It was brought to my attention (thank you!) that there was a double chapter in here, and in the process of correcting it, I discovered that anouther chapter was missing. So everything from chapter 5 upward is different now. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience , and I hope everything is in order now. HEre's a new chapter as an apology.
It was a good thing he had asked Lady St. James for her help, Blaine decided, despite the awkwardness on his side that had persisted for a good while of their otherwise enjoyable and productive meeting. She had been moved into society so recently that she remembered all the rules, and was free-spirited enough to be willing to bend them on occasion.
"I am a married woman," she said, "that means I am an acceptable chaperone for any unmarried young lady we will want to attend. It will be respectable enough at least for anyone you might want to invite."
After a minute or so, Blaine just left the whole thing to her, merely nodding and offering the occasional remark, silently impressed by how quickly she was grasping the essence of his plan, even if he didn't have the courage to name it.
"Your—former—estate is quite close to the town Mr. and Mrs. Evans moved to. We will invite them. It will be nice to see them again."
Blaine nodded gladly. He remembered he had gotten along quite well with Mr. Evans.
"Now," Rachel continued, looking up from the notes she had made. "You will want to invite Kurt."
Blaine nodded sheepishly. Inviting Kurt—possibly spending time with Kurt, in an environment where he would feel safe—was his main objective for the house party, in addition to helping Sebastian. Not that he'd admit that.
"You will have to give him a reason to be there, except for you," Rachel said bluntly.
Blaine was hurt by that, but he knew she was right. Kurt would never leave the city, possibly missing any paid performances, just to spend time with him.
"We could make it a musical party," he suggested hesitantly. "Sebastian enjoys music as well. We could find a way for Kurt to earn some money, some way he would accept. Maybe...we could teach Sebastian how to dance. Can Kurt...can he play the piano?"
"Not as well as you," she answered. "But if you are the dance teacher, you can't very well provide the music as well. It might suffice. We could also rehearse for a little concert we could give at the end of the week, for the local gentry and the tenants. It would serve to make the new Earl of Dalton known to them."
"We could pay him to sing," Blaine said, excited. "Well. Sebastian could." And Sebastian would. Kurt's fee would be a mere trifle to him, and Blaine knew he had more or less free hand when it meant he could accompany Sebastian to Dalton.
In the end, they wrote invitations to the most consistent of Lady St. James's guests, who they also thought could serve some purpose at Dalton. Those were, in addition to Mr. and Mrs. Evans, whom they invited just for the pleasure of their company, Miss Pierce, who was a very good dancer, and her house guest and constant companion Miss Lopez. The two were inseparable, and Miss Lopez had a sharp tongue that fit Sebastian's. They might match or clash horribly, there was no way to tell—but Blaine decided it would do Sebastian some good to meet someone who gave as good as she got.
That, they decided, would have to suffice, as Miss Cohen-Chang's protective parents would never let her go to the country on her own, and Mr Puckerman's presence would disturb their dynamic too much.
That left Kurt. Blaine didn't quite know how to invite him, since they would make it a business thing, but Lady St. James wrote a short note, to be copied by Sebastian or his secretary, requesting Mr. Hummel's services as pianist and singer for a small house party and concert, for the fee of twenty pounds. Another invitation to Blaine himself, to show to his grandmother, and they were done for the day.
He had to count it as success, Blaine decided, that Kurt had deigned to accept sharing a carriage with him. Kurt had agreed to come to Dalton, though he had quickly deduced that the whole thing had been Blaine and Rachel's idea. He had not been too happy about that, but Blaine thought (well, hoped, really), that it had nothing to do with Kurt not wanting to see him, but rather the fact that Kurt had Principles, with capital P, that would usually not allow him to mix business with pleasure.
Blaine's grandmother, as predicted, had been torn between not wanting Blaine to go with such disreputable company, to the estate that should have been his, and realizing that the disreputable company was too rich and important to slight. Blaine's mother had barely managed to conceal her delight with Blaine's luck in making such friends, and also her own good fortune in visiting several balls and parties on her own.
The only flaw in his current situation, Blaine thought guiltily, was that Lady St. James was to travel with them in the carriage, at least until it was time to change to the post. It was just it was so cozy in the carriage, with the curtains drawn closed, Kurt sitting across him on the bench, his long legs occasionally brushing his own. He longed to change his seat to beside Kurt, under some pretext or none, and pull him into his arms. If it wasn't for Lady St. James, they would have complete privacy for two hours at least, and after their too-long separation, that was something Blaine wished for very much.
They talked little as the carriage made its way through town to the St. James's house, and suddenly Blaine was afraid.
They had never talked about...about what they were. He had no idea what Kurt felt for him, if anything. He had no idea what Kurt wanted from him, if—his thoughts were interrupted when Kurt's long legs tangled with his. At the same moment, he realized they had passed Rachel's townhouse without stopping.
"What-" he said as he looked to Kurt and saw his grin that could be called nothing less than mischievous.
"I thought it would be nice to have some time alone," Kurt said. "So I arranged for Rachel to have urgent things to talk about with Miss Lopez and Miss Pierce."
Blaine couldn't help it then—he stumbled over to Kurt's side just as the carriage hit a hole in the road, so he landed almost in Kurt's lap. He took just the time to arrange himself a little more comfortable, and then finally, finally kissed Kurt with all the pent-up longing of the last few weeks.
He had no idea how much time had passed or where they were on their journey when they finally stopped kissing. At some point, he had loosened Kurt's cravat in order to have better access to his neck, and Kurt had pushed his hands under Blaine's shirt to clutch at the naked skin of his back, so his shirt was pulled partway out of his breeches.
Kurt pulled away from him. "No more of that," he said. "I'd like to get myself back together before we stop for lunch and to change to the post. It must be time for that soon."
Blaine nodded reluctantly and tried to dress as best he could in the close confinements of the carriage. His shirt was crumpled, he found, but fortunately, nobody expected of travelers to look impeccable, and Sebastian was sure to loan him a valet. He snuck a glance at Kurt and was surprised to see him smiling at him.
"You now," Kurt said, "I cannot approve of your scheming to get me to come to Dalton with you...but I'm glad you did."
"In my defense, you are really there to do a job. We all are, more or less. But—I won't deny a big part of the idea was to get to be with you, where we'll be safe."
"Safe? It will be such a small group, much harder to hide -"
"Sebastian—Lord Dalton—he's like us. In that regard. He's very open about it. I had to teach him about caution."
"You taught someone about caution."
"Well, it's not like I dragged to somewhere into an alley. I can be cautious. Anyway, he—he won't mind. And he won't tell. Well, and Lady St. James knows anyway, so that only leaves the others, and the servants. But if, for example, our rooms where adjacent which I'm sure I could arrange..."
"You are even more deviant than I expected." It sounded like a rebuke, but Kurt was smiling. "So if, say, you were to visit me in my room for a nightcap, and then happened to...stay a little longer than planned..."
"As long as I took care to be back in my own bed before sunrise, nobody would be the wiser."
They looked at each other and smiled, but in a few moments, Blaine was serious again. "We can have this, Kurt. Will you let us have it?"
Before Kurt could answer, the carriage came to a halt, and a look out of the little window proved it was time to them to break for lunch, and afterwards change to the post.
Lunch was simple fare, and there was no opportunity to continue talking, because shortly after them, the ladies arrived and sat with them. Afterwards, in the post, all of them squeezed together in the carriage to avoid having to sit with strangers. They did have a good time, but for Blaine at least, the unique pleasure this journey had brought was over for now. Still, he did have a smile fixed on his face that came from the knowledge that Kurt wanted to be with him.
When they finally arrived at Dalton, they were as tired and malcontent as any traveler, but their short ride to the house in a carriage sent by Sebastian that was much better sprung than the post, and the prospect of a good dinner soon made them smile again. Although, if Blaine was honest, he was especially looking forward to that point some time after dinner, when everyone would retire. That point might not come until late—even in the country, Sebastian would probably not keep country hours—but however late it would be, and even if they were too tired for anything else, he would sleep in Kurt's arms tonight.
It was strange, standing in front of the house he had loved so much as a child, with the knowledge it was not his anymore and would never be his again. For a moment, he had the distinct feeling he should be the one welcoming his guests – but then he looked at the guests and again, relished the freedom he would never have as an earl. A short moment of awkwardness arose when the butler opened the door and it was his own butler. He remembered Sebastian saying he had not replaced any of the staff—but somehow, he had not thought so far as to realize that would mean he knew them all.
"Figgins," he said, still startled, and the butler allowed himself a rare smile.
"Master Blaine. Mr. Anderson, I mean. Please come in. His lordship awaits you."
Sebastian, when he arrived a moment later, was at his most correct, Blaine felt. His smile was more stiff than welcoming, his posture so upright it seemed unnatural, his speech stilted. Blaine hoped dearly that that would change, or else his first house party would go down in history as the most dull affair ever given.
Fortunately, there was Miss Pierce. In her unique way, she asked Sebastian a lot of questions that were intrusive, but asked too innocently to be considered offensive. Sebastian was bemused at first, but by the time they were called to dinner, he had given up any attempt at formality. When, over dessert, he and Miss Lopez began insulting each other with enthusiasm, Blaine felt one of the things he'd have to teach Sebastian was to find a middle ground.
First, though, there was another thing he had to talk about. As soon as the ladies retreated after dinner and Kurt went to the restroom, he approached Sebastian to ask him for adjacent rooms for himself and Kurt. Sebastian, however, started talking first. "Well, what delightful people you have brought me, brother. Especially that Mr. Hummel. He is very attractive, if a bit taciturn. But to be honest, it's not conversation I want from him."