Part 12 (2/2)

”One can tell that you have had the best of dancing masters,” Sir John Charlton said to Frances after they had been waltzing for a few minutes. ”You perform the steps of the waltz with elegance as well as competence.”

”But we never did have a dancing master at all,” Frances said.

”Indeed?” Sir John looked down at her along the length of his nose. ”You amaze me, Miss Wilson. You must have a natural sense of rhythm.”

”Oh, we did learn all the steps of the various dances,” she said. ”Mama taught us some, and Theodore taught us others. Sir Theodore Perrot, that is. He was in his grace of Wellington's army, you know, and attended many a.s.sembles in Spain and Belgium.”

”Ah, yes,” he said. ”One of our n.o.ble heroes. And he has doubtless been using the glory of his military past ever since to ingratiate himself with such a lovely lady and one of such superior manners.”

”I don't know about that, sir,” Frances said, a trifle disconcerted. ”Theodore has always been our friend since childhood. I was almost sick to death with anxiety all the time he was gone, especially when news came of the Battle of Waterloo. That is, sir, my family was very worried. We are all very fond of him. Bella is too. You may ask her.”

”Quite so,” he said, looking around the ballroom, an expression of some boredom on his face. ”Almack's is quite a tedious place to be, is it not?”

”I am surprised at its fame after seeing it,” Frances said. ”There is nothing so very special about the a.s.sembly rooms. But nevertheless, sir, I am sensible of the honor of being here.”

”Quite so,” he said. ”Will you be attending Farra-day's house party next week?”

”I know nothing about it,” she said.

”You will probably be invited,” he said, ”Astor being such a great friend of his. And Lady Astor too, I might add. It will doubtless be tedious. Farraday has the most amiable of good natures, but he does not always cultivate elegance, I fear. I shall be positively reluctant to accept my invitation if you are not to be there.”

”Oh.” Frances blushed deeply and could think of nothing else to say.

”It would give me the chance to show you my own home,” Sir John said. ”It is only four miles away from Farraday's, you know. We are neighbors, you see. That is the connection between us. You might have thought it rather odd that we are sometimes seen together, since we are vastly different in, ah, manners, shall we say?”

”I would love to see your home,” Frances said.

”It has a certain elegance,” he said, ”as you will see for yourself. Of course, when I become the Earl of Haig, I shall also inherit the mansion which my new position will demand.”

”Of course,” Frances said.

”We will ride over to my home when we are at Farraday's,” Sir John said. ”Alone, if possible. I believe it is time you and I had a chance to get to know each other a little better, is it not, Miss Wilson?”

”Yes,” Frances said, blus.h.i.+ng again. ”I mean, I will probably need to take a maid or a groom, sir.”

”Oh, quite,” he said. ”You showed some shyness at Vauxhall, if you remember. And that is to be commended. A reserve of manner is a necessary element of elegance in a young lady. However, prudishness is not a mark of an experienced lady of the ton. And I am sure you have been in town long enough to realize that country manners are not always town manners.”

”I ... er ... yes,” Frances said, ”I have been in town for a month, sir. One learns a great deal in that time.”

He looked down at her with narrowed eyes. He never smiled, Frances thought, and a thrill of something like excitement crept down her spine.

”I shall look forward to Farraday's house party after all, then,” he said. ”I shall be leaving for my travels abroad in July. I would wish to know you quite well by that time, Miss Wilson, so that I might look forward the more eagerly to returning home. Or should I say, to returning to Parkland Manor?”

”Oh.” Frances flushed yet again.

Arabella was dancing the second waltz with Mr. Hubbard. They danced in silence for a few minutes until he looked down at her and coughed in some embarra.s.sment.

”I owe you an apology, Lady Astor,” he said.

”Whatever for?” she asked, looking up at him wide-eyed.

”I understand I was somewhat, ah, foxed at Vauxhall,” he said. ”In fact, I know I was. I was not so far gone that I cannot remember. That was quite unforgivable in your presence, ma'am.”

”No, of course it was not,” she said. ”You did not say or do anything offensive. And I like to think that at that particular time you needed someone to listen to you. I was happy to be the listener. Please do not apologize.”

He smiled. ”You are more forgiving than your husband,” he said. ”He ripped up at me the next morning about letting you run about the Gardens unaccompanied. But no more than he was ripping up at himself for allowing you to go without him in the first place. It does my heart good, you know, to see two friends of mine happy together. It helps restore my faith in marriage.”

Arabella bit her lip and continued to look up at him. She felt an alarming urge to confide in him and pour out all her woes.

”But you do not need all this sober talk about marriages when you are celebrating your first visit to Almack's,” he said. ”Are you going to be at Farraday's house party?”

”Yes, I believe we are,” Arabella said. ”And I have just had a ridiculous idea. Do you think he will let me take George with me? He is desperately in need of more exercise than he can get in the park. Oh.” She giggled suddenly. ”George is my dog, sir.”

He laughed. ”Knowing Farraday,” he said, ”I am sure he would be delighted if you brought your whole kennels. Why don't you ask him?”

”I think I will,” she said, and they danced in companionable silence for several minutes.

”Did I tell you?” Mr. Hubbard asked suddenly, his voice tense. ”No, of course I did not. My wife and my son are back in Brighton, you know. Someone saw them there and told me so a couple of days ago.”

Arabella looked up at him, some of her own pain in her look of sympathy.

”I am sorry,” she said. ”I mean...”

”I know what you mean,” he said. ”I am sorry. I should not keep referring to the subject. You are almost too kind a lady, ma'am.”

15.

The weather during that spring had not been kind to those who enjoyed the outdoors either for the fresh air and exercise or for the opportunity it gave to show off new bonnets and new conveyances. But on the morning one week later when Lord Astor's traveling carriage set off for Lord Farraday's country home, the sun shone down from a cloudless sky, and the breeze was just strong enough to prevent the heat from being oppressive.

Arabella was gazing out through the window, her whole attention focused on the trees and fields that stretched away on either side of the road.

”How lovely it all is,” she said. ”It is amazing that one can spend most of one's life longing to go to town, only to find when one does so that one is closed in by buildings and roadways and pavements. It is going to be marvelous to have two days in which to breathe in country air. George is going to be ecstatic.”

”I imagine Henry will be so too when we reach our destination,” Lord Astor said. ”I don't believe he objects to traveling in the coach behind us with your maid and all the baggage, Arabella, but he looked quite indignant when I informed him that he would also be sharing the carriage with George.”

”Oh, dear,” she said, ”I hate it when Henry is cross with me. He has a way of looking at one that would make one swear that he is a royal duke at the very least.”

She found herself laughing with her husband before she recollected herself and turned to stare resolutely out through the window again.

Frances was looking dreamy. ”I could almost imagine that around the next corner we would come across Parkland,” she said. ”Do you not wish it were, so, Bella? We could see Mama and Jemima again. Do you think Jemima will have changed? Do you think she has grown more?”

”We have been away for less than five weeks,” Arabella said. ”Of course she will not have changed in that time, Frances. It is just that so much has happened that it seems we have been away forever. Oh, you are not about to cry, are you? Look at all the lovely scenery you will miss if you do.”

”How foolish I have been,” Frances said, two tears spilling over from her br.i.m.m.i.n.g eyes, ”thinking that I would not have lived until I had been to town and attended all the ton events and met all the fas.h.i.+onable ladies and gentlemen who live there or spend the Season there. And all the time I had Mama and Jemima and you, Bella. And Parkland. And Theodore.”

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