Anne Herries - The Regency Season - Hidden Desires - Courted by the Captain / Protected by the Major

‘I am determined to read Miss Austen’s latest novel as soon as I can take it from the library,’ Jenny said. ‘Though there is no reason why I should not subscribe to my own copy. Your mama subscribes to parcels of the latest novels, does she not?’ Lucy nodded and Jenny smiled. ‘Then perhaps she will furnish me with the address of her supplier. Books are a luxury my aunt thought unnecessary. She said why buy them when it was possible to borrow—and my uncle thought both novels and poetry a waste of time. Now I can please myself and I think I shall purchase a set of Lord Byron’s works as well as Miss Austen’s—and Fanny Burney’s, too.’

‘I always borrow Mama’s and I’m sure you could too,’ Lucy said. ‘But if you wish to set up a library of your own it would be the greatest fun. We could draw up lists and discover what bindings they come in. When you have a house of your own your books might look very smart set out on the shelves if you have them covered in red or green leather.’

‘I know it is possible to buy such sets,’ Jenny said, warming to the subject, because it pleased Lucy. ‘I must enquire the price. I’ve been used to economy these past months, but there is no reason why I should not treat myself to a few pleasures.’

‘There is little more satisfying than a new book,’ Lucy said. ‘When one looks at the cover there is so much to discover, so much to explore. One never knows where the author will take one or what kind of adventures the poor heroine must endure.’ She laughed. ‘I think I should not like to be the heroine in Udolpho, though I loved reading it.’

‘Yes, so did I,’ Jenny said. ‘I had to smuggle it into my bedroom so that my aunt should not see it—but I do have my own copy of that book. It is bound in cloth, not leather, but the story is just as wonderful.’

‘Oh, yes,’ Lucy agreed. ‘Nothing is worse than row after row of boring books in leather. They look well, but one cannot read them—but how delightful it must be to have one’s favourite books bound so. It is an indulgence, of course...’

Jenny could do nothing but agree. Lucy’s spirits had lifted and, in helping to cheer her friend, she had found some ease from her own distress.

She was looking forward to the trip to Bath, and, if Adam had gone to Cornwall, she had nothing to stay here for—but she felt the loss of his company keenly. She had seen him almost every day since that fatal day when he’d taken her up from the side of the road and she was going to miss him. Her heart raced every time she saw him approaching her and she was very much afraid that she might have fallen in love. It was ridiculous of her, of course, but she feared it might have happened that first night at Ravenscar.

If only Adam felt the same. Had his grandfather not been in sore need, she was sure her fortune would have been enough to help him improve his own estate for the benefit of their children, giving them a comfortable life together. Unfortunately, she was not sure it amounted to enough to pay the earl’s debts.

Jenny would not have grudged the money had it enabled Adam to do what was needed. She had no desire to wear ostentatious jewels and one simple carriage would be sufficient. A short stay in London in a house hired for the Season would content her and if Adam’s fortune were modest it would be enough—but he was determined to settle the earl’s debts and she was not sure it could be done.

No, she would not dwell on such things. Adam had told her he intended to visit his grandfather’s estate in the hope of improving the situation and perhaps he would. Sometimes when a mine ran out of copper it was possible to find a vein of some other precious metal, like tin or silver.

How wonderful that would be!

Jenny smiled at her own thoughts. Such things only occurred in novels. It was far more likely that the land was worthless and could not even be sold.

* * *

‘I was never more glad of someone’s company,’ Lady Dawlish said to Jenny some days later. ‘Indeed, I do not know what we should have done had you not been kind enough to come here and stay. I have never seen my poor Lucy so down and I do not know how to lift her. I am afraid that she will sink into a decline.’

‘I do not think it, ma’am,’ Jenny told her with a smile. ‘It is true that she soars from the depths to the heights and back again, but she is stronger than you may imagine. I am certain she will recover once we are in Bath. Here, everything reminds her of Mark.’

‘They were always together, even when they were little. Indeed, she and Paul were of an age and they tagged after Mark. He was always the leader, the golden god they all wanted to notice them. Until Lucy went away to finishing school I thought nothing would come of it. Then both Mark and Paul joined the army. It was when Mark was home on leave and Lucy had just returned from her school that they first became attracted to each other in that way.’

‘Yet they were not engaged immediately?’

‘I was determined that Lucy must have at least one Season. Dawlish and Ravenscar had always promoted the marriage, but I was not certain until Lucy told me that he had asked her to wait for him until that last campaign was over. Mark did not wish her to be a widow before she was hardly a wife and I agreed. I think her papa and Ravenscar would have liked a wedding sooner, but I wanted Lucy to be certain.’

‘Yes, I see. It was very sensible of you, ma’am. What should you have done had Lucy changed her mind and decided they would not suit?’

‘I should have supported her and taken her away—to Paris or the Italian lakes. Her papa would have been disappointed and Ravenscar, too—but I would not have allowed her to be pushed into a marriage she could not like. Now of course we must think of another match for her. I believe an older man might suit her, for Lucy likes to be spoiled, and I think perhaps Mark did not always dance to her tune.’

‘I met him only once in London,’ Jenny said. ‘Was he like his brother?’

‘Not at all. Mark was larger than life—one might even say arrogant at times. He was given homage and expected it, though one could not grudge him for he was a truly talented man. At riding, shooting, wrestling—any sport—he excelled. He was also clever, though his taste in reading did not extend to poetry or novels. He had a serious mind and would no doubt have taken his seat in the House one day. He laughed at Lucy for reading trash and thought she should improve her mind.’

‘But Lucy loves poetry and novels.’ Jenny looked at her thoughtfully. ‘I am not certain he was the right husband for her, ma’am.’

‘Perhaps not. I had wondered if she was beginning to realise it—and then of course he was killed. One is not certain how to behave. The Ravenscars are our particular friends, of course, and Papa thinks we should share their grief—but why should my poor girl suffer?’

‘I think it very hard for her,’ Jenny said. She knew more than Lucy’s mother, but could not betray a confidence. ‘Yet I know that she is feeling better each day.’

‘Well, we are off the day after tomorrow,’ Lady Dawlish said. ‘I think I must ask Papa to pay a courtesy visit to Ravenscar to tell them we are leaving. However, there is no need for you or Lucy to accompany him. I think it could only distress Lucy again.’

‘Yes, I believe so.’

Jenny had no desire to visit the estate, because Adam was not there. She’d heard nothing from him since he’d left the area for Cornwall and wondered how he fared. If Paul had called on them, he might have brought news, but he had not been near since that last day in the Park when he’d ridden off in a fit of temper.

Paul was suffering as much as anyone. Jenny suspected that his pain was not all due to his grief for his brother, but she had no right to speculate or to tell Lucy what she thought might be on his mind. Lucy and Paul must sort out their affairs themselves.