[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
There was only one other change besides the size of the party. This time E
lizabeth was not pouring; that honor went to Cousin Anne. Elizabeth offere
d no objections. We'd discussed it and decided that it was one more way in
which Mother maintained her new routine of ignoring her daughter. The usu
al custom was that if no daughter of the house were available, the task we
nt to another unmarried lady. Lady Caroline might have taken it, but Anne
was younger.
As it turned out, Elizabeth's not too convincing chagrin at losing the post
was disguised delight, since it gave her a better opportunity to see Norwo
od. I'd repeated my conversation with Lady Caroline to her and apparently t
he lady had done the same with her brother. Norwood and Elizabeth had found
a corner that afforded some slight privacy and the two of them were smilin
g at each other in a manner that could only be described as soppy.
"It looks as though the fever is sorely afflicting them," Beldon remarked to
me, but with vast good humor.
'"Tis a painless complaint, I hope."
"For now, certainly, and for evermore, God willing."
"You think they'll make a match for themselves, then?"
"I certainly hope so."
"Indeed?"
He pursed his lips. "Well, you are aware that my sister has ever entertained c
ertain hopes. It will be of considerable relief
to me if things arrange themselves so that she can gracefully abandon those
hopes."
Perhaps not gracefully, but at least in silence, I thought. From the first
day they'd descended upon our house Mrs. Hardinbrook had been badgering h
er brother to woo Elizabeth for his bride. As Beldon had no interest in wo
men for matrimonial or any other purposes, the situation often became awkw
ard for him. I could well understand that Elizabeth's marriage to another
would provide him with a long desired ease from her nagging .. . until Mrs
. Hardinbrook picked out a new prospect for him, anyway.
That lady was even now eyeing Elizabeth and Norwood and drawing some deadl
y accurate conclusions about the glowing, besotted looks passing between t
hem. She glanced at her brother, scowled, then forced her eyes down into h
er tea cup as though it might provide her with either inspiration or conso
lation.
My former tutor, Rapelji, came over. A short man with amazing energy, he ha
d finished his tea but not yet turned the cup over.
"Would you like some more, sir?" I asked. "Or perhaps some punch instead?
"
"Tea will do, but I'm enjoying this too much." He nodded at Elizabeth, his
eyes shining with good-natured amusement. "Well, well, now I'm wondering if
I should pass any of the news on to the girls."
"The girls" were his elderly housekeepers, Rachel and Sarah. They were kno
wn for their exhaustive herb lore, good cooking, and choice gossip.
"It might be a bit premature, yet," I said. "They've only just gotten to talkin
g with one another."
"They seem to be talking remarkably well. I've never seen your sister looki
ng prettier, and I daresay Lord James would agree with me."
"I think any man would agree with you on that point, Mr. Rapelji," said Bel
don. Though indifferent to women, his nature was flexible enough to allow h
im to have an aesthetic appreciation of them.
"I shall not debate with you, sir. What do you think of it, Jonathan?"
"Think of what, exactly?"
"A match between those two, of course."
"I shall support whatever decision my sister is pleased to make."
"What? That almost smacks of disapproval."
"Or a trust in my sister's judgment."
"Ho-ho, sir, I wish I'd thought of that one."
Now Father came over to our group and some of our informality faded. "Goo
d evening, gentlemen. Anything of interest?"
"We were just remarking on the beauty of the ladies, sir," I said, uncertain
whether Elizabeth's occupation with Norwood was the right subject to bring
up with him at this time.
"There is much to remark upon," he agreed. Then I saw his eyes light upon
the couple in the corner and twinkle. They shifted to mine, and he winked.
After passing some time with Beldon and Rapelji, he leaned in close to me
. "I wondered when he'd work up the courage to finally approach her."
"For how long?" I asked.
"Since the morning we left for Hempstead. His mind was on Elizabeth for the
whole trip, I think, as he was ever eager to talk about her. Can't say that
I'm exactly pleased, though."
"Have you anything against Norwood?"
"No, he seems pleasant enough, but by God, I hate the thought of him taking
away my little girl."
On that I could sincerely commiserate, for I hated the thought of losing my sist
er to ... well, he was a lord, but still a virtual stranger to us. I'd have to t
ry to get to know him better.
"Are you done with your tea, Father?"
"What? Oh, yes, sorry."
We quietly exchanged cups as usual and he drained away some of mine.
"Got it just right this time, laddie," he said with a grateful smile. Father enjo
yed lots of sugar in his tea, a habit I'd learned to imitate for his sake.
"Did Cousin Anne make it strong enough for you as well?"
"Yes, but she's let it steep too long. It's been very bitter."
"She may be distracted tonight."
"Oh? She taken with you, then?"
"Ahh . . ."
"Or is it the other way around to cause such distraction?"
"Really, sir!" And then I saw that he was only playing.
"She's a pretty enough girl, long as she doesn't talk too much," he said. "
I heard her mentioning Shakespeare with some enthusiasm, though, so maybe t
here's hope for her."
"Hope for what?"
"That she might get that mind of hers into some kind of activity. I also hat
e seeing waste, and a pretty girl not given the chance to think is a terribl
e waste, or so it seems to me. To other men, too, I've seen on occasion. Hav
ing a beautiful but empty-headed woman for a wife can be an altogether wretc
hed existence."
He was looking at Anne in an absent sort of way, his words running on ligh
tly as though there were not much thought behind them. Tea party conversat
ion, nothing more.
Or was there? Then, with a bitter shock, I realized he was thinking of Mothe
r. She had certainly been beautiful once, if that portrait in the library wa
s anything to go by. What had he been like himself? Young, about my age now,
good prospects ahead, and then he falls in love with the stunning Marie Fon
teyn. Had he been so wrapped in its fever that he'd not noted the flaws amid
the virtues? Possibly. It ran in the family, too, if my feelings for Nora w
ere anything to go by. Perhaps it ran in the whole human race.
Mother had looks once upon a time but she was not especially clever. She g
ot on well within the rules imposed by society and custom, but her intelli
gence was more of a kind of instinctual cunning than anything else. No won
der she worried so much over what people thought. They, all unknowing, ess
entially did her thinking for her, telling her what was right and proper t
o do and say. All that she did and said did not come from her own desires,
but were a mirror of theirs.
I fairly gaped at my mother, feeling shock, horror, and pity swirling up thr
ough me in one uneasy swell. That was bad enough, but to look on Father and
feel the same but more of it... God have pity on us all.
"Something wrong, Mr. Barrett?" inquired Beldon, who had returned to stan
d next to me. Father had gone off to the library with Rapelji. "You seem
a little " Haunted? " pale."
"I think I should like some air, Doctor." He stepped back to give me room to
pass. "But it's very cold out."
"Good."
I left my upended cup and saucer on a table and quietly left, not wishing to
draw any attention to myself. Going out the front door, I picked up my stride
until I was safe from sight behind one of our larger trees. The snow was not
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]