Charlotte stepped neatly into their path. ‘Gentlemen,’ she said smoothly, ‘I assure you it is nothing more than a domestic matter. Please return to your cards.’
She ushered them away with gentle firmness until, little by little, the hallway emptied once more.
Chapter 19
The next few days plunged the house into even greater disorder.
Lord Stanley’s demeanour worsened by the day. True to the Captain’s word, Charlotte could no longer deny that he was both a reckless gambler and a heavy drinker. The house party had exposed him at his worst.
To her disappointment, most of the gentlemen seemed cut from much the same cloth. Only the Captain, Mr Wilberforce, and his three friends—Lionel, Smythe, and Pearson—seemed exempt from the endless cycle of drink and gaming.
Charlotte’s opinion of Lord Stanley diminished considerably. Any lingering pity she had once felt for him was wearing dangerously thin. Whatever threats surrounded him, he was nevertheless behaving like a degenerate, and she could no longer pretend otherwise.
Holden, the butler, followed him around like a faithful shadow, always armed with a conveniently placed decanter of brandy or wine, replenishing his glass almost before it stood empty.
After a brief and largely obligatory appearance in the drawing room with the ladies, Lord Stanley, Wolverton, and theother gentlemen would retreat to the card room. Within an hour, bursts of raucous laughter and drunken uproar echoed through the corridors.
By contrast, the ladies were abandoned to entertain themselves.
The gentlemen seldom emerged before noon the following day.
Charlotte privately concluded it was the worst house party she had ever witnessed—and her mother had dragged her to a distressing number in her former life.
Poor Mrs Wilberforce blushed herself nearly into illness attempting to compensate for the impropriety. She exerted herself valiantly to entertain the ladies during the day and maintain some semblance of refinement in the evenings.
More than once, Charlotte found herself accosted in the corridors at night by some stumbling, foxed gentleman emerging from the card room. Fortunately, she was nimble enough to evade them easily and did not truly fear harm.
Her greatest frustration, in fact, lay elsewhere.
She had almost no opportunity to observe the gentlemen properly or learn more about them. They spent scarcely any time amongst the ladies, while the ladies themselves remained stubbornly aloof, limiting their interactions with Charlotte to the barest politeness.
Sarah, meanwhile, had met with no success whatsoever. Mrs Dent had assigned her to further kitchen duties, and she was still attempting to devise a way into the guest bedchambers unnoticed.
As Charlotte sat brooding in the drawing room one evening, the spinsters rallied once more in pursuit of their matchmaking ambitions and summoned the Captain to join them.
Charlotte rolled her eyes at them.
To her surprise, however, he obliged.
‘Miss Lucas,’ he said as he seated himself nearby. ‘You would make an excellent hostess.’
Charlotte twisted her face in confusion.
‘You handled that unfortunate domestic scene the other evening, admirably.’
Charlotte felt a quiet flicker of pleasure at the praise.
Naturally, the entire house party had by now learned of the argument between Lord Stanley and Mr Wilberforce.
Charlotte hesitated. Drawing-room etiquette had been drilled into her by her mother since infancy. Anne, however, had not possessed such polish.
‘Thank you,’ she said vaguely. ‘I suppose it is simply habit from governessing.’ She laughed nervously. ‘Mr Wilberforce still appears rather wounded by it all. I do hope he recovers his spirits soon.’
She looked towards Mr Wilberforce, who sat sulking at the far end of the room, refusing to join the others in the card room.
‘Oh... yes.’ The Captain’s expression sobered. ‘I suppose it is understandable. Wilberforce has devoted years to the abolition cause. He was making genuine progress too—in Parliament and in society alike. Without the funding...’ He sighed. ‘He will gradually be forgotten.’
‘It is a severe blow to lose Lord Stanley’s support,’ Charlotte replied, unable entirely to conceal her resentment.
