Page 61 of To Wager with Love

Bonnie was never quiet about anything. It meant she was up to something. Her dare, to wear a disguise in public, was the kind of thing Bonnie would delight in taking too far, and she’d likely ruin herself beyond saving.

“Oh, don’t look so ill,” Ruth said, smiling at Matilda. “I know she’s rather wild, but she’s not stupid. I think she’s just gathering her rosebuds while she may, and it seems she cannot escape Gordon Anderson no matter what she does, or how badly she behaves. Morven is at his wits’ end. He’s threatening to send the brute down here to carry her back to Scotland. Even if she’s ruined herself in the meantime she won’t escape; he’s told her as much. She’ll be marrying Gordon Anderson, unless someone else marries her first, I suppose, but there’s no sign of that. The earl has his heart set on it.”

“Does anyone know anything of this Anderson fellow, apart from what Bonnie’s said?” Matilda asked, wishing there were something they could do.

Ruth pulled a face and shook her head. “No, but every time she speaks of him the descriptions get more and more appalling. I admit I find it hard to believe any man is quite as vile as she paints him. I hope not, for her sake.”

Matilda nodded, in complete agreement. Gordon Anderson had become the stuff of legend to the Peculiar Ladies, as Bonnie’s descriptions of the man painted a vivid picture of an ignorant brute who ate small children for breakfast, smelled like a pig pen, and had as much personal appeal as a bout of typhoid. They were all torn between feeling desperately sorry for Bonnie at having to face such an unenviable fate, and dying to see the man in the flesh.

“At least she’ll be a countess one day,” Ruth said with a sigh. “It seems Morven’s last direct heir died last month, and Anderson is his closest relation.”

“Really?” Matilda said, astonished. “And the earl still wants him to marry Bonnie?”

Not that she meant it unkindly, but it seemed odd. From what she knew of Bonnie, she came from no great family, and—judging by the amount of trouble she’d caused Morven to date—one might have thought he’d just want rid of her, not to marry her to his heir.

“Apparently it was a deathbed promise or some such,” Ruth said with a sigh. “Bonnie’s father was loyal to Morven and a great friend. Morven swore to find Bonnie a good husband and see her settled before the man died. Despite being a thorn in his side, Morven is fond of her. I think he admires her spirit, and in some ways he even enjoys her defiance. She showed me one of her letters once, and it was very affectionate, in an insulting, rather coarse manner of speaking,” Ruth added with a frown. “They don’t hold back, I can tell you. Actually, it was rather refreshing.”

“I can imagine,” Matilda said with a sigh. “How freeing, to say whatever you want to a man who says exactly what he thinks.”

“Quite,” Ruth replied, nodding.

“Oh, I don’t know.” They turned to Minerva who had been quiet until now and was staring out at the lake, her expression troubled. “Too much honesty can be rather brutal.”

Matilda wondered what she’d meant by that, but she didn’t know Minerva well enough to pry. She frowned, deciding she must remedy that.

“What are you wearing to the ball, Minerva?” she asked, thinking that a safe topic to engage on with the girl.

“I’ve no idea. I’ve not really thought about it.”

Ruth and Matilda exchanged a glance. When they’d first met Minerva, she’d seemed a shallow creature who only cared for appearances. They’d since learned there was a great deal more to her than that. Nonetheless, she was always beautifully dressed, and obviously took great care with her appearance.

“Well, why not come to my room later and you can help me choose? You always look so beautiful, Minerva. I should welcome your advice.”

Minerva looked startled by the invitation, though pleased. “Really? Oh, I should enjoy that. Though I don’t have the faintest idea why you’d want my help. Everyone looks to you, Matilda, surely you know that?”

Matilda chuckled, a little rueful. “Well, for an old spinster, I suppose I don’t present too terrible a picture,” she said with a quirk of her lips. “But nonetheless, a fresh pair of eyes is always a good thing.”

“Well, you’d both best come and help me, then, or I’m bound to choose something diabolical. I don’t know what possessed me to buy that hat with the cherries on. It was such a pretty bonnet, too, but when I put it on yesterday, I realised how dreadful it looked on me.” Ruth gave a heavy sigh and shook her head. “I’m just not the right shape to wear such things.”

“Nonsense,” Matilda said, her voice firm. “You need simple cuts, Ruth, and beautiful tailoring, that’s all. No frills and ruffles. What do you think, Minerva?”

Minerva nodded, her expert eye travelling over Ruth. “Yes, you’re quite right. I say, why don’t we go through Ruth’s wardrobe too, find her something stunning?”

“Oh,” Ruth said, looking delighted by the offer. “Oh, yes, please.”

“That’s settled, then,” Matilda said, smiling with satisfaction until her eyes strayed to the tree line, and she realised… Bonnie and Jerome still had not appeared.

Chapter 19

I don’t think I can ever forgive myself for the way I have treated Jasper, for how unhappy I made him. Whenever I think of it now, my heart hurts and I want to cry. If only he’d told me, confided in me, I would have gone to the ends of the earth to help him, to keep his secret. How could he ever believe I would think less of him when I idolised him so for so very long?

If only I had known. If only I had understood. How foolish it is to long to change the past and yet I do, but I have the future before me now, our future, and I won’t ever let him down again. I won’t ever allow anyone to make him feel inferior or anything less than the brilliant, wonderful man he is. I shall tell him every day how much I love and admire him, and it will be nothing less than the truth.

― Excerpt of an entry from Miss Harriet Stanhope to her diary.

18th September 1814. Holbrooke House, Sussex.

“Do you like it?” Jasper regarded the stunned expression on Harriet’s face with amusement.