violently—“bid you good day.”
“So be it,” said Mr. Ralston indifferently. “Obviously you are overwhelmed. I am, after all, something out of the common way.”
He made a courtly bow and glided from the room, leaving both ladies to stare at each other in dismay.
Miss Mattie put her hands to her mouth and stared wide-eyed at Henrietta. “He is a villain, I declare. You must be on the watch. He will snatch you up and bear you off to some remote abbey where he will have you in his power.”
Henrietta sat down, hardly listening to her friend’s wild flight of fantasy. Her everyday world seemed to have slipped out of focus and everything in the room suddenly looked two dimensional. She felt as though she had just taken part in some bizarre play or that Mr. Ralston had been the figment of a laudenam-induced dream. Suddenly she brought the ordinary world back into focus with a determined blink.
“Mattie, we must learn to deal with strange callers,” she said with a worried frown. “Until this morning, no one
at all
has called on us so I simply gave Hobbard instructions to admit everyone. Now, I feel, I should perhaps tell him that we are not at home to Mr. Ralston.”
“He frightens me,” said Miss Mattie forthrightly. “He reminds me of a serpent.”
Henrietta got to her feet. “Let us take the air, clear our brains and think of more cheerful topics. If Lady Courtney manages to arrange vouchers for Almack’s, we shall indeed begin our debut in style. I know, we shall go to Gunter’s for some splendid ices and forget about the whole confusing business.”
“Including my Lord Reckford?” queried Miss Mattie with a sly look.
“Especially Lord Reckford,” said Henrietta. “Perhaps he will forget to call. I do not mean to fret myself to flinders. I shall not trouble myself at all over his proposed visit.”
But it was a very nervous and anxious Henrietta who woke the following morn. She had relegated the Beau to the back of her mind along with her other dream lovers. Now she was to see him again, and actually talk to him! Her heart beat fast as she removed her curl papers with trembling fingers and then realized with a sigh of relief that she had now a maid to cope with the tedious job of hairdressing. She could eat no breakfast and her nervousness communicated itself to Miss Mattie who trembled and twittered and knocked over the coffee pot.
By eleven o’clock, both ladies were still seated in the drawingroom where they had been waiting a good two hours. Henrietta’s face was at its most expressionless, a sure sign of extreme nervousness. But Miss Mattie reflected that her friend had never looked better. Henrietta’s fair curls were confined by a pretty ribbon tied in a bow over her left ear. Her sky-blue dress of jonquil muslin trimmed with lace accentuated her excellent shoulders and bosom and flattered her plump figure.
“Oh, Mattie, if only he would come,” Henrietta burst out. “If something would only happen to break the monotony of our existence, then I swear I would become as slim as a sylph.”
Miss Mattie looked down complacently at her own bony figure. “You must avoid eating potatoes,” she advised. “They are served with
everything,
I declare, and not just with the roast as we had in Nethercote. I heard a lady at Gunter’s yesterday holding forth on the matter. She declared that the potato made one
swell
.”
“I’m not swelling, Mattie,” said Henrietta. “I’m just the same round person I was in Nethercote.”
Both heard the sound of a carriage coming to a stop outside the house. Although both had spent all morning running to the window at the least sound, by an unspoken consent, they remained seated, staring at each other anxiously.
There was a murmur of voices in the hall, Hobbard’s familiar tread followed by a firm step. “Lord Reckford,” announced Hobbard with the suspicion of a twinkle in his august eye. He was fond of his young mistress and had often
“So be it,” said Mr. Ralston indifferently. “Obviously you are overwhelmed. I am, after all, something out of the common way.”
He made a courtly bow and glided from the room, leaving both ladies to stare at each other in dismay.
Miss Mattie put her hands to her mouth and stared wide-eyed at Henrietta. “He is a villain, I declare. You must be on the watch. He will snatch you up and bear you off to some remote abbey where he will have you in his power.”
Henrietta sat down, hardly listening to her friend’s wild flight of fantasy. Her everyday world seemed to have slipped out of focus and everything in the room suddenly looked two dimensional. She felt as though she had just taken part in some bizarre play or that Mr. Ralston had been the figment of a laudenam-induced dream. Suddenly she brought the ordinary world back into focus with a determined blink.
“Mattie, we must learn to deal with strange callers,” she said with a worried frown. “Until this morning, no one
at all
has called on us so I simply gave Hobbard instructions to admit everyone. Now, I feel, I should perhaps tell him that we are not at home to Mr. Ralston.”
“He frightens me,” said Miss Mattie forthrightly. “He reminds me of a serpent.”
Henrietta got to her feet. “Let us take the air, clear our brains and think of more cheerful topics. If Lady Courtney manages to arrange vouchers for Almack’s, we shall indeed begin our debut in style. I know, we shall go to Gunter’s for some splendid ices and forget about the whole confusing business.”
“Including my Lord Reckford?” queried Miss Mattie with a sly look.
“Especially Lord Reckford,” said Henrietta. “Perhaps he will forget to call. I do not mean to fret myself to flinders. I shall not trouble myself at all over his proposed visit.”
But it was a very nervous and anxious Henrietta who woke the following morn. She had relegated the Beau to the back of her mind along with her other dream lovers. Now she was to see him again, and actually talk to him! Her heart beat fast as she removed her curl papers with trembling fingers and then realized with a sigh of relief that she had now a maid to cope with the tedious job of hairdressing. She could eat no breakfast and her nervousness communicated itself to Miss Mattie who trembled and twittered and knocked over the coffee pot.
By eleven o’clock, both ladies were still seated in the drawingroom where they had been waiting a good two hours. Henrietta’s face was at its most expressionless, a sure sign of extreme nervousness. But Miss Mattie reflected that her friend had never looked better. Henrietta’s fair curls were confined by a pretty ribbon tied in a bow over her left ear. Her sky-blue dress of jonquil muslin trimmed with lace accentuated her excellent shoulders and bosom and flattered her plump figure.
“Oh, Mattie, if only he would come,” Henrietta burst out. “If something would only happen to break the monotony of our existence, then I swear I would become as slim as a sylph.”
Miss Mattie looked down complacently at her own bony figure. “You must avoid eating potatoes,” she advised. “They are served with
everything,
I declare, and not just with the roast as we had in Nethercote. I heard a lady at Gunter’s yesterday holding forth on the matter. She declared that the potato made one
swell
.”
“I’m not swelling, Mattie,” said Henrietta. “I’m just the same round person I was in Nethercote.”
Both heard the sound of a carriage coming to a stop outside the house. Although both had spent all morning running to the window at the least sound, by an unspoken consent, they remained seated, staring at each other anxiously.
There was a murmur of voices in the hall, Hobbard’s familiar tread followed by a firm step. “Lord Reckford,” announced Hobbard with the suspicion of a twinkle in his august eye. He was fond of his young mistress and had often
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