Page 10 of Courting the Country Miss

Elizabeth nodded. “Very well. I shall seek her out. Pray, walk with me until we find her.”

“Certainly.” Leticia fell into step with the countess as she moved toward the breakfast room.

Elizabeth glanced at her. “You danced quite a few sets last night. You appeared to have captured the attention of some fine gentlemen, many of them unattached.”

Leticia offered a self-deprecating smile. “Tristan put them up to it.”

“Tristan? Why would he do that?”

“He seems to have it in his head that he owes me a husband.” She cleared her throat. Had she stepped on Elizabeth’s emotional toes?

Elizabeth only nodded as if she understood Tristan’s motives.

“So,” Leticia continued, “he’s appointed himself my personal matchmaker. What’s more, he bet a hundred guineas to our school that I’d receive a proposal from a worthy man by Christmas.” She gave a little laugh. “Ridiculous, of course. I humored him so that he might spend some time in respectable company during his search for my so-called future husband. He agreed not to introduce me to any of his usual associates, thank goodness.”

Elizabeth’s smile faded. “I don’t know his friends well. Are they so disreputable?”

“Most of his closest cronies are. But he’s become quite chummy with Rhys Kensington since his return from the continent, and from what I know of Kensington, he’s a decent sort.”

“Richard thinks highly of Captain Kensington.”

“Yes, they’ve known each other forever. I’m sure Richard was relieved when he came home from the war whole and hale.”

“Yes. Very. He came to our wedding, which meant a lot to Richard. And without Captain Kensington and his military experience, they might not have gotten Richard out alive when he was held captive.”

Leticia shivered, thinking of Richard overpowered by thugs and killers, but the idea of them shooting Tristan turned her cold. If only she’d been here to nurse him back to health. “As to your question, I admit I don’t know many of Tristan’s acquaintances. However, I gave him high criteria for a husband in the hopes that he’ll seek out better company than gamblers and philanderers. Perhaps he’ll make friends with respectable gentlemen for a change. Plenty of that kind like to race and box and hunt, so he can still pursue the diversions he enjoys while seeking better company.”

Elizabeth had stopped walking and stood staring at her. “You don’t have a very high opinion of Tristan, do you?”

Leticia put her hand on her cheek. “Good heavens, do I give you that impression? No, quite the contrary. I love him like a brother.” She paused. “I do wish he were more like the sweet, poetic boy he used to be—the one who’d never break a lady’s heart, or risk his neck in a race, or bet a fortune on the turn of a card.”

“He is very different from his brother.” Elizabeth wore a serene expression with no sign of the infatuated miss she’d been a year ago.

“Yes, indeed. Richard has always been more serious and dependable, and Tristan has a zest for life. He sees beauty and poetry everywhere. Richard could ponder something and unlock its secrets, but Tristan had to take it all apart with his hands and find some analogy for life in the process.” Leticia’s gaze moved to the window. “The last few years, he’s grown so…so lost.”

“I don’t think he’s as lost as you seem to think,” Elizabeth said. “Perhaps your plan to lure him into more respectable company is exactly what he needs. Or perhaps the approval of those closest to him would go a long way.”

“Approval? With his lifestyle?” Leticia said, aghast.

“Not of what he does—of who he is. I respond to approval and love far better than to criticism.” Again that brief flash of pain passed through Elizabeth’s eyes. Had growing up under the rule of the daunting Duchess of Pemberton been terrible? The intimidating duchess made Leticia want to hide her face. Fortunately, the ducal family had failed to attend this house party.

Leticia nodded. “I’m certain I respond best to encouragement, too.” A thought came to her, a wonderful, delicious thought. “Perhaps you can help. If I know Tristan, he’ll come to you for advice—for recommendations of gentlemen to whom he might introduce to me. When you make those suggestions, bear in mind gentlemen whose presence will be good for Tristan rather than those you think would be a husband for me. We’ll see if we can match Tristan with good friends while he’s trying to match me with a husband.”

Elizabeth laughed. “I foresee a merry chase for us all.”

Leticia joined her laughter. “Let us hope a grand prize is caught.”

Perhaps in her crusade to save the poor, she could save Tristan as well.

Chapter Four

Tristan strode alongside his brother, Richard, and slapped his riding gloves against his buckskin breeches. He had to admit, the country life provided invigorating diversions. The pleasures of Town life were varied and enjoyable, but there was something about the simplicity of the country that left him feeling almost wholesome.

Richard removed his beaver hat, brushed it off, and set it back on his head, looking every inch a perfect English earl. “I daresay, the colonel has the finest hounds in the county, and his hunts always prove entertaining.”

Tristan smirked. “And seeing Seton almost lose his seat proved a bit diverting, as well.”

Richard chuckled. “Poor lad. He does try.”