*
The Lords Cabotand Ashworth had neared the gate out of Hyde Park as Lord Cabot nattered on about their recent encounter with Miss Darlington and Miss Farnsworth.
Though Cabot did not mention it, Hayes could not be entirely satisfied with himself. Dalton’s caution not to appear as if he needed a governess still rang in his ears and he could not ignore his less than genial comportment upon encountering Miss Farnsworth.
He could not countenance displaying any sort of unsportsmanlike behavior and he was afraid that he had in his recent encounters with the lady. That he supposed she employed some method of play he did not yet understand was not an excuse for rudeness. It had slowly dawned on him that his aggravation with the lady was in large part caused by his aggravation with himself.
He’d never found himself in such a situation! To be beaten, handily and twice, by a lady.
“Miss Farnsworth, eh?” Lord Cabot said. “She’s a pretty enough filly.”
“No doubt,” Hayes answered.
“I know her looks are the type you go for, so on behalf of all the gentlemen of the pact, I say I am glad she has invoked your ire at a card table. No danger of you falling for the lady now!”
“Certainly not,” Hayes said.
“Shall you go to Lady Carradine’s this evening?” Lord Cabot asked. “I’ve determined to give up hazard and so may make that house my preferred establishment. No hazard table, no fine wine, no chance to empty my purse. I am determined to carefully guard what’s left of my funds in anticipation of Newmarket.”
“It is unlikely I will be at Lady Carradine’s,” Hayes said. “Or if I go it will be late. Lady Catherine’s dreadful ball is this evening. As you know, my mother would skin me if I did not attend.”
“Good God,” Lord Cabot said laughing, “is the old thing still alive and going on with it?”
Hayes nodded.
“Well, at least Grayson will be there to keep your spirits up. He never has any luck dodging the engagement either.”
Hayes suspected Grayson would be one of the few people he was anxious to meet there. Every year he was forced to attend Lady Catherine’s ball. His mother was a dear friend of the lady, having been steered through her first season by the dowager countess. That the lady must be in danger of departing her sixtieth decade by now had not appeared to slow her down.
The ball would be a small one, as it was always. The invitations would be carefully curated and apparently no consideration would be given to a lady’s looks. Those invited would be families who were considered to be of the right type by Lady Catherine, and the year before he’d spent the evening dancing with one tiresome female after another.
Where did the lady even find such creatures? He dreaded encountering Miss Blaise again, as he had heard the lady was as yet unmarried—she had bulging eyes and was forever directing those orbs in his direction. When she was not staring, she embarked on something he supposed was flirtation—it consisted of blinking, high-pitched chortles, and fan waving. Occasionally, she would swat his arm with her fan and claim he was “Very bad,” though he’d not said anything.
He had wondered if the lady could read his thoughts, for they had been in truthverybad.
Then, of course, there would be the supper. A small table graced with old-fashioned, heavy dishes, and he forced to entertain some person he was certain he would not like.
He was only thankful such an evening came but once a year.
*
Of the manyinvitations that had arrived to Mrs. Hemming’s door, most could be attributed to Cassandra’s efforts on Lily’s behalf. One invitation, though, could only be ascribed to Mrs. Hemming herself. Lady Catherine Markham, Dowager Countess of Thornbridge, was a very old friend of Mrs. Hemming. They had met in the late 1790s and discovered in each other a keen interest in whist. They were often partners at this or that card party and knew each other’s play so well they could practically read each other’s thoughts. Mrs. Hemming had ever been in the habit of attending Lady Catherine’s annual ball, as she could count on an interesting evening of cards and a good supper at the end of it.
Lily had been told of the peculiar nature of the ball, its small size and its interesting collection of people Lady Catherine favored. According to Mrs. Hemming, Lady Catherine felt it her duty to bring together those from suitably old families in the hopes that there might be some marriages made. Though Lady Catherine thought herself quite the matchmaker, Mrs. Hemming could not recall any particular match ever having been accomplished.
When Lily had looked over her dresses, she’d settled on the midnight blue satin. She was well aware that had her aunt not been Lady Catherine’s favored whist partner, Lily Farnsworth from Surrey would not have received an invitation at all. The gown was simple in its cut and would not put her forward in any way. Lily did not wish for Lady Catherine to regret her decision.
Chapter Seven
Lady Catherine Markham,Dowager Countess of Thornbridge, had never been impressed by theton. It was her estimation that far too much weight was thrown on the side of money, fashion, and glib manners. Lady Catherine was not impressed by any of those things. The only attribute that interested the lady was bloodlines.
Could a family’s line be traced back toat leastthe fifteenth century? Or were they some sort of newcomer with pretensions?
She employed a gentleman who researched such things, as it was her wish to keep England’s bloodlines unsullied. He was the second gentleman to hold the post, as she’d had to dismiss the first when he insisted that if close relations married too often down the generations, it could result in physical and mental deformities. What an old-fashioned notion—had not Henry Tudor decisively ruled on the subject with the Marriage Act of 1540? Deformities might arise in the lower classes. After all, who really knew what sort of muddled blood they carried round? The nobles, on the other hand, had rarified blood that could not be sullied. It only made sense that first cousins should marry.
When she sent out the invitations to her annual ball each year, it was with an eye toward uniting the young people of various old houses. Upon hearing that her friend Amelia Hemming currently had her niece staying with her, she’d set her man on a quest to document the girl’s bloodline. There had not been anything to recommend it and Lady Catherine found herself torn—the girl should not be included in her illustrious company, but she did so prefer to partner with Amelia Hemming at whist. In the end, she’d issued the invitation despite some misgivings. Let nobody think Lady Catherine Markham was illiberal.
Lady Catherine could not say what she had expected of Miss Farnsworth, except to suppose she would be a small and retiring sort of person who would be awed to be in the presence of England’srealnobility. She had, therefore, been surprised to find the girl pretty. Very pretty and elegantly dressed, if she were forced to swear to it in church.
