Lady Louisa had collected all her necessary gardening products and placed them into a basket on her arm. Things were looking very pleasant until the time came for her to procure the parcels from the seamstress. They were not just a few notions, but actually, several ordered dresses.
Lady Louisa had no idea how she was meant to get these items home without the use of a carriage. Had she been in London, it would have been easy enough to call a hired coach to take her home. She had a sinking feeling that such a thing wouldn’t be possible here.
Perhaps it was what her aunt had wanted all along. In her current situation, she would have no choice but to return to her aunt’s house having failed the task. No doubt Lady Hendrickson would make sure to point out her failure in front of her cousins.
Lady Louisa was determined to salvage this task somehow. She asked the seamstress if she had a cart that Lady Louisa might borrow.
“I am afraid not. Lady Hendrickson purchases items often from my shop, but has never sent Mr. Johnson without his own means of transport,” the proprietor responded honestly.
Lady Louisa felt no surprise at this point that her errand had been a sham all along.
“Perhaps there is a public stall that I might rent one from?” Lady Louisa asked encouragingly.
“There is a public stall at the end of this street. It is used more for storage of animals and carts during events such as the market outside. I am sure it will be brimming with animals and buggies, but you may find someone willing to offer you theirs.”
Lady Louisa could tell that she was trying to be as helpful as possible. It seemed the circumstances were just not favorable.
“Perhaps I might go and inquire there first, and then come to collect the items. Of course, if that is all right with you?”
Lady Louisa did feel bad that the owner had just wrapped the packages and they were taking up ample space on her storefront.
“It will be quite all right. I don’t mind keeping them. If you have no luck, I will just retire them to the back until you are able to pick them up at a later day. Lady Hendrickson and her daughters are some of my most frequent customers; it would not do if I couldn’t allow a little leeway for them from time to time.”
“I appreciate that,” Lady Louisa said, making her way out of the dress shop.
She found the stalls just at the edge of the village. The barn did seem to be bursting with carts and animals, and she hoped that one might be able to give her the desired help.
A small stable boy was leaning against the building, dozing in the warm sunlight as she approached him.
“Excuse me, could you please help me procure a cart to Mentheith House this afternoon? I would be happy to compensate you for the effort, as well as the effort of the driver.”
“Not many would be willing to go down that way, ma’am. Very few live there, and it’s awful far,” the boy said, scratching his head.
“Yes, so I’ve been told,” Lady Louisa said as she irritatedly remembered her encounter with the Duke.
“Is there something I may assist with?” a deep male voice called from behind Lady Louisa.
She turned in her spot to find an older gentleman before her. He was dressed finely in a militia red coat and shining black high boots. He was handsome for a man older in years. Lady Louisa surmised that he must have been in his mid-forties by the grey streaks that ran on either side of his dark auburn hair.
“Yes,” Lady Louisa said with a slight bow. “I am Lady Louisa visiting with my aunt at Mentheith House. I came to town to pick up some parcels and fear that it is much more than I am able to carry on my return trip home. I was hoping to rent a cart.”
“Well how very fortunate for you. I just came from that direction myself, to acquire some items from the market. I would be happy to escort you back home if you would allow me.”
“How very kind of you.”
“Don’t mention it. Colonel Hugh Jasper, at your service,” he added with a deep bow and a sincere smile.
A half-hour later, Lady Louisa was sitting next to the Colonel in his country cart laden with both their items. It was a much more delightful ride back through the forest than the walk in the morning.
The sun was just beginning to set and orange, golden rays found a way to penetrate through the leaves in downward angles. Before, the forest had seemed so terrifying and dark, but now, with her escort at her side, Lady Louisa felt altogether relieved.
The Colonel was kind enough to make light conversation during the ride. It had to be the first time she had a friendly conversation that didn’t seem filled with the double entendres of her aunt and cousins.
“You must let me repay you for your service somehow,” Lady Louisa said as they came out of the woods and Mentheith House appeared in the distance.
“I wouldn’t think of such a thing. I am duty-bound to help a lady in need. In fact, I was rather glad to have the company. My companion had to leave quite suddenly and return to his estate this morning.”
“Perhaps you would join us for dinner tonight? I am sure my aunt would welcome the company and would like to thank you herself.”
“Well, I’ve never been the sort to refuse a meal. I am new to this county as well, and it might be good for me to make the acquaintance of some of the families here.”
“I am sure that my aunt, Lady Hendrickson, will be the perfect place for you to start. If I remember correctly, the late Mr. Hendrickson’s family has resided at Mentheith House for four generations.”
“Then your aunt should know the area well. I am aiming for a bit of adventure while I am here.”
“Well both my mother and aunt were raised in this area, though I am not sure if they did much adventuring.”
“Nonetheless, since you have been so kind to ask me to dine, I shan’t refuse it.”
Lady Louisa wasn’t sure what bothered her aunt more, that she had in fact completed the task at the dress shop unhindered or that Lady Louisa had already made an acquaintance that Lady Hendrickson wasn’t familiar with beforehand.
“Colonel Jasper you say,” Miss Elisabeth Hendrickson said as the three ladies sat around the drawing room not doing anything in particular when Lady Louisa arrived home.
“Yes. He was very kind to me. As I said, I invited him to dine with us. I suspected you, yourself, would have done the same, Lady Hendrickson. He is currently in the library awaiting an introduction.”
“A Colonel, Mother. I bet he is unattached too,” Miss Hendrickson stated with excitement in her eyes.
“Remember yourself, Elisabeth,” her mother chastised.
Lady Louisa had thought it was to teach the girl some propriety and decorum. Certainly, she was only two years younger than Lady Louisa and should have known that giggling excitedly at the prospect of a suitor was unbecoming.
“We have our eyes set on a much better target,” Lady Hendrickson finished.
She didn’t want to say anything more on the matter in front of present company, and Lady Louisa did her best not to be offended by this. Miss Mary also seemed to be quiet and reserved on this and just about every other matter. Lady Louisa found a bit of a kindred spirit in her ability to hold her thoughts close to her heart.
Seeing that there were no further objections to the Colonel staying for dinner, Lady Louisa asked Bess, who was waiting just outside the drawing room door, to show him in.
Colonel Jasper was very friendly with the present company and seemed to know how to keep the conversation moving along smoothly.
“I was not aware that a regiment was in the area,” Lady Hendrickson said over dinner.
“I am not here with the regiment, but rather on a bit of a sabbatical.”
“Oh, are you visiting with family then? Perhaps we know them,” Lady Hendrickson continued.
“Actually, my parents died when I was young, ma’am. There was another gent in a situation similar to mine at boarding school. We became good friends, the two of us. He has been out of the country for some time, but he recently came back. He and his uncle have been my family, so it only seemed right that I take a holiday and help him acclimate back to normal life.”
“Acclimate? If I may ask, was your friend fighting in the war?” Lady Louisa asked, thinking of her brother and the struggles he had after his time in the war.
“No, nothing like that. Actually, he was traveling the various regions of the empire. You would have to ask him which ones, they’re far too many for me to remember. I believe the last was the Indies, though.”
“Forgive my asking,” Miss Mary said, “But, perchance, is your friend Henry Vaughan, the Duke of Rowland?”
Miss Mary received a sharp look from her mother and then darted a look at Lady Louisa. It seemed that her aunt had no desire in telling her that the Duke was present in the area. Little did she know that Lady Louisa had already, quite literally, run into him.
“Why yes, it is,” the Colonel said with a light to his face. “Rowland hadn’t been able to leave his estate for some time. He took a little ill with the change of climate. I believe he only left Bassen today. News must travel fast here in the Lake District.”
“You would be surprised how fast,” Miss Hendrickson said as she too gave her sister an irritated stare.
“Well, I should suspect with two unattached females in the house, news of an eligible Duke in the vicinity wouldn’t go unnoticed,” he added in the direction of Lady Hendrickson.
Lady Louisa decided that she liked Colonel Jasper very much. However, she was a little concerned that he was in close contact with the Duke of Rowland, a man with whom she had not only had a very embarrassing first meeting, but to whom she had also given a false name.
What would happen when Colonel Jasper returned to his friend's house tonight and informed him of all the day’s happenings? Surely the Duke would not believe someone was visiting an aunt in service at the house while, at the same time, a niece of the house’s lady was also visiting.
She wondered if perhaps she should tell the Colonel all that had transpired. Though he was thin of frame, he was undoubtedly the jolly sort and might, in fact, find humor in her tale.
She looked between her aunt and cousins. Clearly, the Duke of Rowland was the man alluded to earlier. Why Lady Hendrickson had hoped to keep it a secret from her, was a mystery.
Certainly a peerage member so close to her own family seat would mean there had to be connections between the two families. It would be to Lady Hendrickson’s benefit to use her link.
It would be even more beneficial if she was, in fact, hoping to make a connection herself between the Duke and one of her daughters as the case seemed to be.
But then Lady Louisa remembered how much jealousy and hatred her aunt felt towards her parents’ alliance.
Perchance it was in that spirit that her aunt hoped to shield Lady Louisa from all these doings. In that way, she could say that the deed was done without using the influence of Lady Louisa’s family name.
She decided at that moment not to speak of the matter to the Colonel or find cause to meet with the Duke at all, for inevitably he would ask of her family and thereby gain that connection. Instead, she would do as her aunt wished and help in any way possible, even if that meant staying quietly at the side.
For a moment, Lady Louisa smiled at that thought. It was surely the first time in her life that being a wallflower might have its benefits.