A Regency Tale - Eight
Dec. 17th, 2006 10:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ismeninHello, my loves. Here is Part 8 - RL unfortunately got in the way of posting this earlier. But here it is! Enjoy!
There is a Glossary at the end for those who need it!
Thank you as always to Lady Sunrope, my tireless beta. Hugs!
Part Eight - Many Meetings
His Grace was woken by the sound of the curtains being drawn across the window, and the pale winter sunlight shining in on his face.
He stretched his arms above his head, and yawned. "What time is it, Slade?"
The man came to the side of the bed, and poured out of the Duke a cup of tea, and handed to him.
Elijah took a few hasty sips - he was thirsty and his mouth was dry.
"Just before ten o'clock, your Grace. I took the liberty of telling her Grace that you were breakfasting in your room. I hope I did the right thing."
Elijah held out his cup to be refilled. "Certainly you did, Slade. You know, better than most, that I need to gather my strength before such an encounter. Pray have my breakfast served here as soon as may be - and you may have the bath removed before I get out of bed. And order my perch phaeton for twelve, Slade. It is a fine day - the park beckons."
It was consequently a little before twelve when Elijah sought his mother in one of the salons. As he entered the room she lifted her large blue eyes to his face, and remarked complainingly, "I wish you will let me know when next you decide to disappear like a common felon escaping the law, my son. It caused me great inconvenience, as I could not possibly be seen abroad whilst it was thought my son was missing."
Elijah sat down opposite his mother and looked at her under hooded lids. "I am sorry my absence caused you inconvenience, ma'am, but it was something quite outside my power to control. And, as you see, I have returned unscathed."
Georgiana Stanford took out her handkerchief and wiped an imaginary tear from each eye. "No-one could be happier at your return than I. Where have you been, Elijah?"
Elijah gripped the arms of the chair, tightly, and stared straight at his mother. "I am not at liberty to tell you this, ma'am - for it involves someone else who would not wish the story bruited abroad. I pray you will excuse me from any explanations. I am home, now."
The Dowager looked down her nose at her son. "I cannot force you to tell me, of course, but I will be grateful if you will apprise me if you intend to stay away from home in future. It has been most inconvenient to be without you."
The Duke stood, and bowed slightly to the seated woman. "Again, I am sorry to have caused you inconvenience, ma'am, and to have to further disoblige you, but I am a grown man now, and need no one's permission to stay from home."
"And I would be grateful, in future, if you would not post offers of a reward before you have received a ransom note. It is most embarrassing for it to be generally known that the movements of a man past twenty five are so closely watched by his mother. For a man to be unable to leave his house for two weeks without it occasioning comment within that household must make him a laughing stock amongst his acquaintance. Good day, ma'am. I shall not return for dinner - I have an engagement."
He bowed stiffly and left the room. He sighed deeply as he picked up his coat, and a footman rushed over to help him don it. It was a very fine driving-coat with a modest six capes descending from it, which number was graded so nicely as not to cause comment. He would be neither stigmatised as a dowd, nor censured for a dandy. He took his hat from the footman's hand, and left the house.
There were few people in the park at that hour, so after a few circuits he left the equipage in the hands of his groom, and said he would walk home later.
Elijah had been slightly nervous about meeting his friends and acquaintance. He certainly was not going to talk about where he had been with anyone except Barney, but in the event there was no need for concern.
He met his cousin, Harry, coming out of the George, who gripped his hand and said he was very pleased to see him, and invited him back in for a tippler. Although Elijah settled for a small drink, Harry was imbibing freely. "Dutch courage, coz. Have to take the mater to visit her aunts. Two notable dragons I tell you. And both parrot faced. Can't understand how they can drink their tea without their noses gettin' wet."
He cast a knowing eye over Elijah. "You look well enough, in any event, Duke. Half the town was having it that you was kidnapped, but Ferdy, Gill and I was sure you had taken off with some barque of frailty - it wasn't Eliza Congleton was it? She has been missing for a week or two. Anyway, we laughed over it when we saw the notices your mama had posted everywhere. But don't worry, we told everyone that mattered what the case was. Pretty gudgeons we'd have looked if you had been snaffled off the road by villains, and we had not chased after 'em."
He cast a fond look of inquiry at his cousin. "And where was you exactly?"
Elijah laughed. "If you must know, I spent all my time hidden away in a wood tending to an injured man who had been shot by a highwayman."
Harry punched his cousin on the shoulder. "Eliza Congleton! I was right! Never fear I shall ask you about it again - a man's dealings with his Convenient are his own business. What do you intend to do this afternoon? I hear there is a mill taking place nearby - do you care to come?"
The Duke thought that watching a boxing match was preferable to spending the afternoon in the company of his mother, and consequently, it was very late in the evening when he returned to his house.
He was surprised, therefore, when he reached his room, to discover that there was a letter awaiting him, marked "private". He recognised the hand, and swiftly tore it open. The letter was short, and to the point.
Your Grace.
I am sorry to cause you further inconvenience, but I am still feeling far from well, and have gone away from town to recover my strength. Please do not visit me this month, as I shall not be at home.
I will apprise you when I shall have returned, until then I beg your indulgence in this matter.
Again, I must reiterate how very grateful I am to your Grace for the service you have rendered me.
Your Grace's most humble and obedient servant,
M.
Elijah burned the letter, and, as he consigned it to the flames, was overcome with an acute sense of disappointment that he did not fully understand. He would have liked very much to see how Lord Monaghan had recovered from his injury - that was only natural in a gentleman.
He went to bed feeling a lowness of spirit that he would have been at a loss to explain had he needed to have done so.
*****
Elijah had still not heard from Lord Monaghan by the time his mother had decided that she had had enough of Bath and wished to go to London. Elijah was not sorry, there were few things in Bath to interest him, and most of his acquaintance were in the metropolis at this time of year.
Harry, Gill and Ferdy had all left the previous week, as the snow had almost melted, leaving the road to London passable.
The Duke sent off a short note to Lord Monaghan's house informing his Lordship that he had left for the city. It would not be do to be backward in any attention when he owed so much to the man. It was the least he could do.
*****
Elijah's carriage drew up outside his townhouse, and he was pleased to notice that there was not a scrap of snow gracing the pavement, and the steps of his establishment scrubbed clean as they were every morning of any detritus that might have blown there during the night.
He had not been obliged to endure the journey in the company of his mother, for she had her own carriage and her two personal maids, plus her dresser to accommodate within it.
He went swiftly to his bedchamber, and soon Slade was brushing an imaginary hair off the shoulders of his coat of dark blue auperfine.
The strict period of his mourning was over, and although he would not be wearing bright yellow Inexpressibles for some considerable time, he was now able to dress in something a little less funereal than deepest black. He looked at himself in the mirror, and saw that he looked very well in the coat and in the dove-grey nether garments that showed off his admirably turned legs to great advantage.
However, his cravat was still edged with black, as was his handkerchief. It would not do to flout convention - he had a position to maintain, after all.
He had found a letter from his sister, Hannah, being placed on a tray to be delivered to his room, together with one from Barney. He took both letters into the library, and opened Barney's first.
Barney had travelled through Bath on his way to his country estate, and found that the Duke had returned to London. His friend told him he would have the pleasure of meeting with him the following week, and was looking forward immensely to seeing him.
Elijah smiled. He had missed Barney, and wanted to ask his advice on one or two matters.
The letter from his sister informed him she was much enjoying her visit to her aunt in the country, and had no desire to return to her Mama at this present time.
... for you know, no one better, my dear brother, how she can go on.
My cousins are the most diverting company, and although we do not go out much at present, there is no shortage of visitors to entertain us. In fact, I do not scruple to tell you that I shall remain away for as long as I can contrive it, and I am sure Mama has plenty of friends to comfort her, and will not miss me in the slightest. For you know, dearest Elijah, in truth she has no affection for me, nor I for her - but I know I must not say so, except to you.
I do miss you, best of brothers, and hope that you will be able to visit with us soon.
Ever your loving sister, Hannah.
Elijah resolved to write to his sister after dinner, which would also mean he would be able, with good reason, to escape his mother's continuous complaining, especially if they were no guests to dine with them. He was determined to disappear once tea had been drunk, and prayers said.
Placing both letters in the desk drawer, he stepped out into the watery winter sunshine, unsure yet as to his destination, but happy to be in the metropolis once more.
As luck would have it, he met the Faversham brothers coming out of Boodles, heading for Jackson's saloon, where they were engaged for a session of single sticks with the great master himself. Elijah, happy to fall in with his company's plans, went with them.
As the men were rubbing themselves down after the vigorous exercise, Elijah ventured to ask why they were daring to be seen in town once more. He had not forgotten their pecuniary embarrassments.
Gil laughed. "The most providential thing, Duke. Some old cousin of m'mother died, and left her fortune to Mama. She was a recluse, so how could she know Mama had shuffled off before her? So here we are, with twenty thousand apiece, which will settle our debts, and keep us as happy as grigs - for once quarter day comes, we shall be all right and tight again. Care to lunch with us?"
The Faversham's, relieved from financial care, were dining at a very select club, where Elijah was halfway through a very nice beefsteak when Barney came sauntering in, grinning.
"Westover told me you was here, Stanford. 'Servant, gentlemen!" he said bowing to his friends in an amicable way. He was invited to join them, but he declined, saying he had not long eaten breakfast at his lodging.
"Met him in the street, and he said you was come in here. Prosy old bugger, but he don't miss much."
They spent a comfortable hour together, until the Favershams excused themselves on the grounds that they had an appointment with their late mother's attorney, to settle all things financial.
"Wouldn't do to miss it, Duke - have no desire to return to Bath until the dibs are in tune again."
With a bow and a wave they were off.
Barney sat back in his chair, and regarded his friend with an expert eye. "Well, you don't look any the worse for your adventures, Lij, that I will say. Maybe a trifle pale, but that don't count, for you know as well as I you have a complexion many gals would die for. Tell me how it was."
Elijah looked around him, but they were in a quiet corner, with no one sitting near by, so he hesitatingly told his tale.
He blanched visibly when he came to the part about the shooting, and Barney covered the trembling hand on the table with his own.
"It was all my fault, Barney. I wanted to protect the money. I did not care - I did not think - what might happen to Monaghan. All that was in my mind was this was half of my allowance for the month, and I was damned if some highwayman was going to relieve me of it."
Elijah looked down at the table, not willing to meet Barney's eye. "The thought did enter my mind, however, when I saw him lying on the ground, that it would be better for me were he dead. Don't look at me like that, Barney, you were willing to kill him for me, were you not?"
Barney took a drink of his beer before he answered. "I would have shot him, yes, to save you, Lij, had you but given the nod. But I could see you didn't want it as soon as you moved in front of him. Now why was that, Lij? Had you become friends during his illness?"
Elijah shook his head. "Not friends, no. But I had tended him, sat with him, fed him, washed his naked body..."
His voice trailed away. "I do not understand my own feelings for him, Barney. He makes me as mad as hell fire, and the next minute..."
"He has gone away to recover from his wound, and..."
"And you miss him, is that it?”
The Duke nodded. "I do miss him," he said very quietly, staring at the wall in a concentrated manner, as if it held the answer to his dilemma
"But never mind all that, Barney - tell me all about the smug... free trading!"
*****
Elijah lay in bed that night and thought over the days happenings. Barney had invested his adventures in free trading with a great deal of humour, causing Elijah to laugh out loud. But Elijah was sure that it was more dangerous than it sounded, although he could see he would get no more from Barney concerning the matter. There was some parts of his friend's life he could not share, nor would he wish to.
He had written to Hannah, informing her that her mama was doing famously without her presence, many of the Dowager Duchess's friends and acquaintances had been invited to dine or to stay at Berkeley Square in the imminent future, the prospect of which made Elijah long for his country estates.
His sister need not fear that his mother was pining herself into a decline, he wrote, for her Grace was in high fettle, being the centre of attention, and revelling in her position as a grieving widow. He had no compunction in giving his sister permission to stay where she was. As head of the house of Stanford, his word would be obeyed before that of any other individual.
A few months previously his uncle, forty years his senior, had written a very proper letter to His Grace soliciting the Duke's permission for his daughter, Lij's cousin, to marry. That was the way things were done in his world - everything had its place and order ruled above all.
He lay there, comfortable upon his feather bed, but felt something was awry. That it was the presence of Lord Monaghan lying beside him that was lacking, he dismissed from his mind with a strength of will that had governed all his short life.
*****
In his own bed, three hundred miles away, Dom Monaghan was thinking along much the same lines. However, his Lordship was not at all eager to ignore his thoughts as was Elijah.
He had removed to one of his estates in Ireland. He was not at all anxious to see his family at this time, where he would have to explain his injuries, so he went further south, to a pretty place, where he owned - a small, six bedroomed house by a quiet lake, where he could meditate upon his feelings.
The bed was warm, so Dom had cast off his night clothes, and lay naked on top of the bed, the curtains drawn around him to shield him from the prying eyes of his valet should he enter the room.
Dom was thinking of the night that he had held Elijah in the palm of his hand; remembering the hardness and the heat, revelling in it.
Although it had been for such a short period of time, Dom could summon up the exact details of Elijah's body. His skin was soft and unblemished, but the muscle underneath it was hard and well toned.
Dom wished he had been able to move his fingers up and down the hot flesh, but had withdrawn his hand immediately once he had known what he was doing.
He touched himself, swelling quickly into his hand as he thought of Elijah lying in the bed, naked, on his back, swollen and ready for love. It did not take much imagination to summon up this image and soon he was moving frantically, his breath coming in short gasps, his mind ablaze with images of the man he desired above all others.
He reached around and quickly impaled himself on his fingers as he came, and the name he cried out into the night was not Arthur's.
*****
About three weeks after Barney came to town, Elijah and Barney were sitting in a box at the Opera, when he saw Eliza Congleton take a seat in the stalls. Harry and the Favershams, who were with them, pointed her out to him with glee.
Gil caught her eye, and with much waving and gesturing, indicated to Elijah who was blushing now with shame. Lady Congleton smiled at him, which made it worse, for everyone could see it - but as Barney remarked later, when they were alone, "it will do neither of you any harm if she is thought to be your latest inamorata, Lij. People will stop quizzing you as to where you were when you was absent, and she will be glad that no attention is being made to her and Beverley Westonbury, who, as you know, has five children and is in expectation of another very soon."
Elijah stared at his friend, incredulity apparent in his eyes. "How is it that you get to know these things, Barney? I am amazed!"
Barney grinned. "I keep my eyes open, Lij. That's all. Whilst you have your head in the clouds.”
And arm in arm, in companionable silence, they walked together to Berkeley Square, where Elijah, on mounting his steps, promised to meet his friend the next day at his club, for luncheon.
As it turned out, Elijah ate no lunch the next day, and made a very poor dinner, which occasioned remark from his mother, and drove him to his bed before eleven, and she continued to surmise some comment about his lack of appetite until he could bear it no longer.
The reason for these omissions was one Lord Dominic Monaghan, who had appeared in the club at the very moment Elijah and Barney were preparing to order luncheon.
"Good afternoon, your Grace, Mr Corsham - I am glad to have met you here. It saves me sending a message to your house, as I know you are anxious to avoid any connexion with me."
Barney stood and bowed slightly at his Lordship, but Elijah, as was due his rank, remained seated. However, he inclined his head graciously in Dominic's direction.
"I am glad to see you so much recovered, Sir."
His Lordship smiled, and Elijah was doubly glad he was sitting, as he was sure his legs would were given way under him had he been standing.
"It is entirely due to your kind care of me that I am standing here today, my Lord Duke. I am truly sensible of it."
"However, that is not to the point. I wish to inform your Grace that I am settled at the Pulteney for a short while, as I did not wish to stay in my barrack of a house in Berkeley Square, especially as it is only three doors away from your Grace's establishment. I would not wish to discommode you for the world."
Elijah bowed again in acknowledgement of this kind thought.
"When will it be convenient for me to meet with your Lordship, and where would you like this meeting to take place?"
Dom smiled again. "I have a very snug suite of rooms at the Pulteney - I would be glad to invite your Grace there for luncheon tomorrow, if it would be convenient."
Elijah had nothing to do the next day, but he was damned if he was going to give in to the owner of that insouciant smile.
"I am afraid I am otherwise engaged for lunch, Sir, but I will be glad to meet you at our appointed hour on Thursday, should that be amenable to you."
It was Dom's turn to bow. "As your Grace commands. Until Thursday, then. My Lord Duke, Mr Corsham..." and he was gone.
Elijah, retiring to bed betimes the next day, knew he would not sleep. The image of that smile, and those eyes sparkling at him, burned on the backs of his eyelids each time he closed his eyes.
He longed for Thursday, he reasoned to himself, for the sooner he met with Lord Monaghan, the sooner his ordeal would be over, and another month marked off the calendar.
Damn the Insufferable Man!
GLOSSARY
Perch phaeton - very high, open carriage
Dowd - Unfashionably dressed
Dandy - Very fashionable, extravagantly dressed man
Mater - Mother
Parrot faced - large Roman nose
Barque of frailty - immoral woman, mistress
Gudgeon - idiot, (The REAL gudgeon was a species of fish)
Convenient - Mistress, kept woman
Mill - Illegal, bare fisted boxing match
Inexpressibles - pantaloons, trousers
Boodles - Gentlemens club
Jackson's saloon - Training club for gentlemen boxers
Grig - A Grasshopper (Happy as a grig)
Attorney - Lawyer
Inamorata - Mistress
Quizzing - teasing
There is a Glossary at the end for those who need it!
Thank you as always to Lady Sunrope, my tireless beta. Hugs!
Part Eight - Many Meetings
His Grace was woken by the sound of the curtains being drawn across the window, and the pale winter sunlight shining in on his face.
He stretched his arms above his head, and yawned. "What time is it, Slade?"
The man came to the side of the bed, and poured out of the Duke a cup of tea, and handed to him.
Elijah took a few hasty sips - he was thirsty and his mouth was dry.
"Just before ten o'clock, your Grace. I took the liberty of telling her Grace that you were breakfasting in your room. I hope I did the right thing."
Elijah held out his cup to be refilled. "Certainly you did, Slade. You know, better than most, that I need to gather my strength before such an encounter. Pray have my breakfast served here as soon as may be - and you may have the bath removed before I get out of bed. And order my perch phaeton for twelve, Slade. It is a fine day - the park beckons."
It was consequently a little before twelve when Elijah sought his mother in one of the salons. As he entered the room she lifted her large blue eyes to his face, and remarked complainingly, "I wish you will let me know when next you decide to disappear like a common felon escaping the law, my son. It caused me great inconvenience, as I could not possibly be seen abroad whilst it was thought my son was missing."
Elijah sat down opposite his mother and looked at her under hooded lids. "I am sorry my absence caused you inconvenience, ma'am, but it was something quite outside my power to control. And, as you see, I have returned unscathed."
Georgiana Stanford took out her handkerchief and wiped an imaginary tear from each eye. "No-one could be happier at your return than I. Where have you been, Elijah?"
Elijah gripped the arms of the chair, tightly, and stared straight at his mother. "I am not at liberty to tell you this, ma'am - for it involves someone else who would not wish the story bruited abroad. I pray you will excuse me from any explanations. I am home, now."
The Dowager looked down her nose at her son. "I cannot force you to tell me, of course, but I will be grateful if you will apprise me if you intend to stay away from home in future. It has been most inconvenient to be without you."
The Duke stood, and bowed slightly to the seated woman. "Again, I am sorry to have caused you inconvenience, ma'am, and to have to further disoblige you, but I am a grown man now, and need no one's permission to stay from home."
"And I would be grateful, in future, if you would not post offers of a reward before you have received a ransom note. It is most embarrassing for it to be generally known that the movements of a man past twenty five are so closely watched by his mother. For a man to be unable to leave his house for two weeks without it occasioning comment within that household must make him a laughing stock amongst his acquaintance. Good day, ma'am. I shall not return for dinner - I have an engagement."
He bowed stiffly and left the room. He sighed deeply as he picked up his coat, and a footman rushed over to help him don it. It was a very fine driving-coat with a modest six capes descending from it, which number was graded so nicely as not to cause comment. He would be neither stigmatised as a dowd, nor censured for a dandy. He took his hat from the footman's hand, and left the house.
There were few people in the park at that hour, so after a few circuits he left the equipage in the hands of his groom, and said he would walk home later.
Elijah had been slightly nervous about meeting his friends and acquaintance. He certainly was not going to talk about where he had been with anyone except Barney, but in the event there was no need for concern.
He met his cousin, Harry, coming out of the George, who gripped his hand and said he was very pleased to see him, and invited him back in for a tippler. Although Elijah settled for a small drink, Harry was imbibing freely. "Dutch courage, coz. Have to take the mater to visit her aunts. Two notable dragons I tell you. And both parrot faced. Can't understand how they can drink their tea without their noses gettin' wet."
He cast a knowing eye over Elijah. "You look well enough, in any event, Duke. Half the town was having it that you was kidnapped, but Ferdy, Gill and I was sure you had taken off with some barque of frailty - it wasn't Eliza Congleton was it? She has been missing for a week or two. Anyway, we laughed over it when we saw the notices your mama had posted everywhere. But don't worry, we told everyone that mattered what the case was. Pretty gudgeons we'd have looked if you had been snaffled off the road by villains, and we had not chased after 'em."
He cast a fond look of inquiry at his cousin. "And where was you exactly?"
Elijah laughed. "If you must know, I spent all my time hidden away in a wood tending to an injured man who had been shot by a highwayman."
Harry punched his cousin on the shoulder. "Eliza Congleton! I was right! Never fear I shall ask you about it again - a man's dealings with his Convenient are his own business. What do you intend to do this afternoon? I hear there is a mill taking place nearby - do you care to come?"
The Duke thought that watching a boxing match was preferable to spending the afternoon in the company of his mother, and consequently, it was very late in the evening when he returned to his house.
He was surprised, therefore, when he reached his room, to discover that there was a letter awaiting him, marked "private". He recognised the hand, and swiftly tore it open. The letter was short, and to the point.
Your Grace.
I am sorry to cause you further inconvenience, but I am still feeling far from well, and have gone away from town to recover my strength. Please do not visit me this month, as I shall not be at home.
I will apprise you when I shall have returned, until then I beg your indulgence in this matter.
Again, I must reiterate how very grateful I am to your Grace for the service you have rendered me.
Your Grace's most humble and obedient servant,
M.
Elijah burned the letter, and, as he consigned it to the flames, was overcome with an acute sense of disappointment that he did not fully understand. He would have liked very much to see how Lord Monaghan had recovered from his injury - that was only natural in a gentleman.
He went to bed feeling a lowness of spirit that he would have been at a loss to explain had he needed to have done so.
*****
Elijah had still not heard from Lord Monaghan by the time his mother had decided that she had had enough of Bath and wished to go to London. Elijah was not sorry, there were few things in Bath to interest him, and most of his acquaintance were in the metropolis at this time of year.
Harry, Gill and Ferdy had all left the previous week, as the snow had almost melted, leaving the road to London passable.
The Duke sent off a short note to Lord Monaghan's house informing his Lordship that he had left for the city. It would not be do to be backward in any attention when he owed so much to the man. It was the least he could do.
*****
Elijah's carriage drew up outside his townhouse, and he was pleased to notice that there was not a scrap of snow gracing the pavement, and the steps of his establishment scrubbed clean as they were every morning of any detritus that might have blown there during the night.
He had not been obliged to endure the journey in the company of his mother, for she had her own carriage and her two personal maids, plus her dresser to accommodate within it.
He went swiftly to his bedchamber, and soon Slade was brushing an imaginary hair off the shoulders of his coat of dark blue auperfine.
The strict period of his mourning was over, and although he would not be wearing bright yellow Inexpressibles for some considerable time, he was now able to dress in something a little less funereal than deepest black. He looked at himself in the mirror, and saw that he looked very well in the coat and in the dove-grey nether garments that showed off his admirably turned legs to great advantage.
However, his cravat was still edged with black, as was his handkerchief. It would not do to flout convention - he had a position to maintain, after all.
He had found a letter from his sister, Hannah, being placed on a tray to be delivered to his room, together with one from Barney. He took both letters into the library, and opened Barney's first.
Barney had travelled through Bath on his way to his country estate, and found that the Duke had returned to London. His friend told him he would have the pleasure of meeting with him the following week, and was looking forward immensely to seeing him.
Elijah smiled. He had missed Barney, and wanted to ask his advice on one or two matters.
The letter from his sister informed him she was much enjoying her visit to her aunt in the country, and had no desire to return to her Mama at this present time.
... for you know, no one better, my dear brother, how she can go on.
My cousins are the most diverting company, and although we do not go out much at present, there is no shortage of visitors to entertain us. In fact, I do not scruple to tell you that I shall remain away for as long as I can contrive it, and I am sure Mama has plenty of friends to comfort her, and will not miss me in the slightest. For you know, dearest Elijah, in truth she has no affection for me, nor I for her - but I know I must not say so, except to you.
I do miss you, best of brothers, and hope that you will be able to visit with us soon.
Ever your loving sister, Hannah.
Elijah resolved to write to his sister after dinner, which would also mean he would be able, with good reason, to escape his mother's continuous complaining, especially if they were no guests to dine with them. He was determined to disappear once tea had been drunk, and prayers said.
Placing both letters in the desk drawer, he stepped out into the watery winter sunshine, unsure yet as to his destination, but happy to be in the metropolis once more.
As luck would have it, he met the Faversham brothers coming out of Boodles, heading for Jackson's saloon, where they were engaged for a session of single sticks with the great master himself. Elijah, happy to fall in with his company's plans, went with them.
As the men were rubbing themselves down after the vigorous exercise, Elijah ventured to ask why they were daring to be seen in town once more. He had not forgotten their pecuniary embarrassments.
Gil laughed. "The most providential thing, Duke. Some old cousin of m'mother died, and left her fortune to Mama. She was a recluse, so how could she know Mama had shuffled off before her? So here we are, with twenty thousand apiece, which will settle our debts, and keep us as happy as grigs - for once quarter day comes, we shall be all right and tight again. Care to lunch with us?"
The Faversham's, relieved from financial care, were dining at a very select club, where Elijah was halfway through a very nice beefsteak when Barney came sauntering in, grinning.
"Westover told me you was here, Stanford. 'Servant, gentlemen!" he said bowing to his friends in an amicable way. He was invited to join them, but he declined, saying he had not long eaten breakfast at his lodging.
"Met him in the street, and he said you was come in here. Prosy old bugger, but he don't miss much."
They spent a comfortable hour together, until the Favershams excused themselves on the grounds that they had an appointment with their late mother's attorney, to settle all things financial.
"Wouldn't do to miss it, Duke - have no desire to return to Bath until the dibs are in tune again."
With a bow and a wave they were off.
Barney sat back in his chair, and regarded his friend with an expert eye. "Well, you don't look any the worse for your adventures, Lij, that I will say. Maybe a trifle pale, but that don't count, for you know as well as I you have a complexion many gals would die for. Tell me how it was."
Elijah looked around him, but they were in a quiet corner, with no one sitting near by, so he hesitatingly told his tale.
He blanched visibly when he came to the part about the shooting, and Barney covered the trembling hand on the table with his own.
"It was all my fault, Barney. I wanted to protect the money. I did not care - I did not think - what might happen to Monaghan. All that was in my mind was this was half of my allowance for the month, and I was damned if some highwayman was going to relieve me of it."
Elijah looked down at the table, not willing to meet Barney's eye. "The thought did enter my mind, however, when I saw him lying on the ground, that it would be better for me were he dead. Don't look at me like that, Barney, you were willing to kill him for me, were you not?"
Barney took a drink of his beer before he answered. "I would have shot him, yes, to save you, Lij, had you but given the nod. But I could see you didn't want it as soon as you moved in front of him. Now why was that, Lij? Had you become friends during his illness?"
Elijah shook his head. "Not friends, no. But I had tended him, sat with him, fed him, washed his naked body..."
His voice trailed away. "I do not understand my own feelings for him, Barney. He makes me as mad as hell fire, and the next minute..."
"He has gone away to recover from his wound, and..."
"And you miss him, is that it?”
The Duke nodded. "I do miss him," he said very quietly, staring at the wall in a concentrated manner, as if it held the answer to his dilemma
"But never mind all that, Barney - tell me all about the smug... free trading!"
*****
Elijah lay in bed that night and thought over the days happenings. Barney had invested his adventures in free trading with a great deal of humour, causing Elijah to laugh out loud. But Elijah was sure that it was more dangerous than it sounded, although he could see he would get no more from Barney concerning the matter. There was some parts of his friend's life he could not share, nor would he wish to.
He had written to Hannah, informing her that her mama was doing famously without her presence, many of the Dowager Duchess's friends and acquaintances had been invited to dine or to stay at Berkeley Square in the imminent future, the prospect of which made Elijah long for his country estates.
His sister need not fear that his mother was pining herself into a decline, he wrote, for her Grace was in high fettle, being the centre of attention, and revelling in her position as a grieving widow. He had no compunction in giving his sister permission to stay where she was. As head of the house of Stanford, his word would be obeyed before that of any other individual.
A few months previously his uncle, forty years his senior, had written a very proper letter to His Grace soliciting the Duke's permission for his daughter, Lij's cousin, to marry. That was the way things were done in his world - everything had its place and order ruled above all.
He lay there, comfortable upon his feather bed, but felt something was awry. That it was the presence of Lord Monaghan lying beside him that was lacking, he dismissed from his mind with a strength of will that had governed all his short life.
*****
In his own bed, three hundred miles away, Dom Monaghan was thinking along much the same lines. However, his Lordship was not at all eager to ignore his thoughts as was Elijah.
He had removed to one of his estates in Ireland. He was not at all anxious to see his family at this time, where he would have to explain his injuries, so he went further south, to a pretty place, where he owned - a small, six bedroomed house by a quiet lake, where he could meditate upon his feelings.
The bed was warm, so Dom had cast off his night clothes, and lay naked on top of the bed, the curtains drawn around him to shield him from the prying eyes of his valet should he enter the room.
Dom was thinking of the night that he had held Elijah in the palm of his hand; remembering the hardness and the heat, revelling in it.
Although it had been for such a short period of time, Dom could summon up the exact details of Elijah's body. His skin was soft and unblemished, but the muscle underneath it was hard and well toned.
Dom wished he had been able to move his fingers up and down the hot flesh, but had withdrawn his hand immediately once he had known what he was doing.
He touched himself, swelling quickly into his hand as he thought of Elijah lying in the bed, naked, on his back, swollen and ready for love. It did not take much imagination to summon up this image and soon he was moving frantically, his breath coming in short gasps, his mind ablaze with images of the man he desired above all others.
He reached around and quickly impaled himself on his fingers as he came, and the name he cried out into the night was not Arthur's.
*****
About three weeks after Barney came to town, Elijah and Barney were sitting in a box at the Opera, when he saw Eliza Congleton take a seat in the stalls. Harry and the Favershams, who were with them, pointed her out to him with glee.
Gil caught her eye, and with much waving and gesturing, indicated to Elijah who was blushing now with shame. Lady Congleton smiled at him, which made it worse, for everyone could see it - but as Barney remarked later, when they were alone, "it will do neither of you any harm if she is thought to be your latest inamorata, Lij. People will stop quizzing you as to where you were when you was absent, and she will be glad that no attention is being made to her and Beverley Westonbury, who, as you know, has five children and is in expectation of another very soon."
Elijah stared at his friend, incredulity apparent in his eyes. "How is it that you get to know these things, Barney? I am amazed!"
Barney grinned. "I keep my eyes open, Lij. That's all. Whilst you have your head in the clouds.”
And arm in arm, in companionable silence, they walked together to Berkeley Square, where Elijah, on mounting his steps, promised to meet his friend the next day at his club, for luncheon.
As it turned out, Elijah ate no lunch the next day, and made a very poor dinner, which occasioned remark from his mother, and drove him to his bed before eleven, and she continued to surmise some comment about his lack of appetite until he could bear it no longer.
The reason for these omissions was one Lord Dominic Monaghan, who had appeared in the club at the very moment Elijah and Barney were preparing to order luncheon.
"Good afternoon, your Grace, Mr Corsham - I am glad to have met you here. It saves me sending a message to your house, as I know you are anxious to avoid any connexion with me."
Barney stood and bowed slightly at his Lordship, but Elijah, as was due his rank, remained seated. However, he inclined his head graciously in Dominic's direction.
"I am glad to see you so much recovered, Sir."
His Lordship smiled, and Elijah was doubly glad he was sitting, as he was sure his legs would were given way under him had he been standing.
"It is entirely due to your kind care of me that I am standing here today, my Lord Duke. I am truly sensible of it."
"However, that is not to the point. I wish to inform your Grace that I am settled at the Pulteney for a short while, as I did not wish to stay in my barrack of a house in Berkeley Square, especially as it is only three doors away from your Grace's establishment. I would not wish to discommode you for the world."
Elijah bowed again in acknowledgement of this kind thought.
"When will it be convenient for me to meet with your Lordship, and where would you like this meeting to take place?"
Dom smiled again. "I have a very snug suite of rooms at the Pulteney - I would be glad to invite your Grace there for luncheon tomorrow, if it would be convenient."
Elijah had nothing to do the next day, but he was damned if he was going to give in to the owner of that insouciant smile.
"I am afraid I am otherwise engaged for lunch, Sir, but I will be glad to meet you at our appointed hour on Thursday, should that be amenable to you."
It was Dom's turn to bow. "As your Grace commands. Until Thursday, then. My Lord Duke, Mr Corsham..." and he was gone.
Elijah, retiring to bed betimes the next day, knew he would not sleep. The image of that smile, and those eyes sparkling at him, burned on the backs of his eyelids each time he closed his eyes.
He longed for Thursday, he reasoned to himself, for the sooner he met with Lord Monaghan, the sooner his ordeal would be over, and another month marked off the calendar.
Damn the Insufferable Man!
GLOSSARY
Perch phaeton - very high, open carriage
Dowd - Unfashionably dressed
Dandy - Very fashionable, extravagantly dressed man
Mater - Mother
Parrot faced - large Roman nose
Barque of frailty - immoral woman, mistress
Gudgeon - idiot, (The REAL gudgeon was a species of fish)
Convenient - Mistress, kept woman
Mill - Illegal, bare fisted boxing match
Inexpressibles - pantaloons, trousers
Boodles - Gentlemens club
Jackson's saloon - Training club for gentlemen boxers
Grig - A Grasshopper (Happy as a grig)
Attorney - Lawyer
Inamorata - Mistress
Quizzing - teasing
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Date: 2006-12-18 01:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 03:53 pm (UTC)