A Most Congenial Lady by Elizabeth Downton

Author:Elizabeth Downton [Downton, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-06T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

And so our Tale Ends

‘Marry her?’ the Duke of Mantlehurst said, ‘What do you mean marry her? You hardly know her.’

‘Well when has that ever stopped anyone of our rank, Father?’ Bartholomew retorted.

He and his father were engaged in a heated conversation regarding Daisy Mills. In the weeks since the deluged picnic, the heir to the Mantlehurst estate had found his attitude towards women mellowing somewhat, as he fell more in love with Daisy whose company he had kept on several occasions. The daily written exchanges demonstrated that the love building in his heart for her was reciprocated ten-fold in the eldest daughter of Mr. Ernest Mills.

For though we have perhaps been rather harsh upon the character of Bartholomew, who had done himself no favours in his treatment of Sara, at his centre was a good heart. For who could have a sister such as Mary Dinkster and not oneself be disposed to some of her kindness and joy?

‘You can’t just marry anyone, you know,’ his father said, ‘I have to approve such a liaison, and who is her father? If it were Lord Treblinger himself, I would have no qualms, but is she of sufficient breeding for such a match?’

‘Breeding seems to matter not to you when it comes to the waywardness of your hands,’ Bart said rather pointedly, causing his father to become even more enraged.

It was at this point that Mary Dinkster entered the room. She had been reading in the library with Cameron Styles, who was himself besotted by his own Mills sister and had heard the commotion occurring in the Duke’s study.

‘Really, Father, are we then not to marry for love?’ she reproached him.

‘Love?’ the Duke said, ‘People of our status do not marry for love. If by happy chance love should occur afterward then so be it, all well and good. No, we marry for duty and not below ourselves. Now young man, I shall make enquiries as to the young lady’s suitability, her estate and so on through the proper channels. I will speak to Lord Treblinger this afternoon and we will discuss this again in the morning. Until then, I absolutely forbid you to pay a visit to Springside House; you could well bring scandal upon us if you do so.’

‘Father,’ Mary said, ‘you are a fine one to talk about scandal. If Bart has met the person whom he has deigned to give his affections to, then we should be happy for him.’

But there was to be no changing of the Duke’s mind, and he dismissed his children forthwith before taking the carriage to Springside House where he found Lord Treblinger in his own library, poring over a copy of Virgil’s Aeneid. The Duke was no classicist, and had little time for such things, striding into the library, he came straight to the point.

‘Do the Mills girls have money or not, George?’

Lord Treblinger was a little taken aback by this intrusion, but he was used to his friend’s distemper. He offered him a chair by the window and both men sat down.

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