~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Daisy had not the first idea what was involved to have a dinner delivered to the house. She did not wish to admit that fact and so sat in the drawing room with Mrs. Jellops and attempted a serene expression.
It seemed to her that Lord Dalton was very well acquainted with the procedure, as he had been directing a long line of boys carrying trays into the dining room. She supposed he did not even bother to keep a cook at his house in town.
Bellamy had made an appearance to announce that dinner was to be served in a quarter hour. Daisy had not missed that he practically spat the words out and neither had Mrs. Jellops.
“He is an unpleasant fellow,” Mrs. Jellops said, after Bellamy closed the door.
“He is put out because he proposed that he and his footmen be allocated one or two bottles of wine every night,” Daisy said. “One or two bottleseach.”
“Each? He never did,” Mrs. Jellops said. “Goodness, what an idea.”
“Apparently, it is how he goes on in Lord Dalton’s house in London.”
“Well,” Mrs. Jellops said, patting her hand, “it shan’t go on here. There will be no carousing in this house.”
“No, there will not,” Daisy said resolutely. “We will not allow the past to be recreated under our noses. I should like to go to sleep without pushing furniture in front of my door or listening to shouts and the sound of broken glass below me.”
“Those days are over, my dear,” Mrs. Jellops said. “You must do your best to leave them in the past else they haunt you forever.”
“That would not do at all,” Daisy said. “We cannot have survived only to survive unhappily.”
“Just so.”
“Dinner is served, Miss Danworth,” Bellamy said. He had reappeared and stood gravely in the doorframe. He turned on his heel and marched off.
Daisy glanced at Mrs. Jellops. “It does not appear that we are to be led in, so I suppose we must escort ourselves.”
“Have my arm, dear,” Mrs. Jellops said, “and I will take you in.”
Mrs. Jellops showed the way and Daisy was surprised to find the dining table very near what it would have been had she a cook in the kitchens. At least, if the cook had decided to send everything up at once and do the carving while he was at it. The table was laid with sliced beef, a carved roast chicken, a large pork pie, and a fish in a white sauce. There were salads, pickled vegetables, cheeses, and berry tarts. A large soup tureen sat on a sideboard. It became apparent to Daisy that they were not to have courses. They were to haveonecourse that included everything.
Bellamy had uncorked the wine and poured it into glasses, though he looked like murder doing it. For that matter, the footmen appeared surly as well. Daisy supposed they were imagining the wine they poured might have been their own under a more lenient mistress.
“I do not know what seating arrangement you prefer,” Lord Dalton said, “and so I have put you at the head of the table with Mrs. Jellops on your right, while I will take the bottom end.”
“Quite right,” Mrs. Jellops said. Daisy did not know if it were right or not, but it seemed satisfactory enough.
“In any case, I presume you will hire a cook on the morrow and we may be done with this arrangement. As I am to have my mealssent over.”
Daisy understood perfectly well that Lord Dalton felt himself poorly used over the scheme to keep him to the cottage at meals. Still, what else could she do? She did not trust herself to dine with the gentleman every night of the week. There was no telling how she might fall for his charms, such as they were, and then attempt to convince herself that he was not like the others. Men were all the same, with only rare exceptions,thatshe knew. But how many women had fooled themselves to think otherwise? Her own mother certainly had done.
There were times when she felt society’s rules about how a lady was to conduct herself were burdensome, and then other times when she felt protected by them. In this case, she felt rather protected.
“I realize it is an imposition, Lord Dalton,” she said, “but I really do not see how else we are to go on. It would not be seemly to do otherwise.”
Lord Dalton nodded. “You are, naturally, afraid of any talk that might arise,” he said. “I suppose one in the Marriage Mart must be cognizant of such things.”
Daisy laid down her soup spoon. “TheMarriage Mart?” she said.
“It is just a phrase, Miss Danworth,” Lord Dalton said. “No need to appear over-delicate about it.”
“I am not swooning over the phrase,” Daisy said curtly. “I am surprised at the idea. Did you really think that a daughter of Lord Childress, one who has seen what men are, would be so willing to chain herself to one of them?”
Lord Dalton looked up from his soup in surprise.
“I think,” Mrs. Jellops said hurriedly, “perhaps that is a subject for another day. Or no day at all.”
