Page 2 of The Scoundrel and the Debutante
“Honor means only to help, Pru,” Grace chastised her. “Honor means only to help.”
“I mean more thanthat,” Honor said sternly, charging back around again, as she really was not the sort to flee in tears when there was a good fight to be had. “I insist that you snap out of your doldrums, Pru! It’s unbecoming and bothersome!”
“I’m not in doldrums,” Prudence said.
“You are! You’reforevercross,” said Mercy.
“And moody,” Grace hastened to agree.
“I will tell you only what a loving sister will tell you truly, darling.” Honor leaned over the dining table so that she was eye level with Prudence. “You’re a bloody chore.” But she smiled when she said it and quickly straightened. “Mrs. Bulworth has written and asked you to come and see her new baby. Do go and see her. She will be beside herself with joy, and I think that the country air will do you good.”
Prudence snorted at that ridiculous notion. “How can I possibly be improved by country air when I am already inthe country?”
“Northern country air is vastly different,” Honor amended. Grace and Mercy nodded adamantly that Honor was right.
Prudence would like nothing better than to explain to them all that calling on their friend Cassandra Bulworth, who had just been delivered of her first child, was thelastthing she wanted to do. To see her friend so deliriously happy made Prudence feel that much more wretched about her own circumstance. “Send Mercy!”
“Me?” Mercy cried. “I couldn’t possibly! I’ve very little time to prepare for school. I must complete my still life painting, you know. Every student must have a complete portfolio and I haven’t finished my still life.”
“What about Mamma?” Prudence demanded, ignoring Mercy. They could not deny their mother’s madness necessitated constant supervision from them.
“We have her maid Hannah, and Mrs. Pettigrew from the village,” Grace said. “And we have Mercy, as well.”
“Me!”Mercy cried. “Ijustsaid—”
“Yes, yes, we are all intimately acquainted with all you must do for school, Mercy. On my word, one would think you were the only person to have ever been accepted into a school. But you aren’t leaving us for another month, so why should you not have the least responsibility?” Grace asked. Then she turned to Prudence and smiled sweetly. “Pru, we’re only thinking of you. You see that, don’t you?”
“I don’t believe you,” Prudence said. “But it so happens thatIfindyouall quite tedious.”
Honor gasped with delight and clasped her hands to her breast. “Does that mean you’ll go?”
“Perhaps I shall,” Prudence sniffed. “I’ll be as mad as Mamma if I stay any longer at Blackwood Hall.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful news,” Grace said happily.
“Well, you needn’t rejoice in it,” Prudence said missishly.
“But we’re so happy!” Honor squealed. “I mean, happy for you,” she quickly corrected, and hurried around the table to hug Prudence tightly to her. “I think your mien will bevastlyimproved if you just step out into the world, dearest.”
Prudence scarcely thought so.Out into the worldwas where she lost all heart. Happy people, happy friends, all of them embarking on a life that Prudence had always hoped would be hers, made her terribly unhappy. Prudence was filled with envy, and she could not beat it down, no matter how much she would have liked, no matter how much she had tried. Even mortifyingly worse, Prudence’s envy of the happiness surrounding her was apparent. Lately, it felt as if even sunshine was a cruel reminder of her situation.
But as Mercy launched into her complaints that so much attention was being paid to Prudence whensheneeded it, Prudence decided she would go. Anything to be free of the happy chatter she was forced to endure day in and day out.
* * *
GRACEARRANGEDITALL, announcing grandly one afternoon that Prudence would accompany Dr. Linford and his wife north, as they would be traveling that way to visit Mr. Linford’s mother. The Linfords would deposit Prudence in the village of Himple where Mr. Bulworth would send his man to come and fetch her and bring her to their newly completed mansion. Cassandra, who had come out with Prudence and had received several offers of marriage in her debut Season compared to Prudence’s astounding lack of them, would be waiting with her baby.
“But the Linford coach is quite small,” Mercy said, frowning so that it caused her spectacles to slide down her nose. She was seated at her new easel, drawing a bowl of fruit for her painting. That’s what the masters did, she’d informed them earlier. They sketched first, then painted. “Prudence will be forced to carry on a conversation forhours,” she added absently as she studied her sketch.
“What’s wrong with conversation?” Honor demanded as she braided the hair of her daughter, Edith.
“Nothing at all if you care so much for the weather. Dr. Linford speaks of nothing else.It’s a fine day,and what not. Pru doesn’t care so much for weather, do you, Pru?”
Prudence shrugged. She didn’t care much for anything.
On the day of her departure, Prudence’s trunk and valise were carried downstairs to a waiting carriage that would ferry her to Ashton Down, where Prudence was to meet the Linfords at one o’clock. In her valise, she included her necessities—some ribbons for her hair, a silk chemise Honor had brought for her from the new London modiste she raved about, some lovely slippers, and a change of clothing. She said goodbye to her overly cheerful sisters and started off at a quarter to twelve.
The ever-efficient Blackwood Hall coach reached Ashton Down at ten past twelve.
