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“Perhaps they are not in town yet?” Angie said.
Stepmother brightened. “That is a possibility.”
“What about James Plummer?” Angie said. “He must know people, and now that he is betrothed to Julia, he cannot refuse to help us… can he?”
“That’s up to him,” Pa said. “We can’t assume that he will do so. He will naturally introduce Julia to his circle, and when they’re married she’ll have some freedom to introduce her sisters also, but, as with Lord Charles, we mustn’t presume on the connection. I had no objection to Lady Failsworthy, for she offered it freely and now we know why, but for anyone else, we can’t do more than leave cards and hope for the best. James and Julia will be here next month, so we’ll see what happens then.”
“In the meantime, we see no one and go nowhere,” Stepmother said. “What are we to do, Harry? You said there were two choices left. Since we cannot find a sponsor, what is the final possibility?”
“Why, to enjoy ourselves, Mrs Fletcher,” he said, beaming. “There’s no need for us to sit about moping, is there? We can go to the theatre and the opera, for a start. I’ve rented boxes at both the Theatre Royal and Covent Garden, so you can be entertained on two nights every week, if you wish. There are plenty of outings to amuse you — I might even come with you to Vauxhall Gardens to see the fireworks. I’m very fond of a firework performance. And surely, Lizzie, we might open our doors to some of our real friends. My acquaintances in the City, for instance, include a number you’d not be ashamed to eat with. Very good fellows, and perfectly well-mannered. Will has friends, too, if he cares to invite them.”
“Mercers and tanners and brewers and grocers,” she said with distaste.
“I’m a mercer myself, and I’ll not have you turning up your nose at such people,” he said sharply. “They’re as good as you or me, and at least they’re honest, unlike your miserable cousin. I wouldn’t expect you to meet anyone rough, but there are quite a few who could pass for gentlemen, and Will’s friends have been educated to his standard, and you see how well he turned out. The girls have come here to enjoy themselves, and any company is better than none.”
She bowed her head in resigned acceptance.
“Rosie and I have a plan,” Angie said, practically bouncing on her chair.
Pa laughed. “I’m sure you have, Miss Mischief. Come, tell us all about it.”
“There is a girl… a young woman who lives just two doors along from us, and she has a little dog.”
“The sweetest little dog,” Rosie said.
“She walks the dog in the gardens every morning and evening, we see her from our room, so if we had a dog too, we would have an excuse to be in the gardens at the same time, and naturally we would all fall into conversation together. You see? So may we have a dog?”
“Please,” Rosie added.
“And why is the dog so essential?” Pa said. “What’s preventing you from walking in the garden every morning and evening, dog or no dog?”
“It would not be the same,” Angie said. “Besides, if we dash out whenever we see her, it would look as if we are just doing it to get to know her.”
“Which you are,” Pa said.
“Exactly, but with a dog, there is a perfect excuse. Do you see?”
Pa laughed, but Will said, “Actually, that is not a bad idea. If the girl lives here, she probably knows the other residents of the square, too. She could be a very useful acquaintance.”
“Mrs Fletcher? Could we accommodate a dog, do you think? It will be an inconvenience for the servants, undoubtedly.”
“If the animal is old enough not to make a mess everywhere, then I have no objection. It will get the girls out of the house and into the fresh air every day, which is very desirable. But take a footman with you… or perhaps Will might be persuaded to accompany you.”
“Dog-walking, ma’am?” Will said in horror. Quickly he added, “The girls will not fall into conversation so easily if I am with them.”
“That is true,” she said, her face falling. But then she brightened. “If you are to be let off the dog-walking, then you must accompany us when we go shopping. Now, no pulling faces, if you please. You refused to do it while we still had hopes of Lady Failsworthy, but now—“
“Very well, very well,” he said resignedly. “But no haberdashers, I beg of you. I cannot be seen in a haberdashery.”
“No haberdashers,” she said, smiling at him. “Nor the stay-maker. But look at it this way, Will — how else could you meet so many pretty young ladies but in the sort of shops that appeal to women?”
He laughed, and agreed that there might indeed be benefits to the scheme.
~~~~~
Eloise found it remarkably easy to accustom herself to a life of unbridled luxury. Lord Carrbridge was one of the wealthiest men in the country, and his house was run accordingly. He had not thrown out a new wing or set about collecting wildly expensive art, so Marford House was much as his father had left it, apart from his wife’s elegant redecoration, but the marquess liked to collect his family around him. Thus the bedrooms were filling up as more guests arrived, and each night the dining table was a leaf or two longer, every inch covered with delectable items. Eloise had taken to keeping a notebook and pencil in her reticule to note down dishes of particular interest, to be reported to her aunt in Bath by the next letter.
The promised new gowns, not to mention boots, gloves, bonnets, shawls and pelisses, arrived in a steady stream, filling up her wardrobe and drawers, and then a second chest of drawers. Her old garments were laundered, pressed and folded away in her own box, although she was tolerably confident that she would wear none of them again. Whether it was down to Fosbrook’s eye or Connie’s, as soon as she saw her newly-outfitted self in the cheval glass, Eloise knew that she had never looked so well. She considered her features to be no more than passable, her hair was uninteresting, and she was too tall for beauty, but whatever magic the ladies had spun, she looked and felt wonderful. There was the utmost satisfaction in feeling the best quality linens and muslins and kerseymere under her fingers, and hearing the delicate swish of silk as she went down to dinner. Oh, if only Mama could see her now — how proud she would be! But she would not be melancholy. Mama had been dead for almost two years now, and Eloise was contented enough in Bath with dear Aunt Beth.
