“Very few, I regret to say, but nothing spreads beyond Staineybank, so you need not worry about that. But whatever did Lord Daniel say that has upset you so much? Surely there could be nothing new?”
“Only that Patience’s betrayal began even before we were betrothed.”
Lance’s sense of grievance was strong and Charlotte was a sympathetic listener, so he held forth for some time, telling her every detail. He even recounted how Patience had entered his bedroom at night.
“So she intended to compromise you!” Charlotte said, in shocked tones. “That is despicable! But Lance, if you want to know my opinion, I do believe you are very well rid of her, however beautiful she is. What is the use of such a lovely exteriorif the inside is rotten? But you need not worry, for you will find another lady to suit you before very long. In fact, you may already know just the person.”
“I have met so many young ladies since I came up to town,” he said, smiling at her. “Pretty ones, wealthy ones, well-connected ones… but how shall I know that she will not deceive me just as Patience did? How can I know the heart of a woman in the space of a country dance or a drive in the park? How can I ever trust a woman again?”
“The length of a dance is not sufficient to know anyone, but over the course of several months, with someone you see very often, you will come to know whether you feel easy with her, whether you can talk to her and share intimacies. And if I might venture a hint — such women are not found solely amongst the daughters of the nobility. A woman brought up in humbler circumstances than Lady Patience might suit you better. More practical and not so expensive.”
“That is true, and easier to find, I should imagine. Lottie, you lift my spirits. What a good friend you are to me.”
“I shall always be your friend,” she said, laying one gloved hand on his. “You know you may depend upon me. If ever you wish to talk, I am always at your service. But now, we must join the others for supper.”
“Supper already? I had not noticed the time flying by.” He rose and with a little bow, offered her his arm. “May I escort you into supper, Miss Merrington?”
“Why, thank you, Mr Chamberlain. How very kind.”
Side by side, they joined the crowd thronging out of the ballroom and into the supper rooms.
From then onwards, Charlotte became his chief confidante in social matters. At balls, he formed the habit of standing up with her for the supper dance, so that he could escort her into supper, the better to ask her views on his other partners. At cardevenings, he contrived to join her table, and when the ladies paraded in Hyde Park at the fashionable hour, he rode alongside them, and as often as not would find some excuse to walk with her for a while.
It was pleasant to have a female companion, not to court but simply as a friend. They still occasionally fell into flirtatious exchanges, for she had the same enjoyment of it that he did himself, but it never meant anything serious.
So he was startled when Denny said one evening, “Lance, what are your intentions towards Charlotte?”
Denny was preparing him for bed, so he waited until he was arrayed in nightgown robe and cap before replying. “Lottie? She is an amusing friend, that is all.”
“You should perhaps be aware that there is a great deal of speculation in the duke’s household on the matter.”
“It is hard to see why. What cause have I given anyone to imagine I have more in mind that a gentle flirtation?”
Denny paused in the act of gathering up discarded clothes. “Perhaps it is that you single her out so much. It has been noticed.”
“I have been scrupulously careful not to pay her excessive attention,” Lance said stiffly. “Do I take her driving? Do I ever stand up with her more than once? Have I ever tried to kiss her, or even to get her alone? I have not. You know I have not.”
“No, but if you have no thought of marriage, perhaps you should be a little more circumspect,” Denny said. “Goodnight, my friend. Sleep well.”
Circumspect? Was he not already sufficiently circumspect? Lottie had never given him the least hint that she thought of him as a potential husband, or at least, he added punctiliously, not lately. When he had first arrived at Staineybank, all the Merrington sisters had made rather a show of admiring him, but his engagement had deterred them. He was no longerengaged, but surely nothing in his behaviour had given rise to expectations… or had it?
He cursed Denny for even mentioning the issue, for now he would be awake for half the night, wondering if he had unwittingly raised Lottie’s hopes.
He liked her well enough as a friend, but as a future wife? That thought had never even crossed his mind.
21: A Secret Revealed
Georgie found her second journey back to Oxford less restful than the first. Jamie was just as he had been before, very quiet but always solicitous. However, this time, in a last minute change of plan, they also had Mr Hammond Senior with them, and he was a very different matter. He seemed to believe it was his duty to prevent the occupants of the carriage from ever falling into silence, so he kept up a constant patter of conversation. Jamie largely ignored it, but Georgie could not be so rag-mannered. Thus a good part of the first day’s journey was consumed by her father-in-law’s meandering thoughts, to which she responded with “Yes”, “No” or “Is that so?”, in random order. It was not uninteresting, but Georgie’s own thoughts were of greater moment to her, and so in the end she resorted to pretending to sleep.
They stayed at the same inn as before, which was becoming quite familiar to her now. She had stayed there twice on the last trip to Oxford, and before that with Rowena when she had first been summoned to Staineybank by the mysterious MrGoodenough. Knowing her way around the inn made her feel almost like a seasoned traveller.
Jamie had reserved three rooms for them, to which Georgie made no comment, although it was a disappointment. Was he planning to do the same in Oxford? They were to stay at the home of his friends, and surely they would not have sufficient spare bedrooms to accommodate them? She would accept whatever arrangement he wanted, naturally, but the situation created a little niggle of worry in her mind.
The three of them separated until the hour for which their dinner had been ordered, but there was a comfortable parlour assigned to them, so Georgie took her embroidery to sit beside the open window watching the bustle going on in the yard below. She had not ten minutes of peaceful solitude before Mr Hammond Senior arrived. He had supplied himself with a newspaper, so for a moment her spirits soared in the hope that he would be too busy reading to talk. To her disappointment, he could read and talk at the same time, and for a while, he occupied himself with reading aloud such items from the newspaper as he gauged might interest her.
When she responded in the same laconic manner as before, however, he folded up the newspaper, and gazed at her in silence. She became hopeful again but no, it could not last.
“I suppose you wonder why I have joined you on this journey,” he said.
