Chapter 12
“Good evening, ladies.” Aragon beamed as he greeted Carenza and Allegra after they entered the drawing room. “I’m so glad that you could come.”
Julian was standing beside his mother and had heard her sudden intake of breath when the Musgrove sisters had been announced.
She was now realizing exactly whom her eldest son had invited to dinner.
He wondered what she would do. Common courtesy dictated that she would act as if nothing was wrong, welcome her guests with decorum rather than warmth, and ensure that the evening went as well as could be expected.
“Is this your doing?” she murmured without turning her head.
“Nothing to do with me, Mother. It was all Aragon’s idea.”
“I doubt that. I’m aware that you are attempting to exert your influence over my son, and I do not appreciate it.”
“One might think a mother would be pleased that both her sons are getting along so famously.” Julian smiled at her. “In truth, I am glad to call Aragon a friend.”
There was no time to say more, as Aragon brought Carenza and Allegra over to greet their hostess.
“Mother, you remember Lady Carenza and Lady Allegra, don’t you?”
“Of course.” She inclined her head an icy inch.
“Good evening, Lady Isobel.” Carenza curtsied along with Allegra. “Thank you for the invitation.”
“Wonderful!” As usual Aragon seemed oblivious to his mother’s fury, which Julian enjoyed immensely. “I’ve been mounting Lady Carenza in the park.”
“Your son has been very kind, Lady Isobel,” Carenza said.
“Of course he has,” their mother said with something of a snap. “I brought him up to be civil to people of all classes.”
“Even lowly folk like us.” Allegra entered the conversation, her chin raised at a dangerous angle. “I’m amazed that we aren’t swooning at the great honor, Carenza.”
Aragon laughed and lightly punched Julian on the arm. “Lady Allegra is quite the wit, isn’t she?”
“Indeed,” Julian murmured, aware that Carenza was giving him a rather pointed stare. “Who else have you invited to your dinner party, brother?”
“Well.” Aragon looked at Carenza. “I didn’t want you to feel that you didn’t know anyone, so I took the liberty of inviting the new earl and his wife.”
“The Smythe-Hardings?” Carenza asked.
“That’s the ones.” Aragon turned to the door. “They’ve just arrived. Come along, Mother, I’ll introduce you to them.”
He placed his mother’s hand on his sleeve and went off, leaving Julian facing two accusing faces.
He held up his hands, aware of an unfortunate desire to laugh. “I swear I had no idea Aragon was going to do this.”
“How on earth are we going to sit around a table together when they won’t even acknowledge I exist?” Carenza demanded.
“I’m sure Aragon has thought of that,” Julian said.
“And I’m fairly certain he hasn’t,” Carenza hissed at him.
The butler appeared to announce dinner, and Carenza managed to smile at Aragon when he offered to escort her into the dining room.
Julian offered his arm to Allegra. “This should be fun.”
Allegra looked up at him as they approached the dining room. She was wearing her favorite shade of blue, which made her eyes sparkle. “Or it might be a complete disaster.”
“Either way, my mother will hate it,” Julian said. “And I know I can rely on you to help me soothe the stormy seas.”
She threw him a challenging glance as they approached the table.
He pulled out her chair and set her napkin on her lap.
His mother sat at the top of the table, Aragon on her right and the new earl on her left, which meant Carenza was directly opposite Lady Harriet, the new countess.
Julian was next to Lady Harriet and opposite the curate of the church his mother favored in London.
There were two more couples whom he thought were distant relatives come to visit London who were suitably overawed by the present company and unlikely to utter a word.
Aragon smiled at everyone. “My first dinner party.”
“Hardly, dear,” his mother responded. “We’ve enjoyed hundreds of such events.”
“Not ones that I’ve planned all by myself,” Aragon said. “I set everything up with the housekeeper and cook. I didn’t want you to be bothered with all the details.”
“I’m sure you didn’t.” For once his mother sounded slightly annoyed with Aragon.
“Are you enjoying the Smythe-Harding town house?” Aragon asked Lady Harriet, oblivious to his mother’s tone. “As far as I remember it is very conveniently situated.”
“The house is in an excellent location,” Lady Harriet, the new countess, agreed.
“Unfortunately, the interior does not match the exterior. We’ve had to tear out all the decor and sell off most of the furniture.
” She paused and raised her voice. “Everything had been done in such bad taste we could barely manage to live there.”
The gloves are off … Julian couldn’t help but look at Carenza. Her face bore an expression of polite interest.
“Whoever decorated the house had no discernable elegance or style. In truth, it reminded me of some gaudy theater or something.” Lady Harriet gave a little laugh. “The former occupant of the house might disagree with me, but—”
“Oh, no,” Carenza said sweetly. “I didn’t like the decor myself, but Hector’s mother was responsible for it, and I didn’t feel it would’ve been right to change a thing when his whole family loved it so much.
” She sipped her wine. “I’m sure you’ll get some comments on your decision when you host the Christmas party this year. ”
“Christmas party?” The earl looked over at Carenza.
“It’s a Smythe-Harding tradition.” Carenza smiled at him. “Ask Mr. Hoskins. He’ll know what to do, as he’s been there for at least forty years.”
“Mr. Hoskins has been fired without a reference.” The earl glanced nervously at his wife. “He was too inclined to think he knew better than his employers.”
“I found he usually did know what was best.” Carenza’s tone remained even, but Julian knew her well enough to see that she was angry at the new earl’s apparent callousness. “But I’m sure your new staff will cope perfectly well.”
The countess said, “We’re not taking on new staff, and we have no intention of hosting such a party. I despise hangers-on.”
“That’s a shame,” Aragon said. “I always enjoy a good Christmas gathering and Hector and Lady Carenza used to host a wonderful party.” He turned to his mother. “I know! We’ll have one here and invite everyone.”
“I hardly think—”
Julian spoke over his mother. “What an excellent idea.”
“Perhaps you might devote your attention to amusements at your own premises, Julian, and not make use of mine,” his mother snapped.
“Hang on, Mother. This is still Julian’s family home,” Aragon said. “And, as the head of the household, I’ll ensure he’ll always be welcome here.”
The look Julian’s mother gave him should have turned him to stone, but he ignored her and smiled at his brother.
“Thank you, Aragon,” Julian said.
Aragon nodded and turned to Carenza. “You’ll come, won’t you, Lady Carenza?”
“Of course I will.”
“Then that’s all I need to know.” He finished his glass of wine and sat back to allow the footman to remove his soup plate.
Briefly, Julian wondered how many courses were left and what else might go wrong. He turned to Allegra and asked, “What did you think of the Cartwrights?”
“I was most impressed,” Allegra said. “Miss Cartwright is a formidable woman.”
“She certainly is.”
“She mentioned her family are connected to the Devonshire Cartwrights,” Allegra said. “I have an acquaintance with the current earl of that branch. I’ll have to mention Miss Cartwright when I next write to him.”
“I doubt her family approve of the work she does,” Julian said.
“Then perhaps it would be better if I didn’t mention her at all,” Allegra replied.
“Who is this woman?” Aragon, who appeared to be enjoying his role as host rather too much, inquired. “A love interest at last, Julian?”
“Miss Cartwright and her brother run a charitable institution for orphaned boys,” Allegra explained. “Mr. Laurent is on the board of trustees. Carenza and I might be joining him.”
Lady Harriet sniffed. “Considering the state of the Smythe-Harding earldom, I am surprised the previous countess can afford to be charitable toward anything.” She pointedly didn’t look at Carenza.
“Unless, of course, her settlement is the reason why the earldom was left in such financial disarray in the first place.”
“I fear you have been misinformed, ma’am,” Julian said. “I was one of the executors of Hector’s will, and I can assure you that he took far more from his wife’s finances than she ever got from him.”
“It might surprise you to know, Lady Harriet, that Carenza and I are well provided for by our father and have no need of anyone else’s money or their charity,” Allegra said. “In truth, without Hector spending all Carenza’s allowance, she is far better off than she was during her marriage.”
Lady Harriet looked at her husband. “As you feared, it is obvious that the previous countess and her family are willing to introduce the most inappropriate discussions about money to the dining table.”
“You started it,” Allegra said, “by inferring that my sister had somehow diddled the earldom out of a fortune, when the truth is that Hector almost bankrupted her.”
Lady Harriet turned to her hostess. “I can only apologize on behalf of my family, my lady, for the common nature of those who were once, unfortunately, linked to the Smythe-Harding name.”
Carenza set down her fork. “Will you excuse me for a moment, ma’am?” She left the dining room with her usual calm demeanor.
Julian waited until the conversation changed to something less fractious and slipped out of the room, murmuring that he needed to speak to the butler. He found Carenza in one of the parlors, her back turned, her shoulders shaking as she stared out of the window. He shut the door behind him.