He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Going back to Cambridge was the last thing he wanted to do. Ill health had seen him abandon his studies in the previous year and he had not yet returned. If James had his way, he would never go back.
“At the moment, I am working as a clerk for my uncle, Charles Saunders, at his shipping office. A chap needs coin for beer and onion skins.”
Rupert nodded. “Those are the important things in one’s life. So, will you go back next term?”
“I don’t want to, but according to my father, I have little choice. He thinks it is beneath my station to take up a full-time career as a clerk. He says I lack purpose and what I need to do is to establish myself on a path of progress and respectability. Oh, and of course to stick to it.”
Rupert screwed up his face. “My father said a similar thing to me, which is why I am now attending these garden party shindys. I figure that there is no point in arguing the toss anymore. I should simply get on with the business of establishing myself and finding a nice girl to settle down with and raise a family.”
James sighed. At least he was not the only young man in London having to deal with parental expectations. But unlike his friend, he was determined not to yield. His father was, in the main, right. Right in that as the son of the Bishop of London he should be aiming for a higher position than a mere shipping clerk. And he was also right in saying that James’s life lacked purpose. But James baulked at the idea of setting out on the same path of respectability that his father had. If Hugh Radley had his way, James would soon be curate at one of London’s major churches before taking up the role of a church minister and eventually becoming a bishop. A nice, predictable stepping-stone career. That had been Hugh’s dream for himself, and he was living it.
And James knew that as far as his father was concerned, it was a foregone conclusion that James would be packing his travel trunk and heading back to university after Christmas. It wasn’t the worst fate James could think of, but it didn’t fill him with joy.
James could just imagine how his father would take the news that Guy Dannon had decided on a wife. Another lecture loomed.
“Well good luck with your future, James. I hope you and your father can come to an agreement which suits you both. I had better go inside,” said Rupert.
They shook hands, and while Rupert headed toward the garden gate, James went back to leaning against the carriage and smoking his cheroot.
A short while later, another carriage drew up behind his and he glanced over. It bore the Saunders family crest. “Thank God,” he muttered. His cousins were here. Caroline and Francis Saunders could be relied upon to display the right amount of disdain and utter disgust that this sort of event deserved. His day was saved.
“James!” cried Francis as he caught his eye. Caroline, wearing one of her trademark tight smiles, followed close behind as Francis jauntily headed over to join James.
Francis quickly slapped James on the arm with one hand, while at the same time, he reached out and stole the cheroot from James’s fingers. It was a deft move which had Caroline laughing.
“James, darling, what heinous crime did you commit to be sentenced to an afternoon at a garden party?” she asked.
“Nothing and everything. But it is still better than staying at home on a Saturday afternoon while Papa polishes off his Sunday sermon. If he knows I am about the house he is likely to seek me out and start asking questions,” he replied.
With the tense way things were between himself and his father, much as he hated to admit it, the party was the safer place for him to be. He was not, however, going to tell Guy that any time soon.
“Oh, you poor thing. We all know how much of a tyrant your father is,” said Caroline.
Francis smiled. Everyone knew that Hugh Radley was a sweet and kindhearted man who only wanted the best for his children.
Fair-haired Caroline bent and gave her immaculately pressed skirts a brief once-over. They, of course, were impeccable. Her matching bonnet sat perfect on her head. Francis, meanwhile, removed his hat and ruffled his shock of pure white hair; he then drew back on the stolen cheroot. James resigned himself to the fact that he would not be getting his smoke back.
“Just remember the joy of the garden party when my father has you up to your eyeballs in shipping ledgers on Monday. Or worse, in the foul-stinking hold of one of the recently arrived ships, checking on cargo. There is one thing that a chap learns when he works for a living, and that is to treasure his Saturday afternoons,” said Francis.
“So, why are the two of you here wasting your precious Saturday? I thought you didn’t particularly like these sorts of events,” James replied.
Caroline and Francis shared a pained look.
“Our parents made us come. Mama says I have been moping about the house ever since Eve and Freddie eloped. Which, of course, is true, but I still wasn’t keen on attending,” said Caroline.
Poor Francis, as a dutiful brother, had no doubt had been compelled by their parents to squire his sister. None of them wanted to be here. What a fun threesome they made.
“Misery does love company,” replied James.
“Speaking of which, I don’t see either Claire or Maggie here today. Did you abandon your sisters?” asked Caroline.
James pushed away from the side of the carriage. While Guy had dragged him from his bed, it was to James’s personal shame that he hadn’t asked either of his sisters if they wished to attend. Claire at least would be angry with him when she found out. Maggie would likely have declined any invitation made. James made a silent promise to offer them both an apology once he got home. “No, I didn’t bring them. I came with Guy Dannon. He has in mind to take up a career in politics and has decided he needs a wife. Apparently, he has found some poor chit who is prepared to accept him and all his failings,” he said.
“Chit? James, that is not the way to describe a young woman.” Caroline rolled her eyes at the use of the condescending word. Lord help the man who was foolish enough to describe Caroline as being a chit and dared to say it in her presence. He would soon learn just how razor sharp her tongue was as she cut him swiftly down to size. “Yes, Claire mentioned that he had set his marital sights on a friend of hers, Leah Shepherd. Do you know the girl well?”
James shook his head. “I barely know any of Claire’s friends beyond a quick hello and goodbye. She tends to smuggle them in and out the house to avoid our father. He always wants to ask visitors their opinions of his most recent Sunday sermon.”
Caroline and Francis exchanged a knowing look. All the Radley extended family had been the target of Hugh’s friendly, but in-depth questioning of his Sunday sermons at some point or another. It was never a comfortable conversation.
