Lord Wharton bowed over their hands, and when he reached Livy, he and his wife had somehow managed to form a group with just Cilla and Livy, while Aunt Ginny and the cousins fell into conversation with another of Aunt Ginny’s friends and her daughters.
Papa was a few steps away, watching benignly.
The young lord commented, “I see what my friend Bane meant about you, Miss Wintergreen. He described you as a goddess.” He tossed a laughing glance at his wife, and added, “I am, of course, a worshipper at a different altar, but I understand his point.”
He moved on to greet Cilla. “My friend Drake talked about you, too, Miss Lucilla.”
“I imagine he did not describe me as a goddess,” said Cilla.
“As a dainty maiden made of gossamer and iron,” Lord Wharton replied.
Oh my.Gossamer and iron. Cilla was going to have to ask Drake precisely what he meant, but she liked the sound of it.
“Wharton, you are embarrassing our new friends,” Lady Wharton scolded. “Miss Wintergreen, Miss Lucilla, do not listen to Wharton. Drake and Bane said only complimentary things about you, of course. Indeed, I was so eager to meet you that when I saw Lady Marple had five young ladies with her, I told Wharton that I needed an introduction, and I needed one now!”
She smiled as Lord and Lady Thornstead joined the group. “Jenna, may I present my new friends?”
“I am ahead of you, Pauline,” Lady Thornstead said. “I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Wintergreen and Miss Lucilla yesterday evening. And, also, their sponsor and her daughters, of course.” She looked directly at Papa and smiled. “I have not met you, sir, but I assume you are Mr. Wintergreen?”
“Lady Thornstead, this is my Papa, Mr. Wintergreen,” Cilla said. “Papa, Lord and Lady Thornstead are friends of the Sanderson brothers. The good ones, I mean.” She flushed as she realized that she had just said the other brother was a bad one. But it was true! She would not apologize for it.
“Gossamer and iron,” Lord Wharton commented in a whisper intended just for her, but Lady Wharton rapped him on the arm with her fan.
Was that a clue to what Drake meant? That she looked delicate but was stronger than others might expect?
“You two sisters must come to my ladies’ tea tomorrow,” Lady Wharton said. “I call it a ‘tea’ so no one knows we are bluestockings. Not that anyone would dare to call us that when Jenna is a member, for she is a future duchess. We talk about books and politics and scientific discoveries and useful good works and all sorts of other interesting things, and no one is allowed to do needlework. From what the ‘good’ Sanderson brothers say,” her eyes laughed as she used Cilla’s term, “it will suit you wonderfully well.”
Cilla and Livy both thanked her, and that was all they had time for. The hostess called for everyone to take their seats, for the first musician was ready to start. But when the music stopped for supper, they had time to secure an address and a start time.
What had started out to be an unpleasant evening had turned into a delightful opportunity.
*
Livy
“Cilla,” Livy said,as the carriage trundled through the streets of London from Pa’s townhouse to Lady Wharton’s, “I think we should tell the ladies we meet this afternoon about Misrule Night, and why we did it.”
Her sister stared at her and then nodded. On their walk with the Sanderson brothers this morning, they had heard about the destruction of the Pentworth’s machine, and what Bane and Drake planned to do to counter their brother and his allies.
“I agree, Livy. Perhaps the ladies will not approve, but we have to try.” Cilla gave the decisive nod Livy knew well. Gentleand sweet as her sister was, she was immovable once she had made up her mind.
Nonetheless, Livy nearly changed her mind when she realized how exalted some of the ladies were. Jenna—the group insisted on first names—was so merry and so approachable that it was easy to forget she was married to a man who was in line to become a duke, and though Pauline was already a viscountess, she had confided she was a country girl at heart.
But almost everyone in the group was titled, and one—her name was Margaret—was a countess. Surely, they would not care about the fate of a couple of merchant’s sons, one of whom was not even legitimate?
Even the ladies who lacked titles were clearly well-bred, though Livy supposed that she and Cilla presented well to those who didn’t know their background. There were two Miss Worthingtons, a Miss Wharton (who must be a younger sister of Lord Wharton), and a Mrs. Paddimore, who was a widow and apparently the dearest friend of the countess.
Lady Thornstead, as hostess, called the meeting to order several minutes after Livy and Cilla arrived. “Pauline is going to read us one of her poems,” she said, “then Margaret will give us a report on our donations to the clinic. We shall have afternoon tea after that, and then Eva is going to lead the discussion on our book for the month, Caroline Lamb’sGlenarvon. After that, we shall open the floor to anyone who wishes to raise a particular issue. As always, we shall end the meeting with deciding the hostess and agenda for next week. Pauline, if you would?”
She waved a graceful hand at Lady Wharton, who stood and clasped her hand behind her back.
The poem was a sweet and rather sentimental panegyric, from the point of view of a mother cat, to the kittens who were one by one leaving her nest in the straw of the stable loft, to go to new homes. As Livy listened, she resolved that she would acceptthe invitation to raise an issue, and in the meantime, she would relax and enjoy herself.
It was a pleasant afternoon. Everyone praised the poet, and then Margaret, Countess Charmain, spoke briefly about how sums of money donated by the group had been spent to buy supplies for a medical clinic in the slums. Apparently, the women had also donated blankets, and these had been much appreciated.
Over tea, one of the other women whispered that Margaret was an herbalist, who worked with the doctors at the clinic and supplied them with herbal remedies from her garden. “Does her husband not object?” Livy whispered back, but the countess was that rare creature, a single woman with her own title and her own fortune! Livy was very impressed.
Livy and Cilla had readGlenarvonlast year when it was first published and could give their opinions about the heroine and the hero. The group was split into two camps over the story of seduction and betrayal, and the sisters found themselves on opposite sides. Livy and her allies thought the heroine over-melodramatic and the hero unlikely. Cilla’s side claimed that the heroine had been driven into melodrama by the hero’s manipulation.
