The emotions that must necessarily be attendant upon such a discovery overwhelmed her and many hours passed before Lady Vernon could compose herself sufficiently to calculate, with any degree of assurance, when the anticipated event might take place, and how completely her situation would change if the child should be a son, for a son would displace Charles Vernon as the heir to all of Sir Frederick’s property and fortune.
chapter twenty-nine
Upon the sixth of January, while the children were exclaiming over their gifts and Mrs. Vernon was expressing her satisfaction that they had all “got through Christmas,” an express was handed in to Lady Vernon. She immediately opened it and read it in a great hurry.
Miss Summers to Lady Vernon
Wigmore Street, London
My dear Lady Vernon,
Do not be alarmed by any thought that Miss Vernon has come to harm, but I regret to inform you that your daughter must be removed from my institution at once. I deeply regret the necessity of this, but as the misconduct of any pupil may injure the reputation of my establishment, I cannot do otherwise.
The incident that compels me to take this action was the following: Miss Vernon left the premises without seeking permission or enlisting a chaperone. Fortunately, she was intercepted before she had got far from Wigmore Street. Although our rules may be somewhat relaxed for the holiday season, our standards cannot be. To run away in this fashion was a serious infraction, and one that I cannot overlook, particularly since I could not compel Miss Vernon to acknowledge any cause for her extraordinary conduct. When I sought a private explanation of it from the other pupils, they maintained that an engagement has been formed between your daughter and Sir James Martin, and that Miss Vernon is strongly opposed to the match and meant to run away from an enforced union.
At the present, Miss Vernon is with the Johnsons on Edward Street, who have agreed to keep her until you can make your arrangements to retrieve her. I deeply regret this circumstance as, until this serious breach and despite her excessive propensity for intellectual pursuits, Miss Vernon had been a model of deportment.
Yours most sincerely,
H. Summers
Lady Vernon uttered an exclamation of dismay.
“What news?” Charles Vernon cried.
His wife prudently dismissed the servants and Lady Vernon waited for the door to close upon them before she would speak. “The letter is from Miss Summers. She claims that Frederica left the school without permission, and Miss Summers considers this a very serious infraction and says that Frederica must be removed at once.”
“Removed?” exclaimed Charles. “Do you mean to say that my niece tried to run away? Where is she now?”
“She has been taken in by my friend Mrs. Johnson.”
“What can have compelled her to act in such a manner?” Catherine asked.
“I am certain that it is all a simple misunderstanding. The daughters of our friends from Staffordshire had passed through London, and I am sure that Frederica did not think that she must ask leave only to call upon them. If you will excuse me, I will write to Miss Summers immediately. I must prevail upon her to take Frederica back until I can make arrangements to go to town.”
“No,” declared Reginald. “A personal address is more effective than a letter, and more expedient, for the horses and carriage can be ready in under half an hour and it is only thirty miles to town. Charles, you are her uncle—you must go and set matters right.”
Charles Vernon was dumbfounded at this suggestion and Catherine protested the exertion, but Reginald stood firm. “If Miss Vernon did nothing but to pay a visit without proper dispensation, an uncle’s address can defend her as ably as a mother’s letter, and perhaps better, for you, Charles, are known about London as a man of business and your connection with the deCourcy family must bring some influence to bear.”
Reginald may well have meant to flatter his brother-in-law, but it did not please Charles to be reminded that he owed much of his importance in the world to his wife’s family.
Lady Vernon did not yield easily to this plan. She would rather have made the journey herself, but reason prevailed, for a gentleman might travel the thirty miles more speedily and with less encumbrance than a woman who was in a delicate state. “Very well,” she said at last. “But delay, I pray you, so that I may write a note for you to carry to Miss Summers.”
Lady Vernon wrote a letter that laid out all of the arguments in favor of Frederica’s remaining at Miss Summers’s Academy. Her daughter’s tractable and helpful disposition, her amiable conduct, her excellent progress in her studies, all spoke in favor of this being a lapse that had more of the appearance of misconduct than the substance of it.
I must think that this must all weigh heavily in my daughter’s favor—however, if you will not return her to school, I will ask you to keep her only long enough for me to make my preparations to come up to London.
When Vernon had departed, Lady Vernon addressed her sister-in-law. “Have no fear that you will be imposed upon by this very distressing turn of events. I am certain that Miss Summers will see reason.”
“If you will forgive me,” Catherine replied coolly, “it may be more to the point to understand why Miss Vernon acted as she did, lest she be returned to school only to run away again. I cannot blame you for wanting to improve her abilities, but it may be that Miss Vernon is too used to doing as she likes to accommodate herself to the rigors of instruction, particularly when they are forced upon her by the ambitions of a parent.”
“Ambitions?” cried Lady Vernon.
“My cousin, Miss Lucy Hamilton, has written to her mother of your desire to promote a marriage between Miss Vernon and Sir James Martin, and that your daughter is not at all inclined toward the match.”
Lady Vernon would have denied this assertion if she thought that there was any possibility of her being believed, and so she replied in more general terms. “What mother would not regard it as the highest compliment to have her daughter the object of a gentleman who is so eligible in terms of family and fortune? I know that you do not mean to reproach me, sister. You will comprehend my feelings better on that day, many years hence, when you have the happiness of bestowing dear little Kitty and Regina upon gentlemen of excellent connections and unexceptionable character.”
Lady Vernon then excused herself, saying that she had letters to write before the next post. She had no sooner left the room than Catherine declared, “If Lady Vernon had not neglected her daughter for so many years, Miss Vernon would not find the rigors of school so far above her ability and inclination.”
“Perhaps it is marriage rather than education toward which she is disinclined,” suggested Reginald. “I understand that she has been left nothing in the way of fortune and that neglect will affect her future more than a want of schooling.”
“You are wrong, Reginald. Charles has told me that both Miss Vernon and her mother have been left quite independent, and certainly Lady Vernon has friends enough to enable her to live in comfort at no expense to herself for as long as she likes.”
“We cannot agree here, Catherine, for your notion of comfort is my notion of dependence. I could not call Lady Vernon independent unless she had the resources to live well without imposing upon her friends or relations. Her own marriage was said to be such a contented one that I cannot think she would encourage Miss Vernon into an unhappy union if she was able to make an entirely disinterested choice.”