That is all for now, I find myself at the window often, hoping to see the carriage that brings you back to us.
Your friend,
Sybil Hayworth
Cassandra laid down the letter. She could not help but be relieved that the truth was now known and widely accepted. She could not help but be grateful for Sybil’s staunch support, not to mention Lord and Lady Blanding’s. She also could not help feeling the light wings of a butterfly against her heart as she read of Lord Hampton. It was unfair that he should have any effect upon her at all, other than anger and disdain. He and his friends had hurt her badly and it was only through other’s efforts that she was being restored.
She at once hoped he would attend the ball and dreaded it. What on earth could he say to her by way of apology? And yet, did she not wish to hear what he would say? But then, how could she countenance a gentleman who had so materially damaged her?
The more she thought of the likelihood of seeing him there, the more she was convinced she would not. The ball was being held in her honor, it would be absurd for the very perpetrators of the scheme to be welcomed.
She patted both May and George on the head. “Well,” she said, “I will be forced to meet their fathers, but I am fairly certain I will not seethem.”
*
Cassandra rode inthe dowager’s carriage as it barreled toward London; her father would follow them on the morrow. The dowager had chosen one of Cassandra’s dresses for the ball as being suitable, but she had in mind some small alterations and so was determined to set off earlier than planned.
Cassandra hoped her letter informing Lady Marksworth of their imminent arrival had reached her in time. It was not only their changed schedule that need be communicated, there was also the fact that May accompanied her on this trip.
The dowager very much approved of her little dog’s friendship with May and thought George should not be parted with his companion unnecessarily soon.
Cassandra sat next to the dowager while on the seat across, George stretched out and May curled herself tight in the little room left to her.
“You see how George takes up as much space in the world as he can manage?” the Dowager asked.
“Indeed,” Cassandra said, “I have noticed his habit of it, while my own great beast of a dog squeezes herself into a corner.”
“Precisely,” the dowager said. “Size, as we can see, has nothing to do with it. George takes what he believes is due him. May is convinced George ought to have more space than shebecauseGeorge is utterly sure of it. That is what you must do, my dear. Be convinced of your right to your place in the world. The talk now goes in your favor and you must cement it there by how you carry yourself and receive those who have offended.”
“I pray you do not mean the gentlemen who have caused all this,” Cassandra said. “I am perfectly amenable to meeting with those who heard a story and passed it on, but not those who invented it. Have I been wrong to assume they would not be invited?”
“Oh, they will not be guests, that I can assure you.”
Cassandra felt a great amount of relief to have it confirmed. Though there was a part of her that wished to hear from Lord Hampton, there was a part of her that still wished to blow his head off. In any case, as the day of the ball grew near, she’d found herself dreading any sort of encounter with him. She would have enough to contend with on that particular evening.
They had entered the confines of London and Cassandra thought of the dark morning she had left it. The streetlamps had glowed through the dawn mist and it had seemed as if there could never be sunshine again. Yet, here was town in all its bustle, the sun shining down upon it all.
*
Lady Marksworth hadbeen most gracious in receiving the dowager. That she’d not got word of their early arrival was not evident, as the lady was too composed to let it show. That she’d not got word that there would be two dogs to contend with might also have been covered up, had not Racine stared so balefully at them.
Cassandra thought the butler had been somewhat mollified at being told the dogs would sleep in their respective owner’s bedchambers, as he must have wondered what he was to do with them. Mollified, perhaps, but not exactly approving.
Still, Racine had never foreseen that he might one day make arrangements for a dowager duchess and Cassandra imagined it was one of the crowning moments of his career. At least, the amount and diversity of cakes on the tea tray must hint at it.
Lady Marksworth poured tea and said, “All of Cassandra’s friends are most grateful for your efforts, Your Grace.”
The dowager waved her hands and said, “There is nothing to be grateful for, as my own wretched grandson was at the very heart of the scheme.”
“Nevertheless,” Lady Marksworth said, “I have been waiting and hoping that the tide would turn and it has most decidedly. There is a stack of invitations in the hall, all wishing to host a dinner or a rout for Miss Knightsbridge.”
“Please, Aunt,” Cassandra said, “do not accept them. I feel as if I have enough ahead of me in considering the ball.”
“We need say nothing yet,” Lady Marksworth said. “We will see how you feel once you’ve been through the worst of it. I know how little you like to be stared at.”
Racine entered and said, “Lady Sybil to see Miss Knightsbridge.”
Sybil had not waited in the hall nor sent in her card; she had been in the house so often that all ceremony had fallen by the wayside. She rushed in and Cassandra leapt to her feet.
