Lady Polly Part 15

Lucille asked, finding her sister-in-law sitting quietly in the drawing-room that lunchtime. Her eye fell on the improving book which Polly had been reading earlier.

"Or perhaps you are so enthralled in that righteous to me that you have no wish to go out! Etiquette for young ladies! Upon my word!"

Polly laughed, despite herself. Etiquette and deportment might be very uplifting and suitable for a young lady, but it was also tedious.

Somehow the disastrous scene at Richmond had prompted her to revert to all that was proper and conventional. She entertained no more hopes of reforming a rake, particularly as the rake in question clearly cared so little for her opinion of him that he had not troubled to seek her out.

The Royal Humane Society sounded to be a very suitable place for a lady of charity to spend some time and at least she would not be bothered by Lord Henry's presence there! Feeling pleasantly virtuous, she agreed to join Lucille on the outing.

The marble entrance hall of the Royal Humane Society was cool and shadowy after the brightness of the day outside. The ladies furled their parasols and hurried to join the group of people going into the lecture room.

Polly was astonished to see a number of their acquaintance there. She had thought that this latest interest of Lucille's was yet another slightly eccentric and obscure hobby, but now found that the Society was a magnet for the fas.h.i.+onable.

"I had no idea that such a lecture would be so popular," she murmured in Lucille's ear as they slid into their seats and a gentleman nearby raised his hat and murmured a greeting. The room was filling rapidly.

Across the aisle, Polly could see the Huntlys and Lady Havisham, and returned the wave of Miss Dit- ton, a neighbour of the Sea graves from Suffolk.

"The Society has become a popular means of exercising benevolence,"

Lucille replied quietly.

"You remember that I told you it was originally established by two doctors to promote resuscitation? It now hands out medals and rewards to those people who have helped save lives. I believe that a small group of members are researching means of reviving the drowned and the hanged..."

Polly shuddered.

"How very unpleasant! I am all in favour of exercising benevolence, and indeed I suppose that genuine scientific research should never be discouraged, but what can be the attraction for some of these people?

Why, it is positively ghoulis.h.!.+"

She touched Lucille's arm.

"Look at Mr Dit ton, for instance! He is almost slav- Nicola Comtek 87 ering as he talks to that gentleman over there and his eyes are gleaming with unholy excitement! Ugh, unwholesome man! And you cannot tell me that Mr and Miss Dit ton are here because they like to involve themselves in charitable causes! A less benevolent pair would be difficult to find!"

Lucille laughed.

"I have to agree! It is a sad fact that the more macabre aspects of the Society do attract those people who have a fascination with the gruesome!"

Fortunately, the lecture that afternoon was on the charitable aspects of the Society's work, Lucille herself having no interest in its more grim activities. A number of projects were explained to the listeners, many of whom were happy to offer financial support. After the lecture there was a sumptuous luncheon at which the guests could mingle and chat, and meet some of the people helped by the Society's work. Lucille and Polly soon found themselves effusively greeted by the Dit tons, and were obliged to stop to exchange pleasantries.

Polly had known Miss Thalia Dit ton and her brother Tristan all her life.

Unfortunately, familiarity had not bred affection. She found both the Dit tons bordering on the vulgar with their preoccupation with rank and fortune.

Beside Miss Dit ton lounged the young gentleman who had the misfortune to be her betrothed: Mr Bunion was a gentleman of considerable estate, even though he had no t.i.tle, and his blank, good-natured face wore the perpetually surprised look of one who was not at all certain how he came to be betrothed to Miss Dit ton in the first place.

After a few moments they managed to excuse themselves and were moving towards the door when Polly clutched her sister-in-law's arm.

"Lucille! Look! It's Henry March night, of all people! Now whatever can he be doing here? I am sure Lord Henry does not trouble himself to exercise benevolence!"

As soon as the words left Polly's lips she regretted them, for it occurred to her that Lucille herself might have arranged to meet Lord Henry there.

A moment later she chided herself for even thinking such a thing. She knew that her unhappy feelings for Lord Henry were warping her judgement and making her p.r.o.ne to jealousy. It was a new and uncomfortable experience for her.

Lucille followed Polly's look to see Lord Henry, deep in conversation with one of the Society's members over by a marble pillar.

"Good gracious, you are right, Polly!" A frown furrowed her smooth brow.

"It does seem a little out of character, but I must suppose we do not know Lord Henry well enough to judge him!"

"Well, let us not distract him from his conversation!" Polly said hastily, suddenly anxious not to have to confront Lord Henry after the debacle of Richmond. Yesterday she had wanted an explanation; now, to be allowed to withdraw quietly from his company was the best that she could hope for. It was now clear that he did not intend to approach her and she thought dully that she should perhaps credit him with proper feeling for sparing her that embarra.s.sment.

Lucille was looking at her quizzically.

"You seem very anxious to avoid him, Polly! You will have to speak to him again one day, you know! Perhaps you might even give him the chance to explain himself!"

Polly blushed.

"I am embarra.s.sed by what happened yesterday," she admitted, 'and I wish to give myself a little time to recover. You must know that I had started to cherish some hopes for Lord Henry and myself, but now I see that I was mistaken. I was prepared to hear him out, but he has not given me that opportunity, Lucille! Clearly it is not important to him! Best to let the matter pa.s.s, I think! " Lucille looked as though she would have liked to have argued, but as the Dit tons were approaching them again they beat a hasty retreat out into the suns.h.i.+ne and the matter was dropped.

"I do see that the Society serves a worthy cause," Polly said, in answer to Lucille's enquiry as to whether she had enjoyed herself at the lecture, 'but I fear I cannot appreciate its more gruesome aspects.

Oh, I am sure it serves a worthy medical purpose," she added hastily, 'but I do feel it encourages people like Mr Dit ton to gloat over unpleasantness! As for the benevolent aspects--do you not feel uncomfortable about the way some people congratulate themselves on their generosity? Why, some of them were positively glowing with self-worth! Maybe I am unkind--' She saw Lucille smile and added defensively, " Well, do you not agree, Lucille? You are always so discreet in your charitable activities, and never expect fulsome thanks! " Lucille laughed.

"Yes, Polly, I do agree with you, as a matter of fact. I am not at all certain that I shall be returning to the Royal Humane Society! And at all costs we roust avoid your mama discovering our trip to investigate the Society's activities! One mention of resuscitating the dying and she will very likely have a fit of the va pours!"

he ball at Mrs EUery's that night could hardly have been further removed from the Royal Humane Society lecture, but a number of the same fas.h.i.+onable crowd graced the occasion.

It was another hot night, too hot for dancing and humid enough to worry Mrs EUery that she had not ordered enough champagne to quench the thirst and would be deemed penny-pinching by the ton. Polly, vigourously fanning herself after attempting the boulanger with Simon Verey, could only be grateful that this was the very last ball of the Season and they would shortly be leaving Town.

The Dowager Countess was chaperoning her daughter to the ball and was keeping a closer eye on her than she had done at Lady Phillips's.

Polly returned punctilliously to her mother's side after each dance, as anxious as the Dowager to avoid any encounter with Lord Henry March night. It was not possible to ignore him completely, for Lord Henry was escorting his sister to the ball, but it was entirely possible to avoid any opportunity for direct conversation and Polly was bent on proving this. Her heart was sore. He had only been amusing himself with her, after all.

At the end of the following set of country dances, Polly found the Dowager Countess seated next to the fearsome Dowager d.u.c.h.ess of Broxboume, with the Dit tons and a few others in sycophantic attendance. Simon Verey had been dancing with Lady Laura March night and as Polly rejoined her mother she saw Lord Henry at close quarters for the first time that night, casually bending over his sister's chair to exchange a few words. Polly felt the blood come up into her cheeks as his grey gaze drifted thoughtfully over her. She avoided his eye and turned her shoulder so that he was not in her line of vision.

Disconcertingly, she felt as though he was still watching her and that his gaze contained amus.e.m.e.nt. She hated being so aware of his presence.

"We were talking of the Chapman case," the Dowager d.u.c.h.ess of Broxboume said, looking at Lord Henry through her lorgnette and permitting a faint, wintry smile to touch her thin lips. He was a reluctant favourite of hers.

"Mr Dit ton was just saying that the desperado has escaped!"

A soft gasp escaped from the lips of those ladies who found themselves overset at this piece of news.

"Escaped on the way to the gallows, what!" Mr Dit- ton confirmed excitedly.

"A whole gang of the felons set upon the cart and overpowered the guards!

There was rioting in Skinner Street and St John Street, and Chapman disappeared into the crowds and was never seen again! " The Dowager d.u.c.h.ess's large bulk shuddered. "None of us are safe in our beds! Why, the man is a robber and murderer!"

The group looked around as though expecting Captain Chapman and his murderous brigands to burst in through the ballroom windows. And, indeed, it did seem for a moment that the chandeliers grew dim and a cold wind blew through the room.

The Chapman case had become something of a cause celebre in recent weeks, its topicality fanned into flames by the radical press. Chapman had been arrested during a theft on a gunsmith's and the claim had been that he was stealing arms for an insurrection. Further investigations into Chapman's activities suggested that he had also been behind a number of robberies of violence perpetuated on members of the ton, whilst his actions as a rabble-rouser were well known. The very name could send a s.h.i.+ver down the spine. It was as though he had become a figurehead for the poor, hungry and oppressed, who threatened the established order.

"They say," Mr Dit ton put in with the same eager ghoulish ness Polly had recognised in him earlier in the day, 'that the man has a powerful protector, a n.o.bleman who is bored with his own easy existence and seeks excitement.

They say that he has spirited Chapman away! " A murmur of appalled protest ran round the group. "Surely not one of us!"