Page 53 of The Mistress of Ashmore Castle

‘Both of us? I thought he gave gentlemen’s dinners.’

‘This one will be for ladies as well. His sister will be hostess for him. I’m particularly pleased to be taking you, because the King is invited, so you’ll be presented to him, which I’ve wanted for quite a while. The Keppels will be there too, so you’ll meet a monstrous beautiful woman. Clever, too, full of spirit, gets on with everyone. She has influence in all sorts of places. It’s how I see you, my dear, in future years. I should like you to be a great hostess, like Mrs Keppel.’

Nina felt a thrill of excitement. What could she do with such influence? She thought of the meeting she had just been to, and the arguments about the emancipation of women. Could she be the person who brought it about – Nina Sanderton who’d shared Kitty’s come-out because she had no money and no position? She gave a shiver at the thought.

He saw it, and said, ‘Don’t be scared. You’re well able to go into top society. And I’ve never known you at a loss for words. You must see tomorrow about a new gown – can’t be presented to His Majesty in something you’ve worn before. You might pop over to Lady Manningtree and ask her advice – she’ll set you right.’

‘Yes, I’ll do that,’ Nina said, glad to think it would not be her taste alone that guided her on such an important occasion.

‘And the best thing is,’ Cowling went on, full of smiles now, ‘that we’ll be bound to give a dinner in return. We’ll have the King here, in our house – what d’you think of that?’

Nina, whatever her husband said, was lost for words.

CHAPTER TEN

When it took place a few days later, the journey to Clapham was one of consummate embarrassment. A hansom cab had room for just two passengers. It was not that McGregor took up a lot of room – he was a very thin man – but to have him sit so close, arms rigidly folded and face grim, as the cab jolted and rumbled over London streets first familiar and then unfamiliar, made Stuffy feel horribly self-conscious. He was sure people were staring at him: a wealthy man in silk hat and an overcoat with a fur collar (it was May, and a fine day, but he was always afraid of feeling the cold) crammed into a common cab with his manservant sitting beside him! It was not long before he wished he had asked Caroline for her carriage after all.

After they crossed the river – on a bridge he had not known existed – they passed some very mean streets and he began to wish fervently that he had not come at all. But then things got better: the streets got wider, though they still had an alien, south-of-the-river look, and the houses larger, and then they came to an open space with green grass and fine mature plane trees, and eventually pulled up in front of a handsome white-stuccoed house, with a mansard roof and an in-and-out sweep round a clump of shrubs and small trees. Obviously the dwelling of a man of taste and means.

The jarvey opened the hatch. ‘This is it, guv’nor,’ he said.

Stuffy was glad to discover the Arthurs were so prosperous. It was a house he would not be ashamed to see any of his friends living in. The door was opened by a footman, who took his card and invited him into a large, grand entrance hall. He relieved him of his hat and coat, which were received seamlessly by a trim maid who was standing by, then showed him into a spacious and well-furnished drawing-room. There were some unusual objects displayed here and there about the room, which he supposed were relics dug up from archaeological sites. They did not seem particularly decorative to him, but then neither were many of the family heirlooms he saw scattered around the drawing-rooms of his friends and relatives. He himself had some hideous famille noire vases that had belonged to his grandmother and which had stood on the same console for so long he barely registered their presence.

The door opened and Mary Arthur came in, crossed the room with a welcoming smile, shook his hand, and said, ‘Lord Leake, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you to this part of the world?’

He realised that this was a difficult question to answer. He had been carried away by the determination to see the glorious creature again, but could hardly offer that as a reason for calling. ‘Oh, er – passing, dear lady, passing, you know,’ he said vaguely. And then, suddenly afraid she might not know who he was, he added, ‘Lady Rachel’s uncle, you know – we met at the ball the other night.’

‘Of course I remember,’ Mary Arthur said. ‘Won’t you please sit down? May I offer you a glass of wine?’

While he was arranging himself on a sofa, she rang the bell, and the footman came in so immediately he must have been waiting outside in the hall. ‘Sherry, please, Thomas. And would you ask Miss Lombardi to come down.’

Stuffy’s heart jumped at the last words. He had been wondering how to introduce her to the conversation. ‘I hope Miss Lombardi was not tired after the exertions of the ball?’ he said.

‘Not at all,’ said Mary, smiling. ‘The young, I think, can never be tired out by dancing. My husband is not at home at present. He will be sorry to have missed you. He is spending the day, as he so often does, at the British Museum. The Egyptian rooms. Are you interested in antiquities, sir?’

Stuffy felt he probably ought to be. ‘You have some – er – interesting objects in this room, I couldn’t help noticing. That – er – manikin, for instance.’ He gestured at random at a figurine, which appeared to be missing an arm and most of its face, and was wearing a very peculiar sort of nightcap, which was standing upright instead of flopping over.

‘Oh, the god Horus,’ she said. ‘Yes, we were very pleased to find that. Quite rare in that condition.’

‘What a pity it got broken,’ he said kindly.

‘It is over two thousand years old,’ Mary said gently. ‘Some damage is inevitable, especially when something has been buried all that time.’

‘Ah. Quite,’ said Stuffy. He cast around in vain for another topic.

Mary said, ‘Do you make much stay in London? Giles – Lord Stainton – has mentioned you to us on occasion. I believe you live in Northumberland?’

‘Oh, that’s the family seat. I have a place in Perthshire, too, and another in Norfolk, but I don’t spend much time at any of ’em. You travel a lot, I believe? Abroad, and so on? Spend much time here?’

‘This is our home,’ she said, faintly amused, ‘but we go on digs whenever we can.’

Stuffy thought for a moment she’d said ‘in digs’ and was puzzled why they would live in digs when they had a perfectly decent house, but then he made the connection with archaeology and said, ‘Ah!’

At that moment, the door opened to admit Giulia, closely followed by the footman with the sherry tray. Stuffy rose to his feet, his eyes flying to her face and the blood to his own.

Giulia exchanged an enigmatic glance with Mary Arthur, then extended a cool hand to the visitor. ‘Lord Leake,’ she said, without inflection. ‘How nice to see you again.’

At the touch of her fingers, Stuffy went to pieces. Only a lifetime of urbanity allowed him to speak at all. ‘Just passing, you know – felt I had to check – no ill effects from the ball – late night – overheated rooms – your magnificent exertions—’