Mama accepted this without any recognition of its significance. “And how is Mr Marsden? What is Marsden Hall like? For I never heard of anyone going there before. He seldom goes there himself, I thought.”
“No, we were just fortunate to catch him,” Izzy said demurely. She felt comfortable giving her mother the full story of Marsden Hall, with embellishments, for it was a wonderful story. Her mother gasped and chuckled and said, “No!” at regular intervals, and then laughed uproariously when the Generals were mentioned.
“Oh, dear Lord, I can just picture his face!” she said, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “The poor man — so terrified of his aunts that he will do whatever his wife tells him! How I wish I had been there. But you did not stay there long, I take it?”
“Only two nights. It is not a welcoming place for visitors, frankly. So after that we came north again, to York…” She paused, but there was no need to mention her diamond pendant. “And then up here, but I stopped at Harringdon first.”
“Where you managed to extract Sydney Davenport’s bride from under his nose two days before the wedding. Your interference at Marsden Hall might have been well-intentioned, and perhaps Mr Marsden will come to appreciate it, but the Davenports must be very cross with you, Izzy.”
“They will be when they find out about it.”
“What! You mean they do not know where she has gone?”
“Not until the coachman returns in the morning.”
“Izzy! You are a shocking girl! They will be worried sick about Miss Plowman and her sister.”
“No, they will ask the maid, who will see that a certain quantity of clothes has been taken, and two small bags. They will also determine that the sisters must have disappeared at some point between breakfast and the time when I left. Logical conclusions will be drawn.”
Mama turned her gaze to the other side of the room, where Ruth Plowman was deep in a conversation with some of the duke’s daughters. Ruth had quickly recovered her poise, and was chattering away as if she had known the ducal family all her life. Lady Anne and Lady Charlotte hung on her every word, not in the least bothered by the accent or her origins in trade.
“At least you did not abduct them, or anything of that nature,” Mama said. “They appear to be here of their own free will. Still, I imagine we shall have the Davenports on the doorstep by tomorrow afternoon.”
“Mr Plowman, most likely, and unless he intends to search every room in the castle, an enterprise which will take him until Michaelmas at least, he will leave disappointed. Mama, he has had the banns read for one daughter, and a bishop’s licence drawn up for the other, and is fully determined to marry one or other of them to Sydney on Friday. Since neither of them wishes to marry him—”
“Well, Miss Plowman agreed to it,” Lady Rennington said, her lips pursing again. “When I called at Harringdon, everyone was very happy with the arrangement. In fact, the marriage plans were going along swimmingly until you arrived.”
Izzy smiled and shook her head. “Acquit me of unwarranted interference, I beg you! I did nothing except to express my astonishment that a man like Sydney Davenport should marry for the sake of two fields and some trees. He is apoet, for heaven’s sake! And then Ruth decided she did not want to marryhim after all, and so here we are. You will help me to protect her from her father, Mama?”
“It will be up to the duke and duchess,” Lady Rennington said, and then chuckled. “However, I suspect that having two of his daughters staying with the Duchess of Lochmaben will impress Mr Plowman. But let us not talk about the Plowman sisters. Let us talk about you. I do hope you will make a long stay here, if only to bear me company. I shall go to Josie in the autumn, but for now, I am fixed here. The company should amuse you, and the countryside is beautiful. We shall go about together, mother and daughter, just as we used to, and call on all the locals of interest. You will want to see the Osborns, I imagine. It is the first time the new earl has been here since inheriting, in fact the first time any of the family has been here for years, and one would not wish to be backward in any attention.”
It was said so casually, but Izzy could sense something in Mama that suggested she knew what she was about. How could she not? Izzy had visited Godfrey Marsden and Sydney Davenport, so inevitably Robert Osborn would be next.
Robert Osborn. The new earl. A chill ran down Izzy’s spine. Was that where her future lay?
“Have you seen anything of them?” She could pretend to be casual too.
“I called, yes, to pay my respects. I ought not to go again so soon, not until the ladies return the call, but the duchess will take you and the Plowman girls to make the first visit.”
“How are they all?”
“The countess is still in full black, which seems a little excessive to me, since it is more than six months since the late earl died, but the girls are out of mourning. Lucy and Lizzie are with her — still not married. Lord Kiltarlity seems… a little bemused. Harassed, even. He finds the burdens of hisresponsibilities rather onerous, I fancy. They will all be glad to see a familiar face, I am sure.”
Izzy was less sure, but still, whatever Mama thought of her dizzy journey to visit all her former suitors, she was making it easy for her to see Robert without raising any hackles. A morning call… yes, that was suitably discreet. No one could object to that, could they? And then later, another morning call, and perhaps by then there will be dinner invitations exchanged.
It was all working out rather well. And Ian was following her, she must hope. She retired to bed that evening optimistic for the first time in days.
***
Izzy took care to wear one of her best morning dresses. She was not extravagant, she hoped, but she liked to be fashionable, and added a few of the latest styles to her wardrobe every spring and autumn. She had a seamstress at Stonywell who reworked older gowns into the new styles, as well as making up undergarments for her. That way she made sure to stay within her allowance. Hats were her only major indulgence, for there was nothing like a new bonnet for lifting the spirits.
Brandon, with that skill that is only found in the very best lady’s maids, had already laid out the very gown and spencer and matching hat that Izzy had chosen.
“The green to match your eyes, my lady,” was all she said.
For form’s sake, Izzy tried three other gowns first before settling on the chosen one, but when she joined the duchess and the Plowman sisters waiting in the echoing entrance hall to depart, she knew she looked her best. The duchess was a round dumpling of a woman, not at all regal in her manner, who beamed at them happily as if there was nothing she liked better than to chaperon two random daughters of a merchantand a distant cousin who had washed up on her doorstep. And perhaps, good-natured soul that she was, she truly enjoyed such duties.
The carriage was elderly but comfortable, or as comfortable as any vehicle could be on such appalling roads. Izzy thought wistfully of the teams of men Ian employed from time to time to ensure that the roads around Stonywell were smooth and undisturbed by streams meandering across them, as seemed to happen frequently here.
