“Good. Use it wisely. Set yourself up in an elegant little apartment.”
His eyes made a slow tour of the room he sat in. The ceilings, twelve or fifteen feet high, embossed with ornamental plaster medallions, the beautiful brocade draperies, the handsome and obviously expensive furnishings—all were encompassed in his look. “I could not afford much elegance,” he decided wistfully.
“You won’t need much, Cousin. A bachelor does not have to entertain at home. One decent room to greet your friends and associates is enough. Of course you’ll need a bedroom and kitchen and so on, but they can be as spartan as you like. I’ll help you find something. Your friend Taffy may have an idea what places are to let. We shall work something out. Come back to me tomorrow morning. Let me have a day to look into possibilities.”
“You are very kind,” he said. “Why should you go to so much trouble for me?”
“Why, we are cousins. What is family for, if not to take an interest in its members?” Her interest in this particular member was so high she wished to take him in hand at once, to begin that very evening taking him into society. But on this momentous night she must be at Almack’s, where he could not enter in provincial tailoring, even if she could arrange a voucher on such short notice.
“I hardly know what to say. I did not come here to
beg.
I hope that is not your understanding.”
“Rubbish! We are cousins, and will soon be fast friends. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow morning. I shall leave it free for you. Bring Taffy along, if you wish. Now I must be very rude and push you out the door. I am promised to a tea party this afternoon.”
This was not quite true, but she knew she might receive callers and did not wish to introduce her cousin to them yet, not till she had him brushed and polished and somewhat versed in the theories he would henceforth hold regarding the proper running of the country.
She smiled happily as the front door closed behind him. How exciting it was after all, having a new boy to sponsor. Such a charming, handsome young one, too! He put her other protégés in the shade. She must beware, or she would be setting up a flirtation with him.
This was nonsense, of course. She always set up a flirtation with her boys, when they were single, as they usually were. It was quite a matter of course that they would fall head over heels in love with
her,
what was new in the situation was that the passion might, for once, be reciprocated. How high could Mr. Aldred not fly, with her considerable fortune and influence at his back?
The oddest thing about it all was that Cousin Aldred had not leapt at her offer to help. She sensed some little reluctance in him that intrigued her. He was a proud man, she thought, and liked him better for it.
“Lord Eskott, ma’am,” the butler announced, disturbing her thoughts.
Her smile faded, to be replaced not with a frown but with a very calculating expression. It was not often a Whig passed through the portals of the Second Court of St. James. She must quiz him to see if he knew anything about Prinney’s plans.
Chapter Three
“Show him in, Evans.”
“Not necessary, Evans,” Eskott said over the butler’s shoulder as he lounged into the Gold Saloon, disregarding all the laws of polite behavior. Evans cocked his head aside and shook it, disclaiming any responsibility for this ill-behaved caller.
The hostess took no offense; neither did she pay any particular heed to her guest’s appearance. She was accustomed to his tall, rangy form, his severely elegant tailoring, his dark hair and eyes. She had not observed either when his summer complexion faded to winter’s more subdued tone. She was only likely to comment on his appearance if he showed up without a fresh toilette, as he occasionally did after a hard day at the House. Today his appearance was unexceptionable, so she said nothing.
“Hallo, Maddie. Got yourself a new boy?” Eskott asked, pacing forward to sit beside her on the striped satin sofa, throwing one leg over the other. “I met a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed young provincial coming out as I entered. He called me
sir,
the whelp.”
“Did you expect him to call you madame?”
“No, 1 didn’t expect him to call me anything. We had not been introduced.”
“How
encroaching
of him, to utter a civil good day to a stranger met on his cousin’s doorstep!”
“Cousin, is he? I took him for your new boy.” There was a mocking, jeering expression on the caller’s face at this sally.
“Never mind that. You are no more interested in him than in the social gossip. What do you hear at Westminster?”
“That the old boys are to lose their posts. A black day for you, milady,” he said with relish.
“Has he asked for resignations then?” she demanded instantly.
“Nope. He’s called Grey and Grenville to meet with him. It looks as though Perceval is to be kicked out. That will give a good deal of satisfaction to Prinney, to repay him at last for supporting Princess Caroline.”
“Who do you think will be offered the prime minister’s post?” she asked, eyes sparkling. Eskott observed her, smiling.
“Prinney would like Moira, but there is no hope of it. Grey and Grenville would not sit still for it. Brougham, I suppose.”
“What seat do you fancy for yourself, Eskott? The woolsack? You would like to be lord chancellor, I expect.”
“I shouldn’t mind being keeper of the national purse, but as the position includes as well keeper of the conscience, I may settle for a seat on the Treasury instead. I would not want such a heavy embargo on my soul as the conscience of the nation.”
“I see you have been reviewing the duties of the chancellor all the same,” she pointed out with a knowing smile.
“Gave myself away, did I?”
“Just so.”
“I must set a seal on my tongue. You are too good a spy. Let us speak of less dangerous matters. Who is this cousin I met on the doorstep?”
She outlined Aldred’s background, while Eskott listened closely. “I see it is your intention to take the lad in hand, but you must realize any friend of Taffy Barker is not likely to do you credit in any capacity but that of court clown.”
“He is not at all like Taffy. He is intelligent—sharp.”
“Also tall, handsome, and a bachelor. Don’t omit the more stringent of your requirements in your boys.”
She lifted her chin and tossed her head. “This has nothing to do with romance. It is business.”
“I never met a lady under eighty who did not prefer conducting her business with a handsome gentleman. Young Aldred is tolerably pleasing in appearance,” he added with lukewarm enthusiasm, regarding her all the while from the corner of his eye.
“He is
very
handsome!” she countered swiftly.
A conning smile peeped out on Eskott’s dour face. “Not that you
care,
of course,” he pointed out.
“You are perfectly horrid,” she accused. “I don’t know why I put up with you.”
“Of course you do. You like to weasel Whiggish secrets out of me. No other member of my party is cork-brained enough to let you make a cake of him.”
“True, and it serves you right, since you only come here to try to discover of
me
what Papa and the ministers are up to.”
“That is not my primary reason for coming,” he disagreed mildly. “We boast only one conversable lady in our ranks, and Lady Holland is half an outcast due to her divorce. It is my misfortune that the other two in the city are of the wrong political persuasion, but I visit both Melbourne House and the Second Court of St. James, despite that sad detail. I come for some lively female conversation, a glass of Fordwich’s excellent sherry, and of course to admire your beautiful green eyes.”
“When you begin on the beautiful green eyes, I know it is time to beware.”
He shrugged. “Any chance of sampling the sherry?”
“I’ll call Evans... and let him watch you pour yourself a glass,” she finished, as he went to the wine table.
“We’ll see if wine softens your hard heart, as flattery don’t do it,” he said, handing her a glass.
“You waste your time, Eskott. Papa is in conclave with the cabinet. I haven’t the least notion yet what is going on. I have asked him to let me know as soon as anything happens.”
“What is happening at the moment is that Prinney is with the Old Lady of Manchester Square, reading the Bible.”
“What—with Lady Hertford at such a time?” she asked, frowning.
“It gives you a notion of how seriously he takes the situation, does it not?”
“At least he’s not with Sheridan or Lady Holland, to have his reason perverted with your wrong-headed thinking.”
“His new lady doesn’t let him visit with Lady Holland, and would put Sherry on the interdict list too, if she dared. As to my perverted views, the reforms, electoral and otherwise, are not the perversion but the cure. There is too wide a discrepancy between the wealthy and the lower classes. We only want to share a little. The alternative, if you have read your French history, is revolution. You can’t expect to keep ninety percent of the population in rags, without even a voice in Parliament, and not have them rise up in arms. How you can call
us
perverted astonishes me, Maddie. But you are too much your father’s daughter to listen to reason, so I shan’t preach.”
“That’s what our minister usually says after a long and tedious sermon—that he shan’t preach.”
“Which minister is that?”
“The
church
minister, idiot.”
“Oh,
that
minister.”
“Yes, I know you’d rather be quartered with hot knives than visit a church, heathen.”
“I have nothing against church, except that folks too often feel they have done their Christian duty once they have gone, and forget to practice what is preached.”
After a little more chatter, he asked, “Shall I take you around to Almack’s tonight? Should be a lively do, with Prinney back in town. Lots of new rumors to pick up.”
“I’m not sure yet whether I shall go,” she answered hesitantly.
“Aldred will not have had time to get a decent black jacket and knee breeches made up in one afternoon,” he pointed out, with neither rancor nor offense. “Of course you will go. What you
mean
is that you are not sure you want my escort. I can take a hint, but you’ll be sorry when you see me waltzing Lady Susan Glenn round,” he warned, wagging a long, shapely finger at her.
“Lady Susan again!” she said, lifting her brows. “This becomes serious. You danced with her once last season, if memory serves.” This was a facetious reference to Eskott’s habit of dallying with all the ladies, while not encouraging any of them to the extent of a serious flirtation.
“Also the season before,” he added.
“Yes, she has been on the town rather a long time, has she not?”
“Ages, nearly
half
as long as yourself, Maddie,” he riposted.
“Wretch!” she laughed good-naturedly. “I am a confirmed ape leader. Pray do not put me in the same youthful category as the Lady Susans of the world.”
“Is it impossible to bestir you to anger?” he asked lazily, with a rueful shake of the head.
“Not in the least. You can always infuriate me by implying I am trying to make a match with my protégés. Robbing the cradle, in fact.”
“A very meager cradle too, for the wealthy Lady Madeline,” he pointed out. “If you plan to rob a cradle, you might at least make a pass at Devonshire, or one of the other ducal cradles.”
“That pup! He isn’t a duke yet either, but only a marquess.”
“Only
a marquess, eh? That puts me in my place. What are you hanging out for then, a royal prince?”
“I am not hanging out for a husband at all. I have refused several excellent offers, as you well know.”
“You keep reminding me of the fact. It has not wholly slipped my memory that one of the better offers was from myself.”
“You are the one who brings it up. I don’t know how it is we always end up discussing my marriage, when you really come here to pick my brains to see what I have learned from Papa.”
“There must be some reason for it, I suppose,” he replied reasonably.
Before he could say more, Lady Madeline diverted him with a completely new topic. “Where do you have your jackets made up, Eskott?”
“Weston. But he is too expensive for your country cousin,” he told her with a sneering smile.
“Nonsense. No price is too high for such a well-fitted jacket.”
“Better send him along then, or he’ll discover Stutz, and have even more wadding stuffed into his shoulders than he already has. It is your intention to turn the sow’s ear into a silken purse, is it?”
“Why yes, I am a famous magician in that respect. I usually perform one such miracle every season.”
“You might pass your magic wand over his manners while you are about it.”
“I come to think you could use a touch of it yourself. You are not usually so high in the instep, condemning a man for so little reason.”
“If we can find nothing more interesting than Aldred to discuss, I shall take my leave and try my luck with Lady Holland instead. Good day, ma’am.”
“Oh, Eskott, would you mind very much dropping my books off at the circulating library?” she said as he arose. “I am staying home today, in case of a note from Papa.”
“A pleasure and a privilege, Maddie. Could I deliver any messages for you while I am about it? Polish your boots, fill you a tub for bathing? Groom your mount?”
“Thank you, dear Eskott. They are on the table in the hall. Evans will give them to you. Save me a dance if I go to Almack’s.” She wiggled her fingers at him and laughed.
A reluctant smile settled slowly on his lips as he stood looking at her. “There is not another lady in London who treats me so shabbily as
you
do. One of these days, milady, you shall pay the piper,” he said with mock menace.
“How much do I owe you? Don’t be shy to present your bill.”
“Thirty thousand pounds,” he answered cryptically.
She could make nothing of it, till she remembered it was the sum of her dowry. She wasted very little time thinking about it, for she had a lengthy list to make up if she was to transform her cousin into a buck of the first water.