Jane Rubino: Lady Vernon and Her Daughter: A Novel of Jane Austen's Lady Susan

“Gossip cannot abide a delay,” agreed Lady Vernon. “It will risk being disproven and lose all of the delights of prejudice and error.”

“And what can be the nature of their delightful conjecture?”

“Mrs. Johnson will declare that you pronounced Maria Manwaring quiet and tranquil and Mrs. Manwaring will wonder whether you meant that you find her husband’s sister to be refined and gentle or tedious and dull—and from there they will wonder how soon Freddie can be out, and whether you have not married because you delay on her account.”

“I honor your imagination!” Sir James laughed heartily. “If I could not suit you, Susan, I cannot hope to please Freddie!”

“You suited me quite well when you were not in the way,” replied she. “But you invariably bothered me for conversation when I was in the middle of a book, and wanted to read your newspaper when I was of a mind to converse.”

“That is the advantage of the dance, you see.” He smiled. “You must lay down the book and I put aside the newspaper. And, as we are out of everyone’s hearing, we may talk nonsense and give the appearance of engaging in conversation that is very artful and deep.”

“I may not be as satisfied as you are, cousin, to suggest only a pretense of understanding.”

“That is because you are not a man, Susan. A man is all the happier for having the world make him out to be more interesting than he knows himself to be, and his character will suffer rumor and offense more easily than a woman’s.”

“Beware, James—you begin to sound artful and deep.”

“I mean only to give you a word of caution.”

“Against the rumors of Alicia Johnson and Eliza Manwaring?”

“No—but against the offense taken by a brother, I would have you be on your guard.”

“Is Charles still angry that we would not let him have Vernon Castle for next to nothing?”

“Charles Vernon has not forgotten that you preferred Sir Frederick to him,” replied Sir James.

“He evidently has, as he is to marry Miss deCourcy.”

“Well, he could not wait forever to catch you as a widow.”

“James! You will retract that, else I will wish with all my heart to see Maria Manwaring catch you as a husband.”

“I do retract it,” he said with a laugh. “Perhaps the inconceivable will come to pass and marriage will make Vernon amiable and prudent.”

“And does Miss deCourcy have the power to effect such a change? Is she of an amiable and prudent disposition?”

“Miss Catherine deCourcy has got to three and twenty without finding a suitor she liked, or that Lady deCourcy liked, which is much the same thing, and so she decided to take the one who was most adept at flattering her vanity. Vernon can be very pleasing when he exerts himself, and Catherine deCourcy likes to be pleased.”

“But is it a love match?”

Sir James laughed. “Love does not rank high when choosing a wife. Marriage is always a business transaction. One invests in a partner with the expectation that the investment will produce a return.”

“I do not think that Frederick would agree with you,” his cousin replied when the steps of the dance brought them together once more. “He might have contracted far more advantageously.”

“Frederick has made the best bargain of any man that I know. If you had come with twenty thousand pounds he would not have loved you one whit less,” Sir James declared with mock earnestness. “At any rate, I understand that Miss deCourcy’s twenty thousand will settle some very pressing debts of honor, and many gentlemen rank the good opinion of their creditors above that of their wives.”

“And does Miss deCourcy offer no better return than the reconciliation of debts and the goodwill of the wine dealer and the tailor?”

“No more immediate return, but a little ill fortune could work greatly to his advantage, as the deCourcy entail is somewhat vulnerable.”

“In what way? Is there not an heir? I have heard that Miss deCourcy has a brother.”

“Yes, but he is not above seventeen or eighteen, so it will be some years before he can marry and produce an heir of his own. Other than this young man, there is Sir Reginald’s brother, Mr. Lewis deCourcy, who is a bachelor and past fifty. After that, the writ provides for the entail to pass through the female line, which would put a son of Charles Vernon in the way of considerable property.”

“And yet something very dire would have to occur to remove both gentlemen from the succession.”

“Well,” replied Sir James cheerfully, “a bit of avarice often brings out the resourcefulness in all but the best of us.”

“You see what comes of entailing fortunes entirely from the female line,” Lady Vernon observed. “You will begin to look upon your male relations as a necessity to your happiness—or an impediment to it.”

“I hope that I shall never give you cause to think of me as an impediment to yours,” he replied with grave sincerity.

Alicia Johnson and Eliza Manwaring were of the same age, for Eliza’s husband was some years her junior and Alicia had taken a husband many years her senior. A similarity in the narrowness of their minds, a love of society, and a penchant for disparaging the finery of others and exhibiting their own had persuaded them that their husbands’ differences ought not to prevent them from being better acquainted.

“What an elegant couple!” exclaimed Mrs. Johnson, as she and Mrs. Manwaring observed Lady Vernon dancing with her cousin. “It is said that Lady Martin attempted a match between them, but her husband opposed it. It turned out well enough, for Sir Frederick Vernon seems a very amiable man.”

“There is only one daughter, is there not?” inquired Mrs. Manwaring. “They ought to have had a son. Mr. Manwaring says that Sir Frederick has been very imprudent—a son would keep a roof over their heads, at least. But I daresay they look toward making an advantageous match for Miss Vernon.”

“That cannot be for many years.”

“And yet,” replied Mrs. Manwaring with a troubled look, “if Miss Vernon is as pretty as her mother, she will have her pick of beaux. Perhaps, having lost the mother to Sir Frederick, Sir James means to marry the daughter. How often have you heard of a gentleman who lives the bachelor life for many years and then settles upon a girl he had known as a child?”

The conversation continued in this vein through supper until Mrs. Manwaring was consumed with a desire to have a look at the young girl she regarded as Maria Manwaring’s rival. The two ladies resolved to call on Lady Vernon the next day with the express purpose of getting a look at her daughter.

To their very great disappointment, they were informed that Miss Vernon was not at home.

“We do not bring Frederica to London as a rule,” said Lady Vernon. “She is much happier in the country, but Sir Frederick was able to gain admission to the apothecaries’ garden and brought her to town on purpose to spend an entire day there, for she has a keen interest in anything to do with plants and flowers.”

“La, is she scientific?” inquired Mrs. Johnson. “I am not scientific in the least, though it is said to be quite the ton, so long as it is confined to leaves and petals, which may be pressed into a book. But surely Sir Frederick does not direct her education? Has she a governess?”

“She has an excellent governess, but education is not confined to the nursery and the classroom.”

“I must compliment you on your dancing,” said Mrs. Manwaring. “But I suppose that you and Sir James have had a great deal of practice. I daresay you grew up quite as close as brother and sister.”