Black Sheep's Daughter (17 page)

 After changing into her new habit, she met Lord John on the landing. She had never worn a dress with a train before and it felt strange to have all that extra fabric dragging behind her. She was about to start down the stairs when he put his hand on her arm and held her back. She looked up at him enquiringly. He was laughing at her.

 "You must drape the train over your arm," he explained, "or you will go down head first. You claimed to be an accomplished horsewoman, Cousin!"

 "So I am," she assured him, "only I have never had a proper habit before."

 He grinned down at her. "I should have liked to see you ride without a train to cover your
...
limbs," he said with regret. "Ah, Tom, there you are. Let us be on our way."

 "Ought I to take my maid with me?" asked Teresa uncertainly as they descended. "She does not ride. Oh no, I expect a groom should accompany me."

 "Fustian," Lord John scoffed. "You will come to no harm with us."

Teresa had definite reservations about his sense of propriety after his last remark. She looked at the viscount, whose opinion must surely be trusted.

 "I think in this case, since we are your cousins, a servant may be dispensed with. You are residing in the same household, after all. If ever you ride with only one of us, you had best take a groom."

 "Thank you, cousin. I will abide by your advice."  She dimpled at him and he smiled. He was really excessively handsome when he smiled, she decided.

 Their mounts awaited them in the street. Teresa, used to the rough working horses of the hacienda, fell in love at first sight with the thoroughbred bay mare the duke had provided for her. She longed to try her paces, but Lady Parr had forbidden galloping in the park. She wondered if that prohibition was one of the shabby-genteel notions she might ignore. When Andrew scolded her for offending the proprieties, he did not realise how difficult it was to steer a course between conflicting codes.

 They had only to cross Park Lane to enter Hyde Park by the Grosvenor Gate, and she knew at once that this time Lady Parr's rule was commonsense. As far as she could see, lines of elegant phaetons and barouches moved at a walking pace, their still more elegant occupants bowing, waving or stopping to talk to each other and the strollers and riders.

 "Half the population of London must be here!" she exclaimed.

"This is only the Little Season," Lord John reminded her. "You should see it on a fine day in May. Drove my curricle once and dashed if I didn't get stuck in the crush for half an hour. Since then, I always ride."

 As they merged into the stream, a plump, dowdy lady waved an imperious summons from a carriage coming towards them.

 "Come, Cousin," said Lord Danville, "I shall introduce you to Lady Castlereagh."  He led the way.

 Lord John leaned towards Teresa and whispered, "One of Almack's patronesses. If they approve you, you'll get vouchers next Season. Deuced flat place, but it's all the rage among the females and you won't want to be excluded. Of course, they won't care to offend m'mother, unless you do something truly outrageous, and Lord Castlereagh is one of m'father's bosom bows."

 Lady Parr had stressed the importance of being seen at Almack's. No female banned from those august premises could be considered a social success. Thanking providence that her aunt was a duchess, Teresa followed her cousins.

 The viscount introduced Teresa as Lord Edward's daughter. Lady Castlereagh asked kindly after her father, whom she had met in his rakish youth. As they parted, she promised to invite Teresa to a small soirée she was holding in a few days.

 Teresa breathed a sigh of relief. That was one patroness, at least, who seemed to approve of her. Making sure her ladyship was out of earshot, she said, "I know I am newly acquainted with London fashions, but is not Lady Castlereagh dressed oddly?"

 "She is noted for it," laughed Lord John. "It is said that at the Congress of Vienna she attended a party with his lordship's Order of the Garter decorating her hair."

 The viscount frowned. "Do not make fun of her, John. She is a respectable and benevolent lady, and her husband was instrumental in Bonaparte's defeat."

 His brother hastily disclaimed any intended disparagement, but began to mutter that riding in the park was deuced flat entertainment.

 Teresa had noticed a pair of riders cantering in the distance, and she suggested leaving the crowd and stretching their mounts legs. "Limbs, I mean," she corrected hastily.

 Lord Danville shook his head. "You will note that both riders are gentlemen," he pointed out. "It will not do for a young lady at this hour. If you wish to rise early, a canter--a gallop even--is unexceptionable before nine or so."  He smiled at the idea of a female rising early for such a reason.

 "A capital notion, Tom!"  Lord John was enthusiastic. "Eight o'clock tomorrow, coz?"

 Teresa accepted with alacrity.

 As they rode on at a snail's pace, her cousins introduced her to so many people that she was sure she would never remember them all. It amused her to note that the viscount's acquaintance consisted of sober gentlemen of middle years and respectable matrons with marriageable daughters, while his brother's friends were all bucks of the first stare. She was equally grateful to both. When she began to go about in society it would be comfortable to know both young ladies with whom to chat and young gentlemen with whom to dance.

 One middle-aged gentleman on horseback caught her eye. His horse was a magnificent black stallion. He was richly dressed, with a large ruby in his neckcloth and several gold fobs, but his face had a cynical, dissipated look. Her cousins both nodded to him as they passed, but did not offer to introduce him.

 "I see Carruthers is in funds at present," said Lord John.

 "Who is he?" Teresa asked.

 "Loose fish," said her cousin briefly.

 Lord Danville elaborated. "Baron Carruthers is a gamester who lives by his wits. He is rumoured to be involved in various unsavory dealings. Unfortunately he lives near us in Sussex so we are bound to acknowledge him, but I should not dream of making him acquainted with you."

 "In Sussex?  Is that Five Oaks, where my father grew up? I hope I shall see it one day."

 "We generally spend Christmas there," Lord John told her. "Now there's the place for a good gallop!"

 At that moment, Teresa saw Lady Parr and Muriel driving towards them, with Andrew riding beside their carriage.

 For a moment Teresa despaired. The duchess did not want Lady Parr to visit. Did that mean it would be wrong to introduce the Parrs to her cousins?  Yet she could not cut them; they had done nothing to deserve such an insult. Was it possible to talk to them while pretending her cousins were not there?  That seemed even less possible. Nothing she had been taught covered this situation. How she wished she had been brought up knowing the correct way to deal with every circumstance!

 Lord John took the decision out of her hands. "Isn't that Graylin?" he asked. "And who's the charmer in the carriage with the dragon?  I must ask him for an introduction."

Chapter 12

 Muriel was dressed in a pale blue gown which enhanced the celestial colour of her eyes. Beneath a chipstraw hat decorated with blue bows, her golden ringlets shone in the autumnal sunlight. Teresa was not in the least surprised that her cousin John was eager to meet her.

 It pleased her to be, for once, the one performing the introductions. Lady Parr was clearly delighted to make the acquaintance of her noble relatives, though Teresa noted with relief that neither her ladyship’s character nor her sense of decorum led her to toadeat them. Muriel blushed and smiled with a pretty shyness that Teresa wished she could emulate.

 Andrew greeted their lordships with what she could only view as suspicion. She realised that no mention had been made of his engagement to Muriel, so she hastened to remedy the omission.

 For some reason, this made Andrew look still more resentful, while her cousins redoubled their attentions to the enchanting Miss Parr.

 Teresa found herself riding behind the carriage with Sir Andrew. "I'm sorry," she said, "should I not have revealed that you and Muriel are affianced?"

 "It was perfectly proper to tell them," he said noncommittally.

 "I thought you were annoyed that they admired her, but when they learned that she is betrothed it only seemed to increase their admiration. I do not understand it; I expected the reverse."

 He laughed. "That is because you are a very straightforward person, without a devious notion in your head. Gentlemen of rank and fortune like your cousins are the natural prey of the matchmaking mamas with marriageable daughters. When they are also young and handsome, like your cousins, even the most milk-and-water misses grow predatory. Since Muriel is already spoken for, they are safe in making her the object of their attentions."

 Heads turned as Teresa's peal of laughter rang out. "You are not roasting me?" she said, still grinning. "No, it does make a twisted sort of sense. Oh dear, everyone is staring!  Lady Parr warned me that my laugh is not sufficiently restrained."

 "Fustian!  If you raise your eyes, you will see that you have brought smiles to a dozen sour faces. Your laugh is a tonic and you must not subdue it. I fear my next question will do just that, however. Have you yet spoken to the duke about the trial?"

 "No, he was from home this afternoon. I expect I shall have an opportunity this evening to speak with him. Was your appointment with the Foreign Secretary satisfactory?"

 "Lord Castlereagh was most complimentary."    

"Lord Castlereagh?  I had not realised that he is the Foreign Secretary!  I met his wife just now. It seems that she is just as important in her way, for she is one of those who controls access to Almack's. I will not say that she was complimentary, but she did promise me an invitation. Andrew, Castlereagh is one of my uncle's particular friends!  I must make quite certain that he understands how indebted we are to you, and that you are a diplomat. With his patronage, I daresay you will be made ambassador in no time."

 "Perhaps."  He smiled at her enthusiasm. "In the meantime, I have been offered a mission to China."

 "To China!  What an adventure!"  Teresa fell silent for a moment, remembering how his betrothed dreaded travelling abroad. "What does Muriel think of it?" she asked cautiously.

 "I have not told her yet. I escaped from the Foreign Office only just in time to accompany her hither."  He tried to sound unconcerned, but Teresa knew him well enough to detect apprehension in his voice. He must expect that his future wife would not be best pleased at the news.

 In an effort to cheer him up, she told him, "My aunt is giving a party next week to introduce me to the Ton. I hope you will come?  I shall need a few friendly faces to lend me countenance."

 Before he could answer, Lord Danville rode up beside them. "Lady Parr has agreed to bring Miss Parr to my mother's party next week. I hope we may count on your acceptance also, Graylin?"

 As Andrew pronounced himself happy to attend, Teresa burst into laughter again. She refused to explain the source of her amusement. She could hardly tell either gentleman that the duchess had explicitly warned her against inviting the Parrs to Stafford House.

 She dropped back to ride beside the carriage, chatting with Muriel. Before parting, they arranged to meet the following afternoon for a walk.

* * * *

 Teresa’s cousins escorted her home through the twilit streets and she went above stairs to change. In her dressing room, the duchess was reclining on the sofa while Annie and Howell displayed Teresa's evening gowns before her. She jumped up and swept her niece into a scented embrace.

 "My dear, your first dinner party!  I happened to mention to Lady Kaye that you are residing with us and she immediately extended the invitation to include you. The écru crêpe, I believe, Howell, the one with the coquelicot ribbons. Yes, that will do very well. We shall leave at half past seven, Teresa, so I shall send Howell to you at a quarter past the hour to make sure all is in order."

 The duchess and her abigail left, and Teresa hugged her maid. "Oh, Annie, my first London party!  I hope I shall know how to go on. Of course, it may be my last London party if I have to appear as witness at that dreadful man's trial. I must arrange to see my uncle in the morning."

 She was glad to find, when she went downstairs, that Lord Danville was to accompany them. She did not expect Lord John. He had once told her that his parents' friends were a bunch of slow-tops and it was his habit to plead a previous engagement when included in their invitations. She knew John better than his brother, and liked him very well, but on this occasion she felt Cousin Tom's staider demeanour might be of more support.

 He complimented her gravely on her looks, and handed her into the carriage after the duchess, placing a rug around her knees to guard against the late September chill.

 It was but a few minutes drive to Lord and Lady Kaye's townhouse. On her cousin's arm, Teresa followed her uncle and aunt up the steps.

 "You will do very well," he reassured, patting her hand as the door opened. She smiled up at him gratefully, surprised at his understanding. "I remember how nervous my sister Pamela was at her first formal dinner," he added in explanation.

 He stayed close beside her as they entered the drawing room, and presented her to their host and hostess. Lady Kaye professed herself delighted, while studying Teresa with undisguised curiosity.

 As more guests came up, they moved away and were accosted by a dark-haired young beauty Teresa thought she recognised. "Danville!  I did not expect to see you here. Now it will not be such a horrid bore after all."  Her voice was somewhat shrill, but her appearance could not be faulted. She had green eyes with long, dark lashes which fluttered provocatively. Her gown of primrose sarcenet set off her milk-white skin to perfection, though Teresa suspected that the delicate pink of her cheeks owed more to rouge than nature.