Anne Herries - Debutante in the Regency Ballroom - A Country Miss in Hanover Square

Susannah might not have been quite as happy had she seen the face of her prospective fiancé some twenty minutes later. He was scowling over a letter he had received from a friend, his own mood changing from one of pleasant anticipation to something rather different.

I hesitate to ask for help , the letter began. Indeed, I would not do so, but I am at my wits’ end, Harry. I am in such trouble! I became involved with some gentlemen—they were born to the name, but do not deserve it!—and now I am ill. I have debts I cannot pay—but that is not the worst of it. I beg you to come to me in haste, not for my own sake—I doubt that I shall last more than the week—but for the sake of another … my poor sister, who has no one but me and will now be alone. Your one-time friend, Hazledeane

Harry crumpled the paper in his hand, tempted to throw it away. Frederick Hazledeane had been a friend in the years he had spent at Oxford, before Harry went into the army. He had always been on the wild side and it seemed that his bad ways had led him into the kind of trouble that might have been expected.

It was a dashed nuisance! Harry would have normally been only too willing to help a friend, even one he had not been particularly close to. However, to leave London now on such an errand was not what Harry needed or wanted. He was at a delicate stage of his courtship of Susannah and he did not wish her to think he had abandoned her.

He must go, of course! Hazledeane must be in desperate straits and his sister was younger. If she truly had no one, Harry was duty bound to help her as best he could. He sighed because this was a duty he could well have done without, but there was nothing for it. He sat down at his desk and began to write a note to Mrs Hampton, telling her that he was called away on business and would hope to see her in Bath in no more than two weeks from now. That would surely give him enough time to complete his business in Cambridgeshire!

Susannah had felt some misgiving when her mother read the short letter to her. It had sounded abrupt, as if Harry had been in a hurry, and it caused a cold shiver to run down her spine. She did not know why it should have made her feel so apprehensive—after all, it would only be a matter of a few days longer before he came to Bath. Besides, they had been so taken up with saying goodbye to their friends, returning books to the library and picking up packages that had been ordered from various shops that the time had flown.

The day for their departure to Bath arrived and they set out on the journey in good spirits. Susannah could not help looking forward to Harry’s visit and the letter that might spell the beginning of her happiness.

However, she had determined that she would carry on as usual, and it was a pleasant surprise when Toby Sinclair came to call the day after they arrived in Bath.

‘How nice to see you, sir,’ Mrs Hampton said when he was shown into the parlour where they sat together. ‘We did not know that you intended to come down, Mr Sinclair.’

‘Oh … I posted down to visit some friends,’ Toby said airily, but his eyes were on Susannah. ‘Mama asked me to call on her, which I shall, but I think I shall spend a few days in Bath first. My visit to Mama is not urgent. I wondered whether Miss Susannah would care to drive out to see some of the sights—ma’am—Miss Royston? I have another seat in my curricle if you wish?’

‘I think we may trust her to your care, sir,’ Mrs Hampton said. He was a pleasant young man and his attentions to Susannah had become more particular of late. Nothing was settled with Lord Pendleton yet and there was no certainty of anything. ‘I trust you have your groom with you?’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ Toby said, his eyes never moving from Susannah. ‘Would you care for a drive, Miss Hampton? It is pleasant out today.’

‘If you will give me a moment to collect my parasol and pelisse,’ Susannah told him, ‘I shall be happy to drive with you, sir.’

She was pleased to be on such good terms with Harry’s nephew. If she had not liked Harry Pendleton so very much, she might have thought Toby a very good sort of husband.

‘Lord Pendleton has offered to teach me to drive when we visit his estate,’ she told Toby when he handed her into his curricle. ‘I am looking forward to it so much.’

‘Harry is one of the best whips I know,’ Toby said. ‘However, I shall be happy to give you a few lessons myself. It would be too difficult for you on the road, but I shall be visiting with Lady Pendleton and Harry next month, and it will please me to give you a few pointers.’

‘Show me how to hold the reins as we drive,’ Susannah said, giving him such a brilliant smile that a passerby grinned to himself and thought he had seen a pair of young lovers. ‘I should be pleased to know a little before Harry takes me driving.’

‘Well, you hold them in one hand like this,’ Toby said. ‘That gives you a free hand for the whip. Not that you need it often with well-trained cattle. I only use it if I have to get somewhere in a hurry, but you will drive at a sedate pace. It wouldn’t be fitting for a young lady to race, of course. Not done at all.’

‘Oh …’ Susannah looked at him wistfully. ‘Would it not, sir? I am disappointed. I should have liked to race—when I am able to drive well enough, and on a private estate, of course.’

‘Dashed if you ain’t a girl of spirit,’ Toby said and chuckled. ‘We might manage it some time—once you are safe behind a pair. You would have to keep it to yourself, of course. People talk so much, you know.’

‘Do you really mean it?’ Susannah’s eyes lit with excitement.

‘Yes …’ Toby knew a moment of disquiet, for he had spoken on impulse. ‘It would have to be our secret, of course. I do not think Harry would approve and your mama certainly would not.’

‘No, she wouldn’t,’ Susannah agreed. ‘However,

neither of them need know. We cannot do it until the moment is right, but I should so like to do something exciting—an adventure. It could not harm anyone and if it were in private it would not be scandalous at all, would it?’

‘Lord, no,’ Toby assured her airily and then wondered if he had been wise to encourage her. It did not seem that way to him, but he could not vouch for his uncle’s opinion. Harry could be stern at times. However, he did not want to take the glow from Susannah’s lovely face and it might never happen. It was probably just a piece of nonsense and she would forget all about it.

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