Lord Sidley's Last Season

by Sherry Lynn Ferguson

  Marian looked up at his profile, only to meet his penetrating gaze as he turned to her once more. “You expect me to say I would paint you, Lord Sidley.”

  “On the contrary. You will paint me. I have decided that there is no choice involved in it. My query was intended to understand your eye, to elicit your preferences in subject”

  Marian had to look away from him, lest he perceive that she might easily choose to paint him, which, of course, she had no intention of doing. “You have no notion of my ability with a likeness.”

  “On the contrary,” he claimed. “I have more than a notion. I have come to a belief.”

  She swallowed. No one, not even her father, had ever expressed so much faith in her.

  “Then I might-I think perhaps I might wish to paint Mrs. Knox,” she admitted.

  “Ah!” Sidley’s smile was resigned rather than pleased. His gaze sought Viscount Vaughn. “In that you are not unusual. Mrs. Knox is a rare beauty. But you shall have some difficulty portraying her as she ought to be portrayed” He paused. “There were several portraits made of Jenny Lanning even before she became Mrs. Knox. And her husband has subsequently employed every painter of fashion-which is his style.”

  There was a bite to his tone. Marian wished she understood the reason for the previous night’s altercation. Her aunt had not known, and now Lord Sidley seemed disinclined to enlighten her. She could not believe he nursed a tendre for the woman, acknowledged diamond though she was. But something was very wrong.

  Abruptly he asked, “You will be at Aldersham next week?”

  “As you know, my lord, I have only a brief time in which to study. I regret that I must decline the invitation.”

  “You might paint at Aldersham almost as well as you do in town. Perhaps better.” He smiled. “The light is infinitely clearer.”

  “Even if that’s the case, I fear I must explain to your aunt that I cannot attend”

  “My aunt does not listen to explanations, Miss Ware,” which attribute Marian thought might equally apply to Lady Adeline’s nephew. But he smiled as Katie approached them. “Lady Katherine,” he said with a nod.

  “You must not keep Lord Sidley from the rest of the company, Marian!” Katie admonished. Her brief glance at Marian was annoyed. “You had his time yesterday evening.”

  “So I did, Katie. My lord.” And Marian excused herself. She sought refuge at the other end of the room, but her attention inevitably returned to Katie and Lord Sidley by the window. She noted Katie’s irrepressible efforts and Sidley’s forced smile. Marian knew that Katie would see only the smile, not the impatience behind it, and silently counseled her cousin to let the man be. But Katie would believe Sidley just another enchanted admirer.

  He has grown tired of this, Marian thought in sudden sympathy, only to have his gaze flash to her own. She fought her blush and concentrated on the conversation at hand. Yes, she agreed, the summer promised to be unusually warm. Yes, the celebrations of Bonaparte’s abdication were very grand. Yes, Lady Katherine’s ball had been the best attended of the season. Indeed, Katie was destined to make a brilliant match. But what did Miss Ware think-did not Lady Katherine look well paired with Lord Sidley?

  Marian could only smile. An attachment was Katie’s stated goal, one that Lord Sidley seemed sadly reluctant to share.

  Viscount Vaughn spoke with her briefly about Northampton, asking after any news she had had from the Navy. Marian wondered if Vaughn deliberately introduced the topic, as a means of reminding her of William. But Lord Vaughn was all politeness; there was no reason to suspect he believed she required a reminder. Her own sense of disloyalty should have been reminder enough. Lord Benjamin joined them, with an enthusiastic compliment of the lemon comfit cakes and an unanswerable question as to how much “perseverance” one needed in order to paint.

  Lady Formsby’s west drawing room never grew too crowded, for it had been designed for entertaining and was suitably large. Nevertheless, courtesy required that even in the aftermath of so stellar an event as Katherine’s ball, visitors should confine their calls to a scarce twenty minutes or less. After the requisite period, Marian noticed Lord Sidley moving toward the doors and his escape, though Katie had been so bold as to attempt to stay him with a hand on his velvet sleeve. Through whatever subtle cues the three gentlemen communicated, Lord Benjamin and Lord Vaughn seemed aware of Sidley’s determination to depart. Within moments they had made their bows to Lady Formsby, and Katie, though a dozen more attentive suitors filled the room, was left to pout.

  As Marian approached her, Katie was saying: “As he’s offering, he ought to act a bit more-a bit more-”

  “Hush, child,” her mother warned. “Do not speak so here in company. Whatever are you thinking?”

  Katie tossed her bright curls as she gazed disconsolately upon the remaining callers. “Perhaps I should make him jealous,” she said, boldly eyeing two young gentlemen standing in a window embrasure.

  “You have not learned such tricks from me, Katherine,” her mother said sharply, “nor from anyone of sense”

  Katie turned to Marian. “Did Lord Sidley speak of me, Marian?”

  “He said he looked forward to our company at Aldersham,” she relayed truthfully. “He was most insistent on it.”

  As Katie smiled, her mother said, “Before you congratulate yourself too heartily, my dear, remember that his aunt has invited some other eligible young ladies.”

  Katie’s chin rose as she prepared to dismiss any threat, but a footman clearing beverage glasses interrupted.

  “Pardon, mum, but I believe Lord Sidley just left his walking stick.” He raised Sidley’s cane. “Shall I-”

  Marian promptly grabbed the cane. “I shall take it out to Jenks at the door, Aunt,” she said, as she moved quickly toward the hall. “We might yet catch him.” In truth, she wished to escape Katie’s gloating and considered the errand a respite.

  But Jenks was not at the door. He and two footmen were down at the curb, assisting a vocal Lady Addlestrop from her fashionable landau. Marian’s anxious gaze caught Sidley with his companions farther along the pavement walking, she noted, rather well without the aid of his prop. Swiftly she stepped down to the street. Handing the cane to the tallest Formsby footman, she instructed him to hail Lord Sidley immediately and race to return it to him.

  The footman dutifully shouted and set off, but in the crowd promenading on the sidewalk, Marian could not see whether Sidley had stopped. Lady Addlestrop’s descent was creating a noisy disturbance behind her, and there were several excited cries that the visiting tsar’s entourage was passing. Marian moved to the very edge of the street to watch for Sidley. She knew she ought to return to the drawing room, her task had been fulfilled, but the afternoon air was fresh and balmy and infinitely more appealing than more of Katie’s preening.

  Again she heard the footman shout, “M’lord Sidley!”

  Then Sidley appeared at the curb, looking back toward Marian’s position. She waved but feared he had not seen her in the crowd. So she stepped into the street, which was blessedly dry and free of mud. The reward for exposing herself so was a smile from Sidley, who raised the restored cane in salute.

  But as the Addlestrop commotion increased in volume, as cheers arose for some passing dignitary in the square, Sidley’s smile vanished. He, too, stepped into the street, calling out an alarmed “Marian!” even as she turned to face the roadway.

  The landau’s team was acting up, the near horse was rearing in its traces, while the coachman attempted to haul the animal back. But the heavy carriage was still drifting unbidden to the center of the street, where two wildly racing curricles vied for precedence in the narrow, packed turning off the square.

  The din from pounding hooves, the chattering crowd, and anxious, whinnying animals was deafening. Before Marian could reach the safety of the sidewalk, she was tossed there in a pained, ungainly heap. Appalled screams heralded the collapse of a heavy male form beside her. As she pushed herself
from the pavement on shaking hands, Marian stared in dazed disbelief at the bloody rent in Sidley’s buckskins, just above one knee. His face lay still and pale against the stone. Whether she managed to speak then she could not have said, but her mind repeated numbly, I have killed him, I have killed him, I have killed him….

  regular”A Hercules !” Edgar enthused. “That’s what they’re callin’ ‘im. Tossin’ you about like that while snaffling old Addlestrop’s nag! Horse should be turned over to the knacker after acting up that way. Might’ve killed him, and you too, though I `spose Mopes and Carroll shouldn’t a’ been racing just then, and there-”

  “I should say not!” Edith agreed. “Do stop this, Edgar. We know how impressed you are with Lord Sidley’s prowess. We are most grateful for it. Indeed, I can never thank him enough. But you must see that the reminder upsets Marian.”

  “Your pardon, cousin.” Edgar nodded to Marian in the carriage seat opposite. “I thought you’d want to know, though, as you-as you couldn’t see it.”

  Marian, who still felt the bruises from her rescue the week before, smiled wanly. In truth, she had not seen much of anything, though she had heard and felt enough to keep her occupied for some time.

  She had feared for Sidley. But he had lived, and so had she, and because he had placed her under so very great an obligation, she was now compelled to accompany her family to Aldersham. In any other circumstance she’d have successfully regretted the invitation and avoided the place, or so she had convinced herself.

  “I don’t see why Marian had to make such a scene,” Katie observed. “And not for the first time. ‘Twas ridiculous for her to be hopping about in the street at all!”

  “Yes, Katie. I was foolish beyond measure. Which only increases my debt to Lord Sidley. A more rational man would have left me to my fate”

  “I will never forget how quickly he moved,” Edgar said, shifting once more into worshipful tones. “A fellow forgets he’s at death’s door. Though one can only suppose that now he’s even more-What? Oh. Sorry” And as his mother glared at him, Edgar lapsed into silence.

  They had almost reached Aldersham, their journey into Kent having taken the better part of two days at the dawdling pace Lady Formsby deemed decorous. Now Marian felt Edith’s gaze upon her averted profile.

  “You will enjoy yourself, Marian,” she said, more in the nature of a command than of encouragement.

  Marian attempted a smile as she turned from viewing the county’s rolling hills and gracefully shaded lanes. “I’m sure I shall, Aunt. Whether I am as successful at continuing my painting is another matter.”

  “You have your whole life in which to paint, my dear. I suspect that future invitations to Sidley’s Aldersham are much less likely.”

  “Oh, but, Mama, I shall be inviting Marian and all my friends at every opportunity!” Katie said.

  Edgar snorted dismissively. “A false start, there, Missy Kate,” he said with a superior look at his sister. “The betting book at White’s has better odds on two other chits. And I can’t say as I’d blame Sidley for choosin’ either of them instead.”

  “I know better, Mr. Peacock,” Katie scoffed. “During this stay at his aunt’s I shall convince him that I would make the finest countess”

  “Then he’d be the only one convinced of it!”

  “Edgar .. ” his mother warned. “I do hope you two will make some effort at civility. Marian and I are unfortunately too accustomed to these squabbles; we’ve learned to ignore them. But should you be overheard at Aldersham, your wishes and wagers and other plans are like to come to naught. Mind me-both of you simply must be more guarded”

  Both her cousins settled back, looking chastened. Marian felt chastened as well, but for another reason. Just before their departure from town, she had at last received a letter from William; he had told her he expected to return by the end of the fortnight. His letter had in all ways been very much like every letter he had ever sent her, yet Marian had wanted more-some greater degree of warmth, perhaps, or of anticipation. After such a lengthy absence, they were at last to begin their life together. To her increasingly critical sensibility that merited a more personal closing than: Most eager to see you. As ever, Wm.

  As ever. As ever. The carriage wheels mocked the refrain. She should not have expected an eagerness on William’s part that she was far from feeling herself. For this past year she had contentedly considered her prospects settled; she had been free to pursue her craft. But in light of her unlooked-for reactions to Lord Sidley, that view of marriage now seemed less practical than narrowly acquisitive. Yes, it was best she relieve her brother and his future wife of the responsibility for a spinster sister. But marrying in friendship, to secure a position, no longer appealed. And though William might now find sufficient satisfaction in the arrangement, he might not always.

  Neither of them had ever spoken of love. Yet love … For some reason love consumed Marian’s thoughts.

  Along the roadway the afternoon sunlight bathed Kent’s fields and ancient hedgerows in warmth. Marian felt she must succeed in painting at Aldersham, if only to remove herself as frequently as possible from the weekend party. For Katie had relayed every word of gossip concerning the other aspirants for Lord Sidley’s favor. And Katie, Marian reflected in some surprise, had shown a remarkable dedication to accumulating news about her reported rivals. Indeed, competition had focused most powerfully her frivolous cousin’s attentions. Two names in particular had surfaced in serious contention. Just how Katie intended to use her research was another matter, and one with which Marian was not at all certain she wished to be familiar.

  “Forewarned is forearmed,” Katie had claimed, glibly quoting the Cervantes that she had never troubled to read. But whereas Lady Katherine, daughter of an earl, might well feel she had quite an arsenal at her command, Miss Marian Ware of Brinford did not.

  She had to stop herself from laughing at the thought of her palette and brushes as weapons, only to remind herself that she was not truly one of the party. Lord Sidley would not grant Marian Ware the same consideration he gave Miss Delia TinckneyDwight.

  Katie had singled out the young woman at a soiree just days before. Delia’s father, Sir Philip TinckneyDwight, having served the king in some inestimable manner, had garnered both position and fortune. But Delia’s brilliant season several years before had been unhappily cut short by her mother’s illness. Now, as a recent widower, Sir Philip was rumored to be applying himself, with the same fervor that had brought him a knighthood, to achieving a consequential match for his daughter. From all she had heard and the little she had seen, Marian considered Delia to be Katie’s most formidable rival.

  The other name circulating in the betting books was Rebecca Harvey’s. Though reputedly not as lovely as Lady Katherine, eighteen-year-old Becca had endeared herself to the gentlemen with a reputation as a neck-ornothing rider. Her considerable fortune of 100,000 pounds also did not go unremarked. True, her parents, having gained their wealth in trade, still lacked a prestigious country property. And Marian’s cousin Edith, who was usually most forgiving, had declared Mrs. Harvey to be an irritating, ingratiating “mushroom.” But the Harveys’ wealth would be all too welcome to many impoverished peers. Marian did not know the state of the Sidley finances-proper young ladies did not know such things-but she had to imagine that a well-placed 100,000 pounds would never be scorned. She recalled Colonel Bassett’s comment at the Hempthorne card party, that Sidley lacked “wherewithal,” and the colonel’s reference to the appalling state of Sidley House in town. Though Colonel Bassett’s information had proved unreliable in other respects, Marian had to conclude that Lord Sidley did indeed need funds, else this haste to wed in his waning days made little sense.

  Again she reminded herself that she did not care, that the matter did not concern her. She determined to spend as little time as possible in company with the misses Harvey and TinckneyDwight.

  “Marian!” Katie nudged her. “You are woolgathering
again! I have asked you twice if you remembered to bring your silhouette shears” The small, delicate pair served admirably for rendering the popular cut-paper profiles.

  “I did. But Katie, ‘tis not a pastime this sophisticated group is likely to find entertaining.”

  “Such stuff! You could not be more wrong. Everyone wishes to have at least one likeness.” Katie happened to have several. “And yours are always much commended” As Katie invariably volunteered Marian’s talents, Marian was resigned to the performances; at least they gave her practice, though the entertainment did sometimes border on drudgery. “I believe we shall all have a very merry time of it,” Katie added.

  “I do not understand how you can be so cheerful,” Marian said. “There is something-something gruesome about this situation. As though everyone were chasing after a casket”

  “That is too bleak of you, Marian,” Edith said. “Lady Adeline would never have countenanced visitors at Aldersham if Lord Sidley were wasting so very-so very rapidly. And to have saved you as he did-well, perhaps we have been misinformed”

  “No doubt he is that much closer to expiring after the exertion,” Marian observed glumly.

  “But I had it that he was never even ill abed,” Edgar said, “and came on here days ago. He must have a few more weeks in ‘im… ” He fell silent as they pulled into a curved gravel drive.

  Aldersham was a revelation. Marian had anticipated a ruin, a building that would in some manner reflect the various tragedies that had befallen the Sidley family. But the house itself, an expansive, three-story Elizabethan stone with tall mullioned windows, impressive gabled wings and attic dormers, was magnificent and welcoming at once. In the afternoon light the ancient stone glowed with gold highlights. Scaffolding enclosed one farther wing, though workmen were absent at the moment, and the grounds were clearly under reconstruction. But the estate had not been abandoned, as Marian had supposed. All the glorious windows sparkled, and to one side of the house a well-tended rose garden, perhaps Lady Adeline’s pet, exhibited attentive, continuous care.