But the events of the last day and a half had dimmed her reluctance to be at Rotherham Hall. How lovely it would be to be safe with relatives again and in the sanity of a private home. No more inns with unlocked doors and rakish gentlemen chasing barmaids who were no better than they should be.
She leaned forward eagerly and smiled with genuine warmth as the carriage pulled into the cobbled courtyard before the great double doors of the house. The earl and the countess were, as usual, at the bottom of the steps beaming their welcome.
They looked dearly familiar and safe, the countess small and round and gray-haired, and decked out as usual with frills and lace and several chains and necklaces and a ring on every finger. The earl was red-faced and white-haired, his equally white mustache drooping at either side of his mouth.
"Diana, my own dearest girl."The countess folded her in a hug as soon as her feet touched the cobbles. "How very pretty you look."
She was passed on to the earl, who squeezed her even more tightly and kissed her smackingly on the cheek. "As pretty as a picture," he agreed. "Welcome home, Diana, my dear."
Diana felt very close to tears. "How wonderful it is to be home," she said, and felt with all her being that the word was an appropriate one. "I have had the most dreadful journey. You cannot imagine."
The earl, his arm protectively about her shoulders, squeezed her again. "You must tell us all about it," he said. "But you are safe now, my dear. You are home with us."
''I shall take you directly to your room,'' the countess said, ringed fingers waving in the air. "It is the one you always shared with Teddy, dearest. I hope it will not upset you. And when you have refreshed yourself, you must come down and meet everyone who is here already. I think you know them all.Except maybe Jack.He arrived just an hour ago with Ernest and Lester. I have not seen him for years myself."
"Is Ernest here?" Diana asked with a smile. "It will be good to see him again."
"And Clarence and Claudia," the countess said, referring to her eldest son, the Viscount Wendell, and his wife. "But you shall see for yourself shortly. Come on inside dear, and forget about the troubles of your journey. They are all over now."
Ah yes, all over.A nightmare that could now be safely forgotten just as if it had not had any more reality than a dream.
5
Most of the guests had arrivedalready,the Marquess of Kenwood was informed when he and his cousins finally rode up to Rotherham Hall. But it was to be a small house party, the countess announced sadly.Only twenty persons, including herself and the ead.It was clearly quite the wrong time of year to have organized such a gathering, but what could one do when dear Rotherham's birthday happened to
fall in the latter half of June? It was just too bad that the London Season had not quite finished.
Lord Kenwood thought that twenty persons would make a sizeable house party, but he said nothing. Indeed, it would have been difficult to say anything of significance for the ten minutes that passed between their arrival in the courtyard before the hall and his being left alone with Carter in his room. While the countess hugged and kissed Ernie and Lester in turn, the earl took a death grip of his hand and pumped it heartily. And then he was caught up in the plump hug and jangling necklaces and
bracelets of the countess.
When she finally released him, it was only so that she might take his face in her hands. "So handsome, Jack," she said. "You grow better looking every time I see you, which is not near often enough. Are you still breaking female hearts, or is there someone special now?"
The marquess grinned and winked at her. "Ah, now that would be telling," he said.
"And you have lost none of your wickedness either," she said with a hearty laugh. "How does your mama put up with you? And how are Frances and Hester? Frances has a little one already?"
"My nephew, yes," Lord Kenwood said with a bow, wondering how the Countess of Rotherham could remember the names of his sisters and even the fact that Frances had a son when the connection between the families was quite remote. "They are all well, I thank you, ma'am."
"Well," the countess said briskly, "I am more delighted than I can say that you were able to come, Jack. Yourpresence willeven the numbers, you know. But the other gentlemen will doubtless be sorry you are here when they see all the young ladies sighing over you." She laughed heartily again while her son and Lester looked sheepish.
"Clarence and Claudia are here," the earl said, "and our two grandchildren, of course.And Hannah and Joshua— her ladyship's sister and her good husband, Jack—with Beatrice and Barbara."
"Sir Joshua Knowles, that is," Lord Crenshaw explained to his cousin. "You forget that Jack is not familiar with the family, Papa. Bea and Barbara are their daughters."
"And Thomas has arrived with Russell and Paula," the countess said. She held up one jangling arm to her son. "Mr. Thomas Peabody, Jack. My second cousin once removed on my dear mama's side. Russell and Paula are his son and daughter."
Ernest asked the question for the marquess. "Diana is not here yet?" he asked.
"We were expecting her yesterday," his mother said, taking his arm and leading the group into the house. "The rain must have delayed her. Was it not dreadful, dear? Did it interfere with your journey?"
But she is coming?themarquess wanted to ask. He had not committed himself to this infernal house party only to find that the lady who had brought him there had changed her mind about coming? Ghastly thought!
He was glad of a chance to bathe and change into clean clothes before going downstairs, to the drawing room for tea. He really did feel like a stranger in a strange house, he thought, standing at the window that faced out onto the lawns at the back of the house and adjusting the sit of his coat more to his liking. The countess, of course, before she had left him to Carter's care, had assured him that they were all family. And he had no doubt that she could explain the intricate relationships that existed among all the guests then present in the house.
It was a magnificent estate. He had never been there before. The winding driveway leading from the main gates had shown him lawns and shrubberies, an orchard and greenhouses, and formal gardens stretching the length of the massive gray stone house. And the lawns behind the house, he could see, led to a forest of trees that stretched off to the east. He suspected that there was a river flowing just beyond his line of vision. He knew that there was an old family castle somewhere close.
There were all sorts of secluded places, it seemed, where he might expect to lure Mrs. Diana Ingram.If she came.He would be very annoyed indeed if she did not. He would have wasted the end of the Season for a few weeks of boredom on a country estate.
