“I am sorry, Jules, think of what? My thoughts had quite drifted away from me.”
“She is thinking of her true love,” Cordelia said.
Though her mind had been far away from true love, Beatrice did not dispute it as she would not prefer to mention what shehadbeen thinking of.
“I’ll recite it again,” Juliet said. “It is my ode to finer feelings.”
Passion, thrills, heartbreaks, joy
These are the feelings I do employ
To fail to give these things their due
Would be death and I wave my final adieu
“That is very good indeed, sister,” Beatrice said.
“Yes, I did think so,” Juliet said. “At first I thought lack of finer feelings might be described as a sickness or a heaviness, but then I thought no, it must be death.”
“Quite right, my dear,” Miss Mayton said.
“Look, there it is,” Rosalind said.
“That looks very grand,” Viola said.
Beatrice peered out the window at Harding, Howell & Co. The building did indeed look grand, with its stone facing and large windows filled with interesting items of millinery and goods.
The grooms opened the doors, the sisters piled out, and Beatrice forgot all notion of Van Doren or any other gentleman. There were things to purchase, and it was time to purchase them.
*
Tattleton entered hisquarters and slowly sat down on a chair. He had never had such an extraordinary conversation with one of the family since he’d begun serving the earl.
He’d gone into the library to inquire if Lord Darden needed anything, as he’d been in there for quite some time. As it happened, he did need something—more stationery.
The lord was down to a few sheets from what had been a generous supply. A stack of letters were piling up on the desk.
Tattleton had said, “My lord, I understood that you and the earl were still working on the guest list for the ball. Do the invitations go out today?”
“That is not what all this is, Tattleton. In fact, I might need your help in this particular matter, you’d better close the door and sit down.”
“Sit down?” he’d asked, incredulous. A butler did not sit down in the library.
“Yes, just this once, if you please. I’d rather not crane my neck to have the conversation.”
“Conversation?” Tattleton had asked, entirely nonplussed. Since when was he to go round the house havingconversationswith the family?
He had closed the door and then sat himself gingerly on the edge of the chair on the other side of the desk.
“I am sending letters to absolutely everybody I know in this town,” Lord Darden said. “I wish to ensure that Lord Van Doren is invited everywhere. If Beatrice is there, I want Van Doren there too.”
Tattleton nodded. He had long suspected that the earl and Lord Darden had charged Lord Van Doren with looking out for Lady Beatrice. How could he not have guessed at it? Lord Van Doren was always about the place and giving his hints to Lady Beatrice, no matter how much she did not like it.
“I am informing all London of this rare find that is Lord Van Doren—unmarried, a sizable estate, handsome, an excellent dancer, old family, exceedingly well-dressed, witty, and charming.”
Witty and charming? Tattleton thought Lord Van Doren a fine gentleman, but apparently he’d been keeping his wit and charm under wraps.
“I intend for Beatrice to see how other ladies view his worth and, as Van Doren is devilishly handsome and comes with everything to recommend him, I have no doubt of the effectiveness of that strategy.”
