Master of His Fate: The gripping new Victorian epic from the author of A Woman of Substance

They rushed over to them, only slowing down when they reached Sebastian. Smiling with pleasure, he pulled them both into his arms and hugged them. Once he had released them, answered a few questions about Aunt Thea and how she was, he explained, ‘I’m afraid I’ve got to hurry. I must change my clothes. Uncle Reginald will be arriving imminently.’

‘Can we say hello to him?’ Marietta asked, who loved company and was quite socially inclined for a young girl. She was filled with charm, whilst Lavinia was more reserved, a bit aloof.

‘He’ll be delighted to see you, Marietta, and you too, Lavinia,’ Sebastian answered, edging away, conscious of the time.

‘And I think he will like to say hello to me, too,’ Claudia murmured, smiling at her sisters indulgently.

Leaving his daughters standing in the middle of the elegant entrance hall, Sebastian ran up the staircase, and headed down the corridor to his bedroom.

As he entered, Maxwell, his valet, emerged from the dressing room. ‘Good evening, sir,’ he said, and went to help Sebastian out of his black frock coat.

‘I’ll take the waistcoat off as well, Maxwell,’ Sebastian said, and did so. ‘I’ve no reason to change my tie, or my black trousers. However, I will put on one of my smoking jackets. I will be dining at home this evening.’

‘Much more comfortable, sir. Which one do you prefer? The burgundy, the blue or the dark green?’

‘The blue. Thank you. Please excuse me for a moment.’ Sebastian hurried into the adjoining bathroom, where he washed his hands, patted his face with a clean cotton towel, then picked up a silver-topped brush and smoothed his hair back. He glanced at himself, and couldn’t help thinking he looked tired, but he simply shrugged away the thought and returned to his bedroom.

Maxwell helped him on with his deep-blue velvet smoking jacket, which had a tie belt with fringe at each end. ‘Thank you,’ he said, with a nod, and left the room.

Claudia was waiting for him in the library, standing near the blazing fire. ‘So you will be having supper at home, Papa.’

‘Yes. I believe Reginald will prefer it, and frankly, so do I.’ He joined her at the fireplace, and stood with his back to it, warming himself. ‘It’s turned chilly, don’t you think?’ he said, glancing at Claudia.

‘It has. But perhaps you’re also hungry, Papa. I know we had a nice lunch together with the girls, but it’s now six o’clock. I can ask Mr Bloom to bring in caviar and toast. You always enjoy that, and I know Uncle Reginald does.’

He laughed. ‘What a grand idea. Tell Bloom not to mess it up with additions I don’t like, such as chopped onions and chopped boiled egg. Caviar must be eaten as it is, with just a squeeze of lemon and the toast.’

‘I know. You taught me that when I was about twelve. Shall I ask Mr Bloom to open a bottle of champagne? Dom Pérignon?’

‘I believe I taught you well, my Claudia,’ he answered with a nod.

She offered him a glowing smile. ‘Do you want me to plan a supper for next week? So you can invite Alexis?’ Before he could answer, she rushed on, ‘I was thinking of Thursday.’

‘Who would we invite?’

‘Not Aunt Thea, as much as I love her, and not Delia and Richard. I think Alexis has to be with people she doesn’t know, and certainly not any family.’

‘You must be there!’ he exclaimed. ‘I absolutely insist.’

‘I intend to be, Papa. I thought we could invite Uncle Reginald and Aunt Jane, and Mark Brewster and his nice sister Evangilina.’

‘Good thinking on your part,’ Sebastian responded, suddenly feeling rather proud of his intelligent and clever daughter. ‘With the two of us we will be six, and with Alexis we’ll be seven. Should we make it eight by inviting someone else?’

‘No. We don’t need too many guests, Papa. You want to talk to Alexis, get to know her, don’t you?’

He began to chuckle, and before he could answer her, the butler tapped on the door and entered. ‘Lord Reginald has arrived, sir.’

‘Thank you, Bloom.’

The butler stepped aside, and Sebastian’s best friend walked in, smiling broadly when he saw Claudia with Sebastian. ‘My favourite girl!’ he exclaimed, walking over to the fireplace. After kissing her on each cheek, he turned to Sebastian and took his outstretched hand.

‘Glad you’re here, Reggie.’

‘Glad to see from your smoking jacket that we’re dining at home. Not only is it much more private than our clubs, the food is better. You have the best chef in London.’

‘If you’ll excuse me, Papa, I will go and speak to Bloom. And, by the way, you will be having roast leg of lamb for supper.’

Sebastian’s eyes followed her as she glided across the room, thinking how well she had turned out. What a lovely young woman she had become!

At the doorway, she said, ‘Oh, Uncle Reginald, Marietta and Lavinia wish to greet you later on.’

Lord Reginald smiled at her. ‘It will be my pleasure, my dear.’

Once they were alone, Sebastian sat down and Reginald followed suit. He reached into his pocket, took out a gold cigarette case, and opened it.

‘Oh, do you want to smoke, Sebastian?’ He offered the case.

‘No, thank you anyway. What I do want is for you to open up to me. What is troubling you?’

After lighting a cigarette, taking a puff, Reginald said, ‘I wanted to discuss some business – and we will. But it’s Jasmine. She has not been feeling well, and has developed a nasty cough. Jane took her to see Dr Stoppard, who says she has to stop wearing very tight corsets.’

Frowning, focusing on his friend, Sebastian asked, ‘Wearing corsets is making her ill? But every woman wears corsets. And seemingly the tighter they can make them with the lacing up, the better. Or so I’m given to understand.’

‘That tight lacing is the root of the problem!’ Reginald exclaimed. ‘It is compressing her ribcage, which has become smaller and smaller, and apparently that’s not healthy.’

‘What treatment does the doctor suggest?’

‘Jasmine has to stop wearing corsets, or rather, tightly laced corsets. And that’s where the problem is. Jasmine wants to have a tiny waist like the other debutantes – the tinier the better, apparently.’

‘I’m sorry about Jasmine’s health issue, Reggie, but surely her mother can make her see sense?’

‘She’s trying to, but these girls …’ Reginald broke off, shaking his head. ‘They are so competitive with each other, it’s unbelievable.’

‘Can I help in any way? Actually, I don’t see how I could.’

‘I believe Claudia may be the one person Jasmine will pay attention to, and I was hoping you would ask her to come and call on us. Sometime next week. Perhaps she could help our daughter.’

‘I shall do that. I must also talk to Claudia myself about this tight-lacing problem. I don’t think Claudia approves of it, now that I’m discussing the matter with you. I vaguely remember her chastising Lavinia and Marietta about it a few weeks ago.’

‘Thank you, Sebastian, I really appreciate your help, and if anyone can talk sense into Jasmine, I believe it will be Claudia.’

‘We are like brothers, you and I, Reggie,’ Sebastian suddenly said. ‘Just imagine, we were boys at Eton together, then at King’s College, Cambridge. We’ve spent our lives in each other’s pockets, and we’ve never had a cross word.’

‘An extraordinary friendship, yes, indeed we’ve had that.’ He puffed on the cigarette and, changing the subject, he went on, ‘I had a meeting today with George Havermill. He wants to buy my newspapers. Offered a very good price. What do you think?’

‘Consider it, if you really do want to sell. Or start something new. Maybe I should take a look at the deal he’s offered you.’

‘I’d like your advice.’