Helen returned to her grandmother’s side where she was bidding the Dowager Duchess a goodnight.
‘As ever, it has been a wonderful beginning to the winter season, Victoria, and the decorations this year have surpassed anything before. I do think we might have such a tree in our own home, don’t you, Robert?’ Lady Anne said.
‘A tree?’ Sir Robert said, ‘oh yes, I see, a tree, yes well you never know.’ Secretly he rather thought that foliage belonged outside of the house but domestically his wife was in charge, he merely paid for her whims, and if she desired a tree then no doubt she would have one.
‘Oh, there you are, Helen,’ Lady Anne said, ‘it’s time to leave now, would you say goodbye to the Duchess please.’
‘Thank you for a lovely evening. Ma’am,’ Helen said.
‘You’re most welcome, my dear, and I’m so glad you were able to meet Dicky too, he certainly seemed to take a shine to you,’ the Dowager said.
‘He was most charming, even if his dancing left a little to be desired,’ Helen said.
And with that they departed the ball room and were escorted outside to where Sir Robert’s carriage was awaiting them. As they drove away from Malchester Gardens, Helen was unaware that, from his chambers above, Dicky watched the progress of the carriage. He could not rid his mind, nor did he wish to, of the image of the beautiful American belle in her peacock blue dress whose smile and charm had captivated him that evening. He resolved that he must see her again, and buoyed by the happy chance of the evening he retired to bed in excellent spirit. It seemed that the winter season may well prove a happy one.
~
‘Oh, it was quite something, Mary,’ Helen said the next morning as the maid busied herself with laying out her new mistress’s clothes, ‘all the gentlemen in their uniforms and the ladies in their dresses, they all looked such a picture, and the house was decorated so beautifully.’
‘I should just love to go to a ball such as that, Ma’am. All the elegant dresses and the dancing and merry making, folk like me can only dream of that,’ Mary said,
‘I should take you to a ball in an instant Mary. If ever I am able to host one, you shall be invited,’ Helen said.
‘Oh mistress, that would be wonderful, but no mere maid would ever be invited to such a thing,’ Mary said.
‘Back where I come from, anyone can be anyone if they so please, we’re not hung up on rank and privilege, just hard work, loyalty and good humour. Those are what will see you through and you’ve got all those and more, Mary,’ Helen said.
‘Why, thank you, Ma’am, perhaps one day I might go to America, stranger things have happened,’ Mary said.
‘I think you may well do,’ the lady said as she prepared to go downstairs to breakfast.
In the dining room, Sir Robert was busy helping himself to kedgeree from the sideboard whilst Lady Anne toyed with toast and marmalade at the table, she looked up as Helen entered smiling.
‘Well you made quite an impression last night, my dear,’ she said, ‘the first post has just arrived and we are invited to lunch at Malchester Gardens this coming Wednesday. There will be just a few others as well as the Dowager Duchess and the Duke himself, the invitation has come to you from him.’
‘It seems you’ve already made quite a name for yourself, Helen,’ Sir Robert said, returning to the table and unfolding his paper, ‘The young Duke is a good man, you would be wise to accept the invitation.’
‘I’m not here to find a husband, Grandfather,’ Helen said, perhaps sounding a little more annoyed than she intended.
‘No dear, you’re here for a husband to find you,’ her grandmother pointedly replied, ‘that is how it works.’
‘But I’m not ready for marriage. Grandmamma, I want adventure, to see the world, to follow my father back out onto the frontier,’ Helen said.
‘The frontier is no place for a lady, it’s because of all that nonsense that we’ve brought you here for the season. Has your mother taken any steps to make introductions? Are there no eligible young men in New York, suitable for a lady such as you?’
‘None that I’ve met, because I’m not ready for all that yet; things are different out there.’
‘Well, we’ll see about that, I’ve already accepted the return invitation, Wednesday will soon come around, and I expect you to at least make the effort,’ her grandmother said.
Secretly, Helen was pleased to be seeing the Duke again, but the idea of being set up to marry him after just one encounter appeared somewhat far fetched. She resolved to attend the lunch and see what would happen. She had no choice, after all, but certainly Dicky Dolby had been charming and if truth be told, most handsome. Despite her free spirit, Helen wondered whether the Duke might embrace adventure in contrast to the stuffiness of the English aristocracy. Only time would tell.
The Christmas Bluestocking
A Most Congenial Lady Page 11