Francesca Shaw - The Unconventional Miss Dane

by The Unconventional Miss Dane (lit)

  As she spoke, she picked up a glass of water from table that had been placed beside Lady Meredith as sat at cards. With one swirl movement, she dashed it the face of Claudia Reed.

  With a shriek Lady Reed came to, sitting up so swi she almost overturned the women kneeling beside I Her mouth was opening and closing with shocked outrage while the water trickled down her face, turning her blond cuds into rats' tails and sending the cunningly applied lamp black on her lashes running down her cheeks.

  "You ... you..." she began to splutter, turning venomous blue eyes on Antonia.

  "No, do not thank me, I am only relieved that my actions have restored your senses!" Antonia hastened to assure her.

  The men had tactfully turned away and Anne Meredith and Donna, assisted by the maid, helped Claudia to the chaise. Donna glanced up, catching Antonia's eye, her expression a mixture of amusement and censure.

  The maid began mopping her mistress's cheeks. When Lady Reed saw the black staining the cloth, she gave another shriek and demanded to be taken to her chamber. "Give me your ann, you stupid girl!" she railed at the unfortunate maid. She stumbled from the room, Lady Meredith in attendance, leaving a stunned silence behind her.

  "Poor gel!" Sir John Ollard commiserated clumsily after a moment.

  "Quite understandable, though, that she should swoon. It is a devilish close night. Very quick thinking on your part, Miss Dane, I have to confess I was becoming anxious myself."

  Antonia, who by this time was feeling thoroughly ashamed of herself~ merely coloured and glanced uneasily at Marcus. His face was impassive as he tugged on the hell pull again, but Antonia thought she could detect a hint of a smile at the edges of his lips,

  Mead appeared with his usual quiet calm. "My lord?"

  "Please ascertain from Lady Meredith whether she requires you to send for Dr. Rush."

  "I have already done so, my lord, and James has taken the gig to collect him."

  Antonia's conscience was still pricking her. "Does Lady Meredith require any assistance, do you know, Mead?"

  The butler turned to her with his usual gravitas. "I believe not, Miss Dane. However, I will enquire."

  Another short silence ensued, broken this time by Miss Donaldson. "When it is convenient, my lord, I do believe it is time Miss Dane and I returned to the Dower House. Pray bid goodnight to Lady Meredith for us."

  At that moment Miss Fitch, becomingly flushed, was 'helped across the threshold from the terrace by Mr. Leigh. Donna gave the young woman a somewhat beady look and said in a tone she had often used to Antonia,

  "My dear Miss Fitch, perhaps it would be better if you too retire now."

  Blushing, Sophia complied, whispering her good nights and hurrying from the room.

  Marcus turned from holding the door for her. "I believe I can hear the wheels of the carriage on the drive. Let me accompany you to the front door, Miss Dane, Miss Donaldson."

  He took advantage of the slight flurry whilst Miss Donaldson settled herself in the corner of the carriage to say, low-voiced, "I will call on you tomorrow morning, my dear."

  Antonia pressed his hand ~-sponsively and let him hand her into the carriage. It took all her social train' rag and self-control not to lean out of the window for a last glimpse of him as they turned the bend in the drive.

  Donna was uncharacteristically silent. Antonia, braced for an inquisition, found it hard to tolerate and finally broke into speech herself. "I wonder what can have been the matter with Lady Reed," she mused disingenuously.

  "Admittedly, the evening is warm, but she could hardly be said to be overdressed."

  It was difficult to descry Donna's expression in the gloom of the carriage, but when she spoke her voice was dry. "I doubt it was anything to do with the heat." She paused, then added, seemingly changing the subject, "You were out alone on the terrace with his lordship for a long time, my dear."

  Antonia knew her companion too well not to catch her drift. The temptation to tell Miss Donaldson of her acceptance of Marcus's suit almost overcame her, but then she thought better of it. Donna would be full of questions, none of which she could angwer. No, better wait until Marcus had visited her tomorrow and then she could give her the glad news and a date for the marriage.

  "The air was very pleasant, quite refreshing," she said lightly. "Did you not observe how completely it revived Miss Fitch?"

  "Hmm!" Donna snorted. "What revived that young lady was having Mr. "

  Leigh hold her hand for twenty minutes! I am sure Lady Meredith would not approve--I was in two minds whether to go out there myself. "

  "Why did you not?" Antonia encouraged, happy that the conversation had turned from her own sojourn on the terrace.

  "Because I was more concerned with what you were about!" Donna was tart as she leaned forward to look into Antonia's shadowed face. "To dash water into Lady

  Reed's face in that way was quite outrageous! "

  "It did revive her most effectively."

  "Do not seek to be so disingenuous with me, Antonia--I can read you like a book. No, it is not Lady

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  Reed's health that causes you concern, and well I know it. "

  "Do you think she was Marcus's mistress?" Antonia enquired daringly.

  The improper question had the desired effect of completely distracting Miss Donaldson from the scene in the salon. "Antonia! What an unseemly question! You should know nothing of such things ... lam sure his lordship would not..."

  "His lordship is thirty years old," Antonia retorted tartly. ~"He has hardly lived as a monk, and Lady Reed is an attractive woman--even if she does black her lashes--with a complaisant husband hundreds of miles away."

  Antonia, stop it--you should not have such thoughts! Well, at least, if you do, you should not voice them aloud. A well-bred young woman pretends not to know how men go on. "

  "Oh, stop this pretence, Donna, we both know what goes on!" Her voice dropped and trembled slightly, "Do all men have mistresses, Donna, even after they are married?"

  "Some do," Donna admitted, then rallied with a. happy thought. "But those who have married for affection and who retain their feelings for their wives do not--why, look at Lord Meredith, can you imagine him keeping a mistress?"

  Antonia leaned back against the squabs with a sigh, looking out at the silent countryside now bathed in moonlight. She was suddenly very tired, all the excitement of the evening, of Marcus's declaration, ebbing away to leave her feeling somewhat low.

  Entering the Dower House, she was glad of Donna's silence and bade her goodnight on the landing with only a few words.

  She had been certain she would fall asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow, but in the darkness the foolishness of her behaviour came back to haunt her. How could she have thrown that water at Lady Reed?

  And in doing so, had she not behaved just as badly as the other woman?

  Miserably, Antonia could not but fear that Marcus would think less well of her because of it, for she knew he had not been gulled by her expressions of concern for Claudia. She loved him, wanted to appear wholly admirable in his eyes. In the darkness she tossed and turned, scourging herself with reproaches. A lady would have behaved with dignity: after all, she was the one whom he had asked to marry. Why then descend to such jealous behaviour?

  The night seemed endless, sultry and oppressive. When Antonia finally slipped into sleep it was only to dream vividly of Marcus---his lips hot on her throat, his arms binding her tightly to his body. When she woke it was to find the sheets tangled round her, her hair damp and tousled on the pillows.

  Consequently, it was a-wan-faced and subdued Antonia who faced Donna across the breakfast table the next morning.

  "My dear, you look quite pulled down," her companion said anxiously, scanning her face. "I am sure this weather is unhealthy. Shall I send for Dr. Rush after breakfast? You must go and lie down with a nice cup of tea..."

  "No, please do not concern yourself, Donna. It was so close last night, I
felt I was stifling. When I did sleep, it was very fitful and has done me no good. " Antonia listlessly spread some butter on her bread, looked at the conserves and found the decision between honey and jam quite beyond her.

  Donna was still worrying on. "I think you should re rum to bed. I will make you a tisane--'

  She broke off as Anna the maidservant bustled in with a tray and: fresh tea. "Anna, please go directly and make up your mistress's bed and open the windows wide. It is fresher this morning, my dear, I am sure there will be a breeze-and you will sleep more easily in the cool."

  "Thank you, Donna, but I am expecting Lord Arlington to be calling on me this morning. Perhaps I will lie down when he is gone." ~ What he would think when he saw her wan face and the dark shadows under her eyes she could not imagine. The comparison with the exquisite Claudia Reed could only be unfavorable.

  Antonia sighed heavily. She wanted to see Marcus again so badly, to be in his arms, hear him at last tell her he loved her. Yet she felt so drained, so guilty that she had behaved badly the night before. She was ashamed of being jealous, ashamed of thinking ill of Marcus. And in some far less worthy part of her mind, she acknowledged that she had shown her hand to the other woman. If Claudia Reed had been in any doubt about Antonia's feelings for Marcus, the incident last night would have made them crystal clear.

  By her own actions, 'she had given that unscrupulous female the upper hand--and Claudia was living under the same roof as Marcus. She was a married woman, entirely unconstrained by the strict social rules that governed Antonia in her dealings with Marcus.

  "You do not seem very pleased that Lord Arlington is calling this morning," Donna observed. "Is something amiss? He appeared most attentive last night as he saw us to the carriage."

  Her eyes were beady with pleasurable curiosity. Surely he could only be calling in order to make dear Antonia a declaration! The foolish child had been tossing and turning all night in anticipation. No wonder she was feeling so enervated.

  "If we are expecting a visitor, it would certainly not do for you to retire to your bedchamber," she continued briskly, biting back the torrent of questions which filled her mind. What had Lord Arlington said to her dear Antonia last night? She had had to overcome all her instincts as a chaperon to allow them so much time alone together on the terrace, but it appeared to have paid dividends.

  Antonia found herself being steered firmly out of the breakfast parlour and up the stairs to her bedchamber. "If we brush out your hair---really, tying it back so tightly makes you appear quite schoolmarmish!-~and I think we can conceal those dark shadows with just a touch of rice powder ... and your new jonquil muslin is most becoming..."

  Donna bustled round the room as she spoke and Antonia passively allowed herself to primped and preened. But she had to admit, looking in the mirror afterwards, that sitting in the cool room had refreshed her, and Donna's ministrations had transformed her into some semblance of her usual self.

  Her skin was still pale, without its normal glow of health, but it was flawless. Her abundant brown hair clustered in a tumble of curls on the shoulder of the pale jonquil gown and her eyes were clear, although the heavy lids still spoke of her sleepless night.

  "There!" announced Donna with satisfaction. "You look quite yourself again. I am sure his lordship will notice no difference."

  Antonia smiled back at her companion, her spirits rising. How strange that one sleepless night could put things so out of kilter, disturb the balance of her emotions so! It was she Marcus wished to marry, and today when he came to her he would tell her that he loved her. Now he was betrothed, some former associations would inevitably cease. ~

  Hoofbeats sounded on the gravel drive. Both women hurried to the low open casement and looked out, but the rider below was not Marcus.

  "It is Saye, his lordship's groom," Antonia observed as the man reined in his black cob and leaned down to hand a folded paper to ~, who had run out at the sound of his arrival.

  ~ girl slipped the note in her apron pocket, but made no move to go back into the house. She was looking up at the sturdy young man with coy admiration, her cheeks pink. Antonia did not catch what the groom was saying, but the two appeared to know each other well, for he was laughing and chatting easily to the girl.

  He gathered up the reins to leave, but bent down at the last moment and snatched a quick kiss from the maid before cantering off down the drive. Anna stood looking after him, her fingers straying to her cheek.

  "Anna!" Donna's voice came sharp on the morning air. "Stop standing there like a moonstruck calf and bring that note in at once!"

  The girl starte~l and stared upwards in alarm. "Yes~ ma'am, sorry ma'am."

  She was still very pink as she handed over the missive to Antonia. "And just what are that young man's intentions?" Antonia demanded. "I am not aware you have asked Miss Donaldson's permission for a follower to call."

  "Intentions? I don't know what you mean, miss," the girl stammered.

  "I've known Josh Saye all my life friend of my brother's, he is, miss."

  "Indeed," Miss Donaldson observed coolly, but not unkindly. "I am sure if he is one of his lordship's men he is respectable, but even so, if he is to call on you, then I must know and you can both sit in the kitchen in a proper manner. And," she added, 'no dallying on the front doorstep! "

  "Yes, ma'am, thank you, ma'am." The girl scuttled from the room, relieved to have got off so lightly. "Oh!" Antonia said blankly, scanning the letter. "Why, what is wrong, my dear?"

  "His lordship writes that he is unable to call this morning after all.

  It seems the parish constables have brought a most complicated case before him and he must sit--perhaps all day.. to hear the evidence against them before committing the men to the County gaol."

  She could have handed the letter to Miss Donaldson without a qualm, for the businesslike lines in his firm black hand contained nothing beyond the simple message, his formal regrets and his intention to call later that evening.

  Antonia was conning the household accounts after luncheon when Jem was admitted to the small parlour.

  "I've brought the post, miss." He held out the papers in one slightly grubby hand and ~esitated, looking hopefully at Miss Donaldson, who was ensconced in the window-seat stitching a pillowcase.

  "Have you eaten, Jem?" she asked, just as he had hoped.

  "Not since a bite of bacon at breakfast, ma'am. Long time ago, that was," he added, managing to sound half-starved.

  "Then go to the kitchen and tell Anna I said you were to have a bowl~ of soup and some bread. And when you have finished, go to the kitchen garden and see if there is any weeding you can do for Johnson." The lad grinned and dashed off.

  Antonia spread the handful of letters on the table. "There is a note from Great-Aunt Granger--that is a hopeful sign, her handwriting seems' much firmer. And a bill from the corn chandler for the chicken feed.

  Oh, I think this is from Mr. Blake? She broke the seal and spread out the Crackling sheets. " Yes. he writes that Sir Josiah and Lady Finch will be arriving at Rye End Hall the day after tomorrow. "

  "How interesting." Donna put down her sewing and gave Antonia her full attention. "How soon do you think we should call? We must not be backward in paying our respects to our new neighbours; yet, they ~11 no doubt be fatigued after their removal and one would not wish to intrude."

  ~Then let us leave our cards in four days' time. " Antonia finished scanning her great aunt's letter and handed both it and Mr' Blake note to Donna. " Great-Aunt does indeed seem more like her old self, I am glad to say. " She pushed the ledger away and stood up. " These figures are giving me a headache. I think I will go for a walk. Will you accompany me? "

  "No, thank you, my dear, I think I will remain here and finish this linen. Keep to the shade and do not forget your hat," she called after Antonia.

  Antonia strolled along the river bank, idly swinging her broad-brimmed straw hat by its ribbons and taking deep iungsful of the warm air.r />
  Above her, skylarks sang in the clear sky without a hint of cloud. The river glinted in the sunshine as it hurried along, its surface disturbed as fish rose to take flies from the surface.

  She paused to pick dog roses as she went, sucking her finger as she pricked it on the thorns. Her spirits were rising as she walked and she began to sing under her breath. The trees closed in over the river in a green tunnel and she strolled beneath them, grateful for the shade and uncaring how far she had walked.

  It seemed to her that she had her heart's desire: she was in love with a man who wished to make her his wife, whose every action showed his desire for her. She had secured her family home from rain and by her actions in the neighbourhood had made the name of Dane respected once more. To have found a husband so close to home was an added joy, for she had grown to love the rolling beauty of the countryside, to value the good relations she felt she had forged with her tenants.