Page 23 of A Sense of Injustice
‘With Papa gone, my aunt felt she had the right to tell me what to do and whom to associate with. She invited people to the house without first telling me. Gentlemen she was keen for me to associate with, despite the fact that I was still in half-mourning. We argued about it.’
‘How very crass of her.’
‘Quite. I escaped by riding in the park. I did so almost every day, in the company of a groom. Aunt Bess is no horsewoman, thank goodness. Anyway, during my morning rides I several times happened upon a lady with whom I was acquainted. We came out at the same time. Her name is Lady Antonia Cleethorp. I liked her and saw no reason not to accept an invitation to her house in Belgrave Square when she asked me to spend an afternoon with her.’
‘I am glad you found a friend, although I have an unsettling feeling that she might not have turned out to be quite what she seemed.’
‘How very astute of you.’ Louise swallowed. ‘Anyway, at first I was completely taken in by her. Perhaps I should have questioned her sudden reappearance in my life, given that my aunt thoroughly approved of the connection and encouraged it. Antonia said she was glad that our paths had crossed because she wanted to compare notes on our experiences since being presented.’ Louise allowed a significant pause. ‘And that is where I first made the acquaintance of her brother, Lord Darius, the Marquess of Somerset’s younger brother.’
‘Ah.’
‘He stirred my passions right away. He is very handsome, and appeared to be charming and obliging. He was easy company. Almost too perfect. He seemed to like me, paid me an inordinate amount of attention, and told me amusing stories that made me forget about my sadness in losing Papa. Naturally I took every opportunity to visit Antonia.’
‘And Lord Darius was always there.’
‘Yes. We used to walk in the grounds and I found myself opening up to him. Telling him all about Papa’s oddities, my difficulties with my aunt and my guilt at having inherited so much money when my sister had been completely overlooked. He said that the answer was obvious. That I ought to marry him. He would take good care of me, and Marianne could come to live with us if that was what I wanted.’
‘He was the answer to your prayers.’
‘Yes. Well, so I thought, but something held me back.’ She wrinkled her brow. ‘I still cannot say precisely what made me hesitate but I didn’t accept his proposal. In fact, I told him that I couldn’t even consider it until I was out of mourning. It would be disrespectful. That was the first time Lord Darius seemed anything other than obliging. It was clear to me that he was unaccustomed to rejection. I had seen the way other women reacted to him when I encountered him and his sister riding in the park, and knew how much in demand he actually was.’
‘He’s vain and self-assured?’ Flora asked, thinking how very different he sounded to Lord Hardwick. He was a marquess’s actual heir, not a mere younger son, and didn’t have a vain bone in his body.
‘He is, and I cannot abide vanity in either sex. If a person happens to be blessed with good looks it is not something to boast about at the expense of others.’
‘This facet of the man’s personality persuaded you to cut the connection and come to Swindon to put distance between you?’
‘No.’ Louise plucked abstractedly at a strand of grass. ‘Would that it had. My aunt learned of his proposal and actively encouraged me to accept him, but I refused to be rushed. I still don’t know what it was that held me back. In spite of the few character flaws that I had detected, I convinced myself that no one was perfect and that I was well on the way to being in love with my attentive suitor. He made me laugh at life’s absurdities and didn’t seem to take himself too seriously.’
‘What happened?’
‘Antonia and Darius called at Eaton Place to take tea with my aunt and me one day. After they had gone, I realised that Antonia had left her purse behind. It was a nice day so I decided to walk round to return it in person. I cut across the green and let myself in through the Cleethorps’ garden gate that backs onto it. I noticed Darius in the summerhouse. He didn’t see me because he appeared to be engaged in a violent argument. I could hear his voice quite distinctly, even though the door was closed. My curiosity got the better of me so I’m afraid I lingered behind some shrubs, wanting to know who had upset him. Darius had always seemed like the most even tempered of men, so I justified my eavesdropping by telling myself that if he was given to rages when he didn’t get his way, if this was another facet of his personality that he ordinarily kept hidden, then I needed to know about it.’
‘I would not have hesitated to listen, and I am a senior cleric’s daughter!’
Both ladies smiled but Flora could see the strain in Louise’s features and sensed that she had reached the crux of the matter. ‘This is harder than I imagined it would be,’ Louise said.
‘You haven’t told anyone else? Not your aunt? Your grandmother?’
She shook her head. ‘No, on one. My aunt would not be sympathetic and I really don’t want to disappoint my grandmother.’
‘Oh, you poor thing!’ Flora impulsively hugged the younger woman. ‘I don’t yet know what happened but can already tell that it has been a terrible burden for you to have carried alone.’
Flora’s sympathy and lack of judgement appeared to give Louise the strength to continue with her story. ‘The person in the summerhouse with Darius was a woman.’ She paused. ‘His lover.’ Louise glanced at Flora, who failed to show either shock or disapproval. ‘They were arguing about me. The woman, whose name I have subsequently discovered is Felicity Brigstock, was berating Darius for not yet having persuaded me to marry him.’
‘Good heavens!’ Flora’s mouth fell open, but more in sympathy than because Louise’s revelation had surprised her. ‘Your money was their objective?’
‘Oh yes.’ Louise emitted a bitter little laugh. ‘Everything I had seen was a façade. Darius was barely on speaking terms with his brother, the marquess. I discovered this when I made discreet enquiries of a lady, a friend of my father’s, whose judgement I trusted. She told me that the marquess had washed his hands of him because he refused to doing anything useful to keep the family’s coffers full. The marquess had rescued him from several scrapes and quite lost all patience with him. He had not publicly denounced him because he didn’t want to drag the family name through the mud, but Darius knew he would get no further help from that quarter.’
‘You say it was not public knowledge, but if your father’s friend knew then I’m prepared to wager that most of society was also aware. I understand thetonis a hotbed of gossip. So it follows your aunt must have known about the man’s questionable reputation too, but didn’t warn you off.’ Flora shook her head in disgust. ‘Now I feel vindicated to have taken her in dislike without having even met her.’
‘Precisely. The house in Belgrave Square belongs to the marquess. His sister is welcome there. Darius is not. Darius used his brother’s temporary absence from England to make use of the house to impress and go on the prowl for a wealthy wife. Despite his reputation, he is still invited everywhere simply because he is who he is. He makes himself charming to the hostesses and a single gentleman to make up numbers is always welcome.’ Louise looked disgusted. ‘And to think that I almost fell for his disgusting flattery. Anyway, it seemed Felicity Brigstock was losing patience with Darius. They were madly in love but needed something to live on.’
‘The plan was for Darius to marry you and use your money to support the woman he really loved.’ Flora screwed up her nose. ‘How reprehensible.’
‘Quite.’
‘What did you do?’
