The unaffected smile she gave him set his heart to beating faster. “You are quite welcome, miss.”
She turned to Oliver next. “And thank you, Lord Connally, for driving us in your barouche landau. Such a luxurious and comfortable ride, compared to our chaise.” “Always a pleasure, Miss Bingley,” Oliver bowed deeply, taking his hat off as he did so. “A lovely lady like you deserves all the comforts the world can offer.”
S
Lord Connally extended an invitation for the Hursts and Caroline to join him at Raven’s Cliff for dinner, which pleased Louisa to no end. The evening passed tolerably well, Caroline thought, despite having to smile in the face of Lord Connally’s antics and exclamations at every turn. Caroline found Mr. Beaujean to be an amusing man, always ready with a joke. He read to them some of his poetry, though there were a few words he had to change on the spot or omit, which Caroline suspected might not be fit for ladies’ ears by the expression on his face.
There was also Mr. Hodge, who adapted surprisingly well to elevated company for one who had grown up in a cottage and was used to climbing trees and pruning orchards. Caroline found him intriguing. He had an excellent sense of humor, as ready with a joke or a witty comeback as his poet friend, and he spoke as intelligently (or perhaps more so) than their noble host on a variety of topics. Even Mr. Hurst found him good company, laughed at his jokes, and declared him “a good sport” when they played cards. For Louisa, however, the only person of consequence in the room was Lord Connally. At every turn, she urged Caroline to position herself as near to Lord Connally as possible, and attempted to redirect every conversation to the advantage of her sister. Caroline supposed she could not deny the wisdom of such behavior. If Lord Connally was to be her object, then she ought to do all in her power to recommend herself to him.
Chapter 6
“If all goes according to plan, you will be the new Baroness Connally before the spring is out!” Louisa exclaimed a few days later, after Lord Connally called on them again at Fairclough.
Caroline shrugged. “I fear you may overestimate my abilities, sister.”
“Nonsense! He must be half in love with you already. He talked with you almost exclusively during our excursion to Hayburn Wyke, and he complimented your attire at church the other day.”
“But that was only our second meeting. Perhaps he is the sort of gentleman who pays courtesy to all the pretty ladies of his acquaintance. We do not know but that he may be a rake, and nothing shall come of it.”
“True, he did spend five years in Ireland, and none as yet have managed to wed him. Then again, perhaps he simply never found a woman who was worthy to be his baroness! Perhaps it is fate that brought us here to Fairclough, instead of going to Town. Perhaps you were notmeant tohave another fruitless Season but to catch a baron instead!”
“If a baron is all I needed to catch, I am certain it could have been accomplished in the year nine. You will recall Lord Waverly’s interest in me.”
“My dear, you were in your debut season then! And Lord Waverly may have the title ‘baron’, but he is practically penniless, and far too old for you. I could not have had you waste yourself on Lord Waverly, especially when you had Mr. Darcy in your sights at the time.”
“Which is it that I am to be after, sister– a fortune, or a title?”
“Why, both, of course!” Louisa let out a laugh. “What a foolish notion! Why settle for one, when you can have the complete set? Although, I would have gladly let you marry Mr. Darcy. Lord knows, his fortune is so vast, it’s worth three men with titles! But now, I see the real reason you were not to have him. For here is Lord Connally, who is even richer- and is actual nobility!” Her laughter was so loud, it roused Mrs. Hurst from her nap with a snort.
“Is it teatime?” she asked as she sat up with the help of one of her footmen. “Louisa, be a dear; ring the bell and have the cart sent.”
“Ooh, teatime?” Mr. Hurst popped his head in the room at the mention of food. “You will not mind if I join you, ladies.” He plopped himself down on one of the chairs, filling it up. Louisa rolled her eyes.
A maid appeared. Louisa turned to her. “Send up the tea cart, please. And a bottle of wine too,” she added.
“Drinking so early in the day, sister?” Caroline raised her brow.
“It is never too early for a good drink.”
One of Mrs. Hurst’s burly footmen brought in the tea cart a few moments later, piled high with cakes and sweets.
“Now here is something delectable,” Louisa exclaimed as he came over to her. By the expression on Louisa’s face, Caroline was uncertain whether the comment pertained to the tea treats, or the footman who brought them.
S
They saw Lord Connally again at church. Louisa, who only ever attended Sunday service out of habit, and was content to even miss altogether if she had been drinking too heavily the night before, was absolutely adamant that they attend.
“Your religious fervor has increased,” Caroline mocked her, when she appeared downstairs, dressed and ready long before her usual hour of rising.
“Religion has nothing to do with it,” Louisa insisted. The villages of Ravensclough and Fairclough had but one church between them, located on the edge of Ravensclough near the borders of Raven’s Cliff and within a short drive from Fairclough Manor. Louisa, assuming Lord Connally to be a churchgoing man, considered it as highly likely that he would attend the church of his patronage, and thus, they were to go.
At her sister’s instruction, Caroline donned her best hat– a plum colored Virginia bonnet with white feathers. She wore it with an orange walking dress trimmed in velvet ribbons which matched her bonnet.
As they took their seats in the family pew, Louisa nudged Caroline towards the edge of the pew closest to the center aisle. “You must be certain he can see you,” she whispered. Sure enough, before the service began, Lord Connally and Mr. Hodge took their seats across the aisle from them. Lord Connally nodded and greeted them, before Mr. Bird took his place behind the pulpit.
Once the sermon began, Mr. Hurst, who had complained of being dragged from his bed to come, promptly fell asleep and began snoring. Caroline could not blame him. Mr. Bird’s sermon was dull, and she soon found herself lulled into a stupor. Once or twice, her eyes closed for a moment, only to be reopened by Louisa’s sharp elbow in her side. After being given a deathly glare, Caroline endeavored to keep awake by studying the carvings on the wall behind the altar.
Ordinarily, Louisa was one of the first to leave when services concluded. However, on this occasion, she hung back, holding tightly to Caroline’s arm, lest she wander off.
