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‘I, too, will add to your funds,’ Drew said. ‘What about you, Mark?’
‘Miss Cavendish explained her plans to me some time ago,’ Mark said. ‘I have already promised my contribution.’
‘Everyone is being very free with their blunt,’ Teddy murmured to Jane.
‘Yes, isn’t it wonderful?’ she whispered back. ‘It’s better than gambling it away.’
Annoyed by this barb, he turned away and concentrated on eating.
‘Now let us talk of more pleasant matters,’ Lady Wyndham said. She was an excellent hostess and had seen, if not heard, the exchange between Jane and her brother. ‘How are the wedding plans coming along, Grace?’
Lady Cavenhurst was glad to answer and the meal ended pleasantly and was followed in the drawing room with the girls taking it in turns to play the pianoforte and sing, while a card table was set up for those who wished to play. It was late when the party broke up and Sir Edward’s carriage was brought to the door to take them home.
Chapter Three
‘Mr Ashton is a fascinating man, don’t you think?’ Isabel asked Jane. ‘He has been everywhere and done everything and is so interesting to talk to.’
It was the day after the supper party and the girls and their mother were sitting in the small parlour. Jane was sewing tiny beads on to the skirt of the wedding gown, while Lady Cavenhurst and Isabel sat at the table, writing the invitations on cards.
‘So he may be,’ Jane said, ‘but I think it ill of you to monopolise him in conversation and ignore poor Mark.’
‘Oh, Mark did not mind it. He knows how much I want to travel.’ She picked up one of the invitations. ‘There, I have made a blot on that one. Pass me another, Mama, please.’
‘How many have you crossed off the list?’ Jane queried.
‘About a quarter. We could not take any more off without giving offence and we don’t want Papa to look a pinchcommons, do we?’
‘I do not think catering for fifty is mean, Issie. Papa is worried about the cost. You know what he said this morning.’
Earlier that day Sir Edward had come in from going round the estate with his steward and found his wife and daughters in the morning room, talking about the wedding. Seizing the opportunity of finding them all together, he had delivered a homily on the need to economise. It was a word unknown to Lady Cavenhurst and Isabel. Jane had produced the list she had made, beginning with the notion that they could all spend less on clothes, bonnets and shoes, which had raised a cry of protest from Isabel and Sophie. A second suggestion was that they often wasted food and that Cook should be instructed not to buy exotic produce like lemons and pineapples and only to use fruit and vegetables grown in their own kitchen gardens and to cook no more than was needed for the numbers sitting down to eat. Her ladyship had said that Cook would not like that at all and the provisions for the wedding feast had already been ordered.
‘Unfortunately, even that will not be enough,’ Sir Edward had said. ‘I am afraid there will have to be serious retrenchment.’
Jane had consulted her list again. ‘Then we could cut down on the number of servants. We do not really need three chambermaids and three parlourmaids, and if we helped in the garden ourselves we would not need so many gardeners. I, for one, would not mind doing that. And we could do without the carriage if we had to.’
‘Do without the carriage!’ her mother protested. ‘How are we to go about without one? Tell me that.’
‘We could keep the pony and trap,’ Jane said. ‘One pony is cheaper to keep than four horses and then we would not need more than one groom; Daniel can manage on his own. If we needed to travel further afield, we could go by stage.’
‘Go by stage!’ Her mother was affronted. ‘Impossible.’
‘Perhaps I could take paid employment to help,’ Jane went on, ignoring her mother’s exclamation. She wondered if her mother really understood the gravity of the situation or was simply shutting her eyes to it.
‘Heaven forbid!’ her ladyship exclaimed. ‘You have not been brought up to work, Jane. And what can you do in any case?’
‘I can sew.’
‘Like Miss Smith, I suppose.’
‘No, not like Miss Smith, though there is nothing wrong with what she does. I meant designing and making high-class gowns. Or I could teach. I think I should find that rewarding.’
