Page 17 of Shining Knight
Chapter Five
Of course, thepicture and description the next morning had not failed to include her. At least this time it was not her fault. There was a small amount of satisfaction to be had from seeing Miss Ravenhill portrayed in a less than glamorous light, with her black hair plastered to her face and screaming at Hardy like a fishwife. It was worth having her own drawing there. However, that would not satisfy her brother, she was sure.
That day, Mother Nature intervened in the form of pouring rain and Eugenia’s courses, so she stayed in bed with a hot water bottle and some lurid Gothic novels.
“At least I will not be in the news-sheets for a day or two,” she consoled herself while drinking some chocolate and eating an entire tray of biscuits. She was deep into the scene of Mrs. Radcliffe’sRomance of the Forest,where Adeline was about to be tricked into a false marriage with the Marquis but Theodore was helping her escape with the Marquis in hot pursuit…when the maid knocked on the door. Eugenia scowled. She hated to be interrupted when deep into a story. Stevens entered bringing in a vase of bright pink roses. She sat them on the dressing table and brought the card to Eugenia.
My dear Lady,
Forgive me for abandoning you at the garden party I hope you have no ill effects from the accident.
Your very obedient servant,
Farnsworth
“Oh, plague on the man!” she exclaimed and tossed the card on her side-table. She turned over and watch the raindrops run down the window panes. Some of them would look as if they were going to join and then veer off and go in a completely unexpected direction. She frowned. It felt like a very apt analogy to the past week of her life. Everything was going in a different direction and she was not certain she liked being pursued. But how to redirect the rain when there were unseen forces making it go where it would?
Perhaps she should try to make more lady friends. Then she could at least have someone to talk to besides Graham. Maybe she could look at his list of potential wives and befriend some of them. That way she could help him narrow down the choices to someone she could tolerate. Unlike Miss Ravenhill, who would never allow her to speak to Graham again. She snorted with satisfaction at the remembrance of the shrew dripping with disgust when her head was bobbing in the Thames.
Just then there was another knock on her door and Eugenia tried not to groan.
“Come in,” she croaked instead.
Expecting her maid, Eugenia did not turn over.
“Genie?” she heard her aunt’s voice ask quietly. That lady probably thought she was disturbing Eugenia’s rest. “Are you not feeling quite the thing? Stevens said you were not well.”
Eugenia untangled her covers and sat up in her bed. “I am well, Aunt. It is only my monthly.”
She frowned sympathetically. “I do not miss those. We have had an invitation I wanted to ask you about,” she said with aplomb as she sat in one of the rose velvet armchairs near the fire.
“In this weather?” Eugenia could not help but grimace. Everything was gloomy when one had one’s courses.
“No, not until the weekend. Perth is having a short house party at his estate near Brighton.”
“Does he say who will be there?” House parties could be very good or very bad depending upon the company. Eugenia knew she needed to know Lord Perth better before making any decisions, and technically he had not asked her yet, after all. He had merely said he wished to court her.
“I will have to see if I can discover. I have never actually been to his estate, but I hear it is quite lovely. Perhaps he wishes to impress you.”
“Why me? And why so suddenly?”
“I could not say, but they are both lovely matches for you.”
Not love matches, notice, Eugenia.
Eugenia knew that, on paper, there were none better. Many of the young ladies had lists ranking the eligible gentlemen numerically by who was the best catch.
She was determined to get this right.
There was another knock on the door and her maid entered with an apologetic look from behind two more large vases of flowers. The maid tried to bob a curtsy when she saw Lady Hambridge.
“I did not know if you would wish to see these, miss, or if you would prefer me to take them back downstairs.”
“They can go in the sitting room,” Lady Hambridge directed, having taken the cards and handed them to Eugenia.
“Who now?” Eugenia asked.
“Perth and Ravenhill.”
