Pleasures of the Night by Heather Boyd
Chapter 2
If mingling with society could always mean a night spent in a private home, devoid of matchmakers seeking to tempt him, Teddy would be entirely happy with his new life. Two years ago, his circumstances had been very simple. He’d spent his early mornings mucking out stalls at a posting house stables; occasionally served ale to weary farmers on Sunday evenings, who spoke mostly of the chance of rain or praised the cook’s fine stew. No one had cared about his opinion there. No one had reason to curry his favor…because his connection to the Duke of Exeter had been a closely guarded secret at that time.
And he’d been happy with that life, until family concerns had taken precedence over his desire for obscurity and set him down in the heart of London’s social whirl. And that had made him a target for everyone with a daughter, niece, or widowed sister of a certain age to marry off.
Every word he said now, every smile he bestowed, was considered, pondered, and reflected upon by those who claimed to know what he wanted. Recognition seemed to be the greatest disadvantage of being a duke’s heir, after the loss of his liberty, and of course, the memory of the taste of Cook’s stew had long since grown dim.
Teddy circulated the Marquess of Wharton’s long gallery at the end of another endless evening on the Town, his mind half on what he overheard tonight and the rest contemplating a future of more of this. He was a bachelor still, and a bachelor he’d remain for some time. For this season, at least, or perhaps even longer yet.
He was only just six and twenty. Much too young to need a wife.
Wharton’s long gallery was filled with the cream of society, as it was on so many nights. These were the people his cousin Sinclair, the Duke of Exeter, claimed he must mingle with and get to know. Lords and ladies, some already fast friends, and a few unknowns to be introduced to as the night wore on. There were spinsters and widows too, but he made sure not to single any out for particular attention.
As usual, the Hillcrest cousins were included in their number, despite them not being married or engaged or even in the center of things. There were three Hillcrests. Until recently, they had all engaged in a business, offering advice to gentlemen in search of a bride. Not matchmaking them, he believed, but helping to make them over into a more appealing version of themselves, or so he’d heard. A finishing school for gentlemen. Dance practice, love letter writing, courtship offerings.
He had a long acquaintance with one of the Miss Hillcrests, through the Duchess of Exeter’s friendship with her, and the other two only by association as a consequence of attending the same events.
Sylvia Hillcrest, the duchess’ friend, recently become engaged to the Marquess of Wharton. She smiled his way but remained close to her betrothed. Once upon a time, he might have considered she could be a very good friend of his—and perhaps more could have come of their association. But with her engagement, any particular interest he’d had in her welfare or future ended. He did not pursue engaged women, or married ones either. That way led to strife.
He would much rather pursue a woman with no impediments, when he eventually did.
Giving up on Miss Sylvia Hillcrest had been easier than he’d first thought it might be. Teddy could only conclude that the feelings he’d held for her had not run very deep. He wished her happy with Wharton, but he was not heartbroken as many seemed to suspect.
The other Hillcrest women sat apart from everyone. He envied them their seclusion over there on the far side of the chamber with their cups of tea. They always seemed content with their own company, while he was frequently bored to death with his.
But this was his life now, waiting for something to be given him to do. Although he had money to invest and a home to furnish one day, thanks to his cousin’s—the Duke of Exeter’s—generosity, not much else appealed in Town. Gambling didn’t interest him in the slightest, nor did whoring—a popular pastime of bachelors in the circles he moved in now. He’d come very late to riding, and ownership of horseflesh and breeding them interested him only in that it mattered to Exeter. There was always the hunt, but it was the wrong time of year for the chase.
Which left him stranded in London for the season in search of any amusement that didn’t result in his imminent marriage.
“I’m going to have another crack,” Lord Scarsdale muttered at his side.
Teddy looked at Scarsdale, startled, and then around the room, until he spotted a popular widow. “How many times will you suffer the rebuff before giving up on her?”
Scarsdale, a young man with the temperament of an overeager puppy, rubbed his hands together briskly. “As many times as needed until Miss Hillcrest gives in to temptation.”
“Miss Hillcrest? I thought you were speaking of your infatuation with Lady Parry,” Teddy whispered. Lady Parry welcomed pursuit, and engaged in them, too. Teddy had been the recipient of her overtures already, but he’d known of Scarsdale’s interest and had politely declined.
“My interest ended when I saw her kissing Lord Molesworth last night,” Scarsdale complained.
Teddy blinked. “He’s married.”
Scarsdale scowled. “Deeper pockets than mine, too.”
“So, you’ve decided to court a spinster instead?”
Scarsdale snorted. “Are you mad?”
“Not that I can tell,” Teddy answered, but he thought that Scarsdale might be. Flirting with spinsters was risky, almost always ending in a marriage. But pursuing a close connection of Wharton’s might just shorten one’s life, too. “Which Miss Hillcrest has caught your fancy?”
“The younger, of course. She’s more my type than the older,” Scarsdale said with an exaggerated wiggle of his brows.
Teddy had sensed no particular interest in Scarsdale from the lady in question. Miss Aurora Hillcrest had flirted with Teddy, not that he encouraged her or wanted her to. “What is your type? Uninterested?”
“Oh, she’s interested,” Scarsdale smirked. “You know why they sit away from us, don’t you?”
“I thought it because they preferred tea to late-night political debate.”
“They remain apart, night after night, discussing us. Men.”
Teddy laughed at that. “There is no law against it. Most unmarried ladies probably do that a great deal. How else would they know who to encourage and the scoundrels to avoid?”
Scarsdale turned to him slowly, one brow raised. “Debating our attributes without leaving clothes on us?”
Teddy laughed again. “Come now. Surely that cannot be the case.”
“I tell you, none of them are as prim as they appear. For example, you only have to consider that Wharton is marrying one of them. The other pair must be just like her. I poured out my heart to them in a series of interviews, only to later overhear a shockingly personal discussion about a fellow they’d just met with. I bet they talked of me that way, too, after I left. Discussing my size and proportions like they did him, as if they were in the market for a man to warm their beds. Well, I plan to make it clear I am available for closer inspection.”
“You should not have been eavesdropping on a private conversation,” Teddy chided, knowing his complaint would fall on deaf ears. Men spoke of women that same way all the time in private. While perhaps scandalous, he didn’t understand why Scarsdale was in high alt over the women talking about men that way, too. But any suggestion that the Hillcrests were fast could only lead to gossip that would harm all their reputations. And Wharton would not care for that. “Let me wish you a hearty congratulations on your upcoming marriage.”
Scarsdale smiled. “I’ve no need for a wife, though don’t tell them that.”
“Why?”
“I pretended an ailment to get my foot in the door,” he confessed. “Wanted to see what all the fuss was about.”
Teddy stepped closer to Scarsdale and lowered his voice, so it didn’t carry. “Meddle with any of the Hillcrest ladies in any way now, and you’ll have to answer to Wharton. He treats them as family already. I warn you to leave them alone.”
Teddy glanced at the pair of ladies now and hoped Scarsdale listened to him for a change.
Aurora Hillcrest, Scarsdale’s new infatuation, was a bright woman. Open and exuberant and rather fun, the few times he’d engaged in any prolonged conversation with her. She was undoubtedly the favorite in the family. Both Sylvia and Eugenia tended to promote their cousin for notice of any gentleman they met over themselves. He wouldn’t like to see any lady embroiled in a scandal.
Scarsdale tugged down his waistcoat. “I tell you they’re not as they seem—and I’ll prove it to you.”
Teddy glanced at Scarsdale in annoyance. “What good will that do?”
“Wait and see.” Scarsdale tilted his head a certain way and strutted off in their direction.
Teddy raked a hand through his dark hair, exasperated by Scarsdale’s plans to make trouble where none ought to exist. What did it matter if women had opinions about the gentlemen they met, or imagined them naked, too? Women could study Teddy all they liked, so long as none wanted to marry him.
Teddy turned to view the Hillcrest cousins again. Aurora was already being engaged in conversation with Scarsdale, but the elder, Eugenia, was being ignored.
He’d spoken with Eugenia Hillcrest a few times when he’d called upon her cousin, Sylvia, before Sylvia had become engaged. What he remembered of Eugenia was that she seemed a polite if reserved woman, someone who had seemed straightforward around men, blunt almost.
Fearing that Scarsdale’s interest in Aurora would seem too obvious to others, he felt he had no choice but to join them to at least even the numbers.
Teddy approached and bowed. “Good evening, ladies.”
“Surely it must be almost morning, sir,” Eugenia answered with a welcoming smile. “Please do join us.”
“Yes, do join us,” Aurora gushed, clearly too happy to have more company. She even patted the space beside her.
After careful consideration, Teddy sat down beside Eugenia instead. He would do nothing to encourage the young woman. He would direct his attention to the older cousin, who had never once flirted with him. “How are you bearing up?” he asked of Eugenia.
“I shall be very happy to go to bed, but I do not think it will be for a while yet.” She twirled her feet in circles in front of her.
“Footsore?”
“Not really. My feet have pins and needles, a dreadful sign that I might be growing older. But do not worry about me.” She smiled quickly. “We haven’t seen you in society for a while. Where have you been hiding of late?”
“We heard you went away,” Aurora said, pouting as she moved her chair closer, farther away from Scarsdale, he noticed. “And you didn’t even say goodbye.”
Teddy ignored Aurora’s pout. “I spent some time by the sea on the duke’s business, as I conducted an inspection of one of his grace’s properties there. Boundary fences, kitchen gardens. Orchards. Very dull by comparison to a night in London,” he promised.
Teddy had wanted to escape from society, actually, though he wouldn’t mention that fact out loud here. It hadn’t all been work. He’d finished his business in two days and then spent what remained of a week in joyful isolation to celebrate his birthday. The sea views had been spectacular from his large empty bed each morning as he woke to a day of nothing much to do but read and take long walks.
But he’d found he soon tired of that long-wished-for escape from society and returned late yesterday afternoon to London, where his cousin had immediately complained he’d been gone too long.
He’d missed the company of Sinclair, and his wife Kitty, too.
“I wish I could visit the sea,” Aurora gushed. “You were so lucky to grow up in a port town, Eugenia. Nothing ever happened in my village. We must go back one day soon so you can show us where you grew up.”
“Must we?” Eugenia grimaced. “I could do without the long days of travel being thrown about in a carriage to reach the coast. Besides, we cannot possibly leave the marchioness’ side until she’s completely well, you know that.”
“It’s something to look forward to still,” Aurora countered. “Maybe she’d like to visit the sea, too. I wonder if Wharton has a seaside property somewhere on the coast. I must remember to ask him or Sylvia later.”
“We might all go to the sea together one day, but likely it will be some other year,” Eugenia said firmly, waving aside the topic with one elegant sweep of her hand.
Aurora seemed not to be finished planning for the future, though it was clear that Eugenia was tired of the topic. “We could visit Hastings and your old friend there, as well.”
Eugenia shrugged. “She doesn’t live in Hastings anymore, but I could put flowers on my brother’s grave if we went back.”
Aurora sighed heavily. “I wish we’d lived closer growing up. Just imagine the mischief we’d have gotten into together.”
Teddy glanced at Eugenia, full of curiosity. “I thought you lived with Sylvia in Marlow before you came to London?”
“No. Sylvia was born in Marlow. Aurora, in a village not even on the map.”
He guessed he’d never really known much about the Hillcrest women after all. He’d thought they’d been close their entire lives, but it must only be a recent development. “And how is the adventure going, might I ask?”
Eugenia darted a glance down the long gallery to where her cousin stood. “Quite a bit differently than we first dreamed it might.”
Teddy chuckled. He was sure Sylvia hadn’t planned to one day become a marchioness in the beginning, either. “That sounds like my life. I can never tell what will happen next.”
“Poor Mr. Berringer. Life is not supposed to be predictable.” Eugenia glanced sideways at him. “But I suppose for you, it’s a different story altogether. Everyone must quiz you to find out if the Duchess of Exeter is showing any sign of increasing, so I will not bore you by doing the same.”
“They do, and she’s not.”
Eugenia smiled. “She and Exeter are happy, and that is all that matters, yes?”
“I couldn’t agree more,” he said, relaxing a bit more. Some acquaintances would hint that he must be champing at the bit to inherit Sinclair’s title and lands. The duke’s late marriage to Kitty had surprised everyone, himself included. But he was happy about it. Few understood the depths of his affection for his older cousin, and his pleasure at seeing Sinclair reunited with the woman he’d loved long ago and thought lost to him.
“A marriage with love like that is the ideal every couple should aspire to,” Aurora declared passionately, leaning a little more in his direction. “Isn’t that true, Mr. Berringer?”
He kept his eyes on her face and refused to let them fall to her chest where, he suspected, her bosom was on inappropriate display now. “Indeed.”
Beside him, Eugenia smothered a laugh.
Scarsdale, who’d been silent during their exchange, shuffled his chair closer to Aurora’s now. “Are you to attend the Sanderson route tomorrow night? I’m a much sought-after dance partner,” Scarsdale boasted. “You’d do well to give me your dance card to sign now, before I’m snapped up by your competition.”
“Sir, you are sadly misinformed,” Aurora murmured, sitting up again but casting a cheeky smile toward Teddy. “I have no competition!”
Teddy laughed heartily at her claim. Aurora’s humor was one of her best features. They could possibly be friends one day, he suspected. If she ever stopped flirting with him, that was. “Quite true.”
Scarsdale, though, continued to try to charm his way onto Aurora’s dance card for the route and any balls beyond. The younger Hillcrest cousin was frequently seen on the dance floor while the older, more serious Eugenia often was not. It was rude of Scarsdale to single out the young cousin for attention and ignore the elder, who, in Teddy’s opinion, was just as worthy of a good time.
“I should be happy to dance with both of you,” Teddy promised.
Aurora smiled her thanks, but Scarsdale continued his barrage, claiming to be the superior dance partner and warned that Teddy had two left feet.
Teddy shook his head. “Scarsdale, you speak nonsense.” And if this was how Scarsdale planned to capture Miss Aurora Hillcrest’s interest, he was going about it all wrong, too.
Lord Sullivan strolled over then and joined in with Scarsdale and Aurora Hillcrest, commenting on the prowess of their friends on the dance floor.
“Might I give you a compliment, sir?” Eugenia whispered out the side of her mouth. At his nod, she whispered, “You dance very well, sir.”
Teddy smiled. They had not danced with each other, but he’d seen her dance once, and clearly, she’d been watching him dance to have formed any opinion. “Thank you,” he whispered back, turning toward her slightly. He placed his arm on the back of their chaise and rested his chin on his fist. “You do not dance very often. Why is that?”
A brief wince flashed over her face, and her gaze flickered toward her cousin for a moment.
Eugenia Hillcrest was an attractive woman, easygoing in nature and good company tonight. She should have been chosen to dance with any night, at any ball. She’d never stomped on any toes of her partners that he knew of.
“Tell me,” he pressed.
She considered him for a moment and then shrugged. “Because men are fools who think women want nothing more than to be married.”
“I don’t follow. Weren’t we talking of dancing, not marriage?”
“Dancing is considered by society to be the first step toward matrimony—the beginning of any courtship. So, I do not often dance because… Well, for many obvious reasons that I shouldn’t need to spell out for you.” Eugenia heaved a heavy sigh. “I have the same expectations as many gentlemen do.”
That was definitely a complaint against his sex. He wasn’t offended but found his interest and curiosity were unexpectedly increasing to hear more of her thoughts. “What might those desires amount to, if it is not an expectation of marriage?”
She studied him for a long moment. “The occasional flirtation or stolen kiss is always pleasant.”
Teddy nearly choked. This from a spinster. He was on dangerous ground now. “You don’t say?”
She nodded slowly, a tiny smile tilting her lips up at the corners.
Eugenia Hillcrest was enjoying his shock. Cheeky minx. And clearly, she was not as reserved as he’d first thought. “Pray continue,” he murmured, although he checked that the others were well engaging in debate first.
“It seems to me that if a lady openly shows enjoyment of either of those things—kissing and flirting—and not a marriage, she’s considered odd and, of course, fast. Gentlemen reinforce society’s rules and only seek out young, well-dowered women from good families for dancing and consideration to be wives, but widows and wives for dalliances.”
Teddy straightened. “I’ll take no part in adultery.”
Eugenia nodded approvingly. “A commendable moral stand in a society that thrives on sin and vice.”
Teddy nodded. He’d not imagined Eugenia would be so aware of the failings of so many in society. But perhaps in her former business, she’d been exposed to the frequent disappointments and regrets of her clients. And clearly, she was not just talking of her own experience, but the situations of other ladies not married, too. “So, you feel older spinsters unable to marry, through no fault of their own, are excluded from enjoying the season fully because men can either marry you or cause your ruin.”
“Ridiculous, isn’t it?” She shrugged. “Our friends often lament the lack of excitement in their lives as they remain in the company of largely unnecessary chaperones.”
“It should not be that way.”
“Sadly, it is so for a great many wildflowers, incorrectly labeled a wallflower because they sit on the sidelines due to a lack of dowry. Relegated to watch all the fun simply for the lack of youth or exalted connections, too. The nights passed in boredom for lack of excitement is criminal. My young cousin is better at putting herself forward than most, and dances often, but after a while, for the rest of us, it becomes harder to hope for a little harmless excitement of any other kind. There are only so many times you can be amused by some scoundrel spiking the punch with rum.”
Teddy laughed as he regarded Eugenia Hillcrest. He’d overlooked a great many unwed ladies for all the reasons she’d just complained of. Yet those ladies—wallflowers, he’d labeled them—might have been as bored as he’d been, but he’d never sensed it. And he really should have paid more attention to Eugenia Hillcrest—a wildflower keen to kick up her heels.
“I see now why you were so highly regarded by the gentlemen who speak of their visit to the academy. You make us open our eyes and see the world from the other side.”
“It is the same view.”
“So it is.” He glanced across at Aurora Hillcrest, whose attention Scarsdale and Sullivan were still monopolizing, to be sure his next words might not be noticed. “I should also very much like to continue our conversations concerning the needs of a particular wildflower one evening soon. Might I claim your first dance tomorrow night?”
Eugenia Hillcrest regarded him a long moment. So long that he feared he’d mistaken the nature of her interest in him. He was quite willing to flirt and kiss spinsters, provided they understood he would not seek to ruin or marry them.
Eventually, she inclined her head. “It would be an honor to dance with you tomorrow night.”
“We could talk more then, too, about your desire for other amusements,” he offered. He normally avoided spinsters, but he’d make an exception for Eugenia tomorrow night.
“I would like to talk more about fulfilling your desires as well,” she murmured. “In private.”
He did his best to keep a straight face, but he wanted to laugh out loud. The best flirtations were the ones kept private, after all, and almost always totally unplanned.