‘Excuse me, ma’am, if you seek your sister, I can take you to her.’ He looked very serious.
‘Yes, Sir Esmond, I … It is so very difficult when one is meant to be chaperoning two girls.’
‘I can, with some regret, tell you where Miss Tyneham was a few minutes ago, at the least.’ As he led her to Harriet he explained what he, and she, had seen.
‘Oh, poor Harriet. Susan is too provoking. She has no more feeling for Lord Edward than, oh, than her hired horse. Not that such behaviour should be condoned, but if her heart were engaged …’
‘Miss Tyneham has a heart?’ Had she not been so upset for her sister, Sophy would have heard the edge of bitterness in his voice.
‘I hope so, Sir Esmond. The thing is, I do not think she has ever felt it beat, except perhaps for her mama, and then not in a blind and unalloyed way. If she did but discover it, there would be her salvation.’
Sir Esmond took some small comfort from this, and nodded, but did not reply. He guided her to where Harriet sat, shoulders hunched and head still bowed.
‘Harry?’ Sophy knelt before her tearful sister and took the hands that were crushing a lace-edged handkerchief.
‘I wish I were more like Susan,’ sobbed Harriet.
‘What? Harry, dearest, how can you possibly say that in view of what she has done?’
‘Oh, I do not wish I was wicked, but … Susan knows what she wants and is prepared to act to get it.’
‘I rather think that her problem is the opposite. She thinks she knows what she wants, but having got it, finds it hollow.’
‘I am too timid. I have hung back. I never let him see …’
‘Darling Harry, you behave beautifully, and I am very proud of you. If Lord Edward has not seen—’
‘It is not his fault. She bewitches them.’
Sophy could not deny the truth of this, and Sir Esmond appeared engrossed in the study of a marquetry cabinet. He wondered how it came about that he, who knew the girl was playing games, still felt the power of her spell. Bewitchment, yes, that certainly covered it very well.
‘Look at me, Harry.’ Harriet lifted a tear-stained face, and in that moment Sophy hated her cousin. ‘Have you any reason to suppose that Lord Edward prefers you to other ladies, other than our cousin?’ She thought she knew the answer to this, but wanted Harriet to consider it.
‘No, and yet … Yes, yes I have, because he was not at any party we attended until we met him in the Park that day, and since then he has only been absent when his duties precluded it. He told me that he was finding the Season uncommonly pleasant this year. And he has danced with me whenever he has been able, although probably that was becauseherdance card was full.’ Harriet caught her breath on a muffled sob once more.
‘If Lord Edward is worthy of you, dearest, then he will break free of this “bewitchment”. Gentlemen do. You must have seen that. And if he does, then his thoughts may well centre upon you. He … he has stirred feelings, yes?’
‘It is not that I have fallen for a uniform,’ Harriet murmured. ‘It … I think he is the nicest man I have ever met.’
Sophy did not comment upon how low that figure had been until the last few weeks. She squeezed her sister’s hand.
‘Then do not give up hope. I hate to say wait for Susan’s cast-offs but …’
‘Oh, I always knew that was the way it would be. You see, I am very ordinary.’
Sir Esmond, embarrassed at being privy to sisterly conversation, found that this was too much, and looked down at her, unsmiling but not unfriendly.
‘Lady Harriet, you do yourself a great disservice. You are not “ordinary” at all, but only think so because you compare yourself to your “extraordinary” – and I do not say so as a compliment – cousin. You are a well brought up young lady, she is … farouche. Do not regret that you are unlike her.’ He frowned. ‘If you would permit, ladies, I would take my leave of you now. Lady Sophy, thank you for an excellent party, despite …’ He left the sentence unfinished.
Sophy thanked him, and suggested to Harriet that she might be able to slip upstairs and remove her tear stains in time to bid other guests farewell. Sir Esmond left the house still frowning, and found himself right behind a gentleman in uniform. Lord Edward Wittenham turned at the sound of the firm footsteps. For a fleeting moment Sir Esmond knew an urge to knock him to the floor for the misery he had just caused, but the look upon the younger man’s face, reflected in the downcast light of a lamp, gave him pause. Lord Edward was very pale, as though he might be physically ill, and his eyes stared in semi-recognition.
‘Fawley?’ His voice was unsteady, and Sir Esmond took him by the elbow. ‘My God, Fawley, I have been such an almighty fool.’
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Sophy did not speak to her cousin until the nextday, in part because she did not trust herself not to hit her, and at least attempt to wipe the calculating smile from her lips. Harriet did not appear at breakfast, even though it was late, and Sophy hoped that her sister might rest long enough to awaken at least physically refreshed. Susan was likewise absent, and so Sophy ate alone and in silence, feeling her bottled-up emotions rising within her once more. She wanted to at least sound calm, but at the moment that seemed impossible. She resolved to clear her head by going out for a ride, and so went upstairs to change into her riding habit. As she left she asked Bembridge to inform Miss Susan, if she came downstairs before her return, that she wished to see her at two o’clock, in the library. Bembridge wondered, looking at his mistress’s sombre expression, what new problem Miss Susan had caused.
Accompanied by a groom, Sophy made her way the short distance to Hyde Park and there set her horse to an easy canter, which enabled her to feel a breeze upon her cheek and was less likely to encourage other equestrians to engage her in conversation. She tried to empty her head of rancour, but had difficulty in doing so. So lost was she in her own thoughts that she did not even hear the sound of a horse gaining on her, or look to her left until the grey was parallel.
