A Country House Party
Rhoda left her maid on the park bench with the two other lady companions who’d followed Sophia and Emily to the park. As usual. Sophia, Emily, and Rhoda met weekly at the shores of the Serpentine to feed the ducks whenever they were in Town. Every Wednesday, in fact. Today was to be the first time Sophia had joined them in several months, having given birth to a beautiful daughter recently. Lady Harriette Brookes was barely one month old. Tiny and fair skinned, the infant surprised everyone when she peered out from her blankets with eyes as black as the night.
“You didn’t bring the baby?” Rhoda greeted with a grin. Sophia had brought her little dog, Peaches, however, and so Rhoda bent down to pet the squat-but-long, red-haired pup she’d not seen all winter.
Sophia grinned. “Dev insisted I spend too much time indoors. He’s so good with her. When I left, she was sleeping peacefully upon his chest.” Love shined from her friend’s eyes.
Rhoda was terribly happy for Sophia, and yet a part of her wished things could have stayed the same, wished all four of them were still wallflowers, making jokes about the absurdities of theton.
Foolishness!
With a sigh, she rose and hugged Sophia tightly. “I’ve missed you so.” An overwhelming urge to cry struck her. Stepping back, she realized Emily was watching her curiously from behind her spectacles.
“Such an interesting evening, last night, wasn’t it?” Rhoda lifted the corners of her mouth. “Did you tell Sophia that you danced all of four sets?”
Emily’s gaze widened and then she laughed half-heartedly. “What of you, Rhoda? Dancing with nearly every bachelor in attendance?”
Astonishment persisted at the notion that her dance card had filled so quickly. That it had filled at all! She was doing her best to squash the memory of the unfortunate event in the garden. Shame swept through her at the mere thought of it. She shouldn’t have gone outside with him. It had been unwise of her. Sheknewbetter.
But her dance card, ah, yes. Some gentleman or another had claimed every last dance. Should she tell them about the eight elaborate bouquets delivered this morning?
“So I heard,” Sophia mumbled, somewhat surprisingly. “I’ve decided to host a house party,” she declared, ever so casually as she handed Rhoda a slice of bread.
Rhoda took the bread but ignored the increasingly impatient ducks upon hearing Sophia’s announcement. “Surely, not right away? The Season’s just begun.”
Her two dearest friends shared a conspiratorial glance before Emily asserted heartily, “I, for one, am happy to get away. I’m already bored with the usual inane conversation.”
Rhoda glanced back and forth between her two friends. “I thought you said this was to be your final Season, Emily. Don’t you want to make the most of it? You danced withfourgentlemen last night!”
Emily met Sophia’s eyes again and then bit her lip. “Ah, well, yes, yes, but I… um, I am so out of practice that I do believe I am in need of a refresher course. And Sophia has, er, said she could hire a dancing master for all of us to work on our dancing skills. Isn’t that right, Sophia?”
Sophia tilted her head questioningly and then her brows rose. “Oh, Oh, yes. Indeed. A dancing master. Yes, of course. You know, Rhoda, those two years sitting with the wallflowers eroded our skills something fierce.”
“But, Emily. You made a fine show of yourself last night. Aside from a few missteps with Lord Blakely, you were more graceful than ever!” Rhoda wondered what her two friends could possibly be thinking.
“Ah, well.” Emily pushed her spectacles higher upon the bridge of her nose. “You did not see yourself. You seemed about a half step off from all the other dancers. I’m surprised nobody said anything.”
“I was not! Was I? Surely, you cannot be right? I’ve always been comfortable dancing.” Doubt crept in. Her friends wouldn’t tell her this unless it were true, would they?
“Not to worry!” Sophia gave her a pinched smile. “As one of your dearest friends, I am more than happy to provide all of us with a dancing master at Eden’s Court next week.”
“Humph.” Rhoda was still not entirely convinced.
“It will be marvelous. To get away from London.” Emily tossed a few pieces of bread toward a cluster of curious brown ducks.
“Sophia.” The ducks could wait. “What will the dowager say about you hosting a house party while the household remains in mourning?” Harold’s demise had been in early August, and St. John, the duke, and the duke’s brother had died a few weeks later.
As it was only April, a full year had not yet passed since Sophia’s first husband’s death.
“She is not the dowager, technically. Since Dev inherited, and not one of her sons, she is still the duchess. We are both referred to by the title. Confusing at times, I admit. I’m surprised you didn’t know that, Rhoda,” Sophia explained, a trifle condescendingly. “She keeps to herself, anyhow. I do my best to lure her away from the dowager house, but she prefers to be alone most of the time.”
Rhoda nodded. The duchess had lost a great deal over the past year. Rhoda understood all too well.
“We’ll refer to this not as a house party, rather as a ‘quiet removal to the country.’ This shall deem it entirely respectable.” Sophia lifted Peaches off the ground so that the ducks would feel safer approaching them. After all this time, the pup still occasionally took it into her head that one of them would make for a delightful meal. “And the air is so much better there for your sister,” she cooed while gazing into the dog’s face. “Isn’t it, Peaches?” Only Sophia would refer to the daughter of a duke as being the sister to a small dog.
Perhaps Sophia was concerned about the baby’s health. The air in London could be unpleasant. “Fine then,” Rhoda conceded. “But not until the end of the week. I’ve promised my mother I would attend the Snodgrass Garden Party tomorrow afternoon, and I’ll need to convince her of this sudden dire need to head to the country. Emily, won’t your mother object to you missing opportunities to land a husband?”
“That’s the beauty of it.” Emily’s attitude turned quite cheerful. “Sophia was just saying, before you arrived, that His Grace had informed her of a few eligible bachelors she ought to invite as prospects for both of us. Isn’t that right, Sophia?”
