‘Oh?’ said Lady Redshaw, regarding Katharine with increased interest.
‘I cannot say more as yet,’ Mrs Calthorpe went on with a significant smile. ‘Kate’s guardians wish her to have her season first. But when that is over…’
Katharine blushed and looked reproachfully at Mrs Calthorpe, who gave her a fond smile and went on, ‘The dear child would rather die than admit it, but she is at the stage when she feels lost without Adam,’ she said. ‘And he feels just the same. Look, he and Julia are coming back already. What did I say?’
Katharine began to feel annoyed. This was going too far! An occasional smile at Adam was all very well, but to be portrayed as a pair of lovelorn fools was too much! She was within a hair of denying it all when Adam and Julia returned.
‘I now know all about you, Miss Payne,’ cried Julia. ‘Adam has been telling me of his friendship with your brother, and I am deeply impressed. It is so like Adam to take on the responsibility of looking after you. He is sometimes too good! But do say you will let me help him!’
‘Good heavens, Julia! How do you think you can help?’ said Mrs Calthorpe.
‘Well, to take a share in teaching Miss Payne the ways of Society. Adam tells me that she has been brought up in the depths of Hampshire and knows nothing of the world. I should be delighted to guide her. Do let me help!’ she said, turning to Katharine with a smile. Gentian-blue eyes surveyed Katharine’s hair and dress. ‘Adam couldn’t possibly advise you on how to make the best of oneself, and what to wear, and so on, and I could. My friends tell me I have a gift with even the most unpromising material—’ Julia put her hand to her mouth. ‘Oh, do forgive me, Miss Payne! My wretched tongue! I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Oh, what must you think of me?’
‘I think Adam has been spinning you stories, Lady Balmenny. I am by no means as helpless as he suggests,’ said Katharine with a sparkle in her eye.
Adam looked slightly embarrassed, but protested, ‘Believe me, Kate, I didn’t suggest anything of the sort. I merely told Lady Balmenny that my mother had agreed to bring you out next season, and that you would spend the winter preparing for it. Your offer is generous, Julia, but it really isn’t necessary. I am sure my mother will provide any help and advice Kate might need.’
Julia sighed and looked hurt. ‘You think I’ve been tactless, and you are quite right. I shouldn’t have said anything. But when I see something wrong, I can’t bear not to put it right! I only meant to help, Adam.’
‘I am sure you did and it does you credit,’ Adam said with an indulgent smile. ‘But it was hard enough to persuade Kate to accept even my mother’s help. You have no idea what an independent creature she is.’
‘Are you, Miss Payne? I do so admire you for it. But then you are tall! A tiny creature such as myself would merely look ridiculous, striding about, insisting on doing everything for myself.’ Julia smiled bewitchingly at Adam. ‘I have to rely on my menfolk.’
‘And where is your husband, Julia?’ asked Mrs Calthorpe briskly. ‘I should love to meet him. Is he not here?’
‘Julia, you and I will take Mrs Calthorpe to find Bernard,’ said Lady Redshaw. ‘He is probably over there by the buffet. Lord Calthorpe will look after Miss Payne, I am sure.’ With a kindly smile at Katharine, Lady Redshaw gathered Julia and Adam’s mother up and swept them off towards the other end of the room. Adam looked at Katharine.
‘You’re very quiet, Kate.’
‘Am I? The conversation seemed to be flowing quite nicely without me.’
‘It’s amazing! Julia is still a most bewitching creature! I knew her years ago—in fact, at one time I was very fond of her. And now she has been married eight or nine years, but she doesn’t seem to have changed a bit.’
‘Really?’ said Katharine, and, remembering Mrs Calthorpe’s views on Julia Redshaw, she thought that was probably perfectly true.
‘I hope you weren’t offended by her words. I am sure she didn’t mean to upset you—she is very good-hearted.’
‘I did wonder what you had said to her…’
‘Nothing you would have objected to! I told her of Tom. I said you missed him. And that is true, isn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ sighed Katharine. ‘I miss him a lot—especially on occasions like these. Mind you, we quarrelled nearly all the time. He was a most exasperating fellow…’
‘He was, wasn’t he?’ Adam grinned. ‘He was a first-class officer, but you’d be surprised at how often I felt like wringing Tom Payne’s neck. But then he would look at you…’
‘How well I know that look! His puppy-dog look. You would end up laughing with him, or feeling guilty for being so unreasonably annoyed!’
‘And then you would finally risk your own reputation in order to save him…’
‘Or make up all sorts of excuses to Grandfather for him and be punished yourself…!’
They looked at one another and burst out laughing. ‘I am so glad someone else knew him as well as I did!’ Katharine said impulsively.
Adam regarded her. Katharine Payne was a different creature altogether when she laughed. Her assertive, rather aggressive air disappeared, revealing a younger, warmer, and in some strange way more vulnerable woman. Which was the real Katharine Payne? It was irritating—even after nearly two months he was still as undecided about her as on that day in November when he had first seen her!
‘Come!’ he said suddenly. ‘We shall dance.’
The laughter died, and she frowned. ‘Thank you, but I don’t wish to dance,’ she said abruptly.
‘Nonsense! That is why we’re here. Come!’ He took her arm.
‘I said I don’t wish to dance!’ she whispered fiercely, and turned her back on him. At the other end of the room Julia Redshaw was staring at her. Katharine remembered her promise to Mrs Calthorpe, swallowed her temper and turned back. She gave Adam the most bewitching smile she could manage. It was not to be compared with Lady Balmenny’s, of course, but it was the best she could do.
‘You’re sounding just a touch peremptory, Adam,’ she said sweetly. ‘I thought we agreed earlier that you would try not to give orders?’
‘And you promised to meet me halfway,’ he said.
‘That’s not—’ Katharine stopped short. She had nearly forgotten again. Giving him a charmingly rueful look, she said, ‘Oh, Adam, I see I shall have to confess the awful truth. I can’t.’
‘Can’t what?’
‘I have never learned how to dance properly! Tom taught me one or two steps, but that is all. It’s one of the many things your mother was going to see to. We’ve already arranged for a dancing master to come after Christmas.’ She came closer and put her hand on his sleeve. Adam looked surprised, but to her relief he didn’t seem to object. With a look of appeal she went on, ‘But don’t force me to make an exhibition of myself here and now—especially after telling your friend that I didn’t need her help. Please don’t make me!’
Adam put his hand over hers. ‘My dear girl, of course I won’t! I’m not a monster. We’ll join the others at the buffet.’
‘Oh…er…couldn’t we sit somewhere else? I would dearly love to hear some stories about Tom.’
‘A much better idea! I’ll get one of the servants to bring some refreshments to that table over here. Come, Kate!’ He took her hand and led her over to the table in a small alcove, and saw her seated. ‘Stay there,’ he said with a charming smile. ‘I’ll be back in a moment.’
Really, thought Katharine, that was quite easy. Perhaps I have something to learn from Lady Balmenny after all. But I’m not sure I could keep it up for long. We tall women are too independent! And too honest!
Adam kept Katharine entertained with his tales of life with Tom for a good half-hour, and then escorted her over to his mother. They were introduced in their turn to Lord Balmenny. After a few minutes’ conversation, Julia once again took Adam off to introduce him to some of her friends, and Katharine was left with Julia’s husband. Lady Redshaw and Mrs Calthorpe were deep
in conversation a little distance away.
‘You a friend of Calthorpe’s, Miss Payne?’ asked Viscount Balmenny, his eyes on the figures circling the floor.
‘My brother was, sir. I would say that I am rather a friend of Lord Calthorpe’s mother.’
‘That’s not what I hear,’ said the Viscount, turning to look at her. His eye closed in a wink. ‘Still, if that’s the story you want to spread, I shan’t interfere. As long as m’wife knows the truth.’
‘I’m not sure what you mean, Lord Balmenny,’ faltered Katharine.
‘Don’t suppose y’do. Y’needn’t concern y’self about it.’ He turned back to the table and poured himself a glass of wine. ‘I’ll drink to your success and happiness, Miss Payne. Success and happiness.’ He drank deep, then called to one of the waiters. ‘You! Fellow! Give the lady a glass of champagne.’
‘I don’t think—’
‘Yes, y’do, Miss Payne. How else can y’drink to my happiness?’ He spoke in an ironic tone, but there was more than a touch of pain in his eyes. Katharine found that she liked Julia’s husband.
‘I’ll do that with pleasure,’ she said.
The evening came to an end before midnight. A number of the guests wanted to attend the midnight service at the church nearby. But later that night, when Julia was preparing for bed, Lady Redshaw came into her daughter’s bedroom. She took the hairbrush from the maid and dismissed her. As she brushed Julia’s hair she said casually, ‘Did you know that Adam Calthorpe is as good as engaged to Miss Payne?’
Julia turned to look at her mother. ‘I don’t believe it!’ she said sharply. ‘Who told you? The girl herself?’
‘No, Adam’s mother.’
‘I see.’ Julia was silent for a moment. Then she shook her head. ‘It doesn’t matter. The girl is a non-entity, a dull, ungraceful beanstalk. She will never hold him.’
‘Adam Calthorpe is not a boy any longer. I believe he is a man who will keep his word, whatever happens. But you should not concern yourself with him, Julia.’ There was a warning note in Lady Redshaw’s voice.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Bernard is no fool. And your exploits are starting to annoy him.’
Julia smiled scornfully. ‘I can manage Bernard, Mama. And I fancy I can manage Adam Calthorpe, too.’
Lady Redshaw shook her head. ‘I think you underestimate your husband. And I strongly doubt that you would find Adam Calthorpe as easy a conquest as you did ten years ago. I beg you not to try it, Julia.’
‘Dearest Mama, you have just made it impossible for me to refuse the challenge! Do you seriously believe that Adam Calthorpe would resist me if I set out to capture him? You should have more faith in me!’
Chapter Nine
Katharine Payne had been given food for thought by the evening with the Redshaws. Till now her attitude towards the opposite sex had been regulated by her dealings with her grandfather, her brother, her guardians and those she had met in running Herriards. Her grandfather had demanded respect and obedience, and had spoiled her. Though she had loved her brother deeply, her relationship with him had been keenly competitive, each of them striving to outdo the other. Her guardians were elderly gentlemen, remote creatures whom she found a source of irritation, but had been forced to obey. And, up to the moment her uncle had arrived, her position at Herriards had been one of authority, in which she gave orders and expected them to be carried out.
Not one of these relationships had prepared her for social exchanges with eligible young men. Moreover, unlike most girls of her age, she had had very little instruction or experience in the manners and modes of polite society. As a result of all this, the most inexperienced débutante knew more about the arts of attraction than Katharine Payne.
Up to now this had never troubled her. She was not vain—the fact that Tom was so much better looking than she was had never disturbed her—and her personal appearance had never been a matter of importance in dealing with elderly gentlemen, her brother or her servants. But Katharine was no doormat, and she had not enjoyed being treated like one by Julia Redshaw. Her love of challenges and her lively spirit, which had almost disappeared in the dreadful months following Tom’s death, had gradually been returning. And Julia Redshaw’s obvious scorn was a spur which finally completed the process.
At the Redshaws, she had seen the liberties a beautiful, unscrupulous woman could take with an otherwise intelligent man. From the top of her burnished curls to the toes of her dainty slippers, Julia Redshaw’s appearance and behaviour were designed to charm the gentlemen. And, to Katharine’s amazement, Adam Calthorpe had been charmed, had seen only the surface beauty, not the lack of manners, the malice, the selfishness which lay beneath. It was a lesson worth remembering. Though she had no desire to be like Julia Redshaw, Katharine decided that she would profit from what she had observed.
Katharine’s enterprise and energy now found a new outlet. The attention to detail, the determination to succeed, which had gone into making Herriards so successful, were now engaged in pursuit of a different goal. Katharine Payne, with Mrs Calthorpe’s enthusiastic co-operation, would not become just another average débutante, one of many who appeared every year on the London scene. She was determined to make her mark. She might never be as beautiful as the lovely Viscountess Balmenny, but her person would be as exquisitely cared for, her dresses would be as elegant and her dancing as graceful. And she would put the lesson she had learned at the Redshaws to the best possible use.
Life was very busy in the weeks following Christmas. Katharine paid a short visit to London in the company of Adam and Mrs Calthorpe to set in motion the arrangements for their stay during the season. Adam spent his time finding a suitable house to lease, while Mrs Calthorpe took Katharine round on a preliminary tour of the dressmakers, milliners, and purveyors of shoes, slippers, shawls, fans and all the rest of the necessities for an aspirant to the highest society. They were also visited at their hotel by a number of ladies’ maids, for Mrs Calthorpe was insistent that Katharine should have the attentions of an expert dresser. The wages demanded by these persons seemed astronomical to countrified Katharine, but Mrs Calthorpe assured her that they were perfectly normal.
‘A good maid is very important, Kate. You have great potential, but I should be less than honest if I denied that your appearance badly needs the sort of care and attention that an experienced maid can provide. We must engage someone straight away, and then persuade her to spend the next couple of months in the depths of Surrey—something not all of them would be willing to agree to. You may have to pay over the odds for the best, but I assure you she will be worth every penny.’
In the end they were fortunate to find Miss Kendrick who had just left the service of Lady Abernethy, one of London’s most fashionable women. Lady Abernethy was about to go to Vienna with her husband, and though she had begged her maid to accompany her, Miss Kendrick had regretfully declined the honour. She preferred, she said, to stay in England. The interview went very well, though Katharine thought one could be pardoned for thinking that she was the one being interviewed, not the prospective maid! Miss Kendrick graciously agreed to join them as soon as she was free.
Well satisfied with their endeavours, the ladies returned to Bridge House, where Katharine embarked on various courses of instruction. The dancing master took her through the basic steps of the dance, exclaiming all the while how badly she had previously been taught! ‘No, no, no, Mees Payne! Not gallop, not like ze ’orse! Leap like ze bird, like ze feazher! Lightly! Comme ça!’ And Katharine, remembering Tom’s dancing, was forced to agree that it had indeed been ‘like ze ’orse’ and tried to do better.
Mrs Calthorpe spent a great deal of time with her. The friendship between Adam’s mother and her young guest grew with every day that passed, and some of the time was spent in cosy gossip and reminiscence. But at least an hour a day was spent in serious discussion of the structure and habits of London’s polite world. Katharine was soon familiar with the r
amifications and politics of the great families who formed the major part of Society; she learned how she should address these august personages, and the different degrees of respect to be shown in her curtsies. More than that, Mrs Calthorpe had been a beauty in her day, and was well able to advise Katharine how to deal with compliments or, worse, impertinence.
‘Not that I shall need such skills, ma’am,’ Katharine said one day, rather dispiritedly. She had just come through a disastrous dancing lesson. Also, Adam had stayed behind in London, and Bridge House seemed surprisingly dull without him.
‘What nonsense! It’s time you woke up to the fact, Kate, that you are—or could be—an exceptionally striking female! You are not so commonplace, I hope, as to be wishing for blue eyes and golden curls?’
‘I suppose not. But it is surely easier to be graceful if you are small. Leaping “like ze feazher” is quite difficult when you are as tall as I am.’
Mrs Calthorpe looked annoyed. ‘I see I shall have to have a word with Monsieur Edouard. This isn’t the right way to teach you. Kate, you have such a natural dignity! You walk like a queen! There is not the slightest necessity for you to leap about like a feather—if a feather could leap, which I doubt.’
‘But the dance step—’
‘Adam will be back tomorrow evening. You can discuss this with him.’
Katharine felt a lift of excitement, but she said sedately enough, ‘Why Adam, ma’am? How can he help?’
‘Kate! Surely you noticed? Or were you too annoyed with Julia Redshaw? Adam is a superb dancer! If he would be willing to take you in hand, you would have no problems at all. You would be dancing “like ze feazher” in no time. I shall speak to him. Indeed, you may well have two partners, for Adam is bringing a friend of his back with him. Lord Trenchard is on his way to the west country and will stay the night here. It is most annoying that that maid has not yet arrived! We could have impressed Adam with your elegant new appearance…and Lord Trenchard, of course.’
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