“Oh, do let me see,” said Lord Harraby, “for Embleton has told us nothing of this. Oh, and the poetry, too!‘Agreed by all to be of the highest calibre, and comparable to the works of the great poets of the Roman era themselves.’My, my, Embleton, how you do hide your light under a bushel.”
Lord Embleton shifted uncomfortably. “Mere f-f-flattery.”
“Lady Olivia, may I borrow the cutting?” Lord Harraby said. “We have no newspapers at Harraby, and my wife would beso interested to know what her brother does at these scholarly affairs.”
She agreed to it, for she had already copied out the important parts.
Lord Embleton looked pointedly at the clock, and Lord Harraby took the hint, rising smoothly to his feet with murmurings about not outstaying their welcome. The earl rose, too, with a smile that looked suspiciously like relief.
Olivia was not about to let them escape so easily, however. “Must you go so soon? I should very much like to hear more of your race horses, Lord Embleton. Will you not join us for dinner one night soon? Both of you, and Lady Harraby too, naturally.”
“My wife is not going into company just now, and I do not care to leave her alone at night, but Embleton will come, will you not?”
The marquess looked slightly panicked.
“Delighted to have you,” the earl said. “We have a large gathering this Friday—”
“Not then, Papa,” Olivia murmured. “Lord Embleton might think we are parading him before all our neighbours as a spectacle to be ogled and fawned over. A quiet family dinner is what I had in mind. We are such a small group now, and we all know each other so well that we are very dull at table. It would liven us up enormously to have just one extra guest.” Then, seeing that the marquess was still looking anxious, and wondering if that might be because of his stammer, she added, “I warn you, however, that I am likely to talk your ears off, for I can never stop when I have new company to enjoy. You will not be able to get a word in edgewise.”
The earl’s eyebrows rose at this outrageous lie, but he said nothing and it did the trick, for the marquess smiled and said all that was proper, albeit painfully slowly, and a date was arranged.
When they had left, before Olivia could make good her escape, her father said, “What are you up to, you little monkey?”
“Oh, just practising,” she said airily. “Since I am never to get to town, seemingly, and we live so quietly since Mama left, I have to take every opportunity to test my company manners.”
He smiled, shaking his head at her. Laughing, she skipped out of the room, and went to warn the cook to be sure to prepare an unusually good dinner for the marquess.
3: A Family Dinner
The big evening party cheered Olivia enormously. She had been desperately low in spirits for so much of the year, firstly missing her debut season in town because of Grandmama’s imminent demise, and then the summer had been blighted by Uncle Arthur. It was bad enough that a man should contrive to get himself murdered, especially a chaplain, but to discover that he had deceived them for years and years, overturning all their lives — it was the outside of enough! Olivia felt as if she had been weeping off and on for months, and now Mama had gone away, and Cousin Tess and even Walter, and there was no one left at Corland, apart from Papa and her brother Kent, who was twice as annoying as all the rest put together for he was perpetually cheerful and saw life as one long joke. But it was nothisfuture which had been destroyed for ever.
At least the people investigating Uncle Arthur’s death had gone away for the moment. Captain Edgerton was a funny little man who went everywhere with a sword at his side, as if he was about to be summoned to battle, although he told some amusingstories of his time in India. His wife was very elegant, although too tall for a lady — taller than her husband. They had not managed to discover who had killed poor Uncle Arthur, and now they had lost one of their own people and had gone off to look for her.
All of Olivia’s worries were pushed aside for now, however. A big, noisy party with everyone from the neighbourhood and the carpets rolled up for dancing — that was more like it! It was almost like the time before the trouble, when Mama had been at home and there had always been some entertainment or other to look forward to. For once, Olivia was happy. She danced almost every dance, and even mousy little Katherine Parish, who never said a word to anyone and certainly never danced, was dragged to her feet for a reel.
The memory of it would keep Olivia warm for weeks, and even in the dull after-the-party low days, there would be letters of thanks and little posies of flowers and more morning callers than usual. Corland was so remote that their pool of acquaintances was small, so they had to make the most of whatever amusements were to be had.
And now there was a dinner with Lord Embleton to be anticipated! Not just dinner, but a whole evening and breakfast too, for the distance from Harraby Hall meant that he must stay overnight. So much excitement — she could barely sleep for thinking about it. Finally, after all these years, she could begin her campaign to win Lord Embleton’s heart. Her amusing little game was about to become very real. What should she talk about? A list, she must begin a list of suitable subjects, so that she could talk at length to him and he would not have to feel self-conscious about his stammer.
He arrived in good time. Olivia watched from the window of an empty bedroom as the carriage drew up and decanted the marquess and his valet. Smiling, she skipped away to her ownroom to dress for dinner. She had long since decided on the gown she would wear, and settled on a simple string of pearls woven through her hair, an arrangement which Mama always said emphasised the shape of her face. As she peered at herself in the mirror, she could not see the benefit.
“What do you think, Hannah?” she said, twisting her head this way and that. “Something more elaborate, do you think? Pearls are so plain.”
“Her ladyship allus said to keep it simple, miss, leastways till you go up to town. Save the diamonds for grand balls, she used to say.”
Olivia knew perfectly well what her mother used to say, but it was annoying to have her words parroted back at her by the maid, who had never even been to London. She wanted to be in the drawing room before the marquess, however, so she chose not to quibble.
The marquess was not there, but the room already felt full, since Uncle George and Aunt Jane were ensconced there, quietly talking to Aunt Alice and the earl, while Olivia’s five cousins clustered around the fire.
“Olivia!” Bertram said, as Simpson announced her. “How are you, cousin?”
“A little surprised. I did not know you were all to be here tonight.”
He chuckled. “Aunt Alice sent a note over to Mother telling us that you had casually invited the Marquess of Embleton to dine hereen famille, and since that might look rather particular, she begged us to increase the numbers, so to speak. Did she not tell you?”
“No, she did not. I sent word to Eustace, but that is all. At least if conversation flags, you will be able to talk to the marquess in Latin. Oh! She did not invite the Franklyns, did she?”
“She suggested I might like to bring Bea along, since we are betrothed, but—”
