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‘Naturally. Who else should do so?’
‘No one!’ said Miss Taverner angrily. ‘It is for Peregrine and me to arrange! You did not so much as mention the matter to either of us, and we will not have our future arranged in this high-handed fashion!’
‘I thought you wished to go to Brighton?’ said the Earl.
‘I am going to Brighton!’
‘Then what is all this bustle about?’ inquired Worth calmly. ‘In sending Blackader to look over suitable houses there I have done nothing more than you wanted.’
‘You have done a great deal more. Perry is going to drive down with my cousin to select a house!’
‘He may as well spare himself the trouble,’ replied Worth, ‘there are only two to be had, and I hold an option on both. You must know that houses in Brighton for the season are excessively hard to come by. Unless you wish to lodge in a back street, you will be satisfied with one of the two Blackader has found for you. One is on the Steyne, the other on the Marine Parade.’ He looked at her for a moment, and then lowered his gaze. ‘I strongly advise you to choose the house on the Steyne. You will not like Marine Parade; the Steyne is a most eligible situation, in the centre of town, within sight of the Pavilion – the hub of Brighton, in effect. I will tell Blackader to close with the owner. Thirty guineas a week is asked for the house, but taking into account the position it cannot be thought excessive.’
‘I think it ridiculous,’ said Miss Taverner instantly. ‘From what my cousin has told me I should infinitely prefer to lodge on the Marine Parade. To be situated in the centre of the town, in the midst of all the bustle, can be no recommendation. I will consult with my cousin.’
‘I do not wish you to take the house on Marine Parade,’ said the Earl.
‘I am sorry to disoblige you,’ said Miss Taverner, a martial light in her eye, ‘but you will have the goodness to instruct Mr Blackader to hire that and no other house for us.’
The Earl bowed. ‘Very well, Miss Taverner,’ he said.
Judith, who had anticipated a struggle, was left triumphant and bewildered. But the Earl’s unexpected compliance was soon explained. Captain Audley, meeting Miss Taverner in the Park, got up beside her in the phaeton, and said: ‘So you are to go to Brighton, Miss Taverner! My doctor recommends sea air for me: you will certainly see me there as well.’
‘We go next month,’ replied Judith. ‘We shall lodge on the Marine Parade.’
‘Yes, I was present when Blackader came back from Brighton. The place will be full this summer. There were only two genteel houses to be had, and one was on the Steyne – no very eligible situation for you, Worth thought.’
Miss Taverner’s lips parted; she turned her eyes towards the Captain, and regarded him with painful intensity. ‘He wanted me to choose the other?’ she demanded.
‘Why, yes; I am sure he had no notion of your lodging on the Steyne. It is very smart, no doubt, but you would have your front windows for ever stared into, and all your comings and goings ogled by young bucks.’
‘Captain Audley,’ said Miss Taverner, controlling herself with a strong effort, ‘you must get down immediately, for I am going home.’
‘Good God!’ exclaimed the Captain, in lively dismay. ‘What have I said to offend you?’
‘Nothing, nothing! It is only that I have remembered I have a letter to write which must be sent off without any loss of time.’
Within a quarter of an hour Miss Taverner was seated at her desk, furiously mending her pen, her gloves and scarf flung down on the floor beside her. The pen mended to her satisfaction, she dipped it in the standish, and drew a sheet of elegant, hot-pressed paper towards her. After that she sat nibbling the end of her pen while the ink slowly dried. At last she nodded briskly to herself, dipped the pen in the standish a second time, and began to write a careful letter to her guardian.
Brook Street, April 19th.
Dear Lord Worth [she began], I am afraid that I behaved badly this morning in going against your wishes in the matter of the house in Brighton. Upon reflection I am bound to acknowledge that I did wrong. I write now to assure you that I have no real wish to stay on the Marine Parade, and shall obey you in lodging on the Steyne.
Yours sincerely, Judith Taverner.
She read this through with a pleased smile, sealed it in an envelope, wrote the direction, and rang the bell for a servant.
The note was taken round by hand, but the Earl being out when it was delivered, no answer was brought back to Miss Taverner.
By noon on the following day, however, the answer had arrived. Miss Taverner broke the seal, spread out the single sheet, and read:
Cavendish Square, April 20th.
Dear Miss Taverner, – I accept your apologies, but although your promise of obedience must gratify me, it is now too late to change. I regret to inform you that the house on the Steyne is no longer on the market, but has been snapped up by another. I have this morning signed the lease of the one on Marine Parade.
Yours, etc.,
Worth.
