Tempting Sarah

by Gayle Buck

  “That is quite true, Grandmama,” said Margaret. “We were talking about it not a half hour past.”

  “You have a very sensible attitude, Margaret. I am glad of it. I hope that your sister is clever enough to learn from you,” said Lady Alverley in an annoyed tone.

  Sarah inclined her head, the shadow of a smile on her lips. She could do nothing more and her conscience was clear of its anxiety. “Indeed I am, Grandmama. I shall not utter another word of protest, whatever you may suggest.”

  Margaret nodded, her expression earnest. “We are quite prepared to be guided by you in everything.”

  Lady Alverley smiled. She nodded approvingly. “I am happy to hear it. We shall all go along much more comfortably, I assure you.” She glanced up at the ormolu clock on the mantle. “It is already five o’clock, so let us go in to dinner. It is a bore to be forced to dine at home, but I do not begrudge the sacrifice while we are awaiting your new gowns. My cousin informs me that by the end of the week we can anticipate some fittings. It is satisfactory, very satisfactory, indeed!”

  “Will Miss Hanson not be joining us?” asked Sarah, surprised, as she and her sister followed Lady Alverley into the dining room.

  “My cousin has a touch of me headache and has requested the favor of taking dinner in her rooms this afternoon,” said Lady Alverley. A flicker of annoyance crossed her face.

  “I am sorry to hear it,” said Sarah quickly. “However, I am not surprised. Miss Hanson seemed to have the beginnings of it before we had returned this afternoon.”

  Lady Alverley shrugged. “I do not regard it, for I have already had an opportunity to discuss several matters with her. Since Mrs. Jeffries will be taking you riding in the morning, you will not start the day with shopping. Marie may as well fill in the time by writing out the invitations for your first gathering. She is preparing a guest list this evening to submit for my approval.”

  Sarah kept her thoughts to herself as the soup was served, but she reflected that it sounded as though poor Miss Hanson never had a moment off the leash. She wondered if that lady had ever regretted making her home with Lady Alverley. Then she decided, quite correctly, that Miss Hanson would probably have regretted more giving up the perquisites of elegant attire and a fashionable address.

  “Miss Hanson was very kind and patient with us today, ma’am. She pointed out several points of interest to us, as well as a few of the notables around town,” said Sarah.

  “That is very good,” said Lady Alverley, nodding. “You must both get your footing as soon as possible. By the by, I was pleased to find a note from Lord Eustace in my correspondence today. His lordship has very prettily asked my permission to call upon you one day. Naturally I have no objection.”

  “That is certainly a kind gesture on his lordship’s part,” said Sarah, surprised. “We met him quite by chance, after all.”

  “He has exceptional manners, indeed,” agreed Margaret, nodding.

  “My dears! What naive chicks you are, to be sure! A gentleman like Lord Eustace does not beg leave to pay his addresses to two young misses unknown to him simply because he possesses exquisite manners,” said Lady Alverley, giving a tolerant laugh.

  “Does he not, Grandmama?” asked Margaret curiously.

  “No, my dear. I would rather say that one or the other of you has made a most agreeable impression on Lord Eustace. That is why he pursues the acquaintance so quickly,” said Lady Alverley.

  Sarah was startled by her grandmother’s interpretation, but it was left to her sister to pose the astonished question that formed in her mind.

  “Oh, my goodness!” exclaimed Margaret. “Do you mean that Lord Eustace wishes to become one of our suitors?”

  “I should not be a bit surprised, Margaret,” said Lady Alverley complacently.

  “Surely you are making too much of it, ma’am! Why, his lordship does not even know us. We shared his carriage with him for no more than half an hour,” said Sarah.

  “However, that appears to have been quite long enough to have persuaded Lord Eustace that he wishes to become better acquainted with you and Margaret, Sarah,” said Lady Alverley. “It will be most interesting to see what comes of it. It is such an understood thing that Lord Eustace is out of the lists that this development is quite in the manner of a minor miracle. Ah, we are having turbot this evening! How delightful! I do not regret dining en famille in the least, after all. Altogether it has been a most satisfactory day. Don’t you think so, my dears?”

  “Indeed, ma’am, it has been most instructive,” said Sarah, meaning every word, as she was served a helping of the well-prepared fish.

  * * * *

  After breakfast the following morning, Sarah and Margaret attired themselves in their riding habits. Carrying their gloves and whips, and holding the long skirts of their habits draped over their arms, they went downstairs to join Mrs. Jeffries. As they descended, the sisters discussed what Lady Alverley had said the previous day concerning the habits that they had brought from home.

  Sarah and Margaret finally agreed that they looked perfectly presentable. Their habits were scarcely a year old, after all. It was surely Lady Alverley’s aversion to anything that she considered to be provincial that had made necessary the ordering of new habits, not any lack in their present appearance. Lady Alverley had made her judgment without ever having seen the habits.

  “That will not weigh at all with Grandmama, of course,” said Sarah. “Nor with Miss Hanson, who is quite as much determined as our grandmother to transform us into London misses.”

  “Yes,” agreed Margaret and laughed. “At least Grandmama and Miss Hanson are spared the sight of us dressed in something that wasn’t made in London, since they haven’t risen yet.”

  “I doubt that we appear that unfashionable, in any event,” said Sarah confidently.

  When Sarah and her sister joinedMrs. Jeffries in the drawing room, they at once saw that they were in error. Mrs. Jeffries greeted them cheerfully, sweeping toward them to catch their hands in hers. She wore a figure-skimming velvet riding habit ornamented with cord and braid down the front and on the cuffs. A rakish black top hat sporting an ostrich plume was perched on her head. The bodice of her habit had been left open to show off her shirt and the froth of lace at her throat. Tan leather gloves and black half boots completed her outfit. There was no doubt that Mrs. Jeffries was attired in the very height of fashion. Sarah felt that she looked dowdy by comparison in her russet brown riding dress.

  “Grandmama was right, after all,” said Margaret on a sigh.

  Mrs. Jeffries looked at them, her expression inquiring. “What is this, pray? Have I offended in some way?”

  “Of course not. It is just that our grandmother had told us that we would need new riding habits and we didn’t quite believe her,” said Sarah with a smile.

  “Yes, and now that we have seen yours, we know it to be true,” said Margaret, shaking her head. “You utterly outshine us.”

  Mrs. Jeffries laughed. “You look quite charming, I assure you. The horses do not mind what we wear. As for the rest of the world, I am certain that Lady Alverley will see to it that you do her credit! Now let us go try out the mounts that her ladyship has provided for you.”

  Over the next several minutes, as they slowly rode through the streets, the lady exhibited such twinkling good humor and wit that all dismay over their obviously countrified riding habits faded away. Sarah at once felt comfortable with the widow. Even though Mrs. Jeffries was ten years older than she and far more worldly, there began to develop a warm friendship between them.

  Margaret, too, swiftly warmed to the lady. She went so far as to confide in Mrs. Jeffries that she was the nicest person that they had yet met in London.

  “How sweet of you! But I daresay that you will meet scores of others whom you will like just as much,” said Mrs. Jeffries, leading the way at a sedate pace through the gates of the park. She was placed between the sisters, while her own groom and Lady Alverley’s followe
d at a discreet distance behind the ladies.

  “Oh, no. There are those that one feels instantly comfortable with and one just knows that they are going to be great friends. And that is just how I feel about you,” said Margaret.

  Mrs. Jeffries laughed, her browned complexion pinkening a little. “Well, if we are to be friends, then we must certainly address each other by our first names. Pray call me Elizabeth.”

  “And you must call me Sarah. I, too, am quite persuaded that we shall be friends,” said Sarah. She easily controlled the frisking of her mare with a firm hand, proving who was in authority. Sarah breathed in the chill early morning air. It was good to have a decent horse under her and to be able to ride through the park. Though town life was shaping up to be very different and exciting, Sarah was glad for the familiarity of the exercise.

  “That is just what I have been saying,” said Margaret, nodding. “Isn’t this wonderful, Sarah! I do like my sweet mare. I must ask the groom to tell me her name.”

  She fell back to converse briefly with the groom in the distinctive green and russet and then spurred forward again. “She is called Cassie and yours is Ladylove!” she informed Sarah happily.

  “That is very pretty,” said Sarah, and she crooned to her mount so that its ears swiveled back toward her. Sarah also had been pleased by her grandmother’s choice in mounts for herself and her sister. Lady Alverley had judged to a nicety just the sort of horses that would suit them. The mares had good lines and were smooth gaited. She had nothing to complain of, thought Sarah with a smile.

  Mrs. Jeffries handled her own cavorting mount with ease. She had been critically watching for several minutes how her companions rode and now she complimented Sarah and Margaret on their horsemanship. “You both have excellent seats. It is easy to see that you are well taught and have a love for horses,” she commented.

  “Our father taught us when we were very young. He was always a fine rider. I adore riding, but it is Margaret who is the better rider. She never grows fatigued,” said Sarah.

  Margaret laughed gaily. “Yes, I am made of iron. I never tire. I don’t think that I like anything half as well as riding.”

  “We rode at home every day. It is good to be in the saddle again,” said Sarah with a flash of a smile. For the first time since they had arrived in London, she felt completely at ease. It probably had to do with their surroundings as much as the ride. The trees in the park were still devoid of leaves and the riding paths showed the effects of winter in broken branches and mudholes, but Sarah thought she had not seen anything as peaceful since they had arrived.

  “You might not wish to ride as often while you are here in London. There will be parties and dancing until all hours for the duration of the Season. You won’t feel much like rising early each morning, I promise you,” said Mrs. Jeffries, guiding them down a bridle path that had a canopy of sweeping, starkly bare branches overhead. “But you’ll like all of that, too, I expect.”

  “Oh, yes! Grandmama has already told us about all of the plans she is making for our amusement,” said Margaret. “We will be ever so busy, won’t we, Sarah?”

  “Quite. But I trust that we won’t abandon all of our familiar habits,” said Sarah. She leaned over to pat the mare’s neck. “I should like to spend time with this lady.”

  “You might find that it is not so easy, once the Season truly begins,” warned Mrs. Jeffries. “You will become increasingly busy as the Season progresses. More than likely, we’ll end by doing most of our riding in the afternoons at the fashionable hour of five o’clock, so that you can meet all the new friends that you will make. Then there will be times when Lady Alverley will wish you to drive with her in her carriage rather than ride,” said Mrs. Jeffries. “Her ladyship will wish to make certain that she is able to introduce you to just such personages who will prove most advantageous to your social progress.”

  “I wish to make a great many friends,” declared Margaret. “Then Sarah and I can invite callers to tea every day. That will be very agreeable.”

  “There will be gentlemen calling on you, too,” said Mrs. Jeffries, throwing her a teasing glance. “We must not forget that. You’ll wish to receive them.”

  “I shan’t mind that,” said Margaret cheerfully. “Grandmama had told us to expect several offers made for us before the Season’s end. She wishes to see us credibly established, but I am in no hurry to be wed.”

  “Nor I,” said Sarah, laughing.

  “Are you not ready to wed?” Mrs. Jeffries looked at them in surprise. ‘That is the reason most young ladies come up to London.”

  “But you see, we have lived so very quietly that the very novelty of being out in society is treat enough for the moment,” said Sarah.

  “Yes, and so I wish to go to as many entertainments as I possibly can,” agreed Margaret. “Grandmama may be thinking of marrying me off, but I shan’t turn my thoughts in that direction any time soon. I am still young. Why should I be anxious to wed? Now Sarah is already turned nineteen. I suppose she must have given it more thought than I have.”

  Sarah felt her face heat up under Mrs. Jeffries’s swift, appraising glance. “Margaret, you do have a knack for leaving one in an awkward way.”

  Mrs. Jeffries laughed. “Never mind, Sarah! There is no disparagement connected to wishing to have an offer made to one. On the contrary! It is understood. And no doubt you will have your choice of the gentlemen.”

  “Grandmama is giving a small dinner party for us in a few days,” said Margaret. “Will you be coming to it, Elizabeth? I do hope so, for then we shall know at least one person there!”

  Mrs. Jeffries shook her head. “No, I fear not. I am not so well acquainted with Lady Alverley that I figure as one of her bosom-bows,” she said easily. “Ah, here is a good place for a canter! Let us try the paces of your horses, shall we?”

  The time passed very pleasantly. When Mrs. Jeffries suggested that they ought to return to the town house, Sarah and Margaret were regretful. “I had no notion that the time has passed so quickly!” exclaimed Margaret.

  “It always does when one is enjoying oneself,” said Mrs. Jeffries. “And that is the neatest compliment that you could have paid me, Margaret.” The three ladies conversed easily on a number of topics until they reached Alverley House. Then Lady Alverley’s groom helped Sarah and Margaret descend to the pavement and took the horses in charge.

  “We do thank you, Elizabeth,” said Sarah, reaching up with her gloved hand. Mrs. Jeffries grasped her fingers for the briefest of moments. “We will ride together again soon, shan’t we?”

  “Tomorrow morning, if you like,” said Mrs. Jeffries.

  Sarah and Margaret agreed to it, each expressing anticipation and pleasure. Mrs. Jeffries promised to bring a friend or two with her when she came. “I do not wish you to become too bored in my company,” she said, laughing at their quick protests. “And besides, it will make for a merry outing.” She gathered her reins and waved a final good-bye before trotting off, her brown-liveried groom keeping pace behind her.

  * * *

  Chapter 6

  As they entered the town house, Sarah and Margaret speculated about whom Mrs. Jeffries intended to include in their riding party on the morrow. “I imagine that it will be a couple of her friends whom she believes we shall like,” said Sarah.

  “I shan’t mind that at all if they prove to be as friendly and open as Elizabeth,” said Margaret as she began to pull off her riding gloves.

  “No, indeed,” agreed Sarah. “Quite the contrary, in fact. I shall enjoy meeting others who like getting out as much as we do.”

  The footman who took their whips and gloves informed Sarah and Margaret that her ladyship had risen and she had left instructions that her granddaughters were to attend her in her bedchamber whenever they had returned.

  “Pray tell her ladyship that we have returned this moment, and that we shall do so as soon as we have changed,” said Sarah.

  The footman bowed in acknowl
edgment. “I shall do so, miss.”

  The sisters hurriedly went upstairs to their respective rooms to change out of their habits and put on suitable daydresses. “I asked Holby to see to a torn flounce earlier, so more than likely she is in my room. I shall send her to you as soon as I can,” said Margaret, opening the door to her bedroom.

  Sarah nodded and entered her own bedroom. She was surprised when she found a quiet individual, who introduced herself as Bordon, waiting for her.

  “Her ladyship thought it best that each of you had your own maid, miss, and Holby deemed it to be her place to care for the younger miss,” said Bordon woodenly.

  “Oh, I see. Of course,” said Sarah. And she thought that she did. Lady Alverley had directed things as she thought to be for the best and Holby, though undoubtedly torn about where her duty should take her, had chosen to take Margaret in hand. Though Sarah regretted losing the comfortable services of one whom she had known virtually all of her life, she nevertheless appreciated Holby’s wisdom in remaining with Margaret. Her sister was lively and imaginative, and sometimes needed a firm hand to dampen her enthusiastic starts.

  When Sarah and her sister presented themselves to their grandmother, Lady Alverley informed them that she had several calls to make that day and that they were to accompany her.

  “I have decided to take you with me when I make my calls today, and I have drawn up a list of particular friends to whom I wish to introduce you before my little gathering,” said Lady Alverley. Her ladyship was still attired in her silk wrapper and was sitting up in bed with a number of laced pillows supporting her. She wore a cap over her tinted hair and she was sipping at a cup of hot chocolate. Several sheets of note paper and a newspaper were scattered across her coverlet.

  “We are honored, of course,” said Sarah.

  “So you should be,” said Lady Alverley. She critically surveyed her granddaughters’ appearances. “Is that all that you have to wear?”