Jane Ashford (26 page)

It was a very lively party that set out from Lady Fanshawe’s that evening to attend an informal ball. John Dudley was with them, and he and Aggie looked so happy that the others could not help exchanging smiling glances now and then. They had thought of staying home and having a quiet family dinner to celebrate the engagement, but they had promised weeks ago to attend this dance, and the hostess was a particular friend of the countess’s, so they went.

The first person they encountered when they walked in was Anne Wellfleet. She looked once at Aggie and came hurrying forward. “My dear, I am so glad!” she exclaimed.

Aggie laughed. “Is it so obvious?”

“To me, yes. But I have been longing for it forever. Come, tell me everything.” And she led Aggie over to a sofa by the wall. John Dudley, smiling sheepishly, followed them.

Their hostess came up then, in the process of organizing the dancing, and carried Thalia and Euphie off. Soon, nearly twenty couples were on the floor, and the music began. “Hardly ‘an impromptu hop,’ as she said it would be,” Thalia said to her sister when they passed close to one another.

“No, but it isn’t a ball, either.”

Thalia laughed as they moved away from one another again.

Two sets passed pleasantly. And as the third was forming, James Elguard approached Thalia. “May I have the honor?” he asked.

She had half promised this dance, a waltz, to someone else, but she did not see him, and she very much wanted to speak to Elguard. She held out her hand, and he took it, leading her onto the floor.

“Is everything ready?” she asked when the music had started.

“As much as it can be, yes.”

“It will be a matter of timing, I suppose?”

He nodded. “We must be careful to set the thing properly.”

“But when?’”

“Just at the interval, I think. When everyone is starting to go down to supper. I hope to try when there are few people about.”

“Yes.” Thalia shivered a little. “I can scarcely wait, though I am not at all certain I want the moment to come.”

“I know.” There was a short pause; then he added, “I should tell you that I have chosen the place, over there in the corner.”

“By the curtained arch?”

“Yes.”

“Very well.”

There was another pause. Thalia looked uneasy, yet determined.

“I heard the news about your sister,” said Elguard. “I must offer her my felicitations.”

“Thank you. We are very happy.”

“It must be gratifying to see two people who are well-suited and who care for one another come together.”

Thalia nodded silently, not meeting his eyes.

The music ended, and they stepped apart. “So,” said Elguard, “we are decided?”

“Y-yes.”

“Yes. I will arrange my part by the archway just before supper.”

The girl nodded. “I will be there.”

“Good. Well, thank you for the dance.” He bowed slightly and walked away, leaving Thalia gazing after him uneasily.

Later in the evening, however, she talked with Mary Deming, and her resolve was strengthened again. For though Mary said nothing, she looked pale and tired. And when Thalia asked her if she was feeling well, she valiantly insisted that she was fine. Yet Thalia caught her watching a group of young people wistfully, among them Alan Warrington and Lady Agnes.

Thus when the interval came, she was ready to do her part. She saw James Elguard approach Warrington and engage him in conversation, drawing him toward the corner of the room. When they were nearly there, she looked around for Lady Agnes and found her talking to another girl and several gentlemen nearby. They looked ready to go downstairs, so Thalia took a deep breath and hurried over.

“Lady Agnes,” she said when she reached them, “could I speak to you?”

The statuesque blond girl turned, looking very surprised when she saw who it was. “I beg your pardon?”

Thalia flushed slightly, but she repeated her request.

“To me? I suppose so. What is it?” Her rudeness was so patent that one of her companions stared.

But Thalia felt hardened by it. “It is a private matter,” she said.

“We’ll go down to supper,” said the third girl. “You can join us there, Agnes. We’ll keep a chair.”

Lady Agnes looked annoyed. “Oh, very well.”

The others walked away. “Let us go over here,” said Thalia, moving toward the corner.

“Whatever for?” But as Thalia paid no heed to this, Lady Agnes was forced to follow. “I cannot imagine what you should have to say to
me
,” she added as they walked.

They reached the corner and stood just beside the curtained arch. Thalia turned a little nervously, wondering if all would go as planned, and at that moment James Elguard came through the arch and let the curtain drop behind him. “Oh!” said Thalia, feigning surprise.

“Miss Hartington,” acknowledged the gentleman. “And Lady Agnes. Good evening.”

The blond girl smirked. “Why, Mr. Elguard. How fortunate to come upon you here.” She cast a sidelong glance at Thalia, who tried to look put out, and sidled closer to Elguard. “I haven’t seen you this age. You never call—naughty!”

Thalia’s jaw tightened, and she no longer needed to pretend annoyance.

“I have little time for social calls,” replied Elguard. “I am continuing my studies while I am in town, and they keep me occupied.”

“You are so clever.” Lady Agnes took his arm and gazed up at him. “But surely you can spare a few moments for special friends.” She smiled. “And I am a special friend, am I not?”

Elguard raised his eyebrows. “We are not, perhaps, well enough acquainted to say that, Lady Agnes.”

“And who is to blame for that? I have certainly done everything possible to forward our acquaintance. Did your sister tell you I called last week?”

“I, I believe she did.”

“And you were out. After your talk of studies.” She cocked her head playfully.

He had flushed very slightly. “I was… ah…”

“Oh, no. Don’t give me a lame excuse. But if you were to call upon
me
, I promise you I should be at home.”

This was so bold that Thalia drew her breath in sharply. Lady Agnes noticed, and smiled. Then she looked up at Elguard again. “I must tell you,” she said confidingly, “that you are the most interesting man I have met in London. So many of the others seem young and dull. They have nothing to say for themselves. But you—you are quite different. You are the only man I know who can truly be said to be fascinating.” She breathed this last word very softly, leaning closer to Elguard and parting her lips.

“Is he, by God?” said another voice. And Alan Warrington pushed back the curtain and stepped into the room. He looked very angry indeed. “I daresay I must have misheard you when you said the same to me, then. I suppose you tell every man that. Gods, what a fool I have been!” And he stalked off.

Lady Agnes had paled and stepped away from Elguard. Now she turned toward Thalia and hissed, “You! You did this!”

The older girl met her eyes squarely. “I did nothing. I had no need to; you did it all yourself.”

Lady Agnes’s light eyes blazed. She started to speak, then whirled and ran after Alan Warrington.

There was a pause as the other two watched her disappear down the stairs.

“She won’t get round him,” said Thalia finally.

“No. I would say that young Warrington is thoroughly disillusioned.”

“Perhaps now he will see Mary’s good qualities; she is Lady Agnes’s utter opposite.”

“Perhaps,” agreed the man.

“I know that I cannot count on it. But I do hope.”

“Hope is always permitted,” answered Elguard in a queer voice.

Thalia looked up sharply. “Shall we go and get some supper? I feel somehow exhausted by that encounter.”

“In a moment. First, I must talk to you.” Thalia made an involuntary movement, and he added, “I think you owe me a moment’s attention.”

The girl looked at the floor, nodding almost imperceptibly.

“Thank you. I think you must know what I am going to say. I have said it before.”

“Please don’t.”

“Why?”

Thalia’s cheeks reddened. “It is all so awkward.”

“What is? You must be clearer if I am to understand you.”

She took a breath and tried to gather her wits. “When we first met, we had such fun, talking of books and so on.”

“And we can—”

“Please. Then things became so miserable, with the school and… and everything.”

“And my mother,” he added grimly.

Thalia made a gesture. “And it seemed there might be a scandal, and you came and asked… It was so awkward. And now…”

“Yes. And now?”

Thalia shrugged.

“It is still awkward? But why?”

“There won’t be any talk,” blurted Thalia. “Lady Agnes told the story, but others, like Mary, contradicted her account, and no one pays it any heed. You don’t
have
to!”

“I don’t… my dear girl, of course I don’t
have
to
. No one says that I do. Did you think that was my reason?”

“But it must… We hardly know one another.”

“Perhaps that was true at Bath, though even then I think I knew enough. But now we have seen each other again and again. I do not feel that you are a stranger. Do you see me as one?”

“No,” replied Thalia very softly.

“No. And as you say, there is no scandal. There couldn’t be, for there is no basis for one. That motive, which never had a very strong hold on my mind, disappeared long since.” He smiled down at her. “Indeed, I fear I am not the sort of man who could marry a woman simply to save her from scandal. I am too selfish.” He leaned down a little to try to see her face. “I want to marry you, Thalia, because I admire and love you. As you said, when we met we saw immediately that we were kindred spirits. I have never found a woman with your intellect and talents, interested in the very things that interest me. And as I saw more of you, I realized that you had every other fine quality as well. Will you be my wife?”

There was a short silence. Thalia tried to speak, but her throat was too dry.

“Of course, I understand,” he continued then, “that your fortune makes a great difference between us. You can now command every luxury, and I remain relatively penniless. I thought long and hard when I heard of it, and I decided that it should make no difference to my declaration. I feel the same. You, however, may not. I understand that. You may wish to—”

“No!” exclaimed Thalia. “Please don’t.”

“Don’t? I fear I shall have to ask again that you be more explicit.”

“Don’t talk of money!”

“Ah.” He looked relieved. “But I may talk of other things? How much I love you, for example?”

A gurgle of laughter escaped the girl.

“Yes?” He reached for her hands. “What is it, Thalia? Why won’t you marry me? Is it my family? I admit that they have been appalling. Or at least, my mother has. But—”

“Stop, stop,” laughed Thalia. “All right.”

“All right?”

“All right, I will.”

His hands tightened on hers. “Truly?”

She nodded. “I felt the same as you, when we met and, and after. But then so many horrid things happened. I was… oh… determined to put it all from my mind. And I did
not
wish you to feel obliged—”

“Oh, I rarely feel obliged,” he interrupted cheerfully. “I do just as I please about most things; ask my sisters.”

“I shall. And more.”

“Aha, a termagant, I see. I had better enjoy my selfish habits while I can.” And he pulled her through the curtained opening behind them into a small antechamber and bent to kiss her.

Thalia, shocked, started to move away. “Someone will see!”

“Nonsense. They are all at supper. And no one comes in here.” He grinned. “Except lovers and conspirators.”

Seeing that he was beyond rational argument, Thalia took the only possible course and gave in. She found that her arms crept up around his neck very naturally.

A good deal of time passed unnoticed; then a sound from the room behind recalled them to their position, and they moved apart. “I expect to continue this interesting dialogue very soon,” he said, smiling down at her.

Thalia laughed, flushing a bit. “Indeed, sir, it seems a fascinating study.”

He held out a hand. “Shall we look for our families?”

She nodded. “We know, at least, that yours will approve.”

He grimaced. “Lavishly. Do you mind very much?”

“I don’t mind anything tonight!”

Mrs. Elguard was, indeed, effusive. She insisted upon telling two of her particular friends at once, in fact. And Thalia was glad when they could escape from that chattering group. James’s sister was more subdued, and she seemed genuinely glad to hear of the engagement, though she said little. Thalia told herself that she must improve their acquaintance as soon as possible.

They found Aggie and John on the dance floor, and told their news as the set was beginning. Aggie looked very directly at Thalia, who blushed, then took both her hands and squeezed them. Her sparkling eyes spoke volumes.

“Welcome to the family, old man,” said John to James Elguard. He held out a hand as the other three laughed.

Elguard shook it. “Thank you. It is always comforting to know that the old established members accept one.”

They laughed again.

“What good times we shall have!” exclaimed Aggie.

Thalia nodded, but said, “There is Euphie with Lady Fanshawe. Let us complete our round.”

They did so. Euphie heard them out with an uncertain smile and warmly wished them happy. The countess, after one brief blink of chagrin, joined her. Lady Fanshawe had cherished the hope that her charges would make brilliant matches, and this second falling short of that goal was a blow. But as in Aggie’s case, the look on Thalia’s face banished any objections. And once reconciled, the countess became expansive. “A double wedding, Thalia, you must!” she said. “At St. George’s. I beg you to allow me to help. Two engagements in your first weeks out; it is beyond anything! And what a ceremony we can have. You and Aggie in clouds of white. It almost makes me cry to think of it. You
will
let me, won’t you? Oh, there is Giles. Giles! Come here; I have something to tell you.” And she conveyed this new intelligence to her son while Thalia and James laughed beside them. Euphie, catching the eye of a young man she knew, gave him a subtle signal and was soon being led onto the dance floor. Lord Fanshawe, glancing up from his mother’s eager discourse for a moment, followed her figure with an unreadable expression.