“Captain Tremaine did not tell me what beauty was to be found in the country, or I would have persuaded him to return to Sussex much sooner," Lord Blackwood said gallantly, bowing over Jane's hand. "Promise me you will save the first dance for me, Miss Hampton."
Jane, pleased to be so noticed, agreed, happy that the informality of a country ball did not force those of high rank to dance first with others of equal rank. At least she would be seen to dance the first dance with the most charming gentleman present that night. Excepting Captain Tremaine, Jane added to herself, glancing back wistfully at his fair countenance.
Jane and Fanny entered the ballroom together and looked about for Lady Archer. Mr. Hampton had an unhappy propensity for disappearing into his host's library, and either Lady Archer or Lady Tremaine usually functioned as Jane and Fanny's chaperone at neighbourhood entertainments. Jane spied Lady Archer and Marianne seated on gilt chairs next to the south wall and she and Fanny joined them. While Fanny gossiped with Miss Archer, Jane watched the guests, her eyes continually returning to Lady Juliette, despite the hurt seeing her next to Edward caused.
Although Jane half-feared Lord Blackwood would forget he had solicited her hand for the first dance after being presented to younger, prettier young women, the viscount claimed Jane's hand promptly and she had the pleasure of walking onto the floor with the most sought-after gentleman present that evening. Lord Blackwood proved to be an excellent dancer, and Jane thoroughly enjoyed standing up with him, although her pleasure was somewhat moderated when she spied Lady Juliette and Edward dancing together not far away. The two looked strikingly well together, she had to admit, the one so fair and the other so dark. Jane turned back to Lord Blackwood and thought she saw a flash of compassion in his eyes, but the viscount only complimented her on her grace in dancing and praised the Tremaines' hospitality.
When Lord Blackwood returned Jane to Lady Archer's side, he requested that she save him another dance, and she willingly agreed. Jane's second dance was claimed by Christopher Archer, and her third, the one she most dreaded, by Edward. She had no wish to hear more encomiums on the Lady Juliette, and knew he would be overflowing with them.
"Tell me, Miss Hampton," he demanded as soon as the figures of the dance allowed them to speak, “what do you think of Lady Juliette Blackwood? Is she not all I told you she would be?"
Miss Hampton, Lady Juliette Blackwood. Jane could hear the difference in his voice as he spoke the names, and it tore at her heart.
"Yes," she forced herself to answer honestly, "she is most beautiful and charming."
"I knew you would agree," Edward said happily. "Your approval means a great deal to me, Miss Hampton. I am counting on you and Fanny to help me entertain Lady Juliette and her brother during their stay," he added. "I thought we would plan some excursions and ride together mornings."
Jane demurred. It was one thing to be polite occasionally to the woman Edward had chosen instead of herself, it was another to be forced to be intimate with Lady Juliette and watch Edward courting her.
"Perhaps we shall be able to join you on some occasions," Jane replied cautiously, "but my father is nearing the completion of his book and requires my assistance rather more frequently than before. Moreover, I am not at all a good horsewoman."
"I am sure your father will excuse you from some of your duties," Edward said confidently. "As for your riding, I still am not strong enough to handle my father's more spirited mounts and plan to ride Ariel. You would surely be able to keep up with him."
Jane smiled in response to Edward’s teasing, but remained noncommittal. After the dance he restored her to Lady Archer and excused himself to find his next partner. Jamie had just escorted Fanny to Lady Archer's side, a disgruntled look on his face. Seeing Jane, he claimed her hand for the next dance. Jane wished she might refuse, as she sensed Jamie wished to speak to her about Fanny, but good manners would not allow her to do so.
Jamie was dressed more conservatively than usual tonight, in black silk breeches, white dimity waistcoat, a wine-coloured coat and a simple white stock with a black ribbon tied around it. If it had not been for the profusion of fobs that dangled over the top of his breeches, he would have looked quite elegant, Jane thought in surprise as she took the floor with him.
As she expected, Jamie introduced the subject of Fanny as soon as the figures allowed them a moment to converse.
"Miss Hampton, could you not speak to your sister? I wish to set a date for our wedding, but Fanny persists in wanting to cry off."
"The decision is Fanny's. I would not think of trying to influence her," Jane said rather mendaciously, thinking that if Fanny had shown any interest in continuing the betrothal she would have done her best to persuade her otherwise.
"Perhaps the best thing would be to allow it to be broken off, and then try to win her back," she added, thinking that if Jamie took that suggestion it would at least get Fanny out of the betrothal.
"Wouldn't do at all," Jamie said glumly. "The minute she's free of me she'll go to the earl," he said, looking to where Fanny and Lord Staplefield were dancing together for the second time.
"Then perhaps you should call the betrothal off immediately. Surely you do not want Fanny if she prefers another man," Jane ventured, keeping her voice very low so they would not be overheard.
Jamie looked at her disgustedly and dropped the subject, leaving Jane hoping he would not plague Fanny excessively about the betrothal. It would be distressful for her if she had to speak to Lady Tremaine about her son’s conduct in the matter.
After Jamie returned Jane to Mrs. Archer, yet another gentleman claimed a dance. Altogether, Jane found she enjoyed the evening more than she had hoped, mainly because of the marked attentions of Lord Blackwood. Still, she was relieved when she saw Squire Shirley and his wife take their leave, and knew she and Fanny could also depart without causing comment. She signaled to Fanny and they went to search for their father, finding him ensconced in a comfortable chair in Lord Tremaine's well-stocked library.
"Is it that late already?" he asked in surprise, his eyes going to the long case clock in the corner of the room. "I suppose it is," he said with a sigh, regretfully putting down his book and rising from his comfortable chair to accompany his daughters home. After a few perfunctory questions about their evening, Mr. Hampton lapsed into his usual abstracted state. Jane and Fanny also rode in silence, each busy with thoughts they did not care to share with the other.
* * * *
The afternoon following the ball, Jane and Fanny received a note from Haverton Park requesting they meet Edward and his guests there the next morning to go riding. Jane did not wish to go, but realised she had no valid excuse to stay away. In truth her father would not object to her going that early of a morning, and would likely even encourage the exercise for Fanny’s sake.
Jane was not being modest when she said she was no horsewoman, and she felt certain, somehow, that Lady Juliette would be. Fanny's skill was little better than Jane's, but she had fewer objections to going and persuaded Jane she could not shirk her neighbourly duties. The sisters searched out their little-used riding habits and gave them to Mrs. Reid to press.
Early the next morning Jane and Fanny walked to the stables at Haverton Park where they found the others already gathered. The sisters both requested gentle mounts, and Edward had two small mares brought out. Lord Blackwood helped Jane to mount as Edward assisted Lady Juliette onto a spirited gelding, and then turned to help Fanny mount.
Lady Juliette was wearing a beautiful habit of yellow velvet trimmed in black military braid, which she had topped with a dashing hat set at a rakish angle on her dusky curls. Jane felt hopelessly dowdy in her brown cloth habit, and resigned herself to what she felt certain would be a miserable ride. The party set out in twos, Edward with Lady Juliette, Fanny with Jamie, and Jane and Lord Blackwood bringing up the rear.
They had not ridden far when their party encountered Lord Staplefield on a large grey. The earl was clad in old-style riding clothes consisting of leather breeches, a scarlet waistcoat, a laced hat, and jackboots, and Jane observed a momentary sneer that touched Lady Juliette’s lips when she first saw him. The earl was invited to join their group, and the addition of his spirited mount caused several of the other horses to resent the slow pace. Lady Juliette’s mount in particular became quite restive, and, seeing this, the earl suggested a short gallop to the Blackwoods. Lord Blackwood declined, but Lady Juliette accepted eagerly. The two gave their mounts their heads, and soon vanished from sight.
When the rest of the party caught up with them, Lady Juliette was laughing up at the earl as their horses walked slowly along, their energy spent. Jane saw a momentary frown cross Edward's face, but it disappeared when Lady Juliette became aware of their presence and rode up to him.
"We had the most glorious gallop, Captain Tremaine. You needn't refuse yourself the pleasure of one to stay with Miss Hampton and Miss Fanny. I am certain my brother would be willing to stay behind and bear them company."
Jane kept her expression neutral, but she was appalled by Lady Juliette's insensitivity. Could she not see that Edward stayed with the slower riders not only out of good manners, but also because he was not yet up to a gallop? The captain could not like having it pointed out to the others that he was still so weak.
But Edward did not seem to take offense. “I am afraid I am not yet up to the rigours of a gallop, Lady Juliette, improved though my health is. I must forgo the pleasure until I have regained more of my strength. Until then I am glad the presence of Lord Staplefield keeps you from being denied your exercise."
"Odds boots and spurs," Lord Staplefield replied, sweeping off his gold-laced hat gallantly, "I am overjoyed to be of service to such a Vision of Beauty."
Jane wondered at Lord Staplefield’s continuing to speak to Lady Juliette in the overdone fashion of the 1770s, for the new earl normally only spoke so on occasion in fun. Jane saw Edward give the earl a sharp look, as though he wondered at it, too, but he made no comment.
Lord Staplefield and Lady Juliette rode off ahead once again, and Jane completed the ride in Edward's company, although she had little pleasure from it, for he spent most of his time gazing after Lady Juliette. Like a mooncalf, Jane thought uncharitably, and was relieved when the ride was over. Edward pressed Jane and Fanny to stay at Haverton Park and visit with his guests, but Jane refused, protesting they could not remain in their riding clothes. Edward accepted this excuse, but insisted that they return that afternoon, a request seconded by Jamie and Lord Blackwood. Realising she could not refuse without appearing uncivil, Jane was forced to agree to the additional outing.
* * * *
When Jane and Fanny returned to Haverton Park that afternoon, they found Lord Staplefield, the Blackwoods, and Lady Tremaine already assembled in the green drawing room. From snatches of conversation that drifted her way, Jane could tell the gentlemen were engrossed in a discussion on horses. Lady Juliette, who had changed into a cambric round gown of a blue that matched her eyes, was discoursing with Lady Tremaine in an animated fashion. As Jane and Fanny were announced by Dawkins, Lady Juliette turned to them with a smile.
"Miss Hampton, I hear you are something of a great reader. You must resolve our dispute. I say that
Marmion
is the better of Mr. Scott's poetical works, but Lady Tremaine claims it cannot match
The Lay of the Last Minstrel."
"You must ask my sister, Fanny," Jane replied, smiling as she seated herself on a green brocade upholstered chair near the window. "I must confess I have read neither."
Lady Juliette's eyebrows rose fractionally. "You speak seriously, Miss Hampton? You have not read Mr. Scott's works?"
"How very peculiar," Lady Martin sniffed, her high-bridged nose lifting higher.
"My sister has no time for light works," defended Fanny. "She assists our father with his studies. He is a scholar."
"Oh, a bluestocking," Lady Juliette replied, her tone saying that explained everything. Jane flushed, wishing she had stayed away whether it would have been rude or not. Lady Juliette was proving to have the knack of always making her feel a backward provincial.
"Faith, can't say I've read them m'self," Lord Staplefield interposed. "Odds meters and rhymes, I say there's no equal to Cunninghame:
‘I'll wear thy colours in my cap,
Thy picture at my heart,
And he that bends not to thine eye
Shall rue it to his smart!’”
Having thus quoted from the eighteenth-century poet, the earl glanced meaningfully at Lady Juliette.
Lady Juliette's attention was successfully diverted from Jane's shortcomings, and a discussion of favourite poets ensued.
"Tell me, Miss Hampton," a voice spoke softly in Jane’s ear, "does our Sir Lucius O’Trigger always speak so, or is it for my sister's benefit only?"
Jane turned smilingly to Lord Blackwood, who had come to stand behind her chair. She was glad she did not have to confess ignorance of Lord Blackwood's allusion. Fortunately she had seen
The Rivals
performed in Bath. Lord Staplefield
did
sound rather like O'Trigger, Jane thought, diverted.
"You needn't answer," he said, watching the thoughts play across her face, "I see from your face that he does not.
“Now I see that your most charming sister is to read a passage of Cowper, and we must be silent for a moment, but we shall resume our conversation when she is done.”
After Fanny finished a creditable reading, Lord Blackwood expertly coaxed Jane out of her megrims by entertaining her with rather risqué tales about some of the popular poets, and she soon forgot Lady Juliette's scorn and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. The young people arranged to meet for a ride together every morning, and Lord Staplefield suggested a picnic on the grounds of his estate, Bramleigh. This last suggestion was received with great enthusiasm by everyone, and the picnic was set for three days hence.