Page 53 of Debtor’s Daughter

Chapter 15

Larkin,

Jenkins played his first game last night and won with no intervention necessary. He’s a decent player and I would swear on this occasion, he did not use any underhanded methods. Still, the competition was not of the highest standard so we will see how he performs in the next round.

I will say he’s an uncouth devil and I would not trust him as far as I could throw him. We need to proceed carefully, for I think he’s sharper than he appears, and we would be foolish to underestimate him.

―Excerpt from a letter from Mr Leo Hunt (Son of Mr Nathanial and Mrs Alice Hunt) to The Hon’ble Larkin Weston.

3rd November 1850, Hyde Park, London.

Larkin watched with amusement as Lord Harry and Mr Abner vied for Miss Caroline’s attention as they walked beside the Serpentine. Bathed in sunshine and set against the sparkling water, the three made an exceptionally lovely picture.

“They look like they’ve stepped out of a fashion plate,” Larkin observed with a smile.

“I should catch them up,” Mrs Finchley fretted, noticing that the three young people had got some distance ahead of them.

“I’ll go, dear,” her aunt said at once. “You’re looking peaky this morning and ought not exert yourself. Perhaps Mr Weston would be so good as to lend you his arm,” she suggested, giving Larkin a fiercely direct look that surprised him.

She stopped short of waggling her eyebrows, but only just. Amused, Larkin realised he was being given the perfect opportunity to speak to the lady alone, whilst being warned not to waste his opportunity. Or else, he suspected.

Before her niece could utter a word of protest, Miss Merrivale hurried off, her cloak and skirts billowing as she went.

Mrs Finchley glanced up at him, colour in her cheeks he thought was not entirely due to the crisp winter air, and certainly not to the sunshine which was welcome but held little warmth.

“I’m afraid she’s never been terribly subtle,” Mrs Finchley lamented, confirming his suspicions, her mortification plain. “Please do not feel obliged to remain beside me. I cannot think what she meant, but I am quite well and need no support.”

“On the contrary, you need a good deal of support and have not had enough for some time,” Larkin replied firmly, taking her hand and placing it on his sleeve.

“Really, Mr Weston,” she said impatiently. “Why do you insist on dallying here? I know a man of your age and experience does not consider those young puppies any competition, but Caro is an innocent with so little experience of the world. She might conceive a foolish tendre for one of them and that will make your suit much harder, I assure you.”

Larkin stared at her in consternation. “My dear Mrs Finchley,” he said, hardly able to believe his ears. “Forgive me for my impertinence, but what the devil are you talking about?”

She stopped, glaring up at him with such impatience flashing in her eyes, he wondered if she would stamp her foot. “As you seem determined to pretend ignorance, then I shall be blunt,” she said curtly. “If you wish to court my sister, you’d do well to go right this minute and stop her forming some childish infatuation for one of those young dandies.”

Larkin gaped at her, too astonished to speak. Finally, he laughed and shook his head, gazing at her in wonder. “Is that what you think? That I’ve been dangling after Miss Caroline?”

“I would not say dangling,” she retorted in confusion, her brows knitting. “For you have hardly been assiduous in your attentions, which, for a man of your stamp, seems very remiss, but I’ve seen the way you look at her, and I am not a fool.”

“No, that you are not,” Larkin replied, torn between laughter and real annoyance. “But if you have laboured for a moment under the impression I wish to court your sister you are a very long way from the truth.”

Her mouth opened and closed and opened again and she seemed on the verge of giving him a blistering set down. Curiosity won out. “But I have watched you, seen how deeply you admire her,” she said again, as if by repeating the statement she might make it true.

Larkin considered this and had to admit he might have given her cause to believe he was interested in Miss Caroline. “She is the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life,” he admitted, knowing he had been captured by the girl from the start, but not for the reasons she assumed. “I’m an artist, Mrs Finchley, and I cannot wait to try my hand at capturing such perfection of face and form, but Miss Caroline is a child, and I am a man of four and thirty. Whilst I am certain she is an amiable girl, I have not the slightest interest in making her my wife.”

“Y-You don’t?” she stammered, clearly finding this hard to believe.

“I don’t,” he agreed, his tone firm. “If you want my opinion, your sister is a very long way from being ready to be any man’s wife, and eligible he may be, but Lord Harry will certainly not be allowed to wed until he reaches his majority. I do not know Mr Abner’s parents, but they’d be damned fools not to do likewise, and before you eat me, it has nothing to do with Miss Caroline and everything to do with the fact they are all barely out of the schoolroom.”

Mrs Finchley let out a breath that did not seem entirely steady. “I know,” she said, her expression bleak. “And I wonder if I have made a dreadful mistake in bringing us all here. The expense has already been far more than I anticipated, and to what end? It will be her one and only season and may raise hopes in her breast that I cannot then make good on. She will not return next season like all the other girls, with a little more polish and experience, for our finances will not stand it. I had thought that if a kind man like yourself, who would be patient with her, was to marry her, then perhaps it would not be so bad, but I see now that I have been a fool, just as you so correctly observed,” she added bitterly.

“Now, none of that,” Larkin said, making her look up with his sharp tone. “You are no fool and we both know it, so I shall hear none of this self-deprecation.”

“Oh, but I am, and you certainly do know it,” she returned, blushing hotly this time. She tugged her arm from his sleeve, but Larkin grasped her hand, making her gasp in shock.

“Let go before someone sees,” she said in a fierce undertone, glancing around to see if they were observed but there were few people walking in the cold today, despite the sunshine.

“Please wait,” he said, praying she would not leave before he’d explained himself. “Just give me a few minutes, then, if you wish to cut me dead ever after, you may do so with my blessing.”