An Escapade and an Engagement

His hands tightened on the head of his cane. A muscle twitched in his jaw.

She reminded herself that he was not in the best of health, and that being in pain could make anyone short-tempered.

Whilst arranging her skirts into decorous folds, making sure the train was well out of the way of his feet, she resolutely stifled the pang of hurt his lack of gratitude had inflicted. Only when she was confident she could do so in a calm, even tone, did she point out, ‘And I assumed Milly must be short for something. Amelia is a good, safe kind of name for a girl who is supposed to be completely respectable, though not from the top drawer. And the name Brigstock just popped into my head.’

‘Her name is Milly,’ he grated. ‘Just Milly. And there is nothing wrong with that.’

‘There is if I am to invite her to go about with me and pretend that we are bosom friends.’

He looked aghast. ‘I have not asked you to do that! Surely you only need to take her shopping a few times to teach her the difference between taste and tawdriness?’

She mellowed a little. How could she not, when he was demonstrating such faith in her fashion sense?

But still …’You have not thought this through at all, have you? I have not gone shopping with a friend once since coming to Town. If I am to suddenly wish to do so with Milly, then Lady Penrose has got to believe she is someone exceptional. A special friend. Or she will become suspicious.’

Lady Jayne never went shopping with friends? He’d thought that was how all fashionable young ladies spent their days.

They were both obliged to suspend any effort at conversation when a footman approached with the drinks that had given them the excuse to go out onto the terrace. But once Lady Jayne had taken just one sip, she pointed out rather tartly, ‘You wished me to exercise some influence on her. Which I have promised to do. But you did not give me enough information to see me through any social awkwardness which presenting her to Lady Penrose would entail. I did my best to smooth over that awkwardness. I thought it was what you military types called thinking on your feet.’

He eyed her with misgiving. All he’d wanted was some pretext for making her think they were doing each other a favour—something to distract her from questioning his real motives behind monitoring her and Lieutenant Kendell’s meetings so closely.

He could never have guessed just how little freedom she had—not even to go shopping. He’d assumed she’d been exaggerating when she’d said she felt caged, but now he understood what she had meant. It must be intolerable. No wonder she resorted to telling lies and climbing out of windows. Though he couldn’t very well encourage her propensity for getting into mischief by admitting that. So, instead, he observed, ‘All you have done is make everything twice as complicated as it need be by adding yet another layer to the deception you are practising upon Lady Penrose.’

Guilt made her stomach twinge. She did not want to practise any deception upon Lady Penrose at all. After living under her aegis for only a few weeks she had discovered that, though reserved and inclined to be strict, basically she was a kind woman. So kind, in fact, that after observing the two girls together in the shop she had invited Milly back to Mount Street. Immediately catching on to what a marvellous opportunity this would be to spend some time together in private and concoct a suitable background story, Milly had accepted the invitation with alacrity.

‘I am sure you wish to catch up with each other,’ Lady Penrose had said once they arrived, and then had retired to her own room leaving them entirely unsupervised.

Lady Jayne did not think she had ever laughed so much since … No, she had never laughed so much as she had done that afternoon, closeted in her room with Milly and her lively sense of humour. She had wondered if this was what it would be like to have a close female friend. She had no idea. She had never had any friends she had chosen for herself. Her grandfather vetted everyone she came into contact with so closely that by the time they measured up to his impossibly high standards she had lost interest in them.

Milly was like a breath of fresh air. Even though Jayne had been a little jealous of the esteem in which Lord Ledbury held her to begin with, once they had retired to the privacy of Lady Jayne’s room and got talking—well! Milly had seen so much, had had so many exciting adventures growing up in the tail of the army, and recounted them so amusingly that Lady Jayne forgot to be anything but completely enthralled. How she wished she might have had but a tithe of Milly’s experiences. Once her parents had died, and she had gone to live with her grandfather, Lady Jayne had not set foot outside Kent. While there, she had scarcely been allowed off the estate except for church on Sunday, or to visit the few neighbouring families of whom her grandfather approved. She felt so green and naive and ignorant beside Milly.

After she had gone, Lady Penrose had summoned her to her room.

‘That girl appears to have acted upon you like a tonic,’ she’d said, the moment Lady Jayne had taken a seat. ‘I had thought just at first she looked a little … common …’ Lady Penrose had arched an enquiring brow.

‘That is one thing I hope to help her with while she is in Town,’ she had said, seizing her opportunity. ‘I had hoped, if I might supervise her purchase of a new wardrobe and just give her a nudge—you know, about what is truly stylish …’

Lady Penrose had continued to look at her in silence, that eyebrow raised, until Lady Jayne had admitted, ‘Well, no, she is not from a terribly good family. But I do like her.’ And by that time it had been the truth.

‘There is nothing wrong with having a few friends from lower levels of Society, provided one does not let them become too encroaching,’ Lady Penrose had said with a pointed look.

Lady Jayne had nodded her understanding. Any friendship with a person of Milly’s class would be allowed to go so far, but no further.

‘I have not been able to help noticing,’ she had then said, with a troubled air, ‘that you have not been very happy while you have been staying with me. It was one of the reasons why I decided we should accept Miss Beresford’s invitation to attend her come-out, even though she is not from one of the families your grandfather approved. I had wondered, when you expressed an interest in attending, if you and she had struck up a friendship?’

Lady Jayne had only gone to that wretched ball because Harry had let her know he could be there, and they had arranged an assignation in the library, but she couldn’t very well admit that.

When Lady Penrose saw that she had no intention of making any response to her tentative enquiry, she continued, ‘I have rarely seen you smile, and certainly never heard you laugh, until Miss Brigstock came upon the scene.’ She smiled. ‘For that alone I am inclined to like her.’