A Little Folly by Jude Morgan

Author:Jude Morgan [Morgan, Jude]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2013-03-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter XIV

When Mr Tresilian had undertaken to speak to Valentine about the matter of Lady Harriet, loyalty had made her respond breezily: but inside, she seized thankfully on the one thing that seemed likely to quell her anxiety. The name of Mr Tresilian had long been synonymous in Louisa’s mind with trust. When he said he would do a thing, he always did it, quietly and efficiently: she remembered an occasion at Pennacombe in her youth, when Valentine had lost a riding-crop, inlaid and engraved with silver, and was terrified to tell his father, whose gift it had been on his breeching. Mr Tresilian had said he would right the matter, against all Valentine’s frantic assertions that it was impossible; and soon a perfect replica appeared, procured from Exeter, where Mr Tresilian had directed the craftsman in reproducing every detail; and he had guarded against the dangers of a parcel, which Sir Clement would have insisted be opened before his eyes, by carrying it in his coat-sleeve when he called, and discreetly placing it on the hall table.

Now Mr Tresilian had said he would consult with Valentine just as discreetly: he of all people could manage such a ticklish matter, and she did not doubt him. Or, at least, she chose not to doubt him; for her enjoyment of London was still so great that she was inclined to turn her mind away from anything that imperilled it; rather as the small cloud in the sky, on a day which our plans demand must be fair, is not to be regarded and will surely blow away.

An invitation for the Spedding household to dine with the Lynleys at Brook Street arrived, and quickened that enjoyment. – It was not something Louisa had ever expected to feel in such a prospect; but there had been a change. Her meeting with Francis Lynley had left a deep impression on her: she could not say whether she liked him, for her feeling lay at the bottom of a good deal of curiosity and perplexity, which was further entangled by her thorny relation with his brother; but she was very ready to see him again, and to compare the reality of that angular challenging face to the one that had been appearing repeatedly before her mind’s eye.

Before the dinner engagement, Mr Tresilian spent his promised evening at Valentine’s club; and calling at Hill Street the next morning, gave Louisa a brief account.

‘I never knew fashionable dissipation could be so dull. There is a deal of fuss about sitting in the bow-window and being seen, which I could not understand; and it seems very modish to yawn continually. There, you may believe, I managed very well. But I found something that made up for all of this: the most delightful discovery. I have made the acquaintance of The Top. Do you know him, or it?’

‘I have had the pleasure.’

‘Is he not entrancing? I could study him for hours. It is not just the stupidity – it is the thoroughness with which it is kept up.

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