Lady Sedgely finally spoke up, “Go along with the young ladies and get a view of the rose gardens, Maude. A spot of fresh air will clear the cobwebs out of your mind. Run along girls and enjoy yourselves. Don’t forget your parasol, Maude dear.”
It would appear Lady Sedgely was making an effort to win over Lady Clara. She must have realized the dreadful impression most of her family was making and was trying to counteract the first impression with attempts at kindness. Unfortunately, it did not sit well on her. Her facial muscles were seemed unused to forming smiles and it was obvious her mind did not run to kindness. Emily found it quite amusing to see the effort go to waste since no one could believe there was any sincerity behind the lady's attempts, aside from a sincere desire to impress Lady Clara.
“Yes, Mother,” was the cool reply from Lady Maude to her mother's admonition to remember her parasol.
There was a brief scurry of activity as all the young ladies fetched their broad brimmed hats and parasols before they exited the house into the fresh morning air. Already it was warming up and it was obvious they wouldn’t be able to stay out in the sun for too long. Jane and Julia had already formed a friendly bond over breakfast, and Ann was closely tagging along with them, which left Emily alone to try to entertain the unfriendly Maude. Emily was not sure if she should mention the incident with the maid and the pitcher.Is it badtonto mention such things?she wondered.Or is it worse to say nothing and pretend it never happened?
“Are you quite recovered from the rigors of traveling yesterday?” she enquired politely, striking a neutral balance between ignoring the obvious and being nosy.
“Yes, thank you. I had a wonderful sleep last night and feel quite the thing today,” was Maude’s surprising reply. It was almost as if the lady had two personalities thought Emily in bewilderment. “The grounds here are really quite beautiful. You seem quite interested in them. Do you tend to them yourself, or is it the responsibility of one of the other servants?” she asked in a deceptively kind voice.
Emily was again shocked at the woman’s guile and couldn’t think of an appropriate answer to that leading question. So she settled for the truth.
“Yes, Lady Clara allows me to help the gardener when I have a spare moment. It’s very restful for me working with the plants and watching things grow. Have you ever tried your hands at gardening?”
“Oh no, I never participate in anything menial,” was the snidely cool reply. “Have you any idea when Lord Philip is to arrive?” continued Lady Maude petulantly. “I thought he’d be here to welcome us when we arrived.” Maude was clearly not going to put any effort into being pleasant if there were no gentlemen around to view and appreciate it.
“His lordship had an important matter to see to and was unavoidably detained. Lady Clara is in constant expectation of his arrival at any moment,” Emily replied formally. She decided she’d had enough of the dubious company of the young lady and excused herself. “I’m sure you will enjoy viewing the gardens with the other young ladies. No doubt there are matters Lady Clara would have me attend. Good day.”
With that Emily swept gracefully away from her and back towards the house, grateful to be rid of the other woman for a while.I’d rather polish the silver than entertain that one for too long, she thought as she returned to the house.I shouldn’t have been congratulating myself on not being a maid anymore, being a maid was easier than this,she thought vehemently as she went in search of the countess.
Emily found Lady Clara in the small salon with Lady Sedgely and Lady Waddell. Lady Fitzgerald had also joined them. Lady Fitzgerald was a small bird-like woman with small eyes and a pointy face, but as she spoke it was apparent that she had a heart of gold hidden in her small frame. Despite her apparent frailty she cast a warm glow upon the group of ladies, and Lady Clara was looking much more relaxed than when Emily had last seen her. Even Lady Sedgely appeared at ease as she smiled at something the little woman was saying.
Emily didn’t wish to interrupt so she stood at the door and caught Lady Clara’s eye. At Emily’s lifted eyebrow, Lady Clara gave a quick shake of her head, all was well and she didn’t require any help at the moment. With relief Emily took herself off to the library to get some needed work done there before she went in search of Mrs. Parks to ensure all was progressing well in preparation for that evening’s meal.
~~~~
All of the ladies were assembled for tea, and Lords Sedgely and Fitzgerald had joined them. No one was quite sure what the older gentlemen had done with their morning and the younger gentlemen had still not yet returned from the hunt; the younger ladies were disappointed. The older ladies were looking on in amusement as the younger ones perked up at every noise in the hallway only to be crestfallen when it did not turn out to be the absent young gentlemen. Lady Maude was apparently feeling a bit “miffy,” as Peggy would say, and turned her ire stealthily upon Emily.
“So, Miss Spencer, how are you connected to Lady Yorkleigh? Are you a distant relative we haven’t heard of before?”
“No, Lady Maude, I am not,” Emily replied repressively, hoping this line of questioning would be swiftly cut off. Her hopes were dashed when Lady Maude’s inquisition continued.
“Where are you from? Are you some connection of Lord Spencer from Berkshire?”
“I am not from the Berkshire area, and I doubt if Lord Spencer is any connection of mine,” Emily replied politely unsure of how far Maude was going to take her questions. She made a vain attempt to change the subject, “Would you like some more tea, Lady Maude?”
“No, thank you,” she replied and opened her mouth to say more, but Emily interjected before Maude could give voice to her next thoughts.
“Tell us about your part of England, Lady Maude, I have heard it’s quite lovely,” Emily was quite pleased with herself for so deftly getting out of the awkward interrogation. She could tell Lady Maude realized what had just happened by the sharpening of that lady’s gaze. But there was nothing the other woman could do except answer the question briefly.
Emily found herself wishing she hadn’t diverted the attention away from herself as Lady Maude next turned her ire upon the sweet Miss Julia. That young lady had never before been the object of unkind banter so it took her a while to realize what was going on. Lady Maude veiled her cutting words so skilfully that Julia was bewildered and did not have the social experience necessary to deflect them. Emily’s heart broke to see the tears welling up in Julia’s eyes; but Emily, too, was inexperienced in the ways of deterring such onslaughts. In her experience, attacks were open, not hidden in honeyed expressions.
When Maude was finished unsettling Julia she turned upon Jane and Ann. Her words were couched in such a way that the older women, caught up in their own conversations, were unaware of what was going on. Emily tried valiantly to intervene but it was only the entrance of the three young hunters that ended Lady Maude’s cruelty to the younger ladies. It was as though a magical transformation took place. Suddenly Lady Maude was all smiles as the gentlemen recounted their experiences in the woods. Her smiles dimmed a bit when Lord Sutherland went to sit beside Jane and seemed to take particular interest in what she had to say, but Maude carried on genially speaking with the young viscount, Lord Marsden.
Emily began to despair of Lord Philip ever realizing the truth about the lady, since she seemed to be such an excellent actress.She should take to the stage, thought Emily waspishly as she excused herself from the group and went to ensure supper preparations were progressing well.
Emily had just closed the doors to the drawing room when she saw Lord Philip and Mr. Dale entering the front door. “Lord Yorkleigh! It issogood to see you, my lord!” Emily exclaimed, relief obvious in her tone and manner as she rushed over to greet them. She clasped his hand warmly in welcome, her eyes shining with tears of joy and relief twinkling on her lashes, and a wide smile stretching her face.
Philip was surprised by the enthusiasm of her greeting. “Is everything all right here, Emily?” he enquired in concern. “I should say, Miss Spencer?” he corrected himself quickly.
“Oh yes, everything is fine, my lord.” Emily recovered her presence of mind somewhat but could not repress the grin she was casting at the two men. Surely they would save the entire situation now that they’d arrived. “It is just a bit hectic, you know, with all the guests arriving and wanting to be entertained.”
“I’ve brought James with me; I hope that won’t throw out your numbers too much. We tried to get here earlier than you demanded, but we were unfortunately detained. Now we quake in our shoes awaiting the dire consequences of disobeying your edict,” Philip teased her.
“Oh, my lord, really," she replied coolly, fully recovering her composure. "Don't tease. We shall be absolutely delighted to have Mr. Dale join our festivities. And you are only a day late, so not to worry. Lady Clara and I hardly noticed and weren’t worried at all.”
Emily told the barefaced lie with barely a flicker of an eyelash. But Philip caught the tell-tale flash of pink on her cheeks and merely chuckled at her audacity. “If you’re out of rooms, James can share mine,” Lord Philip offered generously.
