Chapter Ten #3
Reuben had only just entered his library following his afternoon’s sojourn with Farrah when the door opened and his sister bounded through it, all smiles and flowing blonde curls.
At fifteen, Charlotte was growing up far too quickly, and Reuben accepted that he would soon be obliged to beat a myriad of optimistic suitors from his door with a massive stick.
‘Where have you been?’ she cried.
‘Hello, minx.’ He tugged at a curl and then gave her a hug. ‘Did you enjoy your educational tour? What did you learn?’
‘Oh, it was the greatest possible fun.’ She transferred her attention to Percival and gave the dog a hug too. Percival responded by thumping his tail against the wooden floor and licking Charlotte’s hand. ‘Everyone was ever so nice to me.’
‘I don’t doubt it,’ Reuben replied with a wry smile.
‘Guessing Madame Celeste’s identity is all the rage. Everyone is talking about her, and everyone has a different opinion.’
‘Madame Celeste? Sounds like one of those fortune telling charlatans.’
‘Oh, Reuben, even you must have heard of her! She runs an advice column for young ladies in the Society Post.’ She threw up her hands when Reuben looked blank.
‘It’s a new magazine, far less stuffy than La Belle Assemblée.
’ Charlotte giggled. ‘She gives advice about how to attract the attention of young gentlemen, recommends the ingredients for love potions, that sort of thing.’
‘Love potions?’ Reuben shook his head, frowning. ‘Whatever next?’
‘Oh, she is very wise and almost always right. Everyone says so. Don’t be so stuffy, Reuben.
She’s fun too, but no one knows who she is.
’ Charlotte tapped her forefinger against her teeth.
‘She must be an experienced lady, though, because no question about matters of the heart is beyond her and she always knows exactly the right advice to give.’
‘I see,’ Reuben said.
‘Mama says we have guests this evening.’ Charlotte sat in front of the fire, bouncing on the edge of her chair.
She had only recently been permitted to sit at table when they had visitors, so the experience was still a novelty for her.
‘Shall I like the Daltons, do you think? Mama says there is a daughter not much older than me.’
‘You like everyone you meet.’
‘That is because I find people so endlessly fascinating.’
‘Lady Farrah, the elder daughter, is interesting.’
‘From which I take it you mean that the younger has you in her sights.’ Charlotte sighed. ‘Poor Reuben, always in such demand.’
‘As you yourself soon will be.’
‘Well, since you refuse to tell me what you think of our neighbours, I shall enjoy their company and make up my own mind.’
‘That would probably be best. Don’t be swayed by the opinions of others.’
‘Speaking of which,’ she said, glancing at the clock, ‘I had best change. And so too should you.’
Charlotte skipped from the room as abruptly as she had entered it. Reuben watched her go with an affectionate smile. The house had seemed empty without the whirlwind that was his sister there to create mayhem, and he was very pleased to have her home again.
Dressed impeccably in evening attire, he joined Ezra in the drawing room a short time later and helped himself to whisky.
‘Ready to be besieged once more, big brother?’ Ezra asked.
‘I am not afraid of a few harmless females.’
‘Ha! I shall remind you later that you said that.’
‘Such things must be endured. They are all part and parcel of being society’s elite, so I’ve repeatedly been told.’
Ezra raised a brow and narrowed his eyes as he sent Reuben a speculative look, but the arrival of their mother and Charlotte prevented him from pressing his brother on his sudden willingness to be sociable – which was just as well, since he was unable to account for it himself.
Instead, the brothers exchanged a worried glance at the sight of their sister looking so mature and self-confident in a cloud of yellow muslin.
‘We are going to need a shotgun to keep them away,’ Ezra said under his breath.
‘Each,’ Reuben groaned.
‘Well, my dears,’ their mother said. ‘Is it not lovely to be all together again? I declare, Charlotte, you must have grown six inches in a month.’
‘Oh, Mama!’ Charlotte grinned. ‘Less than an inch, actually. I made Godwin measure me,’ she said, referring to her governess who, not that much older than Charlotte, had become more of a friend.
‘You look very lovely, my dear,’ the duchess said, pinching Charlotte’s cheek.
‘Ready for your first grown-up soiree, squirt?’ Ezra asked.
Charlotte grinned up at her brother. ‘I will have you know that I can appear very mature if the situation calls for it. I have been well trained,’ she added, making both of her brothers smile and groan simultaneously.
‘Here are the first of our visitors,’ Ezra said, glancing up at the sound of wheels on gravel.
Reuben strolled towards the window and observed Lord and Lady Templeton, long-standing neighbours and friends, descend from their equipage.
Other carriages followed in a steady stream.
Clearly his mother had invited more than the few neighbours she had implied.
He shared a glance with Ezra and rolled his eyes.
He should have known that it would be this way.
His mother had never been one for half measures.
‘What was it Mother said about old acquaintances?’ Ezra asked sotto voce. ‘I don’t recall meeting those two before,’ he added, indicating two giggling young ladies with a tilt of his head.
‘Our mother may not push us in the direction of matrimony, but she has a subtle way of reminding us of our obligations.’
‘Ha!’ Ezra said, as the drawing room doors opened and the first guests were announced by their butler.
The Daltons were the last to arrive, almost as though Lady Dalton had deliberately delayed the moment in order to make an entrance.
Sophia, looking demure and undeniably beautiful, glided into the room at her mother’s side.
Reuben’s glance sailed disinterestedly over her head and came to rest upon Farrah, walking a little behind the pair as though accustomed to playing second fiddle to her younger sister and not caring much about being demoted.
To Reuben’s admittedly biased eye, Farrah’s simple gown was a vast improvement over her sister’s unnecessarily frothy creation.
Autumnal-shaded silk glided over Farrah’s person, showcasing her svelte figure and complementing the hue of her hair, which had been simply styled to let her curls dance across her shoulders.
With introductions made, their twenty guests circulated, but even with that many people the vast room still felt relatively empty.
The hum of polite conversation dominated as Reuben extricated himself from the clutches of the surprisingly tenacious young females he had noticed from the window.
They were the nieces of Lord and Lady Templeton, it transpired, and were due to remain in the country with their aunt and uncle for the entire summer.
It quickly became apparent that their intention was to foist themselves upon Reuben and Ezra at every opportunity.
‘Bored already?’ Reuben asked, walking up to Farrah, who was examining a portrait at the opposite end of the room.
No one else was anywhere near her and Reuben thought that she probably preferred things that way, sensing that she had little time for society’s mores, especially when she had a world of worries resting on her shoulders.
‘I was attempting to decide who this ravishing creature must be,’ Farrah replied, her attention still fixed on the portrait. ‘She looks ethereal,’ she added, tilting her head to consider the picture from a different angle. ‘Yes, that’s the right word, I think. Or perhaps otherworldly.’
‘My paternal great-grandmother.’ Reuben chuckled. ‘Quite a gal in her day, so I’m told. Not above kicking up her heels and defying convention, even before she became a duchess and found herself in a position to do as she pleased.’
‘I knew there had to be a reason why I was drawn to her. I am a bit of a rebel too, in case you were not aware. Not that there’s any reason why you ought to be – aware, that is.
Sophia does everything just the way that society expects her to.
No one can fault her manners, at least not when she is on public display.
’ Farrah winced, suggesting that it was a very different story when the girl was at home and free to express herself.
‘I, on the other hand, find all the rules and regulations pointless and tend to carve my own path. Mama despairs.’ Her focus had remained on the painting, but she turned to face Reuben now, a slight smile playing about her lips. ‘There, now you know my guilty secret.’
‘Quite shocking!’
‘I agree with you, but what’s to be done?’
Reuben shook his head in mock despair, enjoying Farrah’s lively company enormously. Enjoying it perhaps a little too much. He knew their time together would be limited, though, so he was not surprised when he observed Lady Dalton and her younger daughter bearing down on them.
‘I need to talk to you,’ he said in an urgent whisper. ‘I have a few suggestions to make regarding your difficulties.’
‘Later.’ Farrah turned to walk away. ‘I will be in for a trimming if Mama thinks I am monopolising your company – which I am not, of course. It was you who joined me.’ She sent him a sparkling smile that stole Reuben’s breath away, seeming perfectly content to leave him to her sister’s not-so-tender mercies.
He couldn’t recall the last occasion upon which an unmarried female had willingly eschewed his company.
‘Play nice with Mama and Sophia. I dare say we will find an opportunity to speak later.’
Farrah glided away without a backward glance, leaving Reuben to his fate.