The Mammoth Book Of Regency Romance Part 9

"Storm held you up?"

"Yes, alas, it did. We had to spend the night in an inn. I hope you were not anxious on our account?"

"Guessed what had happened. Couldn't drive in that rain!" said Lord Carlton. "Wretched weather. But that's England for you! Come in, come in." He led them up the stone steps and into the house.

The hall was light and s.p.a.cious. A staircase swept upwards from the far end, drawing the eye towards a magnificent chandelier that sparkled above them.

Having glanced around her, Annabelle began to unfasten the strings of her bonnet. At that moment Lady Carlton came into the hall.

"Annabelle! My dear! And Caroline!" she said, coming forwards and kissing them both on the cheek. "I have only just been informed of your arrival."

They embarked on the customary exchanges, with Lord Carlton enquiring after the horses, and Lady Carlton anxious to know that the sheets in the inn had been aired. Then Lady Carlton took Annabelle and Caroline by the arm and said, "Come, let me show you to your rooms."

Leaving her husband to see to the other guests, Lady Carlton led them up the imposing staircase, chattering all the time. She was a small, birdlike woman, quick and light in her movements, and was some ten years younger than her lord.

They reached Caroline's room first. Annabelle and Lady Carlton left her to the ministrations of her maid, who had travelled previously by coach, as had Annabelle's maid, because the curricle would not hold so many.

"This is your room. I hope you will like it," said Lady Carlton, as she led Annabelle into a beautiful bedroom.

Large windows gave into the gardens. A four-poster bed was set against the left-hand wall, whilst opposite it was an Adam fireplace.

"It is beautiful, Laura," said Annabelle.

As Annabelle removed her bonnet and stripped off her gloves, Laura moved around the room with her quick, light movements, now smoothing the red damask counterpane, now adjusting a pair of Sevres vases that stood on the mantelpiece, one on either side of an ormolu clock.

"It is such a pleasure having you here," said Laura, at last turning to face Annabelle. "When your dear mama pa.s.sed away I promised I would do all I could for you, and . . ."

She stopped, disconcerted, as Annabelle began to laugh.

"Oh, dear," said Annabelle, trying to bring her features back under control. "I should not be laughing. It is so wonderfully kind of you. But I do hope you are not going to introduce me to a string of eligible young men?"

Laura looked momentarily put out. But then she replied, with a twinkle in her eye, "Not a string of them, no. And not all of them young, either. Some of them are quite old! But you mustn't blame me for trying. Seeing you married was the greatest wish of your mother's heart. She was so happy in marriage herself, you see."

Annabelle sighed. "That is the problem. Mama married for love, and I can do no less."

"Which is why I have invited some perfectly saintly men for the summer," said Laura. "Men you are sure to fall in love with."

"I will have a difficult time if I am sure to fall in love with all of them! Although, perhaps I will leave one for Caroline."

"Ah, yes, Caroline. Hetty wrote to me. Is it serious, this fixation with the gardener, or just an infatuation?"

"An infatuation, of course, but I pray you will not tell her so. If you do, it will only take her longer to see it for herself."

"I will not breathe a word of it. I will only mention it if she mentions it first, and then I promise to treat it seriously. I remember my own youth. For me, it was a dancing master. He had the most wonderful calves! My sisters and I could not take our eyes from them! But I must not keep you talking. I had better leave you to change." She gave Annabelle an affectionate kiss and left the room.

Annabelle looked around her, taking in her new surroundings in more detail. The room was lovely, with its light furniture and pale cream walls, and the view out of the window was inviting. She might like to take a walk in the grounds before dinner, she thought. After spending most of the day in the carriage some exercise would do her good.

The door opened, and Sally, her maid, entered the room.

"They said as how you'd arrived. Worried sick I've been, thinking you must have taken a tumble," said Sally.

"Well, here I am, in one piece, having suffered nothing worse than a wetting," said Annabelle. She sat down at the dressing table. "I think I will take a turn around the gardens when you have finished with my hair."

"And changed your frock. What did you do, sleep in it?"

"Almost. I had to sleep in my chemise."

Sally threw up her hands in despair. "Why you can't get yourself a nice steady coach with a nice steady coachman I don't know. You can afford it."

"But I like my curricle."

"Break your neck in it, you will, one of these days," grumbled Sally, as she helped Annabelle out of her creased muslin and into a jonquil sarcenet.

"There, that looks better," said Sally.

"Thank you, Sally."

Slipping into her pelisse and tying her poke bonnet on top of her fair curls, Annabelle picked up her gloves and proceeded to make her way downstairs. She found a side door and decided to stroll through the gardens. The roses were just beginning to come into bloom. A few unfurled flowers dotted the banks of bushes, and buds were swelling on the stems. She breathed in, but it was too early in the year to catch their perfume.

She heard a crunching sound and looked up, prepared to greet her fellow guest with a cheery, "Good afternoon," but was rendered speechless when she saw Daniel walking towards her.

"Daniel!" she said in astonishment. "I thought you had some business to attend to."

"And I thought you were seeing friends!" he said, equally taken aback.

"So I am. The Carltons are my friends."

"So you are staying here?" he asked, a smile breaking out over his face.

"Yes. And you?"

"Yes. My business is with Lord Carlton. I am staying here, too."

She smiled warmly, feeling ridiculously pleased.

"May I accompany you?" he asked.

"Yes, I would like that."

He offered her his arm and she took it.

"Will you be staying at Whitegates long?" he asked as they strolled along the gravel path together.

"For a month, certainly," said Annabelle. "Lady Carlton is an old friend of my mother's, and has kindly invited me to stay for as long as I choose. And you?"

"Until my business is done."

"Have you known Lord and Lady Carlton long?"

"Lord Carlton I've known for many years. He and I are joint guardians of my nephew. That is why I am here, to talk over our joint responsibilities and to think about the boy's future. Lady Carlton I know less well."

"I am glad to find you here. I know very few of the other guests, and it is always nice to see a familiar face," she explained hastily.

"Ah."

They had by this time almost reached the end of the formal gardens and, as they rounded a corner, they saw a family coming towards them. The mother, a buxom matron, was clad in a voluminous cape, and was puffing along beside her three, very pretty, daughters.

"Ah! Lord Arundel! There you are!"

"Mrs Maltravers."

"We were just looking for you, were we not, my dears?" she asked her daughters.

The three girls giggled in unison.

Daniel replied politely enough, giving them a slight bow and then making the necessary introductions.

Faith, Hope and Charity, Annabelle repeated to herself with amus.e.m.e.nt as he named them. Somehow the giggling girls did not suit their idealistic names, but they seemed good-humoured enough, and she thought they would provide Caroline with some companions.h.i.+p of her own age.

"Now you promised to show us the water garden," said Mrs Maltravers girlishly, tapping Daniel with her fan. "And we are not about to let you disappoint us, are we, girls?"

A chorus of giggles followed her sally.

But Daniel said, "Unfortunately, I must ask you to wait a little longer. I am just escorting Miss Langley back to the house."

"Oh, pray don't worry about me," said Annabelle, feeling the danger of being too much with Daniel. "I can manage quite well from here."

Mrs Maltravers beamed at her. "Well, now, if that isn't handsome. But won't you come with us, Miss Langley?"

"Thank you, no. I must see if my maid has finished unpacking my things."

"Quite, quite," said Mrs Maltravers, not displeased to be able to secure such an eligible gentleman for the sole entertainment of her three unmarried daughters. "Well, then, let us go," she said, beaming up at Daniel.

The last thing Annabelle heard as she strolled back across the lawn to the house was the high-pitched giggling of Faith, Hope and Charity as they jostled each other to claim his arms.

She returned to her room, where she found that Sally had indeed finished unpacking her things. A glance at the clock showed that she had an hour before dinner, so she luxuriated in a scented bath before choosing which dress to wear. As she looked at each one in turn she thought how lucky she was to have inherited her fortune, for before it she had had to dress in far less fas.h.i.+onable style. The gown she chose was of the latest design with a stand-up ruff at the back of the neck, a lace-trimmed bodice and six inches of embroidery around the hem.

"I see you've chosen your best frock. I knew you'd want to make an impression," said Sally.

"On Lord and Lady Carlton?"

"No, miss. On the gentleman you were walking with."

"I don't suppose it will do any good to pretend not to know what you're talking about?" asked Annabelle.

"No, miss, none at all. A very fine gentleman he looked. In fact, he looked a good deal like Lord Arundel to me."

"You know very well that he was Lord Arundel."

"Well?"

"Well?"

"Sweet on him, you were, not long since."

She sighed, for she could keep nothing from Sally. "Perhaps I was, but unfortunately, he was not sweet on me."

"He gave a good impression of it," remarked Sally.

"It was a flirtation and nothing more, at least on his part. He saw me as someone to pa.s.s the time with."

"Then more fool him," said Sally. "All men are fools."

"Then it is a good thing we neither of us wish to marry, for neither of us would want to live with a fool."

Sally grunted in reply, and proceeded to help Annabelle to dress. Chemise and drawers went on first, followed by a pair of clocked stockings and light stays. Then the evening dress, with its high waist and long flowing skirt.

Annabelle adjusted the scoop neckline and straightened the lace that adorned the bodice, then slipped her feet into dainty satin slippers. She seated herself in front of the mirror so that Sally could dress her hair. She arranged it in a fas.h.i.+onable chignon and then teased out delicate ringlets around her face, before adding the feathered headdress.

"There," said Sally with obvious pride. "It's done."

Annabelle stood up. Sally fastened a string of pearls round her neck and then Annabelle pulled on her long white evening gloves and went to collect Caroline. Caroline, she was pleased to see, was in a demure white muslin, with satin slippers and a simple string of pearls. No doubt she had wanted to wear something more das.h.i.+ng, but had been dissuaded by her maid.

The two of them went downstairs, to find that the drawing room was already full of people.

"Have you met Mrs Maltravers and her three daughters?" Annabelle asked Caroline.

"Unfortunately, yes. I have never met three sillier girls," said Caroline.

However, she went over to join them and they were soon laughing together.

Laura wandered over to Annabelle, saying, "It is good to see the young people having fun. And now there is someone I would like you to meet: Lord Fossington."

Annabelle sighed.

"Now, Annabelle, you have not even met him yet. He might be everything you ever dreamed of."

"You are right, of course, dear Laura. Pray introduce me."

Laura led her across the room and made the introduction.

Lord Fossington was a tall man of military bearing, handsome in a rugged way, with a scar across one cheek.

"Miss Langley," he said. "I was hoping to have an opportunity to speak to you. I believe you know Mrs Granville, my aunt?"

They talked of their shared acquaintances, and of his time in the army, where he had served faithfully for many years.

"How do you like being at home again? Is it very dull after being in the army?" asked Annabelle.