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In the end, his mother had prevailed, telling him quite rightly that to leave would invite Lord Debenham’s revenge, surely, and where else could Ralph go?
It was the truth. Ralph was a prisoner of circumstance and he had no other means of respectable work if he ever hoped to marry and have a family—which indeed he did. The tragedy was that the perfect contender had just waltzed into his orbit, tantalizing him with everything about her, from her lovely dark hair and sparkling green eyes to her gentle wit. Her unavailability.
Of course, Miss Hazlett hadn’t meant to taunt him. She was not that kind of young woman. But her innocent determination to make something of her own miserable circumstances had sparked something to life within him.
He’d always accepted that his older brother bore the greatest burden. Teddy was the nicest natured of all the brothers, and he’d never quite recovered after the inexplicable desertion of the woman he’d hoped to make his wife. But he would marry, for even without money he was highly eligible. And handsome to boot.
John, the next in line, was following a career in the church. He had a modest living and was already happily ensconced in a well-appointed vicarage with a pretty, if demanding, wife.
The next two brothers after John had had army commissions bought for them while Harry, the black sheep of the family, had run off to sea.
Ralph was the youngest and the one over whom his mother despaired. Now she was pinning her hopes on the fact he’d be rewarded for serving well an important member of the House of Lords. It was a job Ralph had come to despise with greater feeling every day.
But he was in no position to give it up. And if there were any chance that he would somehow be granted a handsome sinecure that would put him in a position to make Miss Hazlett an honest offer, he would stay.
The fact she’d succeeded in infiltrating the garden party so successfully proved her determination and ability to rise beyond the usual obstacles. She would make a fine wife.
Some day. The sad fact was it might be years before he could take a wife without the risk of driving them both into poverty, should they have a large family. Or any family at all.
At this present moment he was occupied with writing the eviction notices that would send a number of his employer’s cottagers into worse despair than Ralph could ever imagine, and there was not a thing he could do about it. Lord Debenham had taken a firm hand in the matter of those who didn’t—or couldn’t—pay their rent on time, and had determined that henceforth there would be no second chances.
Ralph was to see that the letters were dispatched, and was then to follow up himself to ensure that no families hung on to what was no longer theirs. He felt sick as he dipped his nib once more into the ink and signed the final eviction notice on behalf of Lord Debenham.
After such a painful afternoon’s work, Ralph decided a brisk walk was needed to clear his heavy mood once a chance presented itself. Hyde Park was only a short walk away and looking at the lovely ladies promenading there was always a pleasant diversion. His mother liked to be informed on what fashions were being worn by whom, and Ralph, apart from being a dutiful son and enjoying the sport in any case, had a good eye for an ensemble in the first stare.
The sun was dropping lower in the sky, the birds were singing in the trees and he was dreaming, impossibly, of a future with Miss Hazlett, when he was shocked to see a familiar profile come around a bend, chattering with great animation to Sir Aubrey.
It was only when she was within a few yards of him that he realized it wasn’t Miss Hazlett. Certainly not the Miss Larissa Hazlett with whom he was acquainted, though surely the two must be related.
The pang that squeezed his heart also made him realize how much it would have pained him to have seen his Miss Hazlett so clearly entranced by a gentleman other than himself and again he was fired with the determination to find a way to enable them to be together.
Immediately this was followed by the painful reality that his hands were tied. Short of an unexpected inheritance—and none of his infirm relatives were remotely well-heeled, though all were respectable enough—or committing highway robbery, Ralph was completely dependent upon Lord Debenham for a paltry salary.
Leaning against a tree trunk, he gazed at the young lady talking to Sir Aubrey and his misery increased. She was clearly making a determined play for him and Ralph wondered how Sir Aubrey could still be so successful at winning female interest when he was dogged by Lord Debenham’s allegations.
His employer had an almost pathological hatred for this gentleman, and it was intriguing that Miss Larissa Hazlett’s relative—for they surely must be related—should show such singular interest in someone whom rumor painted as a murderer and plotter of treason. Thanks to Lord Debenham, it was widely whispered Sir Aubrey had been involved in the plot on Lord Castlereagh’s life. Unsubstantiated rumors, certainly.
When the young lady turned so that her face was no longer concealed by her bonnet, he realized with a start that he’d seen her before at several high-society entertainments. He struggled to recall her name. Surely it was Miss Partington? Yes, the debutante who’d ended her last season under something of a cloud but who appeared to have bounced back, the way she was talking with such joyful animation to Sir Aubrey.
Returning to his office, it was harder to concentrate, but after he’d finished his unpalatable duties, Ralph took a circuitous route past the large home where Miss Hazlett worked. He suspected she’d be in the habit of taking her young charges for a walk in the afternoons in the little park opposite, and so he dragged his heels in the hopes she’d appear.
He was in luck, for indeed there she was, and not only that, her face lit up with unadulterated delight when she saw him loitering beneath a plane tree.
“Meet me on the opposite side of the park, where we are not in view of the windows,” she whispered as she passed by him, not pausing.
Ralph’s heart beat a rapid tattoo in his chest as he discreetly followed her with a surreptitious glance over his shoulder to ensure he wasn’t being watched. He hadn’t liked what he’d seen of her employer, young Mr. Cosmo. He was jealous of the young man’s proximity, too, and couldn’t imagine he’d not have an interest in the young governess that went beyond wishing her to sketch his paintings.
Waiting impatiently in a shaded corner of
the park, he wondered if the chance for intimacy beyond a smile might present itself, should Miss Hazlett manage to send the little girls off to find fairies in the nearby bushes.
However, the moment she appeared before him, she clasped her hands in entreaty, whispering, “Mr. Tunley, I am really at my wit’s end as to what to do, and I hope you can advise me.”
His pleasure that she should consider him in a position to assist her was quickly displaced by his sense of failure. How could such a poorly situated young man as himself help the goddess of his heart’s desire?
Before he could respond, she began without preamble, “My half-sister, a young woman who looks extremely like myself, lent me the gown I wore to Mrs. Gargery’s garden party because she wanted me to learn what I could about Lord Debenham, amongst other certain gentlemen in whom she’s interested. Now she has again visited me, with the request that tomorrow I accompany her to an assignation with,” she gave a furtive look about them before whispering, “your employer’s valet.”
“Good God!” The words were out before he could stop them, so great was his shock. “Lord Debenham’s valet? Jem? And you have a half-sister?”
