by Gayle Buck
Lady Alverley nodded. “Quite understandable, but quite unnecessary. There will be time enough later to dazzle the male populace of London. Now come along! You and Margaret will stand in the receiving line with me for the first hour. Then you may be excused to join the rest of the company.”
The musicians had arrived at seven-thirty and had already struck up. Sarah glanced around the drawing room, appreciating the flowers arranged everywhere. When Lady Alverley and her granddaughters stationed themselves at the door, it was eight and the first guests began to arrive. Most of the gentlemen wore cutaway coats and knee breeches. Their ladies were attired in elegant gowns, with plumes in their hair, and jewelry of every description on display.
The party filled the back drawing room and overflowed into the passage leading to the smaller room at the front of the town house. The harp and pianoforte accompaniment made a pleasant background to the flow of conversation and laughter.
Lady Alverley had already given permission for her granddaughters to be led away from the receiving line by portly admirers when Lord Eustace crossed the threshold. Lady Alverley at once greeted his lordship with a smile and an outstretched hand. “Lord Eustace! How good of you to come. I was not certain that you would honor me tonight with your presence, for the entertainment is only of modest fare.”
Lord Eustace bowed over her ladyship’s white-gloved fingers. “It is always a privilege, my lady. This early in the Season one has the leisure to choose invitations that are of particular exclusion.”
Lady Alverley inclined her head, pleased with him. “Thank you, my lord. No doubt you would like to renew your acquaintance with my granddaughters. I must thank you again for coming so handily to their rescue, my lord. They told me that they would have been in dire straits indeed if you had not chanced by.”
“I am glad that I could be of assistance,” said Lord Eustace, slowly escorting her ladyship through the crowded company. They threaded their way, pausing often for Lady Alverley to acknowledge her guests and to bring Lord Eustace to the notice of the company. It was a coup for her to have been able to draw Lord Eustace to her first gathering.
Lady Alverley eventually guided Lord Eustace up to Sarah. “Sarah, Lord Eustace has honored us with his presence tonight. He desired in particular to renew his acquaintance with you.”
Sarah cast a startled glance up at Lord Eustace’s urbane expression and she murmured something appropriate. Lord Eustace bowed over her hand. As he straightened, he smiled down at her. “Will you honor me by taking a turn about the room, Miss Sommers?”
Sarah glanced toward Lady Alverley to gauge her reaction. Lady Alverley smiled and nodded. Sarah allowed only the slightest of smiles to curve her lips, but her hazel eyes gleamed with amusement. She could well read her grandmother’s satisfaction at Lord Eustace’s show of attention. “I shall be delighted, my lord,” she said demurely, placing her gloved lingers lightly on his extended elbow.
Lord Eustace led Sarah slowly around the perimeter of the drawing room, nodding to various acquaintances as they caught his eye. He politely made conversation. “How are you enjoying this evening, Miss Sommers?”
“It is very bewildering and different from home. We lived very quietly,” said Sarah honestly. “I have not quite gotten my social bearings, I fear. There are so many faces and names tonight that I have difficulty recalling them.”
Lord Eustace smiled down at her. “I think it is the same for everyone who is used to living in the country. You will soon adjust, I daresay. How is your sister faring?”
“Margaret is quite happy whatever the circumstances. It is being in London for the Season, you see. She anticipates all sorts of excitements and wonderful happenings,” said Sarah.
“And you do not. Miss Sommers?” asked Lord Eustace.
Sarah laughed and nodded her head. “Oh, yes, of course I do. But Margaret is far more excitable about such things than I am. She positively glows with enthusiasm whenever one mentions some new treat.”
Lord Eustace’s gaze traveled beyond Sarah’s face to the young lady standing across the room. Miss Margaret Sommers was the center of a group of ladies and gentlemen and she was obviously enjoying herself. “Yes, so I perceive. Your sister is both lively and lovely. She will turn several heads this Season, I suspect.”
“No doubt, my lord. My sister is a beautiful, charming girl,” said Sarah warmly.
Lord Eustace looked back at her quickly. “There is an obvious affection between you.”
Sarah nodded. “Yes, Margaret and I are very close. There is scarcely anything that we will not share with one another.”
“Shall you share your admirers, too, Miss Sommers?” asked Lord Eustace. When she looked up with a startled expression, he smiled. “Forgive me, Miss Sommers. I spoke out of turn.”
Sarah was silent for a moment. “I suppose it is a natural question,” she said thoughtfully. “I suppose that there usually is a certain rivalry between sisters, is there not? But I am persuaded that will not happen between myself and Margaret.”
“Then you are fortunate. Such loyalty is rare and endearing,” said Lord Eustace.
“Margaret and I could never be envious of one another,” said Sarah positively.
Lord Eustace smiled again, more warmly. “I trust that it will remain so, Miss Sommers.”
Miss Hanson walked up with a gentleman whom Sarah vaguely recognized from the receiving line. “Miss Sommers, I have brought over Baron Mittenger. He has expressed himself eager to be reminded to you,” she said.
“Of course, baron. I remember you quite well from when we met earlier,” said Sarah, smiling.
“I am delighted, Miss Sommers.” The baron bowed over Sarah’s hand. He was dressed very correctly in black evening attire. His coat fit perfectly a broad set of shoulders and he had a well-developed stocky physique. A broad silk riband crossed his chest and a foreign order was pinned to it. He wore no jewelry other than a heavy gold signet finger on his left hand, but several fobs and seals dangled from ribbons at his waist. Baron Mittenger was in his thirties, but his stiff bearing and the somberness of his dark-featured countenance made him appear to be older. The baron nodded politely to Lord Eustace. “My lord.”
“Baron Mittenger.” Lord Eustace lifted Sarah’s hand to his lips in a brief polite salute. “Thank you for a delightful conversation, Miss Sommers. I look forward to furthering our short acquaintance,” he said.
“And I,” said Sarah, smiling. His lordship bowed and walked away. Baron Mittenger at once claimed her attention. Shortly thereafter, Sarah chanced to see Lord Eustace go over and seek out her sister.
Sarah and Margaret were drawn into conversation with a score of personages. Sarah did not enjoy her time with a couple of the elderly ladies. Mrs. Plummer was a sharp-featured woman with thin, gray hair. She had an irritating habit of hissing through her false teeth. Her sister, Lady Cromes, was short and extremely well-dressed. However, she had the bad taste to hang a multitude of gold chains around her neck, from which were suspended little charms, gold hearts, quizzing glasses, and watches.
“You look very like your mother, Annabelle Alverley,” said Mrs. Plummer with a narrow, gauging look.
Sarah inclined her head. Smiling, she said, “Why, thank you, ma’am. That is a compliment indeed, for I believe that my mother was considered to be something of a beauty.”
“Oh, she was a beauty! Of that at least there is no doubt!” snorted Mrs. Plummer. “A fine piece, indeed!”
Sarah stared at the lady, a frown drawing her brows together. “I beg your pardon?”
“Now, sister, you mustn’t give Miss Sommers the wrong impression,” admonished Lady Cromes. She wreathed her face in a smile. “We quite liked dear Adelaide’s daughter. It was just such a pity that it all ended in such a horrid scandal. The elopement, you understand.”
Mrs. Plummer hissed through her teeth, sounding much like a donkey. “Adelaide never quite overcame the disgrace. Annabelle Alverley, the toast of the Season! Every hope cut up and d
ashed to pieces. You look very much like your mother, Miss Sommers.”
“Yes, but I think that her manner is not quite as free,” said Lady Cromes in an aside to her sister, though her eyes remained fixed on Sarah’s face.
Sarah was beginning to conceive a dislike for the ladies, but she retained her pleasant expression. Of all things, she detested gossip and there was nothing but malice oozing from these two. She wondered that her grandmother chose to call them her friends. Sarah glanced around, hoping to discover a gracious way to make her escape.
“I trust you are not so headstrong and so utterly lost to convention as your mother,” said Mrs. Plummer. “A hoydenish piece if ever there was one!”
Sarah turned full toward the woman. Raising her brows, with ice in her voice, she said, “I beg your pardon.”
With an affronted expression, Mrs. Plummer drew back and hissed through her teeth. “Well! I don’t know what to make of that, I’m sure!”
Sarah smiled, but there was anger in her hazel eyes. “Do you not? Perhaps your sister might explain it to you! Excuse me, Mrs. Plummer, Lady Cromes. There are several other guests whom I should like to speak with.” She swept away, her head held high.
It was just before supper, and Sarah hoped that she was graced with a few moments to regain her temper before the guests were paired by Lady Alverley. Margaret came up to her and caught her elbow. “Sarah, what is it? I saw you just now, when you left those two ladies, and I don’t recall ever seeing you in such a flame.”
“That is Mrs. Plummer and Lady Cromes,” said Sarah in a low voice.
Margaret nodded. “I remember them from the receiving line. I thought it odd how Grandmama simply pokered up when they arrived.”
“Perhaps they had the audacity to make mention of our mother to her,” said Sarah, her eyes flashing. She shook her head. “Really, Margaret, it is no wonder that our grandmother is still so affected by what happened all those years ago with our parents. Those two women actually had the audacity to slander Mama to my face and then turn about and ask if I was the same sort of hoydenish piece!”
Margaret eyes rounded and her pretty mouth quivered. “Oh! How horridly cruel!”
Sarah glanced quickly at her. She slid an arm around her sister’s narrow waist and hugged her. “I am a selfish beast. I should not have told you. There! I am better now and we shall forget all about it, shall we?”
Margaret’s smile wobbled. “You are always so sensible, Sarah! I wish I was more like you.”
Sarah laughed. “And I wish that I was more like you! Why, you have had every gentleman in the room paying you such fulsome and lavish compliments that your head must already be turned!”
Margaret blushed. “Yes, it is quite, quite extraordinary! And Sarah, the awful thing is that I cannot remember any of their names!”
“You! Why, I am perfectly petrified about going in to supper,” said Sarah.
“Oh, I had forgotten! What am I to do if I cannot remember how to address my supper partner?” asked Margaret, dismayed. “It will not do to mix up a lord with a plain mister!”
“Just so!” said Sarah. “I suspect that we shall be utterly undone when we go into the dining room.”
“Oh, dear! I wish you hadn’t said anything at all, Sarah,” said Margaret.
However, their concern proved to be groundless. As Lady Alverley arranged for supper partners, she made certain that she reintroduced the gentlemen to her granddaughters before she sailed off again.
Sarah accepted the arm of the portly gentleman selected for her and followed the couples ahead of them into the dining room. She thanked him with a smile as he seated her. As she glanced around the crowded table, Sarah felt a little uncertain of herself in the company. Sarah glanced down the table at her sister and knew from Margaret’s expression that she was experiencing the same twinge of insecurity. But supper went off without either of them making a serious faux pas in front of Lady Alverley’s distinguished guests.
Lady Alverley signaled the end of the sumptuous three courses by rising and suggesting to the ladies that they retreat to the drawing room for coffee, leaving the gentlemen to enjoy their wine.
It was a pleasant half hour in the drawing room. Sarah and Margaret both studiously avoided any further conversation with Lady Cromes and Mrs. Plummer. Several of the other ladies encouraged Sarah and Margaret to play a duet on the pianoforte, having heard that the sisters had often entertained themselves in similar fashion at home. Their performance was well received.
When the gentlemen rejoined the ladies, Lady Alverley suggested that an interlude of sedate dancing was not out of form. “I do not pretend that this is a ball-and-supper, of course, but those who wish to indulge in such mild exercise may certainly do so.” A few couples took advantage of Lady Alverley’s impromptu suggestion, while the rest of the company mingled to exchange bright conversation.
Sarah wondered whether Lord Eustace would be one of those who would take to the dance floor, but he did not. Instead, he shortly took leave of his hostess.
Sarah regretted Lord Eustace’s departure, for she saw him as a friend in a sea of strangers. Nevertheless, she managed to enjoy herself very much. Most of the guests were of an older generation, but she discovered that she had no difficulty in conversing either with the gentlemen or their ladies. She was used to speaking about many of the same topics from talks that she had with her father or with neighbors.
Sarah saw that her sister was not shy in company. She was pleased that Margaret was shining to such advantage, for Sarah did not believe that many young misses directly out of the schoolroom could have exhibited the same degree of poise.
Lady Alverley received several compliments on how prettily behaved her granddaughters were and accepted invitations on their behalf. At one o’clock, when the last of her guests had departed, Lady Alverley pronounced herself quite satisfied with how the evening had gone. “You did very well, my dears. I could not ask more from you, unpolished as you are. What do you think, Marie?”
Miss Hanson nodded in agreement with her ladyship’s opinion. “I think Sarah and Margaret did quite well, my lady. With a little town bronze, I expect them to go far, indeed.”
Lady Alverley smiled complacently. “That is just what I was thinking! I trust that you enjoyed yourselves?”
“I did, Grandmama, but I am not so certain about Sarah,” said Margaret.
Lady Alverley glanced at her eldest granddaughter. Her brows rose slightly in inquiry. “Oh? Pray, what was amiss, Sarah?”
“Nothing, dear ma’am. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening,” said Sarah. She was reluctant to bring her unpleasant experience to her grandmother’s notice. The ladies in question were obviously well liked by Lady Alverley, since they had been invited that evening. It was not for her to criticize her ladyship’s friends.
“Why, what a bouncer, Sarah! As though you were not put into a perfect flame by what those ladies said to you!” exclaimed Margaret.
Sarah shook her head, frowning a little at her sister. “It is not important, Margaret.”
“On the contrary, Sarah. It is important to me. What is Margaret referring to?” asked Lady Alverley.
Reluctantly, Sarah said, “I was engaged in a conversation with two of your guests, the tone of which I disliked very much.”
“Indeed! Am I to be forced to pull teeth to have it out of you, Sarah?” asked Lady Alverley impatiently.
Sarah chuckled. “No, ma’am! Very well, then. The gist of the matter was that there was something said about my mother to which I took instant exception. I am afraid that I was not quite civil when I left the two ladies.”
“Oh, dear,” murmured Miss Hanson, casting an anxious glance at Lady Alverley.
Her ladyship’s face resembled a rouged mask, only her eyes showing glittering life. “Perhaps you will be good enough to furnish me with their names? Or might I guess. Lady Cromes and that reedy female whom she calls her sister, Mrs. Plummer!”
“That is exactly right
, ma’am,” said Sarah slowly. “But how did you guess?”
Lady Alverley gave a sharp laugh, but there was no amusement in the sound. Her fingers clenched and unclenched her chair’s arms. “Their hatred is unparalleled. They have delighted themselves for years in dredging up the dirt in my past. I beat Mrs. Plummer out of Lord Alverley and they neither of them have ever forgiven me. When my daughter eloped, those two vicious tongues were at the forefront fanning the fires of scandal.”
“If they dislike you so much, whyever did you invite them tonight, Grandmama?” asked Margaret in puzzlement.
“I can’t think, Margaret!” Lady Alverley’s mouth worked a moment longer; then she gave an abrupt nod. “Very well! I am done with them. Cross Lady Cromes and Mrs. Plummer from my guest lists, Marie. I will not have them setting foot in my house again to insult either me or my granddaughters! We shall see how well that is received!”
“I shall attend to it at once, my lady!” said Miss Hanson, rising with an agitated manner. She started for the door, exclaiming, “The effrontery! The gall! How dare they! Well! We shall see how they like being blackballed from my lady’s entertainments!”
“I apologize for being the cause of all this unpleasantness,” said Sarah quietly. She had been astonished by the reaction she had unleashed.
“My dear! You are scarcely the cause! I should have cut those two from my acquaintance years ago,” said Lady Alverley. She had regained her smile. “Now, my dears, you must go up to bed.”
Margaret covered a yawn behind her hand. “Forgive me, Grandmama. I am very tired all of a sudden.”
“And I,” said Sarah. “I shan’t mind seeking my bed this night.”
“You think that you are tired tonight; but you will soon discover that this little function is but the beginning,” said Lady Alverley. “You must learn to pace yourselves, for I do not want that youthful bloom of yours to fade. The gentlemen like that fresh dewy appearance.”
“Grandmama!” Margaret made a laughing face. “What a terrible thing to say!”
“Why? It is but the truth. Now kiss me, both of you, and go up to bed.”
