“Not at all! I’m astute enough to know when a man is trying to fix my attention and Mr Sage was gazing in your direction as oft as he could.”
“Could he be overwhelmed with his feelings for you and couldn’t face you for fear of giving himself away?” Edith teased.
Susan burst out laughing. “You should be writing novels with such an imagination! I’m happy to be set as the romantic heroine. But as for Mr Sage, I am expecting him to try and secure you as his wife.”
“He is very handsome,” Edith admitted. “But as for his character – does he not seem a little flighty to you?”
“Perhaps that is what he refers to, needing to let you see his true character. Oh, I’m going to enjoy watching this romance blossom,” Susan smiled in return. “It looks like your prediction of being an old maid will have no foundation after all.”
*
Edith entered the ballroom on Miles’ arm. She had dressed in a pale apricot gown, which added warmth to her skin tone. White flowers edged the dress and matching blossom was clipped in her hair amongst the tumble of curls. Again, she wore the diamond droplet around her neck. She had other jewellery, but always opted for the simpler pieces. Lady Longdon despaired of her daughter, claiming the ton would consider them close-fisted if she wore the same piece at every entertainment.
“I like this necklace,” Edith had argued. “What does it matter what I wear as long as it suits my outfit and is appropriate for the event I’m attending? I’m sure people have far more interesting things to worry about, than my choice of jewellery.”
“It bothers me, that should be enough to vary what you wear,” Lady Longdon had snapped.
“I shall wear my pearls the next time we are out,” Edith had promised meekly. Sometimes it wasn’t worth the argument.
Looking around, she was aware of the faint sense of disappointment that Ralph wouldn’t be attending. She had managed to casually ask Miles if he’d heard from his friend. On receiving a negative, she’d known that there would be no pleasant surprise during the evening. Her feelings were probably foolish but she’d finally met someone who had stirred something within her. A pity she looked unlikely to see him again.
Mr Sage and Mr Malone approached as soon as they saw the Longdon group.
“Lady Longdon, Lady Edith, Miles, it’s good to see you all. Lady Edith, I hope you have the first two dances set aside for me,” Mr Malone said, bowing over the ladies’ hands.
“The dances are free, and I’ll happily dance with you,” Edith answered.
“You cad, Albert, I was going to ask for the first two,” Mr Sage cursed his friend.
“You’ll have to have the next two,” Lady Edith said with a smile. “If that’s acceptable?”
“Of course, I’m just repining that it will be a further hour until I can spend some time with you,” Mr Sage responded, bowing over Edith’s hand.
“You can accompany me instead,” Miles said, amused at the verbal sparring for his sister’s time. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself as you join me with the chaperones whilst I settle mother.”
“Of course, it would be my pleasure,” Mr Sage responded, looking as if he’d prefer a trip to the gallows, rather than join the chaperones.
Mr Malone chuckled at the retreating forms. “Charles would curse Miles to the devil only for your mother being in earshot.”
“He could have refused Miles,” Edith pointed out.
“And appear at a disadvantage in your family’s eyes? Never, Lady Edith! Charles is on his best behaviour in the hope that he will impress you all.”
Edith frowned slightly. Mr Malone’s words suggested that Charles wasn’t acting to his true character and that didn’t rest easy. “There is no need to pretend he’s someone he’s not,” she said, a little sharply.
“Come, Lady Edith! Are you trying to convince me that you act in the same way in every situation? Surely that’s coming it too brown! We all behave in ways which are pertinent to what we face and who we are with,” Mr Malone teased.
“I suppose so. Yes. Of course you’re right,” Edith admitted.
The pair danced the first two and then Edith was escorted once more onto the dance floor with Charles as her partner. She was a little reserved at the start of their dances, on which he soon picked up.
“Has my friend been such a poor partner, he has put you out of sorts, Lady Edith?” he asked with his winning smile.
“No! Not at all. Mr Malone is a very good dancer, as you are. I admit I was pondering over something he said,” Edith admitted.
“Has the buffoon made a faux pas? I have to admit, Lady Edith, I travelled most of the continent with him going from one blunder to another. If I didn’t like him so well, I’d have had to leave him in some far-off town,” Charles responded as they danced.
Edith laughed. “You have a wicked sense of fun, Mr Sage.”
“But does it make you smile?”
“Yes, you know it does,” Edith admitted.
“Then, that’s all that matters. Life would be dull if we were to be serious all of the time, don’t you think?”
“Yes, it would,” Edith responded. She was glad the dance separated her from her partner at that point as his words had reminded her of a pair of serious brown eyes. The memory was enough to make her colour a little and she was glad of the moment or two to bring her inner longings back under control. When the pair rejoined each other in the set, there was no outward sign on her part that her equilibrium had been upset.
When they were at the bottom of the long-ways line, standing out of the dance, Charles took hold of Edith’s hands. “I hope you will allow me to express how much I enjoy your company, Lady Edith. You are an unlooked for diamond in this city. I am so glad our paths have crossed. I know my life is changed forever as a result of meeting you.”
Edith pretended she needed to use her handkerchief in order to release her hands from his grasp. “Mr Sage, we hardly know each other. How can I have had such an impact in so short a time? I think you are funning me,” she said, trying to keep her tone light.
“I couldn’t fun when I am talking about matters of the heart. Do you not feel the same? Are my hopes and wishes to be rejected?”
“Please don’t speak so,” Edith said, extremely uncomfortable with the situation. She couldn’t escape without causing severe offence, so had to try and stop the unwanted utterances.
“Ah, I see I speak too soon. Forgive me. I wouldn’t want to frighten you with the earnestness of my feelings. I am being serious when I say how much I have been struck since meeting you, but you are correct, we are still strangers. I will work out ways of getting to know you without it feeling as if you’re being put under pressure. Would that be acceptable to you?” Mr Sage said.
“I-I don’t wish to give false hope,” Edith started.
“All I’m asking for is a chance for you to know me better. I know there can be no guarantees,” Mr Sage said, as they took their places in the set once more.
Edith was prevented from answering as they were immediately separated in the dance. Mr Sage’s words had unsettled her and she wasn’t convinced she’d have given a satisfactory response if they had remained together.
When the dance finally ended, she was escorted over to her mother, who had been joined by Susan, who was chatting to Miles and Albert.
Edith soon persuaded Susan to join her on a walk around the ballroom. When they found an alcove which wasn’t already occupied, the two ladies sat themselves down. They were in full view of the ballroom, but at least were a little away from anyone who might overhear. Susan listened as Edith updated her on what had been exchanged with Mr Sage.
“He certainly seems to have become smitten with you very quickly, it was obvious to me he was,” Susan agreed. “But I shouldn’t think he should be criticised for that. You must acknowledge, he has excellent taste.”
Edith laughed. “You are a good friend, Susan, but come, let’s not be silly. Look at the unmarried girls in this room.
Look how many beautiful, young, pleasing girls there are. I’m not foolish enough to consider myself an ape-leader, but I’m also not a diamond of the first water.”
“You also have a penchant to downplay what assets you do have.”
“Yet I remain unmarried.”
Susan looked away, a frown marring her features.
“What is it?” Edith asked.
“Do you think you purposely put potential suitors off in some way?” the friend asked.
“I don’t understand,” Edith answered.
“You are very self-deprecating, which could be said is you just being overly modest, but I wonder if there is more to it than that. You dismiss the fact that someone could like you, that you are marriageable, yet you have a lot to offer. I wonder if you are purposely, subtlety somehow giving the wrong impression to anyone who’s interested in you. If you don’t encourage a suitor, they can interpret that as disinterest on your part and stop trying,” Susan tried to explain.
“But why would I try to put eligible men off?” Edith asked, genuinely bewildered.
“Perhaps you don’t really want to marry,” Susan offered.
“I do. I think. No. I do,” Edith smiled at her own contradictory behaviour. “For the first time I’ve actually met someone who has stirred something in me. Oh, I don’t know if it is an attraction of the long-lasting kind, but it’s the first real frisson of something I’ve ever felt.”
“And who is the lucky man?” Susan asked.
“Miles’ friend.”
“Mr Malone?”
“Who? No! Lord Pensby,” Edith admitted out loud for the first time.
“But he’s so taciturn and reserved! You can’t have spent much time in his company.”
“I know. Foolish in the extreme, isn’t it?” Edith admitted with a bitter laugh. “Miles already suspects I might have some partiality for him and has warned me to look elsewhere for a husband.”
“He shouldn’t have done that,” Susan responded.
“Perhaps not, but he knows Lord Pensby far better than I do,” Edith admitted. “But you are my age and also unwed, Susan. Does this mean you also aren’t sure if you wish to marry?”
Susan smiled and flushed. “I do want to marry, but I’m not pretty like you, so I’m finding it hard to accept that anyone would want to marry me for anything other than my fortune.”
“Susan! What a foolish thing to say! You are extremely fetching, you must know you are,” Edith replied hotly.
“You are my best friend and I love you for your defence of me. You know I’ve been told exactly what I am enough times to realise I have little to offer in the way of looks,” Susan responded.
“Who would say such wicked words to you?” Edith asked. “Truly, Susan you are such a lovely package, anyone would be lucky to have you.”
“A package?” Susan smiled. “That’s a good thing is it?”
“It’s a well-known fact that packages always contain the nicer things in life,” Edith said authoritatively.
“You are ridiculous,” Susan smiled.
“Come. There must be someone we know who is worthy of you,” Edith said.
“Don’t.”
“There is no one you regard?”
“Yes, but it’s a hopeless cause,” Susan responded.
“Why?”
“The man I’m in love with is hardly aware that I exist, let alone has any interest in me as a wife.”
“Then he’s a fool!” Edith said hotly.
“That’s not a nice way to speak about your brother,” Susan said quietly, her tone nervous and unsure.
“Miles? You and Miles? Really? Oh, Susan! You could do so much better than Miles!” Edith exclaimed.
Susan laughed. “Said like a true, loving sister.”
“Oh, I don’t mean it like that. To see the two people I love the most joined together would be a dream come true, but he is damaged, Susan. The wars he’s been involved in…”
“I know. My head tells me it is a futile hope which can only end in making us both miserable, but my heart doesn’t listen to my head and continues to hope. Please don’t say anything,” Susan begged.
“I won’t. I feel ashamed that I’ve never noticed your preference for Miles. It makes me a very poor friend,” Edith admitted.
“No. It means my acting skills are finely tuned. I’ve worked hard to keep everything hidden, but I know my parents are looking for me to marry this season. I’m going to have to let go of my hopes, which are that I will marry the man I want. I’m finding it very hard to cling to the belief my dream would materialise and as a result, I could end by having to accept someone else. The situation both depresses me and terrifies me in equal measure,” Susan owned.
“Oh dear, we’re both in a pickle, aren’t we?” Edith laughed, reaching for her friend’s hands and squeezing them gently. “What are we to do?”
“We are going to be open to possibilities,” Susan said firmly. “And that includes you getting to know Mr Sage a little more before you decide he’s not for you.”
“I’ll try. I suppose I have to, but I’d much rather spend time with Lord Pensby,” Edith said with a sigh.
“No. You have to mean it, Edith. We both have to be really open to potential husbands, or we could end up alone.”
“We could always set up an establishment together,” Edith suggested hopefully.
“We’d last a week before I threw you out,” Susan laughed.
“How rude!” Edith chuckled.
Chapter 9
Ralph rubbed his hand over his face. He was exhausted. A week had passed and he’d hardly had any sleep. His mother had taken a turn for the worse and had required round the clock attention. He could have put most of the burden on the staff, but he refused to, because she was his mother and she needed him. He wasn’t bloody-minded enough to refuse help and he worked with the nurse, or her lady’s maid. The three of them were the main ones to tend to Lady Pensby, other servants helping to keep the house and gardens as smoothly as possible through a trying time.
The doctor entered the study after knocking on the door. He was beginning to look as haggard as Ralph.
“My lord, I’d like to try something different with your permission,” the doctor started.
“What is it?”
“I suggest stopping the laudanum, it clearly isn’t having the effect we would wish. I’ve sent for an alternative treatment to use. It is reported to have had positive results on others with your mother’s condition, but it will take a while for it to arrive,” the doctor explained.
“Why? We can send someone by express,” Ralph said.
“It is coming from the Far East, my lord,” came the hesitant response.
“That will take months!”
“I’ve already taken the liberty of placing the order and expressed the need for it to be sent as fast as is possible. In the meantime, I have something else to offer,” the doctor said quickly.
“What?”
The doctor was wary of explaining his next suggestion, but it was all that was left to try outside the asylum treatments. “It was a concoction discovered by Napoleon’s troops whilst in Egypt, my lord. I know it sounds far-fetched, but far more eminently qualified men than I have been looking into the effects of it. We need to keep your mother quiet, rested and calm. The less excitable she is, the better. Whilst laudanum just sends her to sleep, this alternative calms the person, but they can still function.”
“You make my mother sound as if she’s some sort of hysterical female,” Ralph said defensively.
“Not at all, my lord. We know it is a calm life the sufferer needs, but even day-to-day life can cause the incidents to occur. This drug seems to reduce that. I think it is worth a try until we receive the herbs I’ve sent for.”
“She is being used as a test case to advance medical science?” Ralph asked.
“Anyone with conditions which are – out of the ordinary, is doing that to some extent, my lord. There are advance
s in medicine all the time, but some things we still struggle to cure. I’m afraid your mother has one such illness.”
“Try your suggestions. At this point there is nothing else we can do,” Ralph said bleakly.
The doctor pitied the young man but was glad he’d been given permission to at least try the new drugs. There was little left for them to do without her being admitted to the asylum.
*
Edith stood up from the card table. She smiled at Mr Malone. “You have all my worldly shillings, sir. I shall be reduced to taking in sewing for the remainder of the quarter.”
“I shall endeavour to tear every piece of clothing I own to offer recompense,” Mr Malone said easily, offering his arm to Edith.
“You have no shame,” Edith smiled, accepting a glass of ratafia from a footman.
“None, I’m afraid. I spent too much of my impressionable youth under the charge of your brother.”
“I wish you still were. You’d be on guard duty for a month with that comment,” Miles said, approaching the pair.
Mr Malone grinned at Miles. “You always were a hard taskmaster. When are you going to give me the offer of your experience at Tattersall’s?”
“This week if you like.”
“That would be capital. Could I persuade you both to join Charles and myself on a day out to test the animal I decide to buy? Miss King could also join us?” Albert suggested.
“I’m happy to do that. Let’s go to Richmond Park. I haven’t visited since my return to London,” Miles said.
“I’ll ask Miss King to accompany us,” Edith said, knowing that her friend would need no persuasion to join Miles on a day out.
“Splendid! Charles, our trip is determined to be a success with Lady Edith and Miss King in our company.” Mr Malone spoke across two card tables. He received scowls for his impertinence, at which he just grinned.
Later Mr Malone and Mr Sage walked through the streets of London, away from the house where they’d spent the evening and back to their respectable but far more modest accommodation.
“You don’t seem to be progressing well with the wealthy Lady Edith,” Mr Malone said, all frivolity and charm disappeared. “I can’t see any favouritism towards you on her part.”
Lady Edith's Lonely Heart: A Regency Romance (Lonely Hearts Series Book 1) Page 7