“No. What my father failed to include was the type of assistance I might need to offer or even ask for, or a list of names who are part of the Alliance. How can I seek help if I do not know who they are?”
Claybrook laughed again. “I will provide you with one, though I hope you never have need of it.”
“I cannot imagine that my father ever asked for assistance from anyone.”
“He did not,” Claybrook lost some of his humor. “He was also rarely asked, or so I have been told. I am not even certain why he was included, except perhaps he learned of the Alliance and it was easier to include than risk his retaliation.”
The response was not exactly a surprise to Henry. Few men liked his father and fewer still would seek him out unless it was under the direst of circumstances. “What help has the Alliance given?” He had been quite curious ever since he received the note and ring.
“Trouble with mistresses, poor business deals, attempts to trap a duke in marriage, a missing wife.” He shook his head and chuckled. “I believe Ellings considered asking for help so that I would cease interfering in his life when I had only wanted to see him protected and not trapped into marriage.”
“Would they have assisted him?” Henry asked.
“It is doubtful.” He shrugged then took a drink of his brandy. “However, he did refuse me when I needed his help.”
“He did?” Henry asked in surprise.
“I found myself in a compromising situation with my wife, though we were clearly not yet wed at the time, or even courting. Due to circumstances beyond my control, we were stuck in the same room of an inn while I recovered from injuries. I sent for Ellings. He in turn refused because he believed I was exactly where I needed to be and with the person that I was meant to be with.”
Good God! If one could not count on assistance from a member of the Alliance then why bother to ask?
“He was correct.” Claybrook chuckled. “Had I not been a stubborn fool, or my wife, because I was not the only one at fault, we would have wed long before the matter was forced upon us.”
Yes, well that was all well and good, but Henry hoped that if he ever did need assistance that the person he asked wouldn’t make a decision as to what was best for him, which might be in contrast to what he wanted. “Well, I am certain that I will need no assistance, but I am here if needed,” Henry promised.
Lady Penelope Johansen had watched the entire incident from the moment Miss Damaris walked past Mr. Clark Summers to dousing the flames with the water from a vase of flowers.
It seemed that no matter how careful Miss Damaris was, something always happened, and it was a true shame.
Penelope became aware of the five sisters the first time they appeared in a ballroom nearly a month ago and had taken great interest in them since. The fact that they were the cousins of the Duke of Eldridge made her even more curious.
His Grace was a rake who enjoyed all the usual bachelor entertainments. Or, he had until this spring when his cousins came to live under his roof. Now he appeared almost proper, a guardian of the innocent, which gave her a chuckle.
He had been tamed, but not by choice and no doubt His Grace would see his cousins married quickly so that he could return to the pleasures he enjoyed prior to their arrival.
Oh, she remembered well the first time she had heard his name, which had been Marquess of Broadridge at the time. It had been her first Season and in no time the whispers by ladies and misses hoping that he would decide to take a wife reached her ears at her very first ball.
Given her inquisitive nature, Penelope was determined to find out exactly who he was and observe his character for herself. Not that she had any intention of marrying so young, but the sighs and silly excitement that erupted around her whenever there was hope that he would appear would make anyone curious.
Oh, he was definitely handsome and charming, and when she first saw him step into a ballroom, even her heart did a stupid palpitation, but she did not succumb to falling in love at first sight, unlike others. She had never understood how any of her friends could be in love without ever having spoken a word to the object of their desire.
But she also had to admit that there was something about him that had given even Penelope pause, and she made a point not to bring herself to his attention. She had never been able to identify that something, but it was almost as if he frightened her, which was ridiculous because there was nothing cruel or unpleasant about Broadridge, nor was there any gossip that claimed he was a disagreeable person.
It was also easy to go unnoticed by Eldridge back then. There were enough silly chits around him, and willing widows, that he did not need to seek anyone out, which allowed Penelope to continue her observations. Sometimes it was intentional, other times it was not. But the one certainty was that whenever he stepped into a room, whether he had been announced or not, she knew instantly.
It was the awareness of him that she would never understand. Or perhaps she didn’t want to accept in herself that she was just as silly as the misses who flirted, blushed and fluttered their eyelashes at him.
She was also certain that Eldridge had not even known of her existence until they had both been invited to the same house party three and a half years ago. But even then, their conversations had been few. That was also when her dislike began. It lasted until last spring when she learned that he had been innocent of any duplicity of his sister in the past. Her opinion softened and she came to appreciate that while he was a handsome rake, he had matured into a gentleman who was not discourteous and never encouraged an innocent. In fact, he remained standoffish. Often, she had seen him at the side of a ballroom, his dark hair, nearly black, tall and lean, confident as he sipped wine and spoke to male companions. He was a handsome devil, with his blue eyes, high cheekbones and full lips that often quirked to one side as if he found humor in something that only he noticed. And, if she were of a mind to give up her independence for marriage, he would be the type of man she would want.
Thank goodness she was not so foolish and intended to enjoy the freedom she found as well as a comfortable place on the shelf beside other spinsters who decided that marriage was not for them either.
However, Eldridge was not her concern tonight, and should not be at any time, but his cousins were and she could no longer stand by and simply observe their awkward wallflower status disrupted on occasion by a mishap involving Miss Damaris. That she did blame on Eldridge for doing the very least of his duty. Not the mishaps because she did not think anyone could prevent those, but it was his fault they had become wallflowers. While he saw to it that they were received in ballrooms, he did nothing more, and with those thoughts, Penelope followed them to the retiring room where she found the five, quite alone except for two servants who silently sat away, waiting to be of assistance.
“I wish to go home,” Miss Damaris insisted. “I should have never come to London.”
“Nonsense,” Miss Chloe insisted. She was the fourth born sister.
Penelope may not have been formally introduced to the sisters, but she had learned all that she could and knew their names and ages.
