Chapter 2
“Algernon returned to town a week ago, so you will see him right away,” Mrs. Kendall said, as we traveled in their carriage toward London.
I smiled to show I was listening.
“You two were good friends as children, were you not?”
Mr. Kendall had looked as if he were asleep, his head leaned back against the seat, lolling back and forth when the road was bumpy. Now, the way he lowered his head and looked over his spectacles seemed skeptical, although I wasn’t sure if that was his intention.
“We were very close in age,” I said.
“As close as a brother and sister.”
I didn’t contradict her, but Algie had been mostly cross as a child.
We did play together sometimes, but more often we quarreled, and Algie ended up sulking and demanding to go home, while I preferred to play with my siblings.
Still, as we grew older, we saw each other less frequently, and we became better friends for it.
I had secretly pitied him, as he was an only child. He must have been so lonely without brothers and sisters to keep him company. His mother had had several stillbirths, which seemed to put the burden of the family name—and his mother’s happiness—squarely on his shoulders.
It was a bit in the same way that my family needed me to make a good match with someone who could help my brothers make connections—for Jonathan to receive a good living as a rector and my other brothers to find good positions—and help my sisters make good matches, as their dowries would be too small to make them attractive.
My family was depending on me for their happiness, and I couldn’t disappoint them.
But Algie was more of an unlikeable cousin than a potential husband, whatever my mother or my aunt thought about it.
We arrived in London exhausted but happy—or my aunt and I were. I rarely could sense what Mr. Kendall was thinking or feeling, as he said very little and his expression rarely changed.
I was given my own room at their London townhouse.
I was thrilled at the thought of so much privacy and freedom, but whether from loneliness or because of the noises in the streets outside my window, I hardly slept at all that first night.
How strange to be alone in a room without the heavy breathing of my sisters to lull me to sleep.
I’d been to London twice before, but I’d forgotten just how noisy the nights could be.
I wondered if Diana had been able to fall asleep without me there to rub her back. Would she cry and think I’d abandoned her?
Was my baby brother sleeping better tonight, or had he kept everyone awake again with his crying?
These next three or four months were supposed to be filled with pleasant parties, dancing, flirting, and becoming acquainted with new people. Instead of enjoying it, was I destined to be sad, missing my family and my home?
“This dress will do until the seamstress can finish your new one.”
Aunt Kendall drew out my best dress and held it up to my chin.
“Yes, you’ll look very well in this if I lend you my cross necklace.
I’ll send the servant to dress your hair in an hour.
In the meantime, I want you to memorize these names—young gentlemen to whom you should pay special attention if you meet them.
I will do my best to arrange introductions. ”
“Yes, Aunt.”
Mother had sent me with a sum of money to buy new dresses, but I suspected my aunt was adding to that sum so that I would look fashionable and have the quality of clothing that would make me the equal of any young lady in London.
She was looking at me with a mixture of sober intensity and gleeful imagination, as if she were picturing each person as she mentioned them.
“First is Thomas Trowbridge. His family has an enormous estate in Westchester, and he seems eager to find a bride. He’d be an excellent catch, as he is the oldest and only son and so will inherit everything, including his father’s title of viscount.”
A viscount? Surely my aunt knew that I was not in the same social circle as a titled peer of the realm.
But I supposed she must think it possible that I would make such a match, as she and Mr. Kendall were in his social circle, and if a viscount fell in love with me, he might not care that I had no fortune.
While alternately looking me directly in the eye with her piercing focus, Aunt Kendall also rummaged through my glove box as she talked, holding up various colors of ribbon against my hair and dress.
“And there is the Duke of Pennington, who is not the most handsome, but what of it? He is a duke and has multiple estates, and if you can distract him from the gaming tables, he might be able to keep all of them. In truth, he’s already lost a small fortune and can’t seem to help himself, but some of the other lords have been trying to help, distracting him in an attempt to prevent him from losing any more of his inheritance.
After all, his is a very old family, and one needs to preserve the stability of England’s lands and inheritances.
The nobility depends upon it. Mr. Kendall and I both feel that if he had a wife—both his parents are dead and he has no siblings—then he’d stop spending all his time at the gaming tables. ”
Thank you, Aunt Kendall, for thinking I might rescue a duke from his gambling habit and therefore do my part to save England’s nobility. But being sacrificed to a man who couldn’t control his gambling, even if he was a duke, in the hopes that I might do him some good . . . No thank you.
I was thankful she told me about his character flaw.
I smiled and nodded, encouraging her to go on.
“There is Lord Ogden’s son, Cornelius Fortescue.
He is the heir and quite charming. He only has one sister, who is married, and his mother has already passed away, and so you’d have no competition for his attention, affection, and pin money, if I may say.
I like him very much for you, and I’ve heard he will be at the ball tonight. ”
Cornelius Fortescue. I’d try to remember him as a favorable possibility.
“There are a few others—Walter Barnstable, Lord Sandringham, and Morgan Elkins—but the one that everyone will be after is Jeremy Beaumont. Remember that name, Beaumont.”
“What is so special about him?”
“You will see.” Aunt Kendall had a knowing smirk as she closed my box of gloves, ribbons, and jewelry, having chosen what she wanted out of it.
“Is he handsome?”
“Young and very handsome, good manners, and a charming smile. He is as wealthy as the Duke of Pennington, and best of all, he is not fond of clubs or gaming tables or drinking and carousing. He is known for his high morals and his fondness for his sisters. He has no parents—they have both passed on—so he has no one to interfere and may marry as he pleases. He seems to have become the favorite not only of all the marriageable young ladies, but also of their mamas. He will be difficult to catch, but . . .”
Aunt Kendall lifted my chin with her finger and stared at my face, as if taking in each of my features one at a time.
“You could catch Jeremy Beaumont, I think, with your sweet, innocent looks and pretty features.” She pinched my chin, saying cheerfully, “It doesn’t hurt to try. Someone will get him, and it may as well be you.”
The ball was swarming with people by the time we arrived. Aunt Kendall seemed on a mission to introduce me to as many people as possible, although she introduced me to many gentlemen and few ladies.
The music and dancing had not yet begun when my aunt fluttered her fan and whispered loudly, “There he is. There is Mr. Fortescue.”
I went back in my mind to our earlier conversation and remembered that she said he was charming and a good catch.
“Stay close to me,” she whispered, just before she started moving through the crowd toward him. It seemed she purposely avoided making eye contact with anyone on the way to him. Then she pretended to be about to pass him by, only to stop and pull me forward so that he couldn’t avoid seeing me.
Our eyes locked and I felt myself blushing.
“Mr. Fortescue,” my aunt said. “How lovely to see you. You remember me? Mrs. Kendall?”
“Of course, Mrs. Kendall. Pleased, as usual.” But he barely glanced at my aunt and instead stared at me.
“May I introduce you to my niece?” She made the introductions, and with his smile, I could well understand why my aunt had called him charming.
“Have you been in London before?” he asked.
“Only twice, but not for a few years. It is noisier than I remembered. I hardly slept at all the first night, but I was also missing my family.”
He raised an eyebrow, and his lips twitched.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have said so much. The upper classes were generally more reserved, especially in London, and this was the social season.
Everyone used their most formal manners.
But Aunt Kendall would have warned me about my manners if they were not pleasing, would she not?
Oh dear. I should have asked her to tutor me on what not to say.
“Will you honor me with the first dance?” he asked.
My heart beat faster, even as I was relieved that I’d apparently not done anything to keep him from dancing with me. “Yes, of course.”
I took his arm, and he led me to the dance floor just as I saw the pleased smirk on my aunt’s face.
“And you are here fresh from the country?”
“Yes.”
“From what county?”
“Buckinghamshire.”
He continued to smile, but I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.
The music started, and I was grateful to have something to do. We moved to the music and the dictates of the dance, and when we were waiting to take our turn in the line, he said, “And you have a dozen brothers and sisters, I imagine?”
“Eleven.”
“How very provincial.”
My face started to burn. I could see from his expression that he was laughing at me.
I said nothing else the rest of the dance. Mr. Fortescue glanced around the room while we danced, and I focused on not making a misstep.