“How soon? When exactly are we leaving?”
“No later than the end of next week. But that trip doesn’t compare to my joy in having you home again, darling. And your willingness to consider the marriage bargain, if it’s indeed still on the table, was a surprise but is very appreciated.”
Next week! She didn’t have much time left with Monty. Once again, she was faced with the prospect of never seeing him again, but she refused to become downhearted about it again as she had on the road.
And that wasn’t why she gave her mother a sad smile. She was commiserating with her. “I want Father back, too, Mother, more than anything.”
They went downstairs together to find that Charley was waiting in the parlor for them with the twins, but Monty wasn’t with them. Nor did he arrive before they moved to the dining room or at any time during the meal.
Vanessa had completely lost her appetite by then and only picked at her dinner, certainly not intentionally, but she did get a nod of approval from her mother that almost made her force the food down, but she didn’t. She was too frustrated and starting to get angry as well, afraid that Monty had information about the Rathbans that would ruin this golden opportunity to get her father home. And he wouldn’t share it! He was hiding instead, leaving her to brood over all sorts of dire possibilities for his nasty condolences.
Kathleen politely asked Charley if something was amiss with his guardian. He apologized for not mentioning sooner that Monty was not at the manor. He’d ridden off to Dawton town after tea, despite the rain, because he had some business to take care of.
Kathleen smiled. “Assure him that Mrs. Griggs will be happy to serve him dinner whenever he returns.”
“It’s still raining, dear lady. He will likely want a bottle of brandy instead to warm up, if he makes it back tonight. If you wouldn’t mind?”
Kathleen tsked but agreed to his request and asked one of the maids to bring him the brandy. However, the moment Charley left the room, she told the girls, “You will find that some men have a fondness for drink and indulge it to excess, which is fine on certain occasions, but not something you will want to live with, so make sure the men you pick for yourselves don’t have such proclivities.”
That was obviously not a warning for the already engaged daughter. But Vanessa wondered if the brandy was for Charley or Monty, or perhaps both of them. She was only slightly relieved that Monty wasn’t hiding as she’d thought, but it was still annoying that he wasn’t there to explain his condolences remark. And he’d forgotten the dancing lessons, or was his business more important? Maybe he really didn’t know how to dance, after all. That thought eased some of her annoyance with him.
But by the time she went to bed that night, she wondered with some consternation if she’d gotten upset because she’d missed him this evening—his banter, his jocular manner that so easily made her laugh, his handsome face. She bloody well better not be forming that sort of attachment to a rake.
Chapter Twenty-five
BY TEATIME THE NEXTday, Monty still hadn’t appeared and Vanessa was ready to laugh at herself. She’d come down for breakfast feeling excited. The man had to eat, after all. At lunchtime she’d gotten to the dining room early, again, with that underlying excitement that she would be seeing him. But she’d pushed aside her disappointment and reasoned that unless he’d abandoned his charge, which wasn’t likely, he was still in the house and she would see him eventually.
Kathleen had shrugged off his failing to join them for the midday meal with the sage remark, “The aftereffects of strong drink can turn an otherwise charming fellow into a growling bear. We shall be grateful he is sparing us a demonstration.”
And perhaps that’s all it was, so Vanessa didn’t let herself look forward to seeing him that night before dinner, and yet when she came around the corner to go downstairs, there he was in the main hall heading to the parlor, and she felt a little fluttering in her belly and gripped the handrail tightly.
“Sneaking downstairs for another bottle of brandy?” she queried in the most casual tone she could muster.
He turned and waited for her to finish her descent. “Why would you think so?”
“Didn’t you get foxed last night, which required you to sleep the day away?”
He laughed. “No to both charges. I did enjoy a single glass of brandy last night and wondered who I should thank for it.”
“That would be Charley.”
“The nuisance can be thoughtful? Imagine that.”
“So you went to town again today?”
“No, just scouting around the property. Your family really does own an extensive amount of land here. An army could camp on it and go unnoticed.”
“I thought you were certain no one followed us here.”
“I was, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t still searching for me and the boy. At any rate, after doing my due diligence I found myself famished for the sight of you.”
“Rubbish.”
“Very well, merely eager,” he said, then in a whisper when she stopped a foot away, “I apologize for missing your dancing lesson. I didn’t think I could be in the same room with your mother and not lambaste her for arranging such a marriage for you.”
Really? But it was a pretty good excuse—if it was true. “Such a marriage? There are different kinds?”
“Indeed, if one is to the younger Rathban. He’s not for you, Nessi. He’ll crush your spirit.”
