A Promise Of Spring by Balogh Mary

Author:Balogh, Mary [Balogh, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Regency, Historical
ISBN: 9780451164049
Amazon: 0451164040
Barnesnoble: 0451164040
Goodreads: 1451883
Publisher: Signet
Published: 1990-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter IX

The next few weeks were surprisingly tranquil ones. They were filled with activities, ones that were largely shared by Peregrine and Grace. They had both sensed that the honeymoon period of their marriage was over and that a more difficult period, even possibly a disastrous one, was ahead for them. And both resisted the change and clung desperately to the quiet and affectionate closeness they had shared for more than a year.

They attended the opera together and heard the famous Madame Catalani in Atalida. They attended the Hanover Square Rooms one evening and listened to the concert there in company with a large gathering that included four of the royal dukes and Princess Alexandra, mother of the Princess of Wales. They watched a splendid and colorful military review in the park one afternoon and attended St. Paul’s together for the Easter services. They visited an exhibition of paintings at Somerset House and another of paintings of famous cities at the Panorama. They visited the Tower again and spent a full afternoon in the armory there.

They attended some of the quieter evening entertainments as well as the balls and routs that attracted large squeezes. They spent a few evenings at Mrs. Eunice Borden’s salon, meeting and conversing with the writers and poets and political figures with whom she liked to surround herself. She was a small, rather heavyset, curly-haired widow, somewhat younger than Grace, a particular friend of the Earl of Amberley. Indeed, Grace began to wonder with some curiosity if perhaps she was his mistress. His lordship was always there when they were, and he never left before them, however late they lingered.

Somehow, although they attended several of the more glittering entertainments of the ton, they avoided any more uncomfortable evenings like that of the first ball. And yet they both knew that they were living through an interval that could not last. And they both knew that they could not prolong it indefinitely. Although they never spoke to each other of their deepest desires, each wanted to go home, away from London, away from all those forces that seemed to be conspiring against their happiness. And yet each silently consented to stay.

And even in the midst of the tranquillity, there were still signs of strain. They met Lord Sandersford on more than one occasion, though Grace contrived never to be alone with him. At the opera one evening she declined his offer to take her into the corridor for some fresh air between acts, although he had looked to Peregrine for permission and had received a nod in return. And she sat next to Perry for the rest of the performance, their arms not quite touching, conversation between them dead, both of them taut with stress, while Martin and Ethel, Priscilla and Mr. Johnson laughed and exchanged comments on either side of them.

And there was the morning when they called at Cavendish Square to find Priscilla in mingled elation and despair. Four young ladies and three young gentlemen had arranged an expedition to Kew Gardens for the afternoon.

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