Page 61 of Twice Shy
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Sir Lucius returned to his house with his mind a whirl of concern, crushing disappointment and anger at himself. What had risked becoming a very public quarrel had been overshadowed by Miss Ashling’s accident, and though some might wonder how she had come to break the stem of the glass, most had focused solely upon the effusion of blood and the near-hysterical reaction of several young ladies present. The sight of blood did not, of course, discommode him, but the look in Elizabeth Ashling’s eyes haunted his dreams. The pain might in part have been caused by the gash to her hand, but the desolation was entirely his fault. He told himself that if she did not care for him at all, there would only have been disdain, but it did not make him feel any the better. If he could not get her to listen to him, hear him out, what chance was there that he could persuade her of his genuine feelings for her? It was an unusually terse Sir Lucius who snapped at his valet both as he made readyfor bed and upon rising in the morning.
300He rode, hoping the exercise would calm him, but all he thought of was how she had looked, totally happy and at ease upon the grey mare, how she had dropped her guard upon horseback, and forgotten, be it ever so briefly, how she despised the male sex. She would not ride the mare again, not just because of her injury, but because of his deception. If only she would believe he had bought the animal not from some devious motive, but because she had deserved it. It was only after that he had discovered feelings for her, though he doubted she would believe they were honourable either. He had sneered at Henry Freshford, but had he not done worse, in her eyes? Freshford had been weak; he had been deceitful. She clearly thought he was out to make her fall in love with him upon a callous whim, like some puppet to be manipulated and cast into a corner when the play was ended.
It hurt his honour almost as much as it hurt his heart,and he returned to his house, grim-faced.
Ribston betrayed no sign of emotion when he opened the door of the Mount Street house to a rather haggard Sir Lucius Radstock, but was quite capable of adding two and two together, especially given the additional advantage of below-stairs gossip, to which he paid, of course, no attention. He took Sir Lucius’s card, but with the dampening comment that he rather thought Miss Ashling was keeping to her room, seeing as how she was unwell. He gave the card into Ditcham’s hand at the bedchamber door, but did not need to step over the threshold to learn how badly it was received. He wondered if the angry outburst might even reach down to the morning room itself.
301Shortly afterwards, he returned to where Sir Lucius was pacing like a caged beast, with the half-truth that Miss Ashling was in no fit state to entertain visitors today, and indeed, it might be some time before she was well enough to do so. Sir Lucius’s face was instantly one of concern. Had she been attended by a doctor; was she feverish? The questions bordered on the personal, but Ribston, seeing a man in desperate straits, tried to ease the poor man’s mind of such fears that must have beset him, though in truth, he saw no likelihood of Miss Ashling being ‘at home’ were he to call every day for a month. So Sir Lucius withdrew in as good an order as possible, frustrated, worried, disappointed and angry with the world, and, as any gentleman would do, sought refuge in his club.
Lady Godmanchester, who arrived some time later, was not turned away, though Lady Chalford received her first, and in some agitation.
‘My dear Lady Godmanchester, I am quite overset. Elizabeth is determined, yes, determined, to return to Sussex. I have told her that it will make things worse, though how much worse they could be I am not sure. For all that we try to pass last night off as a mere unfortunate accident … oh dear … and I was hopeful … and my Amelia, my poor Amelia! What of her chances now? Oh, it will be the same all over again; I should not have made her come. Now where did I set down mysal volatile?’
She continued in a similar vein for some time, and LadyGodmanchester was required to use all her gentle good sense and even a few white lies to return the agitated lady302to any semblance of calm. She told Lady Chalford that if Elizabeth retired to the country it could easily be explained by her not wishing to linger in the stuffy capital, unwilling to go about with a bandaged hand, which would make so many simple things awkward, and with only the last few weeks of the Season remaining. Then a thought struck her.
‘Lady Chalford, how would it be if I persuaded Elizabethto return to Thornby Park with me? Godmanchester is keen that I do so, and in truth, I am finding the exigencies of London too much. I tire too easily and feel the heat. It is but lack of company that gives me pause. If Elizabeth would come with me, I would be eternally grateful, and you could say, quite truthfully, that she was doing so for my benefit.’
‘Oh, if she would … Dear Lady Godmanchester, it would be the best solution to this most terrible situation. And if Elizabeth is not here, and the gossip subsides, though it sounds dreadful, I am sure that by the end of the Season,Carbrooke will have made Amelia an offer.’
‘Amelia is a very pleasant girl, and I am sure Lord Carbrooke would not be put off by tittle-tattle over nothing. After all, what fault of Amelia’s could it be if her cousin has an unfortunate accident? Now, may I go up to her, dear ma’am?’
Lady Chalford sighed, and nodded.
Elizabeth had spent a very uncomfortable night. Her hand throbbed, and the surgeon putting several stitches into her palm had tried her already strained nerves to the utmost. He had given her laudanum to dull the pain, though she disliked it, but it had brought her sleep. That it was sleep tormented303by unhappy dreams meant that she awoke unrested, and filled with the misery that the previous evening’s events had prevented her from expressing, even in the privacy of her chamber. She had not partaken of breakfast, and it had taken all Ditcham’s cajoling and indeed bullying to get her to leave her bed and dress. She had viewed her mistress’s pale face and the blank look in her eyes, and shaken her head. She had seen this before, and it was not a good sign.
The announcement that Sir Lucius Radstock was below, and sought an interview, had produced signs of emotion, in the form of a furious tirade, the gist of which was that Elizabeth did not want to see the man, nor hear his name again, as long as she lived, and it had given the faithful tirewoman much food for thought. The anger had been followed by tears, and it was a very pale lady with red-rimmed eyes who received her best friend.
Lady Godmanchester came forward, her hand held out to take Elizabeth’s uninjured one. ‘My poor Elizabeth. Are you in much pain? Has the doctor seen you this morning? How did you sleep?’
Elizabeth smiled wanly. ‘Yes, no and not well are the truthful answers, but there.’
‘Your aunt said that the surgeon had to stitch the wound. You must be very brave, my dear. I am sure I would have fainted clean away.’
‘I … It was not pleasant, but such things heal quickly enough, and I had other … things to distract me. Helen, I am going back to Sussex. After last night, I cannot face the looks, the whispers. Not again. You understand?’
‘Of course, though, I assure you, you are making too304much of the incident. The accident will be talked of for a day, and might have happened to anyone.’
‘Please, Helen, don’t. You know as well as I that it is also more than that. I could not face him, I simply couldn’t.’
‘Elizabeth, at the moment I see that, though in the long term you are bound to—’
‘I have no inclination to remain in London, Helen. I will be safe at home.’
‘Well, I think that a shame. And I also have an idea that will prevent any gossip attending your departure before the Season’s end.’
‘There can be none.’
‘Yes there can. Godmanchester is pestering me to return to Thornby Park, and indeed in many ways I would like to do so. London is becoming very stuffy, and I get tired easily. But I will have months and months ahead of me in seclusion at Thornby, and I am going to be so bored, I just know it. Come with me, to keep a poor, sickly woman company. It would be so much nicer. Do say yes, please. There will be nothing to do but walk with me about the grounds, play with baby George and enjoy hours of doubtlessly meaningless chatter, but it would be better than solitude for us both.’
Elizabeth bit her lip. Hopefully, there would be no recriminations from her aunt, who was caught between the need to remain in London to finish the Season with Amelia, and the fear that letting Elizabeth return to the country alone might seem unfeeling, if her injury was the excuse. If anyone would understand, it was Helen. She did foresee one large obstacle, however, and this she voiced.
305‘But Lord Godmanchester and Sir Lucius are the closest of friends. What if he were to invite him to stay? Indeed, what would be more natural than for him to invite him?’
The thought had struck Lady Godmanchester also, but she clasped her hands together resolutely and said, ‘I would beg him to spare me the embarrassment, and’ – she blushed – ‘if he truly thought it would upset me, he would not bring Lucius to the house while you were there. After all, I would not be asking him to sever the connection, that would be unfair, just to refrain from inviting him while you visited. I can be very persuasive.’
So, thought Elizabeth, could the duplicitous Sir Lucius Radstock, since he had managed to get the honest Godmanchesters to be party to his fraud concerning Mist, whom she now only called ‘the Trojan Horse’. This, however, she kept to herself.
