The Yuletide Countess: Harriet's Traditional Regency Romance (3 page)

“What a
dreadful man he must be,” Catherine exclaimed.

“Yes, and
what’s worse, he came a few weeks later to London and forced her to return with
him to Wales. Isobel was beside herself, but the law of course gives him every
right to do so. As you can imagine, it hardened Isobel’s feelings about
marriage still further. Just when I had begun to hope too that she might form a
tendre
for a delightful gentleman who was clearly dangling after her.”

At that
moment, the door reopened, and Isobel swept back in wearing a fresh dress, her
hair pinned up modishly. “Miss Dalburn, how glad I am to meet another lady
living near Dargenwater cottage,” she said in a cheerful tone. “I hope that you
have been enjoying Miss Walcott’s company, even though I am most atrociously
late.”

“Very much indeed,
Miss Paley. I too am delighted to broaden my acquaintance here.”

“I come here
to work and study, so I live quietly, but I know that Harriet will be delighted
to join you and Lord Glencairn’s children on your walks more often. She has not
the company of the ancient Romans to amuse herself,” Isobel remarked.

“Indeed, I
should enjoy it very much,” Harriet chimed in. “The company of children, and a
sensible gentlewoman would be charming.”

As Isobel
poured herself some tea, while pressing more tea and cakes on her companions,
the conversation turned to general topics, and after some time Miss Dalburn
reluctantly realized that she must to return to Glencairn Castle.

“Oh, what a
pity,” said Harriet. “Though I am sure the children have need of you. Do send me
a note when next you plan to go out for a walk, and I will be sure to join you.
I would enjoy renewing my acquaintance with Douglas and Sophia.”

“I’ll make
certain to do that,” said Catherine. “It would do them good to spend more time
with another gentlewoman; they know me far too well, and I fear that at times I
give them too much license. Perhaps they will remember to watch their manners
around you, Miss Walcott.”

Isobel
laughed. “Harriet will spoil them dreadfully, given the chance,” she said. “But
all three of them will have a wonderful time, and that is all that matters.”

Catherine
smiled at that, and lingered a few minutes longer, but soon took her leave.

“She is a very
pleasant companion Harriet,” Isobel remarked. “I hope you can persuade her to join
us for tea frequently.”

“Oh yes, I
hope so too,” Harriet concurred. “I am of course very fond of you my dear, but
some variety in our daily routine will be welcome, especially as she is such a
well-informed lady. And it will be pleasant for me to have other diversions
than reading and painting.”

As Isobel and
Harriet reviewed their impressions of her, Catherine stood in the entry of
Glencairn Castle, removing her gloves as the late summer sun streamed through
the high arched windows, illuminating the tapestries hung on the stone walls,
and the black and white tiled floor. She turned to walk into the cavernous
Great Hall, a remnant of the original medieval castle, and nodded at the
footman as she passed. Her footsteps alternately rang on the stone floor, and
were muffled by the immense Turkish carpets that covered part of its expanse,
as the faces of bygone lairds of Glencairn and their ladies of earlier eras
gazed down at her from the paintings and tapestries that adorned the wall. She
passed through a stone archway, its keystone carved with the insignia of the
Laird, and into the modern, and far more comfortable part of the house. As she
did so, a door opened to her left, and Lord Glencairn appeared.

“Ah, Miss
Dalburn,” he said, “I see you are returned from your visit to Dargenwater
Cottage. Come into the library, and tell me about our neighbors.”

“Miss Paley
and Miss Walcott seem to be very well-bred ladies, and I was pleased to make
their acquaintance, as there are so few gentlewomen in the immediate
neighborhood of Glencairn. It was very pleasant taking tea with them.”

“Quite so,
quite so,” his lordship agreed. “In fact it is the absence of genteel company
that I wish to discuss with you, Miss Dalburn.”

There seemed
to be no reason to answer this, so Catherine remained silent and waited for
Glencairn to gather his thoughts.

“Yesterday
morn, I saw you walk out with Douglas and Sophia and it struck me most forcibly
how much my daughter has grown in the past few months. She is bidding fair to becoming
a very lovely young lady.”

“Very true,
Lord Glencairn,” Catherine agreed. “And just as important, she has charming
manners, and is both kind and intelligent. You have a daughter of whom you may
be proud.”

“Thanks to
your efforts Miss Dalburn; you have reared her as well as any mother might
have.”

“I'm honored,
sir.” Catherine answered.

Glencairn
clasped his hands behind his back and paced back and forth a few steps.

“As you know,
I have felt little need to go about in society here in Scotland, and still less
to venture to London. But seeing my little Sophy growing so quickly has made me
realize that I need to cease being such a hermit, and return to a more social
existence.”

“Yes, she is
only a few months shy of her fourteenth birthday, and before you realize it,
you will need to find a lady among your relations or close friends to bring her
out.”

“As to that,
Miss Dalburn, I came to the identical conclusion, which forced me to think this
matter over carefully in the last day, and I have determined that I must marry
again.”

Something of
worry and surprise must have shown in Catherine's face, for he peered closely
at her. “Oh, you need not fear losing your place. I am in no immediate hurry,
sometime in the next year or two I will find a suitable gentlewoman, and even
then Sophy will continue to need a governess; my wife will have the household
to manage, and I would wish her to be my companion as well. I must find a woman
who is not too young, but well connected, and able to select the best music and
dancing masters and ensure that over the next few years Sophy is attending a
few parties meant for young people to develop more ease in company. Most
important of all, she must be able to cultivate the other ladies whose approval
she will need in order to obtain vouchers for Almack’s.”

“It seems a
very sound plan, my lord,” Catherine replied, while thinking that his lordship
sounded exactly as though he wished to apply modern farming methods to the
patronesses of Almack's. “Perhaps we should start spending a bit more time on
French, Italian and music in preparation?”

“An excellent
notion, Miss Dalburn,” Glencairn approved. “We want to be sure that she isn't
viewed as too much of a rustic in London.”

He paused and
looked thoughtful for moment. “Don't spoil her with all manner of artificial
airs and graces though. I can't abide those silly young chits with their
ridiculous attitudes. Nor would I wish to see her married to the sort of fellow
who finds them pleasing.”

“Quite so my
lord,” she replied. “But I think you have little to fear in that regard. I
believe Sophy is far too sensible for such nonsense to appeal to her.”

Glencairn
rocked back on his heels and fidgeted a bit, as though he was a bit discomfited
at having such a lengthy conversation. Catherine took pity on him and
continued. “I see you have given this a great deal of thought Lord Glencairn,
and it is indeed a most appropriate way to go about things. I suppose this
means that you will be thinking of going to Town in the spring for the Season
if you wish to seek a new Lady Glencairn?”

Glencairn
gazed at her with a somewhat stunned expression, rather, Catherine reflected,
as though he were a stag suddenly confronted by a well-armed gillie. “Aaah, I
suppose I must, Miss Dalburn,” he replied slowly, clearly pondering the actions
involved in executing the plan he had so blithely outlined.

Catherine
turned away slightly to hide the smile she could not prevent from creeping
across her face. “Will that be all for now?” she inquired.

“What's that?”
he said vaguely having turned back toward the library. “Oh, yes, yes, that will
do for now Miss Dalburn.”

As the Earl
walked back into his library, Catherine took a few steps down the hall, then
broke into a little skip of happiness. There was every likelihood that finding
a well-connected wife would indeed mean a trip to London and the chance for
Catherine as well as her charges, to enjoy some months in Town. She loved her
native heath, of course, but a visit to London in the spring of the following
year sounded like a delightful change indeed.

Catherine was
still reveling in her secret knowledge of the upcoming visit to London several
days later when Lord Glencairn startled her once again. She and Sophia had just
finished breakfast, and were enjoying a second cup of chocolate when Lord
Glencairn entered the breakfast room.

“Good morning,
Papa,” Sophy exclaimed, “What a surprise to encounter you at breakfast.”

Glencairn
smiled at her indulgently. “I received news with this morning's post that will
interest you both, so I sought you out before lessons,” he said.

“Interesting
news?” Sophia echoed.

“Indeed.
Neither of you will recall this, but nearly a score of years past, my good
friend the Duke of Strancaster was in the habit of coming here in the summer
months for a bit of angling, along with his young sons. Now, the second of them
has written me a letter asking if he may come visit for a few weeks. He's newly
returned from the fighting in Spain and thinks that the Scottish hills will
suit him better than the crowds of Brighton.”

“Will you like
to have him here, Papa? “ Sophia asked.

“I think so, my
dear. He was a fine youngster when I knew him, and I understand he acquitted
himself very well on Wellington's staff in Spain.”

“I'm sure that
Douglas will be very happy to show him all the best spots for trout, as that
will allow him to beg off studying for the fall term at Eton,” Sophia said
naively.

Glencairn
laughed. “I won't mention your revelations to your brother,” he remarked. “But
a young lad can learn nearly as much from fishing with a man like Major Lord
Francis as he can from a geometry text.”

He turned to
Catherine. “With a duke's son visiting us, it will be necessary to do some
entertaining, Miss Dalburn. I will ask our neighbor Lady Leithly to help with
the hostess's duties when we have other guests present, but you will need to do
much of the planning and attend several parties.”

Catherine
opened her mouth to demur, thinking of the hole that the purchase of two or
three suitable gowns would make in her savings.

Glencairn
interrupted her saying, “I know you will need appropriate attire, and I'll
stand the nonsense for it. This will be Sophy's first opportunity to learn how
to go on as a hostess, so you must consider it a part of your position as
governess. Take Sophy with you to Dumfries and order her a dress or two suited
to a girl just out of the schoolroom.”

Sophia's
scarcely contained excitement was visible and it was clear that she was only
barely able to conceal her glee. But she managed to nod her head gravely as
Catherine responded. “Very well my lord. Sophia and I will arrange a visit to
Dumfries for the dresses. I'll also consult with Lady Leithly on arranging some
appropriate entertainments. She is really the only other gentlewoman nearby who
is modish and entertains enough to be helpful. Would you like me to suggest to
her that she visit here to discuss the plans with you?”

Glencairn
looked nonplussed for a moment. “It would be vastly more convenient if you
arranged it all with Lady Leithly and merely informed me of the plans,” he said
eventually. “But I suppose it would be more the thing if after you two
converse, I called upon her, accompanied by you and little Sophy, would it
not?”

“Since you are
requesting her help, I certainly believe that a call would be best,” Catherine
agreed rather faintly, a bit overwhelmed at the rate at which her summer seemed
to be changing.

“Very well,
you and Sophy shall call upon Lady Leithly and broach the topic with her. When
that's all settled, I'll pay a call upon her with you to lay out the entire
plan of attack.” Looking well pleased with himself, Glencairn marched out of
the breakfast room, leaving Catherine and Sophia to exchange excited glances.

***

Dearest
Pippa,

I have such
news to impart to you that I scarcely know where to begin! Yesterday was Miss
Dalburn's half day, and she came to Dargenwater Cottage for a chat with me and
told me two such astonishing things, that I am still quite amazed. The first is
that Lord Francis Wheaton will be arriving here soon and staying some weeks
with Lord Glencairn! You can scarcely imagine how pleased I am! Catherine tells
me that his father is a great friend of Lord G, and as children Francis and his
brother used to come with him to visit Glencairn in the summer for the angling.
Somehow I am convinced that he may be interested in catching more than trout this
year! When I last heard, he was planning to join the Regent's set in Brighton
for the summer season, but I have no doubt that he learned that Isobel spends
her summers here, and has changed his plans so that he can continue to press
his suit. There is something very odd about the whole business though, for even
though she says she will not marry Lord F nor any other, they seemed so very
comfortable and even intimate with each other when one saw them together. I
must confess that I have been a bit sly in saying nothing at all of his
imminent arrival to dear Isobel! For I know that she will be quite discomfited
by the news, and I fear she might do something rash, perhaps even depart for
Kitswold, which I do not wish at all for reasons I will describe below. So, I
plan to continue in my sin of omission and will pray for forgiveness instead
when Lord F arrives. Although to be sure it may be difficult for me to truly
repent of it, when I think it in her best interest to leave her uninformed!

In any
event, this summer bids fair to be more interesting than any other we have
spent here, for naturally Lord G will wish to plan some entertainments for him,
and as we are such close neighbors, we will certainly be invited. And this
brings me to my second bit of most interesting news that I had from Miss D.
Lord G is seeking a new wife! He has been a widower these ten years, but now it
seems that he has decided that since he lives very retired here in the northern
wilds, if he is to bring Lady Sophia out in London, and see her well married,
he must wed. Miss D. says he wishes to find a lady not at all in the first
flush of youth, but very well bred and well connected in the Ton, and who is
well acquainted with, or can cultivate the patronesses of Almack's! My dear, do
I not count Emily Cowper, Lady Jersey, and Lady Sefton among my intimates? And
even that tiresome Mrs. Drummond-Burrell has nothing to say against me. I do
not mean to vulgarly set my cap for him, you understand, but since it seems
that chance will throw me quite often in his way in the next few weeks I would
be a fool not to make a bit of an effort, wouldn't I? For although I will
always have a home with Isobel, there are times when, like any lady, I wish for
an establishment of my own. Since I love Lord G's children and his countryside
already, surely it is only a short step to cherishing those feelings of
tenderness and respect for the man himself as are necessary to marital
happiness! I confide these thoughts only to you dear sister, and indeed almost
fear committing them to paper, lest it be bad luck, but even a lady of eight
and thirty may still nurture hope. I have written so much of our doings and
asked nothing of what is happening in Kent, I fear. Please write me a long
letter with all of your news.

With much
love to you all, Harriet