To Catch a Husband... (8 page)

‘It
should
be, Miss Wythenshawe,’ he agreed, ‘but so many prefer to turn a blind eye and enjoy a life of ease and enjoyment.’

She bristled at that.

‘My father was a great supporter of the Abolition. He died when I was a child but I hope I have not lost sight of his principles.’

‘Well, I will insist we no longer purchase sugar from the West Indies,’ declared Ann. ‘I shall tell Aunt Leaconham to do the same. Only…what of my sorbets and sweetmeats?’ She looked up at Daniel. ‘Oh, dear, shall I be obliged to give them up completely?’

Her look of dismay was so comical that both Daniel and Kitty laughed.

‘There are other sources of sugar, Miss Harworth,’ Daniel told her, ‘but they may not be quite so plentiful, or so cheap. You may still have your sorbets and sweetmeats, but fewer of them.’

It was agreed they should take Kitty to Portman Square before Daniel escorted Ann and her maid back to Harworth House.

‘There is no point in your coming back with me just to go home again,’ reasoned Ann.

The carriage rolled up to the door of Lady Leaconham’s house and Daniel jumped down, ready to hand Kitty out of the carriage.

‘Now remember, Kitty, tell no one where we have been tonight!’ Ann warned her, but Kitty hardly heard the words. She was very conscious of her hand lying snug in Daniel’s
strong grip as he helped her to alight and she was not a little alarmed at the effect his proximity was having upon her breathing.

‘Well, Miss Wythenshawe, will your conscience allow you to lie?’

She saw the gleam of amusement in his eyes. There was no animosity there, no attempt to belittle her. She ventured a small smile.

‘I shall do my best to avoid the subject.’ She added, as he had done, ‘Unless I am taxed directly!’

He executed a little bow and squeezed her fingers. Kitty dropped a curtsy. Peeping up at him, she found he was smiling down at her and she was unable to tear her eyes away. She wanted to speak, but words would not come to her. The breath caught in her throat: some silent message was passing between them. She could not comprehend it, but it left her excited, exhilarated and frightened, all at the same time. Her pulse was galloping, thudding through her body. Did he feel it, too?

‘Kitty, make sure you tell Aunt Leaconham to look out for Mama’s letter, inviting you both to our picnic.’ Ann’s voice from the carriage recalled Kitty’s wandering senses. With a final, tremulous smile she pulled her fingers free and hurried indoors, hoping the servants would not notice her burning cheeks.

Daniel climbed back into the carriage. He was only dimly aware of Ann chattering away to her maid in the corner. In his mind he was going over again the recent exchange with Kitty. So there was another side to the proud and disdainful Miss Wythenshawe. She appeared to be deeply affected by what she had heard at the meeting. Not that there was anything so unusual there, for Clarkson was a great orator and could soften the hardest heart, but what
she had told him of her father hinted at deep-seated liberal opinions, something he had not even guessed at.

There had also been a moment of shared humour. Daniel flexed his fingers, feeling again the shock of excitement he had experienced when he had taken her hand. His reaction unsettled him, the more so because it was very rare for him not to be fully in control of any situation. Silently he stared out of the window: he was intrigued to learn more of Miss Kitty Wythenshawe.

T
wo days later Lady Harworth’s letter was delivered to Portman Square, inviting Lady Leaconham and her goddaughter to join her picnic party at Wormley.

‘Well, this is excellent,’ she told Kitty as she perused the note with a smile of satisfaction. ‘My dear Clara has never invited me to one of her
al fresco
parties before, even though we are sisters!’

Lady Leaconham’s pleasure at the forthcoming trip was somewhat dimmed when she discovered that her son had no intention of accompanying them. Lord Leaconham was dining at Portman Square when his mother mentioned the forthcoming picnic.

‘Devil a bit, Mama,’ protested Garston, looking pained. ‘I’m engaged to join a party of friends for a beefsteak dinner at Chipping Barnet.’

‘But surely, escorting Kitty and myself to Wormley Hall should take precedence? Lady Harworth’s hospitality will not be stinting, I am sure.’

Lord Leaconham pulled a face.

‘Perhaps not, but she will not be serving beefsteak and oysters, now will she? And I can’t say I want to wander about the gardens all day before dining
al fresco
on cold meats, Mama. Not my style at all.’

Regarding Lord Leaconham’s substantial figure, Kitty considered that wandering around a garden might be more beneficial to the young man than sitting indoors drinking porter and eating beefsteak, but she held her peace.

However, Lady Leaconham was not to be put off. She continued to refer to the picnic throughout the evening.

‘But my love, surely you do not want your mama driving out of town without a gentleman’s escort? Why, it is not done.’ Lady Leaconham resorted to her finest weapon, her handkerchief. She flicked it out and dabbed at her eyes. ‘I should never be allowed to travel unescorted if your father was alive.’

‘Very well, I will tell you what I shall do,’ said Garston, exasperated. ‘I will come with you as far as Barnet—it is on the way, after all.’

‘On the way?’ retorted my lady, in a far from lachrymose tone. ‘What nonsense is this? We will be taking the Cambridge road!’

‘Well, if you take the Great North Road instead you could drop me at the Rising Sun. After that it would not take you long to cross Enfield Chase to pick up the Kentish Lane. There, what do you say to that?’

It was not ideal; Lady Leaconham would much have preferred to have her son’s company for the whole day, but he was not to be moved so she had to be satisfied.

‘After all,’ she said to Kitty once Garston had left them, ‘my son is a dear, dear boy but he is so very much like his father: not
stubborn
exactly, but a man of fixed views, and once he has made up his mind, there is no changing it.’

Kitty did not see Ann again before the picnic, and since she heard nothing more about their outing to Lombard
Street she hoped their attendance at the Abolition meeting had gone unnoticed. Although she was relieved at this, Kitty was nevertheless anxious to support the cause, but apart from persuading her godmother to refrain from buying sugar imported from the slave plantations there was little she could do as a single young lady. Judicious enquiries of her godmother elicited the information that the Leaconham fortune came from estates in England and Ireland and although an earlier Lord Leaconham had dabbled in investments in the West Indies these had not been a success and the link had been broken. A suggestion to Lord Leaconham that he should raise the matter in the House brought the daunting response that he had not yet taken his seat, being far too busy. However, the subject raised a dilemma for Kitty and when she next sat down to write to her mother she voiced her concern that since so many of the families in Town had connections with the slave trade she could not, as Papa’s Daughter, consider an alliance with any of them. Not that she had as yet received any offers, she hurried to point out. Her mother’s response was typically pragmatic: much as she applauded her daughter’s liberal views, Kitty must do and say
nothing
to discourage any advantageous offer, but to remember that as the wife of a rich man she would be much better placed to influence both her husband and the debate.

Lady Leaconham said much the same thing and, while she agreed that they would no longer use cane sugar from the West Indies, she begged Kitty not to voice her opinions in public.

‘It is a very worthy cause, I am sure, and I have read that Mr Wilberforce is very eloquent on the subject, but it is not something to be discussed in my drawing room.’

‘I beg your pardon, Godmama,’ replied Kitty, anger bringing a warm flush to her cheek, ‘but it should be discussed in
every
drawing room!’

‘Well, perhaps when you are with your close friends,’ conceded Lady Leaconham, ‘but it makes people uncomfortable to think about it, and that will make them shy away from you. My dear, the reason for you being here is to find you a husband, and we shall not do that if you do not
conform.
And while we are talking of such things, perhaps I should just drop you a word of warning.’ Lady Leaconham began to fidget and pluck at the skirts of her gown. ‘I have been very careful not to be too explicit about your circumstances.’

‘My…circumstances, Godmama?’

‘The fact that you have no fortune, my dear. It is nothing to be ashamed of, and you have such pretty manners that people cannot fail to like you, but we do not want to prejudice anyone against you.’

‘Are you saying that people will not wish to be acquainted with me if they know I am
poor?
’ said Kitty baldly.

‘My dear, there is no need to be quite so blunt,’ protested Lady Leaconham. ‘All I ask is that you refrain from discouraging eligible gentlemen by being too truthful—about your country upbringing, for example—or expressing your more…liberal views.’

Kitty bit her lip. She very much wanted to say that she did not want a husband if he did not share her opinions, but then she had a vision of poor Mama and Aunt Jane, sitting in their cold little cottage, struggling to set their stitches in the failing light and unable to afford to buy good candles and coal from their meagre income. They had scrimped and saved, forgoing all luxuries to send her to London. The more she thought about it the more she realised that, having spent their savings on this trip, Mama and Aunt Jane were now in a very perilous position, for if they could no longer make a living from their sewing then they would have nothing at all to live on. Fearful visions of them being
thrown onto the streets began to haunt her. She must not let them down. Kitty fought down a sigh: her resolution to marry well had not seemed quite so problematic when she had been in Yorkshire.

Kitty saw that Lady Leaconham was regarding her anxiously and she gave her a reassuring smile. ‘Very well, Godmama, I promise you I shall try to avoid saying anything that would make you uncomfortable. I will do my best to do my duty.’

Lady Leaconham gave a very audible sigh. She smiled and patted Kitty’s cheek.

‘There. I knew you were a good girl! Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you that your new walking dress has arrived.’

‘Another dress? Oh, ma’am, you are spoiling me!’

‘Nonsense. We were agreed that you should have a new one, were we not? After all, you walk out every morning when you take Titan for his exercise.’

Kitty laughed.

‘No one sees me at that time in the morning, Godmama!’

‘Nevertheless you cannot have too many walking dresses. And when I was with Madame Sophie last week I saw the most beautiful sprigged muslin that I knew would look lovely on you. It is for our picnic tomorrow. I want you to look your best for Lord Harworth.’

‘But I am sure Lord Harworth has no interest in me, except as his sister’s friend.’

‘Perhaps not, but there is no harm in your looking your best for the picnic,’ responded Lady Leaconham. ‘And since you will be together for most of the day tomorrow, it would do no harm to make yourself agreeable to him, now would it? After all, he is by far the most eligible bachelor we know,
and even if he is only a baron think how happy your mama would be if you were to become Lady Harworth!’

With her godmother’s words ringing in her ears, Kitty rose the next day and made her preparations for the picnic. She dressed carefully in the new gown of pale primrose, its bodice embroidered with tiny flowers in a deeper lemon, and she allowed Meakin to style her hair so that her glossy dark curls would peep out beneath the shady brim of her villager straw hat. When a servant scratched upon the door to tell her Lord Leaconham had arrived and that Lady Leaconham was waiting for her in the morning room, she took a final look in the mirror, picked up her parasol and hurried downstairs.

‘My dear, you look charmingly,’ smiled Lady Leaconham as she entered the morning room. ‘Well, Garston, what do you think of my protégé now?’

‘By Jove, Mama, she’s a veritable diamond!’ declared Lord Leaconham. ‘Been thinkin’ so for a while now.’ He raised his quizzing glass to stare at Kitty, who wished she had draped a neckerchief around the low neckline of her gown.

‘Yes, well I am hoping we can fix Lord Harworth’s interest,’ put in Lady Leaconham, adding pointedly, ‘It is not so important for
him
to find a rich wife.’

‘Dash it, Mama, he is not that much wealthier than me!’ muttered Garston but his mother was not listening.

She swept up, put her arm through Kitty’s and carried her towards the door. ‘The carriage is here—shall we go?’

In recognition of the sunny weather, Lady Leaconham had elected to travel in the open landau, and once the busy streets were left behind Kitty had to admit that it was very
pleasant to be bowling along with the sun shining down upon them. There was just enough breeze to make it necessary for her to pull her Norwich shawl about her shoulders, which had the added advantage of screening her décolletage from Lord Leaconham’s admiring gaze. She was not sorry when at last they reached the steep hill leading to Chipping Barnet, where they were to part company with the young lord and she had the impression that her godmother, too, was relieved he was not now accompanying them further. Lady Leaconham had taken the precaution of hiring outriders, two liveried servants on horseback who would accompany them to Wormley and as they drove away from Barnet she now declared herself perfectly satisfied with their escort.

‘And who knows,’ she ended with a hopeful little smile, ‘you are looking so pretty today, my dear Kitty, that Lord Harworth might decide to accompany us on our homeward journey!’

Kitty said nothing. She could not recall Lord Harworth paying her any particular attention, and she hoped for nothing more from the day than a pleasant time spent in congenial company. The image of Daniel Blackwood flashed into her mind and in an unguarded moment she hoped he would be there. She quickly stifled the thought: she had come to London to find and marry a gentleman, not a blunt Yorkshire manufacturer!

Wormley Hall was a beautiful old manor house set in large grounds that had been landscaped some fifty years ago. The trees had matured, the gravel paths and artificial lakes were somewhat overgrown and the whole now possessed the beautiful, slightly neglected air that was fashionably romantic. Several carriages were drawn up on the drive when they arrived and it was not long before
Kitty was being introduced to Lady Harworth’s guests, those considered worthy of sharing the treat of an
al fresco
dinner. Several young people were present and Ann soon carried Kitty away to join them.

‘I am so glad you could come,’ she declared, linking arms with Kitty. ‘I do so love to eat out of doors. We are going to dine down there.’ She waved her arm in the direction of the lake, where a dozen or so servants were following a lumbering wagon to the far bank. ‘But before we walk there Mama wants to show everyone the formal gardens.’ Ann giggled, then lowered her voice. ‘Mr Grant has written an ode that he is going to read to us.’

Kitty followed her glance towards a very thin young man with a mop of brown hair. He was even now poring over a notebook.

‘Do not expect too much, Miss Wythenshawe,’ laughed another member of the party, a stocky young man with a florid complexion. ‘Julian’s poems are never very good.’

‘Y-you w-will eat your w-w-w-words one day, Ashley,’ retorted Mr Grant, pushing his hair out of his eyes. ‘Just w-w-wait until my work is published!’

Laughing and chattering, the group of young people followed their elders round the house to the south front, where the formal gardens stretched before them. They gathered round while young Mr Grant read them his ‘Ode to a Fallen Rose’ and applauded politely, then Lady Harworth conducted them around the gardens, pointing out the new plants and marble statues that had recently been introduced.

‘I wonder that you will take so much time over these gardens, Mama, when you never stay here,’ said Ann, smothering a yawn.

‘One never knows what might happen,’ replied Lady
Harworth, leading them back towards the house. ‘I am minded to live here, should Bertram take a wife.’

Lady Leaconham was looking about her anxiously. She waited for Ann to come up to her and said casually, ‘Ann, dear, is your brother not joining us today?’

‘Oh, Bertram is around somewhere…yes, here he is now.’

Kitty found herself smiling at her godmother’s look of relief when Lord Harworth emerged from the house, Mr Blackwood walking beside him.

‘My apologies that I was not here to greet you, ma’am,’ said Lord Harworth, bowing over his aunt’s hand. ‘Blackwood and I were looking at the new range we have installed in the kitchen—the latest thing, you know, enclosed fire-box, bigger hot-water tank…’

‘Oh, Bertram, our guests are not interested in that,’ protested Ann.

‘Not yet, perhaps,’ put in Daniel. ‘It may not be so necessary on a warm day like today, but imagine yourself coming in after a day’s hunting, muddy and dirty and wanting a bath before going down to dinner. By keeping a small fire in the range there will always be hot water for you.’

He was smiling directly at Kitty, who found herself wanting to smile back until Lady Harworth’s voice cut across the moment. ‘Very interesting to
you,
I am sure, Mr Blackwood, since you understand these things and are always talking to my son about spinning jennies and water frames, but I do not think our guests wish to concern themselves with the domestic arrangements of the house, what do you say, Miss Wythenshawe?’