“Yes, I thank you.”
“I was so very grateful to him for traveling all the way from Bath last summer. My husband’s death was so sudden that I am certain many people who wished to come were unable to make the journey.” She paused just long enough for him to recollect that his own sister had stayed away.
“It would not be in my uncle’s nature to do less,” said Reginald. “Particularly as he always spoke of your family in terms of such high esteem.” He realized as he uttered this remark that he ought to have given as much credit to his uncle’s opinion as he had to that of Charles Smith.
Lady Vernon took pity on him and raised another subject. “And how do you like this part of Sussex? You will find it very quiet, I think.”
“A household with four children can only be quiet when compared to the animated society of Langford.”
“The Manwarings are very fond of company,” Lady Vernon agreed. “It was at Langford that I was introduced to a particular acquaintance of yours, Mr. Charles Smith.”
“And did you like him?” he said after a moment’s hesitation.
“If I did not, I would not say so to one with whom he professed a strong and steadfast friendship. It might get back to him in a way that would not do justice to my abuse and then I would be obliged to think ill of both of you.”
Reginald deCourcy laughed and perched on a tree stump beside them. “He has very lively manners.”
“Yes, very lively. But gentlemen who are not rich cannot afford to be solemn if they want to mix with people of fashion. Such people like to be amused.”
“And do you not like to be amused?” he asked.
“I think that reading and a little music and some good conversation are the only diversions that are suitable to my present situation,” she replied with perfect composure. “So it is fortunate that they are the ones that I prefer. I understand that you are a great reader.”
“Whoever told you so said too much.”
“Mr. Smith told the Manwarings that when you were at Bath you spent a great deal of time at the library.”
“When he is at Bath, Smith reads only the book. To him, anything more would be too much and any time away from the Pump Room would be too long. I am enough of a reader to see that Churchill Manor has a very superior library.”
“The late Mr. Vernon laid out a very good foundation, and my husband added to it considerably. Our daughter has always been a great reader, and the mere mention of this title or that from her would have my husband sending around to every bookseller in England.”
“Such devotion between father and daughter is remarkable. She must miss him all the more for it.”
“Yes, her spirits have been greatly depressed,” Lady Vernon replied. “Those who have only known her since her father’s accident will find her to be quiet and aloof, I am sure, but they do not know what she was before. I hope that in the company of other young ladies, she will become herself once more. She is very fond of your cousin, Miss Lucy Hamilton, who is all liveliness and good humor—her high spirits can only raise Frederica’s.”
“Yes, Lucy is very far from quiet and aloof.” Reginald laughed. “She will make Miss Vernon more cheerful, and Miss Vernon will, perhaps, make Lucy more prudent. I cannot speak for Miss Vernon, but for Lucy it will be a very great improvement.”
“That is because you are only a cousin.” Lady Vernon smiled. “A fond mother will always think her child is beyond any improvement.”
chapter twenty-five
Lady Vernon concluded that there was no great mystery to winning over Reginald deCourcy. He only wanted to be listened to. His parents dictated, his sister criticized, his friends gossiped, but none of them paid heed to any of his replies. With Lady Vernon, he experienced the novelty of being asked for his opinion and the satisfaction of giving an uninterrupted response.
She observed that his education had been thorough, his understanding was sound, and his tendency to think well of himself had not predisposed him to think meanly of others. His gentleness with his young nieces and nephews, his regard for his uncle Lewis deCourcy, and his very handsome countenance and figure were all to his advantage, and Lady Vernon’s opinion of him had improved by the time she next wrote to Mrs. Johnson.
Mr. deCourcy is certainly a very handsome young man. He is less insinuating in his manner than Robert Manwaring, and not as teasing as Sir James. He is lively and clever; his mind has not been idle, and he has a natural curiosity that makes his conversation more to my taste than Mr. Vernon’s or his wife’s.
Her good friend, always eager to find romance and intrigue in every situation, immediately dispatched a reply filled with the sort of errant good wishes which indicated that Lady Vernon’s praise of Reginald had been thoroughly misunderstood.
Mrs. Johnson to Lady Vernon
Edward Street, London
My dear friend,
I congratulate you on Mr. deCourcy’s arrival and advise you by all means to marry him. I hear the young man well spoken of and though no one can really deserve you, my dear Susan, there are reasons that he may be worth having. His father is very infirm and not likely to stand in your way long, and the estate is considerable and entailed upon Mr. deCourcy—after that, only his uncle Lewis deCourcy keeps Parklands from passing to the issue of the female line. Charles Vernon has got enough out of the deCourcys, and if he has squandered it, it is nobody’s fault but his own. Mark my word, he will want to keep Reginald at Churchill Manor as long as the Hamiltons remain at Parklands, as he cannot look forward to a marriage that will put another half-dozen deCourcys between himself and so valuable an estate. How diverting to think that his efforts to keep deCourcy from one wife have thrown him in the way of another!
By all means, engage the affections of young deCourcy as quick as you can. You will be very little benefited by the match until the old gentleman’s death, except for the enjoyment of Mrs. Vernon’s distress. Her ability to influence her brother’s opinions has always been a point of pride with her, and she will be rightly humbled to see how little the advice of a sister can go to prevent a young man’s being in love if he chooses it. Lady Hamilton and Miss Hamilton will storm, and poor Manwaring will not be easily consoled, for ever since you were left so rich there have been whispers that he is scheming to effect his emancipation from Eliza on purpose to ask for your hand. I am convinced that there is no true affection anywhere—everything is all about money!
I have seen Sir James, who has come to town to visit his tailor. I gave him what hopes I could of Miss Vernon’s relenting and told him a great deal of her improvements, and yet he would speak of nobody but you—indeed I was persuaded that he would marry either of you with pleasure. He is as silly and agreeable as ever.
Your faithful friend,
Alicia Johnson
Mrs. Johnson was so far persuaded that an engagement between her friend and Reginald deCourcy was probable that she did not wait for her friend to contradict it before she began circulating around London that, despite a tacit understanding with Miss Lavinia Hamilton, young deCourcy had fallen entirely under the spell of Lady Vernon.
The rumor was well established by the time Charles Vernon was obliged to go to town for two days in order to attend to some matters at the banking house and collect his dividends. He departed in high spirits—a respite from the agitation that Lady Vernon’s presence had produced and the prospect of getting his hands on money and spending it at cards made him very happy to quit Churchill Manor for London. Men, however, must talk about something when they are at cards, and polite inquiries after Lady Vernon’s health and spirits were followed by congratulations upon the likelihood of her being an even nearer relation.