An Unconventional Countess (Regency Belles of Bath 1)

‘I do trust you. Both of you.’ Mrs Fortini looked between them and smiled. ‘And I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised when the apple falls so close to the tree. I know there’s no point in arguing once you’ve made up your mind. I wish you both joy.’

‘Thank you, Mama. There’s just one other thing.’ Anna glanced towards Samuel for confirmation. ‘I think that we ought to keep our engagement a secret from the Countess. You’re right about this being a difficult time for her. No matter how offensive her comments, we don’t want to make the situation any worse if we can help it.’

‘Good idea,’ Mrs Fortini nodded. ‘In that case, I shan’t make any mention of your engagement at Feversham either, not until I receive word from you in Bath.’

Chapter Nineteen

Over the next few days, Samuel had the distinct impression that the two main women in his life, neither of whom he’d met a month ago, were trying to torture him. Being so close to Anna meant that he’d had to make several solitary trips to the plunge pool just to dampen his ardour, whereas living under the same roof as Lady Staunton, infrequent as her appearances were, was like living inside a beehive filled with a swarm of particularly angry bees. Between Anna’s smiles and the Countess’s stings, he didn’t know which was worse, only that he was counting down the hours until they could leave for Bath.

Meanwhile, his days had settled into a kind of routine. He, Anna and her mother breakfasted together before the women travelled to Feversham and he paid several discreet visits to the estate office. Contrary to his expectations the steward seemed glad, even eager, to teach him, so that he was gradually forming a clearer picture of the size and demands of the estate. It was even bigger than he’d imagined, though it helped to think of it the way Anna had suggested, as a ship in need of a captain.

He met her again in the late afternoons, when they continued their riding lessons or strolled in the park, telling each other stories about their lives. She told him all about her father and her childhood, teaching him a few more words of Italian, while he talked about his life at sea, deliberately avoiding any mention of his own family.

One day he came across a gallery in the top of the house where the family portraits were displayed along one long wall. There they all were, generations of Delaneys and their families. He found his grandfather as both a boy and a man, his uncle and cousin, too, though of his father there was no sign. He seemed to have been rubbed out of the family altogether, a dark smudge everyone preferred to forget. Overall, he supposed he couldn’t particularly blame them. If his father had inherited the earldom, then it was highly likely that he would have gambled it all away in a year, but the exclusion still felt jarring. Wrong somehow, too, to keep on punishing a man after death. He’d h

ave a portrait commissioned, Samuel decided, if he inherited. It shouldn’t be too difficult to recreate his father considering how similar they were in appearance. He’d get one of Anna, too. She’d probably pose in her yellow shop dress just to make a point, but then why not? Maybe he’d pose next to her in his uniform. It would be a reminder of who they’d both been when they’d met, who they might still be, depending...

It was strange, but there were times when his career at sea felt so distant it was like another lifetime. Trafalgar seemed like years rather than months ago. Would he still go back to that life if he didn’t inherit? The thought of spending long periods of time away from Anna made him feel preemptively heartsore. He missed her just during the days when she was at Feversham. How would he ever cope with months at sea?

A year ago, he would have laughed at the idea of feeling this way about a woman, but now there was no denying the strength of his feelings. He didn’t need Johnson’s dictionary to define them any more, either. Friendship, admiration and attraction had grown into love. He’d started to fall in love with her that first day in her shop and now it was too late to do anything about it. He’d come to rely on her, too, on her honesty and loyalty, as if she were an anchor holding him in place. He had the unnerving suspicion that she’d become indispensable to his very existence. Which made the days until their wedding drag even more.

* * *

‘Are you glad to be leaving?’ Anna asked him as they walked along the terrace on the morning of their departure. They’d finished breakfast and waved a cheerful goodbye to her mother as she’d departed with her belongings for a longer stay at Feversham.

‘I’m glad that I came...’ he replied, wrapping an arm tight around her shoulders and pulling her close. ‘But I’m overjoyed to be leaving.’

‘It’s a pity about Lady Staunton. I thought she might thaw a little while we were here, but something tells me she’d be more than happy for us to leave without saying goodbye. I thought she’d at least have breakfast with us today.’

‘Every time I’ve approached her she’s run away as if I’m her worst enemy.’

‘She ought to have given you a chance.’

‘Unfortunately my father’s reputation precedes me.’

‘But it’s not fair.’ Anna shook her head. ‘It can’t be good for her to be so bitter and angry in her condition, either. And if the baby does turn out to be a girl, think how much angrier she’ll be. That won’t be good for either of them.’

‘I know, but I don’t think there’s anything more I can say or do. I’ve tried talking to her. I’ve told her that she won’t be homeless if I inherit, but she won’t listen. She doesn’t want my assurances.’ Samuel shrugged his shoulders regretfully. ‘I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see what happens and take everything one step at a time.’

‘And keep hoping for a boy.’

‘That, too. It won’t be long now before we find out.’ He stopped walking to wrap both of his arms around her. ‘You know I could stand like this all day, but the sooner we get to Bath, the sooner we can be married.’

‘About that...’ She looked up into his face, her own anxious. ‘It doesn’t have to be a big event, does it? I’ll have Henrietta and a few other acquaintances, but it might look odd if you have a hundred people on your side.’

‘I can’t think of a quarter of that number to invite. Most of my friends are at sea or in Portsmouth waiting for billets. Frankly, I’d be happy with just the two of us...’ he kissed the tip of her nose and then rubbed his own against it ‘...and a ten-cannon salute, of course.’

‘No cannons!’ She laughed. ‘And I only have the gown I wore to your grandmother’s party. Will you mind?’

‘You can wear a sack for all I care, but I’d be happy to buy you something new if you like. I think a captain’s salary can just about stretch to a gown.’

‘No. I don’t care what I wear, either.’ Her brow puckered. ‘I suppose most people have a rough idea of which it will be when they say for richer or poorer, only in our case it could go either way. For better or worse.’

‘We might be the only two people in England who think of an earldom as worse, but you’re right. We don’t know what the future will bring, just that we’ll face it together. Now, I have a few things left to pack. Shall I have the carriage brought round in half an hour?’

‘That sounds perfect. I thought I’d take one last walk around the water gardens since I’m going to be cooped up for the rest of the day.’

‘Fancy a plunge?’