Connie (The Daughters of Allamont Hall Book 3) (19 page)

She loved to dance, but there was one disadvantage to it in a ballroom so confined as this one was, in that she could not pass unnoticed. She and her partner had not progressed very far down the set when she saw the Marquess watching her intently. She could not read his expression, and she could not look at him for long for fear of catching his eye. Was he pleased to see her? Mortified? Or did he not care at all? It was impossible for her to judge.

When Mr Tennant returned her to Amy, she found Lord Reginald was there before her, deep in conversation with the Amblesides, with the smiles of genuine friendship on all their faces. As soon as he saw her, almost before her partner had made his bows and departed, Lord Reginald leapt to his feet, his face alight with eagerness, the words tumbling out.

“Miss Allamont, I had no thought to see you here. This is an unexpected pleasure. You are well, I trust? Are you enjoying the ball? And may I claim you for the next? If you would so honour me?”

She took his arm and allowed him to lead her to the very head of the set. There would be no escaping notice now, and she caught the little flashes as the dowagers raised their lorgnettes to examine her. She was unconcerned, experienced enough now in the workings of society not to be nervous or discomposed by the attention. Why should they not look? Her gown was quite the latest fashion, she knew the steps of the dance well and she was sure no fault could be found in her deportment. Why should she not lead the dance?

So she smiled and danced and talked comfortably to Lord Reginald in the pauses, and was rewarded by the unmistakable ardour in his eyes. From time to time she glanced at the Marquess, standing silent and immobile at the side of the room, his gaze never leaving her.

After Lord Reginald, she danced twice more, but during the second dance the Marquess disappeared. She discovered the reason when she returned to Amy’s side, for there were both the brothers, and Lady Harriet and Jess, too, sitting in a cluster around the Amblesides and Burfords.

Lady Harriet claimed Connie at once, tossing questions at her without waiting for the answers, and then laughing at herself for doing so. “I am so glad to see you back in society,” she said, for about the fifth time. “I had no notion that you and your sisters were acquainted with Lady Cunningham.”

“We are not,” Connie said. “None of us has been introduced to her, yet she sent us an invitation this morning.” The bewildered expression on Lady Harriet’s face was entertaining, but Connie had no intention of explaining the situation, or mentioning Aunt Tilly.

“How extraordinary!” Lady Harriet said. “I daresay it is because of your connection to us. Indeed, I am quite convinced of it, and I am glad of it, for your sake. But now we must be going. We have a rout to attend next. Dev, Reggie, we are leaving now.”

“I shall stay here,” Lord Reginald said.

The Marquess said nothing but made no move to rise from his seat.

Lady Harriet looked from one to the other, and then at Connie. “Well, in that case, I shall see you both tomorrow. Jess? Come along.”

With that, the two left.

The Marquess rose languidly to his feet. “Miss Allamont.” He bowed gracefully.

“Lord Carrbridge.” Connie rose, too, and made him a deep curtsy. Inwardly she was quaking, and she knew her cheeks must be on fire.

“I am happy to see you again.” But he did not look happy. His expression was sombre, with a look of sorrow in his eyes, and she could hardly bear to look at him, so distressing was it to see him in such low spirits.

“Thank you, my lord.” It was all she could manage, but it brought the hint of a smile to his lips, which faded almost instantly.

“I do not dance myself tonight,” he said. “Therefore, I shall leave you to my brother. He will take the greatest care of you. Good evening, Miss Allamont.”

He bowed again, and strode away without a backward glance, leaving her bemused. The gentleness of his manner after the violence of their last encounter was such that Connie was quite undone. The rest of the evening was a blur of faces and snatches of conversation, for she could attend to none of it. Her head was full of the Marquess, and even though she only caught glimpses of him here and there as she danced or went in to supper, she could think of no one but him.

20: An Offer

At the ball, Lord Reginald had invited Connie for a drive in the barouche.

“You may name the hour that pleases you the most, Miss Allamont, and I shall bring Mrs March, so everything will be right.”

He grimaced when she told him that she preferred noon.

“Well, I am not accustomed to such an early start to the day, but your company will more than recompense me for the exertion, Miss Allamont. Noon it shall be.”

At the appointed hour, the barouche appeared in Brook Street, with Mrs March sitting beside Lord Reginald. Connie wondered if she, too, found it an exertion to be up and about so early, for Lady Moorfield rarely ventured forth before three or four o’clock. But Mrs March smiled, as always.

“Miss Allamont! How delightful! And how kind of Lord Reginald to invite me. I shall sit here, then you may sit beside his lordship, for the best views. No, I insist. There! How pretty your bonnet is! Did you trim it yourself? Such clever fingers you have! And now I shall be quite silent, for I know you will want to talk only to Lord Reginald. You may pretend I am not here at all.”

To Connie’s amusement, Mrs March turned her head and started fixedly at the passing scenery, the very model of a discreet chaperon.

Lord Reginald had not thought to provide the ladies with rugs, so it was fortunate that the day was warm. He had, however, brought flowers for Connie, and a hamper of food, complete with a bottle of champagne, so they went on their way very merrily. They started in Hyde Park, stopping to sample the devilled eggs and chicken legs, and then they drove on to Green Park. Lord Reginald was charming company, attentive and witty, keeping the ladies very well entertained.

Connie found herself very drawn to him, and his intentions towards her were becoming more obvious with every day that passed. Perhaps she need not mourn the loss of the Marquess for long. And yet, she could not quite forget those piercing eyes, and the smile that so agitated her. Lord Reginald might be her destiny, but he would always be her second choice.

They were almost out of the park, and Connie was thinking about returning to Brook Street, when she caught sight of a familiar pelisse and bonnet.

“Oh, look!” she cried, without thinking. “There is Jess! But—”

She stopped, and wished with all her heart that she had not spoken, for Jess was standing amongst shrubbery, almost out of sight, talking animatedly with a man, and no chaperon to be seen. As they watched, Jess turned and half ran away from the man, and even from a distance, Connie could see tears on her cheeks.

“Stop the carriage!” she called out, and almost before the horses had stopped moving, she scrambled to the ground and tore across the grass towards Jess, calling her name. Jess stopped, looking at Connie with bewilderment.

“Whatever is the matter?” Connie said, a little out of breath. “Do you need assistance? What may I do for you?”

“Oh! Oh, Connie, I did not expect… but I see you are with Lord Reginald. You must not keep him waiting.”

“Never mind Lord Reginald! Whatever is the trouble?”

“I have been very foolish!” Jess burst out, between sobs. “I thought… I thought he would
marry
me, but… but…”

“That man you were with? How horrid! But where is your maid?”

“I had no time to find her. Oh, Connie, what am I to do?”

It roused all Connie’s indignation to see Jess, who had always been so composed and sure in her dealings with the world, reduced to such a level of distress. That it had been a man who brought her so low did not surprise Connie in the slightest. Her recent experience of the male sex was not such as to inspire the slightest confidence in their behaviour.

“What are you to do?” Connie said. “Why, for now you must come back with me to Brook Street, of course, and when you are feeling more yourself, you may decide what you wish to do. But you must not walk through the park by yourself. Come.”

Reluctantly, protesting at the imposition, Jess allowed herself to be led towards the barouche. Lord Reginald himself descended and graciously added his invitation to Connie’s, so Jess was helped into the barouche and they drove by the shortest route back to Brook Street. Connie was bustling Jess into the house when she realised she had rushed away rather abruptly, and went back down the steps to the barouche.

“I beg your pardon,” she said to Lord Reginald, who was languidly propped against a wheel, smiling. “In my hurry, I had quite forgot my manners. Thank you so much for my drive today, my lord. I enjoyed it very much.” She dipped him a formal curtsy.

“Your care for Miss Drummond is charming, Miss Allamont. I shall call on you tomorrow, if I may, to ensure you have taken no chill from your outing.”

She blushed, and with a hasty farewell to Mrs March, skipped up the steps after Jess. She found that the others were all out, so she settled Jess in the drawing room, sent for Madeira and cake, and prepared to listen.

“You will think me very foolish, I daresay,” Jess said, as soon as the servants had withdrawn. “I have made such a mess of everything, but I was desperate. You know my situation, Connie. All my father’s money is gone, my oldest brother inherited nothing but debts and was forced to retrench, and Alex took the position of schoolmaster at Lower Brinford in order to be no additional burden on Donald. My chance of a dowry was lost, so I came with Alex, to act as housekeeper and cook. Our only hope was for me to marry a rich husband, who would drag us out of poverty. But we very soon realised that Lower Brinford offers very confined society, with few prospects for me. We could not afford even the assemblies at Brinchester from our own pockets. Kind friends have aided us so far, but we cannot live on charity indefinitely.”

Connie nodded but said nothing, unwilling to disrupt the flow of confidences.

“Lord Carrbridge seemed the perfect solution,” Jess went on. “Surely I could win his interest? But not so — it seemed his thoughts were elsewhere. Even so, he offered me a way out of my predicament, which you know about. In your eyes, I was believed to be secretly betrothed, but to others I could reveal the truth, that there was no betrothal, not even an understanding. My object was nothing less than to attract a rich man willing to marry me. You will blame me, perhaps, but I was quite dispassionate about the business. It mattered not to me whether the man was noble or not, young or not, handsome or not — so long as he could keep me in comfort, and perhaps Alex too, and, if he were truly generous, there might be some help for the rest of the family. That was my only aim. Was that wrong of me?”

“Indeed not,” Connie said. “Not when your difficulties were so great. No one could blame you for seeking such a way out of your troubles. Many marriages begin on such terms, and often end happily enough. It is an honourable solution.”

“Honourable,” Jess said, with a wry smile. “Indeed! And yet—! But I am running ahead too fast. I had several suitors, and a number of offers, but I made a fatal mistake — I fell in love. How foolish of me! His name is Middleton — do you remember him?”

“I do. There was an older brother, very fat, and married to a Lady something-or-other, but the younger one — Mr Jeffrey Middleton, was it not? — he was very handsome.”

“Oh, he was — he
is
,” Jess sighed. “Young and handsome and amiable. He has only a modest income at present, for his father left his manufactories to the elder brother, but there is a large fortune waiting for him from his aunt, who brought him up. Trade, of course, but I do not regard
that
. I thought he was in love with me, too, and he had no wife, so naturally I expected… I declined my other offers, and one of them a viscount, too, but it was taking such a long time to get him to the point. I began to worry that he had changed his mind. Also, and this is not at all your fault so you must not think that I blame you in the slightest, but the atmosphere at Marford House has been… difficult, let us say. Now that the true situation is known, I am quite out of favour and Lady Moorfield would have me sent straight home, if she had her way. Lord Carrbridge and Lady Harriet have been excessively kind to me, but still, I felt uncomfortable there, and all my hopes began to dwindle.”

She paused, sipping the wine thoughtfully. “Then today I received an urgent message from him to meet at Green Park. He was called away by his aunt, and wished to speak to me before he left for Derbyshire. I had only an hour’s notice, and I could not find my maid, or anyone I could take with me, so I went alone, for I felt sure that this was the moment I had been waiting for — he would make his offer, and all would be well.”

Connie could say nothing, but she guessed the next part of the story.

Jess set her glass down on the table at her elbow, and heaved a sigh. “So he offered, but it was not a wife he wanted, but… something less formal. A little apartment in Manchester, where he often has business, and he would take care of Alex and even settle some money on me so that I would not be destitute… afterwards. For there would be an afterwards, would there not? Eventually, he would tire of me and that would be the end of it.” A tear trickled down one cheek. When she spoke again, her voice was low. “I could not answer him, not then. I am to send a letter to his club, and they will forward it to him. But I shall have to agree to it.”

“What? Are you mad?” Connie cried. “Of course you must not! He is despicable even to suggest such a thing.”

“Oh, do not say so, for it is quite the usual thing in his set, apparently, and his aunt wishes him to marry well, and who can blame her for that? Besides, what else can I do?” Jess said despairingly. “If I go back to Lower Brinford unwed, there will be no more opportunities. Alex will have to marry a farmer’s daughter, and I shall be an old maid, and I do
not
want to die a spinster, Connie, truly I do not. I never wanted anything in my life but a husband and a house of my own and children to raise, and all the respectability of being a wife. I was never ambitious.”

“Even if you
never
marry, it will be better than this!” Connie said with some heat. “Once you take this step, you can never go back. You will be cast out of all good society for ever.” The vision of Aunt Tilly rose in her mind, who was so disreputable that her own niece could not be seen with her. “There is nothing wrong with being a spinster. Look at Miss Endercott, who is the very image of respectability, and loved by everyone.”

“Indeed she is,” Jess said. “She is content to keep house for her brother, I daresay, and they can afford a cook and a maid or two. Anyone may be contentedly respectable with servants. But we have just one maid-of-all-work, and I have to do the cooking and look after the chickens, and Alex digs the garden and grows vegetables, and it is
hard
, Connie, when I have been used to doing nothing but decide whether to ride my horse or drive out in my own phaeton, and which new bonnet to wear. It is very hard.”

Connie had no answer to that, except to stroke Jess’s hand, feeling quite helpless.

When the rest of the family returned and heard the sad tale, they repeated Connie’s advice, and in such strong terms that, even through her tears, Jess could not ignore them.

“I know you are right,” she sobbed. “But I cannot go back to Marford House and face Lady Moorfield without some arrangement made for my future.”

“Then you must stay here, of course,” Amy said. “Connie will not mind sharing for a few days, and you may travel with us when we go home. Then we shall see what can be done to make your life more comfortable.”

“You are not without friends,” Burford said gently. “I met your brother on my very first day at school, when he was very kind to me. He is quite my oldest and dearest friend. I would not have either of you sink into abject poverty or despair.”

“We are grateful to you for recommending Alex for the post of schoolmaster, but we do not want charity,” Jess said with dignity.

“Not charity, but perhaps a helping hand until you get back on your feet?” Burford said.

“Not money,” she said firmly. “We still have our pride. A cut of beef occasionally would be very welcome, for we cannot afford to buy it.”

“Beef it shall be, then,” Burford said with a smile.

But Connie’s heart was wrung by Jess’s bravery.