The Beast and the Baron's Daughter Read online

  “His Lordship is waiting for you in the drawing room, My Lady,” the butler said as Jane and Lady Ariadne stepped into the impressive hallway. “If you will allow me,” he said and smiled again before setting off in the direction of the drawing room with the visitors in tow.

  4

  By the time they reached the drawing room door, Jane’s heart was pounding, and her palms were damp with perspiration. If only she’d had the forthright nature of her mistress; the sort of nature that could have easily questioned Lady Ariadne about the extent of the Earl of Sotheby’s injuries.

  Anything to have been better prepared than she was as she stood quaking in the doorway staring pointedly at the back of the aging butler’s head.

  “Aunt Ariadne, how very good it is to see you again.” Jane could hear the Earl before she could see him and was surprised by the depth of a voice that was so quietly spoken.

  It was the sort of voice that did not need much force behind it because it was powerful enough already, the sort of voice that could be felt as well as heard.

  Jane could tell already that the Earl was older than her, but she could not say by how much based on nothing more than the richness of his voice.

  “You might sound as if you mean it, my dear boy,” Lady Ariadne said in her amusingly blustering way as the Earl laughed.

  “You know I am always pleased to see you, Aunt,” he retorted.

  “And please allow me to introduce you to my new companion,” Lady Ariadne said, and her voice gave her away.

  In that moment, Jane realized that her mistress had said nothing to the Earl of Sotheby of her attendance at all. Her heart began to pound harder than ever.

  “Your…?” the Earl said, his faltering tone confirming Jane’s fears; her presence in his home was a complete surprise.

  “Companion.” Lady Ariadne had regained something of her ordinary confidence. “Did I not tell you that I now have a companion? I must’ve forgotten, my dear. But an old lady like me does rather need somebody to talk to now and again, especially when her nephew neglects her so dreadfully,” she chuckled.

  “Very well, introduce me.” The Earl’s tone was flat, and Jane could tell nothing from it. “Where is she?” he said, and she knew that she must step out from behind the butler.

  As Jane slid slowly into view, she knew that her cheeks were already blazing red.

  “Come along, Jane,” Lady Ariadne said, reaching for her and pulling her forward in a manner which made Jane feel like a shy child.

  The butler bowed and disappeared from the room, closing the door behind him. With him gone, Jane felt oddly vulnerable.

  “So, you are my aunt’s companion, are you?” The Earl, towering above her, peered down.

  There was a look of annoyance in his eyes and, although she was certain it must be an annoyance at his aunt and not her, it still felt somewhat personal.

  His eyes were wonderful, a pale and clear blue which stood out against such dark, thick hair. Jane kept her focus on his eyes for fear of studying his face too closely. The first impression she had was that of an extraordinarily handsome man if you studied one side, and a terribly injured man if you studied the other.

  She knew, of course, that she could not stare boldly up into his eyes without finally giving herself away. It felt like an impossible situation and Jane was suddenly a little nauseous on account of it.

  “Yes, My Lord, I am Lady Ariadne’s companion. My name is Jane Briars,” she said and was surprised that her voice did not waver.

  “I am pleased to meet you, Miss Briars.” The Earl bowed. “I am Nathaniel Alexander.”

  “I am pleased to meet you, My Lord,” Jane said and curtsied neatly.

  “Ladies, please take a seat.” He ushered them to one of the many couches.

  The room was extraordinary, so large that there were no less than three fireplaces. Jane felt almost as if she was sitting in three rooms without walls, something which made her a little disoriented.

  With some determination, Jane concentrated on the part of the room that they were in. The couches were set around the focal point of the large stone fireplace, broader in itself than any one of the couches.

  There were two high wing-backed chairs set around the fireside, their blue blockade upholstery matching that of the couch on which she and Lady Ariadne were sitting.

  The Earl sat on one of the fireside armchairs, turning just a little away from them so that the ruined right-hand side of his face could not be seen. In such a position, it would have been impossible for anybody to tell that the Earl of Sotheby had an injury to his name. He was simply a tall, broad, and very handsome dark-haired man with wonderful, pale blue eyes.

  He was well dressed in a dark blue tailcoat and waistcoat to match with black breeches and highly polished knee boots. The collar of his shirt was high, reaching almost to his chin and making him look a little regal. He was the sort of man that young women dreamed of marrying for he was so handsome.

  “It is easier like this, is it not, Miss Briars?” he said, staring directly at her.

  There was something of a challenge in his tone and she knew it. He was likely very well aware of the thoughts which had rolled around her mind in those first few moments of meeting and Jane found herself feeling a little annoyed that he had chosen to torment her with them.

  She would have to have been an extraordinary human indeed not to have given any indication that she had noticed the tortured purple and white skin of his right cheek and forehead. But how she wished she had been extraordinary, for she would have given anything now to have him look away from her.

  “I really am glad to be here, Nathaniel,” Lady Ariadne said to chase away the silence when it became clear that Jane was not going to answer the Earl’s question. “I have missed you, my dear. But you look very well, very healthy.”

  “And I am very glad to see you, Aunt Ariadne.” He relaxed a little although his attention wandered to Jane just enough to make her feel uncomfortable again.

  He was taunting her, and she knew it. She had no doubt that a man who had been injured as he had would have suffered his fair share of unwanted interest over the years. No doubt people had either stared or looked away and Jane could understand how both would prove tiresome, even hurtful.

  But she was a guest in his home and it ought to have been clear to him that his aunt’s failure to report her as one of his guests in the first place was enough discomfort for one afternoon. With that in mind, her annoyance rose again, and she turned to look fully at him, issuing every bit of the challenge that he did.

  The problem was that Jane knew that this was all she had, a challenging look. Still, it was challenging enough that the Earl raised his eyebrows a little in surprise and turned his head a little more so that she could see his injuries once again.

  This time, however, Jane simply looked at him. She did not avert her eyes or fix upon his own, she just looked at him as she would look upon anybody.

  However, when there was a knock on the door, and the butler and two maids bustled in with afternoon tea, she had to admit to herself that she was grateful for the intervention.

  Jane took a deep breath and held it, wondering how she was going to manage the next six weeks.

  5

  The following day saw Nathaniel hiding himself away in the library. His aunt was not an avid reader and never had been, so he considered himself safe for a while.

  He was annoyed with her, knowing that she had purposefully held back the details of her unannounced guest, for he would never have allowed her to bring such a guest had he known.

  They had only been with him since the previous afternoon, barely a full day, yet still he felt exhausted. It was hard to have guests, even those he knew well and loved dearly like his aunt. But to have a guest he did not know, one who had never set eyes on his face before was utterly exhausting.

  He was torn between wanting to taunt the poor young woman with her own shock, and embarrassment for having to suffer the glan
ces of such a beautiful, flawless creature. If only Jane Briars had been plain, a little older, run to fat, anything but the perfection she seemed to be. She was not the ordinary perfection that he used to see every day of his old life. She was not overdone, she was not covered in adornments nor even a particularly fine gown.

  Instead, Jane was a natural beauty, a true beauty, and that somehow made it all the worse. She had beautiful clear skin, youthful skin, and he almost despised her for it. Without thinking, he raised his hand to his own face, touching the unblemished side first and thinking how handsome he would have looked to Jane ten years ago.

  As if to torture himself, he let his fingers wander to the other side, to feel the raised, puckered skin; the curiously smooth and shiny ridges born of fire.

  “Ah, there you are.” Ariadne burst into the room as if she had been fired from a cannon. “You need not jump, Nathaniel, you must have realized I would seek you out sooner or later.” Her tone was that wonderful mixture of caring and admonishment that reminded him of the carefree childhood of which his loving aunt played so large a part.

  “I am trying to keep out of the way of an argument, Aunt Ariadne.”

  “What argument?” she asked innocently.

  “You know very well what argument, you need not plead ignorance.” He was not yet ready to forgive her. “But since you seem to be determined to do just that, I’ll point you in the right direction by telling you that I am not at all pleased about your little guest.”

  “Jane? My companion?” She raised her eyebrows in an attempt to continue with her little charade. “But she is perfectly pleasant, what on earth could you find about her that would so readily displease you?”

  “It is not the lady herself.” He shook his head and closed his eyes. “Aunt, you should not have brought her. You should have told me that you intended to bring a companion with you.”

  “And you would have told me that I could not come,” she said a little defiantly.

  “Ah, so you know that then? You do not try to hide the fact that you sought to deceive me?”

  “Although what you are saying is true, Nathaniel, the way you say it makes me appear to be rather callous. But I am not callous, Nephew, far from it.”

  “I will not be deflected,” he said, thinking that he would not put up with feminine tears that were meant to steer him away from the path of chastisement. “You know well that I do not think you are callous, Ariadne. But your practices are sharp, and I do not care for them. You must understand what hard work it is for me to have such a perfect young woman under this roof when I am….as I am.”

  “Obstinate, you mean?” Lady Ariadne crossed her arms over her ample bosom and stood square on to him as if ready for a fight.

  “Very good,” Nathaniel said and laughed despite himself. “But I am still annoyed with you, I do not want her here.”

  “Then focus on my actual reason for coming instead.”

  “Which is?” He sighed loudly. “Oh, I remember, to get me out into the world?”

  “No, I have decided after numerous attempts, that is too difficult. Instead, I thought to bring the world to you.”

  “And what exactly do you mean by that?”

  “I had thought to arrange a few events for you to hold here at Sotheby Hall. They need not be grand affairs, just a buffet or two, the occasional game of bridge, perhaps even a dance.”

  “It has been many long years since I held the ball here at Sotheby and I do not intend to hold one ever again.”

  “Did I say a ball? I said a dance, there is a great difference.”

  “Is there, indeed?”

  “I am not talking of opening up the ballroom and inviting the entire county here, Nathaniel. But you cannot live like this forever. You have been home from the war for eight years now and you have lived every one of those years as a hermit.”

  “I wish I had,” he said and felt his anger rising again, “for it was going out into the world in this state which led me to live as I do now. I am not here alone entirely by my own doing. You could not possibly understand what it feels like to be either the subject of deep curiosity or the source of fear and superstition. I do not have people here because they are the ones who do not know how to behave.” By the time he finished, his voice had raised significantly in volume.

  “It has been too long, Nathaniel.” It was clear that his aunt was not yet ready to give up.

  “Everything is as I want it now, Ariadne. I do not need help, I do not want it.”

  “Then perhaps I do,” she said, surprising him a little.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I miss my nephew. I miss his smile and his fooling and his carefree ways. I miss his wit and silliness and the way that he was always so happy for no reason whatsoever. Just happy.”

  “A lot has changed,” he said, seeing this time that his aunt’s tears were genuine for it was clear now that she was trying to hold them back. “I am not that man anymore.”

  “But you are! You are Nathaniel Alexander, the same man. The only thing that has changed is the outer shell, the inside is still the same, surely.”

  “I am afraid that it is possible for the outer shell to change the inside entirely,” he said and finally his aunt’s tears fell unhindered.

  “I just want to see that man again before I die, and the older I get, the more I come to realize that I might never see him again. It breaks my heart, Nathaniel, truly it does.”

  “Oh, come here.” Nathaniel strode across the library and took his solid and rather a rotund aunt in his arms.

  As she cried into his chest, he stared vaguely over her shoulder and realized, quite suddenly, that he was looking into the clear hazel eyes of Miss Jane Briars. His aunt had not closed the door of the library entirely and it was open by some inches. Miss Briars was standing some feet away, hovering uncomfortably as she peered into the room.

  When she realized that he’d seen her, her mouth fell open a little, but she stood frozen for a moment, as still as a statue. And then she bowed her head and turned to hastily make her way back along the corridor.

  “Will you try, Nathaniel?” Ariadne said miserably, “just a couple of little events, that is all. And if you are not happy with it, I promise I shall stop immediately.”

  “If I agree, will you stop crying?” Nathaniel said, adopting something of the cheeky tone he had always used on his aunt as a young boy.

  “In a heartbeat,” she said, and Nathaniel laughed; Ariadne was a very fine woman indeed.

  “Then you may have your way, Aunt,” he said and kissed the top of her head, her thick hair the deep grey-silver of lead. “Just see that it is nothing too extravagant.”

  “I promise,” she said with a voice that had cheered considerably. “I promise.” Despite her tone, Ariadne kept her head on his chest and he knew that dear woman was still crying.

  He did not want this, he could not bear the idea of the outside world coming into the hallowed walls of Sotheby. But if it was to spare his beloved aunt a broken heart, perhaps it was not too much to ask after all.

  6

  “What do you think, Jane?” Lady Ariadne tipped her head to one side and fixed her eyes on Jane. “Just a simple afternoon buffet to begin with? Would that be plain enough for him, do you think?”

  “I do not know him well enough to be able to say, Lady Ariadne,” Jane smiled. “But generally speaking I would say that a simple afternoon buffet would be a quiet enough affair.”

  Jane had tried her best to be helpful all morning. Lady Ariadne had been hard at work since breakfast, making lists, deciding which room would be best to host the event, and clearly worrying about her nephew at every stage of it.

  Jane had simply followed along in her wake, trotting behind her as she went from room to room trying to figure out just how many people would fit comfortably inside. She truly wished that she could be a little more helpful, a little more creative, but Jane’s mind had been fixed on her indiscretion of the afternoon before an
d she could not shift her uneasiness.

  Jane had been looking for Lady Ariadne and had been relieved to discover from one of the housemaids that her mistress had been in the library. Assuming her to be alone, Jane had made her way directly there, pausing some feet before she reached the door because she had heard the sound of raised voices from within. If only she had turned immediately and left, but when she had heard her own name mentioned, she had hovered and listened.

  Jane knew it was far from good behavior and she was ashamed of it. But her shame was not the thing which had played on her mind ever since, but rather the look in the Earl’s eyes when he had finally seen her.

  Jane had not seen him since, given that she had feigned a headache later that evening to avoid dinner, staying alone in her chamber to lay on her bed and worry about it all. Then, she had fully expected to see him at breakfast, but when she found herself alone at the breakfast table waiting for Lady Ariadne, one of the maids informed her that the Earl had already taken his breakfast sometime before.

  As time went on, Jane felt worse and worse. She knew that the longer she left it and the more time that passed without seeing him, the more awkward she would be when she saw him again. Worse still, he would likely realize that she had been avoiding him and that was quite unforgivable for a guest who had only been under his roof for a matter of days.

  “Then it is settled, an afternoon buffet it is. And I think we shall host it in the smaller of the dining rooms. That table in there is large enough to hold enough food and there is plenty of room to have some tables and chairs from the ballroom brought in and set about.” Lady Ariadne nodded thoughtfully, her lips pursed, and her eyes narrowed. “What do you think?”

  “I think the room is perfect for it,” Jane said truthfully, although she knew that privately her heart was still not in it.