Arabella glanced at her aunt suspiciously. She was wearing an innocent face, but she was well aware that Lady Tate thought that it was time Arabella married again. Indeed, most of her friends had hinted as much, but Arabella had ignored the subtle pressure from those she believed meant well. She had known true love and would not settle for less. Since she thought it unlikely that she would ever find another man who would make her thrill to his smiles as Ben had, she had put all thought of marriage from her mind. Besides, loving made one vulnerable and she had suffered dreadfully after Ben was killed. She did not wish to be hurt that way ever again.
‘I believe we may have met at Melinda’s wedding,’ she said in answer to her aunt’s question. ‘But I cannot say that I know him.’
‘I imagine he may put in an appearance this evening,’ Lady Tate said and wrinkled her brow. ‘Though you can never be sure what a gentleman will do—they are such inconstant creatures, are they not?’
‘Perhaps,’ Arabella agreed. ‘Some gentlemen are changeable, I believe.’ For a moment her thoughts returned to the man she had left behind at the inn earlier that day. Charles Hunter was a man of moods, but she believed that he had some secret sorrow that preyed upon his mind. Something about him had touched her from the moment when he had seemed rude in the first inn’s parlour, and caring for him while he lay ill had made her very aware of tenderness towards him. Not that it was more than she would feel for any man in extremity! But she had been drawn to him. However, he had made his feelings plain and she must put all thought of him aside. Mr Hunter had shown her that he did not wish for her attentions! Should they meet again, he would deserve it if she gave him the cut direct.
Arabella was wearing a deep emerald-green silk gown when she walked into Lady Samson’s large drawing room that evening. It was fashioned in such a way that it seemed to swathe her slender figure in soft folds, causing more than one head to turn and admire it—and her. Around her throat she had clasped a magnificent collar of pearls and diamonds, one of the heirlooms that had come to her as Ben’s widow. He had been the last of his family, and as his estate no longer suffered an entail, his will had left everything to her. Arabella was therefore exceptionally wealthy, having also inherited a small fortune from her father.
Because she was uninterested in what others thought of her, she was quite unaware of causing a stir or of the many admiring looks sent in her direction. The expression in some female eyes was distinctly envious, but in others approval and even warmth was the main emotion roused, particularly in the gentlemen. She was generally liked, but thought to be a little reserved, even cool at times, and though several of the gentlemen had considered making an offer for a woman who was both beautiful and rich, some had hesitated to approach her. It was known that those who had so dared had been summarily rejected. Lady Arabella was a wealthy widow, an independent lady who had no need to take another husband unless she wished. Indeed, because of the marriage laws that would hand everything she owned over to her husband, some of the ladies secretly applauded her and wished that they had the good fortune to be in her shoes.
‘It’s a crying shame,’ Captain Hernshaw murmured naughtily to his young and pretty sister-in-law. ‘So beautiful and all that money. It is surely her duty to marry again—preferably me. I am in need of instant repair to my fortune after my ill luck at the tables last night.’
‘You are a wicked tease, Richard,’ Melinda Hernshaw told him, tapping his arm playfully with her fan. She knew it was all nonsense—he was his maternal uncle’s heir and would inherit a large estate one day. ‘But I wish Belle would fall in love with you. I hate it that she is a widow and unhappy.’
‘Do you think she is terribly unhappy?’ Captain Hernshaw asked, looking at Arabella’s face. ‘She seems to smile quite a lot and is looking very lovely this evening. She put off her blacks for your wedding, didn’t she, Mel?’
‘Yes, she did,’ Melinda said and shot a look of speculation at him. ‘She can’t go on grieving for ever, Richard. Why don’t you try your luck?’
‘Oh, I would if I thought she might listen,’ he replied and grinned. ‘But I don’t want to be frozen out, Mel. Some of the gallants who tried their luck last year say that she is an iceberg, and that one look from her could turn a man into a pillar of salt. Though considering they hadn’t a bean to spare between them, I do not blame her for turning them down. Personally, I admire her for herself, but I shall take things very slowly.’
‘You really like her, don’t you?’
‘She knocked me for six the first time I saw her,’ he admitted with a rueful look. ‘But I dare say I am not the only one. Look at her cousin. Now that I do not like to see. He is a rum cove by all accounts. She ought to be careful of him!’
‘Ralph Tate rarely escorts his mother to affairs of this kind,’ Melinda replied and frowned. ‘Yes, I see what you mean, Richard. He’s like a dog guarding its bone. The way he looks at her—that possessive manner, as if he thinks she belongs to him!’
‘She wouldn’t have him, would she?’
‘I shouldn’t think so. I don’t believe she likes him. Look at the way she shrugged off his hand then. I think she is in some distress, Richard. Pray let us go and rescue her from his attentions.’
‘By Jove, yes,’ Captain Hernshaw agreed eagerly. ‘Can’t have that toad monopolising the most beautiful woman in the room—present company excepted, Mel.’
‘I know Arabella is more beautiful,’ Melinda told him with a smile. ‘Harry says I’m pretty and I am—but Belle is special.’
Captain Hernshaw held his tongue. He was in perfect agreement with his sister-in-law’s summation, and more than a little smitten with the widow, but he did not hold out much hope of her feeling the same. He was not truly in desperate need of a rich wife, for he had expectations. However, he thought it might still be too soon to offer for her and he did not wish to cause her distress. He had seen the deep grief in her eyes when she thought she was unobserved, even though her smile came bursting through like a ray of sunlight when something pleased or amused her. He frowned as he noticed the look on her face when her cousin leaned forward to whisper in her ear. She did not care for such intimacy, that was clear, but she was finding it difficult to keep him at bay.
She raised her head as he and Melinda approached, a smile of welcome on her lips. Hernshaw felt a sudden pounding in his breast, for she was truly lovely and he wished that her smile had been for him rather than his sister-in-law.
‘Melinda dearest,’ Arabella said and moved forward to kiss her friend’s cheek. ‘How are you? You look wonderful.’
‘So do you,’ Melinda replied. ‘Please, Belle, you must come and sit with me. Sir Ralph will spare you to me, will you not, sir?’
‘Arabella was going to sit with me…’ Ralph’s sullen look made him appear even more unattractive. Although tall and well made, he was fleshy of face and his sandy hair was already thinning at the temples. More than that, though, were the marks of indulgence in his complexion, the beads of sweat on his forehead and the faint odour of perspiration that enamated from his person.
‘No, I believe I have not agreed,’ Arabella said. ‘Besides, I do not think you would care for Madame Casciano’s recital, cousin.’
‘Nor I,’ Captain Hernshaw said for he had seen the flash of temper in the other man’s eyes. He was motivated to self-sacrifice for Arabella’s sake. ‘Come and give me a game of billiards, sir. I think we may leave the ladies to themselves until supper.’
Reluctantly, Ralph gave way to the firm pressure on his arm, though he threw a dark look at Arabella as she went off with her friend. He had been trying to force his company on her ever since they left the house, but