Ann frowned at her grandmother. “Well, I don’t know most of the society invited, either.”
“It was your decision not to attend social events, Ann. Ursula has always been a regular attendee, and I know if they invited her, you were invited as well.”
Ann screwed up her nose. “I’d just rather paint or read a book.”
“And that is why you are well-matched with Ellinbourne.”
Ann smiled. “True,” she said, with the wistfulness of a woman in love.
“Well, I, for one, would still like to attend one of your concerts, Lady Guinevere.” Bella said, raising her teacup for a sip of tea.
Lady Guinevere fluttered her hand about dismissively. “Oh, please, call me Gwinnie, as the family does. We aren’t very good with titles,” she confessed, scrunching her nose. “Father is more of an academic than a duke. You shall see. He doesn’t have a formal bone in his body, much to the dismay of his strawberry-leaf compatriots. It will be a chore to get him dressed properly for the ball and primed to address the guests appropriately,” she told Bella.
Lady Malmsby sighed. “He is my son, and I must admit there is truth in my granddaughter’s words. Though sometimes I detect a certain glint in his eyes and wonder what goes on behind those spectacles he wears. All of my children were so unique and different from one another. That has been a delight for me, but has confused society.”
“But as far as receiving an invitation, as you are in town now, and staying here, Lady Amblethorpe will welcome you to her musicale. It is the day before the ball. I shall be playing there with a mixed assortment of musicians,” she said with a laugh.
“Do you remember, Bella? I first met you while you were out walking with Lady Amblethorpe and her daughter, Janine.”
“Yes, I remember,” Bella said. “Her mother sadly ruled Janine, as I recall.”
“No longer. Janine is now the Countess of Havelock. For the last eight or nine months now,” Lady Malmsby said.
Bella’s eyes widened. “I shall have to write her! And I shall certainly look forward to Lady Amblethorpe’s party,” she said.
“Lady Amblethorpe is unique among society matrons. She does not give balls, she does musicales,” Gwinnie went on. “Does well with them, too. People willingly attend. I can’t say the same for all society musicale functions. She has only had one misstep that I can recall in her musical programs.”
“Oh yes, that hideous singer that her son talked her into sponsoring,” Lady Malmsby said. “The one with the fake Italian accent.”
Gwinnie shrugged. “I don’t know about the accent. I know she couldn’t hit a proper note. I shudder at that memory; however, I enjoy playing at Lady Amblethorpe’s musicales. The guests are attentive to the music. That is rare.”
“What will you be playing?” Bella asked.
She shrugged. “The works of Pagani, I think. Maybe a Vivaldi. We shall see how the time goes,” she said, before popping the last small confection from her plate into her mouth.
“These confections are quite good, Grandmother, but I should grow to be as big as a house if we continue to have these every day with tea, and I am already large enough as it is, without adding breadth to my height!”
Lady Malmsby smiled, perking up. “They are quite good, aren’t they? But you know, you don’t have to eat them.”
“Not eat them? That would be sacrilegious to not eat these, as good as they are. Better that he not make them,” Gwinnie said.
“She.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“She. My chef is a woman.”
Gwinnie clapped her hands. “That is wonderful! Do you think she would consider leaving your employ to take over the kitchen here?”
“Trying to poach my staff?”
“We often have the most uninspired meals,” Gwinnie lamented. “Meat and potatoes, overcooked. Hardly appropriate fare for a ducal household, but Father doesn’t mind. I don’t think he even notices what he eats, as his nose is often in a book he has brought to the table.”
“No! I taught him better than that!”
Bella loved the interplay amongst the Nowlton relations. That wasn’t part of her background. She felt a twinge of envy for what she missed in her life.
Gwinnie shrugged, then set her napkin on the tea tray and rose to her feet. “I received some music in the mails today that I am eager to play. I hope you will excuse me. I shall see you at supper.”
