“Oh, I did,” her sister assured her. “We went by boat on the river Thames, but Mr.Fortescue hired a carriage for our return because Angeline felt a bit queasy on the water. I wish visitors were permitted to go inside the palace, but just walking in the groundsand sensing all the history around us was marvelous. They made me feel very welcome.”
“Well, of course they did,” Philippa said. “They particularly invited you.”
“Charles sent a note home with Stephanie,” their mother told Philippa, holding up a sheet of paper. “He and Marian have invited you and me to join them in their box at the theater tomorrow evening, Pippa. Angeline and Ninian will be with them, and they have invited George and Leonard too.”
George was Mama’s brother. Cousin Leonard Atkins was the son of Uncle Vincent and Aunt Eloise, Papa’s sister.
“That will be something exciting to look forward to,” Philippa said, seating herself close to Stephanie.
“I will write to inform them that we will meet them there, then,” her mother said, getting to her feet and picking up the glass of wine she had set on the desk. She went to the sideboard to pour wine for Philippa too and lemonade for Stephanie and brought them their drinks before sitting down in an armchair with her own.
“No matter how much I enjoy myself in town,” she said, “I do find that being in a crowd of people and feeling obliged to mingle and converse and smile can be very wearying. How lovely it is to sit quietly here with just my two girls.”
“Did you find it tiring to entertain, Mama?” Stephanie asked. “Back in the days when you organized and then hosted all those lavish events at Ravenswood, I mean. Like the Valentine’s treasure hunt and the summer fete.”
“Oh goodness, yes, I did.” Her mother laughed. “On each occasion I would be utterly exhausted by the time I waved the last of our guests on their way. And quite convinced that I could not possiblyeverdo any such thing again.”
“I loved those times,” Stephanie said. “Even though I was justa little girl at the time and could not participate in many of the entertainments. I loved all the busy preparations and the anticipation. I used to attach myself to Dev, whether he wanted me or not, and insist upon helping. He always found something for me to do, even though I realize now that he could have done whatever it was much faster on his own. Ben used to find things for me to do too. They were such happy days.”
Yes, they had been, Philippa thought. For them anyway—for the children. Not so much for her mother, apparently. How strange that they could look upon those days from such vastly different perspectives.
She wondered why her mother had done it all. Apparently Grandmama Ware had not entertained nearly as elaborately when she was the countess. It must have been because Papa had wanted it. He had been a man of extraordinary congeniality and charm. He had loved to entertain his neighbors and friends, to play the part of generous, welcoming host and lord of the manor. But he had done almost none of the huge amount of work that preparing such events entailed. Mama had done it all, with the help of her children and the servants. Yet Philippa had always thought her papa perfect in every conceivable way—until she had not.
“I always saw you as indefatigable and infallible, Mama,” she said. “And unshakable. Like the Rock of Gibraltar.”
Her mother laughed again. “I suppose children always think that of their mothers,” she said. “It is what theyoughtto think until they are old enough to deal with the fact that no one is perfect and nothing lasts forever.”
“Oh,” Stephanie said, looking stricken. “Do you mean that you arenotperfect after all, Mama?” Then she grinned cheekily. “Pippa, Mama was just telling me that you both had a lovely time at Lady Catherine Emmett’s tea this afternoon. She says you met a largenumber of people, including several young and handsome gentlemen who appeared quite smitten with you.”
“I did not use the wordsmitten,Steph,” their mother protested. “But Pippa was much admired—in a perfectly well-bred way. Kitty would never entertain any gentleman ill-bred enough tooglea lady.”
“Were you smitten with any of them, Pippa?” her sister asked. “Or rather, did youadmireany of them? Do tell.”
“I was pleased to meet everyone to whom I was introduced,” Philippa told her. “In particular I believe I may have made a friend of Lady Jennifer Arden, Lady Catherine’s niece. She is much to be admired. She cannot walk, but she will not allow her affliction to render her helpless. She loves entertaining and goes out quite frequently. She is cheerful and interesting. I very much liked Lady Catherine’s son, Sir Gerald Emmett, too. He has easy manners and a good sense of humor as well as a kind regard for his cousin.”
“And you must not forget the Marquess of Roath, Pippa,” her mother added. “Lady Jenny’s brother, Steph, who arrived in London while the party was in progress and changed his clothes and came down to the drawing room, though I daresay he was weary from his journey. He seemed quite taken with Pippa.”
“Because I happened to be sitting with Jenny when he came into the room,” Philippa said. “He joined us for tea. So did Sir Gerald.”
Stephanie sighed as she set down her empty glass. “So all your fears of the past month or so have been groundless, Pippa,” she said. “Just as I predicted they would be. You are going to have so many marriage offers before the Season is over that I will run out of fingers to keep count and will have to start on my toes.”
“Absurd.” Philippa laughed.
“Oh, I think not,” her mother said. “I was proud of you this afternoon at your very first event of the Season, Pippa. You behavedjust as you ought. And of course you looked like an angel.Notthat I am biased. Now I am going upstairs. Perhaps there will be just enough time for a lie-down before I dress for dinner.”
Philippa set down her half-empty glass of wine and picked up a cushion to hug to her bosom as her mother left the room.
“Do you think Mama is happy?” Stephanie asked after the door had shut.
“Do you think she is not?” Philippa looked curiously at her sister, her eyebrows raised.
“I keep thinking of the fact that she was seventeen when she married Papa,” Stephanie said. “Only a year older than I am now. Years younger thanyouare now. They were almost neighbors and had been acquainted with each other since childhood. She had no Season in London, no chance to meet anyone else. It must have seemed a splendid match for her, of course. I daresay Grandmama and Grandpapa Greenfield encouraged it. The prospect of having their daughter become the Countess of Stratton would have been a dizzying one. And Papa must have been terribly handsome in those days, even more so than I remember his being years after. And always so charming and outgoing. I suppose she fell in love with him.”
“I suppose she did,” Philippa agreed.
“Do you think it was a terrible blow to her when she learned of Ben’s existence after his mother died?” Stephanie asked. “When she discovered that Papa had had a mistress before he marriedherand had actually had a son with her?”
“Mama has always genuinely loved Ben,” Philippa said.
