“Servants gossip,” Tina reminded her wryly.
“Perhaps, but just remember that the next time they see you you will be Lady Tina Gilfoyle, and your underwear will be impeccable.”
Tina wished she was as positive of the outcome as her mother, but as there was little she could do but agree, she set about making the best of it. And the country weekend away would be nice if she could forget that her parents were selling family heirlooms to pay for it.
“Father says he’s arranged for the coach to be sold. How will we—?”
“We will hire one if necessary,” Lady Carol said resolutely. “Your father has some rather nice bottles of wine put down in the cellar. I think they will fetch a fair price.”
She gave a shudder as she said it, as if it was all too much to bear, then forced a ghastly smile. “Well, I’m sure it will all be worth it in the end, Tina. And I’m sure you will try your very best to secure Horace although I don’t want you to feel as if you have failed us if he doesn’t ask.”
Oh no, Tina thought with miserable irony, I mustn’t feel that.
“Should I tell him, Mama? About our troubles?”
Lady Carol eyes widened. “Good heavens, no! You must not say a word, not until he asks you and you say yes, and even then . . . No, leave all that to your father and me. We will broach it, very delicately, when the time is right. I’m sure Horace will be understanding. He is almost one of the family, after all, and Charles is his dearest friend. How could he not want to help?”
Tina could think of lots of reasons why Horace might be quite cross about the whole thing, but she wisely kept them to herself.
“I wonder who else will be there?” her mother was saying. “Lady Isabelle likes to play the gracious lady of the manor so there are sure to be lots of guests, some of them quite exotic, as well as more familiar faces. Mr. Little, perhaps? But I suppose it’s no use thinking of him, not now that Margaret has her hooks in him. I do wish you would choose your friends more wisely, Tina,” she added irritably.
“I don’t think Mr. Little and I would have suited, Mama,” Tina replied soothingly.
“A pity.” Her expression hardened. “I hope that dreadful scoundrel Richard Eversham won’t be there. Sir Henry has some very odd friends. I’m still not sure why he foisted him upon us, but I certainly don’t want you in his company without me there to keep an eye on him. You will take care, won’t you, Tina?”
Of course she would, she reassured her mother, and Mr. Eversham was unlikely to be there; surely he had better things to do? But in her heart she was hoping very much he would be there. At least that would give her one bright thing to look forward to among the shadows of worry and anxiety, and Horace.
Hunting Horace, capturing him, securing him. She’d already made one blunder. How was she to manage this time? And his proposing to her was only the beginning.
“You must take Maria, of course,” Lady Carol was saying. “I will manage very well without her. I will have to manage, won’t I? I doubt we will be able to afford more than one or two servants when we leave this-this house.”
Her lip wobbled, and she bit down on it hard.
“Where is Maria?” she went on querulously. “Go and find her, Tina. I have so much to do.”
Tina hesitated, but she could see that her mother didn’t want her there while she indulged in her misery, so she went out quietly and closed the door.
She found Maria on the stairs. Her dark eyes widened when Tina explained about the weekend at the Arlington’s country estate and Lady Carol’s sudden ascension from her sickbed.
“She’s asking for you,” Tina said, as she continued down the stairs, leaving Maria to hurry up them. “I wonder if Mr. Eversham and Archie will be there,” she added mischievously, over her shoulder.
“Hush, Miss Tina!” Maria whispered, glancing about her, but there was no one to overhear.
Maria wished Tina would understand the dangers of the game she was playing, or at least not pretend it was all a game. Did she really feel like that? Maria thought that she was probably playing a part, hiding her fears and doubts, while determined to do what was right for her family.
Miss Tina was like that, she always had been. If she wasn’t very careful, she was going to end up being a martyr, and as far as Maria could recall from her childhood church attendance, they weren’t a very happy lot. Marrying Horace might be her parents’ answer to their problems, but Maria thought it a very bad idea for Tina.
Lady Carol would ask Maria to keep a watch on her daughter, and Maria would promise to do so, but there were forces at work that Lady Carol knew nothing about.
Mr. Eversham worried her. Just what was he up to? There might come a time when she would have to tell Tina what Archie had said although she’d prefer to wait until she knew the whole story herself. Would Archie be at the Arlington’s country house with his master? If Maria was a woman who liked a wager, then she’d say yes.
Over the next week Tina found herself unable to do a thing without her mother by her side. There were fittings for the ball dress and such other items of clothing that Lady Carol deemed necessary, and as well as all that there was packing that needed to be done in preparation for the closing of the house. Although more was being sold than packed. There was a horrible incident when some burly looking bailiffs arrived and banged on the door and threatened them with eviction, but Sir Thomas went to speak to them and somehow man
aged to gain them another month.
“However did you do it?” Lady Carol demanded, trembling hands clasped to her bosom.
“I gave them your long case clock,” he said shortly.