A Class Apart by Susie Murphy

Author:Susie Murphy [Murphy, Susie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-07-09T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

The guests began to arrive the following day. Bridget found that her enthusiasm for the imminent festivities had been tempered by the grave events surrounding the burglary but, when the first carriage rolled up the avenue, she resolved to put all sombre thoughts from her mind. The incident had passed and it was now her duty to be a delightful hostess.

She and Garrett went outside to welcome their visitors, reaching the bottom of the front steps as the carriage drew up and a footman jumped down to open the door. Madeleine Wallace emerged, auburn ringlets bouncing around her face, and gave a squeal of excitement when she saw Bridget.

‘Oh, you are a dear angel for inviting us!’ she exclaimed. ‘I shall be forever indebted to you for brightening the dullest summer of my life!’

Her sister, Catherine, alighted next from the carriage, assisted by her husband, Mr Howard Spencer, a limping gentleman twenty years her senior. Theirs had been a match arranged by her parents and, judging by her grimace as she sidled out of his grasp, it was not an especially happy one. Bridget experienced a dart of gratitude towards her mother that she had refrained from inflicting such a fate upon her.

They had scarcely returned to the house when the next carriage pulled up, this one carrying Garrett’s companions, the Ashford brothers and their cousin, Mr Matthew Parnell. A third carriage, bearing Miss Isabel Gardiner and the Misses Hyland, arrived later in the afternoon, by which time there was quite the merry atmosphere all around. A long-time London acquaintance of Garrett’s, Lord Newby, happened to be visiting Dublin for the summer and he also travelled down to Oakleigh, though he was the last to make an appearance, not arriving until the next morning.

It had been years since Oakleigh Manor had been so full of life. Every bedchamber was occupied, every stall in the stables contained a whinnying horse, every seat was taken at mealtimes, and every corner of the house overflowed with laughter and chatter from morning to night. For the servants of the household, such a large company signified extra toil in washing, cleaning and cooking, so Bridget had ensured in advance that Mrs Walsh enlisted several local girls to help cope with the enormous workload.

Garrett’s twenty-sixth birthday occurred two days after the guests arrived and the entire group celebrated the day with entertaining pursuits. In the morning and afternoon, they held a number of bowls tournaments, starting with individual contenders, then pairs of gentlemen and ladies, and lastly male and female couples. The Hyland twins proved to be an unstoppable force but Garrett and Bridget won the couples tournament to the cheers of all assembled.

In the evening, a sumptuous dinner was to be followed by a night of dancing in the ballroom. Before she went down, Bridget sent for Ellen and asked her to be discreet in bringing Garrett to her bedchamber.

‘It is nothing untoward,’ she promised upon seeing Ellen’s shocked face. ‘You may leave the door ajar and listen to reassure yourself.

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