Lady Susan Plays the Game (7 page)

‘You must mean the husband – or do you mean the daughter's lover? Wouldn't he be too young, even for me?'

‘I certainly do not mean poor Sir James. Though he's a bit of a favourite of mine – he's so easily wheedled. I knew his mother, a large, dominating, sharp-talking woman who kept him on her apron strings. The son's a fool, a harmless fool. He called here once when you were in Norfolk. Mr Johnson encouraged him though he found him a rattle. He's keen he should make love to the plain Manwaring girl. He had so little success marrying off the mother – you know, he still won't see her – that he hopes he can do better with the daughter. In truth he would be a good catch.'

She paused again and Lady Susan waited.

‘But no, I did not mean Sir James. There's another man in residence as well, the master of the house. If you want to have a long stay there and keep – or, dare I say, recoup – your reputation, beware of Mr Manwaring. By all accounts he's a charmer and has a roving eye. Poor Charlotte was a lot prettier when she caught him.'

Lady Susan raised her eyes at this.

‘Oh yes, she had her moment of prettiness. You didn't see her then. She'd already grown a little thinner and she always had a sweet smile. Anyway Manwaring must have thought so. Besides, he was horribly poor and she was an heiress. But now – he's not only
handsome but prosperously sleek on her money they say. Mr Johnson tied up some of the estate and made sure that after her death it went to a male relative, but he couldn't prevent Manwaring getting his hands on the bulk of the income while she lived.'

‘Well, what can he or anyone else fear from a poor widow like myself?' said Lady Susan tossing her shining curls and feeling them pleasantly cascading on her neck.

‘My dear, you charm everyone from the butcher to the prince.'

‘Oh, Prinney. That was never real, you know.'

‘I didn't know since you never denied it.'

‘Why do so? It hardly wounds one's reputation, and Frederick heard nothing. Never deny anything seems the best policy.'

‘I suspect Frederick heard nothing of anything. He was dazzled by the light from your eyes.'

‘Yes, but my eyes were not in Norfolk, and there was gossip which someone I think took the trouble to pass on.'

‘Surely not, or he would have spoken to you.'

‘No,' said Lady Susan, ‘there's the joy of it, he would not.'

For a fleeting moment she thought of Frederick with regret, but then her current predicament flashed through her mind. It was his fault that she was now poor. She thought of the bill of credit; perhaps he had somehow salted a little away for her use if things went wrong.

‘Do they have tables at Langford? Charlotte said they lived quietly.'

‘No, I think not, and that will be just as well for you.' Alicia Johnson distrusted her friend's liking for play. ‘
She
lives quietly I don't doubt, but I think with some encouragement her husband might prefer a little more company. They are fairly close to Southampton, I think. Some interest from you would surely make them get up the occasional party. But do be careful. Charlotte is mild but not altogether stupid. She and her sister could be difficult enemies. And she adores Manwaring.'

‘I'm not sure how I shall live without playing,' said Lady Susan pensively. ‘I have had two months already in the country with only piquet with Barton for amusement.'

‘Perhaps there will be other matters to excite you, Susan.'

‘You are harping on that again, but I assure you there's no danger from me. I have quite other concerns. You know that I am taking my daughter with me?'

Frederica was up early on the day they were to leave. Despite her anxiety she had slept well and couldn't help feeling excited at the prospect of a journey into a new part of the world. She'd heard there was a daughter at Langford. Older girls like the Hobarts back in Norfolk scorned younger ones. But perhaps Mary, being on her own, would be different, and they'd become friends.

The smart black Manwaring coach drew up in Henrietta Street at a time when Mrs Stott was away from home and her frightened maid lurked in the back of the house. Lady Susan and Frederica entered and sat comfortably with Barton in the soft upholstery while Jeffrey loaded their boxes behind. In Winchester they alighted at the Wykeham Arms to refresh themselves, then proceeded onwards.

They hardly spoke. Each was wrapped in her own thoughts. The least satisfied was Barton, who disliked having to leave London and enter a household where she would simply be one lady's maid among others.

Soon they turned into a drive through great wrought-iron gates, new by the look of them.
Money
, Lady Susan registered contentedly.

As they drove along the drive, Frederica could see through the avenue of limes clumps of artfully positioned trees which would shed dappled light when the sun shone through them – it was now almost dusk. She felt the calm twilight and her memories of Someyton became acute, perhaps in part because she saw wisps of smoke rising from a bonfire behind the empty trees and smelt it carried on the wind; she felt herself back in the Norfolk country where she belonged. Lady Susan looked on the avenue with indifference, though noting the trees were a touch overgrown, not quite in keeping with the smart gates. The shrubbery, she supposed, would be behind the building: one needed a shrubbery to walk in and be seen from the house without being in the glare of the sun or in danger of getting too wet from an inconvenient shower. Keeping a suitably complaisant expression on her face, Barton felt increasingly morose as the distance from London crept on and on.

Langford had been in Charlotte Manwaring's family for generations and, when they saw it, the house impressed each of them in a different way. Part Jacobean with an additional later wing sensitively constructed to fit with the old timber and brick structure, it was large but with an air of comfort. Several great windows argued the wealth of its original possessors. Lady Susan observed the costliness of the addition and regretted that the whole was not in that style, while Frederica delighted in the old-fashioned look – though a little frightened by the grandeur so different from the cottagey charm of Someyton. No shrubbery appeared but to the east, jutting beyond the edge of the house, was one side of a knot garden, backed with hedges of yew and thorn.

As the carriage drew up the Manwarings came out from their carved doorway to meet them. Lady Susan paid immediate attention to Charlotte Manwaring, then smiled as she was introduced to her sharp-featured cousin, Miss Dawlish. Miss Manwaring was then presented. Tall and thin, Mary was done up in a great deal more finery than suited the country, observed Lady Susan. She and Frederica in their sober mourning outfits must show to good advantage. A young man then stepped forward. This must be Sir James.

He was wiggling with excitement, like a great puppy wagging a tail. He too was tall, very fair and well made, with a pasty, unformed face and fleshier lips than suited his other features; his nose twitched. He was supposedly over-age; yet he looked younger. He asked at once about the journey and immediately described his own, the details punctuated by sudden high-pitched laughs.

He was cut short as the master of the house joined the group, ‘My husband, Mr Manwaring,' said Charlotte with such obvious pride that Lady Susan gratified her by smiling warmly at her before moving her eyes to the man himself.

He was of medium height and did not seem remarkable, for where he stood he was caught in the light from the house which spread out into the thickening dusk. But, when they all turned to enter, Lady Susan was at once struck by his face, his dark-blue sparkling eyes beneath the shock of vigorous dark hair and thick eyebrows. He had an intimate look that promised pleasure, a mischievous bold sensual glance.

She saw the point of Alicia's warning. Of course she could have him – that was clear almost at once – he was ripe for the taking, embedded as he was in this house of ill-favoured
females. But it would be unwise to indulge in more than the lightest flirtation. She would half play the widow. Yet she was glad she had invested in the more expensive ornaments for her dress and hair.

The rooms assigned to her were light blue, coincidentally in the same shade she'd favoured in her private apartment in the London house. Despite the age of the main part of Langford these had been done out in the most modern manner. In her dressing room, there was a walnut dressing table surmounted by a triple glass, the two side ones folding so that she could see the front, side and back of her head. The middle glass tilted as well. It was most ingenious – and useful for a lady who had to make an effect. There were little drawers in the table, with compartments for cosmetics, and a Chelsea porcelain lattice basket for hair ornaments. A subtle smell of incense filled the rooms. Lady Susan was pleased.

She sat on the daybed by the window as Barton began to unpack her gowns. The maid had so far no complaints. True, she was among other ladies' maids but she also felt she was back in the style she deserved and which she had lamented during the time at Someyton. She laid out her mistress's clothes with special care.

A good dinner was laid on a table sparkling with delicate china and silver, an epergne of silvery Cupids in the centre offering coloured flowers to the diners. Afterwards they assembled in the drawing room on the first floor, a pleasant room new hung with stretched Chinese wall silk, predominantly in pale green. Seated comfortably on a mahogany sofa, Lady Susan contemplated the inmates of Langford, especially the daughter and her young man. The girl was a fright, too thin, too bony; she had Charlotte's features but in the masculine mode of her father, so they had become heavy. She giggled a lot; that was never attractive to a man. She was excited by the chattering Sir James – or rather what he stood for – but the gentleman was perhaps less excited by what the lady had to offer – though pleased enough to be considered a-courting. A plan was forming in Lady Susan's head. She felt more alive at once.

Charlotte Manwaring was a little brighter and less pallid in the country, and she treated her old school friend with warmth. Although she had warned Lady Susan of the quietness of the place, over the next days she went out of her way to bring in the local gentry to amuse her
guest. So, notwithstanding some thoughts about Sir James, when visitors arrived for dinner in honour of Lady Susan, she studied them carefully.

There was a Mr Carlton Smith, a bachelor of about fifty with a quizzical look. He was moderately witty and sociable when the centre of attention but surly when insufficiently noticed. The Stanmores brought a Miss Stanmore in her late twenties and a younger son, the eldest being already married and away with his new wife. Not much hope in these people. Then the Sandwiches, a tiny couple, both with round twinkling faces and good-humoured expressions. A few enquiries revealed that all their many children were at home and too young. They seemed a favourite with Miss Dawlish, who spoke animatedly to them about their plans for an extension on their already large house.

Before they arrived Lady Susan found the sound of the Pallisers hopeful, but in the event they didn't answer. The eldest son was already too old to find Frederica's naiveté appealing and too young to be excited by her youth. Also there was something about him that made Lady Susan suspicious, perhaps simply too much scent on his handkerchief. He was much in love with himself and irritated to find Carlton Smith of the party. He paid attention to Lady Susan, of course – everyone did – and she responded, but he would not do for Frederica. The second son was about to have a commission in the army and his thoughts ran more on the uniform than on the possible battlefields in France, but he seemed red-blooded enough. The general eagerness of the Pallisers to please argued insufficient wealth, however.

Having contemplated these guests, and turned each one over in her mind as she ate and talked, Lady Susan felt there was no doubt, no doubt at all, that, despite his endless chirruping and foolishness, Sir James was the best bet in sight in this part of Hampshire. A few remarks from Mrs Manwaring, who was delighted with her daughter's catch, had clarified the nature of his acres. ‘His estates are in mid-Lincolnshire near Grantham and include good flat land. I believe Sir James has an advanced sort of agent who is enclosing much of it for crops and developing livestock. Whatever is done, it is unencumbered and to the north has some fine timber.'

Lady Susan agreed that the estates sounded admirable. ‘Mary is much to be envied. But the young man is even luckier since he is obtaining such a handsome and accomplished wife.'

Mrs Manwaring smiled. She still had her sweet smile.

Mary, who was talkative herself but had little chance against Sir James and his violent laughter, told Frederica of the clothes she was to have when they were next in London and the fashions in furniture and hangings she was plotting when they opened a town house. ‘We are to have a place exactly where I want, near Grosvenor Square. We shall lease it at first to see if it suits, then have somewhere of our own. At least, I don't know, I said that, but sometimes you know Sir James doesn't listen and chatters about his horses and carriages and that. But it's no matter.' She giggled, then went on, ‘I think there should be matching colours throughout, don't you? I am fond of lilac. Mama says it suits my colouring. With pale green, you know, it gives off a glow. Silk is best. The Pallisers have the most vulgar set of hangings in the world, not at all in silk. Mrs Palliser always looks such a fright.'

Frederica was bemused but since Mary wanted only an open ear there was no need of a reply. With this kind of intercourse the two girls got on tolerably well.

Lady Susan noted the accord, together with the slight improvement in Frederica's public manner. Indelibly a country miss, she had perked up a little among the green fields and dripping trees Yet Lady Susan was annoyed to find her still sometimes sitting by the window in her chamber, streaking her face with tears for a father now dead these many weeks. Surely that was too long for such grief.