Page 5 of The Heiress's Daughter
“Surely not,” Mrs. Price-Jones argued. “After all, he’s Lord Salcott’s best friend.”
“Be that as it may, Althea, you’ve been in the wilds of Wales for the last twenty years. You don’t know the dangers of the modern world as I do. And men have no judgment when it comes to suitability.”
“But Leo trusts him, and it’s such a beautiful morning. I’d love a ride,” Clarissa said in a coaxing voice. Hampstead Heath was one of her favorite places. The fresh air, the wide-open spaces. “You know I’ve been riding with him before.”
“Yes, with my nephew there to protect you. Never by himself.”
“I won’t be by myself. Naturally Addis will accompany us.” Addis was the groom Leo, her guardian and now her brother-in-law, had hired to escort them whenever she and her sister rode out.
Lady Scattergood shook her head emphatically. “Addis is also a man! No, Clarissa, before he left for his honeymoon, my nephew specifically asked me to take good care of you and I won’t let him down. I’ve barred that Lord Randall from the house.”
“Barredhim?” Clarissa exclaimed.
“Of course. Let a fox into the chicken house? Over my dead body! So send the fellow to the right-about.”
Clarissa sighed. Leo had said to his aunt,Take good care of Clarissa, in a casual, farewelling sort of way, but Lady Scattergood had taken it to extremes. It was as if the old lady thought she should lock Clarissa away in a tower.
She’d already issued instructions that Clarissa was to have no single male callers, and was very strict about the events Clarissa was allowed to attend, even with Mrs. Price-Jones in attendance. The events she approved of seemed to depend entirely on what Lady Scattergood recalled of the hostesses involved. But to bar Lord Randall from visiting…
Clarissa and her chaperone, Mrs. Price-Jones, exchanged rueful glances. There was no gainsaying Lady Scattergood in this mood.
“Very well,” Clarissa said. “I’ll decline his invitation.” She fetched her little writing desk and wrote a short note, thanking Lord Randall for his kind invitation and explaining that Lady Scattergood felt that it was unseemly for Clarissa to ride out without a female chaperone in attendance, and Mrs. Price-Jones did not ride. She didn’t want him to think the refusal was her choice.
Half an hour later another note arrived, this time on lavender writing paper and written in an elegant, decidedly feminine hand. “Oh, how delightful.” Clarissa hid her surprise. “It’s from Margaret, Lady Frobisher, inviting me to ride out with her this morning.” She didn’t know Lady Frobisher very well; in fact she’d met her only once, in the company of Lord Randall. He was her cousin.
Clarissa turned a limpid gaze on Lady Scattergood. “I trust that’s an acceptable invitation. She says her husband will escort us—and of course, Addis will be with us.” Lord Randall must have read between the lines of her note and was trying again. A small thrill ran down her spine. He really did want to go riding with her.
“All these people suddenly wanting you to go riding with them?” Lady Scattergood pursed her lips, considering it. Clarissa held her breath.
“No doubt because it’s a beautiful day, and perfect for riding,” Mrs. Price-Jones declared. “And a married lady in the company of her husband? Perfectly unexceptional, wouldn’t you say, Olive? Lady Frobisher has an excellent reputation.”
“I don’t know,” Lady Scattergood began. “I don’t know the younger generation of Frobishers but—”
“Oh, they’re nothing like their grandfather. This generation is quite, quite dull. Staid and frightfully conventional,” Mrs. Price-Jones said, with a wink at Clarissa. “In fact, are you sure you’d want to go riding with her, Clarissa? It’s bound to be quite dull.”
Clarissa tried not to smile. Lady Frobisher and her husband, Oliver, had accompanied Lord Randall the night he’d escorted her and Izzy to Astley’s Amphitheatre. Lord Frobisher was indeed a quiet, steady sort of gentleman, butstaidandconventionalwere the last words she’d use to describe Lady Frobisher. “Call me Maggie, everyone does,” the lively brunette had said and, under the indulgent eye of her husband, proceeded to laugh and flirt briefly with perfect strangers.
“I would like some exercise and fresh air,” Clarissa said hopefully. The preparations for her sister’s wedding and the grand ball that same evening had left very little time to go out, let alone to have an invigorating ride in the fresh air.
Lady Scattergood sighed. “Very well then, but be careful. Anything can happen when you venture out into the wilds.”
Hampstead Heath was hardlythe wilds, but Clarissa appreciated the old lady’s concern. “Thank you, dear Lady Scattergood,” she said, giving her a kiss on her rouged and wrinkled cheek. “I’ll write a note of acceptance to LadyFrobisher right this minute.” Before Lady Scattergood changed her mind.
She sent off the note and hurried upstairs to change. Betty, her maid, set out her riding habit and helped her to dress.
“You haven’t forgotten, miss, have you?”
“Forgotten what?”
“That we told Miss Izzy—Lady Salcott, I mean—that we’d get a girl from the orphanage and train her up to be Miss Izzy’s personal maid.”
“I hadn’t forgotten,” Clarissa said, though it wasn’t quite true. She hadn’t forgotten, exactly, but Lord Randall’s invitation had driven all other thoughts from her mind. “We’ll go this afternoon,” she promised. “Now, where’s my hat?”
Twenty minutes later she’d changed into her riding habit and was waiting downstairs in the front room. Addis, the groom, waited in the street outside with her horse and his.
The restrictions Lady Scattergood had imposed on her were quite frustrating, and if her sister Izzy were here, there would be an explosion. But Clarissa knew the old lady was doing her best to protect her, and she couldn’t hold it against her. Lady Scattergood had her own fears about the world, and if they dominated her attitude to Clarissa’s social life, well, it would be for only a few weeks. Once Leo and Izzy returned from their honeymoon things would return to normal.
Besides, Clarissa didn’t crave social activity the way Izzy and Mrs. Price-Jones did. She did, however, love riding. And getting out of the city into the countryside.
