Page 38 of Lady Controversial
‘Come into the parlour,’ she said. ‘Some tea, if you please, Mrs Compton,’ she added. ‘I should warn your ladyship that the parlour is not much better, but we are slowly making the place habitable.’
Isolda had never been invited to address her aunt informally and made a point of not doing so. Jane, on the other hand, threw herself into that lady’s arms and was greeted with great affection.
‘You look well, my love. I swear you become more beautiful each time I set eyes on you.’ Lady Bellingham pinched Jane’s cheek. ‘I am filled with dread of your catching your death in this hovel, but what is one to do?’
‘It is perfectly vile, but no one listens to my complaints,’ Jane replied. ‘No, Aunt, not there.’ Jane grabbed Lady Bellingham’s arm and steered her towards Isolda’s recently vacated chair. ‘This one is more comfortable.’
‘Why have you come, ma’am?’ Isolda asked once the required tea had been served, seeing no reason to prolong a visit that was clearly as unpalatable to Lady Bellingham as it was to Isolda.
‘Must I have a reason to visit my nieces?’
‘You are always welcome,’ Isolda forced herself to say, ‘but I am well aware that our accommodation falls well short of your accustomed standards. Besides, we are a long way from London and you will have been inconvenienced.’
‘I have been visiting friends in the district.’ Lady Bellingham stirred her tea vigorously, the exquisite bone china which they kept for special occasions looking incongruous in such squalid surroundings. Even so, Isolda was inordinately proud of the service that her mother had brought to her marriage and suspected that Lady Bellingham would recognise it. ‘I felt obliged to check on Jane, whom you selfishly force to remain here despite better alternatives. I cannot for the life of me imagine why your father insisted upon making you her guardian when I would have happily assumed that role, but then your father was a selfish individual too, as his subsequent actions have proved. He did not stop to consider the stigma that his behaviour would cause to your dear sister.’
‘Or to myself,’ Isolda said mildly. ‘But there is no help for that, and nothing will be achieved by dwelling upon things which cannot be altered.’
Lady Bellingham rippled her shoulders. ‘Even so, I am concerned for your sister’s health, given these appalling and damp living conditions.’
Jane was as strong as an ox but obligingly coughed on cue. ‘What alternative arrangements do you refer to?’ Isolda asked, deliberately obtuse.
‘Oh, Isolda, of course my aunt must be referring to Lord Brooke’s generous offer. The one you seem so determined to ignore,’ Jane replied, bouncing on the edge of her chair because she had an ally to support her cause.
‘You think we should live unchaperoned with Lord Brooke?’ Isolda asked with an innocent lift of one brow. ‘One wonders how you learned of the offer if that is the case, Lady Bellingham, and indeed why you would approve, given your strict adherence to the proprieties.’
Lady Bellingham looked flustered. ‘Just because you are determined to punish yourself, young lady, I fail to see why Jane should suffer alongside you. I can only surmise that you are envious.’
Isolda smiled, refusing to rise to the bait. ‘Have it your way, ma’am, but let us be clear on one point. I will not, under any circumstances, accept Lord Brooke’s offer.’
Isolda held her breath. If Lady Bellingham had offered to take Jane in ahead of the start of the season then Isolda would have a hard time coming up with a reason to decline without seeming mean-spirited. She had promised Papa, who had been most insistent on the point, that she would keep Jane with her until the eve of her presentation. Why he had been so insistent she did not know, and the question continued to plague her. Something had happened to drive a wedge between Papa and Lady Bellingham, that much was clear, which perhaps accounted for Lord Brooke’s subsequent open friendship with the lady.
Thankfully nothing was said about Jane removing to London immediately, and she and their aunt instead conducted a detailed discussion about Jane’s wardrobe for her season. Since Isolda had no contribution to make, she fell to contemplating, but she was pulled out of her reverie by the mention of Lord Finchdean’s name.
‘I am absolutely convinced that he has called, twice in fact, because he heard about me, but Isolda wouldn’t leave us alone,’ Jane said, pouting.
‘Is this true?’ Lady Bellingham looked to Isolda for confirmation. ‘You are acquainted with the earl?’ She appeared a little alarmed rather than gratified.
‘Our paths have crossed,’ Isolda replied.
‘They didn’t do so all the time you resided at Crawley Place, and yet you have met him on two occasions within weeks of moving to this hovel.’ Lady Bellingham narrowed her eyes in obvious suspicion, but Isolda thought she noticed a modicum of fear flicker through her expression.Why are you so opposed to my knowing the earl?‘He must have turned up his nose at your living conditions, which has no doubt negated his interest in your sister.’
‘If the downturn in our fortunes has deterred him then he is likely not worth knowing,’ Isolda contented herself with saying.
Lady Bellingham sniffed.
‘Are you acquainted with the earl, Aunt?’ Jane asked.
‘I have seen him in society but I don’t recall being introduced.’
‘I gather that he and Lord Brooke are not the best of friends,’ Isolda said mischievously.
‘Lord Brooke has been misunderstood. Grossly misunderstood, in fact. His character has been blackened by those who resent his success.’
‘I was not aware that you are closely associated with that gentleman’s affairs,’ Isolda remarked, aware that their aunt had been provoked into saying more than had been her intention.
‘He is a gentleman of the first order whom I have known for years. As to his dispute with Lord Finchdean, I have no idea what that is about, but I am sure that Lord Brooke cannot be the one at fault.’
‘Whyever not?’
