‘Oh, it is nothing. I went in search of Helen Godmanchester. Lord Godmanchester spoke to me, and he had Sir Lucius Radstock by him. They had clearly seen everything, and thought it funny. Sir Lucius’ – Elizabeth nearly ground her teeth – ‘was particularly entertained.Perhaps I should have sold tickets.’
‘He is rather intimidating.’
‘No such thing, Amelia. You must not be afraid of men who simply like to act clever.’
‘I am not sure that it is an act.’
‘Hmm.’ Whilst she would not admit such a thing, Elizabeth knew that Amelia was right. There was no danger of Sir Lucius being slow to get one’s hidden meaning. If only he did not seem to mock with those grey eyes of his, and that slight smile. She felt at a disadvantage with him,72and Elizabeth was most unwilling to be in that position with any gentleman.
‘Elizabeth?’
‘I am sorry?’
‘I asked if Lady Godmanchester would be remaining in London for the whole Season, in view of her condition. Mama said she is increasing.’
‘I do not know, Amelia. It is hardly my place to enquire. I suppose it will depend upon what advice she is given by her doctor, and upon Lord Godmanchester.’
‘Ah yes, of course. They will know best.’ Amelia nodded sagely. Elizabeth blinked at her cousin’s blithe and total acceptance of male superiority, and opened her mouth to speak, but thought the better of it. It was incomprehensible to her, and yet she knew her aunt believed the same and was perfectly happy in that belief. To disabuse Amelia might be to make her life less comfortable.
‘I expect Lady Godmanchester will be glad to get back to the country, and her little boy. It is so much nicer and less fraught.’ Amelia sighed.
‘I thought you could not wait for your come-out? Are you disillusioned already, Amelia?’
‘No, not disillusioned. It is terribly good fun, but … I think it will be very tiring after a while, and London is getting hot and stuffy.’
‘It is nice if you walk in the mornings. The afternoon promenade is far more fatiguing.’
‘But getting up early is difficult. I nearly fell asleep again this morning, and last night we were not even at a ball, so I had not been dancing all evening.’
73‘Yet you did not seek your bed when we arrived home this afternoon.’
‘Oh no. I do not feel the least tired now. It is just in the mornings that I feel the perfect sluggard.’
‘You ought to meet my horse, though on second thoughts he never ceases to feel the sluggard. If it were but a morning malaise I could ride properly in the afternoons.’
‘I prefer to be driven, then one may converse without worry.’
‘Worry?’
‘Horses are unpredictable. The coachman is far more capable of keeping them under control from his box than I am sitting upon one.’ She looked at Elizabeth’s incomprehension. ‘I know you think me a sad, weak creature not to enjoy riding, but there you are.’
‘I am sorry, Cousin. I accept it is merely a difference of opinion, but I cannot understand it. Yet you must not think that I condemn you as weak because of it. Now …’
At this moment the butler entered with a missive, delivered, he said, by Mr Escott.
‘He did not ask to see me, did he, Ribston?’ Elizabeth eyed the butler with concern.
‘No, miss. He merely requested that it be brought to you. No response is, I believe, required.’
Elizabeth took the note with rising apprehension, and broke the wafer. She groaned.
‘Bad news, Elizabeth?’
‘In a sense, yes. Here is the result of last night’s inspiration. Good grief, there are six stanzas of it.’
‘Ooh, how exciting.’
74‘Not at all. He has added a note at the end.’ She paused. ‘He says that this kept him up until “Aurora’s advent”, but that he thinks it is one of his best and wishes me to see it before he, oh no, reads it at a “poetic gathering” tomorrow night at Lady Cowper’s. We have invitations for that. I can feel my sick headache coming on already, Amelia. You are warned. He …’ She paused, and then, to Amelia’s surprise, began to read the poem aloud.
