Miss Cresswell's London Triumph (14 page)

The schoolroom party wended their way home, where no one was the least surprised at their dishevelment, Higgins having welcomed Cassie and Freddie over the years in far grubbier attire than anyone was in now. Without blinking an eye, the butler instructed them, "You go on into the drawing room. I shall have a fire lit there and tea brought in to you directly." Cheered at the prospect, the entire party hurried upstairs.

In no time at all, tea and cakes were brought in and Frances, who had appeared from an hour spent with the dressmaker, was regaled with tales of Wellington's quick thinking and heroic action. The little dog sat blissfully munching a cake surreptitiously slipped to him by Theodore, and allowed himself to be led to the best spot in front of the fire and generally fussed over.

"We saw Ned and Arabella, too," Theodore volunteered, "and I mutht thay, I don't think she wath very nice to Cathie. She didn't say anything particularly nathty, but the had mean eyeth."

Here, Horace deemed it prudent to interrupt. "You're looking much more the thing, Cassandra. I confess to some relief at that. I had meant to give you an outing that would afford you some relaxation, but instead it became far more taxing than the writing you were engaged in when I appeared."

The darkling look that had appeared on Cassie's face at the mention of Ned and Arabella vanished and she smiled warmly. "Oh no, Horace, I had a lovely time," she contradicted him. Then, lowering her voice confidentially, she admitted, "I do so enjoy a bit of adventure, you know."

Privately, Horace thought that someone as elegant as Lady Cassandra Cresswell should avoid adventure at all costs, but unwilling to disrupt their reestablished harmony, he contented himself with remarking simply, "I'm glad."

"Thank you so much for thinking of it and including all of us, especially when we proved to be more of a charge than you anticipated." Laying a hand on his arm, Cassie smiled gratefully at him.

She looked so charming and Horace had felt such a thrill of pride at her gratitude when he had championed her in the face of Arabella's comments that he resolved to speak to Lord Mainwaring

at the soonest possible moment. He then took his leave, but not before securing the first waltz at the upcoming ball in Cassie's honor.

Horace sauntered home, will satisfied with the day's events, picturing himself the center of attention at intellectual soirees with a beautiful vivacious wife on his arm. At first he had been so taken with Cassie that he had not thought beyond his attraction, but later, as he had observed her at various social gatherings, it had been borne in on him that having such a woman as his wife would do a great deal to further his advancement in the scholarly community. Having realized that, he frequently congratulated himself on having had the forethought to be attracted to the daughter of such noted classicists as Lord and Lady Cresswell.

Cassie was not the only one to see her companion through slightly different eyes. Ned, reflecting on his latest experience, however, was coming to view his in a less propitious light. Beginning with his first youthful adoration of Arabella, he had suffered disillusionment. But the several intervening years that he had not seen her had dimmed the first sharp pangs of disappointment and he had come to see her as Cassie had first characterized her—a social creature who craved gaiety. Picturing Arabella in that light, he had taken some of the blame for his dismissal upon himself, realizing that a raw, reserved, and serious youth such as he had been could hardly have appealed to someone who aspired to the pinnacles of social success. As he had moved from one princely court to another in India, Ned had acquired diplomatic skills and social polish. This, and the fact that as a single, attractive male in a foreign land he was much sought after as a companion by the ladies connected with the British enclave, had given him a great deal of experience in the art of dalliance and increased his self-confidence enormously.

He had gradually lost the natural shyness and reserve which had obscured a keen wit and charming conversation and discovered that he was someone who could entertain and be entertained by society. Added experience in the capitals of Europe, where his facility with languages and his sensitive nature recommended him to some of Europe's most beguiling coquettes, had turned him into a man who was admired by women of taste everywhere. By the time he returned to London, Ned was so much the master of any social situation that he had entirely forgotten his pettish resolve to prove himself to Arabella Taylor.

The ease with which he had captured her interest had amused him. Never one to rate himself very high, he was under no illusions that it was his character or intellect that attracted her. Full well Ned realized that he was one of the Season's sensations and that it was in this role that he commanded Arabella's attention. He had so far recovered from his infatuation with her that he could be amused by her transparent attempts to win him as her cicisbeo, being well aware that as soon as another, more fashionable conquest presented itself, he would lose much of his attraction for her. There was not the slightest doubt that Arabella was a very beautiful, very skilled young woman who could be counted on to charm any escort and to make him feel as though he were the very center of her existence. So, Ned had acquiesced in all her various schemes and, though fully cognizant other machinations, had allowed himself to be taken in by all her little ploys, viewing them as diverting but harmless manifestations of her devotion to fashion. It frequently amused him to see how important the opinion of the ton was to her, and though he considered this slavish worship of the tenets of the beau monde to be a weakness in her, it was, nevertheless, a weakness which rendered her charming.

All this had changed, however, when he witnessed her encounter with Cassie in the park. What had been a charming, if frivolous, propensity for following fashion's lead suddenly appeared a selfish desire to be the sole focus of attention whatever the cost. The self-centeredness that had heretofore seemed amusingly childlike now became unattractive at best, not to mention unkind.

Disgusted at himself as well as Arabella, Ned began to eschew social gatherings, concentrating instead on furthering his political aspirations. Having experienced firsthand in India the way England's mercantile interests influenced her foreign policy and military affairs, he had become quite concerned that these far-flung mercantile interests be given the proper attention and direction by the government at home. The advent of Canning and Huskisson in the government, men who were scrutinizing colonial policy and reappraising the Navigation Acts, encouraged him to believe that there were people in power who shared his interests.

Convinced that he was too young and too reserved to be successful in Parliament, Ned concentrated on attaching himself to the proper people. He was decidedly fortunate to have Lord Julian Mainwaring as an uncle, for not only did the marquess move in the correct political circles and have the ears of the most influential men, he was able to offer a fair assessment of Ned's character and capabilities to these political allies.

Thus Ned became a more frequent visitor in Grosvenor Square and at Brooks's, where Lord Mainwaring had been kind enough to sponsor him. There, he found, thanks to his connection with Lord Mainwaring, that some of the government's leading lights were increasingly happy to include him in their discussions. Even Lord Charlton, a man whose enormous power was usually hidden from the view of the uninitiated, favored him with his opinions one day after a large repast.

Strolling over to the table where Ned was regaling some of the younger men with colorful descriptions of his more lurid exploits, Lord Charlton launched without ceremony into a political discussion. "Fenton tells me that you're in favor of the relaxation of the Navigation Acts," he charged.

Ned nodded a cautious assent.

"Are you daft, lad? With Spain allowing the world to trade with her colonies and the opening of Brazilian ports we need to protect ourselves against competition," he insisted.

"That is true, sir, but keeping the Navigation Acts as they are won't accomplish that. Portugal, Prussia, and the Netherlands are benefiting from trade with Brazil, San Domingo, and the others, but in order to protect themselves, they are raising their dues against British vessels. This will not only injure us, but worse, it hinders our colonial trade," Ned defended himself.

"You may have a point there, my boy. Fenton warned me that you were almost as extreme as Bentham on the subject of the Colonies," Lord Charlton remarked, wagging an admonitory finger at him.

Ned laughed, "Never that, sir. But I do believe that we must rid ourselves of the notion that the acts exist purely for the profit of the mother country. We ought to recognize that what is in the Colonies' best interests will ultimately be in our own best interests and act accordingly."

"Good lad," Lord Charlton approved. "I was merely teasing you, though. Bentham is a fine man with high ideals, but he sometimes becomes so involved in what should be that he completely loses sight of what is."

Ned nodded. "We need high-minded men with vision to keep us headed in the right direction, but we also need others with a more pragmatic bent to ensure that these reforms are carried out."

"I agree. I agree. It's all very well to carry on about the need for reform in government, but most of those who advocate it so strongly haven't the least notion how to go about accomplishing it. We need men like you who are intelligent enough to grasp the theories, and the principles of these improvements, but whose experience has trained them to succeed in getting such changes carried out. From what I hear, you and young Freddie Cresswell were able to make a goodly number of changes in India without setting up anyone's back and causing resistance. We need young men like you. I must make sure to introduce you to Canning one day. He's a busy man, but not so
busy that he doesn t realize he needs supporters—especially bright young men who are too few and far between these days for my liking. Everyone is too caught up in cutting a dash for himself in society to worry about politics or the state of affairs here and in the Colonies. Now that Boney's no longer a threat, they seem to have forgotten that such things as governments and armies exist, much less realize that they need people to run them. But I won't run on. You must come and see me. I shall see what I can do to bring you to Canning's attention.''

"Thank you ever so much, sir." Ned was visibly gratified at this unexpected vote of confidence and support. In fact, he was so elated at the prospect of moving in such exalted political circles that he quitted Brooks's immediately after Lord Charlton and strode over to Grosvenor Square to share the news of this propitious encounter.

He would have preferred to share it with Cassie, who had been privy to all his political aspirations through their correspondence, but since the episode in the park, she appeared to have been avoiding him. And when she did encounter him, she was noticeably cool in her manner. In all likelihood, Ned reflected disgustedly, she would be off somewhere with that tiresome fellow, Horace Wilbraham. Being entirely correct in his assumptions, he was forced to content himself with relating it all to Freddie, who, though he listened with interest, was not as fully conversant with Ned's ideas and dreams as his sister.

Aware of the importance of Lord Charlton, though, he was suitably enthusiastic. "Most impressive, Neddie boy!" he exclaimed, giving Ned a hearty buffet on the shoulder. "In no time at all youll be moving in such exclusive circles youll be quite above my touch."

Ned quirked an amused eyebrow at him. "You always were given to exaggeration, Freddie. After all, you and I are interested in accomplishing the same things, and you have your own ideas as to what should be done."

Freddie looked skeptical, protesting, "That's as may be, Ned, but I haven't got nearly as much in the old cock loft as you. Why, if you hadn't gone gallivanting off to India with me, you'd be at Oxford now ruining your eyesight, your nose eternally in some musty old tome like the rest of those scholarly fellows." A darkling look settled on his normally sunny features as he continued, "And speaking of scholarly fellows, I wish I knew what Cassie saw in Wilbraham. Fellow haunts the place. I tell you, that disapproving studious look he constantly wears is enough to put anybody off. To tell you the truth, Cassie is becoming almost as bad as he is. She says she enjoys his company because it improves her mind. Hah! If you ask me, I don't think he's half as bright as you or Cassie. All he is, is a prosy old windbag." He lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I can tell you. Fanny doesn't like the connection above half either. Of course she doesn't say anything, but you can see it, nevertheless. Why even Teddy and Wellington don't care for him in the least."

Catching Ned's amused glance, he defended himself. "Laugh all you want to, but Teddy and Wellington know a right *un when they see him. If you ask me, there's something dashed smoky about him. Can't put my finger on it at the moment, but there's something queer there,
I’ll
be bound."

Further commentary on the character of the unfortunate and defenseless Horace was interrupted by the headlong entrance of Teddy, closely followed by Wellington, Nelson, and Ethelred. "Uncle Freddie, Uncle Freddie," Teddy burst out. Catching sight of his idol, he came to a screeching halt, causing the companions following close behind him to tumble into a disorganized heap of fur and feathers. "How glad I am to thee you, thir," he exclaimed. "Did you ride Brututh? May I go thee him? I promith you Wellington won't bother him. He'th ever tho good with hortheth," Theodore begged, looking worshipfully up at Ned.