"I had a.s.sumed that to be the case! Or perhaps I misjudge you! Perhaps you simply seized an opportunity that presented itself to you?"
Henry was still looking amused but there was now a grim edge to his smile.
"Oh, no, you are quite correct! I did arrange to meet Lady Bolt, but perhaps not for the reason that you suspect!"
"I am sure we were all able to guess what that reason was, sir!" Polly was smarting now from having her suspicions confirmed, and in so apparently unconcerned a way. Evidently Lord Henry was dead to all sense of propriety!
"And if I were to say that I was more sinned against than sinning? More kissed against than kissing, perhaps--would you like to know how that feels.
Lady Polly?"
Their gazes locked for a heated moment, then Polly glanced instinctively towards the house, a bare twenty yards away.
"You would not dare!"
"A dangerous a.s.sumption!"
Afterwards, Polly was never quite sure how much had been duress and how far she had moved of her own volition. Certainly Henry had kissed her and when he had stopped she had been in his arms, with no indication of how she had got there or how long she had been there. Indeed, she had no memory of anything other than the delicious pleasure of being kissed by him, a pleasure it would have been foolish to deny since her body was betraying her enjoyment by pressing closer to him.
"Oh, dear. Lady Polly," Henry said with regret, "it seems that the experience was not so repulsive for you as it was for me with Lady Bolt! " He gave her a mocking smile that made Polly want to slap him and with an unforgivable breach of good manners, abandoned her on the garden seat and strode off indoors.
"Oh!"
Polly only realised that she had spoken aloud when she saw the Dowager Countess hurrying across the lawn towards her.
"Are you unwell, my love?" her mother asked, her face creased with concern.
"You sounded quite as though you were suffering from the indigestion!
And Lord Henry implied that you are not feeling in quite plump currant.
He said that the sun had gone to your head!"
"Oh!" Polly thought that she would explode with indignation and outrage.
"Conceited, intolerable man!"
The Dowager looked concerned.
"Really, my love, I do think you might show a little more grat.i.tude!
Lord Henry has done us more than one great service! If you find you cannot like him, at least you could pretend!"
Chapter Nine.
QysQ roily was mortified when Lord Henry chose to escort his mother and sister to Dilling ham the following day. She had spent a restless night tossing and turning, reproaching herself for her hasty words to him and for giving him the opportunity to humiliate her further. It was only when she had become calmer that Polly had wondered what Lord Henry had meant by saying that his reason for arranging to meet Lady Bolt had perhaps not been what people might think. Though she puzzled over it, Polly could think of no explanation other than the obvious. It was another mystery to add to all the other riddles surrounding Henry March night.
Fortunately Polly was not required to sit in the drawing-room and make polite conversation with him. Nick Sea grave offered to show Henry the stables and the two of them went off, leaving the ladies alone.
The d.u.c.h.ess and the Dowager Countess Sea grave had never been close friends, but they quickly found common ground in mutual acquaintances and experiences, and when they were comfortably established, Laura turned to Polly with a shy smile and asked if she might see the orangery.
"I have heard that it dates from the seventeenth century and is very fine,"
she confided, as they strolled along the covered colonnade that connected the main part of the house to the conservatories.
"Mr Far rant, who was telling me something of the history of the house and the village, said that lemons were grown here as early as 1690 and that your family had wanted to carry on the tradition! Only fancy! He is a very agreeable gentleman, is he not?"
Polly, who had allowed her thoughts to drift in the inevitable direction of Lord Henry, was amused and a little surprised at the determined manner in which Laura had already steered the conversation on to what interested her.
She smiled.
"Indeed, he is! We have known Charles Far rant for an age and always found him a most pleasant and congenial man."
"I was surprised," Laura said a little hesitantly, avoiding Polly"s gaze, "that such an amiable man was as yet unmarried. But perhaps he has some understanding with. that is, perhaps there is a lady. " Her voice trailed away and she fixed Polly with a hopeful look from her grey eyes.
Polly pushed open the orangery doors and they entered the humid interior, heavy with the scent of citrus.
"Oh, no, I think it is simply that Mr Far rant has not yet met a lady who made him wish to give up his bachelor state! He was a great admirer of Lucille-- Lady Sea grave--before her marriage, but I believe he has never sought to enter the state of marriage himself!"
Laura was listening with attention. Polly was diverted by the concentration the younger girl was devoting to the topic. Clearly it mattered to her a great deal.
"And his family?" Lady Laura pursued, pretending to admire the orange trees in their ornamental tubs. "It is perfectly respectable, is it not?"
Polly"s lips twitched.
"Oh, entirely unexceptionable! But..." she hesitated, thinking it only fair to sound a word of caution "forgive me, I have no wish to pry, but I am not entirely sure that Mr Far rant would be smiled upon as a suitor for the daughter of a Duke! His estate is relatively small and although the family name is an old one--" She broke off, shocked, as Laura burst into tears and sat down rather heavily on one of the painted wooden benches.
"Oh, my dear!" Polly, both taken aback and touched, sat down beside her.
"I am so sorry! I had no wish to upset you--" " No," Laura said, groping for a handkerchief, "it is entirely my fault, Lady Polly! Oh, thank you--" as Polly pressed her own handkerchief into her hand "--it is just that I love him so much and I do not think that I can bear it!"
Polly was silenced by this frank admission. Evidently the March night household was not one in which feelings were repressed--or else Laura simply felt so strongly that in her youth and inexperience she could not conceal it.
"It is as you say," Laura was continuing desperately, dabbing at her reddened eyes.
"I believe that Henry had no objection for Mr Far rant is a friend of his, but Mama spoke to me this morning--she said that Mr Far rant, whilst being a perfectly pleasant man, was not a suitable match for me. She felt that his attentions were becoming too marked and that I should discourage him. But I don"t want to discourage him!" Her voice rose.
"I am sure Mama will warn him off! Or I shall be sent away! Oh, what shall I do?"
Polly reflected that she was not necessarily the best person to advise Laura on the wisdom or otherwise of going against her family"s wishes.
Laura was the same age as she had been when she had been persuaded to refuse Henry"s proposal, although Laura could not know that. For all her gentleness, Laura March night seemed to have more cert.i.tude and determination than Polly had ever felt. She was certain of her love for Charles Far rant and would not scruple to admit it. Polly, remembering her own doubts and indecision, felt curiously unqualified to advise her.
Fortunately Laura seemed to feel better simply as a result of pouring her heart out, and was now drying her eyes and tidying herself.
"I expect I look a shocking fright," she said, with a brave attempt at a smile.
"I do apologise, Lady Polly--" Polly touched her hand.
"Do not! Believe me, I can understand how you feel! And that is why my advice is that you can only follow your heart.