Sally James (11 page)

'She does, but my young brother is extravagant and two years ago it was decided to let the house until Ninian comes of age. My stepmother has her own house in Bath, and uses Berkeley Square in the season, but she chose this year to come with Ninian to Priory Dene. I am his guardian, you see,' he explained, 'and refused to pay his debts yet again, so he cannot afford to live elsewhere until the quarter.'

'You mentioned a suggestion from Lady Fordington,' Isabella reminded him quickly.

'Yes, and she very much hopes you will be able to give her some assistance. She intends holding a party, a ball, at Priory Dene, and as she knows so few young people in the district would appreciate your help in drawing up an invitation list. As she said, you will know who must be invited so as not to offend any susceptibilities. And she particularly wishes to invite Georgiana's friends. Would you be so kind as to spend the day with her and discuss it, and also tell her which local tradesmen might be able to supply what she needs? I would prefer her to patronise them rather than send to London.'

'Naturally I am very willing to help,' Isabella said, surprised. 'Fanny will be able to give me a list of names, I am sure, for fear I forget anyone!'

'Good. Then will the day after tomorrow suit? I was to invite Georgiana too, but if she is indisposed do you mind coming alone? I will come to fetch you, naturally.'

As he was speaking William came into the room, and scowled on hearing these last words. Lord Fordington greeted him easily and explained the plan.

'There is no need to put you to the trouble of coming for Isabella,' William said swiftly. 'I will escort her to Priory Dene and fetch her home.'

'I have to ride over here to see your father so there is no reason to trouble you. But if you have any friends staying in Brighthelmstone that you would like to invite to stepmama's party I would be pleased to have their directions.'

For a moment Isabella feared William was about to declare he did not wish to attend the party himself, but he pursed his lips, then muttered something to the effect that none of his friends had time to spare for places like Brighthelmstone.

'I trust your horse came to no harm yesterday?' Lord Fordingtoon said smoothly, and William was drawn on to a discussion of horses. He gradually lost his truculence so that when Lord Fordingtoon departed he was almost friendly towards his guest as he escorted him to the front door.

William disappeared, and almost immediately Sir Frederick arrived. With sinking heart Isabella received him, but to her relief he behaved punctiliously and soon took his leave when he discovered both Georgiana and her mother were indisposed. He told Isabella he was on his way to stay with friends for a couple of nights before fetching his daughters from London, and hoped to have the pleasure of calling on Lady Sharman and Isabella when he had returned to Sussex. The next callers were the Westersons, Mark escorting his sisters, and Lydia and Diana were easily persuaded to remain with the promise that William would see them home after dinner.

Having provided thus for Georgiana's entertainment Isabella devoted herself to household duties for the remainder of the day. She saw little of the Westerson sisters until they all sat down to dinner, then Lydia, with very little hesitation, asked if she knew where Ninian was. Isabella regarded her with some concern. The child was far too interested in that irresponsible young man.

'Georgiana told me Lord Fordington had been, but not Ninian,' Lydia explained as Isabella hesitated. 'Mother wished to invite them all to the Rectory, you see, and wondered which day would be most suitable.'

'Ninian is staying for a few days with a friend,' William told her.

'In Brighthelmstone? He went there yesterday, did he not?'

'Yes, he did, but from what he said to me I understood he was intending to go on to stay near East Grinstead.'

'Do you know when he will be back?'

'He was uncertain, but I've no doubt he will come to see you as soon as he is back,' William said, grinning at her, and Lydia blushed. Sir Roderick, who had been deep in thought, mercifully distracted attention from her by announcing abruptly that he thought the sale of the farms was agreed.

'I can't think why Fordington has taken so long,' he grumbled, 'for he has not haggled over the price. And he cannot have been needing it as an excuse to come to Woodings,' he added almost to himself.

'An excuse?' Diana repeated, looking puzzled, and Sir Roderick frowned and began to talk hurriedly about something else.

After dinner, while the girls were waiting for the horses to be brought round, Diana asked Isabella whether she thought Lord Fordington was interested in Georgiana.

'She says he is, but I did not quite believe her for he is so very much older,' she said ingenuously.

'I am sure he thinks her beautiful, for all men do,' Isabella said, then added repressively, 'but Georgiana is foolish to speculate so. No well-conducted female should talk of such matters, for it makes her look forward. Besides, it can lead to disappointment and uncharitable people tend to gloat if nought comes of it.'

Seeing Lydia had suddenly become thoughtful, Isabella changed the subject and asked when Mark was planning to move to his new house. Lydia was able to reply composedly and Diana, conscious of having erred, retired in silent confusion which lasted the few minutes until they went out to the horses which William had fetched from the stables.

* * * *

The next day was quiet and Lady Sharman, feeling better, entered into the scheme for a ball at the Priory with unexpected enthusiasm, going so far as to suggest that with care she might be able to attend it herself. It was clear to Isabella she too considered that Lord Fordington was paying marked attention to Georgiana, and was gleefully anticipating the triumph it would be if he were to offer for her daughter. She was careful not to speak of it to Isabella, however, except in vague hints Isabella found no difficulty in ignoring.

Armed with a lengthy list of prospective guests, therefore, Isabella was ready on the following morning when Lord Fordington arrived. Georgiana, saying rebelliously that although she had been forbidden to leave the house her father had not said she was to remain out of sight of visitors, disposed herself on the sofa in the drawing room, a completely superfluous rug covering her feet, and a dainty bottle of smelling-salts which she had abstracted surreptitiously from her mother's room placed on a sofa table beside her. She greeted Lord Fordington wanly when he was shown in.

'I hope you are not suffering too greatly,' he said solicitously, eyeing the paraphernalia of illness with a quizzical lift of his eyebrows, then seating himself on a small chair which he drew close to the sofa.

'No, but it is a stupid chill,' Georgiana whispered. 'I would have been much worse had dear Lady Fordington not come to my assistance. Pray convey my thanks to her.'

'I had hoped you would be well enough to come back with us,' he replied. 'I brought plenty of warm rugs for you, although the weather is hot again.'

Georgiana bit her lip angrily. In other circumstances she would have had no hesitation in throwing off her sickly airs and accepting such an invitation, but she was loth to reveal her father's ban, aware it cast her in the unwelcome role of a naughty child.

'I am not well enough, I fear,' she had to say, and watched from behind the drawing room curtains with ill-concealed temper when Isabella departed soon afterwards with Lord Fordington.

* * * *

As soon as he had delivered Isabella to his stepmother he excused himself, saying he had estate business to deal with, and she did not see him again until some time later when she, Lady Fordington and Great-Aunt Selina sat down to a light nuncheon in a small dining room.

'We have decided on the guests, Justin,' Lady Fordington announced. 'What with all our friends who are at Brighthelmstone, and local people, we have nearly two hundred. Of course, especially since it is at such short notice, only two weeks, they will not all accept.'

'Not accept? When they're aching to see Justin and that chit of a girl making eyes at each other, and wondering whether he's going to throw the handkerchief at last,' Great-Aunt Selina said with a chuckle, and winked at Isabella.

Lord Fordington eyed her with amusement and then glanced at Isabella, who bit her lip and evaded his look. Was his attraction to Georgiana so openly accepted by his family, she wondered in confusion. Lady Fordington frowned in annoyance and spoke again hurriedly.

'I have also made out a list of those we ought to invite to dinner first, and one for those who come so far they will have to be put up for the night. Will you look over those?'

'When we have eaten, if you wish,' he said easily. 'Has my stepmother shown you all over the house, Isabella?'

'Yes, she has,' Isabella replied enthusastically. 'It is beautiful, and ideal for such a party!'

'We use the oldest part as a ballroom, it is the biggest room in the house. It was the great hall formerly, used for every purpose before the other wings were built. And there is the minstrels' gallery, which is a trifle small for more than half a dozen musicians, but can still serve its original function. My mother used to entertain a great deal, and I frequently observed the guests from there when I was a child.'

'We'll use the red dining room for a buffet supper. The servants can arrange it after we have dined, since they can prepare and leave everything they need beforehand in the saloon that leads from it,' Lady Fordington explained. 'We shall need the drawing room as it is for the dinner guests, but I can have card tables set up in the library and your study, Justin, if you do not object, and the morning room and winter parlour and this room downstairs, and the picture gallery upstairs, will serve for those who are not dancing.'

'Do you plan to use the terrace?'

'If it is fine, yes. The drawing room windows open onto it, and so do those of the red dining room.'

They discussed the plans and afterwards in the drawing room, Great-Aunt Selina having wandered away to her own room,

Lord Fordington perused the lists his stepmother gave him.

'Does that tedious Sir Frederick Hill have to come to dinner?' he asked.

Lady Fordington bridled. 'He is a very worthy man,' she retorted angrily. 'As he has been here recently I do not see how we can omit him.'

'Oh, not from the party, I agree,' Lord Fordington replied easily. 'I merely do not relish having his company at dinner. Worthy men do unfortunately tend to be dull, do you not agree, Isabella?'

'I will take care to seat him well away from your end of the table,' Lady Fordington said sharply before Isabella could think of a suitable reply, and after glancing at her mockingly Lord Fordington shrugged.

'Would it not make it easier to ask Lady Sharman to stay the previous night also, so she would not be exhausted by the journey?' he next asked, and his stepmother graciously agreed that if she proffered such an invitation the delicate Lady Sharman might be able to attend.

'But I do not think we will have enough room for everyone from Woodings if all the other guests come,' she said worriedly.

'I beg you would not even consider it,' Isabella said quickly. 'We live so close it would be ridiculous. But if you could be so kind as to find a room just for Fanny I am sure she would make an effort to come. It is very considerate of you to think of it, for she has so little entertainment.'

'Good. Is there anyone you wish to add to the lists, Justin? I cannot know whether any other of your friends are now in Brighthelmstone.'

Lazily he reached for the main list and was working his way through it when there was a slight commotion in the hall. Ninian, still in riding breeches, burst into the room. He appeared distraught and began to speak before he noticed Isabella's presence.

'Justin! Here you are! I want to talk to you. Oh, Miss Clinton, I beg your pardon, I did not see you. How do you do?'

'What is it, Ninian? Some accident?' his mother demanded, before Isabella had time to reply.

'No, no, don't be concerned. I am merely angry about something. Something my – my valet did!'

His mother pressed him, but he would not give any details until Lord Fordington, who had been regarding him through narrowed lids, suddenly spoke.

'Where are your rings, Ninian?' he asked quietly.

Ninian looked swiftly at him then turned away, but not before Isabella had seen a betraying flush on his cheeks.

'My rings?' he asked nonchalantly. 'With the rest of my baggage, of course. Where else would they be?'

'That is what I wondered. You never, to my knowledge, are without them.'

'The emerald?' Lady Fordington asked. 'Your dear papa's ring? The only one he left you,' she added, shooting a glance at Lord Fordington.

'And the signet ring,' he corrected her smoothly. 'You always wear both of them, Ninian. What have you done? Lost them at play?'

For a moment Ninian glared at him, then shook his head. He began to speak, stopped and then started again.

'What if I have?' he demanded furiously. 'They are mine, I have every right to do what I wish with them! And what else can I pledge when you cut off my money and everyone knows you won't pay any debts! I cannot offer vowels and risk someone refusing them! You would not like that!'

'Your father's rings!' Lady Fordington exclaimed in horror, but she was ignored.

'I have not cut off your money,' Lord Fordington replied evenly. 'I merely refused to advance your next quarter's allowance, or broach your capital to finance your gambling. There is no need for you to gamble.'

'How could I refuse? We went over to a neighbour's house, and they were all playing!' Ninian said desperately. 'I did not wish to, but it was impossible to refuse!'

His brother sighed. 'It always is with you, Ninian. But your rings – can you redeem them once you have your next allowance. Who has them?'

'It was not my fault!' Ninian said angrily. 'It was Sir Frederick Hill, and I'll swear the dice were loaded! He won all evening, and not just against me! I can tell you there were several fellows suspecting him.'