“And as a consequence,” Lord Harold murmured, “you were waylaid in your chair later that evening — and Madam Lefroy was sent to her death.”
I nodded painfully, all but incapable of speech. “The coincidence of events is not to be dismissed.”
“As for that — you know my opinion of coincidence.”
The rain dripped mournfully from our black umbrellas, as though all Bath must lament my dear Madam’s passing. “We learned, moreover, that Mr. Conyngham kept to his rooms throughout Saturday and Sunday, in respect of an indisposition — but might not he rather have found occasion for a journey into Hampshire?”
“About the startling of Madam’s horse.”
“Exactly. I admit it seems a tissue of the most fantastic construction—”
Lord Harold gave me a long look, as honest and pitiless as one of Lawrence’s heads. “Would that it were, my dear Jane. Would that it were. But it rings, rather, with undeniable truth. Imagine Conyngham’s agitation, upon learning that Anne Lefroy had published his childhood passion for Maria Siddons! Anne Lefroy, whom he had observed the night of the murder in closest conversation with the regrettable Lawrence! What if the painter had recounted his own affections for Maria Siddons, or even his portrait of her eye? The eye that was left on the wrong man’s breast, and so mysteriously disappeared! Mr. Conyngham should be a fool not to perceive that events had moved beyond his ordering of them. And so he attempted to silence you and Madam Lefroy both — and Mr. Lawrence into the bargain. I may count myself fortunate, I suppose, that I am walking about unbattered.”
I had not energy enough to summon a reply; and the oppression of spirits — the uneasy sensation of complicity in Madam’s end — dragged bitterly at my heart. Of a sudden I was infinitely weary.
“But you must reflect, Jane,” my companion added gently, “that yours was not the hand, or the murderous intent, that effected her death.”
“No more than the unfortunate horse,” I retorted angrily, my countenance flushing, “but he was equally destroyed.”
MR. RAUZZINI’S CONCERTS ARE ALWAYS HELD IN THE UPPER Rooms, which are of recent construction and happily situated between the Circus and the portion of the Lansdowne Road known familiarly as Belmont.[78] Here one may find the Ballroom and the Octagons, Little and Grand; the Card Room and the Tea Room, where our concert tonight was to be held. These are large, high-ceilinged spaces, done up in pale hues and Adam Fretwork and cream, ideally suited to either a Cotillion Ball or the presentation of an aria; and as they sit but three or four blocks from Paragon Buildings, my uncle’s gouty disposition need be indisposed very little, in pursuit of his enjoyment.
We had agreed that Eliza and Henry should meet us at the concert itself, while my uncle should call for me in his comfortable carriage. I was a little anxious for the arrival of the Henry Austens, in fearing that Mr. Leigh-Perrot — who is most prompt on all occasions — should never comprehend the effort at dress required by so fashionable a lady as Eliza. But at a quarter ‘til eight, the Austens assembled in considerable style by the hearth in the Grand Octagon; and despite the persistent oppression of my spirits, and some little agitation on Lord Harold’s account, I was very well pleased at the sentiment that had counselled me to forgo my aunt’s insipid card party.
Besides, my uncle had stood me the price of the ticket.
“Well, Jane, you are very fine,” my brother Henry said, as he surveyed my sapphire muslin. “The black gloves and shawl look very well, indeed, with that delicate colour. It quite becomes you. I am sure Lord Harold will approve.”
“You must have your portrait taken in exactly that shade, my dear — it brings out the grey of your eyes exceedingly,” Eliza observed.
“Is she to have her portrait done, then?”
“Or perhaps her eye alone. I forget which. Jane has been to consult with Cosway.”
Henry frowned. “But isn’t he rather dear?”
“Your eyes, Jane?” my uncle enquired, catching the latter part of Eliza’s meaning. “Are they troubling you again? It is the effect of too much writing in very poor light — you must have a lamp entirely to yourself, if you will persist in scribbling of an evening. I have often remarked as much to Mrs. Perrot, and she does intend to make you a present of a lamp on some occasion or other — Christmas, perhaps — but there it is. You know that her health is indifferent at present, and she cannot be running about in search of the cheapest shops.”
I was capable of only partial attendance to his words, for my thoughts would wander, and my eyes search fruitlessly for the Wilborough party. But I managed a smile, and said, “Should not we go in? There is a considerable crush, and I should not like to be left at the rear!”
My uncle was all affability; the Henry Austens permitted themselves to be wooed from the warmth of the flames; and so to the cream-coloured Tea Room ablaze with an hundred candles we proceeded, in company with most of Bath.
The musicians appeared, and sought their places before the Tea Room hearth, Rauzzini himself progressed to his position at the fore, and Mrs. Billington condescended to grace the company with her smiles and her elegant bronze satin. All discussion of such things as portraits and eyes was at an end; and I breathed a private sigh of relief. For though I may profess no very ardent love of concerts, I must declare them an admirable sedative for an agitated heart. Not even the most satiric eye should detect anything like apprehension in the countenance of Miss Austen, once beguiled by an Italian air.
• • •
“MISS AUSTEN!” LADY DESDEMONA CRIED, WHEN THE CONCERT had done, and we had fled the heat of the room for the relative comfort of the hall. Lord Harold’s niece stood before one of the marble columns that flanked the Little Octagon, like a single rose displayed to advantage, and her face was alive with pleasure. “I am happy to see you! I did not know you intended the concert. Uncle will be pleased. He is only now gone off with Easton in search of claret — although how the poor Colonel shall manage it with his wounded right arm as yet in a sling, I cannot think. But that is Easton all over — he is gallant to a fault.” She sighed; from vexation, I should judge, rather than pity.
I searched the length of the hallway’s parquet floor, intent upon Lord Harold’s silver head, but no glimpse of him did I seize. “I did not know that your uncle was fond of music, Lady Desdemona.”
“He is a proficient himself upon the pianoforte — so proficient, in fact, that I have never attempted to master the instrument, for fear of comparison with my betters. But come! I have such news!” She drew me close with a secretive air. “You will never guess whom Uncle has brought to the concert!”
“Indeed, I cannot,” I replied with false innocence.
“The redoubtable Conynghams! Uncle has certainly effected a change in their sentiment towards the Trowbridge family; though perhaps in this we should credit the tokens he wears about his person.”
“Tokens?”
Lady Desdemona smiled. “I thought Miss Conyngham should all but faint when Uncle took off his greatcoat; and indeed, she is remarkable even now for her pallor. See — they are over there, by the bust of Caesar.”
I gazed in the appointed direction and observed a creature so unlike the Medusa of memory, that I was quite struck. Miss Conyngham was arrayed tonight in virginal white, with a wreath of flowers in her dark hair. The slightest hint of grief about her eyes lent interest to a countenance already formed for beauty, and her pallor was exceptional. She stood near her brother in the closest conversation, oblivious to the crowd surging about her; and the classical effect of a velvet drapery behind — so suggestive of the dramatic muse — was unconsciously lovely.
I looked once more about the room, and found, inevitably, Lord Harold himself. He stood idly at some little remove from the crowd, two glasses of claret suspended in his hands — and he was engrossed in the study of the Conynghams. On the lapel of his coat was the golden tiger; and around his neck, the pendant bearing Maria Siddons’s eye.
You have li
ved long enough in the world, my dear, to know that appearances are everything.
As I watched, the Gentleman Rogue forced a passage through the crowd to the actors’ side. They accepted the claret with tolerable composure, and the slightest appearance of effort; but Hugh Conyngham’s gaze was feverishly intent, and his sister’s fingers shook. I observed her eyes to stray towards his lordship’s coat, and judged that she found Lord Harold’s society taxing, and a strain upon her nerves.
“Ah, Jane.” My uncle’s voice recalled me to my situation. “We wondered where you had got to. Would you care for an ice, or perhaps some little cakes?”
“No, Uncle, I thank you. Lady Desdemona, may I have the honour of introducing Mr. Leigh-Perrot to your acquaintance? Mr. Perrot is my uncle.”
Lady Desdemona murmured a politeness and curtseyed; but her eyes were on me, and their expression was anxious. “I fear you are unwell, Miss Austen.”
“A head-ache, nothing more. It is so excessively hot in the Rooms!” I forced myself to smile, but my eyes would return to Lord Harold. My anxiety was intense; for had he moved anywhere but in so public a throng, his life would already be at an end. It required now only the appearance of the Earl, for the mixture to prove volatile.
“Would you wish to depart, Jane?” my uncle enquired. “I will forgo the punch, and summon the chaise this instant, for we cannot have you decline the charades, on account of a head-ache!”
“You may rest easy on that score, sir. I should never disappoint you.”
“Charades?” enquired Lady Desdemona, her eyes alight with fun. “How cunning! I should dearly love to play — and Easton, I am sure, would be very droll!”
“Then you must certainly make another of the party, my lady,” my uncle said affably, “for one cannot have too many at a game of that sort, you know. We are to return to Paragon Buildings, where Mrs. Leigh-Perrot is presently entertaining friends, and I am sure she should be most happy to see you.”
I little doubted the Trowbridges’ reception; for though my aunt may be mean in her habits, and crushing to her acquaintance, she is beyond everything a most frightful snob. The capture in Paragon Buildings of the Wilborough set — however disreputable Aunt Perrot might profess to find it — would be the season’s triumph.
Lady Desdemona accepted his invitation with thanks, and then craned on tip-toe to peer amidst the crowd. “And there is Easton at last!” she exclaimed. “I thought I should die of thirst before the interval was out. And look — he has brought a waiter with claret enough for all of us! Do you take a glass, Miss Austen — for I am sure it should do your head a world of good.”
I bade the excellent Colonel hello, and made yet another introduction of my uncle — who immediately solicited the gentleman for charades, and his opinion regarding Buonaparte’s intentions towards the Channel coast.
“Uncle!” Lady Desdemona cried, with a wave of her fan. “You shall never guess what fun! We are all to play at charades this evening, in the company of Miss Austen!”
“Charades?” Lord Harold enquired, as he appeared with his party at my elbow. “But how appropriate to the season! And how exactly suited to my inclination! Your servant, Miss Austen.”
“Lord Harold. May I have the honour of presenting my uncle to your acquaintance?”
They exchanged their hellos, with a twinkle of amusement and a significant look on Mr. Leigh-Perrot’s side; and then Lord Harold remembered the Conynghams.
The brother bowed, and the sister curtseyed deeply to my uncle.
“Charmed, madam,” Mr. Leigh-Perrot said with a flush. “I have long desired to convey to you my extreme appreciation of your talents. This is your first season in the Theatre Royal, is it not?”
“It is.”
“And before that, you studied with Mrs. Siddons?”
“I have had that privilege,” Maria Conyngham replied, with a quick look for her brother. “You are quite knowledgeable on the subject of the theatre, I see. A devotee of the Dramatic Muse, perhaps?”
“A frustrated player, I own. As a lad at Eton I took the breeches parts in Shakespeare; and I have never quite got over my turn as Viola.”
“But she is one of my favourites!” Miss Conyngham offered graciously.
My uncle’s good humour was at full flood, and he was on the point of inviting the actors to make an addition to our post-concert party, when Eliza’s voice was heard above the throng.
“Look who I have found, Jane!”
I turned — and observed my sister advancing excitedly, with Henry and Lord Swithin in tow.
The Earl’s strong figure loomed over our little party, and his eyes went first to Lady Desdemona, still and silent at Easton’s side, and then to Lord Harold’s coat, where the tiger and the pendant gleamed dully in the candlelight. His lordship’s countenance turned first white, and then red with suppressed emotion; but he managed a creditable bow. “Lord Harold. Lady Desdemona.”
“Good evening, Swithin,” Lord Harold said. “I see you have come to pay your respects to dear Mona at last. You remember Miss Conyngham, of course?”
“Who could not?” Lord Swithin’s tone was easy enough, but his eyes would fix on Lord Harold’s tiger.
“We were on the point of carrying her off to play at charades,” observed the Gentleman Rogue, “but now I come to think of it, Mr. Leigh-Perrot, we are become a shocking great party, indeed! It should never do to incommode your excellent wife with the addition of so many. May I propose our removal to Laura Place instead?”
My uncle hesitated, and looked to me; and I rallied tolerably to Lord Harold’s purpose.
“What better place for diversion? I quite long to see that noble drawing-room alight once more, and explore the cunning passage! And I am sure Aunt’s unfortunate indisposition must render the suggestion a welcome one.”
My gentle relation gave way. “To Laura Place, then, without delay!”
“IN CONFINEMENT I’M CHAINED EVERY DAY,” UNCLE Leigh-Perrot began with a mischievous twinkle,
“Yet my enemies need not be crowing
To my chain I have always a key,
And no prison can keep me from going.
“Small and weak are my hands I’ll allow,
Yet for striking my character’s great,
Though ruined by one fatal blow,
My strokes, if hard pressed, I repeat.”
Our side received this sally with a mixture of emotions — tolerance for my part, who was familiar with my uncle’s wit, and puzzlement among those less adept at word-play than the Austens. There were five of us ranged to the right of the drawing-room fire — Lord Swithin, the Conynghams, my brother Henry, and myself — while Lord Harold and my uncle anchored the opposing team of Eliza, Lady Desdemona, and Colonel Easton. The Dowager Duchess had elected to serve as audience, with Miss Wren disapproving at her side.
“A clock,” Hugh Conyngham suggested.
“No, no,” Henry objected. “Though the notion of striking is apt, I grant you, you must endeavour to comprise the whole of Uncle’s meaning. It is a repeating watch. Consider the chain.”
“Capital, dear boy!” my uncle cried.
“But should we accord them the victory?” Lord Harold enquired. “For surely the immediate response was inaccurate. Should not the team present a unified face, and reply with one accord?”
“Very well — in future we shall do so,” said Swithin. “But let us consider the last point as unplayed.”
“Unplayed!” my uncle cried indignantly. “But it was a most ingenious riddle!”
“Then let me propose another,” said Lord Harold smoothly; and after a moment’s consultation, presented the following:
“Divided, I’m a gentleman
In public deeds and powers;
United I’m a monster, who
That gentleman devours.”[79]
An absolute silence greeted this offering, and with a sidelong glance, I saw that Maria Conyngham’s countenance was as death. She reached for her b
rother’s hand, and he clutched it close.
“Could it be,” Henry mused, his eyes on the elaborate plaster carving of the Dowager’s ceiling—“but no, that makes three syllables — now I wonder—”
“‘United I’m a monster …’” Miss Conyngham whispered, and declined into silence.
“Agent,” the Earl spat out, with a venomous look in his eye. “It is agent.”
“Very well played.” Lord Harold applauded lightly. “The one who strikes on behalf of another, and in so doing, involves them both in ruin. I had thought the notion might possibly thwart your penetration.”
“I may employ such men, Lord Harold, but I am hardly thwarted by them,” Swithin rejoined.
“Indeed? Your turn, I believe.”
We consulted in a group, and agreed upon a word I suggested, having had occasion to compose a riddle on its meaning before; and then I turned to the others, and said:
“When my first is a task to a young girl of spirit,
And my second confines her to finish the piece,
How hard is her fate! But how great is her merit,
If by taking my all she effects her release!”
“Sew — cook — wash — what other tasks must be onerous to a girl of spirit, Eliza?” my uncle enquired, puzzling it out.
“Visits to elderly relations?”
“No, no — it must be one syllable!”
“Darn? Mend? Do you exert your energies towards the first part, Mr. Perrot, and I shall endeavour to make out the second.” She closed her eyes in a pretty attitude of concentration. “Might you repeat that section, Jane?”
“‘And my second confines her to finish the piece,’“ I said, with a casual air; but I thought Maria Conyngham’s looks grew more pallid still.
“Confine. Yes. Now, then — chain? Bond? Tie?”
Colonel Easton’s voice, in a tone of quiet amusement, superseded the little Comtesse’s. “Darnchain? Mend-bond? Cooktie? I do not think we shall progress very far in such a fashion. Let us declare ourselves at a loss.”
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