“Oh, certainly,” agreed Cecilia. “I’m sure that at your age, these parties are very tiring.”
Caroline struggled for composure. “Thank you, my dear, for sacrificing your pleasure for me.”
“Oh, not at all,” said Cecilia sunnily. “Caroline, how does my cousin know Lady Manning?”
Caroline started, and very nearly dropped her fan. “What?”
“Lady Lansdowne tells me that Lady Manning is a good friend of the Duke’s,” confided Cecilia. “She told me to ask you about their friendship.”
Caroline felt like strangling Lady Lansdowne. “Oh my. Did she introduce you to Lady Manning?”
“Oh, yes!” said Cecilia cheerfully. “She is quite beautiful, considering that she is older, and a widow.”
Caroline mentally declined to dwell on her cousin’s apparent thoughts as related to widows who had reached the advanced age of thirty. “Perhaps we should discuss Lady Manning now,” she said.
“Oh? Is she a friend of yours as well?” asked Cecilia.
“No, she is not a friend of mine, nor is she a friend of the Duke’s,” said Caroline. “In particular, she is not a friend of Allegra’s. You will avoid her presence when possible.”
Cecilia’s blue eyes grew rounder. “Whatever do you mean?”
“I mean that Lady Manning has caused a great deal of trouble for Allegra and Adam, and it would be far better if you had not met her. I have no idea why Sylvia Lansdowne introduced you to her, but she should have known better. I have no doubt she means to cause mischief; if I did not think it would please her, I would take her to task.” Caroline spoke firmly, attempting to impress upon Cecilia the seriousness of the situation. “You will not acknowledge Lady Manning, nor will you tell Allegra you have spoken to her.”
“Oh!” Cecilia gaped as what Caroline was insinuating sank in. “Oh, do you mean that—the duke and Lady Manning—that they—”
“It was long ago, and before Adam had come to know Allegra,” said Caroline. “They have found their way to each other, and are very happy, but Lady Manning did her utmost to prevent that.”
“She was his mistress?” Cecilia’s eyes grew rounder, if that were possible.
“Hush, we are in public,” said Caroline. “I’m sure you understand now why it is important that you not be friendly with her. Not only will it cause gossip, but Lady Manning, even now, would very likely wish to harm Allegra if possible.”
“Oh, certainly,” agreed Cecilia. “I will not speak to her. I would not wish to make Allegra unhappy.”
“I know you have heard of these things, of course,” said Caroline. “But it is not so amusing when one must deal with them in person.”
“Does everyone know?” asked Cecilia.
“I believe it is public knowledge,” said Caroline. “Adam was not discreet.”
“Mr. Wyman danced with her!” said Cecilia. “He must surely be aware of—of who she is.”
“No doubt,” said Caroline. “It would be best if you were leery of Mr. Wyman as well.” Caroline felt that enough had been said, and turned the subject. “And now, I truly am weary. Shall we find Allegra and leave?”
Cecilia nodded and trailed out after Caroline, but not before casting a look over her shoulder, to where Mr. Wyman and Lady Manning stood, their heads close together as they conversed.
Chapter 11
Some nights later Caroline, Allegra, and Cecilia ventured out to The King’s Theatre in the Haymarket to view a performance of Rinaldo by Signor Sacchini. Cecilia gazed around the immense, gilded space with wide eyes as Caroline led her to their box. The theatre was brilliantly lit with thousands of candles in gilded chandeliers, illuminating the Corinthian columns supporting the proscenium arch and the trompe l’oeil paintings on the walls and ceiling, and the tiers of boxes overflowed with persons of fashion, dressed in silks and satins, and sparkling with gems. In Fop’s Alley the most fashionable gentleman lounged, chatting and eyeing the ladies through their quizzing glasses.
“How magnificent,” she breathed as she settled herself in her seat, adjusting the wide skirts of her opera dress of pale blue silk, cut a la polonaise with deep trim of ruched satin soupier etouffe silk around her. She scanned the rows of boxes eagerly.
“All the world is here tonight, it seems,” agreed Caroline. She sat down next to her charge and looked about.
“Italian opera must be all the rage,” observed Cecilia.
Caroline exchanged a glance with Allegra. “I think most are here in order to be a la mode,” she observed. “You will find that very little attention is paid to the performance.”
Cecilia glanced down into the pit, and made a little sound of delight. “Mr. Wyman is here,” she said. “And I believe I saw Lord Barford and his mother in their box.”
“Doubtless you will see them during one of the intervals,” said Allegra. “That is when the true business of the evening is conducted!”
The opera began, and Cecilia displayed her new-found sophistication by paying very little attention to the performance, and instead amused herself by observing the gentlemen in the pit. Mr. Wyman caught her eye and swept her a magnificent bow, and she smiled prettily down at him. At the end of the first act, the hum of conversation began immediately, as ladies smiled on gentlemen from their boxes, and the round of visiting began. Not many minutes passed before Caroline’s box began to fill with people, and Lord Barford appeared, followed shortly by Mr. Troughton and Mr. Wyman.
To Caroline’s surprise, Lord Barford did not go immediately to Cecilia’s side, but instead seated himself next to her in Allegra’s vacated chair. They spoke for a few moments of social occasions and mutual acquaintances while his lordship looked increasingly uncomfortable. Finally, after casting a nervous glance across the box where Cecilia and Allegra were laughing with Mr. Wyman and Mr. Troughton, he cleared his throat nervously.
“My dear Lady Eskmaine,” he began. “I have been concerned of late that you may find it rather curious how devoted I have become to your charge, Miss Ashdown, even though it may have appeared that I courted you for some time.”
He paused, and Caroline wondered if a response was required. As she hesitated, he continued. “I admire you greatly, and for some time thought that your gracious calm and elegant competence was everything that I could ask for in a helpmate to assist me in executing the duties of managing my estates and providing an heir to them.”
Caroline felt a definite urge to prevent the completion of this speech, and she opened her mouth to reply, but Barford held up a hand.
“Hear me out,” he requested. “I value your advice. When I saw Miss Ashdown, I was struck as I had never been before by her beauty and charming vulnerability. She seemed to me as one who needs a bulwark against the world, but could also grow into a gracious mistress for my home. I yearned to guide her in this, and to protect her from all harm.”
Caroline yearned to point out that, while Cecilia was much in need of guidance in many ways, she was very clear about her interest in acquiring a well-breeched husband, but suppressed the urge firmly. Perhaps she could share the conversation with Tristan later. He shared her lively sense of the ridiculous, and would be as amused as she was. She attempted to answer once more, but Barford had not yet said his piece it seemed, as he interrupted her again.
“I am concerned that you may feel that this is a sign of unbecoming volatility in my nature, and wish earnestly to disabuse you of any such notion,” he intoned. “Miss Ashdown’s family might be opposed to my suit were you to express doubts about my steadiness of temperament or devotion to her.” As he ended the sentence, he looked uncertainly at Caroline, and she at last felt safe in replying.
“Dear Lord Barford, no one could value your steadiness and calm temperament more than I,” she assured him. “I always had my doubts that a widow some years older than you would make you a suitable Viscountess. I am very glad that Miss Ashdown has taken your fancy. Few young ladies possess her combination of beauty, vivacity, and pleas
ing manners, and I am certain that she will amply appreciate the privileges and the obligations of such a position, should you continue to have these feelings for her. Please do not think I view your tendre for Miss Ashdown as anything but the appropriate sentiments of a young man who understands his responsibilities for a young lady well suited to sharing them with him.”
As she pondered the pomposity of her remarks, and the absurdity of the conversation she was having, Caroline reflected that Cecilia’s parents, while relatively unworldly, were likely to value Lord Barford’s broad acres over his temperament if he were to offer for their daughter. It seemed improbable that they would reject a wealthy Viscount merely for once tentatively pursuing a very respectable widow.
“She is such an innocent,” continued Lord Barford. “I long to protect her. When Lady Lansdowne introduced her to Lady Manning last night, I ached to have the right to protect Miss Ashdown. Her purity should not be soiled by the presence of such a woman. And when Mr. Wyman asked Lady Manning to dance, I could scarcely believe it. Her reputation does not bear scrutiny. To be seen in her company is to lower oneself.”
Barford appeared to be inclined to expand upon his topic, and Caroline resigned herself to hearing him out. But Allegra, apparently more watchful than Caroline had realized, appeared at his side and invited him to join her and Cecilia. Lord Barford agreed with alacrity, and moments later Caroline had the felicity of seeing him bow low over her cousin’s delicate hand. She watched placidly as Cecilia beamed at the young viscount, and her beau appeared to fall even more deeply under her spell. She could only hope that if the two of them did make a match of it, that the combination of Cecilia’s impetuousness and Barford’s stolidity would be a successful one.
The chatter continued, and Cecilia amused herself by asking Mr. Wyman and Lord Barford to identify the various notables in the boxes across from Caroline’s.
“Who is the woman in the coral dress?” she asked.
“Which one?” asked Mr. Wyman playfully. “There are many coral dresses here tonight, but I see only the lovely woman in blue.”
Cecilia colored prettily as she stroked her blue silk skirt. “There, with the diamonds, and the amazing coiffure,” she said.
“Ah, that is the Duchess of Devonshire,” said Mr. Wyman, peering across the room.
“Oh!” Cecilia looked at her intently. “She is very lovely.”
“And very scandalous,” said Lord Barford disapprovingly.
“Is she so?” asked Cecilia, peeking at her again.
“Oh, it is nothing,” said Mr. Wyman. “Lord Barford does not approve of the ways of Society, I suppose.” He gave the viscount a supercilious look.
“It is all very well for you to be worldly, but Miss Ashdown is not aware of these things, nor should she be,” said Lord Barford sternly.
“If you have such a concern for the morals of your acquaintances, why is Lady Manning attempting to capture your attention?” asked Mr. Wyman impishly.
“What?” Lord Barford looked around, and eventually perceived Lady Manning in Lady Lansdowne’s box. She was clearly trying to catch the eye of someone in the Eskmaine box, and she beckoned when she saw that they had noticed her.
“I very much doubt she has any interest in me at all,” said Lord Barford stiffly. “I’ve no acquaintance with Lady Manning, whereas you have spent some time in her company, I believe.”
Cecilia looked inquiringly from one gentleman to the other, and Mr. Wyman laughed gently. “’Tis not as though Lady Manning is of any importance when Miss Ashdown is present,” he said lightly.
“Certainly not,” agreed Lord Barford, with a bit of a scowl.
More visitors arrived over the next minutes, including several young men determined to oust Barford and Wyman from Cecilia’s side. As they maneuvered to attract her attention, Caroline chatted absently with their mothers. Under her gracious exterior, she acknowledged a feeling of true boredom, and her mind wandered away from her opera box to the house on Mount Street where, she acknowledged, she would far rather be.
The door to the box opened again, and Caroline, with a mixture of relief and horror, watched Lord Gresham enter, his elegant figure instantly eclipsing every other gentleman in the box. She had no idea why Tristan had decided to seek her out, but, she realized ruefully, she felt some pleasure that her boredom would be assuaged. The dowager seated next to Caroline gave a hastily suppressed gasp of disapproval, while Cecilia turned away from the young man engaging her in conversation, her expression delighted. Gresham’s eyes met Caroline’s across the box, and she noted the mischief in his. She tried to glare at him reprovingly, but she rather fancied that her more favorable feelings were clearly visible on her face.
He approached her and bowed elegantly over her hand. “Lord Gresham, what an unexpected surprise,” she said weakly.
“But not an unpleasant one, I hope,” he responded. He smiled wickedly at the dowager, who glared at him, and then made an affronted noise and turned to the woman on her other side, pulling the hem of her dress away from his environs.
“Not at all,” said Caroline. “What brings you to the opera? Surely there are more entertaining places you could be?”
“I can think of nothing more entertaining than your company, or Miss Ashdown’s,” he said promptly. His eyes lingered a moment on her face and then swept down the column of her throat to rest on the neckline of her dress. “You look lovely tonight.”
With annoyance, Caroline felt herself flushing like a schoolgirl. “What a pretty compliment,” she said. “I’m sure Miss Ashdown will be glad to see you.”
“And are you?” he murmured.
“Of course,” she said briskly.
Tristan smiled at her lazily, and then strolled over to where Cecilia sat. Caroline watched with a touch of annoyance at his competence as he gracefully greeted Cecilia and, within moments, uprooted the young man seated next to her and took his place. Whatever he was saying to her she seemed to find amusing, for soon Cecilia was laughing and chatting with him merrily.
“Gracious, what is Gresham doing here?” Lady Halliwell sank down in the chair across from her. “He isn’t trying to fix his interest with that child, is he?”
“I doubt it,” said Caroline. “I imagine he is simply causing trouble. Nothing seems to amuse him more than making people talk.”
“And how would you know what amuses Gresham?” asked Lady Halliwell archly.
“I wouldn’t,” said Caroline. “But his proclivities are hardly a secret. I believe Cecilia will come to no harm from him here, however.”
“Well, I wouldn’t let him get her alone at a ball,” said Lady Halliwell frankly. “You wouldn’t want to find him romancing her on the terrace.”
Caroline fought back the urge to defend Tristan from Lady Halliwell’s aspersions. “That would never happen,” she said. “Cecilia is far too intelligent to allow such a thing, and I am far too watchful.”
Lady Halliwell shrugged and smiled, and Caroline reflected bitterly that word of Tristan’s behavior would soon be swirling through the ton. Really, she thought, the man was impossible.
After some minutes Lord Gresham stood, dropping a kiss on Cecilia’s hand and relinquishing her to another admirer. His eyes met Caroline’s again, and he walked toward the other side of the box, where he stood for a moment, gazing out over the pit. Caroline paused, and then politely excused herself from her conversation. Gracefully, she moved the short distance across the box, to his side. He turned to her with a smile.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded, the impersonal look on her face belying the severity of her words. She was very aware that they were being observed.
“Caro, I just wanted to see you and talk to you,” he replied, a touch of weariness in his voice.
“But we were together only this afternoon,” she said.
I wanted to see you now,” he said gently. “This seemed the only way to do it. Don’t fret, I won’t do anything shocking. Is it so hard to belie
ve that I wish to be near you?”
“Given your dislike of society’s conventions, your appearance here borders on the scandalous,” she said fiercely. She cast a glance back into the box, and composed her features again, as Lady Halliwell was watching them avidly. “I wish you would not single me out in this way.”
“Caro, you single yourself out. You are amazing, and everyone pales into insignificance around you.” Gresham’s eyes locked with hers, and Caroline felt a flash of emotion that had nothing to do with annoyance. “I have no wish to upset you, but my desire for your company extends beyond Mount Street.”
Caroline met his eyes for moment, and then looked away. “Lord Gresham, you must be aware that your presence here is causing comment that may be detrimental to Miss Ashdown’s prospects.”
“I have no interest in Miss Ashdown’s prospects,” said Tristan calmly. “And you’re doing it a bit brown; you know as well as I do that my attention to her will only make her suitors more avid. I’m known as something of a connoisseur when it comes to women.”
“Which is precisely the problem,” retorted Caroline.
“Don’t fret about your cousin. One of these frightfully eager young men will surely propose before the month is out. I think Barford is likely to come up to scratch, do you not?”
Caroline laughed reluctantly. “You don’t much care whether he does or not, I imagine.”
“Not at all,” he agreed. “But it concerns you, so it is of interest to me. I find conversing with you on any topic far more enjoyable than almost anything I can think of.”
He paused as Caroline raised her eyebrows at him. “Except that, of course,” he added.
“You are being ridiculous,” said Caroline, stifling another laugh.
“You see, my visit here has not been so unpleasant for you after all. I am almost certain that no one else in this box has made you laugh tonight.”
“Certainly not,” agreed Caroline. She paused, and then looked up at him, a smile in her eyes. “I will admit that you have relieved my boredom. It has been dreadfully dull. I truly wish I had the time to tell you of the conversation I had with Barford.”
Sense & Sensuality: Caroline's After Dark Georgian Romance (The Gravesmeres Book 3) Page 12
