CHAPTER ELEVEN #2
‘Oh yes, of course. She is too young for a governess, but of an age when so receptive. I think leaving her to the care of only Betty for several months would be wrong, and I am one of those mothers who believe that a small child should know affection as well as discipline, and seek to spend a part of each day in her company. If one pays no more attention to a child than to see that they are properly fed and clothed, how can one influence their character?’ She stopped, and coloured. ‘Oh dear, I do sound as if preaching.’
‘Well, not being a parent myself, I have never given the matter much thought, but I would say that your view sounds perfectly reasonable to me.’
‘Yes, but I really ought not to lecture you upon the matter.’
‘Oh, that was not a lecture, ma’am, I assure you. My grandmama gives those, and weighty affairs they are too. 176It is amazing the number of things I do wrong whilst never having previously known that I did so.’ His smile lengthened.
‘She does sound very formidable.’
‘Yes, but … I am rather proud of her. She attends the Pump Room every morning, and complains about the taste of the waters, but drinks them nonetheless, and then visits the baths in the afternoon, several days a week.’
‘I believe I have seen her, but have not been introduced.’
‘I myself have been out of town this last week, but I would be honoured to make the introduction. Er, do you play picquet?’
‘Only tolerably well, and I have not played a hand in a very long time.’
‘Then best to lie and say you do not play at all. I give you fair warning. Grandmama is nigh on addicted to it. She is bound to ask, and if you say yes, will have you in The Circus and being soundly trounced. She is fiendishly good at it.’
‘Does she beat you?’
‘Every time, which is fortuitous, since she now says I am poor sport and picks upon the unsuspecting. However, the good thing about her is that she rarely dines out, prefers her dinner at country hours and generally goes to her bed by eight of the clock.’
Louisa smiled at his confidences. ‘Mr Gilmorton, you do realise that only yesterday you described the Pump Room to me as “a mausoleum”, and yet here you are inviting me to it.’
‘Ah, yes. What a terrifyingly good memory you have, ma’am.
I shall have to think before I speak, which is going 177to make for very awkward conversation, since I have always been inclined to say just what comes into my head, and there may well be some very long and ponderous silences.
’ He looked not at all abashed, and his eyes twinkled.
‘You, sir, are dangerous.’
‘Me? Good gracious, no. Perfectly innocuous, I assure you, Lady Dembleby.’
‘I am not so easily bamboozled. You are deeper than you look.’
‘Aha, which means you are saying I look a shallow fellow. I am cut to the quick, ma’am, cut to the quick.’
‘Are you never serious, Mr Gilmorton?’ Louisa had to overcome an urge to laugh.
‘Life is more jolly if one is not, and there are plenty of people going around being serious, so it seems unnecessary to add to their number.’ His tone had changed, very slightly, but Louisa caught it.
‘I think it more that some things in life cannot be got around by being “jolly”, sir, though it would be easier if they could.’ She too was less bantering.
‘Perhaps I simply pretend that I can.’ He gave her a slightly lopsided smile. ‘I think it is something that the army fosters also. Being jolly is sometimes the only solution.’
It was as though a shadow passed over his face, very briefly. It shocked her.
‘Then with you, Mr Gilmorton, I shall enjoy always being as jolly as possible, for I think it will do me good also.’ She spoke gently, but it had all become strangely serious.
She needed to lighten the atmosphere. ‘But you 178must tell me, does her grace appreciate “jolly” or would she dismiss me as a flibbertigibbet?’
‘She cannot abide humbug; that is the key to my grandmama, Lady Dembleby. She is a remarkable old bird in many ways. She is crippled with an arthritic complaint, and looks as frail as anything, but her mind is very sharp. She was a great beauty in her youth, you know. I have seen her portrait by Reynolds, and although such things may flatter exceedingly, my mama says it is an excellent likeness. Be yourself, ma’am, and I think you will get along famously. ’
‘Then Mrs Goodworth and I shall certainly present ourselves in the Pump Room tomorrow morning, Mr Gilmorton.’ She rose, and he did also, then bent over her hand with an easy gallantry.
‘The day will therefore be brightened. Until tomorrow, Lady Dembleby.’
‘Until tomorrow, sir.’
He bowed to Mrs Goodworth and departed.
‘Goodness me, the thought of being presented to a dowager duchess.’ Hetty Goodworth pressed her hands together. ‘My Edmund would have said it was wrong to be impressed by rank, but then he was a very religious man.’
‘One would hope he was, since he was in holy orders, Hetty.’
‘Oh, you would be quite surprised how many men of the cloth are not, dear cousin. Why, the archdeacon …’ She blushed. ‘No, that would not be appropriate. Suffice to say I was married to a very good man, but … a duchess.’ The word was breathed as if royalty itself.
179The Pump Room was in some ways an odd place, since there were those who chose to visit in order to watch the comings and goings of Bath society, those genuine invalids sent upon the recommendations of their physicians, those who fancied themselves delicate and liked the cachet of being so described, and those whom her grace the Dowager Duchess of Furness dismissed as ‘mushrooms’, skirting the fringes of society and hoping to attach themselves to the more illustrious.
Needless to say, no ‘mushroom’ dared face the basilisk stare of the birdlike lady who sat in a chair that was effectively reserved for her use, and watched the world go by, a world with which she felt increasingly out of touch.
When Lady Dembleby, with Mrs Goodworth in attendance, entered the room and caught Mr Gilmorton’s eye, the old lady watched her make her way towards her through the throng.
‘Dembleby’s widow, eh. Well, she don’t look a fool, but if she set her cap at him then she is. I would never have let a granddaughter of mine marry into that family.’
‘I think you will find she is no fool at all, Grandmama,’ said Mr Gilmorton, bending close so that he did not have to speak in a stage whisper, and then straightening to make his bow to the two ladies. Louisa smiled, and responded.
‘Ma’am,’ Mr Gilmorton addressed his grandparent, ‘may I have the pleasure of presenting Lady Dembleby, oh, and Mrs Goodworth also. Lady Dembleby, Mrs Goodworth, may I have the honour of introducing you to my grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Furness.’
The Duchess ignored Hetty Goodworth entirely and nodded as Louisa made her curtsey.
180‘How do you do, your grace.’
‘Hmm. Dembleby’s widow. Who’s your father?’
‘Lord Felmersham, your grace.’
‘Felmersham …’ The old lady pursed her lips and was clearly trying to place the name. ‘Ah yes. You have your grandmother’s colouring.’
‘So I am told, your grace.’
‘And “Duchess” is perfectly acceptable, child.’
‘Thank you, Duchess.’
‘So, why are you here in Bath with old tabbies and provincials?’
‘I am actually escaping old tabbies and provincials.’ Louisa could not help but be open with this old woman, who reminded her of Lady Holdenby.
‘Are you funning?’
‘I would not dare, ma’am. It so happens that I am become the current on dit of the neighbourhood where I have established myself.’
‘Vastly interesting. I will not ask for details, for this place is like a goldfish bowl where one is constantly observed and overheard. However, it sounds a tale worth the telling. Come and dine with me, tomorrow, six sharp, mind. And you can bring Mrs Goodenough with you. I am residing in The Circus, in a house with too few rooms and far too many stairs, but that is town life for you. The decoration is abominable, but it is convenient enough.’
‘I look forward to it, ma’am.’
‘Good. And now, Henry, you may go and procure me a glass of that disgusting tepid liquid for the good of my health.’
181Mr Gilmorton immediately went upon this errand.
‘An entertaining jackanapes,’ said the grandmother, with just a hint of pride. ‘And he is not one to spread tittle-tattle.’
‘Indeed, ma’am. I was introduced to him by Lord Barkby, with whom I believe he served. He is excellent company, and I would not think such a thing of him. He will be at dinner, I take it?’
‘I very much expect so. He does not dine with me when I invite older guests, but I think he would not “abandon” you to my interrogation. He has a noble streak, you know.’ The old eyes twinkled.
‘Am I likely to be trembling in my shoes?’
‘That depends upon how well you answer my questions, Lady Dembleby.’
When Mr Gilmorton returned with the glass, he found both ladies smiling, which he thought boded well for the dinner.
Ignoring the fact that the Dowager had got her name wrong, and not addressed a single word to her, Hetty Goodworth spent the rest of their hour in the Pump Room murmuring ‘dining with a duchess’ in awed tones, as Louisa exchanged a few words with various people to whom she had been introduced.
Some felt it was most unfair that the old lady should be pushing forward her grandson when they possessed younger sons who had little beyond good lineage, and who would benefit enormously from a wife with a tidy property in Somerset.
What need had Mr Gilmorton of an estate, if, as was widely believed, 182his grandmama would leave him a snug little property in Cheshire?
Louisa was about to leave when she heard her name, and turned to see Caroline Brailes, who looked more than usually pink cheeked.
‘Please do not be angry with me,’ she said, coming forward, and speaking in barely more than a whisper.
‘Caroline! How lovely to see you, but …’
‘You will not think it lovely when I say that Mama and Frederick are with me, Louisa. You must understand it is not my fault. I never suggested this.’ Her voice was urgent.
‘I happened to mention from your last letter that you were coming to Bath for a few months and the next thing I knew Frederick was saying that a sojourn here would do Mama the world of good after the bout of bronchitis she suffered at Christmas, and … here we are. I am so sorry.’ She ended on an intake of breath and looked nervously at Louisa, who held out her hand and took hers in a firm grip.
‘Do not think it. Your presence more than offsets Frederick’s, I promise you. I …’
‘Lady Dembleby, what a charming surprise.’ Frederick Brailes, with Lady Brailes on his arm, smiled engagingly. At least that is how he imagined it to look. His other hand indicated Lady Brailes as though a specimen to be discussed. ‘Not in the finest health … Advised to try the waters.’
‘Mr Brailes, Lady Brailes.’ Louisa had to admit Lady Brailes did look rather worn and fragile, although in her opinion, living with Frederick would be enough to make the sturdiest constitution crumble.
‘Caroline has just 183been regaling me with the news of your arrival. Do let me introduce my companion, my cousin Mrs Goodworth.’
The introductions were made, and Lady Brailes, with only the slightest nudge from Frederick, was swift to obtain Louisa’s address so that she might call upon her that very afternoon ‘to give all the news from Deerswell’.
As Louisa said afterwards to Hetty Goodworth, it was not as though she and her parents were estranged, and no word reached her of the district.
‘I depend upon you, Hetty. You must try and keep Mr Brailes engaged in conversation as much as possible.’
‘But he seems a very nice young man,’ remarked Hetty.
‘Alas he is but Frederick, and prolonged exposure to his company, is enough to give me a sick headache.’
‘But you do not suffer from those, dear cousin.’
‘I do when Frederick Brailes is on hand.’