Читать книгу Lady Lavinia's Match - Mary Nichols, Mary Nichols - Страница 6

The canvas was huge, several feet long and seven high, propped against a wall in the ballroom of Stanmore House, the London mansion of the Duke of Loscoe. Beside it, on the floor, were several pots of paint and, on a table nearby, a selection of brushes, cloths and a jar of water.

Lady Lavinia Stanmore, a huge apron covering her spotted gingham gown and paint brush in hand, stepped back to appraise her handiwork, which was so large that it had to be viewed from a distance to see the whole. It was a rustic, fairy-tale woodland scene with several gnarled old trees, wound about with columbine, giving shade to half a dozen rabbits at play, some colourful toadstools and a bank of wild flowers.

‘Heavens, Lavinia! I know you like the broad view, but this is monumental.’

She turned to face the man who stood nonchalantly leaning against the door frame. James, Earl of Corringham, was dressed to a shade and only managed to escape being a fop by a whisker. His hair was fair and as beautifully cut as his superfine green coat. His biscuit-coloured pantaloons tucked in tasselled Hessians and his precisely tied cravat proclaimed him a Corinthian of the first water.

‘Oh, it’s you, James.’

He grinned, his grey eyes alight with humour. ‘Whom else did you expect?’

‘I didn’t expect anyone in particular.’

He stepped forward to inspect the painting more closely. ‘Where on earth are you going to put it? Where in this house, large though it is, is there enough wall space to hang such a monstrosity?’

‘It is not a monstrosity!’

‘I beg your pardon. I did not mean it is ugly,’ he retracted quickly, knowing her temper could be volatile. ‘I meant monstrous in the sense of very big.’

‘It has to be big. It is a scene.’

‘I can see that.’

‘I mean a scene for a play. It is a backcloth for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’

‘Oh, I see. Tell me more.’

He only asked her for details because he loved looking at her, loved the sound of her voice, the light of enthusiasm in her green eyes when she talked about things that interested her, the way her chestnut curls lay so lovingly on her slender neck, the way she held herself with a natural grace that had nothing to do with her aristocratic antecedents. He loved everything about her and it was a pity she looked on him as an older brother and not, as every mama of the ton viewed him, an eligible man in need of a wife.

He was not her brother, they were in no way related, except through the fairly recent marriage of his stepmother to her father, the Duke of Loscoe, distant enough to make no difference at all to the way he felt about her, the way he had felt ever since meeting her three years before. She had been a high-spirited, wilful sixteen-year-old, up from the country to sample the delights of London for the first time, not yet come out and far too young to be thinking of marriage. When the Duke had married his stepmother the following year it was easier to treat Vinny as a sister and they had fallen into an easy relationship that he had no idea would be so difficult to change.

‘We are going to put on a play to raise money for Stepmama’s orphanages,’ she explained. ‘The cost of running them is rising all the time and the need for them increasing day by day, and I hit on this way of finding the blunt.’

Homes for children orphaned by the late war were one of the Duchess’s favourite charities. It was that more than anything else which had changed Lavinia’s initial resentment of her to grudging admiration which, when her father declared his intention of marrying Frances, soon turned to love.

She had become more of a mother to her than her own mother had ever been. If it had not been for her brother, her childhood would have been a lonely one. Miss Hastings, her governess, had provided a modicum of education along with lessons in manners, but Lavinia had escaped as often as possible to roam the fields, ride her pony or find mischief with Duncan. It was little wonder she had grown up knowing more of the ways of little boys than young ladies. The only time she saw her mother was when she was sent for to be punished for these misdemeanours and that usually meant being confined to the schoolroom and more isolation. It was almost as if her mother could not bear the sight of her.

‘I suppose it was Little Mama’s idea.’ James’s name for his stepmother had been coined when Frances first came to their home in Essex as his father’s bride, when he was seven years old and she was seventeen. It had stuck even after his father’s death and her subsequent marriage to the Duke.

‘No, it was mine. There was a company of touring players who came to Risley earlier this year. They put up a huge tent and everyone went to see them, so I thought, why not do something like it ourselves? I would have done it at Loscoe Court, but I realised it would not attract a large enough audience, and, as we were coming to London, I decided to have it here. We are going to convert the ballroom into a theatre for one night.’

‘Who is “we”?’

‘Oh, anyone who is interested. You can take part, if you wish.’

‘Can I, now? What makes you think I have any talent as an actor?’

‘We won’t know until we hear you try, will we? And if you are quite, quite hopeless, as I suspect you may be, why, then you may help us behind the scenes…’

‘Shifting the scenery,’ he said, nodding towards the painting.

‘If you like.’

‘And if I don’t choose to do it?’

‘It is of no consequence. There are others who are willing.’

‘Who?’

‘Duncan. Perhaps Benedict Willoughby.’

‘You cannot rely on those two. Your brother is a sloth and young Willoughby is wild and unreliable.’

‘Duncan can rouse himself when he wants to. I thought it might divert him.’

‘From falling into more scrapes? You will only do that if you manage to separate him from Willoughby.’

‘I do not think you should belittle him, James.’ She defended her eighteen-year-old brother out of habit, not because James was not right. ‘I collect you were always in scrapes when you were young. Now you are grown old and staid, you have forgotten what it was like.’

‘Old and staid!’ He laughed. ‘Is that what being seven and twenty is? And I thought I was only now reaching my prime.’

‘You know what I mean.’

‘Do you propose to act in this little entertainment yourself?’

‘Yes, if I am good enough.’

‘Who else?’

‘Lancelot Greatorex.’

‘Lancelot Greatorex? Who is he?’

‘The manager of the Thespian Players and a very fine actor.’

‘That accounts for the preposterous name. I assume it is a pseudonym?’

‘I do not know, do I? I never asked him. The players have other engagements round the country for the next few weeks, but he has promised to come to London at the end of the summer with some of his company to direct us.’

‘Good Lord! Do you mean to say the Duke has countenanced you associating with play actors?’

‘Why should he not?’

‘Oh, Lavinia,’ he sighed. ‘Have you even asked him?’

‘Not yet, but I will.’

He laughed. ‘Then I wish you luck, but forgive me if I am not present when you do. I have no fancy to be at the receiving end of his temper, nor even to witness it.’

‘Papa doesn’t have a temper—not a bad one, that is. He is always prepared to listen.’ And that had come about since he married Frances. Before that he had been a remote and unreachable figure, seen only occasionally, someone who inspired awe rather than love. Not until her mother died and he had brought her to London did she even begin to know him. And that had been a revelation. He was far from the ogre she had always supposed him to be.

‘And having listened, will pronounce judgement and that will be the end of it. His Grace, the Duke of Loscoe, is a benevolent papa who puts up with a great deal more from his daughter than many men would, but that does not mean he will allow you to do as you please.’

‘We shall see,’ she said blithely.

‘Five guineas says he will not hear of it.’

‘Done,’ she said promptly. ‘I will get Stepmama on my side. He can never refuse her anything.’

‘And if he does agree, who do you hope will come to witness the performance?’

‘Everyone. All our friends and no doubt some who are not truly our friends, but I do not care why they attend, so long as they pay for their tickets.’

‘And you think your papa will allow that? And in his ballroom, too.’

‘I don’t see why not. Don’t you remember that ball Stepmama arranged at Corringham House three years ago for that first orphanage in Maiden Lane? The most unlikely people came, some not haut monde at all, and she did not turn anyone away who was prepared to pay the entrance price.’

‘That was before she married your father and it was not the same thing at all. A ball is not a play.’ He paused, watching as she picked up another brush and dipped it in paint to put the finishing touches to a spotted snake shedding its skin. There was no doubt she was a very talented artist, a talent which had been nurtured by their mutual stepmother, herself a highly acclaimed painter.

‘Am I to suppose from that, that you will not be favouring us with your presence?’

‘Oh, I shall come, if only to watch.’

‘And laugh when things go awry, I shouldn’t wonder.’

‘Oh, Vinny, I would never do that.’ He watched her deft strokes, hating to act the devil’s advocate, but he could see her riding for a fall and wanted to prevent it if he could. ‘And there’s another thing that might divert the ton away from your play: the King’s efforts to rid himself of his wife.’

Caroline, after living abroad for the last six years and making herself the subject of notorious gossip, had, on the succession of her husband to the throne, suddenly decided to return to London, expecting to be acknowledged as Queen. Her furious husband ignored her, but she enjoyed the plaudits of a fickle populace, who cheered her to the echo whenever she went out.

‘I know that, but I do believe that will help our cause rather than hinder it. Anyone who is anyone has come to town this summer, either to attend the coronation or view the procession from some vantage point and the Season will go on much longer, considering it is not to be until the first of August. It is why we are here. Nothing would have kept Stepmama away from Loscoe Court and little Freddie unless Papa was obliged to attend.’

‘If there is a coronation. The whole thing is like to turn into a huge farce and make the King look more ridiculous than ever.’

‘So Papa said, but it will make for a very interesting Season, don’t you think?’ she said, with a mischievous smile. ‘Just think of all those people who have not been to town for years and years, all bringing wives and daughters, who will doubtless wish to be amused.’

‘You think they will come to see your play?’

‘I do not see why not. You never know, you might find yourself a bride among them—’

‘Heaven forbid!’

‘Why not? You know it is high time you married.’

‘Oh, Vinny, not you too. It is bad enough having Little Mama giving me jobations over it without you adding to it. I will marry when I am ready. And for love.’

‘No, really?’ She laughed. ‘For love? Who is she? Do tell…’

‘Certainly not. And you have no reason to roast me. I collect you had a Season two years go that cost the Duke a fortune, and you turned away every eligible who so much as hinted he was interested.’

‘It was not fair to encourage them when I had no intention of accepting them, was it?’

‘But why not accept one of them?’

‘For the same reason you have given. I will marry when I am ready.’

‘And when will that be?’

‘When I fall in love.’

‘And how will you know when you are in love?’

It was a question which had occupied Lavinia ever since her come-out, but one she could not satisfactorily answer. Her friends and contemporaries seemed not to be able to answer it either, notwithstanding that many of them were already married, some even with families. ‘I shall know,’ she said airily, rinsing out her brush, then changing the subject abruptly, added, ‘You have not told me why you are here.’

‘Do I need a reason? I heard you had arrived in town and decided to pay a call.’

‘A mere courtesy call, then. I will tell Stepmama you came. She is out shopping.’

‘I wanted to see you too. I have something to show you.’

‘What is it?’ She turned from her work to face him and a spot of paint-stained water flew from her brush, narrowly missing his pantaloons.

He stepped back adroitly. ‘Vinny, put that brush down or you will ruin my clothes and then I shan’t tell you anything.’

She did as she was told while he picked up one of the cloths from the table and bent to clean the watery paint from the toe of his boot.

‘Come on, James, let me see.’

‘Go to the window.’

She hurried across the polished floor to one of a long row of windows that looked out over the street. The road was busy with the usual traffic of carriages and riders going about their business, but immediately below the window was the carriage James had arrived in, its pair of matched horses being held by a young urchin to whom he had given a copper or two. ‘Oh, James, a high-perch phaeton! Have you just bought it?’

‘Yes. Do you like it?’

‘Oh, I must look at it properly.’ She whipped off her apron and hurried from the room, down the grand staircase, across the tiled floor and out of the front door, followed by a smiling James.

‘My goodness,’ she said, stopping beside the phaeton. ‘Those wheels must be at least six feet high.’

‘So they are.’

‘But it is a horrid colour. Yellow and black is far too ostentatious. It’s the colour a newly rich industrialist would choose to flaunt his wealth.’

He laughed. ‘Probably because I bought if from a newly rich industrialist. He turned it over and his wife made him get rid of it, said it was dangerous.’

‘And do you think it is dangerous?’

‘Not in skilful hands. Would you like to come for a ride in it?’

‘Now?’

‘Why not? You can leave that painting for an hour or two, can’t you?’

Lavinia did not hesitate. She was always ready for mischief and the thought of parading in Hyde Park, head and shoulders above everyone else, amused her. ‘I will go and change. Wait for me in the drawing room. Ten minutes, no more.’ She was dashing back up the stairs to her bedroom before she finished speaking, leaving him to amble slowly into the drawing room to wait.

She was back within the stipulated time, dressed in a blue taffeta carriage gown and matching pelisse, her unruly curls tamed under a fetching straw bonnet trimmed with blue ribbons tied beneath her chin. That she should have been chaperoned did not cross her mind, or, if it did, was immediately dismissed on the grounds there was no room for more than two in the carriage; anyway, James was like a brother.

He helped her climb up into her seat, sprang up beside her, flicked the reins and the horses began to trot steadily towards Piccadilly.

‘It’s like being on top of the world,’ she said. ‘Papa had a high-perch once, but he didn’t keep it long. When he married Stepmama and little Freddie came along, he decided it was no longer a suitable conveyance. I only ever rode in it once; he said it was vulgar and unstable and he didn’t know why he had been persuaded into buying it.’

‘Perhaps I should not have asked you to accompany me until we had asked him.’

‘We could not.’ She paused, watching him skilfully negotiate the turn into Piccadilly. ‘He is gone to the Lords and like to be there all day. He is being asked to give his advice over the question of the Queen’s coronation, though I wonder at the haste. The Prince Regent—I mean the King, I keep forgetting—has been married to Caroline and living apart from her for years. Why has he left it until now to do something about her?’

‘Because, in case it has slipped your attention, my sweet, she has arrived back in England expecting to be crowned with him. And he is determined that will never happen.’

‘How is he going to prevent it?’

‘Divorce her, I suppose.’

‘But his behaviour has been every bit as bad as hers. Would he dare risk it?’

‘I suppose he thinks the risk worth taking. If he can divorce her, he might remarry and beget an heir.’

She laughed. ‘But he is too old and fat, surely?’

‘He might not think so. And who else is there? His brothers have not been exactly helpful in the matter of legitimate heirs, have they? Plenty of little Fitzes, but none the law can recognise.’

‘There’s the late Duke of Kent’s baby.’

‘Victoria, yes. But she’s a girl.’

‘So what?’ she said sharply. ‘The only reason women are considered inferior is because men have made them believe they are. And I am not the only one to think that. Stepmama believes it too, as you very well know.’

He laughed as they turned in at the gates of the park and turned along the carriage ride. ‘Vinny, are you looking for an argument?’

‘Not at all, unless you are dying to give me one, in which case—’

‘Argue with you! Never! It is more than my life is worth.’

‘Good, because I want you to let me drive.’

‘Certainly not!’

‘Why not? You know I am as good a whip as any man. All you need to do is hand over the ribbons.’ She reached out and laid her hand upon his, hoping he would relinquish the reins. He felt himself tense at her touch, but brought himself quickly under control.

‘No, Vinny. There are far too many people about and it would not be just you and me who might be hurt if you upset us.’

‘Very well,’ she conceded, knowing he was right. ‘We will come out very early one morning when the park is deserted and you shall let me try.’

‘Your papa would not allow it. Nor Little Mama, either.’

‘Then we will not tell them. Oh, go on, James, it will be fun and what harm can come of it when you are there to look after me?’ She looked up at him, dazzling him with her smile. ‘Will you?’

‘I will think about it. Now, I think you had better acknowledge Lady Willoughby before she reports to your mama that you cut her dead.’

From the height of her seat, Lavinia could look down on the occupants of the other carriage and smiling, she turned and bowed to her ladyship. From then on, she was kept busy bowing and bidding ‘good day’ to dozens of ladies out for an afternoon drive and not a few gentlemen on horseback who knew James and envied him his attractive companion.

There was Lord Bertram Haverley, a widower of middle years, known to be looking for a second wife to give him the heir his first wife had failed to do, though she had provided him with two daughters. Sophia, the older, was not quite of marriageable age, and Eliza was two years younger. They were both pretty, bright girls dressed in white gingham. Soon after parting from them, they stopped to speak to Mr Martin Drew, stiffly correct, who only just managed to conceal his disapproval of her going out unchaperoned; and there was handsome Lord Edmund Wincote, who was a stranger to Lavinia, but greeted James so enthusiastically he was obliged to pull up and present him to her.

He was a young man of perhaps four and twenty, fashionably attired in a riding coat of good Bath cloth, a yellow waistcoat, deerskin breeches and tasselled boots. When he swept off his tall riding hat to Lavinia, he revealed short dark hair that sprang into tight little curls.

‘I am happy to make your acquaintance, my lady,’ he said, appraising her with eyes so dark they were almost black. ‘Are you in town for the Season?’

‘Yes, my lord. And you?’

‘Oh, most assuredly, London is the place to be at this moment.’

‘Oh, you mean because of the coronation?’

‘Not at all.’ He smiled into her eyes, making her stomach give a sudden lurch. ‘Because Lady Lavinia Stanmore is here.’

She laughed a little shakily. ‘Flatterer!’

‘I speak from the heart, my lady. I hope to have the pleasure of meeting you at some of the entertainments being held this year.’

‘Oh, undoubtedly, should we both be invited to the same function,’ she said airily, pretending to be unaffected.

‘Then I shall look forward to them all the more.’ He smiled and replaced his hat before wheeling his horse round. ‘Until we meet again, my lady. Corringham, good afternoon.’

‘That was pitched too bold by far,’ James said, as they pulled away and made for home. ‘He must be desperate.’

‘What do you mean, desperate?’ she snapped, turning on him, green eyes flashing. ‘Am I such a poor catch? A ninny no man could possibly want unless he be desperate? You may be my brother, but that does not mean you may disparage me—’

‘Vinny, that is the last thing, the very last thing, I would do. It is the man I disparage, not you. And I am not your brother.’

‘Thank goodness for that for, if you were, you would wrap me up in so many prohibitions I should not be able to breathe. Good heavens, the man was only being polite.’

‘I am sorry, Vinny,’ he said. ‘I did not mean to upset you. You are miles above him in every way and, by desperate, I meant he was trying to find favour even when he must know he has no hope.’

‘And how do you know he has no hope? He is handsome and very polite and—’

‘But for all we know he might be a fortune-hunter, looking for a rich wife and they don’t come richer than the daughter of the Duke of Loscoe.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘What, that your dowry is likely to be more than generous?’

‘No, silly, that Lord Wincote is pinched in the pocket.’

‘A guess,’ he said. ‘I haven’t seen him in years and now he turns up out of nowhere, bold as brass. It makes me cautious.’

‘Fie on you, for your suspicious nature. I’ll wager his coat was tailored at Weston’s and the boots came from Hoby’s. Besides, that horse of his is no broken-backed hack. Men without feathers cannot fly so high.’

‘There is such a thing as credit. And debt, as I should know.’

She was diverted from the subject of Lord Wincote to turn and look searchingly into his face. ‘James, surely you are not—’

‘No, of course not. I was referring to my green days. I am a reformed character, as you are perfectly aware.’

‘So you do not need a rich wife?’

He smiled, unable to resist teasing her, knowing she never took offence and would give back as good as she got. ‘Oh, I would not turn one down simply because she was rich, all other considerations being in her favour.’

‘What other considerations?’

‘Her temperament. She would have to be beautiful and biddable too. I could not abide living under the cat’s paw.’

Surprisingly she did not rise to his bait. Instead she said, ‘And do you not think Lord Wincote might have the same sentiments?’

‘I am not privy to his sentiments, Vinny.’

‘Nor, as far as I can tell, to his true situation. Not that it matters, money is not important…’

‘Only because you have never felt the want of it.’

‘I told you before, I shall marry only when I fall in love. And if I fall in love with a pauper, so be it.’

‘Not with him, surely? He is not worthy of you.’

‘I shall say who is worthy and who is not.’ Her temper was up and he ought to have known better than goad her, because it only made her more determined to further the acquaintance of the young man in question. Too late, he realised the wisdom of silence and drew up at the door of Stanmore House without saying another word.

He jumped down and strode round the phaeton to help her alight. She jumped from the last step and almost fell into his arms. He caught her and held just a fraction longer than he ought to have done, but the feel of her lovely body so close against his sent tremors of desire through him and he wanted to savour the feeling as long as he dared.

‘Will you come in?’ she asked, looking up into his grey eyes and seeing there a look which she could not fathom. It was sadness and tenderness and humour all mixed up together and it confused her. And there was a strange twist to his mouth as if he wanted to smile, but could not, which made her want to ask him what troubled him and to comfort him. ‘Mama might be back.’

He released her reluctantly. ‘Does that mean I am forgiven?’

‘Of course it does, silly.’ The fleeting moment of intimacy was gone. ‘But you must make recompense.’

‘Oh?’ He raised one eyebrow. ‘And what might that be?’

‘Take me out in the phaeton again.’

‘Of course. It will be my pleasure.’

‘Tomorrow. Early. Seven o’clock.’

‘Now, Vinny, I never said—’

‘You said you would think about it and now you have thought and have decided that there cannot possibly be any harm in letting me take the ribbons in a deserted park. You think you might even enjoy teaching me, always supposing you manage to rise early enough.’

‘Oh, so you are privy to my thoughts, are you?’

‘Of course. You are an open book to me.’

He did not think so, or she would have read the love in his heart, a love which had grown and matured ever since that day, three years before, when he had been introduced to her. His stepmother, who had an unerring sixth sense where he was concerned, had warned him that Lavinia was far too young to be thinking of marriage and, as he was often in one sort of scrape or another, the Duke would never countenance him as a son-in-law until he mended his ways.

Mending his ways had been easy; after all, his misdemeanours had been minor ones, all part of the process of growing into manhood. Changing the way Lavinia looked at him was far harder. She was as elusive as a butterfly, there to be seen and admired, laughing with him, sharing confidences, expecting him to pull her out scrapes, but likely to flit away without warning, leaving him empty-handed. He sighed, just as the Loscoe barouche drew up beside them and the Duchess alighted.

‘James, I had no idea you were in town.’ Almost thirty-eight years old, Frances, Duchess of Loscoe, was as elegantly beautiful and as full of life as a girl half her age.

‘I arrived yesterday, Mama, and, hearing you were here, I came to pay my respects.’

‘And found only Lavinia at home. I am sorry. If I had known…’ She paused to look at the phaeton, while her groom unloaded armfuls of parcels from her carriage and took them into the house. ‘Did you arrive in that?’

‘Yes. I bought it for a song. Its first owner grew tired of it.’ He could not rid himself of the habit of justifying his purchases to her. If it had not been for her careful supervision when he was growing up, he would have dissipated his inheritance before it had been in his hands five minutes. Now, long after he had learned more sense, the habit remained.

‘I am not surprised. It looks very dangerous.’

‘No, it isn’t, Mama,’ Lavinia put in. ‘But it is very exhilarating to ride in.’

‘By that am I to assume you have been for a ride in it?’

‘Only a very little one to the park and James drove very sedately, I promise you.’

Frances made no comment as she led the way into the house and ordered refreshments to be brought to the drawing room. Then she took off her gloves and hat, carefully stroking the long curled feather into place before handing them both to a footman.

‘Now, tell me all your news,’ she commanded her stepson when all three were sitting comfortably with cups of tea in their hands. ‘There is nothing wrong at Twelvetrees, is there?’

‘No, but being a country landlord can be very trying at times, especially with the economy in the state it is. I felt like a little diversion.’

‘You would not feel like that if you were married.’

‘I cannot see how being married would make any difference to the work of the estate.’

‘No, but you might not find is so trying if you had a wife and children to fulfil you.’

‘Oh, Mama, not again, please. I promise to make a push on the matter this Season, will that satisfy you?’ He looked at Lavinia as he spoke, but she was smiling to herself and stroking the tortoiseshell cat which had climbed on to her knee, apparently completely unperturbed. If the Duke were to enter the room the cat would be gone like a streak of lightning.

‘For the moment. I do not suppose you have been in town long enough to receive any invitations yet.’

‘No, but I do not doubt word will soon go round and I will be besieged. Tell me what is planned and where you will be going, then I shall know whom to accept.’

‘Lady Graham is holding a ball…’

‘Don’t tell me Constance is not off her hands yet. This must be the third year she has tried to fire her off.’

‘James, I wish you would not be so vulgar,’ Frances said. ‘Poor Constance cannot help being plain, but I am sure some young man will recognise her worth before long.’

‘Well, it will not be me, so you may put that idea from your mind. But if I am invited, then I shall go, if only to dance with you.’

‘And me,’ Lavinia put in.

He inclined his head towards her. ‘That goes without saying, my dear. Now, what else is there?’

Although the Season was half over, the Duchess reeled off a catalogue of events, from musical soirées and routs to balls and picnics, not to mention a visit to the opera and another to Vauxhall Gardens. ‘That is, if this wretched business with the Queen doesn’t upset everyone’s plans.’

‘Then I shall look forward to seeing much more of you both.’

Lavinia began to laugh and they both turned to her in puzzlement. ‘What have I said that is so comical?’ he asked.

‘You have just said the same thing as Lord Wincote and in him you condemned it as bold and desperate. Are you desperate, my lord?’

‘Certainly not.’ Unwilling to enter into a discussion on the topic, he stood up. ‘Now, if you will excuse me, I must leave you both.’

Lavinia sprang to her feet. ‘I will come to see you off, James.’

He smiled, took his leave of his stepmother, then left the room, followed by Lavinia. At the outer door, she took his hat and gloves from the footman and handed them to him. Her eyes were alight with mischief. ‘I shall see you tomorrow at seven round the corner in the mews,’ she whispered. ‘We do not want to wake the household, do we?’

‘Vinny, I do not think—’

Before he could go on, she had pushed him towards the door. ‘Good afternoon, my lord.’ He suddenly found himself on the step and the door firmly closed behind him. It was a situation he would never have put up with from anyone else; any other young lady treating him in that cavalier fashion would have been dropped immediately. But Lavinia was different. Lavinia was Lavinia, self-willed, to be sure, but there wasn’t an ounce of malice in her body; she had not meant it as a put-down, simply a way of preventing him from arguing.

He clamped his hat on his head, strode to the phaeton, climbed in and drove off, smiling to himself at the prospect of teaching her to drive it.

‘Vinny, what was all that about?’ Frances asked when Lavinia rejoined her. ‘Have you quarrelled with James?’

‘No, Mama.’ And Vinny, who did not see the need to hide it, told her about the encounter with Lord Wincote and James’s reaction.

‘He was only trying to protect you,’ her ladyship said. ‘You know he is very fond of you.’

‘That does not mean he may act as a substitute father. I am not such a ninnyhammer as to fall under the spell of the first man who pays me attention.’

The Duchess laughed. ‘No, for you demonstrated that very clearly when you had your come-out. Your dear papa thought you were being too particular.’

‘But you did not, did you? You know how important it is to feel comfortable and at ease with one’s choice.’

‘Of course. But there are other things to consider.’

Lavinia laughed. ‘Oh, I know. Good looks and mutual interests and money. I have heard it all before. But I want to be in love. You and Papa were in love, weren’t you?’

‘Yes, of course. We still are.’

‘Then you will understand.’

‘Yes, but you have only just met Lord Wincote. You surely do not think you are in love with him?’

‘No, how could I be? I have barely exchanged half a dozen words with him. I simply wanted to tease James.’ What she did not say was that Edmund Wincote had the most mesmeric eyes she had ever come across. They seemed to have the power to turn her usually iron will to jelly. She wanted to see him again to be sure she had not dreamed it. And if she had not, to explore where the feeling would take her, James’s disapproval notwithstanding.

‘Teasing people,’ Frances said slowly. ‘has been known to rebound on the one doing the teasing.’

‘I know, but James asks for it. He is so…so…stiff sometimes.’

The Duchess laughed. ‘That is the last word I would use to describe him. What is it you do to him to make him behave so out of character?’ The question was a rhetorical one; Lady Loscoe had a very good idea, but it was not for her to point it out. She decided to change the subject. ‘When I left the house this morning, you were intent on doing some painting. How did it go?’

Lavinia scrambled to her feet, her eyes alight with enthusiasm, James and Lord Wincote both forgotten. ‘Come with me and I will show you.’

She led the way down to the ground floor ballroom and flung open the door. ‘There! What do you think of it?’

Frances stood and surveyed the great canvas in surprise for a full minute, then she said, ‘Lavinia, why is it so big?’

‘It is a backcloth to a play.’

‘Oh. Have you been commissioned to paint it?’ Frances herself took commissions for all sorts of subjects, most of them family portraits, pets, horses and vistas of people’s estates, the proceeds for which she donated to the orphanage fund. Not surprisingly, she had never been asked to make scenery.

‘No, I just did it. It is meant for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’

‘Yes, I can see it would do very well for that, but that doesn’t explain why you decided to do it.’

‘Mama, you remember the Thespian Players coming to Risley earlier this year?’

‘Yes. The Duke allowed them to put a tent up in one of the meadows, I recall.’

‘It gave me an idea. I should like to put on a play for our friends and acquaintances and donate the entrance money to the orphanage fund.’

‘Oh, I see. It is very commendable, Vinny dear, but have you thought about all the work involved? Where would you find a tent, for a start, and where could you pitch it, considering we are in London, quite apart from providing costumes and seating and finding people to act in it?’

‘They are not insurmountable problems. And I did not think we should need a tent, we could use this ballroom…’

‘Vinny, I am not at all sure your father would allow that.’

‘He would if you asked him. It would only be for one night and we would charge an astronomical amount to come in, so it would be very select. No riff-raff. I have worked it all out, expenditure and income, just as you taught me.’

Frances smiled. ‘Oh, I have no doubt you have and now you think you can wind me round your thumb and make a conspirator of me.’

‘Oh, it will be such fun! Do say you agree.’

‘I shall have to think about it. Whom else do you plan to involve?’

‘James—’

‘James?’ she queried in surprise. ‘Has he agreed?’

‘Not exactly, but he will,’ she said confidently. ‘And then there is Duncan and Constance…’ She reeled off a list of her friends, being careful not to mention Lancelot Greatorex. ‘Augusta and her two little ones, who would make beautiful fairies, if they can be schooled in their parts…’ Augusta was James’s sister. She was married to Sir Richard Harnham and had two delightful children, Andrew and Beth.

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a difficult play for amateurs, Vinny.’

‘Oh, I plan to condense it. If I leave out the play within the play and stick to the love story, I shall not need so many players. I might even try and simplify the language and set it in modern times.’

‘Might you, indeed!’ Her stepmother laughed. ‘You are certainly not lacking in pluck if you imagine you can improve on Shakespeare.’

‘So you do agree?’

‘Vinny, I commend your enthusiasm, I really do, but you know there is so much going on in town this summer, I cannot help but feel you will be playing to an empty room.’

‘No, for we shall do it after all the fuss over the coronation is over.’

‘But that is not until the first of August—the Season will be over by then and everyone will start going home to the country.’

‘If there is a coronation. James is not at all sure there will be but, in any case, no one will leave town until something is resolved. Everyone will still be fired up with nothing to divert them. There will be a kind of vacuum and we shall be there to fill it. Oh, please say yes.’

‘I shall have to talk to the Duke.’

‘Of course,’ Lavinia said, hoping that her father would be too distracted to pay much attention to what his wife was asking and would give the nod without thinking too deeply about it. And once rehearsals were under way and it became apparent that they needed professional help, she could introduce the idea of asking Mr Greatorex to step in. She decided to let the matter rest for the time being and began talking about Lady Graham’s ball.

‘You owe me five guineas,’ Lavinia said as soon as she had climbed into the phaeton beside James the following morning. It was very early indeed and there was little traffic on the road: a couple of milkmaids were driving their cows from Green Park to the houses where the milk would be sold direct from cow to kitchen maid’s jug; a chimney sweep was striding down the street, his poles and brushes over his shoulder, followed by his tiny assistant scampering to keep up with him; a hackney cab carried a late reveller home; a marauding mongrel and a pair of spitting cats were determined on disturbing the peace.

James took his attention from his driving long enough to turn and look at her. Early as it was, she was looking gloriously vibrant. Her gown was covered by a long cloak whose hood was flung back to reveal her thick chestnut-coloured hair. Not wanting to involve her maid, she had endeavoured to tie it back with a ribbon but several shorter strands had escaped and curled about her ears and neck. Excitement made her green eyes sparkle like emeralds and the early morning air, so much fresher than the heat in the middle of the day, had made her cheeks rosy.

He was almost breathless with longing, but he managed a cool, ‘By that, am I to assume you turned your papa up sweet and he has agreed to allow you to use the ballroom for your play?’

‘Yes, I told you he would, did I not?’

‘There must be a proviso or something of the sort.’

‘No, not at all,’ she said, smiling broadly, revealing perfect white teeth. ‘I told you he would not stand against Mama, didn’t I? She asked him when he came home last night.’

‘Then you did not speak to him yourself. I am not sure that doesn’t invalidate the wager.’

‘I did not undertake to ask him myself. I distinctly remember telling you I would get Mama on my side.’

‘Then I suppose I had better pay up.’ He sighed and turned into the park gates. There was no one about except a few horsemen, galloping across the grass, and a drunken reveller rolling home on foot, his top hat over one eye and his cravat awry. ‘But I cannot help feeling there is something you have not told me. What about this play actor, Lancelot the Great or whatever he is called? Is he to be made welcome?’

‘He will be.’

He laughed suddenly. ‘You did not even mention him, did you?’

‘No, one step at a time. And we didn’t make any stipulations about him in the wager, either.’ She paused. ‘Come on, James, admit you have lost.’

He pulled the horses to a stop, extracted a purse from his coat pocket and gave her five guineas from it. ‘There, does that satisfy you?’

She dropped the coins into her reticule. ‘No, for it was not the wager that brought me out this morning. Did you think you could make me forget that you promised to hand over the ribbons?’

‘I made no such promise.’

‘Oh, come along, James, you know it is what I want to do above all things.’

‘What! Even above acting in one of Shakespeare’s plays?’

‘At this moment, yes.’

‘Very well.’ He gave her the reins. He did not relinquish complete control, but laid his hands over hers to guide her. Even that small touch sent desire coursing through him and made him wonder how he was going to be able to hold on to his self possession. ‘Slowly, now, and keep the inside horse away from the verge. It is running wheels over bumps and slopes that turns these things over.’

‘I know. You do not need to guide me.’

Reluctantly he took his hand away and they proceeded along the carriageway at a walk which soon became a brisk trot, but when she would have set the horses to canter, he put a hand out to restrain her. ‘That’s enough for today, Vinny. Even I would not be such a bufflehead as to go faster here.’

Reluctantly she slowed the horses. ‘Thank you, James. You are the dearest of men.’

He did not reply. He knew she did not mean the endearment in the way he wanted her to mean it, but it gave him a glow of satisfaction, even so. And then his smile faded as he saw Edmund Wincote riding straight towards them.

He would have liked to pretend they had not seen him, but his lordship was determined he would be acknowledged and reined in almost across their path, startling their horses. Fearing Lavinia would not be equal to the task, James grabbed the reins, which Lavinia was reluctant to relinquish. For a moment it confused the horses and they began pulling in different directions. It took all his considerable skill to regain control of them. As it was, Lavinia was jolted almost out of her seat and her hat went flying.

‘You fool, Wincote!’ James said, hauling the horses to a stop. ‘You could have had us over. As it is you have frightened Lady Lavinia half to death.’

‘Have I?’ the young man said, addressing Lavinia and doffing his riding hat, apparently unperturbed. ‘Then I beg your pardon, my lady.’

‘Think no more of it,’ she said smoothly, though she was shaking. She was not sure if it was caused by what could have been a nasty accident or meeting him again so soon. ‘I should have pulled up sooner.’

He dismounted and retrieved her hat. ‘I did not expect to see a carriage in the park so early, especially one with so dexterous and decorative a whipster.’

‘Why not?’ She favoured him with a smile. ‘I like to rise early. It is the best time of the day, before the heat becomes unbearable, don’t you agree?’

‘Oh, indeed.’ He gave her back her hat and watched admiringly as she put it on and tied the ribbons. ‘May I call on you and your mama later? I would wish to assure myself you have had no ill effects from the fright I gave you.’

‘That will not be necessary,’ James put in quickly. ‘You can see her ladyship has come to no harm.’

Wincote grinned knowingly. ‘Oh, I understand. Rest assured your secret is safe with me, Corringham. I wish you good day, my lady.’ And with that he wheeled away.

‘What did he mean by that?’ Lavinia asked, as they continued on their way.

‘He imagines we crept out for a secret assignation.’

She laughed. ‘Then he was not so far wrong, was he?’

‘He was a very long way from being right,’ he said grimly. Far from their secret being safe, he had a notion it would be all over town by evening.