A Fine Caprice - A Regency Romance (2 page)

‘Well now,’ he had breathed, making her catch her own breath so she did not have to smell the fumes, ‘haven’t you grown up to be a pretty one?’

‘Pretty is as pretty does, sir. Stand aside, if you please
!’

‘Oh now… don’t be like that. All I want is one little kiss. Can’t deny a man that, now can you?’

She most emphatically could and had terminated the interview by placing both hands upon his chest and thrusting him backwards while, at the same time, bringing her knee up to connect with what her far more agreeable cousin Jeremy called the ‘family jewels’. Mr. Hester had let out a curious sound between a squeak and a wheeze, doubling over.
Caprice
had not lingered to see if he
would recover but had walked away, congratulating herself that she had stopped at just a knee.

This is the man that Aunt Leticia wants me to marry
, she thought incredulously. Good God! Reapplying her ear, to hear how her parents
were dealing with such a repulsive idea
, she was stunned to hear her father say…

‘I agree that he seems an amiable enough fellow. But I don’t believe that he knows
Caprice
well
enough to put forward his suit
.’

‘Males and female do not have to
know
each other,’ Leticia said, exasperated. ‘What is the point? The union of marriage should be about doing ones duty in the interests of Society. It is as much of a woman’s duty to marry as it is a man’s to provide a stable, well ordered home.’

Caprice
huffed out a breath. Oh. Dear. Heavens!

‘But this Ainslie H
ester.
We do not know him at all
well
,’ Elizabetta
objected. ‘And
Caprice
has most decided views on things. It might be that she does not like him.’

It might be that I loath him
,
Caprice
thought. She was not going to marry Ainslie Hester. She would take her vows and shut herself up in a nunnery long before she did anything of the kind. Or run away to stay with Angelique.

‘A little too decided, if you ask me.’ Nobody had, but Lady
Hester always assumed that everybody would be better off for her opinion. ‘And she can get to know him. He arrives tomorrow.’

There was a startled li
ttle silence at this, then Elizabetta spoke up, voice bewildered
.
‘He is coming tomorrow?
Here?
Questo
è
pi
ù
inaspettato
-
’

‘English, if you please,’ Lady
Hester sniffed. ‘We speak the King’s English in this country my dear.’

‘Yes, but… we wer
e not expecting visitors,’ Elizabetta
continued on, ignoring the jibe. After twenty three years she was used to it.

‘There is n
o time to waste.
Your daughter is not getting any younger.
’

‘Yes, but…h
ere?
Tomorrow?
’ Lord Lambert was beginning to sound flustered.

‘Of course here.
How can he ask for
Caprice
’s hand if he is not here?’

The answer was, of course, that he couldn’t because she would not have him
, something that Lady Hester needed to know with all speed.
Caprice
burst into the room and marched across to glare at her aunt. ‘I am not
going to marry Hester. He is… he
is ghastly!’

‘
Caprice
!’ this from her mother
, who
was sounding
increasingly wretched
.
‘Remember your manners, my dear.’

‘Oh that’s all right,’ Aunt Leticia said coldly, eyeing her niece with distaste, ‘she has none to remember and never has done. What on earth do you have on, girl?’

Caprice
glanced down at the breeches and shirt that she had
worn out riding. On the estate
when she went in a direction that she was almost certain not to meet any of her neighbors she often wore breeches simply because they were far more comfortable than a gown.
Caprice
hated to ride side saddle. It was impossible to get up a good gallop in such a ridiculous position.
Usually she would have changed for she knew well enough that, while her parents might extend a certain amount of leeway towards her i
n such matters, others were not so generous
and she had no desire to shock. But she had just come in from a ride when she
heard that her aunt had
already
arrived
and had not thought to change, too intent on hearing what was happening.

‘It does not matter what I’m wearing. What matters is that I am not going to marry your disgusting nephew.’

Leticia did boggle at this, a flush crossing her skin, mottling it to an unfortunate shade of puce. She was not a particularly good looking woman, her features to
o
blunt to ever be called attractive but what she lacked in certain departme
nts she more than made up for with the
force of
her
personality. L
eticia Hester, nee Lambert, had
discovered that one could advance very far in life if one bullied on through. As she had married a man who was essentially weak, this aspect of her personality had stood her in good stead.

‘That’s more than enough from you, young woman! Ainslie is as fine a man as you’re ever likely to meet. You should be grateful he would consider you at all, the way you behave. Most men would be appalled by a creature such as
yourself
. Just
look
at you.’

Clearly there was no point in talking to the woman. Indeed, there never had been so instead she turned to her parents. ‘Mama, Papa, you cannot possibly entertain such a foolish notion. Ainslie Hester is -’ she hesitated, trying to find the words to express exactly what he was that didn’t sound too excessive. ‘Ainslie Hester is a loose fish!’

Leticia gasped while her mother looked shocked. ‘
Caprice
, that is a very
dreadful
thing to say.’

‘
D
readful
or not, it is entirely true. Last time I met him he tried to kiss me.’

‘To kiss you?’ her father repeated, astonished. ‘Are you sure?’

‘I am almost certain I could not get something like that wrong.’

‘But when did this happen?’ her mother demanded.

‘In the hallway.
He had been drinking.’

‘Oh, drinking,’ Leticia said dismissively. ‘Well I am sure that he regretted such behavior afterwards. Young men often find themselves overwhelmed by circumstances.
’

‘He is over thirty,’
Caprice
pointed out acidly. ‘Not exactly young any more.’

‘Young enough.
As for kissing you… y
ou probably gave him cause to take liberties.’

Caprice
gaped at her aunt. ‘Gave him…? Well I suppose I did, as I’m female and breathing! One thing is for certain. I am
not
marrying Ainslie Hester
.’

Leticia turned and raised an eye at Lord Lambert. ‘Is this how you allow your daughter to behave? Really, her lack of suitors is hardly surprising.
Such appalling manners would frighten any right minded man away.
’

Henry Lambert looked uneasy
. He might not like the news that his daughter had been improperly kissed but he had to admit that her behavior was fr
equently not all it should be in
a young lady.
In the general course of things, this was not an
issue. But perhaps he and Elizabetta
had been too lenient. They were not as well versed in the ways of Society as his sister was.
‘My dear
Caprice
, I am naturally very distressed that you should have been put upon so but I am sure Mr. Hester did not mean anything by it -’

‘He most certainly did!’

‘ –
an
d
under the circumstances,
a
s the
man
was clearly
is in his cups -’

‘Mr. Hester is frequently in his cups.’

‘ –
so
perhaps he can be forgiven
this one
indiscretion
. I have not, of course, agreed to you marrying him. But I am sure that if he applies in the appropriate way, we can – er – evaluate him as a potential suitor. Can we not, my love?’ he cast an imploring glance at his wife, having found himself to be between a rock (his sister) and a hard place (his daughter).

Elizabetta
Hester hesitated. ‘I am not sure I want to entertain a man who set upon my daughter.’

‘Oh come now!’ Leticia rol
led her eyes.
‘A party, a few
too many glasses of wine.
What man hasn’t done anything so foolish? And he particularly expressed to me his admiration for
Caprice
, which completely took me by surprise, I might add.
I see nothing to recommend her.’ Once again, those pale blue eyes swept across her niece’s attire. ‘It can hardly hurt to meet the fellow, now can it? He is most anxious to further his acquaintance.’

Caprice
gave a snort of derision. ‘I’m sur
e he is. After all, Papa has no
heir
and Mr. Hester, unless I’m much mistaken, has no estate
.’

Lady Hester’s eyes narrowed at this. ‘And you have no husband. If your parents have no object
ion
to dear Ainslie, then you most assuredly cannot.’

‘I beg to differ.’
Caprice
glanced at her parents and was dismayed to see them both looking less than outraged on her behalf. ‘Honestly, I am
not
going to marry him. He is a very unpleasant man.’

‘Many girls feel the same way, having not truly had time to get to know their suitors,’ her aunt pointed out. ‘Would it really be so unreasonable for you to spend time with Mr. Hester? He is very eager to spend time with you.’

I’m sure he is
,
Caprice
thought with a shudder, remembering the wine soaked breath
and the insistent way he had thrust his body – specifically the
more masculine parts of his body
- against her
. ‘Yes,’ she assured her aunt, ‘completely unreasonable.’

‘Now
Caprice
,’ her father chided her, ‘there is no harm in
actually seeing the fellow
is there?
Nobody has to make any hurried decisions. You can spend some time in his company, get to know him better -
’

‘I’ve seen him
and I know him far better than I ever intended
,’
Caprice
s
aid through clenched teeth, ‘let me assure you
I did not like what I saw
in the least
.’

Her mother frowned. ‘It would be discourteous to turn him away,’ she said slowly, with a reproving look at her daughter. ‘Your father is right. I can see no harm in
meeting
him
once again,
at the very least.’

‘Excellent,’ Lady Hester smiled, well satisfied. ‘And I’m sure that when you do, you will be impressed by his manners and air of address.’

Caprice
looked from one to the other of her rela
tives and knew that nothing
she said from this point on would make the slightest bit of difference as far as Ainslie Hester coming to
Tannith Meadow
was concerned
. Thoroughly exasperated, she turned and left the room.

They can make me meet him again
, she thought furiously as she slammed out of the house and headed towards the stables,
but they cannot make me agree to marry him!
But she was full of disquiet, never the less for she knew how malleable both of her parents were.
And how gullible.
Ainslie
Hest
er was a thoroughly seedy
man but there was no denying he could turn on the charm when he chose to. What if he turned on the
charm with her parents? With Aunt Leticia
and the disgusting Ainslie telling them what a suitable husband he would be, would her father be able to resist?
Caprice
would find herself engaged before she knew it and to a man who she found far less agreeable than Eric
Frampton.

‘Honestly,’ she thought crossly, walking across to the stall, which
held her beloved hunter Ulysses
, ‘how could they think I would ever consider it?’