“He wants me to help him celebrate his heir’s fortieth birthday, that is what he wants, and you are invited too, my dear, and also Richard and Mrs Richard. There is to be a grand ball, and with the weather being so unreliable at this time of year, we are all invited to stay at Marshfields. It is a compliment to Rowena, to be sure, on account of her connection to the family. What do you think, Lily? Should you care to go?”
“A ball? Oh, no, I could not! It is too soon after—”
Tears filled her eyes, and the duke said gently, “Ah, of course! No need to distress yourself, my dear. Naturally we shall not go. I thought it might lift your spirits a little, but I quite see that it would not do.”
“I cannot go, either, Duke,” Rowena said, patting her swollen belly. “But Richard might like to—”
“Certainly not!” he cried. “Leave you at such a time? I should not have a moment’s peace.”
“Then the invitation must be refused,” the duke said. “It is a kind thought, but Camberley will understand.”
“Oh, but—” Sophia’s mama began.
At the same time, Mr Payne said, “I should like to go.”
All heads turned towards him.
“You?” the duke said. “What, pray, entitles you to go to Marshfields?”
“Not… notentitled,”Mr Payne stammered, flushing. “Should like to see the orangery, that is all. The one Mrs Merrington admired.”
“What an excellent idea!” the duke said. “Then you will have a better idea of the thing. Ha! You can make sure that mine is better than Camberley’s. You are Edlesborough’s son, so there can be no objection. I shall let Camberley know to expect you.”
“I had better go with him,” Lady Juliet said quickly. “He is liable to forget to eat without someone to watch over him.”
Mama had gone rather pink. “I am sure no one would quarrel with your dispositions, Duke, but perhaps it might be as well to send someone who can more properly represent the Merrington family. Mr Payne and Lady Juliet are wonderful additions to any society, naturally, but they are not connected with your grace. Besides, a ball can be of no interest to them. Whereas my daughters—”
“That is an excellent idea!” cried Lily. “The Miss Merringtons would love to dance at Marshfields, I am sure.”
Sophia held her breath. Surely, surely, the duke would see the advantage of it? What was the point of sending a man like Mr Payne to a ball, or a spinster of forty or more? How much more sensible to send young ladies, particularly those who longed to dance.
“Two of them might go, I suppose,” the duke said, frowning. “Only four are invited, and Camberley will have a houseful by the sound of it, so there will not be room for more than four. Payne, Lady Juliet and any two of the Miss Merringtons.”
Sophia’s spirits sank into her slippers instantly. That would be Charlotte and Augusta, by right of seniority.
“Oh, but my girls must have a chaperon,” Mama tinkled, “and they are never apart, you know, Duke. So very close! We must all go.”
“Not all!” Lily cried. “You cannot leave me here without a single Miss Merrington to bear me company. They cheer me up so.”
“A mother cannot be separated from her daughters,” Mama said firmly. “You will have Mrs Richard Merrington and Mrs Hastings for company, so you will not miss us at all, I am sure. Indeed we must all go.”
“Or none,” said the duke, his brows lower than Sophia had ever seen them.
Sophia made a tiny squeak of distress. To be so close to a ball, and yet to have the possibility snatched away at the last minute! It was more than a girl could bear.
The duchess turned to her with a smile. “Ah, you want to dance, Sophia, do you not, and put those new ball gowns to good use? I have a proposal, Duke. If Mrs Merrington were to take Sophia to Marshfields with Lady Juliet and Mr Payne, I should still have three sisters for company, and I believe I should be an acceptable chaperon for them. Do you not agree, Mrs Merrington?”
And Mama, little though she liked to concede the point, was obliged to smile and express her gratitude and pretend that nothing would please her more.
Sophia’s sisters glared at her, but she did not care. She was going to a ball, and nothing could dent her happiness.
***
Simon found an unexpected advantage to the journey to Marshfields, in that there was only one Miss Merrington to contend with. With four sisters indistinguishable to his eyes, he could never be sure when he spoke to one which of them she was, and so he dared not initiate any conversation in case he had spoken the same words to the same lady previously. How stupid that would make him appear! And yet how stupid he must seem when he was so unwilling to speak. It was so much easier to converse with a lady in the morning knowing that she was the same person he had spoken to at dinner the previous night.
Juliet, naturally, was excited by the possibilities.
“Just think, brother! Two or three weeks in Miss Sophia’s company! You have only to exert the least amount of charm and she will be in your hand, without doubt. At her age — she is twenty-eight, just imagine it! At her age, as I say, she will bedesperate for a husband and here you are, just the right age for her and free as a bird.”
