She whirled about. This time he did not call to her until she had reached the door. “Lucy!” She turned back again and he added, “The answer to your query is yes, retaliation was involved, but on that subject I will say no more.”
With that, she nodded and passed from the library. She was surprised that he had given her an answer, nonetheless one that confirmed her suspicions. Only against what had Lady Sandifort been retaliating?
By the next morning, Lucy was still undecided as to what she ought to do. After all, Lady Sandifort had made her pronouncement: there was to be no come-out ball. So how was she supposed to make her ladyship rescind her decision? The case seemed quite difficult. However, the day was new and full of every promise.
She entered the morning room where breakfast was served and saw that none of the gentlemen were present. As for the ladies, a depressed air hung over the chamber. As befitted the mood, a surprising clap of thunder rumbled over the distant hills.
“I suppose it will rain,” Rosamunde murmured. She held a cup of tea in one hand and a slice of toast in another. She leaned back in her chair and sighed as she glanced out the window.
“Hallo, Lucy,” Hetty called to her. She was standing at the sideboard ladling eggs onto her plate. “I trust you slept well?”
“Very well, thank you.” Having noticed her, each of the ladies greeted her in turn, Lady Sandifort merely nodding, for her mouth was full.
The morning room was situated opposite the armory and next to the ballroom. Colorful chintz draperies and walls painted a vivid yellow should have enlivened any party, but the present company, as Lucy could well see, was quite blue-devilled, and not without reason. Rosamunde was homesick for Baddesley, Anne had been refused her come-out ball, Alice was told a life in Cornwall was not to be considered, and Hetty could scarcely contain her dislike of Lady Sandifort. In actuality, the only person present enjoying even a particle of her surroundings was Lady Sandifort, who gulped her tea and all but smacked her lips. On her plate were a cherry tart, scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, a slice of toast, and a large dollop of strawberry jam. Lucy did not know how she kept her figure when her appetite was so enormous. If Lady Sandifort was nothing else, she was a woman of great appetites, and not just for that which would fill a dish.
Lucy moved to the sideboard and began filling her plate. Afterward, she chose to take up a chair between Anne and Lady Sandifort, causing that woman to raise a surprised brow.
When her ladyship finished chewing and swallowing, she said, “You are a welcome guest, Miss Stiles, as I have said before.”
“Lady Sandifort, I hope I am not being presumptuous, but since the rest of the family addresses me as Lucy I hope you will do the same. It would mean a great deal to me.”
The remaining ladies all turned to stare at Lucy.
“I take it very kindly in you,
Lucy
,” Lady Sandifort said. “There, you see Anne. You could learn a great deal from our dear Lucy. Now here is a young lady who knows how to behave properly.”
Anne merely lifted her chin, her continued hostility quite obvious.
“Do you mean to keep pouting?” she asked.
Lucy glanced at the elder of the twins and watched as she compressed her lips and as two spots of color appeared on her cheeks. She desired more than anything to intervene but did not know how. Suddenly, inspiration struck in the most extraordinary way. Without questioning in the slightest whether she ought to proceed down the path that now filled her mind, she turned slightly toward Lady Sandifort. “My lady, are you per chance acquainted with Lord Valmaston?”
Even Hetty glanced at her rather sharply. The Earl of Valmaston had a shocking reputation.
“No, I am not,” she said, laying down her fork and knife. “But of course I am well versed in his escapades. What lady who has ever been to London is not? Why do you ask?”
“Well, as it happens, I am in a bit of a quandary. You see, I do believe I have erred quite greatly and I am hoping you might advise me.”
“I should be happy to, but how does this concern the Earl of Valmaston?”
“Perhaps you are not aware, but I am very well acquainted with his lordship—”
“You are?” she asked, obviously stunned. “How is that possible when you seem to be such a good sort of girl, Miss St—I mean, Lucy. That is, do go on.”
“I can understand why you are so surprised. The whole world knows of his reputation. As it happens, he was one of our neighbors in Somerset and a great friend of my father.”
“Oh, I see. Well. Well, that puts a very different light on the matter, indeed.”
“At any rate, I knew that Anne and Alice were to have a come-out ball this summer, for Hetty wrote of it in one of her letters, but I fear that I may have led Valmaston to believe he was invited to the ball.”
“
What?
” Lady Sandifort cried.
“Is this so?” Hetty asked.
Lucy did not dare look at her, but rather continued to address Lady Sandifort. “I see I have given you a shock and I do beg your pardon. Allow me to explain. In my many conversations with him, I spoke of all of you very much, so much that I believe he came to see you as part of his family in the same way I have always felt Aldershaw was a second home to me. For if you must know, Valmaston was of great use to me after father died.” At least this latter portion of her story was true, the earl had been an enormous comfort to her. However, Lucy rather thought that, were she to be judged in this moment by an angelic court, she would not be allowed to step one foot in heaven for all the whiskers she was presently telling. “I have quite overstepped the bounds of propriety, and certainly including Lord Valmaston in a come-out ball is nothing but foolishness, yet he was so kind to me, you can have no notion! The truth is, ma’am, that I fear I
suggested
he might wish to come to Hampshire in August, perhaps even to stay several days at Aldershaw. He agreed, of course, for he promised my father that he would tend to me. I know it was impertinent of me and horribly imprudent but, Lady Sandifort, what should I do? I fear offending him by writing and saying that there is to be no ball and that he cannot come. Do you not think he will be grossly offended?”
Lady Sandifort forgot all about her meal. She appeared as one struck by lightning. “To think you are so intimately known to a man who, well, never mind that!” She glanced at Anne and Alice. She bit her lip. She looked up at the ceiling. Her cheeks grew flushed. “He is worth ten thousand a year,” she murmured. “Valmaston, here!” Her eyes glittered. Her lips twitched. She gulped her tea, then clattered the cup and saucer on the table.
“I do not know what to tell him,” Lucy muttered. “How will I ever tell him there is to be no ball? Perhaps you can help me compose my letter.”
“Lucy, I must say you have behaved abominably in extending an invitation you had no right to extend. But I simply cannot bear the thought of offending in any manner the Earl of Valmaston.” She drummed her fingers on the table. She shifted in her seat. She plucked at her chestnut brown curls.
Lucy stole a glance at Hetty. Her expression was one of such vast amusement that Lucy quickly looked away.
And so it begins, Lucy thought. Her decision to involve herself in the affairs at Aldershaw was made the moment it occurred to her that the mere speaking of Valmaston’s name would change everything for Anne and Alice.
Lady Sandifort slapped her hand on the table. “There is nothing for it now, I suppose,” she cried, appearing incensed, but her blue eyes were alive with excitement. “Good God, Lucy, I hope you do not mean to keep us at sixes and sevens with such wretched conduct as this, for I can think of only one recourse—if Valmaston has been invited to a ball at Aldershaw, then a ball there must be!”
“Oh!” Anne cried out with shocked delight, but Lucy quickly caught her arm and gave her a gentle pinch. She instantly silenced herself.
“As for you, Miss Anne!” Lady Sandifort exclaimed. “I hope you mean to improve your manners, for if you are to meet so famous and exalted a gentleman as the Earl of Valmaston, your conduct must be impeccable!”
“Yes, ma’am,” she murmured and lowered her head obsequiously.
Lucy chanced to meet Alice’s gaze. The more studious of the twins was watching her with great curiosity and not a little respect in her brown eyes. A small smile of understanding played over her lips.
Lady Sandifort glanced from Anne to Alice. “Well, well. So you will have your ball after all.”
“I do not see how you have any other choice,” Alice said, and that so somberly that Lucy began to wonder about her as well. “Indeed, Stepmama, I will try to do better.”
“I hope you will. And you may take Miss Lucy for an example. It seems to me she is the only lady in this house, other than myself, who knows how to conduct herself properly.” She turned to Anne. “And I suppose you will be floating about the manor now, Miss Anne?”
Anne wisely refrained from saying anything but instead cut a piece of ham very slowly and kept her head down.
“And, Miss Alice, you must listen to me very carefully. The time has come for you to begin thinking seriously of matrimony.”
“I do not desire to be a wife,” Alice said firmly, meeting Lady Sandifort’s gaze quite forcefully. “Love does not interest me in the least.”
“Who is speaking of love? You will marry. It is your duty to your eldest brother. He will desire that you marry in order to enhance the fortunes of the family. And you need not glare at me, for I am doing you a great service. You must begin to understand your obligations in this situation and you will save yourself a great deal of sadness by not setting your heart on Cornwall.”
Alice lowered her gaze to her plate just as Anne did, and began spreading jam on her toast. Lucy was afraid that she might be overset but her expression was surprisingly sanguine. Again she wondered about her.
“I suppose there is but one more thing,” Lady Sandifort said, clearing her throat and picking up her cup of tea. “If Valmaston is to be at Aldershaw, and if the pair of you girls are to learn to conduct yourself as proper ladies, then I suppose I must allow you to dine with the family.”
“Yes, Stepmama,” the twins said in unison.
Rosamunde stood up slowly and in faint accents said, “I fear I am not feeling well. I simply . . . must . . .” She placed the back of her hand against her forehead and tottered in the direction of the door but quite close to Lady Sandifort. The next moment she stumbled, jostling her arm and therefore the cup of tea quite forcefully. The amber liquid sloshed over her plate of food.
Lucy gasped, as did the other ladies at the table.
“You have ruined my cherry tart! Good God, Rosamunde, if you are not well I wish you would remain in your bedchamber !”
“I do beg your pardon,” Rosamunde said in weak accents. “I am feeling very faint indeed. Pray excuse me.”
So commanding was her performance that Lucy was truly not certain if she had purposely bumped Lady Sandifort or not. She paused in the doorway, however, then turned back to wink at Lucy before disappearing into the hall. Lady Sandifort was too busy removing the sopping tart to have seen her. Lucy bit her lip.
Lady Sandifort cried, “What an absurd female! A complete ninnyhammer!”
“What the deuce do you mean by telling Lady Sandifort that you invited Lord Valmaston—
Lord Valmaston—
to a come-out ball for my sisters? What maggot got into your head, Lucinda Stiles?”
“The one that should have got into yours!” she countered hotly.
She closed the door behind her and approached Robert on a quick firm tread. He was in his office going over a great many books and rose from his desk when she entered. He had summoned her and it was clear he was very angry.
When she spoke, however, she kept her voice low. “I do not know how it has happened that Lady Sandifort is still behaving as though she is mistress at Aldershaw, but of one thing I am utterly certain—you have managed your stepmother quite badly.”
“Why the devil are you whispering?”
Lucy held her tongue for a very long moment then glanced at the door and afterward back to Robert, staring at him in a meaningful manner. When he continued frowning and shaking his head, she cried, “You were never so stupid as this! Have your wits gone a-begging?”
She watched as enlightenment dawned. He pointed at the door. “You cannot mean that you suspect that she—” Lucy knew what he was going to say so she rushed up to him and quickly put her fingers against his mouth.
“Hush,” she murmured. In a more normal tone of voice she said, “I came here to speak with you about Valmaston, to explain what happened. My father was well acquainted with him. He was with me much of the time when Papa passed away and I did not mention it earlier but I fear I already invited him to Anne and Alice’s ball. He has only been awaiting word from me as to just when he should come into Hampshire.”
He frowned more heavily still as he searched her eyes. He then glanced about the chamber uncertainly. After a long moment, he said, “I fear yet again I must beg your pardon. I do not know how I came to be so uncivil. Of course, if Valmaston is a friend of yours and, more particularly, of your father, I suppose he must be invited to the ball.”
“There is more. I fear I also promised him that he could stay for a full sennight.”
The color on his cheeks rose so quickly that Lucy instinctively took a step backward.
“What?” he thundered. “Under my roof? Here? At Aldershaw? For an entire week?”
Lucy narrowed her eyes and tried to imprint his mind with the direction of her thoughts but he seemed completely obtuse. “Of course at Aldershaw. I am persuaded his lordship would not at all be comfortable at the inn at Bickfield, which leads me to say that, now that a ball is forthcoming, I was hoping to speak to you about some improvements I feel would be necessary. Will you take a turn about the gardens with me?”