That was foolish. He must not be carried away with impossible dreams of his own. But there was one thing he could do for her, and that was to provide the ballroom at Staineybank that would give her the opportunities she craved. A ballroom… not the orangery, for that would be full of plants, and would be too warm and sultry an atmosphere for exuberant dancing. But a gallery… that he could provide, and if he could combine it with the orangery…
Fired with enthusiasm, he rushed off to find his sketch book.
***
For the two days that remained to them at Marshfields, Lord Daniel fluttered around Sophia. It was, perhaps, putting it too strongly to describe it as courting, but there wassomethingbetween them, that much was certain, and even Mama was filled with optimism.
“This is very promising,” she said, as they knelt on the floor finishing their packing the night before their departure. “He is so attentive! And no doubt his father will provide him with a little estate of his own when he marries, which will be very useful for the children, although I imagine you will spend much of your time with his father at Pentavon Castle, and in London, of course. How delightful for you! I have made sure that he knows precisely how to find Staineybank, so I am confident that we shall see him there before too long. It is a pity he is a younger son, and his older brother is already married with a son of his own, so there is nothing to hope for there. Still, his father will want him to make a good match, and sister to the future Duke of Brinshire is as good a connection as a younger son may expect. Once Richard inherits, you may claim the title of Lady Sophia, you know, and then you would be Lady Sophia Torbuck.”
“Would I not be Lady Daniel Torbuck, regardless of my own title?”
“No, not unless you insisted upon it.” Mama sat back on her heels. “You would have higher rank than your husband, in such a case.”
“Do you truly think he will come?” Sophia said in a small voice. “I do not want to get my hopes up if—”
“I know, I know, we have been disappointed before, have we not? I cannot think what it is about you girls that makes you so unlucky with men. But he does seem quite keen. He will want to talk to his father first, but then, perhaps, we shall see him at Staineybank.”
Sophia could not be so sanguine, but nevertheless, the memory of Lord Daniel and the possibility of a spring wedding beguiled the long drive back to Brinshire. It helped to distract her from Mr Payne, sitting in the carriage a mere arm’s length away from her. Whenever she looked at him, and especially at his enticing lips, she remembered the moment when he had leaned towards her… had so nearly kissed her. It was fortunate that he gave no sign of remembering it, seeming lost in thought for the whole journey.
At Staineybank, she found that nothing had changed except that Rowena had grown even larger.
“I cannot wait for this to be over,” she said to Sophia, as the ladies retreated to the drawing room after dinner. “Only another month, if I am lucky. I waddle about like a duck — so undignified. I should feel better if I could get out into the garden, but we have had snow almost every day this past week. Not much, but enough to keep me indoors.”
“We had snow in Surrey, too,” Sophia said. “Apart from the ball, I had no exercise at all. I should love to walk about the gardens a little. Shall we make a firm plan to do so tomorrow? Ido not think we shall have any more snow, and there is not much lying on the ground to deter us.”
“Eleven, straight after breakfast,” Rowena said. “I always take my walk at eleven.”
Before Sophia could reply, her sisters began to lay out Mr Payne’s drawings of the ball on a table, and she was applied to for all the little details which had already been related by letter but must be gone over again and again. She was not loath to oblige them, for although there had been so many successful balls in the past, this was the first at the home of a duke, and the names of the various lords must be repeated. There was something very satisfying about telling one’s sisters that one had danced with the son of a marquess or a duke, rather casually as if one did so as a regular affair and therefore it was a perfectly commonplace event. But there was no escaping the mention of Lord Daniel Torbuck, and her tentative hopes in that direction, for Mama was not at all reticent about it.
Yet somehow those days at Marshfields already seemed hazy, like a distant memory of a summer’s day, something long gone and become a shadowy, ephemeral thing. Had Lord Daniel really paid her so much attention? And even if he had, did it mean anything or was it mere politeness, or simply filling the hours until it was time to begin the journey home? Back in the solid walls of Staineybank, Lord Daniel had no substance, a half remembered dream that had vanished in the light of day.
The next day, Sophia breakfasted early and then returned to her room to finish unpacking, or rather, since the maids had unpacked already, to rearrange everything to her own systematic order. It was odd how unsettling it was should a hairbrush be misaligned, or a nightgown be folded incorrectly. Having removed every gown from her press and replaced each in its proper position, she was just beginning on her chest of drawers when Rowena’s head appeared round the door.
“Ah, there you are! It is past eleven, dear. I have gathered the others for our walk, but I should not wish to exclude you, if you still wish to come.”
“Oh, yes! Give me a moment to put on my stoutest boots. Are we going far?”
“Richard will not permit me to go far, or to wander from the approved path,” she said, pulling a face. “Out by the front door, through the parterre to the bridge, then along the lake as far as the summer house and back on the path to the garden door. Always the same way. I cannot wait until the summer, when I shall be able to walk anywhere I wish.”
Provided with suitable footwear and her warmest cloak, Sophia followed Rowena down the stairs to the hall where Charlotte, Augusta and Maria, and Rowena’s friend Georgie already waited. Froggett signalled to a footman to open the heavy front door and then they were out in the crisp, wintry air. The steps had been swept clean, but on the drive an inch or so of snow still lay, rutted with the marks of wheels and hooves. Georgie gave Rowena her arm as she descended the steps, still damp and slippery, but once on the drive Rowena shook off her helper, and strode away.
“Is she always so independent?” Sophia asked, as Georgie shook her head at her friend’s retreating back.
“More so at the moment because she feels so helpless,” Georgie said. “She is so used to being active that all this waiting is driving her a little insane. Richard does not help, of course. He is so nervous and protective of her just now that he would have her stay in bed until her confinement if he could. But the physician is very keen on fresh air and healthy exercise, so she has her walk every day.”
“But only on the prescribed route.”
Georgie rolled her eyes. “That is Richard’s doing, naturally, and of course the duke backs him up. The heir and all that. Still, only another month or so of this nonsense, thank goodness.”
From the drive, they followed the path round the side of the house and entered the parterre, which Sophia thought was the least interesting part of the garden. It was part of the original formal pleasure grounds, but she preferred the more romantic landscape of the upper river, with its pretty Palladian bridge and miniature waterfalls, and then the sinuous curves of the lake.
At the bridge, Rowena stopped to allow the others, slower walkers, to catch up with her.
“I have never yet managed to reach the far side of the bridge,” she said gaily. “Once, just once, Richard permitted me to venture onto it, but it came on to rain, so we turned back. But one day I shall cross this river.”
Laughing, she turned and set off again, reaching the top of a short flight of steps before the others had even begun to move. She started down the steps, and then, with a terrifying shriek, she fell, tumbling away out of their sight.
Sophia gasped in horror. Georgie had already begun to run, so she ran too, finding Rowena sprawled at the bottom of the steps, looking confused.
