Another nod, and a tremulous smile. “And that will fix everything, won’t it?”
“Yes, my love. It will.”
***
Lance was in no hurry to return to Staineybank. For one thing, Denny’s family wished to see more of him and hear all about his adventures as Denzil Pendleton, and Lance had no wish to deny his friend this pleasure. The two spent a pleasant fortnight furnishing Denny with a gentleman’s wardrobe, then enjoying a succession of dinners and evening parties with his family, friends and an array of curious acquaintances. Denny grumbled about it, and muttered that he preferred to spend his evenings as just another anonymous manservant, but nevertheless he went meekly wherever he was asked and basked in the warmth of his family’s unstinting affection.
As for Lance himself, he was keen to postpone the day when he would once more join the duke’s household. He had agreed to it, however, and to discuss the possibility of painting the ceiling of the new ballroom. That was a commitment that would keep him at Staineybank for some years, and he knew perfectly well that he should refuse it, for the sake of his own peace of mind.He would consider it, but he would not be browbeaten into anything.
The delay gave him an opportunity he had longed for ever since Payne had arrived with that strange letter from the duke.‘Pray indulge an old man’s whim to enjoy your company a while longer, in honour of your dear Mama.’What on earth did he mean by that? His mother had said she remembered the duke well, and clearly he remembered her, too, but the duke’s words implied something more than mere acquaintance.
It was some time, however, before he managed to get his mother alone. The Chamberlain family had soon tired of town and drifted away to the countryside, but the shops, theatres, exhibitions and evening entertainments continued to draw them back for short visits all summer long. One such visit brought his mother alone, and after dinner, the two settled down to a cosy game of backgammon.
“You will be going back to Staineybank soon, I take it?” she said.
“I will, although I take no pleasure in it. I am by no means prepared to contract myself to a project that will take me several years to complete, even once this orangery is built, which it is not, not yet. But the duke wants me back, and I do not like to be disobliging.”
“Quite right, dear. He can be kindness itself, but these men of power can also be vengeful if they are thwarted. If he likes you, it would be wise to do nothing to offend him.”
“It is you he likes, I should say, Mother. He wrote of you in the letter asking me to return.”
“Did he?” Her eyes widened, and she went a little pink. “I am not sure I like to be mentioned in private correspondence between two gentlemen.”
Lance smiled and shook his head. “There was nothing untoward in it. Here — read it for yourself.”
She set down the dice shaker and took the letter he had pulled from a waistcoat pocket. Unfolding it, she quickly read it, then laughed. “A man of few words.”
“He has a secretary who writes most of his letters. I am honoured that he scribed this in his own hand. But his words are curious —‘in honour of your dear Mama’.What does that mean, do you suppose?”
She went a little pink. “Oh… he is an outrageous flirt, you know. He made me the object of his gallantry, once, long ago, and I suppose he remembers it still.”
“Mama! Do you tell me that he was one of your cicisbeos?”
“Cicisbeos! Heavens, Lance, you are mistaking me for a great society lady! I have never moved in the sort of circles where married women had cicisbeos, and your father would have had an apoplexy if I had even thought of it. Goodness, no! We Chamberlains are a respectable family, and always have been. But the duke was a good friend to me at a time when I was at a low ebb. We had had a horrid year altogether — terrible flooding across the western fields, for one thing. The home farm and half the village was under water, a dreadful business, and then two of your uncles died within three months of each other, Swithin and Miles.”
“Oh, the famous Uncle Swithin? Aunt Kitty’s Swithin? The saint?”
She laughed. “Well… not so much of a saint, but one cannot speak ill of the dead, naturally. Kitty was distraught, but she wanted the twins brought out that year, for they were nineteen already and she was convinced that if they were not married by twenty their chances would be gone forever. You know what Kitty is like.”
“I do indeed. So…youwere called upon to bring out the girls?”
“Exactly so. Two girls without much to recommend them. Alice was pretty enough, but Jane was a hoyden, and no money, of course.”
“The sainted Swithin having left his family destitute.”
She clucked at him, shaking her head. “Now, now, it was not so bad as that, for Swallowfield was prosperous enough, but Hugh had that, and a family of his own to consider, so there was not much to spare for the girls. But we all rallied round, rustled up clothes and so forth, and I brought them to town on my own, which was a great trial to me. If only your father could have been with me, I could have borne it better. But he could not leave Greencroft and everyone else was in mourning, and what with one thing and another, I was in very low spirits. Still, I managed somehow, and lo and behold, Alice caught the eye of a viscount’s son. You have heard the story a hundred times, I am sure.”
“A thousand at least. The famous meeting in the book seller’s and how he followed her home, and then called on her the next morning.”
“Exactly. He was very smitten, and not in the least put off by her lack of fortune and connections. But his family were not smitten at all, and tried their hardest to scotch the whole thing. In the end, we were invited to a ducal residence in Hampshire for a week, where the viscount’s family were also staying.”
“I have not heard this part of the story,” Lance said. “Whenever Aunt Kitty mentioned it, it was to say only,‘It came to nothing in the end,’without any details. Presumably this is where it all went wrong.”
“The whole occasion was designed to put us in our place and puncture our ambitions,” his mother said sombrely. “We were surrounded by dukes and marquesses and I know not what, who took every opportunity to laugh at us. I was completely out of my depth. Alice was all for packing up and leaving after the firstnight, but I thought we ought to give the boy a chance to stand up to his parents and determine his own happiness.”
“But he did not?”
“It turned out he was nothing but a coward. Such a miserable week we had! But your duke was there, and he took pity on us and made sure that we received at least some kindness. And by the end of the week, he had shamed some of the others into better behaviour, too.”
