Kissed in the Dark

by Gloria Gay

  Her mind fled back to Nottingham. Lady Rolande had indeed helped her father. This she had to agree. Her father had become increasingly bedridden with excruciating pain. Cecilia had been helpless. Her father’s physician, Dr. Jelvian, could do little for him. And then Lady Rolande with her herbs and potions had changed her father’s life for the better. He was no longer bedridden and seemed to take an interest in everything again.

  Perhaps she should remember how heartbreaking it was and how helpless she felt before Lady Rolande had helped her father. She must keep this thought in her mind when Lady Rolande and Hedra behavior made her grind her teeth.

  She decided to take Hedra’s apology at face value and not question her motives or tactics. Putting up with Hedra’s personality, so unlike her own, was a small sacrifice in light of how much Lady Rolande had helped her father.

  * * *

  “Papa, what is the matter?” asked Cecilia, alarmed. “There is such a blanched look in your face. Have you taken your medicine?”

  “Ah, yes. But we must wait for it to take effect. I will be fine shortly. Do not trouble yourself about me, my dear. Here, read this to me. It seems to be an invitation from Lord Arandale’s sister, Countess Dalmont.”

  “A house party at their estate, Rolling Hills,” read Cecilia.

  “Rolling Hills, eh? Well, we have certainly come up in the world, if we are being invited to Rolling Hills. The Prince is a habitual guest there.”

  At that moment Lady Rolande walked into the drawing room with Hedra in her wake.

  “I see you are invited too!” she exclaimed. “I could hardly believe my eyes with I saw the invitation.”

  “Are you going to accept?” asked Sir Geoffrey.

  “Accept! My dear Sir Geoffrey, of course Hedra and I will accept. One can decline such an invitation only if one is willing to be denied entrance at anything of significance henceforth. You must attend too.”

  “I will attend if Cecilia wants to go,” said Sir Geoffrey. All eyes now turned to Cecilia.

  “Yes, of course.” Cecilia agreed, although she was certain Lady Dalmont wanted to examine her at close range.

  “Alex will be green with envy,” said Lady Rolande. “I can hardly wait to tell him.”

  “Alex?” asked Cecilia, “You mean Alex Shackel, Papa’s heir?”

  “Yes, of course I mean your father’s heir. Who else would I be referring to?”

  “I wasn’t aware you knew, him, Lady Rolande.”

  “You didn’t? Well, I do. He has been most useful in advising me on the purchase of some land. We met some months ago in Lord Castlereigh’s Little Season Ball.”

  CHAPTER 14

  Later, Cecilia talked at length with her father about Lady Rolande’s acquaintance with his heir.

  “What sort of a man is he, Papa?” she asked, for she had never met him.

  “Well, rather tall and massive build, with a pointed beard and eyes that might bore a whole in your face if you let him. I cannot say I liked him in any particular way, really. Lady Rolande apparently sees a side of him I don't, because she has taken quite a liking to him. I have not seen that side of him, though, for we met only for the space of an hour, to go over the paperwork. He was not the original heir, as you know, but his cousin, Guy Lindemere. Unfortunately, Guy, whom I had grown fond of, died at the hands of footpads, last May. I was devastated. I would much rather have had him as my heir, Cecilia, for he was a most amenable man.”

  “Well, I cannot say I'm looking forward to meeting Shackel, Papa, if he didn't give you a good impression.”

  “Hedra mentioned you went out with Arandale, my dear, in fact she was complaining about it! I told her I hardly thought so since you have a pointed dislike of him, but she insisted it was true.”

  “It's true all right. And each time I engage in conversation or dance with Arandale, Hedra makes the biggest fuss about it. That girl is really very annoying sometimes, Papa. Do you not think so?”

  “Yes, my dear, she is. She has funny round eyes, has she not? As if made with a compass.”

  Cecilia laughed. “She does not think them funny. In fact, she considers her eyes to be the best of the season and has told me so at least a dozen times.”

  “Which is proof that people are seldom able to assess their own attributes,” said Sir Geoffrey,

  “Or their lack thereof. Papa, I wish we had not come to London at all.”

  “You seem to enjoy your outings with Mary, my dear.”

  “That I do enjoy,” said Cecilia, “but that is the only part of this season I enjoy. I would go again and again to Kew, to the bookstores and teashops and to visit such things as the Leinster Gardens and the Royal Academy. But for one single enjoyable outing with Mary I must put up with a dozen unenjoyable ones with Hedra and Lady Rolande. Hedra, Papa, is fiercely pursuing Lord Arandale and blames me for his indifference.”

  “That is most unfortunate for her, my dear, for I do not believe she stands a chance of awakening any interest in him. I can tell you from the masculine perspective that girls such as Hedra are most annoying to a man. Not only her pushy ways, which are most unfeminine, but also those eyes! She quite stares at one while she talks, pouring over one’s face with her round eyes and getting close in a crass manner. But we must try to make the best of it, for they are staying with us until their house in Berkeley Square is ready.”

  “I am until then in suspense,” said Cecilia laughing.

  “But Lady Rolande, as you well know, my dear” added her father, “has helped me immensely. She is to schedule a visit with a physician that specializes in muscular ailments. I would still be bedridden were it not for Lady Rolande. Although sometimes I am a bit fuzzy in the head and cannot do what I most like, which is reading. But I suppose one cannot have everything.”

  “Papa, my dearest,” Cecilia said, hugging him. “I would put up with a hundred Hedras if it would help your health!”

  “Thankfully you don’t have to,” said her father with a smile. “One Hedra is more than enough for me, also.”

  “So you are feeling up to this house party, then?”

  “I am feeling all right, my dear. Once there, I shall manage to find my way to the library and it will not be any different from here. I imagine Lord Dalmont has a decent library in Rolling Hills. I hear it is lavish in every aspect. Many people will be quite jealous of us, my dear, such an invitation is worth more than gold during the season.”

  “I didn’t know Lady Rolande was acquainted with Alex Shackel, Papa. Do you not find that odd?”

  “Odd? No, I don’t my dear. She only met him recently. In fact, I introduced them when Shackel visited me. You were away at your Aunt’s.”

  “But Lady Rolande said Shackel had given her some advice on the purchase of some land last December, Papa. Shackel visited you the following February.”

  “Well, then, perhaps I was mistaken in the dates. Is it so important?”

  “It would make me wonder if she had a connection to him before she arrived at Brintelway that she hid from us, Papa, so in a way it is important,” answered his daughter.

  * * *

  “I am so happy we are friends again, my dear,” said Hedra to Cecilia as they sat in the walled garden behind the house. It was a fine spring day and the birds were chirping away. Cecilia was often in the garden, for the bit of nature took the place of the wood Cecilia often walked in back home in Brintelway Hall.

  “I was wondering if you would go to Bond Street with me, to pick out some ribbons for my ball dress, Cecilia.”

  Hedra was not over twenty yet seemed a lot older to Cecilia, who was not used to a girl so assessing and so calculating as Hedra was.

  “I would rather not, Hedra, I am not in the mood for it. You go on if you want. Take Mary with you if you like, as your maid is sick.”

  “I will not think of it dearest, not for moment. I had thought to have a time in which you and I could mend our problems, become friends as we were before.”

  “We are
friends, Hedra, do not worry yourself on that score.”

  “I have behaved abominably to you, dearest, and I must make amends. I had thought to purchase a friendship keepsake for you today, to mark our reconciliation.”

  “Please don't make more of it than it is, Hedra,” said Cecilia, trying to keep the exasperation from her voice. “And you need not make an expense on my behalf. We are friends, there, all is forgotten.”

  “And you do not begrudge me wanting to be the Countess Arandale?”

  “Is that what you want to become?” asked Cecilia, wondering why Hedra’s words had given her an inward jolt. She realized that the thought of Hedra becoming the Countess of Arandale, did bother her, inexplicably so. Hadn’t she just a few minutes ago told her father that she had ridden in the park with Arandale only because he had caught her by surprise? Why then was she minding so much Hedra’s interest in Arandale?”

  Cecilia disguised her surprise. “No, not at all. I cannot but think, though, that the Countess Arandale must make room in the phaeton for Lord Arandale’s lightskirt.”

  “You mean Ruby.”

  “Who?” asked Cecilia, surprised that Hedra should know the woman’s appellation? Cyprians’ names were usually not known to girls in their first season.

  “Ruby De Langeliers.” Hedra said in triumph.

  “I should think it would bother you,” said Cecilia, noticing that instead, Hedra was smiling broadly. Cecilia remembered that at the rout Arandale had said “Ru-” and stopped himself from blurting out his mistress' name. Cecilia had guessed whom he referred to, although it was only now that she had found out the woman's full name.

  “My dear, what care I what the proxy’s name is,” Hedra was saying, “it will be I who will be the bride. Ruby De Langeliers will be one of a long string of lightskirts, I am sure. I will learn to look the other way. What man do you know who doesn’t have a mistress?”

  “I know many men,” said Cecilia indignantly, “my father among them. It isn’t de rigueur, you know.”

  “It is in London, my dear,” answered Hedra with a high strident laugh, “and particularly is it in London and Brighton. I have heard say that Brighton, where the prince has his pavilion, is particularly decadent and there is nary a man who would not lay his wife in the service of Prinny, if he were asked for her.”

  “I don't want to continue this talk, Hedra. I' m sorry not to accompany you to Bond Street. Perhaps another time.”

  Cecilia quit the room before Hedra had any more chance to protest.

  She walked quickly up the stairs, feeling soiled from having spoken to Hedra. She often had this feeling. She quickly locked the door behind her and took a book of poems from a table by the bed in order to sink herself in the verses and forget Hedra’s words.

  She wished she and her father could return to Nottingham. There was really no point in continuing in the city. She had been hopeful and excited at the prospect of a season in London but now, because of what had happened, the prospect of quitting London was even more appealing.

  CHAPTER 15

  Quitting Hedra’s company had an allure all its own. Cecilia hadn’t known anyone before who grated on her nerves more than Hedra.

  Arandale! Yet she realized that she really did not relish the idea of never seeing him again and the idea that this should happen made the room suddenly darken, as though a cloud had passed in front of the sun.

  What was the matter with her? She should be glad at the idea of never seeing Arandale again. Instead, the prospect of Hedra marrying Arandale was an extremely distasteful one. She had a sudden vision of Hedra in an overdone wedding dress walking alongside Arandale in St. Georges Chapel. And it would be Hedra and not her who would feel pleasurable little sensations when her arm or leg came into contact with Arandale's. The thought made her extremely jealous and uncomfortable!

  What she should do is stop thinking of all these disturbing subjects and bury herself in her poems. She was glad in a contrarian way that her father would not consent to their quitting London when the season had just begun. Especially since they had leased a house for the duration of the season and a month over, at least. She realized that this made her glad because the idea of leaving London and not seeing Arandale again was beginning to lose its allurein leaps and bounds, if she were to be true to herself.

  * * *

  “Papa, have you discussed with your valet the clothes to be taken to Rolling Hills?” asked Cecilia, for lately her father had become a bit vague on some aspects and she did want him to be properly dressed.

  “Lady Rolande offered to do that for me, sweet, not two hours before you came into the room. She thinks of everything, as your mama did.”

  “No doubt,” said Cecilia, low enough so that her father did not hear her.

  “She has gone to find Elgin now, to consult with him. She knows the exact wardrobe to be taken on these jaunts. We are to remain there until next Friday, I believe.”

  “Yes.”

  “You would do well to consult with her, also, Cecilia, for you are not experienced in this sort of thing.”

  “I shall certainly consult with her, Papa. That is one area where I find Lady Rolande’s advice invaluable.” The only area, she said to herself.

  “There is something else I wanted to speak to you about, my sweet,” said her father, motioning her to a chair.

  “I hope, my dear that you have thawed somehow in your dislike of the earl. I would be so pleased if you were to form an alliance with him after all. I would die in peace, knowing that you were well taken care of.”

  “Papa, why do you worry yourself so in that regard? My future is well taken care of with grand mamma’s inheritance. It is as safe as the Bank of England.”

  “My dear, I cannot but think that as the Countess Arandale you would be much safer. I have observed Arandale and I cannot conceive of a man with more character than he.”

  “Well, he uses his character in curious ways,” said Cecilia, remembering Ruby De Langeliers. And I believe you endow him with more qualities than he deserves. He is often in the company of a fast Brighton set, where debauchery seems to be the norm. I cannot believe you would admire anyone who lived such a life.”

  “I believe he is not so much with the Brighton set as we believe him to be, my dear, certainly not a habitual member of that clique. I believe he is more a friend of Beau Brummell than he is of the Prince.”

  “I wish you would not concern yourself so much with Arandale, Papa. In any case, Hedra has quite set her cap on him. She would scratch your eyes out if she heard you recommending him to me.”

  Cecilia could not fail to notice the fearful look that came into her father’s eyes. What hold did Lady Rolande have over her father that he should look suddenly so fearful? She wished Lady Rolande had never come into their lives.

  She wished she had not mentioned Hedra’s interest in Arandale to her father either, for it disturbed her as well.

  * * *

  The trip to Rolling Hills was uneventful. They had left shortly before dawn so that they would not have to stop overnight at an inn and arrived in late afternoon when most of the guests were already in attendance. Only Arandale, Cecilia noted, had not yet arrived.

  A tour of Rolling Hills given by Lord Dalmont took more than an hour and they had only visited the rooms or areas that were of particular interest. Cecilia fell in love with the gardens and expressed it so.

  “Yes, these are nice gardens,” said Lord Dalmont, pleased, “although they are a fraction of the size of the gardens at Torrey Vale.”

  “Torrey Vale?”

  “Arandale’s country estate, my dear. There have been tales of guests getting lost and not being found for days in that place!”

  Hedra moved closer to Lord Dalmont, in order to hear better, her ears pricked at the mention of Arandale.

  “Ah, Kelly,” he said, “how glad I am you were able to come. Here, let me introduce you to Miss Sentenell. Miss Sentenell, Lord Harding Kelly, he is Arandale's fa
vorite uncle.”

  “How do you do, Miss Sentenell,” said Lord Kelly, and Cecilia wondered why Lord Kelly looked at her so keenly. Even when she had turned away after her introduction she still felt his gaze on her.

  Lord Dalmont was a jovial man and made them laugh with anecdotes. Several ladies had not taken part in the tour, having been to Rolling Hills many times before. All the men did, for it gave them a chance to stretch their legs and be in the company of new acquaintances.

  The first day went by quickly as they piled on new impressions. Cecilia felt Lady Dalmont’s eyes on her more often than on the others and she imagined that Lady Dalmont had somehow heard of Arandale’s interest in her and wanted to observe her.

  Hedra, in wanting to advance her acquaintance of Arandale’s sister and brother-in-law spent most of her time seeking instances in which to do this and this freed Cecilia from her oppressive company.

  Cecilia was glad that her father found Lord Dalmont’s library to be among the best and that it had become his sanctuary.

  She went out to the gardens and the wood nearby and was startled by a voice behind her.

  “I am glad to see you in such a setting, Miss Sentenell, for it is quite becoming.”

  “Good morning, Lord Arandale,” she said, avoiding his thoughtful gaze. “Did you make good time from London?”

  “We avoided footpads and highwaymen, if that is what you mean, Miss Sentenell. Lord Jarvis and Hop Mansfield came with me. On the way in we ran into a relative of yours, in the village where we rested our horses.”

  “Oh?”

  “Shackel. Alex Shackel. I believe he is your father’s heir?”

  “He is now.”

  “Now?”

  “For the longest time, Papa’s heir was Guy Lindemere. Unfortunately, Lindemere died at the hands of footpads. So Shackel became my father’s heir, last year.”

  “Fortunately for him, for I cannot think there is much money to be wrested from Shackel’s estate in Lyme.”