‘The wedding feast, presided over by the venerable great-aunt of the two brides, took place in the newly decorated drawing room of Beech Grove Manor House (flower arrangements by the same tasteful hand as that which had adorned the church) – and the guests were too numerous to be mentioned without tedium. Sufficient to say that they included Mrs Justin Pennington, the brides’ eldest sister (a little bird has told me that she is happily expecting an interesting event – that is a baby) and her husband Justin, who was so useful in sorting out recent legal formalities for the Earl, as well, of course, as the very many relations and friends of the Derrington and the Pattenden families, from the Indian subcontinent as well as the old country.
‘Conspicuous by his absence was Mr Denis Derrington, who had formerly been heir to the earldom. He was not missed and Sir Guy Beresford, godfather to Lady Daisy, whose film company was kept busy recording the happy event, took his place in the line-up for the family photograph. The cinema impresario proved to be expert at calming the fears of those Bright Young People from London who were afraid that their correct profile might not be recorded.
‘With glasses of champagne in hand the guests strolled around the newly mown lawns that fringed the lake – a few, who had imbibed deeply, even took to the boats and rowed across its “shining levels” (Tennyson). It is rumoured that the Honourable Joan Pattenden and her friend the Honourable Evelyn Dickinson were seen to strip off their party dresses and to dive down into its depths “where the ripple washed among the reeds” (Tennyson), but rumour often lies and your correspondent’s lips are sealed.
‘When eventually all were sated (although enough food was left over to feed the army of servants who had been engaged for the happy event) the four young people changed into their honeymoon attire. The brides kissed their father. The Honourable Robert Derrington (known as Morgan) shook the hand of his new father-in-law – his uncle, the Earl – left a few instructions about the selling of Binton Farm to a grateful tenant and then stepped into the ancient Humber at whose wheel he seemed singularly at home. The Honourable Basil Pattenden kissed his mother, Lady Dorothy, who, a little bird tells me, is looking forward to the young couple making a very protracted stay in her London house when they come back from their honeymoon. He then shook hands with the Earl, his new father-in-law, leaned in the window of the Humber and said something about drums to his brother-in-law, then jumped into his brother Ambrose’s car, reversed it rapidly into a piece of marble statuary – of no particular value, according to the Earl – and then set off, speeding down the avenue in hot pursuit of the Humber.’
Rose put down her pencil, read through what she had written, then picked it up again and added the words:
‘And that’s all.’
Acknowledgements
I am deeply grateful for all the help that I have received in the writing of this book, from my two editors the two Rachels: Rachel Petty and Rachel Kellehar, whose joint infinite capacity for taking pains must approach genius level; from my agent Peter Buckman of Ampersand Agency Ltd, whose prompt, astringent and witty emails always make my day, and also from all those authors, such as P. G. Wodehouse, the Mitford sisters and Evelyn Waugh, who lived through the 1920s and wrote about those years with a verve and wit that keeps their books on the bestseller lists.
DEBUTANTES
IN LOVE
Cora Harrison worked as a head teacher before writing her first novel. She has since published forty-seven books – ten for adults, thirty-three for children and four for young adults. Many of her books for children deal with the history and mythology of Ireland, while her love of history is also shown in her young-adult novels about the teenage years of Jane Austen, I was Jane Austen’s Best Friend and Jane Austen Stole My Boyfriend. Cora lives on a farm near the Burren in the west of Ireland.
Debutantes: In Love is the sequel to Debutantes, set in the roaring 1920s.
Also by Cora Harrison
I Was Jane Austen’s Best Friend
Jane Austen Stole My Boyfriend
Debutantes
First published 2013 by Macmillan Children’s Books
This electronic edition published 2013 by Macmillan
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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ISBN 978-1-4472-1786-2
Copyright © Cora Harrison 2013
The right of Cora Harrison to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
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Table of Contents
Title page
Dedication page
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Author biography
Copyright page
Debutantes: In Love Page 24