His Lordship's Desire. Joan Wolf

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СКАЧАТЬ as they drove along the path, letting Sally and Alex do most of the talking. A curricle pulled up next to them and saluted Alex. He stopped.

      “See you are taking the ladies for a spin, eh Standish?” the fashionable gentleman driving the curricle said.

      “Yes, I am,” Alex replied courteously. “Lord and Lady Sudbury, allow me to introduce my sister, Lady Sarah, and my cousin, Miss Diana Sherwood.”

      “So lovely to meet you,” the lady said in nasal, aristocratic tones. “We knew your father well,” she said to Sally. “How is your dear mother doing?”

      “She is well,” Sally said. “She is back at Standish House now, resting.”

      The lady’s small, curious eyes turned to Diana. “I do not believe I know the Sherwoods,” she said.

      Alex answered before Diana could speak, “Mrs. Sherwood is my mother’s first cousin, and the two of them are as close as sisters, as are Sally and Diana. We all grew up together at Standish Court, you know.”

      “How cozy.” Lady Sudbury’s gaze raked Diana from her head to her feet. “Is this your first visit to London, Miss Sherwood?”

      “Yes,” Diana replied in a composed voice.

      “Diana and I are here to make our come-outs,” Sally said pleasantly. “Mama is planning to hold a big ball in a few weeks. I’m sure you will be getting invitations.”

      “How lovely.” Lady Sudbury’s eyes returned to Diana. “And I suppose I shall see you girls at Almack’s?”

      “I certainly hope so,” Sally said brightly.

      Lord Sudbury spoke for the first time, “Let’s get going Clarissa. I don’t like to keep the horses standing for long.”

      “Of course.” Lady Sudbury shared a restrained smile among the three of them. “Au revoir,” she said.

      There was a little silence as they once more drove along the crowded pathway. Diana had gotten a distinct impression that her cousins had been trying to protect her, and it made her uneasy. Alex had definitely implied that she lived at Standish Court. All of her worry about not being accepted came rushing back.

      “I didn’t particularly care for Lady Sudbury,” Sally, who was usually so kind to everyone, said.

      “He’s something in the government, I believe,” Alex said.

      “She seemed—cold, somehow.”

      “This isn’t the country, Sal,” Alex said. “You and Dee are going to have to get accustomed to the fact that not everyone in London is warm and friendly, the way they are at home. People here are always jockeying for position in society. For example, perhaps Mama was not planning to invite the Sudburys to her ball. Now you have forced her into it.”

      Sally protested. “She made it sound as if she and Mama and Papa were great friends.”

      Alex deftly steered them past another carriage. “Perhaps they were, perhaps they weren’t,” he said.

      “How do you know so much about London society?” Diana suddenly demanded.

      He gave her a quick look. “I may never have been to London for the Season, but remember I went to Eton with the sons of all these people—and I served on Wellington’s staff with a number of others. I know how they tick.”

      His words made Diana even more nervous. If position was what was important to these high-fashion people, then what kind of a reception was she going to get? She knew she was attractive enough, and she knew that her beauty had been responsible for all of the marriage offers she had received at home. But would beauty be enough in a society like this one?

      She said as much to her mother that evening, when she went into her bedroom to say good-night.

      “Perhaps this venture was a mistake, Mama,” she said. “Perhaps we should have stayed at home. What if no one asks me to dance at any of these balls? I shall be humiliated.”

      “That won’t happen,” Mrs. Sherwood said definitely. “When the young men get a look at you, you will have partners. Don’t worry about that, my love.”

      “Well…perhaps I will have partners, but will anyone want to marry me? I am only an army officer’s daughter. I have no money, no status…”

      “Stop worrying, Diana,” her mother chided. “You are a very beautiful young woman. You will find a husband, I’m certain of it.” She kissed Diana’s cheek. “Now get some sleep. I will see you in the morning.”

      Diana gave her mother a shadowy smile and went on back to her own room. She wasn’t sure she was going to like London at all.

      Six

      The following morning Lady Standish took Sally, Diana and Mrs. Sherwood to visit Lady Jersey, an old friend from childhood with whom she had maintained a correspondence over the years. Lady Jersey was one of the patronesses of Almack’s—the assembly rooms where young ladies went in search of husbands. Not to be admitted to Almack’s was a social blot that was almost insurmountable.

      Diana was very nervous about the visit. There was no doubt that Sally would be admitted to Almack’s, but she was not so sure about herself.

      Diana had grown up in a small society where she had liked everybody and everybody had liked her. She had had an intense relationship with Alex when she was very young and after he had left she had never paid very close attention to any of the other men who would have liked to marry her. She was still consumed with Alex—only this time her emotion was anger, not love.

      Now she was in London, a world where for the first time she sensed the vulnerability of her social status. No one at home had minded that she and her mother had little money. They were part of the Standish family, and that was enough. She had blithely thought that things would be the same in London, but their short drive in the park yesterday had left her in doubt.

      So it was with some trepidation that she followed Lady Standish and Sally into the drawing room of Lady Jersey, one of the most influential women in all of London society.

      Diana was dressed correctly, in a pretty green muslin dress, with a square-cut neck and empire waistline. Sally was dressed in similar fashion, although her dress was blue. Diana knew she looked all right, she just didn’t feel that way.

      Lady Jersey rose to greet Lady Standish and the two women embraced. After they had exchanged a few words, Lady Standish presented Mrs. Sherwood and the two girls.

      “My word,” Lady Jersey said, “you have two beauties here, Amelia.”

      Lady Standish smiled. “Thank you, Sally,” she said.

      “Please, be seated,” Lady Jersey said, gesturing them all to the chairs that were gathered around the marble fireplace in a room that was decorated in the Chinese style.

      It was a morning Diana never forgot. In a politely ruthless manner, Lady Jersey ascertained that Mrs. Sherwood was the widow of a mere colonel who had been killed in the Peninsula and that she had no money. She also ascertained СКАЧАТЬ