Bath Tangle (10 page)

‘Did I tell you so? Yes, it is he!’

‘Oh,
Serena
!’ sighed Fanny ecstatically. ‘How
very
glad I am! It is exactly like a romance! At least – is he still
single
, dearest?’

‘Yes, of course he is! That is to say, I never asked him! But there is no doubt! I wonder how soon he will think it proper to call on us? I fancy it will not be long!’

It was not long. Major Kirkby, in fact, paid his visit of ceremony upon the following day, arriving in Laura Place on the heels of a heavy thunderstorm. Lybster, relieving him of his dripping cloak and hat, sent Fanny’s page running to fetch a leather to rub over the Major’s smart Hessians, and permitted himself to scrutinize with unusual interest this visitor who was not deterred by inclement weather from paying morning visits. He had been informed that her ladyship was expecting a Major Kirkby to call sometime, but no suspicion had been aroused in his mind that the unknown Major might prove to be a visitor quite out of the common. If he had thought about the matter at all, the picture in his mind’s eye would have been of some middle-aged Bath resident; and when he opened the door to a tall, handsome gentleman, nattily attired, and not a day above thirty, if as old, he suffered a severe shock, and instantly drew his own perfectly correct conclusions. While the page wiped the mud from those well-cut boots, and the Major straightened his starched neckcloth, Lybster took a rapid and expert survey, contriving in a matter of seconds to ascertain that the long-tailed blue coat of superfine had come from the hands of one of the first tailors, that the Major had a nice taste in waistcoats, and knew how to arrange a neckcloth with modish precision. He had a fine pair of shoulders on him, and an excellent leg for a skin-tight pantaloon. His countenance, a relatively unimportant matter, came in for no more than a cursory glance, but the butler noted with approval that the features were regular, and the Major’s air distinguished. He led the way upstairs to the drawing-room, the Major following him in happy ignorance of the ferment of conjecture his appearance had set up.

A door was opened, his name announced, and he trod into an elegantly furnished apartment, whose sole occupant was a slender little lady, dressed all in black, and seated at the writing-table.

Taken by surprise, Fanny looked up quickly, the pen still held between her fingers. The Major checked on the threshold, staring at her. He beheld a charming countenance, with very large, soft blue eyes, and a mouth trembling into a shy smile, golden ringlets peeping from under a lace cap, and a general air of youth and fragility. Wild thoughts of having entered the wrong house crossed his mind; considerably disconcerted, he stammered: ‘I beg your pardon! I thought – I came – I must have mistaken the direction! But I asked your butler if Lady Spenborough – and he led me upstairs!’

Fanny laid the pen down, and rose to her feet, and came forward, blushing and laughing. ‘I am Lady Spenborough. How do you do?’

He took her hand, but exclaimed involuntarily: ‘The
Dowager
Lady Spenborough? But you cannot be –’ He stopped in confusion, began to laugh also, and said: ‘Forgive me! I had pictured – well, a very different lady!’

‘In a turban! Serena told me so. It is very naughty of her to roast you, Major Kirkby. Do, pray, be seated! Serena will be down directly. She was caught in that dreadful storm, and was obliged to change her dress, which was quite soaked.’

‘Walking in this weather! I hope she may not have taken a chill! It was very imprudent.’

‘Oh, no! She never does so,’ responded Fanny placidly. ‘She was used to ride with her Papa in all weathers, you know. She is a famous horsewoman – quite intrepid!’

‘Yes, so I believe. I never saw her in the saddle, however. Our – our former acquaintance was in London. You and she now reside here? Or, no! I think she told me you were here only for a visit.’

‘Oh, yes! We have been living since Lord Spenborough’s death in my Dower House, at Milverley.’

‘Ah, then, she has not been obliged quite to leave her home! I remember that she was much attached to it.’ He smiled warmly at her. ‘When I read of Lord Spenborough’s death, I was afraid she might be obliged to live with Lady – with someone, perhaps, not agreeable to her! I am sure she must be happy with you, ma’am!’

‘Oh, yes! That is,
I
am very happy,’ said Fanny naïvely. ‘She is so kind to me! I don’t know how I should go on without her.’

At that moment, Serena came into the room, her copper ringlets still damp, and curling wildly. As she closed the door, she said mischievously: ‘Now, what an infamous thing it is that you should have come when I wasn’t here to present you to my mama-in-law, sir! She has not terrified you, I trust?’

He had jumped up, and strode to meet her, taking her hand, and holding it for a minute. ‘What an infamous thing it was that you should have taken me in!’ he retorted, smiling down at her with so glowing a look in his eyes that her own sank, and she felt her colour rising.

‘It was irresistible! Are you satisfied that she is truly motherly?’

‘Serena! You never said so!’ cried Fanny indignantly.

‘No, not I! It was Major Kirkby’s hope!’

He drew her forward to a chair beside the small fire, and placed a cushion behind her as she seated herself. She looked up, to thank him, and he said: ‘Do you know that your hair is quite wet?’

‘It will soon dry beside this fire.’

‘Are you always so reckless? I wish you will take care!’

She smiled. ‘Why, do I seem to you invalidish? It’s well you didn’t see me when I came in, for I don’t think there was a dry stitch on me!’

‘Then perhaps it is as well. I should certainly have been anxious.’

‘Fanny will tell you that I am never ill. Do
you
take cold every time you are caught in the rain?’

‘No, indeed! I should not long have survived in Portugal! But that is another matter: you are not a soldier!’

She saw that he would not readily be persuaded that her constitution was not delicate, and was a little amused. It was not unpleasant to find herself an object of solicitude, so she said no more, leading him instead to talk of his experiences in the Peninsula. He stayed for half-an-hour, and then, very correctly, rose to take his leave. Fanny, as she shook hands with him, said, in her pretty, soft voice: ‘You know we cannot entertain in any formal style, Major Kirkby, but if you will not think it a bore to dine quietly with us one evening, we should be happy to welcome you.’

‘A bore! I should like it of all things!’ he said. ‘May I indeed do that?’

The engagement was made, and Fanny’s hand kissed. ‘Thank you!’ the Major said, with a twinkle.

There was a good deal of meaning in his voice. Fanny gave a little choke of laughter, and tried to look demure.

He turned from her to Serena. ‘I think you are very fortunate in your mama-in-law! Shall I see you, perhaps, in the Pump Room tomorrow? Do you go there?’

‘Very frequently – to watch Fanny screwing up her face, and most heroically drinking the water!’

‘Ah! Then I shall meet you there!’ he said, and pressed her hand, and went away.

Serena glanced almost shyly at Fanny. ‘Well?’

‘Oh Serena, how
very
charming he is! You did not tell me the half! I think I never saw such kind eyes! He is so much in love with you, too!’

‘He does not know me.’

‘My dear!’

Serena shook her head. ‘Do you think he does? I am so much afraid – You see, he believes me to be oh, so many excellent things which I am not! He has no notion of my shocking temper, or my obstinacy, or –’

‘Serena, you goose!’ Fanny cried, embracing her. ‘He loves you! Oh, and he will take such care of you, and value you as he should, and think nothing too good for you! He is the very man to make you happy!’

‘Fanny, Fanny!’ Serena protested. ‘He has not offered for me yet!’

‘How absurd you are! When he can barely take his eyes off you! He will offer for you before the week is out!’

Fanny was disappointed. It was ten days later before the Major declared himself, and he did it then at her instigation.

That he was head over ears in love no one could doubt. He went about like a man dazzled by strong sunshine, so oblivious of his surroundings or any worldly care that his anxious mother was thrown into great disquiet, convinced at one moment that he no longer held her in affection, and at the next that his restlessness and absence of mind must have its root in some deepseated disorder. Since the state of her health made her shrink from social intercourse, and her only expeditions from her eyrie in Lansdown Crescent down into the town were to the Abbey Baths, she remained in ignorance of the true state of affairs. Fashionable Bath could have enlightened her, for although the Major retained just enough sense not to haunt Laura Place it seemed not to occur to him that the spectacle of a tall and handsome young man searching the Pump Room every morning for the Lady Serena Carlow might possibly attract attention. The
habitués
of the Pump Room derived considerable entertainment from it, one gentleman asserting that it was now his custom to set his watch by the Major’s arrival; and old General Hendy, whose own practice was to steer a gouty and determined course to Fanny’s side, saying indignantly that he never saw such a silly, moonstruck fellow, and had a good mind to tell him what a cake he was making of himself. Whenever the Major came bearing down upon Serena, he scowled at him awfully; but as the Major had no eyes for anyone but Serena, this strong hint from a senior officer went unnoticed. General Hendy was not the only person hostile to the courtship. High sticklers viewed it with disapproval, some maintaining that it was improper for the Lady Serena to be encouraging any gentleman to pay his addresses to her while she was in mourning for her father, others considering that such a match would be scandalously unequal.

Had the Major been less besotted he must have perceived the glances, curious, amused, or condemnatory, and have realized that his goddess had become the most talked-of woman in Bath. He would have been aghast. Serena realized it, and laughed. Fanny did not realize it until Mrs Floore shocked her by saying: ‘A very pretty beau your daughter-in-law has got for herself, my lady, I do declare! Lord, it’s as good as a play to watch him! Morning after morning, in he comes, and if Lady Serena is here he goes plunging across the room to her, never noticing another soul, and if she ain’t he goes off like a dog that’s lost its tail!’

Dismayed, Fanny exclaimed: ‘Oh, how could I be so thoughtless? I never dreamed that people would notice – talk about Lady Serena – !’

‘Lord, ma’am, who cares for a bit of gossip?’ said Mrs Floore comfortably. ‘There’s no harm that ever I heard of in a beautiful girl being courted, and if people choose to talk, let ’em!’

Serena said the same. ‘My dear Fanny, don’t tease yourself! The world began to talk about me when I drove a high-perch phaeton in Hyde Park! I was eighteen then, and much Papa cared for the exclamations of the censorious! When I declared I would no longer be burdened with a duenna hands were upflung in horror; when I jilted Rotherham I was known to be past reclaim! Add to these all my other iniquities, and you must perceive that I’ve given people so much to talk about that had I cared for their whisperings I must have retired to a nunnery! What’s more, didn’t my aunt warn you that I am an acknowledged flirt?’

‘Serena, do not say so!’

‘Well, it’s quite true, you know,’ said Serena candidly. ‘How often have
you
accused me of trifling with some ridiculous creature’s sensibilities?’

‘Oh, no, no! I never said that! Only that you have so much liveliness, dearest, and so much beauty, that – that gentlemen can’t help but fall in love with you, and you are so heedless of your beauty that you don’t quite realize it!’

‘Fanny, you’re a goose!’ Serena told her severely. ‘Of course I do! If a personable man does me the honour to think me beautiful, alas that there should not be more of them! But my red hair, you know, is a sad blemish! – well, if he
does
admire me, what should I do but reward him with a little elegant dalliance?’

‘How can you talk so? If I believed you to be
flirting
with Major Kirkby – Oh, no, Serena, you could not!’

‘You are very right! It would be a feat beyond my power. He would be incapable of it!’

‘I wish you will be serious!’ Fanny said despairingly.

‘I can’t be! No, no, don’t pester me with questions, or lecture me on the proprieties, Fanny! Very likely I have taken leave of my senses – indeed, I sometimes fear I have! – but either I shall come about, or – or – I shall not! And as for the rest of the world, it may go to the devil!’

Fanny could only conclude that she was as much in love as the Major, and wished that he would come to the point. Why he did not do so she was at a loss to understand, and was beginning to wonder if some impediment perhaps existed, when, to her surprise, he was ushered into the drawing-room in Laura Place one afternoon, and said, as he grasped her hand: ‘I hoped I might find you at home! Serena is out, I know: it is you I particularly wish to see! You are her guardian – the properest person to be consulted! You know her – I believe you must be aware of the nature of the feelings which I – Lady Spenborough, in the joy of seeing her again, hearing her voice, touching her hand, all other considerations were forgotten! I allowed myself –’ He broke off, trying to collect himself, and took a few hasty steps about the room.

Filled with trepidation, she said, after a moment: ‘You allowed yourself, Major Kirkby – ?’

‘To be happy in a dream! A dream of years, which seemed suddenly to have turned to reality!’

‘A dream! I beg your pardon, but why do you call it so?’ she asked anxiously.

He turned, and came back to the fireside. ‘Should I not? Lady Spenborough, I ask myself that question again and again! I tell myself it could be reality, but I cannot silence the doubt – the scruple – that warns me it
should
not!’

His agitation, the strong emotion under which he was evidently labouring, the oppressed look upon his brow, all awoke her ready compassion. Her disposition was timid; she was always very shy with anyone whom she did not know well; but she felt no shyness upon this occasion. She said, with her pretty smile: ‘Will you not be seated, and tell me what it is that is troubling you? You know, I am very stupid, and I don’t at all understand what you mean!’

He threw her a grateful look, saying: ‘You are so very kind! I am talking like a fool, I suppose! I came to ask you – Lady Spenborough, should I be the most presumptuous dog alive to beg Serena to marry me?’

Astonishment widened her eyes. ‘Presumptuous? But – but why?’

‘You don’t think so? But have you considered? You know, I fancy, that the feelings I entertain are not – are not of recent birth! It is nearly seven years since I first saw her, and from that day those feelings have remained unchanged! She appeared to me then like some heavenly creature descended to earth to make every other woman seem commonplace! Her beauty, her grace, the very music of her voice, I could never forget! They have remained with me, haunted all my dreams –’ He stopped, reddening, and tried to laugh. ‘I am talking like a fool again!’

‘No, no!’ she breathed. ‘Pray do not think so! Go on, if you please!’

He stared down at his hands, lying clasped between his knees. ‘Well! You are aware, I daresay, that I had the temerity to raise my eyes – too high!’

‘You should not say so,’ she interpolated gently.

‘It was true!
Then
I thought otherwise. I was very young! Rank and fortune seemed to me to be of no account when set in the scales against such an attachment as I believed ours to be! I think I never forgave those that parted us until now, when the treasure I had believed unattainable seems to be within my reach, and I see – as any man of honour must! – all the force of the arguments which were advanced against me, seven years ago!’

Again she interrupted him. ‘Forgive me! But seven years ago
she
was just come out, and
you
were a younger son, with no prospects! She is her own mistress now, and you are not a boy, just joined, and proud, as Serena once told me, of your first regimentals.
Then
, had she been permitted to marry you, she must have followed the drum; today, it is otherwise, is it not?’

He looked up, fixing his eyes upon her intently. ‘I have come into the property which I never thought to inherit, but it is not large. Indeed, in
her
eyes the estate must seem a small one, and brings me what I should rather call an easy competence than a handsome fortune. The
elegances
of life I can command, but not its luxuries! The house to which I should take her, though I have been used to hear it spoken of as commodious, cannot compare with Milverley. I was never at Milverley, but I have visited such places. I have even stayed in one or two, and I know that beside the size and style of such an establishment my poor little manor must be dwarfed indeed. I could afford, I think, to hire a house in town for the Season, but it could not be a mansion, like Spenborough House.’

‘Oh!’ she cried involuntarily. ‘Can you suppose that such considerations as that would weigh with Serena?’

‘No! Her mind is too lofty – her disposition too generous! If she gave her heart, she would, I think, be ready to live in a cottage! It is with me that those considerations weigh! They must do so – and the more heavily because
she
would laugh them aside!’

‘I don’t know what any woman could want more than what you can offer her,’ Fanny said wistfully.

‘Lady Spenborough, are you sincere? You don’t think it would be wrong in me to ask her to be my wife?’

‘No, indeed! To be sure, I cannot feel that a
cottage
would do for Serena,’ said Fanny, quite unable to picture Serena in such a setting, ‘because she doesn’t like to feel herself cooped-up. Besides, you could scarcely keep servants in a cottage, and, with all the will in the world, Major Kirkby, she could never manage without!’

He could not help laughing. ‘I should think not indeed!’

‘You see,’ Fanny explained, ‘she has always had so many servants to wait upon her that she has never been obliged to attend very much to domestic matters. But I daresay you have a good housekeeper?’

‘Of course! I didn’t mean that she would have to sweep floors, or cook the dinner, or even tell the maids what they must do. My mother was used to direct the servants, but since she has lived in Bath Mrs Harbury has attended to all such matters, and could very well continue to do so, if Serena wished it.’

‘I expect she would wish it,’ said Fanny, with lively memories of Serena’s unconcern with the domestic arrangements at the Dower House. She added reflectively: ‘It is the oddest thing! I am sure Serena never groomed a horse in her life, or swept out a stall, but she would manage a stable far more easily than a house!’

These words brought another scruple to his mind. He said: ‘Her hunting! Could she bear to give that up? Even if I could endure to let her risk her neck, my home is in Kent, and that is poor hunting-country – humbug country, I expect she would call it! There are several packs, but I have never been much addicted to the sport. I could become a subscriber, but I doubt – She told me once that she thought nothing equal to the Cottesmore country!’

‘Yes,’ said Fanny. ‘She and her papa were used to visit Lord Lonsdale every year, at Lowther Hall. But for the most part, of course, they hunted with the Duke of Beaufort’s pack. I believe – but I have never hunted myself! – that that is very good country too.’ She smiled at him, as something very like a groan burst from him. ‘Major Kirkby, you are too despondent! It would be a very poor creature who would set such considerations as
that
in the balance!’

‘I know she would not! But I should wish her to have everything she desired!’

‘Well, if she desired it so very much, perhaps it could be contrived. You might purchase a lodge in the Shires, or –’

‘
That
I might do, but maintain a dozen or so first-rate hunters I could not!’

‘But Serena has a very large fortune of her own!’ said Fanny.

He sprang up, and began to walk about the room again. ‘Yes! I have no knowledge – but it was bound to be so! I wish to God it were not! You will understand me, Lady Spenborough, when I say that I had rather by far she were penniless than that there should be so great a disparity – as I fear there must be – between our fortunes!’

‘I do understand you,’ she replied warmly. ‘Such a sentiment cannot but do you honour, but, believe me, it would be most wrong, most foolish, to let such a scruple stand in the way of – perhaps – the happiness of you both!’

He came striding back to her, and caught her hand to his lips. ‘I have no words with which to thank you! If I have
your
consent, I care for no other! You know Serena – you love her – and you tell me to go forward!’

‘Oh, yes, but I am not her guardian, you know! She is quite her own mistress! At least –’ She paused, suddenly struck by an unwelcome thought. ‘I had forgot! Oh, dear!’

‘She has a guardian? Someone to whom I should apply before approaching her?’

‘No, no! Only her fortune is – is strangely tied-up, and perhaps – But I should not be talking of her affairs!’

He pressed her hand slightly. ‘Do not! I hope it may be so securely tied-up that I could not touch it if I would! I must go. If I could express to you my gratitude for your kindness, your understanding – !’ He smiled down at her with a good deal of archness. ‘The word
dowager
will never again have the power to terrify me!’

She laughed, and blushed. He again kissed her hand, and turned to go away, just as the door opened, and Serena, in her walking-dress, came into the room.

‘I thought I recognized the modish hat reposing on the table in the hall!’ she remarked, drawing off her gloves, and tossing them aside. ‘How do you do, Hector?’ Her eyes went from him to Fanny, and the smile in them deepened. ‘Now, what conspiracy have you been hatching to make you both look so guilty?’