Lady Louisa retired to bed long before the other ladies of the house returned from the ball. Consequently, she also rose much earlier than the others. She enjoyed the peaceful breakfast she had alone in the morning room, and then settled herself in the drawing room to do some mending while she waited for the rest of her relations to awaken.
Lady Louisa had already begun to make her plans to return to London that very morning. First, she sent a letter to her mother, informing the Dowager Countess that she would be coming home shortly.
Next, she asked Mr. Johnson to procure coach times so as to ascertain her earliest departure. She would have been quite fine if she could have left that very morning, so much was she dreading seeing her aunt and Miss Elisabeth again.
Not only did Lady Louisa still feel a great amount of animosity towards them for the ridiculously rude behavior before the ball, but she also had no desire to hear the two talk incessantly about the night.
Lady Louisa was still in the process of reconciling with what had occurred to her at the ball and make sense of the swirl of emotion it had caused within herself.
Unfortunately leaving before the rest of the house was even awake was not something that Lady Louisa could do. For starters, it would take much more time to prepare for such a trip. Secondly, though she didn’t feel much gratitude towards her aunt as host, Lady Louisa’s upbringing would not allow her to leave without a proper goodbye to her hostess.
So it was that by mid-afternoon the rest of the household was fully awake and breakfasted. Even at such a late hour of the day, all three were still quite groggy from the night's adventure. It was one of the quietest afternoons that Lady Louisa had ever experienced in Mentheith House.
“I want to know who this supposed mystery woman is that everyone kept gabbing on about last night,” Lady Hendrickson said after a time.
Lady Louisa was just about to excuse herself from the group and see to the needs of the garden; she decided against it when the conversation turned to the ball and the unknown guest.
“Someone of little consequence if you ask me,” Miss Elisabeth said with a flick of her hand.
“I would not be so quick to brush the event off,” Lady Hendrickson scolded. “It is rumored that the Duke was quite taken by her. He even chased her out the door.”
“Chased is my point, Mother. Whatever lady is deranged enough to run from the Duke of Rowland is not worth the discussion.”
“Colonel Jasper said that the Duke spoke of nothing else but finding her identity the rest of the night,” Miss Mary chimed in. “He even told me that the Duke has vowed to marry the lady when he learns her name.”
“I can’t believe such things. And why would the Colonel tell you anyway?” Miss Elisabeth said in an accusatory fashion.
Miss Mary’s gaze fell immediately to her hands in her lap.
“Don’t be so cross with your sister,” Lady Hendrickson scolded her daughter.
It brought a shocked look from every member of the room.
“She did us a great service last night,” Lady
Hendrickson continued. “She kept the attention of the Colonel since Louisa was sadly not able to attend,” she said without even looking in Lady Louisa’s direction. “She has even secured the promise of a family dinner with the Duke and his house guest here at Mentheith House.”
“How wonderfully exciting for you all,” Lady Louisa said. “It sounds like the night was a most eventful one.”
“I wish you could have seen it,” Miss Mary said gaining back some of her will to talk. “The house just looked marvelous. The dancing was divine too. When the Duke ran out after that lady…” she trailed off. “I dare say it was the most romantic thing I have ever seen,” she finished.
“Hardly,” Miss Elisabeth scoffed, though softer now after her mother’s scolding. “I bet you anything it was simply an uninvited guest, and the Duke was chasing her off.”
Even Lady Hendrickson gave her daughter a look that said she highly doubted it.
“Frankly, my dear,” Lady Hendrickson said with her chin up, “I think you are underestimating the problem this little mystery can cause us. Up until last night, it was almost clear that he was nearly about to propose. Now his mind has seemed to turn elsewhere.”
“What am I to do about that?” Miss Elisabeth said in a whine.
“It’s really simple, my dear,” Lady Hendrickson replied. “You simply must remind him that the real one in front of him is far superior to a fantasy girl that he concocted in his head.”
“Concocted? Mother, you saw her just as the rest of us did,” Miss Mary chimed in.
“Yes, we all saw the rather unremarkable thing,” Lady Hendrickson replied with a roll of her eyes. Clearly, she was back to the habit of finding her youngest daughter a nuisance. “It was no doubt the mystery of a lady without a name or clear face that inspired his reaction. He will not go to great lengths to discover her once the influence of last night’s mystery has passed.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she was nothing more than a silly servant in her mistress’ dress. Why else would the girl run upon the threat of discovery? The truth of the matter will come out in the end, it always does,” Lady Hendrickson continued. “Until then you must be present and remind the Duke that no fantastical creature of his own making can compare to you. Then when the lady is discovered, he will not only realize she was nothing compared to the one in his head, but also holds not a candle to you,” the Lady finally finished.
Lady Louisa felt very conflicted by her aunt’s words. Though she felt comfort in her aunt’s opinion that the Duke was surely making more out of the encounter than there really was, she also was a little disappointed to hear those words spoken out loud.
“It shall be our new goal,” Lady Hendrickson said with an air of importance, “that we discover the identity first.
If it is another invited guest, who turned and fled, then we must befriend and encourage the discouraging feelings within her. If it is a servant or other unworthy creature, we will expose her as such to the Duke.”
“In the meantime, Lady Louisa can use her connections to Colonel Jasper to tell us of the Duke’s decisions on the matter,” Lady Hendrickson said without so much as a look in Lady Louisa’s direction.
Miss Mary and Lady Louisa did exchange glances at the statement. It was apparent that Miss Mary was still not ready for her mother to know the truth about where Colonel Jasper’s affections actually lay.
“Also, since you go into town all the time and speak with the servants and the like, you can find out what others are saying about this woman,” Miss Elisabeth said with a dismissive wave in Lady Louisa’s direction.
“Are you referring to my time spent with the sick and injured? If you remember correctly, you asked me to stop, and I have already given my apologies to Mrs. Vance and several of those I tended.”
“Well then you will just go and tell Mrs. Vance that you changed your mind,” Lady Hendrickson said, exasperated that Lady Louisa didn’t see that point clearly.
“I would be more than happy to visit my patients as I have already learned so much about the practice, but unfortunately I can’t see how that will be possible.”
“Oh, why ever not?” Lady Hendrickson retorted as she flicked her fan irritated.
“I fear that my mother has grown quite lonely in my absence and have begun the process of procuring transportation home. I wanted to tell you as much this morning. I worry that my presence here is too much of a burden and, though I am grateful for your hospitality, I wish to absolve you from it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! The one time you could actually be of use, and of course you wish to leave,” Lady Hendrickson said to the room in whole.
Lady Louisa bit back her words. She had only called herself a burden out of humble politeness. It was rather annoying for her aunt to claim that up until this point she had served no purpose.
“I do beg your pardon, Lady Hendrickson, but I have tried to be of as much use as possible these last several weeks,” Lady Louisa said softly. She felt rather miserable at that moment.
“If you truly wish to be of help,” Lady Hendrickson retorted with a shake of her jowls, “then you will stay and do as I ask. Certainly, your mother is capable of sparing you longer. After all, you had planned to stay through summer. Is it really so much to ask for you to keep your word?”
Lady Louisa did hate how her aunt always seemed to have ways of manipulating words to get her desired outcome. She wouldn’t be able to deny her aunt now after speaking in such a way.
“If you find my presence a benefit,” Lady Louisa said rather reluctantly, “then I shall be happy to stay.”
The conversation continued with more speculation and plans to ascertain the identity of the mystery woman. Lady Louisa feared her face might give her away at any moment, so she politely excused herself to tend to the garden before sunset.
Not long after Lady Louisa began to trim, weed, and collect ready specimens for drying, Miss Mary joined her.
“I know Mother can be unusually difficult to live with,”
Miss Mary said as she came to take her place at Lady Louisa’s side. “But I do hope you will stay. I know this sounds horribly selfish of me, but without you here, I
don’t know that I will find a way to see the Colonel much.”
Lady Louisa thought the matter over. She wondered if perhaps she had been the selfish one. After all, hadn’t she hoped to bring the Colonel and Miss Mary together? Now she had chosen to leave due to her pride and had thrown any help that she had promised to Miss Mary away.
“I don’t think it is selfish of you at all,” Lady Louisa said to her, squeezing her hand. “I know the two of you will be very happy together. Any way I can help to make that a possibility, I will be happy to do so.”
“But what of your own mother? I feel so awful to ask you to stay away from her if she truly is lonely.”
Lady Louisa laughed at the thought. Even with her in the country and Colton far away in the Colonies, there was no chance of her mother being lonely. She had a vast array of people and projects to keep her quite occupied.
“I promise that Mother is more than entertained. I only said that by way of excuse. I rather didn’t want to give Lady Hendrickson another chance to pour sherry down my dress.”
“Oh, that was so awful,” Miss Mary responded. “I was so shocked; I had no words to say. I couldn’t believe she would stoop to that level. All that Mother cared about was one less titled lady at the ball that night. I find her scheming so exhausting at times.”
“Yes, she does seem quite duplicitous when it comes to my presence. I am sure that most days she would rather not have my company and then, when I suggest leaving, she insists on me staying.”
Lady Louisa shook her head, wondering if she would ever truly understand her aunt and her motives.
“It’s simply this,” Miss Mary said, brushing her skirts with a little more force than necessary. “If one can be useful to her, she is willing to allow their presence. However, if one should ever disagree with her, or heaven forbid, work against her prerogative, she can be quite vindictive.”
Lady Louisa had a feeling that Mary was speaking more of her own relationship with Lady Hendrickson. She was sure that it couldn’t have been an easy thing for Miss Mary to grow up under such a demanding and forceful mother.
Lady Louisa might have suffered under her aunt's displeasure these last several weeks, but Miss Mary had suffered so her whole life. It was no wonder that Miss Mary more often than not chose to keep her thoughts to herself than share them with a mother who always seemed to disapprove.
Lady Louisa was willing to stay as long as it would take for the sake of Miss Mary. If she could somehow help her aunt see the good character in Colonel Jasper and accept him as a prospect for her youngest daughter, Lady Louisa could at least feel she had helped in accomplishing something beyond the darning of stockings and fixing of hems.