She gave her consent, therefore, and Mr. deCourcy suggested that the plan be adapted to include Miss Manwaring. “I will write to Sir Reginald myself, which will secure her welcome to Parklands, and it will give Miss Vernon a companion on those occasions when you, Catherine, will be occupied with your mother or the children.”
Catherine did not approve of her uncle’s proposal at once. It was certainly a very forward thing to expect Miss Manwaring, a person of no consequence, to be admitted to Parklands Manor. She would not have to exert herself, however, so far as to petition her father, nor to accommodate Miss Manwaring in any way—to be at Parklands would be honor enough for her.
All was speedily arranged, and when the young ladies and Mr. deCourcy departed for Billingshurst, Lady Vernon retired to her rooms to write to her aunt in London.
Lady Vernon to Lady Martin
Churchill Manor, Sussex
My dear Aunt,
I will be in London in three days’ time. I am obliged to have the Vernons stop at Portland Place; for that, I beg your pardon, but it will only be for the night. Mrs. Vernon will not stay longer, as she is eager to get to Parklands, no doubt hoping to join her mother in attempting to keep Reginald from returning to London.
How did you like him? Do you not think they are well suited? I have every expectation that he goes to Kent on purpose to disappoint his parents in regard to Miss Hamilton, and then it will only be a matter of time—a very short time, I hope—before he declares himself to Frederica. I think that event might be reasonably looked for in the course of a twelvemonth, but as Reginald’s nature is equally impulsive and resolute, it might as easily be accomplished in less than half the time.
Mrs. Vernon has asked that Freddie accompany her to Kent, and while the motive for the invitation must be for her own convenience, I am happy for Freddie to have the opportunity to secure the good opinion of those who hereinafter may become her in-laws.
I hope that the prospect of that, my dear Aunt, will offset your disappointment in another matter. James has made his proposals to me. How far you ever considered the possibility of this, I cannot tell, but I was taken entirely by surprise. The honor of this application cannot be measured, and in different circumstances the prospect of a proposal from James would have been gratifying beyond expression; under these circumstances, however, I am persuaded that the expectation of a first husband’s child must lessen my appeal were James aware of it.
I have said nothing to Frederica of this. All thoughts of marriage must be directed toward her future.
We will all be at Portland Place by dinnertime. The party will include not only the Vernons but also Miss Manwaring and Mr. Lewis deCourcy.
Yours, etc.,
Susan V.
chapter forty-four
Reginald deCourcy’s arrival at Parklands Manor was greeted with extravagant delight by his mother and with a more temperate and genuine pleasure by his father. He handed over Catherine’s letter immediately, and Lady deCourcy hurried away to her dressing room so that she might peruse it in private and immediately write her reply.
She passed quickly over the description of Sir James Martin and fixed her attention on Catherine’s anxiety for Reginald.
Unless, my dear Mother, you and my father can contrive to keep Reginald at Parklands until his infatuation with Lady Vernon has subsided, I must think of their eventual marriage as a possibility. Use every persuasion in your power, and if, after all exertion, he is still resolved upon settling in town for the coming months, I fear that it may be that there is already an arrangement between them.
As for Miss Vernon, I am of half a mind to prevail upon Lady Vernon to keep her with me. I am convinced that she must be happier with us than in town with her mother, where she will be compelled to be in the company of Lady Vernon’s friends—a very bad set, I doubt not. I do not say that Miss Vernon is so weak that her mother’s companions can injure her, but in London she must mix with them or be left in solitude, where at Parklands she might make herself useful. I begin to think more and more of engaging her as a governess until a more suitable match than Sir James Martin may be found for her. My Aunt Hamilton had spoke of the likelihood that the Reverend Mr. Heywood might soon be in want of a wife and I am certain that Miss Vernon would do for him. He is in possession of such a good living that he cannot be very particular as to fortune, and Charles once mentioned that she has no more than the two or three thousand pounds left to her by her grandparents. As for Sir James Martin, he would be much better suited to someone like my cousin Claudia, who is his equal in birth and fortune.
Charles will be obliged to remain in town for many weeks, so we shall have a very good, long visit in Kent. Pray heaven that I may quit Sussex as soon as possible and that you may keep Reginald at Parklands until that time so that we may all work upon him together.
Your affectionate daughter,
Catherine Vernon
While Lady deCourcy was preoccupied with penning her response, Reginald sat down to a quiet interview with his father, and to answer all of Sir Reginald’s inquiries as to how Catherine and the children did and how his time had been spent at Churchill Manor.
The subject of Lady Vernon was not directly introduced, but Reginald spoke of her by way of her relations, declaring that his opinion of Sir James Martin had been very much improved and that his introduction to Lady Martin had been very agreeable. “She expressed nothing but affection and regard for Lady Vernon, and my Uncle deCourcy likewise holds her in very high esteem—and they are, sir, the commendations of people who have known her since childhood.”
“And so do you now discredit all of the accounts of her unbecoming conduct, not only at Langford but also during her marriage?”
“I do now what I ought to have done at first, sir—what your principles ought to have compelled me to do sooner. I disallow all that cannot be supported by any particular examples of that lady’s profligacy or any unmitigated proof of impropriety. By all the neighbors and tenants, she is held up as a model of respectability and generosity, and I was myself a daily witness to the deference she paid to Catherine, however difficult it must have been to see her post assumed by another and be reduced to a visitor and a dependent in the home where she had once been mistress.”
“And yet her going to Langford—the look of it was so very bad. My sister was quite shocked by her conduct, which was very gay for a widow.”
“We forget that she was obliged to go somewhere, sir, as she could not stay on at Churchill, and that perhaps it was Langford, and not Lady Vernon, that was too gay.”
“Yet she was not so friendless that Langford was her only refuge. She might have chosen more prudently.”
“Yes, but it may have been done for her daughter’s sake. Miss Vernon’s spirits were quite depressed and Lady Vernon might have hoped to revive them by bringing her daughter among other young people.”
“And what sort of person is Miss Vernon?”
Reginald spoke with great feeling of Miss Vernon’s superior character and understanding, reminding his father of the generous impulse that had overtaken prudence so much as to cause Miss Vernon to lose her place at school and enumerating the many ways in which she had made herself useful at Churchill.