Page 26 of Tempting the Earl
A subdued Lady Maude remained coldly silent. Her parents seemed embarrassed and there had been a moment of awkwardness when they met up with Emily in the drawing room before dinner. She could tell they weren’t sure if they should apologize or ignore what had happened. Emily's reaction to the incident could greatly affect their daughter's social future; but Emily graciously smoothed over the moment taking Lady Sedgely’s hand gently.
“How was your ride back to the estate? I hope it wasn’t too hot for you in the open carriage.”
To Emily’s surprise, the haughty older woman appeared reluctantly grateful for Emily’s question, squeezing her hand in return. “It was quite pleasant, thank you, my dear.”
Of course, Lady Sedgely didn’t linger to spend much time with a mere companion, but the moment wasn’t unpleasant. Faint praise, Emily acknowledged with a small smile, watching as the other occupants of the room received the Sedgelys in a lukewarm manner. Despite how awful the incident that afternoon had been, Emily was relieved it wasn’t going to ruin the party for everyone.
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The next day passed pleasantly and uneventfully. The ladies spent the morning in genteel activities such as needlework or letter writing, while the gentlemen had gone out early to return to the hunt. In the afternoon everyone had participated in various lawn sports. Dinner went smoothly and cards, games, and more music enlivened the evening.
Emily was relieved that the end of the week was near. As she sat in her room that night she reflected on the various relationships that seemed to be developing among the guests. Emily had chosen to be a spectator as ten of the young guests engaged in a vigorous game of croquet while the older group took a turn in the gardens and entertained themselves. James had sacrificed himself to try to entertain the ignored Lady Maude while Lord Philip was busy with estate matters.
Emily had found it fascinating to see the young men and women pairing up innocently. Despite his differences from his haughty family and his respectful attraction to Miss Spencer, Garfield couldn't help but be discouraged by her lowly position. The quietly refined Lady Arabella was much more to his liking. He found her pleasantly introspective personality restful and her cheerfully kind warmth appealing. They joined in a friendly competition with Dolph and Jane, who had struck up a mild flirtation. Tony and Julia were on very friendly terms, which left the young Viscount Eastwick to team up with Ann. While Lord Brooke partnered his brother-in-law's sister and watched jealously as Lady Arabella enjoyed Garfield's company.
Emily smiled as she remembered watching young Ann practicing her newly developed social skills on the easy going lord. He, being used to his much quieter sister, found her artless chatter vastly amusing and was disposed to be kind towards her. It seemed like most of the young ladies were simply practicing for the upcoming Season, however it looked like a serious relationship was budding between Jane and Lord Sutherland.
Emily was pleasantly surprised to see the usually extremely quiet young man engaging in lengthy conversation with the bubbly Miss Waddell. As it turned out the quiet young baron was actually quite intelligent despite his penchant for sporting activities and his lack of conversational skills. Emily found there was truth to the expression that quiet waters run deep. It would seem there might be a match in the future for the young couple. Emily reflected on the conversation she had overheard that afternoon.
Jane was attempting to draw the young baron out with leading questions. "So what is Sutherland like, my lord? Is it very far from London?"
"Sutherland is a beautiful estate about three hours' ride from London. It's not an overly large estate and the house is really quite comfortable, since it is not a terribly old title. I have a few excellent tenants that have been with my family for generations and everything runs quite smoothly."
"Oh, you must be kept so busy," was the admiring reply from Jane.
"Not that much. But wasn't your father a baron? His workload would have been quite similar," questioned Adolphus gently.
Jane looked uncertain before replying. "My father died many years ago. When he was alive, he had a steward who did much of the work on our estate and after he died, my mother kept the steward on and he now does all the work. I am not actually even sure what goes into the running of an estate, so I am ever so impressed that you actually do most of the running of Sutherland yourself."
The quiet young baron appeared quite pleased by her praise but replied modestly. "Sutherland is quite an easy place and my father and grandfather set up excellent routines, it almost runs itself. Unlike the estate I am expected to inherit from my uncle, the Earl of Vale. It is such a draughty old place, sometimes I shudder to think of the restorations I will have to make when it comes into my hands. I'm quite fond of my uncle and he's got several good years left, so I shouldn't worry about it too much, should I?" He then looked seriously at Jane and quietly continued proudly, "I think you would really like Sutherland, Miss Waddell. I would like to show it to you someday."
Jane blushed prettily and murmured an unintelligible reply before giggling as the two moved out of Emily's earshot. Emily surmised an offer for Jane's hand would not be too far in the future if things progressed along the same vein. That would be just as well. If Jane was promised to someone it would make the upcoming season easier for Ann, Emily surmised practically. She was very happy for all her young friends who seemed to be having such a good time visiting at Rosemount. Emily had a smile on her face that night as she drifted off to a restful sleep.
Chapter Thirteen
The day of the big finale dawned brightly. Lady Clara and Emily were congratulating themselves on the uncharacteristically good weather as though they had conjured it by request. The two women spent the morning consumed with final preparations for the gala that would be held at Rosemount that evening. Gentry from the surrounding area had been invited and about fifty-five people were expected for the ball and second supper. A light supper was to be served to the houseguests before the ball.
The house was abuzz with excitement as all the staff worked hard to ready the manor for the event. All the silver was polished, the windows shined, rugs beaten, and floors waxed. Those tasks, of course, had mostly been done before the houseguests had arrived, but the maids and footmen went over everything again to make sure nothing had come dreadfully undone during the week. The maids were excited to see everyone in their finery and were proud of their hand in everything. The footmen were busy preparing their own uniforms for the evening. Everything was to be perfect. Lady Clara was most pleased with how it was all coming together. Emily’s presence in her home was turning out to be one of the best decisions the countess had ever made.
The houseguests had been left to amuse themselves. Lord Philip took the young gentlemen out riding in the afternoon as they were getting restless and it kept them out of the way of the servants busily making preparations. The older gentlemen spent a quiet afternoon playing chess while all the ladies tried to remain quiet working their needlepoint or other genteel pursuits. But it was to no avail. Most of the young ladies were much too excited to sit still so after taking a turn in the rose gardens, they ran tittering upstairs to begin their own personal preparations for the evening. The special gowns had all been shaken out well in advance, but each girl spent painstaking hours on their hairstyles and whatever other beauty machinations they could come up with. Finally the time to assemble for the light private dinner arrived.
The drawing room was heavy with the perfumes and powders that had been applied so generously just minutes before. Emily could not help her wry smile as she realized she too was caught up in the magical excitement of the event. Maggie had outdone herself coaxing Emily's curls into the fashionable style. The two girls had poured over the fashion plates to determine how best to arrange Emily's hair for the special event. Lady Clara had lent Emily an intricately stylish black necklace to offset the paleness of her high-waisted white crepe gown. She felt very elegant as she mingled with the gathered company. The first real ball of her life! Who wouldn't be excited?
Emily wondered silently why they had bothered planning a dinner for the guests, as most were clearly too excited to be able to manage more than a couple of bites. Of course, the most cynical of the group will no doubt appreciate the sustenance to get them through, she thought with an inner chuckle as she saw the look of resignation upon the faces of Lords Sedgely and Fitzgerald. They would prefer a good card room to a ballroom any day,she thought. She decided to take pity on them and went over to whisper the news in their ears. She had a few tables set up in the small salon for those who would prefer a game of cards to the dance floor. She was delighted to see the sparkle return to their eyes as they told her she was a “good gal after all.”
Many of the other guests had already arrived when the houseguests left the dining room and converged on the ballroom. It was a less formal affair than a London ball, so Lady Clara and Lord Philip had chosen to forego the receiving line in lieu of mingling and speaking with each guest personally. This allowed them to spend a little longer with each one and they were gracious enough to make everyone feel especially welcomed.
When the quartet struck up the first song, Lord Philip led his mother out onto the dance floor. Lady Clara felt triumph in her breast as she thought of how the week could have turned out. She had been expecting to see her son leading out the Lady Maude for this special dance and it was with a sense of profound relief that she realized Philip was not at all disturbed that things hadn’t turned out differently. He did appear to be preoccupied, though.
“What troubles you, my son?”
“How could anything trouble me while dancing with my dear mother?”
She smiled over his effort to be chivalrous but persisted in probing his preoccupation. “You needn’t flirt with me, Philip. And as your mother, I know you are worrying over something.”
“It is naught other than this matter for His Majesty,” Philip replied. “I hope you won’t mind that Mr. Dale and I will be leaving along with your guests in the morning. I had thought to stay behind and visit privately with you, but we need to return to our search.”
“Of course, you needn’t worry about me. I have Emily now.”
