To be ever at such a disadvantage!she pitied as another revelation struck.Why, that is the lovely young blonde from the rout! But where is Lady Orange?
A hint of alarm spread across the girl’s face, and she began to fumble with the reticule hanging from her wrist.
Belinda was on her feet in an instant. Approaching straight on, yet slowly, she asked, “May I help you to find your party?”
“Oh yes, please,” the girl said, withdrawing her empty hand from the bag. “Mamma cannot have gone far. She was under one of those trees just a moment ago. She’s wearing pink today.”
Scanning the area, Lindy saw a woman resting on a bench about thirty feet away. Her gown was a shocking shade of fuchsia.
Of course! She wears bright colours that her daughter will find her more easily, though it has not worked today.
Turning, the mother looked their way, stood up and started over, clearly agitated.
“Davis said he would keep his eye on you!” she said as the gap closed between them. “I sit down foronemoment…”
“Do not be angry with him, Mamma. This kind woman has helped me.”
Looking at Lindy for the first time, the mother softened. “I do thank you, Miss…?”
“Belinda Everson.”
“Very good. I am Ophelia Hartley and this is my daughter, Dora. Will you sit with us a moment that we may better express our thanks to you?”
Glancing back to see that Rose saw precisely where she was going off to, Belinda followed along, pleased that she might enjoy some real conversation with another young woman.
As soon as they were settled, Mrs Hartley looked around, cross again and asked her daughter, “Where has your thoughtless brother gone off to?” Then, with a tight smile, she told Belinda, “We are truly grateful for your attentiveness, Miss Everson. Doradoestend to wander off—”
“Mamma! You make me out to be a naughty puppy.” Miss Hartley laughed. “You must forgive her, Miss Everson. It seems her nerves are worn to bits since my governess has left us!”
“Yes well, Miss Harpdidstay close to you, though she proved wanting in the end. Oh Dora, stop your squinting at Miss Everson! It is most unbecoming.”
“I am only acquainting myself with her face, Mamma.”
Lindy lifted her head a little that the girl might see her more easily.
Mrs Hartley’s displeasure found a different focal point as a young man was then coming towards them. He wore a coat that was blue as a robin’s egg, his smooth jawline indicating that he was even younger than Dora.
“Davis.” Mrs Hartleyhmphed.
“Mamma, I had my eye on her the whole time,” he began as he plunked down on the lawn. “We had just started back when I thought I heard a goldfinch just a little ways away, so I went to find it, and when I saw Dora was safe with her friend here—” he nodded in Belinda’s direction “—I knew I needn’t rush back. And as you see, my sister has not come to any harm whatsoever!”
Goodness, what a row!Belinda found it more diverting than anything else London had offered her up until that point.
“Lindy darling,” Aunt Rose had made her way over. “Won’t you introduce me to your friends?”
Once Belinda had complied, Mrs Hartley, who was all conviviality again, urged Rose to sit down at once.
“Your niece has been very kind in her attentions to my Dora! We are not accustomed to others being mindful of her in public places. You see, her eyes are quite weak…”
“A misfortune that requires us to wear these hues.” Master Hartley frowned down at his vivid coat, then shifted his gaze to his mother’s garish gown.
“I don’t know what you mean, Davis,” Mrs Hartley sniffed. “I was assured this shade of carmine becomes me very well.”
Her son looked away pointedly, pressing his lips together, while her daughter quietly traced a finger over the swirled cord on her cuff.
“And so it does, Mrs Hartley,” Rose interjected. “Not many are blessed with a complexion such as yours.”
“Why, thank you.” The woman’s cheeks grew rosy with pleasure, and her tongue stilled, at last.
