Page 16 of My Favorite Mistake
“I see,” Fanny said quickly.
“And Lord Findley has given me the most precious gift—my independence! I won’t be forced to take a trip ’round the Marriage Mart and pressed to marry one of those rakes or cads.” She made a slashing motion with her hand. “Most men areblackguards, Fanny. I should know! Now, I will be able to live out the rest of my days in the manner that I wish.Alone.”
Fanny murmured understandingly as she tied the ribbon on a hatbox, for the first time feeling sympathy for her very young mistress and understanding how she had come to possess such rigid views on morality.
Not that Fanny thought Lady Findley was choosing the right course. It made her sad to think of a seventeen-year-old girl who had already given up on love and resigned herself to spending the rest of her life alone just because she’d managed to pull one rotten egg out of the basket. But at least her ladyship was more than just a sanctimonious prude.
And Lady Findley’s history had its uses: It made her surprisingly receptive to Fanny’s plan to flee Birchington-on-Sea in the dead of night.
Her ladyship even had a few suggestions.
“Merely disappearing isn’t enough,” Lady Findley said as Fanny snapped her trunk shut. “You need to make astatement.”
Fanny eyed her mistress warily. “What kind of statement?”
Lady Findley told her.
Fanny refused. “Although I hate the sight of the blasted thing, that parasol cost a guinea. I’ll be able to sell it forsomething.”
“I will give you a whole guinea!” Lady Findley cried. “But only if we do it my way.”
Fanny found she couldn’t argue with that. And that was how Fanny came to be crouching outside of the Cradduck family cottage, her mistress beside her, as dusk fell.
“I still say this is a terrible idea,” Fanny muttered.
“One guinea, guaranteed,” Lady Findley countered. “Hurry, before we’re discovered!”
Fanny caressed the parasol, taking a moment to appreciate the delicate fringe and the soft buttery silk of the canopy.
Then she nodded to her mistress, steeled herself, and snapped the shaft over her knee.
Taking the broken pieces of the once-beautiful parasol, she crept up to Nick’s door and deposited them on the front step.
Then she hurried back to her mistress, and together they clambered into the post chaise Lady Findley had hired for the journey to London.
They only made it as far as Canterbury that night before the light faded and they had to stop. They went around to seven different inns, but they were all full.
Lady Findley was sinking into a chair with a sigh of despair when a young man named Arthur Pembroke approached, hat clutched in front of his chest. Blushing and stammering the whole while, he insisted that he would double up with his friend and that Lady Findley should have his room.
The following morning, Mr. Pembroke was waiting for them in the common room. He eagerly inquired whether the room had been comfortable, whether the breakfast had been satisfactory, and whether the post chaise the inn had arranged was sufficient for her needs.
Mr. Pembroke was a handsome young man with blond hair, brown eyes, and boyish features. He was the second son of a prosperous local landowner and had recently completed his training to become a barrister. As he happened to be on his way back to London after a short visit with his family, he offered to ride alongside their hired post chaise to ensure that their journey went smoothly.
By the time they reached the outskirts of London, Mr. Pembroke was not the only one blushing and stammering. Still, Lady Findley clung to her newly ingrained skepticism where men were concerned, informing Fanny after Mr. Pembroke left them at her aunt’s house that she was quite sure that she would never see him again.
* * *
“Well,” Fanny said to Becky and Billy, “you can guess what happened next. He called on her the very next day, and the day after that, and—well, you get the idea. He waited the full year she was in mourning for her first husband, then they married. I understand they’re happy as a pair of clams at high tide and have seven children.” Fanny laughed. “She never did go back to Birchington-on-Sea. And so, I needn’t have changed employers after all. Although just between us three, I will admit to being glad I got to work for Lady Caroline instead. We’re a much better match in terms of temperament.”
“Well,” said Becky, “I don’t blame you for not wanting anything to do with him.”
Billy’s face was drawn. “What are you going to do, Fanny? Lord Ardingly has already given him the job.”
“I’ll go to Lady Caroline. I know his lordship is set on having Nick as his new head trainer. But her ladyship has a way of bringing him around.”
Billy nodded. “We’d best go speak to her straight away.”
After a brief search, they found her sitting in the shade of a tree. Lady Caroline was about eight months gone carrying her fourth child, so they had brought along a folding chair so she wouldn’t have to stand all day.
