Jane had a more sophisticated gown of cream silk, with brown appliqued flowers round the hem and neckline, which was much lower than was considered suitable for a young unmarried damsel. Bella felt a moment’s envy of Jane’s taller, slimmer figure which the current fashions suited so well.
Mrs Eversley had a house just off Queen’s Square, and Jackson drove them there in the carriage. Jane had insisted on hiring one, despite the preference of most Bath inhabitants for sedan chairs, due to the hilly nature of the town. Queen’s Square was in the relatively flat area suitable for carriages, and as they intended to buy riding horses, Jane had decided that Jackson might as well earn his keep by driving a carriage too.
‘Besides, it’s so much more comfortable, and we can talk.’
Mrs Eversley’s double salon was already crowded when they arrived, and after greeting their hostess they found places on two delicate gilt chairs at the side of the room, where they could see the musicians already disposed on a raised dais at the far end.
To Bella’s relief the musical part of the evening did not last for more than an hour, and was of a far higher standard than she’d endured in Harrogate. Afterwards they were directed to another large room where a lavish buffet awaited them, and were soon seated at a small table chatting to a pair of elderly gentlemen. One had a distinctly military bearing, and seemed to find Jane irresistible. The other spoke with a northern accent and a blunt manner which Bella found refreshing after the meaningless society chit-chat of other people she’d met.
‘From Lancashire?’ the northerner, a Mr Kershaw asked. ‘I’m in wool meself, in Leeds, but I’m thinking of moving over to cotton. Much more go-ahead in Lancashire, though I hate to admit it!’
‘Go-ahead? How do you mean?’ Jane asked, intrigued.
‘Wi’ they new machines, and the use o’ power for driving ‘em,’ Mr Kershaw explained. ‘The spinners and weavers can work in mills now, and be controlled far better than the wool workers can. Instead o’ messin’ about most of the day, working plots o’ land too small to support ‘em, and spinning or weaving only to get a bit extra, the whole family can work a proper day in the mill and earn a decent wage.’
‘I don’t call it decent when tiny children have to work twelve hours a day!’ Bella exclaimed. ‘They’re not even fed properly, and were far better off running about the fields, earning a penny scaring birds, or helping to gather wood for the fire. Besides, it’s unhealthy in those mills, with all the steam and the fluff.’
‘And what do you know about it, lass?’ Mr Kershaw, although taken aback by her vehemence, was prepared to indulge a little feminine sensibility.
‘I found a lad of six, whose mother had just died, from an accident with one of those wonderful machines, and he was being starved, living as a so-called apprentice in one of these dreadful places. Threatened too, if he didn’t submit to inhuman treatment. He was trying to run away, poor mite. And I went to see one of the mills a few years ago,’ Bella informed him curtly. ‘My godfather was interested in the machinery, he had some ideas for improvement, and I was horrified by what I saw.’
Mr Kershaw smiled benevolently. ‘It’s what you’m used to. They don’t know any better, they haven’t had the advantages of your position in life, my dear, and so don’t miss it.’
‘That’s not entirely true,’ Bella declared, her colour high. ‘They did know a better life when they were not forced to slave in those beastly mills all day and half the night! They had fresh air, and good wholesome food, and spring water, as well as better places to live in than the attics of a mill or the hovels they have now!’
‘The mill owners weren’t forced to build good houses for their workpeople, but many of them did, out of the goodness of their hearts!’ Mr Kershaw was growing heated and Jane, aware that the raised voices were attracting unwelcome attention from other guests, was doing her best to catch Bella’s eye. But Bella ignored her warning glances.
‘Good houses!’ she exclaimed contemptuously. ‘Two damp rooms for a family of eight or ten children? The only water from a tap a hundred or more yards away, and a privy shared with dozens of other families? Is that what you’d wish for your family, sir?’
‘I hardly think this is a suitable topic for ladies at an evening party,’ the military gentleman interrupted firmly, but Mr Kershaw was not content to let it rest there.
‘You’d find your pretty gowns a sight more expensive, young lass, if we didn’t encourage progress,’ he said with an air of finality.
‘Perhaps it would be a fairer world if we did pay more for such frivolities, and gave the people who produce them the chance of getting the necessities of life!’ Bella retorted.
‘Well said, Miss Collins,’ an amused voice behind her commented, and with a gasp Bella turned to find Lord Dorney and his cousin standing by her shoulder.
She bit her lip, and felt her cheeks, already heated from the overcrowded room and the strength of her emotions, grow yet rosier.
With a curt bow the military gentleman seized the opportunity of drawing Mr Kershaw away. Lord Dorney and Alexander took their places, but tactfully changed the conversation by asking whether the ladies had enjoyed the musical entertainment.
‘I didn’t see you there,’ Bella exclaimed.
‘No, I’m afraid I was late, I had another engagement first,’ Lord Dorney said smoothly. ‘But Mrs Eversley was so pressing with her invitation I promised to drop in for an hour or so later. She persuades some very talented people to play and sing at her parties, and I was sorry to miss it.’
After a while he enquired for the dog’s welfare, and Bella was chuckling as she recounted the animal’s encounter with a neighbouring cat.
‘And when we walked him in Sydney Gardens he growled at a very large dalmatian. I fear he’ll turn out to be a fighter,’ she concluded ruefully.
‘He’s needed to fight to survive, no doubt. As do your mill children,’ he added softly. ‘I applaud your concern, and your courage in speaking out for them,’ he added, and immediately rose to take his leave.
Chapter 5
Bella was walking Rags in Sydney Gardens early the following morning when Lord Dorney approached.
‘You’re abroad early,’ he commented. ‘This animal looks better already,’ he added, bending down to pat the dog, who after an initial suspicious growl suddenly recognized a friend and began to wag his tail furiously.
Bella looked shyly up at him. Jane had scolded her soundly on the way home the previous night, and uncharacteristically Bella had accepted the scolding as well deserved. She wondered if her behaviour, despite his words of approval, had made Lord Dorney despise her as an unsophisticated, provincial rustic unable to behave with proper decorum in Society.
‘You simply must not argue so vehemently, especially with a man so much older, and in public,’ Jane chastised her.
Inwardly rebellious, Bella wanted to ask why girls and even women were supposed to have no opinions of their own. Why must they accept what men said, however stupid and bigoted the men? She kept silent, knowing she had argued with unseemly heat. That was her real offence in her own eyes. She was mortified to realize she’d been unable to point out the evils of the crowded mills without allowing her emotions to trap her into rudeness.
‘Jane was very angry with me,’ she said impulsively.
‘Lady Hodder angry? Why should she be?’ he asked. ‘Let’s walk on, the wind is chill,’ he added, turning to stroll beside her.
‘I was too outspoken last night,’ Bella sighed. ‘I don’t mean to be rude, but I cannot bear to hear foolish people saying things which are untrue!’
To her surprise he laughed.
‘There may be more tactful ways of refuting what they say,’ he agreed, ‘but you spoke the truth, your sentiments are honourable. I passed through Preston recently and saw the dreadful conditions those mill workers have to endure.’
‘I haven’t learned to bite my tongue,’ she confessed.
‘It makes a refreshing change. Most girls are far too busy wondering what effect they’re making to speak so candidly. They say what they think is expected of them rather than the truth. Which brings me to an apology.’
‘You? Apologize? What on earth for?’ Bella demanded.
‘I should have told you before that I was in the yard at that inn and saw your very successful routing of those louts.’
Bella felt her cheeks grow warm. ‘Oh, did you?’ was all she could manage. ‘But why do you need to apologize?’
‘I’m not sure. I suppose I feel I ought to have told you that I’d seen you before, even though we had not met. That was one reason I had for asking Mrs Eversley to introduce us. I wanted to meet a young lady who owned a pistol and could face down those rogues.’
‘I don’t normally use it to threaten people,’ Bella said in a small, hesitant voice.
He laughed. ‘I’m sure you don’t! You have other weapons for routing people who offend you.’
She frowned. ‘What do you mean? I don’t understand.’
‘Taking action to save a stray dog? Dandy Ledsham and his poodle. Not many young ladies would have acted with such promptness and decision.’
‘Well, could you have watched this poor little dog being savaged by that ugly, overfed beast? I’m sure if you’d been nearer you’d have done the same.’
She stooped to stroke the dog, and Rags licked her hand with enthusiasm, then turned his attention towards a much larger dog which had approached within sniffing distance. He growled, and Bella spoke calmly to him. Rags looked up at her as if to ask permission to attack, then seemed to shrug and turn his shoulder to the intruder, who was called away by his owner.
Lord Dorney grinned. First Ledsham and his poodle, then Mr Kershaw and his manufactories.’
Bella blushed. ‘You must think me very quarrelsome. But I know how badly those children are treated! I could not endure him saying such things, believing that the people were adequately housed, better off than before!’
‘Perhaps you are a little impetuous, but always in good causes. I admire you for it. What did you do with the child?’
‘What child?’
‘The mill boy you rescued. How did you become involved with him?’
Guiltily Bella recalled what she had said the previous night.
‘I just found him, he was running away,’ she said briefly.
‘What did you do with him?’
‘I took him to - to Preston,’ she said. ‘He’s being looked after by - by a kind couple, some people I know.’
How nearly she’d given the game away, mentioning her home, and the house she’d bought in Preston, she thought in horror. Deception was not easy.
Lord Dorney didn’t appear to have noticed her evasiveness.
‘Do you mean to ride while you’re in Bath?’ he asked, and Bella explained they intended to buy or hire suitable mounts as soon as they could find the time to do so.
‘I ride a great deal at home,’ she said enthusiastically. ‘But here I suppose we mayn’t ride out without a groom.’
‘I would be happy to escort you both,’ he offered, and Bella hugged herself secretly. It really did look as though he was interested in her.
* * * *
Within a week the rest of Bath began to think the same, and wonder volubly at the number of times Lord Dorney could be seen at Lady Hodder’s house, riding or driving with the ladies, escorting them to balls and concerts, and behaving like an infatuated youth.
Jane was equally incredulous.
‘I simply don’t understand it,’ she said one morning as they drank tea and ate wafer-thin slices of bread and butter, before preparing for yet another ride accompanied by Lord Dorney. ‘Mrs Vaughan was saying last night he has somewhat of a reputation as a reserved man, never more than ordinarily friendly towards girls. I can’t imagine what Mrs Eversley could have meant by saying he had a reputation. It certainly can’t be for trifling with their affections. She says the girls, and their Mamas, pursue him relentlessly, but the moment it appears a girl is becoming fond of him he behaves with cold reserve and virtually ignores her in order to deter them. Not that it does, of course,’ she added with a grin.
‘Do you listen to gossip?’ Bella asked scornfully.
‘How else is one to know what goes on?’ Jane asked, and Bella shrugged.
She was puzzled too. She’d laid many plans for bringing herself to Lord Dorney’s attention, but needed none of them. He’d paid her marked attentions from the start and she could not imagine why. Surely it could not be because she had threatened Mary’s would-be abductors with her pistol, or argued with Mr Kershaw? Most men would be disgusted with her, call her conduct unladylike.
‘Why does he seek me out?’ she asked now. ‘I’m not at all pretty like Mama was. Papa adored her, and no wonder if that portrait is a true likeness. I must have been a severe disappointment to him.’
She’d always taken it for granted her father must have regretted her very different appearance.
‘I’d have thought he might be grateful not to have a constant reminder of his loss by having a daughter who resembled her too closely,’ Jane said thoughtfully. ‘There can be different types of beauty.’
‘I’m too small and too fat!’
‘Some men might be tired of fashionable slender beanpoles.’
Bella grinned. ‘They don’t show many signs of it.’
‘Well, your face lights up when you’re animated, when you are passionate about urchins or stray animals,’ Jane said with feeling. ‘He must have noticed and liked that. He seems to have a serious, thoughtful disposition.’
‘I just enjoy talking with him,’ Bella said slowly. ‘We talk of so many interesting things.’
Jane was cautious. ‘You must not count on it coming to anything, Bella,’ she warned now.
Bella smiled airily. ‘We’ll see,’ she replied. Her hopes were too fresh and her fears too deep for casual discussion even with her cousin. In quiet moments she was already well aware of the bleak desolation which she would suffer if Lord Dorney lost interest in her. Firmly she dismissed her fears and concentrated on making ready for the excursion Lord Dorney had planned for two days hence.
* * * *
Lord Dorney was confused. No girl had disturbed his serenity as Bella Collins did. He’d vowed never to marry, when he had seen the calamitous result of his brother Robert’s venture into matrimony. He didn’t need an heir, he had Alexander who would inherit the title. Yet here he was, lingering in Bath days after he could have left for London, and giving the gossips something to talk about by his attentions to Bella. He’d talked to Alex, met his Felicity, and though he thought them both too young, could find no other reason for objecting to the alliance. He should leave now, but somehow he couldn’t make the effort.