The Gypsy Legacy: Marquis Read online

  For that reason alone she decided, regardless of Nona’s edict, she would agree to marry Jay. She felt mostly comfortable with her decision—only a small twinge of guilt remained when she looked at the pendant. If someday, she found the other half, she wondered if the owner would understand.

  Chapter Ten

  Collingswood sat in a wooded valley bisected by a wide river, hence its name. At one time it had been a royal hunting lodge, later bestowed upon one of Jay’s ancestors along with the title viscount for services rendered to the Crown. The ancestor had promptly renamed it Collings’ Wood, and over the years the name had been shortened to one word instead of two. Originally the family seat, the family had decamped for a new and larger, recently acquired estate when the Marquisate of Thanet had been conferred upon the family through a distant French cousin. When the French branch died out, leaving the title wholly in England’s realm, the third English marquis named the family seat Thane Park.

  The original manor at Collingswood had been torn down during the reign of Elizabeth and a new manor built of Cotswold stone in the shape of the letter “E”. Smaller than Thane Park, Collingswood was nonetheless a handsome property, perfect for staging hunts and country parties. The old marquis had given it to Aaron to manage upon attaining his majority. Since it was also much closer to London, they had not seen much of Aaron during those years.

  As far as she knew, the old marquis had no complaints about Aaron’s management, but she knew her mother had been concerned over some of the activities she’d heard about. The grapevine between the servants at all the Thanet properties was strong, especially since the butlers who presided over both the major estates and the town house were all related. Little went on at one property that wasn’t known to the others.

  Although they arrived in darkness, they were expected. A late supper was served in the dining room, after which Felicia excused herself and went off to find her bed, leaving Tina wondering how she should broach with Jay the subject of his proposal.

  Once again, he came to her rescue. “Have you reached a decision?”

  Tina looked up at him and felt as if her heart turned completely over in her breast. Leaning back in his chair, his chestnut hair gleaming in the lamplight, he was beyond handsome. The shadows in the room seemed to emphasize the sharpness of his features, yet managed not to make him look dark or sinister. His long, slim, fingers toyed with the stem of his wine glass as his dark gaze rested on her.

  “Yes.” The tension in the air became a tangible force, almost overwhelming her in its intensity. Carefully folding her napkin and laying it on the table, she slowly got to her feet. “My answer is yes.” She was trying for nonchalance, but could feel the color creeping into her cheeks. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” she said as she turned to go, “I’m tired as well.”

  Jay seemed to recover himself as she reached the door. “Wait!” he called, scrambling to his feet and hurrying toward her.

  “Thank you,” he murmured, taking one of her hands in his and bowing over it. Tingles shot up her arm at his touch. For a long moment, he stared into her eyes and she refused to put a name to what she thought she saw in the ebony depths. Then he brushed a kiss across her knuckles and let her go. “Until tomorrow, then.”

  “Tomorrow,” she repeated softly, then opened the door and slipped out.

  Long after she lay in her bed in the darkness, her heart continued its rapid tattoo. Had she read exultation in his eyes at her answer? Or was her mind merely playing tricks on her? She had been afraid to look at him, expecting only to see relief. After all, she’d told him originally she felt honor bound to abide by the contract. Shouldn’t he have expected her answer? Yet, he hadn’t expected it at all. In that moment when he thanked her and kissed her hand, she had known he had not expected her to agree. Why? Perhaps she should ask him.

  *

  There are days in a person’s life when so many things happen at once the person vows never to forget it. Tuesday, the twenty-third day of July, in the year of our Lord, 1861, was such a day for Lady Carolyn Felicia Collings. For it was on that day she received her first letter from a duchess, her brother, the Earl of Wynton, appeared at Collingswood, a shipment of dresses and gowns arrived from Madame’s establishment, and she learned her older brother, the Marquis of Thanet, was to marry her sister, Lady Christina Lorraine Kenton, in four days.

  “Four days!” She stared at Tina and Jay in stunned amazement. “Are you mad? We can’t put on a wedding with only four days notice.”

  “Of course, we can,” Tina answered. “After all, who is there to invite besides you and Jon?”

  Felicia shook her head. “I suppose you are right, but it just doesn’t seem right that it should happen so fast,” she conceded. “At least wait until Jon comes. We’ll have to write to him and who knows where he is at the moment.”

  “On his way here, I hope,” Jay offered. “I wrote to him a few days before we left the Park.”

  “Before we left?” Tina asked. “But…”

  “I did not mention a wedding,” he said. “I only asked him to join us so he and I might compare notes on our investigation of Roderick Milton. And, I thought you’d be glad to see him.”

  “Oh.” Tina’s cheeks pinkened as he explained himself.

  Felicia watched the two of them closely. If they weren’t already in love, she thought, they were pretty close. Of course, neither would probably admit it. But, four days? Why such a rush? She had the distinct feeling something else was going on she knew nothing about. She hated being in the dark about anything, but short of coming right out and demanding an explanation, she knew she’d learn nothing at this juncture.

  “Jon can give you away,” she said now. “He’ll like that. And I can be your bridesmaid. But what will you wear?”

  “I haven’t given it much thought,” Tina answered her. “I’m sure there is something suitable among all those clothes Jon ordered from Madame.”

  Jay was pleased she didn’t seem to want a large wedding. Nor did it seem to matter to her what she wore. Of course, what she wore mattered little to him—he had already jumped ahead to when she would be wearing nothing at all.

  He had also been fortunate she accepted his reasons for not bothering to wait any longer. Informing her he already had procured a special license had been tricky inasmuch as he was unable to predict her reaction. He had been pleasantly surprised, however, when she accepted that he had only wanted to be prepared should she agree.

  She had also provided him with another reason why the nuptials should be soon. She was aware Felicia might be leaving for a young ladies’ academy soon and mindful of her reputation should that happen before the ceremony. Besides, she wanted to have both of her siblings at her wedding.

  For now, all was right in the world and he was content with his lot. As he watched Felicia get up and hustle Tina out of the library, he wondered what she was up to, but not enough to ask. Knowing Felicia, right now it probably would involve going through Tina’s wardrobe for something suitable to be married in. He was not needed there.

  *

  The Earl of Wynton arrived shortly after luncheon, driving a curricle and followed closely by a coach loaded down with trunks and boxes from Madame’s establishment. After the initial excitement of Jon’s arrival, he and Jay adjourned to the library to talk while Felicia and Tina directed the unloading of the coaches and supervised the unpacking of numerous trunks and boxes.

  “We couldn’t possibly have ordered so much,” Tina told Felicia, as she opened yet another trunk filled with clothing. “I know I told Madame I didn’t need much. And, how did she get measurements for all the rest—slippers, boots, gloves, and bonnets.” She sighed. “I suppose I’ll need them now, although I’m not sure I needed quite this much.”

  Felicia smiled as she watched her sister marvel over everything as it was unpacked. It was good to see her happy. For too long, Tina had worried over the two of them—what would happen to them, how they would survive until Jon c
ould take over their support, what to do about Mr. Milton, whether Cook and her family, and the other families at the Park, were doing well. It was time for her to be pampered and indulged. She had earned it after all she had been through. And Felicia didn’t mind using a little subterfuge to ensure it happened.

  For that reason, she had spent hours with Madame, going over fashion plates, examining fabric swatches, matching colors and various shades, and adding to Tina’s order. She was sure Jon would not mind and she had decided, after that first morning ride with Jay, he wouldn’t mind either. She had been right. Neither had blinked at the numerous trunks and boxes unloaded from the carriage.

  “Felicia,” Tina intruded into her thoughts. “What are we going to do with all of this?”

  “Wear them?” she answered, mischievously.

  “Felicia!” Tina tried for a scolding tone, but missed entirely as she dissolved into giggles. “It’s too much,” she gasped. “I don’t think Jay and Jon could possibly have ordered so much.”

  “Tina, stop worrying. Those times are behind us now. I’m sure Jay and Jon both would have given Madame a limit,” she said as she drew out another tissue wrapped parcel from the bottom of the nearest trunk. She was still looking for something really special. Something special enough to be married in.

  “I know,” Tina replied, “but it is still hard to think we need so much after doing with so little for so long. It seems extravagant. But, I suppose…” Her voice trailed off as she realized the room had gone totally silent.

  Turning, she found Felicia standing at the end of the bed, a look of complete awe on her face.

  “Felicia? What is it?”

  “Your wedding gown,” Felicia barely breathed the words. “Tina, look! It’s perfect.”

  Tina approached the bed and looked down. There on the bed lay the most exquisite gown she had ever seen. Even the aqua gown Madame had fitted on her back at the Park could not compare. The off-the-shoulder bodice was of white satin, overlaid with a fine white and silver lace. The overskirt was made up of layers of white gauzy lace over an underskirt of silver tissue, revealed by a dramatic slashed opening down the front of the skirt. There were no sleeves, but, upon lifting the dress, they found elbow-length gloves made of the same whisper light silver and white lace found on the bodice.

  Tina stared, speechless, at the dress before her. It was the stuff of dreams. Of knights in shining armor and fairy princesses. Of magic and enchantment. Of love and happily ever after. It was the embodiment of all her girlhood dreams and wishes and, suddenly, she couldn’t wait to wear it—hoping it would prove the perfect catalyst.

  Felicia, shunting aside her protestations that she hadn’t ordered such a gown, delved back into the trunk and lifted out the last package. In it she found a pair of white slippers embroidered with silver thread, a pair of sheer white silk stockings, and an extra length of the white and silver lace. “The perfect thing for a veil,” she pronounced.

  “As long as I don’t have to wear it over my face,” Tina allowed.

  Leaving Milly to finish putting away Tina’s new wardrobe, the two left for Felicia’s room to see what delectables were to be found in her trunks and boxes. There were plenty of items to exclaim over, but none as stunning as the silver and white gown.

  *

  Downstairs in the library, a different sort of discovery was being made.

  “Nowhere to be found? You’re sure about this?” Jay was staring at the detective’s report Jon had just passed to him.

  “It’s as if he just vanished into thin air. The detective tracked him all the way to London, then nothing.”

  “People don’t just vanish into thin air,” Jay mused.

  “I know,” Jon agreed. Silence, then, “Do you think he might have changed his name again?”

  “Again?”

  “I think it stands to reason Roderick Milton was not his real name. No one knew him before he was seen in Aaron’s company. No one knew where he came from and the Duchess of Westover insists the name doesn’t ring a bell.”

  “So you think he may have changed his name again—or even back to what it was formerly?”

  “I suppose anything’s possible.”

  “Have you had a chance to follow-up on the suggestion I sent you from Weston?”

  “Sort of. I sent the detective up to the north country to do some checking. My mother’s father was Sir Ralph Tindale, a baronet. After my grandparents’ death in a fire not long after my parents left for India, the estate passed to a distant cousin. As for my grandmother’s family, well, you already know they were gypsies, although I also have the detective looking into my great-grandfather’s family. I know very little about them because my great-grandfather died well before my mother was born and after his death, his family cast my grandmother out.”

  “Where did she go?”

  “According to my mother, she was traveling south to meet up with her gypsy family when she met and fell in love with my grandfather. They were married at Gretna Green and settled at North Road Manor—a small holding up near the Scottish border.”

  Jay leaned back in the chair behind his desk and stared up at the high ceiling of the library. They couldn’t have possibly run into a dead end. He had to find Roderick Milton. There was more to this than met the eye—something they were overlooking.

  “There’s something we have missed,” he said now. “I’m sure of it. But, what?”

  “I wish I knew.”

  *

  Felicia was in high spirits by tea time. She thanked Jay profusely for her new wardrobe and informed Jon he had done well by Tina.

  “I thank you for your approval,” he responded with a grin. “In the future, I shall make sure I consult you before I buy anything else.”

  Undaunted, Felicia replied, “No you won’t. In the future you won’t be buying Tina anything.”

  “Ah, yes. In, what is it, four days? I lose the privilege forever. Who shall I order Worth gowns for after that?”

  “Not forever, silly,” Felicia began, but stopped mid-sentence. “Worth gowns? Tina’s gowns came from Worth?” she stared at her brother in awe-struck fascination.

  “Not all of them,” he allowed. “Just one.”

  “Which…?” Felicia began, then turned to Tina. “The white one,” she breathed. “No wonder.”

  Tina, too, stared at her brother. “Jon? Worth?” she questioned. “How did you…?”

  “That’s my secret,” he told her smugly. “But, Madame was quite helpful on that front. It seems she once worked with him in Paris.”

  Jon’s emerald gaze rested on the older of his two sisters with watchful intensity. It had been a heady feeling knowing he now could shower her with nearly anything on a whim. And a whim it had been, when he visited Madame’s shop in London and the two had discussed the orders Madame had received.

  He had been saddened, but not surprised, to learn Tina had insisted on ordering very little, until Madame had revealed what she and Felicia had done. Amused that Felicia had taken it upon herself to supplement Tina’s wardrobe, he had ordered Madame to make up everything Felicia had suggested, then asked her opinion about something special. It was then Madame mentioned her connection to Worth.

  Charles Worth had taken Paris fashion by storm a few years earlier and now was the premier dressmaker in Europe. It was fast becoming the fashion, even in England, for young ladies to travel to Paris to have their trousseaus made by the famous couturier.

  Jon could not supply Tina with a Worth trousseau, but he could supply her with at least one gown. The cost had been exorbitant, but he could well afford it now, and he didn’t mind paying for a few fripperies to see his too-serious sister smile.

  As expected, Tina took him to task after tea was over. They were walking in the gardens behind the house, Felicia having wheedled Jay into taking her into the nearest village so she could consult with the vicar about the wedding. The heat of the day was waning and a light breeze had come up.

  “Yo
u shouldn’t have,” she told him now. “I know it must have been frightfully expensive.”

  “I know,” he grinned, unrepentant, “but I did anyway. I made a promise I haven’t been very good at keeping of late. But, now I have the chance, before I lose the opportunity forever.”

  “What promise?”

  “To Papa. I promised I would take care of you and Mama.”

  “Papa?” she asked. “Felicia’s father?”

  “No. Ours.”

  “Ours?” She was confused.

  Jon was suddenly serious, staring off over the gardens, a distant look in his eyes, before turning back to her. “Before he died, Papa wanted to see us both, but Mama wouldn’t allow you to see him. She said you were too young and wouldn’t understand.”

  Tina started to say something. “You should know Mama regretted that decision for the rest of her life,” he explained. When Tina said nothing, he went on. “Papa told me because I was to be the new earl, it would be my responsibility to take care of you and Mama. It was not something I would recommend telling a six-year-old, especially one who knew very little of what was happening.

  “Unfortunately, I took my role too seriously and when I was ten, Mama let me know in no uncertain terms that she did not need me to look after her. By then she had Felicia’s father to do that.”

  He was quiet for a moment. “She softened the blow a bit by telling me I should always look out for you. She might not need me to be her champion, but you would. And when she died, she made me promise I would do whatever was necessary to ensure yours and Felicia’s well-being.” Tina remained silent beside him as they continued walking. “Unfortunately, I haven’t done a very good job.”

  “Of course, you did,” she said impulsively. “It wasn’t your fault Aaron brought home that awful Mr. Milton. And, it wasn’t your fault he tried to run us off. I’m sure he was just trying to get his hands on Thane Park somehow, but as long as Felicia and I were there, he would always be just the steward, and not a very good one.”