Chapter Eleven #2
A sneaking suspicion had entered her mind. Was her mother planning to introduce her to some worthy local gentleman and get her married off before the news of her scandalous elopement got out?
“I’m doing it partly to please you, my dear. As I’ve been trying to tell you, I’m a very indulgent mother to all my children—it is not too much trouble, not too much trouble at all.”
For a fleeting moment, Mama’s gaze flickered, and she smoothed a hand over her immaculate coiffure.
“I’m not just inviting local dignitaries,” she went on.
“There’ll be younger people of your own age, and there will be literati, as I know you like poetry, and reading .
. . and art. You’ll have people with whom you can talk about culture, just as you would have had in London.
I’ll be asking just about everyone in the county. ”
Lissy sat for a moment, silently absorbing all this information. It felt as if she’d been hit by a small hurricane, and she stared at her mama as if she’d never seen her before.
“When is this grand ball to take place?” It would be interesting to see the castle transformed into a place of frivolity. Perhaps it would feel less like a prison for a while.
“At the end of next week.”
So soon? How on earth had Mama found the time to organize all this, especially when her secretary had been in London chasing down her recalcitrant daughter?
A suspicion wormed its way into Lissy’s mind. “Thank you very much, Mama. Now, I wonder if you could tell me—”
“I shall enjoy choosing your costume with you. Fenella will be coming too, if she feels well enough, so she can help. I know she’s looking forward to seeing you and telling you about all the improvements they’re making at Yoxford House in preparation for the arrival of the new baby.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about—”
“I’ve sent word to Latymer to see if he and his virtuous wife would like to join us, but I haven’t heard anything back. I fear he may think it too frivolous. She certainly will.”
“He will think it totally extraordinary! No, I want to know about your new secretary.”
A look of studied innocence crossed her mother’s face. “Oh yes, Mr. Cowley. Very handsome, is he not? I do wish he weren’t so shortsighted, though. Glasses like that don’t do a gentleman any favors. He’s very accomplished, of course, and will make an excellent secretary.”
“You must take me for a fool if you think I don’t realize that you engineered our journeying together from London.
We have worked it all out, you see. I haven’t forgotten that you used to be friends with Mrs. Dove-Lyon, and it strikes me she would have been the first person Dashwood went to see when you were hunting for Oscar and me.
I can imagine her recommending Mr. Cowley as a chaperone for me on the journey back to Suffolk—well, more of a prison guard than a companion.
He has strenuously denied that that was his mission in coming here, but I can’t believe he was kept in ignorance. ”
“You were both kept in ignorance. Mrs. Dove-Lyon is skilled at machinations.”
So, she was right in her suppositions. Why didn’t it make her feel any better?
“Aha! So, you admit that you were in league with her! The fact that Cowley and I were on the same coach was no coincidence. You must have already intended to employ him as your secretary. I wonder why he chose to keep that fact from me?”
“Your perspicacity does you credit. But be wary of letting your imagination run riot. I admit that Mrs. Dove-Lyon and I entered into an agreement. I have learned from her that you were set upon en route, but Mr. Cowley dealt with everything admirably.”
Lissy stared hard at her mama. Mrs. Dove-Lyon had presented Roland as a suitable candidate to be Mama’s secretary.
But as Mr. Cowley, not as the Hon. Roland Chetwynd.
How would Mama feel when she realized that so high-profile a figure as the Earl of Aylsham’s younger brother knew all about her daughter’s misdemeanors?
It was one thing for a humble secretary, relying on wages from his employer, to keep a family secret.
It was quite another to expect a popular member of the ton to do the same.
“I think Mr. Cowley may not be everything he seems,” she ventured.
“He came with a recommendation from Bessie, and that’s good enough for me.
She and I may have had our disagreements in the past, but I put that down to youthful competitiveness.
We are both mature now, have become widows, and have learned a great deal.
I respect her judgment, and I request that you do too. ”
Lissy sat back in her chair. She’d been right all along; there had been a conspiracy against her.
And despite her protestations, Mama hadn’t changed a bit.
She still needed to be in control of absolutely everything.
Now, she was going to force a masked ball on Lissy, decide what costume she was going to wear, and tell her what she was supposed to think about people.
It looked as if nothing at Mundlingham Castle had changed at all.