The Aim of a Lady (13 page)

Alonna’s eyes shone with excitement. “Oh, Miss Savile, I was there during the confinement and it was the most miraculous event. I must show you the babies, and introduce you to my sister.” She rose and extended her hand to Diana, who took it and tucked it through her arm as they climbed the grand staircase. “I have a nephew Mark, as well, who is two. Later I will take you to the nursery to meet him.” She tapped on her sister’s door and was invited to enter.

“Margaret, I have someone with me,” she said, as she peeped around the door.

“Come in, Alonna. I should like to meet your friend,” Margaret assured her as she noticed Diana behind her sister. It crossed her mind that the young woman was somehow familiar.

“This is Diana Savile, Margaret, Mr. George Savile’s sister.”

“I have met your brother in London, Miss Savile, and am pleased to meet you. There is some resemblance between you."

“I thought so, too,” Alonna admitted, “when I came into the Red Parlor.”

Margaret turned to her sister in confusion. “You have only just met Miss Savile?”

“Yes, Margaret, she has come..." Alonna herself was not quite sure why Diana had come and her voice died.

“I have come to invite Miss Sanfield to spend a few days with me at the Park,” Diana suggested, surprising herself.

“You have?” Alonna asked incredulously.

Margaret regarded the two of them indulgently. “Why, I think that’s a perfectly lovely idea. We’ve been working Alonna far too hard these last few days, and to tell the truth, my mother-in-law wishes to take over her activities. She feels left out since she missed the actual birth,” Margaret explained.

Alonna was still staring at Diana in amazement, but Diana smiled and said, “Yes, for George has the most obstreperous guest and I wish to stay out of his way until he leaves. Perhaps you know him, Miss Sanfield? Lord Alma?”

“Lord Alma? Obstreperous? Why, I have never known him to be anything but truly gallant and cheerful.”

“So George tells me, too, but it has been otherwise during his stay. You see, I accidentally shot him with an arrow, and then George had to go off to London to... Well, he had to leave, and so I was left to entertain Lord Alma. Only he has been unable to sit and it seems to irritate him unreasonably. So when George mentioned that you were so close by, and he had told me about you, I thought that I should like to meet you. You would be doing me a great favor to come, you know,” Diana said beseechingly. “Perhaps Lord Alma would even improve if you were there.”

“You shot him with an arrow?” Margaret broke into delighted laughter. “How marvelous!”

“I am beginning to think so, too, Lady Trafford,” Diana retorted with acerbity.

Margaret turned to her sister and said gently, “I think you should go, love.”

“But... When should I come?” Alonna asked.

"I would like to take you with me when I leave," Diana urged her.

The two sisters shared a glance and Margaret nodded. “Go and pack a portmanteau, my dear. Miss Savile and I will enjoy a chat.”

Bemused, Alonna left the room. Margaret turned to Diana and smiled. “Why did you really come, Miss Savile?”

“Well, George has been dashing all over the countryside to learn what he could of Miss Sanfield’s engagement. A friend of his in London thought it very strange, since your father would not acknowledge it, and I came to learn the truth of it.”

“Why did your brother not come?”

“He thought at first Miss Sanfield had gone to Lymington and he went there. I believe he feels rather foolish for being so impulsive; he is not usually. And then he did not wish to approach her if she was engaged. He told me that he would wait to see what happened.”

“So he does not know you are here?”

“No, and I should not be. George has always allowed me to run my own life and I owe him the same courtesy, but he has determined on a course of being gentlemanly and heaven knows where that will lead. I have no intention of saying a word of this to Miss Sanfield, of course. She will be my guest, and I shall take good care of her. I have Mrs. Lewis from the village staying with me, too, because Lord Alma could not stay there without her. I cannot think she will have gone back to her home yet.”

Margaret accepted this flow of information calmly and said, “I like your brother, Miss Savile.” She would have said more, but a tap at the door brought in the nursery maid with a baby in each arm. Diana rose to look at the infants and congratulate their mother. A small boy burst through the door and stopped abruptly when he saw the visitor. Margaret called him over to her and hugged him before saying, “Mark, this is Miss Savile, a friend of your Aunt Alonna’s. Your aunt is going to stay with her for a few days.”

Mark gravely shook hands with Diana and asked where she lived. “Not so very far away, about five miles from Haverhill, Mark.”

Lord Trafford entered then to retrieve his son and was introduced to Diana. He also knew her brother and sent his regards. His surprise on hearing that Alonna was intending to spend some time at the Park was quickly hidden when his wife threw him a warning glance. He did not stay long, but swung his son on his shoulder and said they must not keep the horses waiting.

When Alonna returned, she quietly announced that her portmanteau was packed. She clung to her sister for a moment, and Margaret smiled encouragingly before the two young women ordered the phaeton brought round and set out for the Park.

* * * *

George took an early ride before entering the breakfast parlor where he found Mrs. Lewis and Alma already partaking of their meal. “I have seen your chariot, Ellis, and hear that it beats a phaeton every time.”

“Yes, your sister suggested that it might be a more even race if the chariot were pulled by a single horse.” Alma glanced at Diana’s empty seat and raised a brow in query to his host.

“Jenkins tells me that Diana has left for the day to visit friends. She has been rather housebound of late and could stand the diversion, I dare say.”

Alma flushed and Mrs. Lewis said timidly, “Do you think I should go home now, Mr. Savile?”

“No, I hope you will stay on a while. I cannot be sure if I will have to leave again, and Diana will be grateful for your company. I am glad you could come on such short notice.”

“It has been a pleasure, sir,” Mrs. Lewis assured him. “I was included in the invitation to the Dodges’ party and it was a rare treat for me.” She proceeded to tell him of how elegant his sister had looked and what the entertainment had consisted of, and when she had finished her meal (and her monologue) she left the two men in the breakfast parlor to make her way to her embroidery.

Alma and George had been friends for some ten years, but when they were left alone silence reigned in the room. In general, George was very tolerant of the behavior of his friends, but he was surprised and exasperated by the accounts he had heard of the relations between his sister and his guest. Alma was at a loss to explain his irascibility; he did not understand it himself. The injury had seemed a gruesome joke at first, but he had been completely thrown out of stride when Diana had been exposed to his nakedness while she removed the arrow. Heaven knew he had been naked with enough women, but never in such a situation and never with an imperious young woman of quality.

And then the enforced standing had proved more burdensome than he could have imagined at the start. If she had not been so patient with him it might not have been so difficult, but in the face of all his petty bitterness she had provided him with the chariot, which indicated that she understood how he chafed at being unable to ride and drive.

They had reached some accord then, but it was shattered by her appearance for the Dodges’ party. Again he had felt put-upon, deceived, a fool. For a week be had been consorting with the “younger brother” George had offered him, and suddenly he found that she was a goddess in disguise. A goddess who had taken an arrow from his bottom. He could not forgive her that.

George and Alma sat in the breakfast parlor for some time after they had finished eating. Finally Alma spoke almost diffidently. “I will leave today if you want me to, George. There is no excuse I can give you for my behavior. I wish to God I had never come!”

“No, I don’t want you to leave until you will be comfortable sitting in a carriage. I can see that you are in some pain right now. Come, we’ll talk while we walk to the stables.”

Alma felt better once he was on his feet and he remembered why George had left the Park in the first place. “I was sorry to read of Miss Sanfield’s engagement, George.”

“There is some mystery about it, Ellis. Her father does not acknowledge it.”

“Really? Perhaps Vallert is toying with the settlement.”

“I have no idea.” In his present mood George had no intention of telling Alma any more about the situation. There was little more to tell in any case.

“Did you try the chariot?”

“No, but I should like to.”

The two men spent the morning around the stables and the afternoon at the stud farm. They only returned to the house in time for tea late in the afternoon, and found Diana, changed back to her usual attire, seated with Mrs. Lewis in the small parlor.

George greeted her fondly, asking, “Did you have a good day away from home, love?”

“Perfect, George. But I must speak with you alone for a moment for I have brought a visitor.”

With slightly raised brows, he gave in to the urgency her eyes spoke. “If you will excuse us a moment, Mrs. Lewis, Ellis.”

Diana nodded gravely to Alma as she followed her brother from the room. In the library George waved her to a seat. “Who is your guest, and where is she, or he, as the case may be?”

“She is in her room, George, and she is Alonna Sanfield.” Diana hurried on at her brother’s profoundly shocked expression. “I did not originally intend to bring her back with me, you understand, just to find out what I could about the engagement. Vallert inserted the announcement against her express wishes, and he and her father have both refused to renounce it. She intends to do so herself if Vallert does not take care of the matter soon. She never agreed to marry him, and she does not wish to marry him.” Diana fell quiet when her brother raised a silencing hand.

“You must be learning bad habits from Ellis, Diana. I am surprised that you would involve yourself in my affairs,” he said sternly.

Diana bit her lip to keep from crying. It was very seldom that her brother censured her. “I know, George,” she whispered. “I promise you I told her nothing except that you had mentioned her to me and that she was close by. I used Alma as an excuse for inviting her here. I did tell her sister a bit more,” she admitted sadly, “for I wanted her to understand the situation. Lord Trafford sent you his regards. Alonna is aware that you did not know I was going to her.”

For some time after his sister finished speaking, George studied his hands. “Very well, Diana,” he said without looking up. “Bring her down to tea.”

Diana escaped from the room as quickly as she could, but in the hall she paused to compose herself. It was many years since she had incurred George’s displeasure to such a degree and she felt thoroughly shaken. Whatever had possessed her to carry out such a scheme! She might have known, she in fact had known, that George would not like it. If George had been willing to see the outcome in his own time, she should have accepted his decision. Her heart heavy, she climbed the stairs to her new friend’s room.

When they entered the small parlor Diana saw Alma’s eyes widen with astonishment. George took Alonna’s hand and smiled gravely. “I am so glad Diana has brought you to the Park, Alonna. I believe you know Lord Alma, and this is Mrs. Lewis, our neighbor in Linton.”

Alonna acknowledged the introduction and accepted a cup of tea from Mrs. Lewis. George seated himself beside her on the sofa and asked, “Is your sister well? I understand she is recently delivered of twins.”

“Oh, Margaret is thriving, and they are the most adorable babies. My nephew is the tiniest bit jealous, I fear, but my brother-in-law is keeping him busy.”

“And your father is well?” George persisted.

“Yes, when last I saw him.”

“I understand the announcement of your engagement was erroneous and that it is to be retracted,” George said gently, but implacably. Diana could have kicked him for bringing up the subject at all.

But Alonna seemed quite capable of handling the situation. Without a blink she replied, “Yes, very unfortunate. I fear Lord Vallert allowed his imagination to run away with him.” She smiled sweetly at George as though mocking him for his exercise.

George grinned then and would have bestowed a kiss on her if there had not been others present. “Well done,” he murmured appreciatively.

Diana, who had spent the morning and the afternoon’s drive with a young woman who appeared all amiability but slightly shy, was surprised and pleased at the poise with which she accepted George’s interrogation, one which she would no doubt undergo dozens of times when she returned to London. It also relieved Diana’s mind somewhat of the burden of George’s censure; he was pleased with Miss Sanfield and therefore more likely to forgive his sister her blunder.

With a wicked grin indicating that it served them both right, George offered to show Alonna around the house and grounds, and he left his sister and his friend to fend for themselves. Mrs. Lewis had begun to nod in her chair and Diana wished to allow her a catnap in peace, so she gestured to Alma to follow her, and left the room. They stood awkwardly together in the hall and eventually he stiffly asked her if she would care for a game of billiards, and Diana acquiesced.

While they were playing Alma commented blandly, “I was not aware that you knew Miss Sanfield.”

After Diana completed an accurate cushion shot, she returned just as blandly, “I met her only today.”

“How fortuitous,” he remarked, his voice laden with sarcasm.

“It is no concern of yours, Lord Alma.” Diana chalked her cue and did not meet his gaze.

“I imagine George did not like it,” he prodded.

“No, it was foolish of me,” she admitted readily, as she missed her shot and stood up. “He said I was picking up bad habits from you.”