piece of work of it, Dimmy.” Lady Emmeline grasped her sister’s arm so firmly that Lady Dimity winced. Em then pointed out the unfriendly nature of the boa constrictor, and the mighty elephant’s wicked tusks. In some situations, Dimmy reluctantly concluded, a cage was not altogether a bad idea.
Briefly Lady Emmeline toyed with the notion of arranging for her garrulous sister to share the cage of the unfriendly boa constrictor, or the mighty elephant, with its wicked tusks. “Jessabelle,” she said. “Though I cannot condone it, I understand your hostility toward Vidal. But I am very disappointed to discover that your animosity spills over to include a young lady whom you have never met. It is one thing to bid Vidal to perdition, but quite another to inflict that same fate on a second person, and one who has done you no disservice. In indulging your spite, you condemn Lady Camilla to a lifetime of misery.”
Jessabelle knew she was being manipulated. Still, there was truth in Lady Emmeline’s claims. “Not a lifetime, surely,” she protested.
“You share Lady Camilla’s conviction that Vidal will make a habit of divorce?” Em raised a scornful eyebrow. “Mayhap you are grown shatterbrained. Vidal’s reputation could not survive a second divorce, and well he knows it. If he is permitted to marry Lady Camilla, he will stay married to her; and if he stays married to her, he will make her miserable. She may not be the sort of female I care to welcome into the family, but she doesn’t deserve to bear the brunt of Vidal’s temper for the rest of her days, which we may conclude will not be few, since she is only eighteen!” Here Lady Dimity interjected a soulful comment regarding thwarted affections and early graves.
“The decision is yours, Jessabelle,” continued Em. “You must determine what you will say to Lady Camilla when she confronts you, as I promise you she must. As Vidal’s first countess, you are the only one who can persuade the girl that she is about to make a very grave mistake. We will allow you a moment to consider the matter. Come, sister!”
Jessabelle needed rather less than a moment in which to arrive at a decision; of course she could not connive at making another young lady as unhappy as she had been. She would have to devise another means by which to put Vidal’s arrogant nose out of joint.
Or would she? Perhaps not, if Vidal truly cared for his fiancée. Were that the case, Jess might simultaneously serve Lady Camilla a good turn and Lord Pennymount an ill.
Dared she inquire Lord Pennymount’s sentiments of his aunts? Jess glanced at the Ladies Dimity and Emmeline, who had their heads together near the stout iron-banded bars of the elephant’s cage. A wave of fondness for them caught her, unexpectedly. How misguidedly gallant they were, those two elderly unworldly ladies in their unfashionable dark dresses, festooned as always with cat hair.
Could Jessabelle have but overheard the conversation even then passing between those unworldly ladies, the affection in which she held them might have received a sharp check. “Merciful powers!” whispered Dimmy, to the twin with whose mind worked almost as one with her own. “I never realized you were so very clever , Em!”
Chapter Six
Mme. Joliffe was not alone in wondering if Lord Pennymount held his bride-to-be in any affection; in that same question, Lady Camilla herself had a certain interest. “You will be very curious to learn what I’ve been doing, Pennymount!” she promised—erroneously, as it turned out. “I have been thinking very hard about what we may do to brighten up that dreary old mausoleum of yours, and I have decided that the Egyptian style of furnishing will suit us to a pig’s whisker! Sphinx heads and models of mummies, atheneum friezes and lotus blossoms and crocodile sofas—you know the sort of stuff! I saw a truly nacky table yesterday while shopping in Oxford Street; the base looked exactly
Briefly Lady Emmeline toyed with the notion of arranging for her garrulous sister to share the cage of the unfriendly boa constrictor, or the mighty elephant, with its wicked tusks. “Jessabelle,” she said. “Though I cannot condone it, I understand your hostility toward Vidal. But I am very disappointed to discover that your animosity spills over to include a young lady whom you have never met. It is one thing to bid Vidal to perdition, but quite another to inflict that same fate on a second person, and one who has done you no disservice. In indulging your spite, you condemn Lady Camilla to a lifetime of misery.”
Jessabelle knew she was being manipulated. Still, there was truth in Lady Emmeline’s claims. “Not a lifetime, surely,” she protested.
“You share Lady Camilla’s conviction that Vidal will make a habit of divorce?” Em raised a scornful eyebrow. “Mayhap you are grown shatterbrained. Vidal’s reputation could not survive a second divorce, and well he knows it. If he is permitted to marry Lady Camilla, he will stay married to her; and if he stays married to her, he will make her miserable. She may not be the sort of female I care to welcome into the family, but she doesn’t deserve to bear the brunt of Vidal’s temper for the rest of her days, which we may conclude will not be few, since she is only eighteen!” Here Lady Dimity interjected a soulful comment regarding thwarted affections and early graves.
“The decision is yours, Jessabelle,” continued Em. “You must determine what you will say to Lady Camilla when she confronts you, as I promise you she must. As Vidal’s first countess, you are the only one who can persuade the girl that she is about to make a very grave mistake. We will allow you a moment to consider the matter. Come, sister!”
Jessabelle needed rather less than a moment in which to arrive at a decision; of course she could not connive at making another young lady as unhappy as she had been. She would have to devise another means by which to put Vidal’s arrogant nose out of joint.
Or would she? Perhaps not, if Vidal truly cared for his fiancée. Were that the case, Jess might simultaneously serve Lady Camilla a good turn and Lord Pennymount an ill.
Dared she inquire Lord Pennymount’s sentiments of his aunts? Jess glanced at the Ladies Dimity and Emmeline, who had their heads together near the stout iron-banded bars of the elephant’s cage. A wave of fondness for them caught her, unexpectedly. How misguidedly gallant they were, those two elderly unworldly ladies in their unfashionable dark dresses, festooned as always with cat hair.
Could Jessabelle have but overheard the conversation even then passing between those unworldly ladies, the affection in which she held them might have received a sharp check. “Merciful powers!” whispered Dimmy, to the twin with whose mind worked almost as one with her own. “I never realized you were so very clever , Em!”
Chapter Six
Mme. Joliffe was not alone in wondering if Lord Pennymount held his bride-to-be in any affection; in that same question, Lady Camilla herself had a certain interest. “You will be very curious to learn what I’ve been doing, Pennymount!” she promised—erroneously, as it turned out. “I have been thinking very hard about what we may do to brighten up that dreary old mausoleum of yours, and I have decided that the Egyptian style of furnishing will suit us to a pig’s whisker! Sphinx heads and models of mummies, atheneum friezes and lotus blossoms and crocodile sofas—you know the sort of stuff! I saw a truly nacky table yesterday while shopping in Oxford Street; the base looked exactly
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