wife and start setting up his nursery! Having reached the ripe old age of eighty-one years herself, she was well aware that her time was running out and she dearly wanted to hear again the joyful sounds of childish laughter ringing through the old Hall before she eventually met her Maker.

‘You’ll stay for dinner, of course?’ Richard was asking his cousin.

Placing his empty glass down on the tray, Charles shook his head. ‘Better not, old chap,’ he replied. ‘I promised Mother I’d be back in time to dine with her. It’s been over a week now and you know how fidgety she’s apt to get if I’m away for more than a few days at a time. I’ll look in tomorrow, if I may?’

‘Of course—you’re always welcome, as I hope you know.’

After escorting his cousin to the door, Richard returned to his grandmother’s side. Sitting himself down on the sofa next to her, he leaned back and stretched out his legs, a slight frown on his forehead.

‘Take heart, my boy,’ Lady Isobel said bracingly. ‘At least you don’t have to face up to a complaining invalid every time you come home. How Charles finds the patience to deal with that woman is quite beyond me. I have never been able to understand what your Uncle Andrew ever saw in her, for she was always completely useless as a cleric’s wife!’

Richard, whose own mother had died when he was just seven years of age, gave a rueful smile. ‘Well, it’s not as though he can ignore her, is it? Besides which, he’s obliged to come down to Southpark to attend to various estate matters.’

‘To see how much is in the coffers, you mean!’ returned the countess, with some asperity. ‘He would do far better to get himself a wife and run his share of the estate as it should be run, instead of gallivanting about town!’

Well aware of what was about to follow his grandmother’s observation in regard to his cousin’s marital state, the earl, shifting uneasily on his seat, compressed his lips and waited.

‘And, much the same applies to you, Richard, my boy,’ she then went on. ‘Apart from anything else, you have the succession to consider! Four changes of title in eight years should be more than enough warning to you. What if you were to die without issue?’

‘Well, I did manage to get through an entire war pretty well undamaged,’ he felt constrained to point out. ‘I dare say I’m good for a few years yet! But, as to marrying, there’s time enough for that—besides which, I have far too many other problems to deal with without adding the complications of courtship to the list.’

‘That would depend on your requirements, surely?’ returned his grandmother. ‘In my experience—which is hardly limited—the acquisition of a wealthy wife tends to solve a good many problems!’

Richard stared at her in amazement. ‘You’re surely not suggesting that I should choose a wife on the strength of her dowry?’

Lady Isobel lifted one shoulder in a graceful shrug. ‘It’s hardly uncommon, amongst those of our standing, my boy. Always provided that the gel comes from good family stock, of course.’ Pausing for a moment, she then continued, in a seemingly offhand manner, ‘Added to which, a sizeable injection into those dwindling funds of yours would enable you to concentrate your efforts on that new horse-breeding programme you keep on about. I cannot think of anything that would please your grandfather more than knowing that you had brought the Standish Stud back into the forefront of horse-racing circles once again—he was deeply hurt that not one of his sons showed any interest in what had always been his pride and joy!’

One quick glance at her grandson’s expression assured the countess that she had hit the vital spot. ‘All those empty stables over at Markfield are just crying out to be restocked,’ she added persuasively.

For a moment, Richard regarded her in silence, the hint of a frown sifting across his brow. ‘I’m beginning to get the feeling that you won’t be satisfied until you see me actually standing at the altar. Indeed, it wouldn’t surprise me if you’d already drawn up a list of this Season’s likely candidates—the usual progression of whey-faced schoolroom misses out on the catch, I dare say!’

‘And I dare say that you might expect to do rather better than that!’ laughed the countess. ‘You are a Standish, after all! All you really need is some suitably endowed young female of acceptable breeding who fancies herself as a countess. Sadly, it would seem that this Season’s selection has very little of interest to offer. Why, only the other day I was talking to my stock-broker—trying to find out if any of my shares were worth more than a fig—and he was telling me—Oh! Good heavens! I do believe I may have hit upon the very thing!’

Giving little credence to the idea that the dowager might be seriously considering involving herself in his selection of a bride, Richard was, however, somewhat confused by her sudden change of topic. ‘Thinking of selling some of your shares?’ he queried. ‘I doubt if we have enough between us to cover even half of what’s needed to fix that roof.’

His grandmother shook her head impatiently. ‘Wheatley—my broker—I hear that he has been touting around for a leg-up into the beau monde for his girl for over a year now.’

‘You’re not about to suggest that I shackle myself to a Cit’s daughter, I hope!’

As she eyed him uncertainly, Lady Isobel’s brow furrowed. ‘Whilst it is perfectly true that Giles Wheatley is a man of business, he also happens to be positively dripping with lard. Besides which, it just so happens that the girl’s grandmother was a Coverdale.’

‘I’m afraid the name means nothing to me,’ said Richard, giving a careless shrug. ‘So, what’s she like—this daughter, I mean? She must be something of an anathema, since your man hasn’t been able to palm her off for a twelvemonth or more!’

‘That’s as may be,’ returned the countess, with some asperity. ‘She is, however, her father’s only heir and, apart from the fact of her dowry being something in the region of fifty thousand pounds, it would seem that her background is reasonably sound. In point of fact, if I remember correctly, I was slightly acquainted with her grandmother, Lady Joanna Coverdale, before she became Countess of Ashington. Be that as it may, it seems that Lord Ashington disowned their daughter—Louisa, I believe her name was—when she eloped with his accountant’s clerk—who is now my very wealthy stockbroker, Giles Wheatley. They—the Ashingtons, that is—died in a carriage accident shortly after the gel ran off and, since the estate was entailed to some distant cousin in the Antipodes, the daughter was left with nothing.’ Pausing reflectively, she then added, ‘Nevertheless, it seems that the pair did very well for themselves over the years, although it appears that Wheatley’s wife and son both died a couple of years ago. Can’t say that I have ever set eyes on the girl herself, but she is sure to have been brought up in a very proper manner, her mother being who she was.’

‘Well, there must be something deucedly odd about her,’ remarked her grandson, who was not at all happy with the direction in which this conversation was heading. ‘Plenty of fellows would be willing to sell their souls for fifty thousand!’

‘Perhaps she is just difficult to please?’ ventured the countess. ‘Her father is certainly wealthy enough for her to pick and choose—not that she will have been presented with a particularly inspiring set of individuals, if the usual set of fortune-hunters is still out on the prowl. You are sure to have far more chance with her than any of those ramshackle bucks.’

‘You are too kind!’ the earl ground out. ‘However, I am not sure that I care to join the ranks of such dubious company.’

Lady Isobel picked up her teacup and sipped tentatively at its now lukewarm contents. ‘Well, it’s entirely up to you, of course. However, I cannot help thinking that a readymade bride would certainly absolve you from having to go through all that tiresome business of formal introductions and correct procedures at Almack’s and so on.’

Although the idea of being obliged to contemplate marriage at all at this point in his life was sufficiently galling, without the added prospect of being saddled with a bride whose attributes had, it would seem, already failed to capture the interest of several previous suitors, the earl’s hitherto sceptical dismissal of his grandmother’s suggestions was now beginning to be replaced by the uncomfortable feeling that the dowager might actually be correct in her summation of the situation.

He was well aware that few men of his station married for love, an amicable mutual tolerance between the two parties being all that was usually required—and there was always the possibility that this Wheatley girl might not be quite as unprepossessing as she sounded, after all! It would mean giving up his occasional visits to Rachel Cummings, of course, although, in the event, that might not be such a bad thing, since that lady was beginning to develop rather expensive tastes of late—those ruby earrings he had recently presented her with had been a trifle extravagant, given his current financial position. Aside from which, the temporary cessation of his carnal delectations was a small enough price to pay for the restoration of the Markfield estate! Indeed, the very idea of being able to devote all his own resources to re-establishing the Standish Stud was beginning to prove an almost irresistible inducement.