A Season for Love by Blair Bancroft

Author:Blair Bancroft
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: regency london, british nobility, historical 1800s, regency romance
Publisher: Blair Bancroft

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Chapter Twelve

Lady Caroline hid a wince as a pin nicked her side. The horrified look on the face of the seamstress’s assistant was enough to convince her the girl would be sacked on the spot if her employer discovered her shocking negligence. There was quite enough distress in the world, Caroline decided, without the daughter of the Duke of Longville inadvertently adding to the long list of hapless persons on the streets of London. She closed her lips firmly over the complaint which had nearly slipped out. New gowns might be quite wonderful, but the process of acquiring them was not.

“Ah, Caroline, there you are,” said the duchess as she entered the room. “What a becoming gown! This is the one we chose for Almack’s, is it not?”

In a soft swish of ivory silk Caroline swung round to face her step-mother. “Your Grace,” she demanded, “why am I confined to the house in this fashion, the seamstresses forced to come here? I do not care to be a prisoner in my own home.”

All of Jen’s five feet ten inches quivered before Lady Caroline’s wrath. Being at odds with Marcus’s eldest child was not something she could like. Goodness knows she had tried this past week, but the duke’s insistence on curtailing their excursions outside the house had exacerbated tempers, rather than helped. Instead of enjoying the full panoply of the fashions offered by the modiste, the duchess, as well as Lady Caroline, had had to confine herself to the fabrics and sketches the seamstress and her helpers could transport to Longville House.

“Caroline, you know your father’s thoughts on this subject. We must humor him in this, I think.”

“Half London is off to Brussels to view the great battle, and we cannot venture outside the house!” Caroline declared bitterly.

“Half London is mad then,” the duchess returned, “for who is to say where the battle will be or when. Or if it will take place at all.”

“I heard papa say that all of Boney’s old soldiers are rallying round. There will be a battle, he is certain of it.”

“And in such uncertain times your father is wise to curtail our racketing about town,” Jenny returned with calm good sense. “Which brings me to my reason for seeking you out—”

“Papa has not canceled the picnic!” Caroline cried. “Tell me he has not.”

“Not at all,” Jenny hastened to reply. “I have come only to discuss the guest list with you. Tony wished me to select some young ladies whose company you might enjoy.”

“Young ladies whose company Sir Chetwin and Mr. Trimby-Ashford might enjoy,” Caroline countered.

“That, too,” Jen agreed with a tentative smile. “I was thinking of Lady Harriet Grantley. Her father is one of the duke’s political friends.” Caroline offered an infinitesimal nod of approval. “And I was wondering,” the duchess ventured, obviously less certain of her ground, “if you would not mind the inclusion of a young friend from my days with the army. Truthfully, she was but a child when I knew her.

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