Chapter 39 #2
“Is that a visitor, Watson?” A little lady of advancing years stood in the hall, leaning on her gold-gilded Malacca cane. She squinted to see who waited behind the butler.
Watson introduced “Miss Pace” as a caller for Lady Mortimer.
“Will I suffice?” the woman asked with a wry smile. “I was Lady Mortimer before even my daughter.”
She nodded and followed the lady into the parlour. Watson disappeared to fetch them both tea. She wished she had Elizabeth by her side when meeting the family’s matriarch. The unexpected nature of this encounter sparked Georgina’s nerves.
The mature lady sat on the sofa and instructed Georgina to sit near her.
“And are you the Miss Pace that I have heard so much about? Let me look at you, my dear,” she announced and inspected Georgina in the beautifully candid way that only older people can, without causing offense.
“She was most accurate in her description. You are exquisite, Miss Pace, if you do not mind my saying.”
Her initial nerves abated, Georgina raised the lady’s hand to her lips.
She placed a feathery kiss on the Dowager’s knuckles.
“You might compliment as often as you wish. I never tire of praise.” Georgina winked.
“I am sure you must be fielding admiration all day, as well? Those eyes, shaped just like your daughter’s.
Silken hair … and a figure most of London would envy. ”
The Dowager chuckled. “Ah, my girl. How droll you are. Elizabeth said you were charming.”
The mention drew a smile to Georgina’s lips. “Your butler advised me Elizabeth has retired to the country?”
“She has, but only to attend to some business on the estate. My child is a diligent landlady who takes care of her tenants. She is much more proficient at it than I ever was,” the Dowager said. “I lack her patience.”
Georgina fiddled with the silver buttons of her coat.
“You seem concerned, my dear. Would you like me to send a message to her on your behalf?”
“We … we did not part on the best terms. It was a misunderstanding. I’m of the belief that she would not favour contact from me at this moment,” Georgina admitted with a small, contrite smile.
The lady regarded her curiously. “She did not mention a quarrel to me, Miss Pace. I daresay she does not share your mindset.”
If only this were true. Georgina’s stomach knotted. “I am impulsive, my lady. I fear I may have upset her beyond repair.”
“She regards you with much esteem, Miss Pace. I should think it is almost impossible that you have fallen beyond redemption in her eyes.” Her ladyship smiled.
“Elizabeth is a most temperate and patient person. She is unlike me in this way—not the sort of woman to overreact and run away from her troubles. Her main vice, Miss Pace, is that she is rather too prudent, too keen to analyse every small thing carefully. I suspect that is why she never married.” She surveyed Georgina closely.
“I, on the other hand, am impulsive and rush into things.”
Georgina could feel her cheeks warming beneath the scrutiny. It seemed she and the Dowager shared these traits in common.
“I had long given up hope of my daughter falling in love and marrying. She has spent her life pursuing charitable work, raising funds for the destitute, petitioning at the House of Peers to improve the lot of the impoverished. She has established large soup kitchens throughout London and advocated to reform workhouses. Not to mention her artists. Her activities have kept her occupied and away from the marriage mart.”
Hearing her describe Elizabeth’s goodness—when Georgina had thought so poorly of her—filled Georgina with so much feeling, she became desperate to change the subject.
“And do you live here?”
“Only when I stop to visit town, my dear. Most of the year, I reside in the dower house, attached to the estate in Basingstoke. I am not much use in the metropolis these days. Fortunately, Elizabeth visits me regularly and ensures I am well looked after. And when she is not visiting, I receive frequent letters,” she said fondly.
“It is how I first heard she had met you, Miss Pace.”
“She mentioned me in her letters?”
Her ladyship’s thin lips curled into a smile. “Certainly, my dear. Elizabeth has spoken of little else in recent times.”
Georgina’s body grew warm, and yet she could not shake her sense of dread. She bit her lip. “She has?”
“Indeed, Miss Pace. I know you are brave, and you care fiercely about your loved ones. You have a fiery temper but a heart of gold. I even know,” the Dowager paused, with a humor in her eyes, “that you bite your lip when you are thinking or worried. Or simply concocting mischief. And that your hair smells like port, and your skin smells like lilies.”
Georgina swallowed and tugged at her cravat.
The Dowager chuckled. “Do not worry yourself, my dear. I am old and beyond being shocked. I feel akin to you.”
Georgina stifled a laugh. There could be no denying the great level of intimacy she and Elizabeth already shared. Yet it intrigued her that Elizabeth confided so much in her mother.
“I know you protect yourself with liquor and seclude yourself in secret clubs to avoid becoming too attached to anyone. Tell me, has she declared herself to you?”
“Oh no, she has not,” Georgina said. She covered her face instinctively. “And I would not expect her to now, my lady.”
The Dowager said wistfully, “On the contrary, I expect she will upon her return.”
“Might I please have her direction? I should like to contact her, after all,” Georgina said, overcome with the need to make amends.
“Of course,” the lady responded. She rose and hobbled over to the handsome bureau in the corner, scribbled down the Basingstoke address, and handed it to her.
Watson returned directly with a tea tray and furnished them both with cups and generous slices of lemon cake. The sweetmeat was fragrant and moist, but Georgina had no appetite to enjoy it.
“Miss Pace, one more thing. Before she departed, my daughter did tell me about Henry.”
The Dowager’s statement caught Georgina off guard, causing her to freeze with her cup of tea midway to her mouth.
“You poor dear. I am so sorry for your loss. Elizabeth did not mention a quarrel, nor any bad terms between you, but she explained you had powerful feelings for the situation of a young friend of yours. And you had made it very much your own crusade to save him. Mr Coombes, was it? What happened with your brother underpins your desire to help Mr Coombes. It is understandable.” She rested her hand on top of Georgina’s.
Her fingers were slender, and though her skin was stretched across the bones, depicting her age, her touch was warm and reassuring.
“Understandable even if I have shown her grave distrust and unjustified censure along the way?”
Her ladyship withdrew her hand with a chuckle. “That is something you might show less with age, child. We are both fortunate that Elizabeth is not so headstrong.”
Georgina nodded uneasily.
“Elizabeth should not have taken herself to the country. You are, in fact, the second person coming in search of her today. Mrs Gardner called a little while ago, seeking her out. Now that those awful men are in prison, I daresay she hopes to discuss bringing Blair back to town.”
A heady sensation washed over Georgina. “Blair?”
“Mrs Gardner’s child, Blair. A darling electora, much kinder in temperament than their mother.
They reside in the country. Elizabeth helped keep Blair safe for some time, until those monsters followed Mrs Gardner on one of her visits.
Once they knew where Blair was being schooled, they began to threaten the child’s safety, to ensure Mrs Gardner did their bidding.
” The Dowager sighed. “Every time Elizabeth attempted to change Blair’s location, those men seemed to be one step ahead. It has been a terrible affair.”
Georgina’s head pounded. Could her assessment of Elizabeth have been any further from the truth? And could it be true that Mrs Gardner was not a villain, but yet another victim in the whole affair? She wanted to swear violently but suffocated it.
Once Elizabeth knew the extent of Georgina’s stubborn ignorance, redemption would no longer be on the cards. Sitting here now, the room spun.
Georgina mustered a smile. “And was Mrs Gardner heading straight off to see Elizabeth?”
Her ladyship maintained strong eye contact. “I believe so. She too requested Elizabeth’s direction in the country.”
Georgina understood she had placed Elizabeth in an untenable position.
Far from being a lady of dubious character and morals, Elizabeth was, in fact, the best of people.
But Georgina had pushed her away all the same.
Even if Mrs Gardner reached her first and told her everything, it would be nothing short of the truth.
Georgina deserved everything about to come her way.
Georgina nodded. “Very well. Thank you for your time, my lady. I look forward to meeting you again soon.”
With that, Georgina bade her farewell. She knew what she had to do.