CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Miss Caroline Brailes met Lady Dembleby at half past ten o’clock the next morning, suitably attired against what was a surprisingly chilly wind, and the two ladies made their way to Milsom Street without haste, enjoying the opportunity of chatting together without inhibitions.
The first thing Caroline did was apologise again.
‘It did not occur to me that mentioning you were taking a house in Bath for a few months would have Frederick almost ordering the carriage straight away. Mama is very biddable when it comes to Frederick’ – there was a trace of resignation in her voice – ‘and it only took him a very short time to persuade her that Bath was just the place for her this spring, to put colour in her cheeks again after her illness.’ Caroline did not mention that he had added that Caroline could come as well, but that the last thing she needed was more colour.
‘There was nothing that I could say to stop them.’
‘Which it most certainly has not today.’ Caroline shivered. ‘How was your dinner with the old lady?’
‘As terrifying as I had expected. The Duchess is very astute, as well as having that certainty that comes with age, regardless of course whether it is based upon fact. She does not hold back in giving advice.’
‘And do you think that you needed it?’ Caroline asked, casting Louisa a sideways glance.
‘Perhaps.’
‘You said in your last letter that you wanted the foolish gossip to die down among your neighbours. Was it truly believed by all?’
‘Oh no, not everyone. I have another elderly friend, Lady Holdenby, who is as forthright as the Dowager Duchess of Furness, and she told me to sit tight and let it all blow over.’
‘And your major, Lord Barkby?’
‘He is not “my” major, Caroline,’ declared Louisa with vehemence.
‘Be that as it may,’ continued Caroline, unabashed, ‘I 203detect from your letters that you do not regard him in the same perfidious light as other men, and I am sure his opinion means something to you, even as a friend.’
‘Yes,’ admitted Louisa, ‘it does. He also refused to entertain the fabrication for even a moment.’
‘And did he wish you to remain?’
‘Yes, but I value his opinion, not obey his wishes.’ This was said with some defiance.
‘It is impertinent, I know, but as your friend I ask anyway. You despise and distrust men with good reason, but is applying it to every single one sensible?’
‘I do not apply it to every single one. I trust General Cowley.’
‘Every man of your own generation, then.’
‘Again no, for here comes a gentleman I do trust. He is a delightful man.’
Sauntering towards them was the long-limbed figure of Mr Gilmorton. Whenever Louisa encountered him he was light-hearted and droll, but until he observed her she thought his expression rather introspective. However, he immediately brightened at the sight of her.
‘Good morning, Lady Dembleby. I am glad to see you have not suffered from the effects of last night’s quizzing.’
‘No indeed, for I am made of strong stuff, sir. Caroline, may I present Mr Gilmorton? Mr Gilmorton, may I have the pleasure of introducing my friend Miss Brailes?’
Caroline was shocked. She knew the wind would have increased the pinkness of her cheeks and turned the tip of her nose a similar shade, and the last sort of look she expected from any man was appreciative.
Yet this very 204handsome man, beautifully turned out, smiled at her not only with kindness but she would swear also with pleasure.
‘Miss Brailes, your servant. I am relying upon Lady Dembleby to introduce me to the most charming ladies in Bath, and she does not fail me. Alas, my grandmama only knows ladies at least as old as my mama, and they talk about people who have been dead for years, and lumbago and … You know nothing of lumbago, I trust, Miss Brailes?’ He was in what Louisa considered his ‘charming rattle’ mode.
‘Absolutely nothing, sir. Indeed’ – Caroline paused, and her lips twitched – ‘I am not sure I could find it in an atlas. Is it perhaps in the West Indies?’ She could not keep a straight face.
‘Good grief, it probably is!’ Mr Gilmorton laughed.
‘Really, Caroline, you should not deceive Mr Gilmorton, when we both know lumbago is a garden plant much used in flower arrangements. I doubt Mr Gilmorton has ever had to arrange flowers, so his ignorance is excused.’ Louisa joined in, and giggled.
‘I would hate to find my ignorance inexcusable to two such delightful ladies. I would say you are a breath of fresh air, but the air is decidedly fresh this morning in a less than pleasant way. Suffice to say you have brightened my excursion to exchange my esteemed grandparent’s book at the circulating library, where I will not tell them what she thought of the last recommendation. ’ He pulled a face.
‘I have a dressmaker’s appointment in Milsom Street, Mr Gilmorton.’
‘Then I must not delay you, ma’am. Such things, if 205anything like one’s appointment with a tailor, always last longer than anticipated.
Will you be returning to Edward Street immediately afterwards, or will I espy you in the Pump Room, where I am ordered to present the next volume to be disparaged? ’
‘I think, Mr Gilmorton, that depends upon how swift the dress fitting turns out to be. However, if there are few adjustments to be made, we may yet take a turn there.’
‘Behold me leaving you forthwith, then. And may no pins prick you. I am dashed sure one of my tailors delights in jabbing me.’ Mr Gilmorton made his bow and strode on.
‘Who is Mr Gilmorton?’ enquired Caroline.
‘He is the Duchess’s grandson and current “escort”, and a friend of Lord Barkby’s, through whom I met him.
He is most engaging and pretends to be rather more jolly than he is at heart, which I cannot explain but “feel”.
I have found him excellent company, and very sweet-natured.
I would trust him, so you see, I am not a universal man-hater. ’
‘He certainly appears a man it would be hard to hate.’ Caroline sounded thoughtful, and her responses for the next few minutes were superficial.
Mrs Howell was all prepared for Lady Dembleby, and was definitely more dexterous than Mr Gilmorton’s tailor, since no pin pricked her ladyship’s fair flesh.
Caroline, whose purchases were limited to what she could afford upon pin money, looked on just a little enviously as the damson-coloured gown was twitched here and tweaked there to make a perfect fit for Louisa’s elegant figure.
A figure like that in a gown like that, she thought, might attract the attention of Mr Gilmorton.
It was foolish to 206sigh, but one did escape her.
Louisa, hearing it, put it down to Caroline being virtually constrained to wear what Lady Brailes decided she should wear, and since that lady had given up trying to ‘show her off’, she was dressed with propriety but without flair.
‘Mrs Howell, I have benefitted hugely from your advice upon which colours I should wear, and what is most flattering. Might you give your assistance to my dear friend Miss Brailes?’
Mrs Howell glanced at the younger lady. ‘Of course, your ladyship, perhaps whilst your ladyship is dressing at the conclusion of the fitting?’ This meant Mrs Howell had thinking time.
Miss Brailes was no beauty, but it was clear that ‘neatness and propriety’ were the watchwords that applied to her wardrobe.
Her clothes were not poorly made, nor of cheap fabrics, but lacked any style.
Mrs Howell doubted much was lavished upon her turnout, but since Lady Dembleby was not only an excellent advertisement for the establishment, but lived so locally that she would very likely be a good client for many years, she would give the advice even if no purchase followed.
She requested Miss Brailes to remove her pelisse and then walked about her, so that Caroline later said she felt like a horse for sale.
She put her head to one side and then the other, and then made her assessment.
‘Madam has a very healthy colouring and a shapely figure. I would recommend shades of blue from cerulean to a cornflower, and also forget-me-not, which has that slightest hint of violet that is such a draw to madam’s eyes.
If madam would care to wait a moment I have a silk 207that would make a very fine spencer for madam, with an upstanding collar and edged in twisted silk and perhaps a vandyked waist. A Lavinia straw hat with a ribbon of the same silk and a spray of silk forget-me-nots would be most fetching.
’ She flitted away and returned with a roll of silk that was a soft blue with a hint of pale violet.
It was certainly the right colour for Caroline.
Mrs Howell drew a sketch of how the garment would look, and even cut a small piece of fabric, which she gave to Caroline, so that she might ‘consider’ it.
The first thought that entered Caroline’s head when she imagined herself in it was whether Mr Gilmorton might like it, at which point she blushed.
When Louisa emerged dressed to face the outdoors once more, she fully supported Mrs Howell’s choice, and said that she would suggest it to Lady Brailes herself.
Both ladies therefore left the dressmaker in a positive frame of mind, Louisa in the knowledge that her new gown would be delivered in two days’ time, and Caroline dreaming of wearing something that did not make her fade into the background.
The spencer would be too expensive for Caroline to purchase from her own purse, but she did stop by one of the silk flower makers and bought a spray of forget-me-nots.
They entered the portals of the Pump Room a quarter hour before noon, and found it very crowded, but Mr Gilmorton being so tall and knowing what the ladies were wearing meant that he could locate them with surprising ease.
‘Behold me, without the disfigurement of so much as a single pinprick, Mr Gilmorton.’ Louisa smiled at him.