‘Yes, sir.’ Thomas bowed and withdrew.
‘Let me assist you to sit up a little, Miss Lound, and then you can take a little water. It will make you feel very much more the thing.’ Sir Rowland poured a glass of water and helped her into a sitting position, setting332the glass to her lips. Her hand, shaking slightly, moved to take it, and their fingers touched. He wondered if she could possibly have felt it as he did. She sipped, and then spoke in a less disjointed voice, though a whisper.
‘I am sorry,’ she repeated. ‘What a poor creature you must think me.’
Before he could answer, Lady Damerham bustled into the room, all words and her own tears of concern. Privately, Sir Rowland thought she did more harm than good, but it was right that she should be there.
‘It would be best, no doubt, if you took Miss Lound home, ma’am. Let me arrange for your carriage to be brought round, and your cloaks fetched.’
‘Yes, yes. Thank you, Sir Rowland. Oh, dear me! My poor girl! She has never fainted in her life before. I do hope it does not presage something serious. Oh dear!’
Sir Rowland left, with Lady Damerham fussing and Miss Lound feebly trying to reassure her, and found that Lord Roxton had already ordered the carriage.
‘Seemed best, Kempsey. Poor girl. And as for what happened … damnable, despicable. He will be shunned by every decent family in the district.’ The insult to his daughter was now uppermost in his lordship’s mind. However, he saw Lady Damerham and Miss Lound to their carriage with solicitude, and Sir Rowland withdrew and left him to it. He took a couple of minutes to organise his own thoughts, and went back into the ballroom.
Sir Harry Penwood, ostensibly his normal self, but with glittering eyes, approached.333
‘Is Mary all right? I was with Lady Roxton and …’ His voice dropped to an angered whisper. ‘I will call him out, damn him.’
‘No you will not. Think, man.’ Sir Rowland guided him to a corner where there was far less risk of being overheard. ‘Nothing happened, do you hear me? Miss Banham has been upset by realising how close she came to something less than discreet, that is all.’
‘Yes, but—’
‘Undoubtedly, Cradley is as Miss Lound described him to his face, a cur, and she hit him too, by the by, but if Miss Banham has suffered more than a jolt, I would be very surprised. Look at it from her point of view, Penwood. Cradley is a fashionable man of the world who paid her court, lavished attention on her, whether to keep himself from boredom or because he is a rake I neither know nor care, but beyond being flattered, and loving the sensation of the other young ladies all envying her, do you think she really fell in love with him? A man like that? She is too good, and not as feather-headed as many of her age. If you were to call Cradley out, it would make a mountain out of a molehill and the chatter would run that he took more advantage than a few seductive words. Moreover, you are not her brother, and nor are you, as yet, her intended. You will not deny that it is your aim, and so I say listen to my advice. How much better will she feel after this when a man she trusts, and her parents trust, shows her care and attention?’
‘She is going to London for the Season in the spring.334Lady Roxton will be seeking a good match for her.’ Harry Penwood’s rage was melting into despondency.
‘From what I have seen, the Roxtons love their daughter very much. You are no pauper, and if she marries you, she will not be disappearing from their lives as she would if she married some fellow hunting for a bride in London. I know which choice I would prefer. Treat her gently, let her see you care, for her and about her, and when she goes to the Metropolis it will be to pick bride clothes.’
‘I thought you had little experience of women?’ Harry Penwood regarded him with cautious optimism.
‘Barely any at all, my dear fellow. If I did, then I doubt I would still be …’ Sir Rowland halted, and a little colour crept into his cheek.
‘Well, it sounds to me as if you have a dashed good idea, and your advice is sound. Thank you. I am not one normally to charge pell-mell like a hothead.’ Sir Harry held out his hand and Sir Rowland shook it. ‘If it is of any use to you, since I have known Mary Lound since before I was breeched, I have never seen her this way. Not fainting, I mean, but for a reason I never thought to see. Good luck, not that you need it.’
335
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Sir Rowland came to the dower house the following afternoon, despite a strong and biting cold wind, and appeared very much the friendly neighbour, eager to make sure that the ladies had everything set in store should the weather deteriorate further. He engaged Lady Damerham in conversation for a full ten minutes, before he turned to Mary, and their gaze met and held. The little creases at the outer aspect of his hazel eyes, and the warmth within them, the gentleness in his voice, gave her a colour the warmth of the fire could not.
‘I am glad you are recovered from last night, Miss Lound. Being overcome by the heat is not, as you seem to believe, some sign of an inherent weakness in character. There is no shame in it.’
‘Perhaps you could not imagine a woman who could336be “dictatorial” being so feeble, though, Sir Rowland?’ She just had to know.
‘I apologise if that remark was taken seriously.’ He frowned. ‘What you did, both in chastising Cradley, and taking us both to task for letting our male instincts override good behaviour, was completely correct, and I admire you for it, as I do your other qualities.’ It was not flattery, nor was it praise, but his deep feeling.
‘At least that would be a short list, sir,’ she managed, with an attempt at making light of his words, and blushed the more.
‘We must have differing definitions of short.’ He watched her and noted that her breathing was a little fast. She could not be under any illusions from now on, however much she put herself down. He would let her recover her equilibrium. ‘Are you ladies attending the Lissetts’ musical evening on Friday? I believe Tom is hoping to sing a duet with Miss Banham, but I get the feeling that Penwood will beat him to it. Alas, poor youth, he will have to wait a few years before a young lady casts him soft looks.’
‘Will Miss Banham attend, do you think?’ asked Lady Damerham.
‘I doubt her parents would permit her to cry off unless genuinely unwell. She did reappear at the ball, after supper, upon the excuse that the flounce of her gown had been trodden upon and it had taken some time to repair. Penwood was at her elbow much of the time, and later she danced with him, Tom, and a couple337of other young sprigs she has known since they were in short coats. I have hopes that only we, the Roxtons and Penwood know what happened, or more accurately, what did not happen. She was indiscreet enough to be persuaded, we do not know by what words, to be alone with the man, and no doubt he would have kissed her, given the chance, but that chance was denied. She was obviously upset at the revelation of his perfidious character, and at her own behaviour, but it amounts to nothing.’
‘What do you think Lord Cradley will do now, Sir Rowland?’ asked Miss Lound.
‘If he has any sense, he will absent himself and return to his wife and parent for Christmas, and bring the latter back here, her condition permitting, either in the New Year, or after her confinement. As you said, the wife will be treated with compassion, and that in itself might mean Cradley is accepted back into local society, though not made warmly welcome. Most people will forget he seemed to be courting Miss Banham and be aggrieved only that he duped them by omission by failing to announce his marital state.’
