The Merry Marquis

Chapter Two

Chapter Two TERESA SAT ALONE in the corner of Lady Jersey’s large white-and-gold drawing room the next afternoon. Although much too opulent for her own tastes, Teresa had to admit that it was an impressive room. She bent her head to focus on her hands tightly clenched in her lap as the gay sound of trilling feminine chatter resounded all around her. Why, she thought miserably, did Aunt Catherine have to drag her out to pay morning calls?

Of course, Sally Jersey was a great friend of her aunt’s. She also happened to be one of the most powerful women of the ton. If Teresa were to say something inappropriate in front of her, it could seriously undermine her reputation. Not that she had much of one yet, she thought ruefully, but then she had only been in London for a month. Her aunt had commented to her friend that she was still hopeful that Teresa would come out of her shell.

Teresa, herself, wasn’t so confident. It was just that everything was so new. So odd. And she was so afraid of her runaway tongue, which had a nasty tendency to start saying things which she knew perfectly well would be better left unsaid. She just could not afford to allow that to happen now. If it did, she would never find a husband. So, she carefully kept her tongue between her teeth, preferring to be thought quiet and shy to outspoken and rude.

As she listened silently to the flow of conversation around her, her attention was caught by the exchange between two girls about her own age. They sat on a settee not too far away.

One Teresa recognized as being referred to as this season’s “Diamond of the First Water”. She had mahogany hair, with delicate curls emphasizing her long neck. Her eyes were a delightful green and her complexion flawless. Teresa discreetly leaned to the side to catch a glimpse of her companion. Although unfashionably blond, she was also very pretty, Teresa thought, with her peaches-and-cream complexion and pale blue eyes.

Teresa lowered her eyes again, well aware that with her black hair, black eyes and ghastly white skin, she was like an ugly duckling among swans.

The conversation between the two girls, however, was not actually much of an exchange. The Diamond seemed to be lecturing the other young lady.

“You know, my dear Miss Peyton, with your dowry you really ought to make more of an effort to put yourself forward. This shrinking demeanor of yours is not destined to attract the more eligible gentlemen,” she said with an air of authority.

Miss Peyton looked wide-eyed at her mentor, nodding in agreement. Yet worry lines began to appear on the young lady’s broad forehead. “I am certain that you are correct, Miss Bowden-Smyth. I will certainly try…”

“You must not only try, you must succeed — else it is certain that your papa’s expenditures for this season will be as good as forfeit. And from what I understand, he can little afford to waste such monies as he is undoubtedly spending on your wardrobe.“ The Diamond looked over her companion in an exaggerated fashion and then sniffed, “It is so unfortunate that you were not blessed, as I was, with prettier coloring. However, you do seem to be doing the best with what you have.”

If it was at all possible for someone to appear to shrink into oneself while still sitting straight, Miss Peyton managed to do it.

Teresa barely kept herself from gasping with outrage at the Diamond’s cruel words. She could take no more of this harangue. If Miss Peyton would not stand up for herself, certainly there was something that she, Teresa, could do to defend the poor girl. Completely forgetting her earlier resolution to keep her mouth shut, Teresa moved her chair a little closer to Miss Peyton.

“I am so sorry to interrupt your conversation,” she began, smiling brightly at Miss Peyton, “but did I not see you dancing last night at Lady Arundell’s ball with Lord Millhaven?“ Teresa deliberately named the most sought-after bachelor of the season.

Miss Peyton colored slightly. “Y-yes,” the girl stammered. “His lordship was kind enough to lead me out for the quadrille.”

Teresa nodded her head, knowingly. “Yes, I thought I remembered you. I am Teresa Seton. I am staying with my aunt, Lady Swinborne, for the season.” She gestured over to her aunt who was deep in conversation with Princess Esterhazy, one of the patronesses of Almacks.

The Diamond and Miss Peyton followed the direction of Teresa’s hand and were clearly impressed with her connections. This did not, however, stop the Diamond from looking Teresa over as if she were sizing up the competition.

“Were you at Lady Arundell’s ball? I do not remember seeing you,” she said raising one side of her lips in a slight sneer. Teresa’s temper rose slightly as she grasped that she had been weighed and found to be lacking.

“Oh no? Well, it was such a crush was it not?“ Teresa said, deliberately ignoring the implied slight. In truth, she had not been seen because she had managed to hide among the potted palms for much of the evening. She knew she was even worse than Miss Peyton when it came to putting herself forward, but she had a good reason.

“Indeed,” said Miss Peyton, leaning her body forward a little. Clearly, she was feeling better about herself since Teresa had mentioned her dance with Lord Rockford. “Did you happen to see Lord Byron? I saw him when he first came in. Is he not the most handsome gentleman?” she gushed.

The Diamond was on home territory here. She smoothed some nonexistent wrinkles from her dress. “Lord Byron is a personal acquaintance of mine.”

“Is he?“ Miss Peyton said, awe writ on her face.

Teresa released her tongue from between her teeth. Making herself smile as sweetly as she could, she said, “One cannot deny that he is a handsome gentlemen, but I believe him to be quite ridiculous with his romantic airs and his sloe eyes. Why, it quite makes me laugh every time I see him. And the way the young ladies of the ton throw themselves at him is appalling!”

Encouraged by Miss Peyton’s open expression, Teresa leaned forward conspiratorially. “I do believe that he encourages the advances of these silly females, just to puff up his own self-worth. Why, I even heard that some brazen-faced girl actually swooned in his arms last night!”

The face of the Diamond blanched and then turned a deep red. In a constricted tone of voice she said, “I was … I was overcome by the heat in the room.”

She immediately got up and moved away as quickly as was possible in the crowded drawing room.

Miss Peyton watched the Diamond’s retreating back. Then, giving Teresa a rather apologetic look, she too got up and hurried after her companion, who was already conversing with a newcomer. Teresa watched Miss Peyton nodding in agreement as the Diamond, with a sneer on her face, whispered confidences to her friend. The way Miss Peyton kept looking back at her clearly told Teresa that she was the subject of the Diamond’s gossip.

Teresa realized, with chagrin, that she had just made an enemy of someone who had the power to make her entrance into society much more difficult. Why had she not listened to her own good counsel and kept her mouth shut? Yet, surely she could not have sat by idly while Miss Peyton was being so thoroughly browbeaten by the Diamond! She shook her head, smiling a little to herself--it had felt good to discomfit that supercilious nonpareil, if only for a moment.

She did, however, want to go home before she committed any more faux pas. Where was Aunt Catherine? She spied her deep in conversation with Lady Jersey. There was no way Teresa was going to get her attention, let alone convince her to leave.

Teresa slumped down in her chair, but then immediately heard her mother’s voice in her head reprimanding her to sit up straight. She sighed, straightened up, and then let her mind wander to someplace she would rather be.

Lord Merrick’s house. The familiar feel of the ivory keys under her fingers the day before had made her feel at home for the first time since she had come to this utterly foreign place. She knew in her heart that Lord Merrick’s music room would become her haven amidst the many trials she would face in London.

A picture of Richard intruded abruptly. That was surprising. Since she had left Lord Merrick’s house the previous day, she had not thought of the gentleman she had met there, but now that she had a moment for quiet reflection, she wondered who he was.

Remembering the way he carried himself and the way he spoke, she decided that he must be a gentleman. Perhaps he was some poor relation of Lord Merrick’s, hired by the marquis to look after his home while he was gone. That was the only plausible explanation of why he had, at first, been so angry at finding her there. And he could read music. Clearly, he had to have been well-born to learn such a thing. Perhaps his family had lost its money through some improvident investments, or, as was more likely, through gambling.

Teresa shook her head. It was quite sad how people could ruin the lives of their children through the turn of a card. She hoped she would see the gentleman again. He had been kind to her and his presence had been very comforting somehow.

She felt herself warm as she remembered her accidental brush with his leg and how her heart had hammered after that. She had been so embarrassed that only instinct had let her carry on playing her music. He too had seemed discomforted by it. She had been grateful when he had stepped away from her.

She took a deep breath to compose herself, looking up from her woolgathering just in time to see her aunt and Lady Jersey bearing down on her. Lady Swinborne’s normally stern face was flushed with pleasure. Although time had not been so kind to the lady’s figure, her face was still remarkably young with few wrinkles, and her brown hair was only lightly salted with gray. Her choice of deep, sober colors did a good job of hiding her increasing bulk, but it was her height that allowed her to maintain an almost regal air.

“Teresa, Lady Jersey has come up with the most wonderful idea!”

Teresa’s heart sank. This could be nothing that she would enjoy. She curved her lips upward into a smile which, she hoped, would come across as joyful expectation. “Yes, Aunt Catherine?”

“You are in for a rare treat. Lady Jersey is going to take you to her own modiste!”

Teresa’s breath caught in her throat. She was to go shopping with Lady Jersey? Having such an esteemed member of society take a personal interest in her was a huge stroke of good fortune. And yet a voice inside of her head screamed in horror. She was going to be alone with Lady Jersey for an afternoon. An entire afternoon where any misspoken word could lead to a major faux pas and ruin any future she might have among the ton. The thought terrified her.

Teresa struggled to control her panic. She owed it to herself to make the most of this opportunity. In the steadiest voice she could muster, she said, “I can barely believe the great honor that you are bestowing upon me, Lady Jersey. It is too good of you.”

Lady Jersey patted her shoulder. “Not at all, my dear girl. Your aunt and I have been friends since our own come-out. It is the least I could do for a true friend like Catherine. I had always hoped to be able to do such a service for a child of Catherine’s. Alas, it was not to be. But now you have come and I can tell that you are like a daughter to her.”

She patted Teresa’s cheek before turning back to Lady Swinborne. “Shall we say Tuesday next?”

“You are such a good friend, Sally. Tuesday will be quite convenient.”

“I am entirely at your disposal, Lady Jersey. And I must thank you most sincerely for your kind offer. I am greatly looking forward to it,” Teresa put in. There, she had said everything right. Now, if there were only some way of making sure she said everything absolutely right next Tuesday, she would be a lot happier.

Lady Swinborne insisted on paying two more calls that morning just so she could boast to all she knew of Lady Jersey’s personal attention to her niece. Teresa contrived to keep all her comments to platitudes thereby managed to not offend anyone.

After returning home, her aunt announced that she was going to lie down for a little nap before the pleasures of the evening.

“I suggest you do the same, Teresa,” she said as she mounted the stairs.

“If you do not mind, Aunt Catherine, I would find it much more relaxing if I could go to Lord Merrick’s to practice on his pianoforte.” Teresa hoped that her aunt would allow this since she was feeling restless from sitting so long. She also was curious as to whether Richard would be there again.

“Oh. Very well. I can see no reason why you should not. Just be sure to return in time to dress for the evening.”

“I will. Thank you,” Teresa called on her way out the door.

WHEN TERESA ENTERED the music room, she smiled as she noticed the fire in the grate, ready and waiting for her. The room had also been aired, dusted and swept, losing the musty unused feel it had had the previous day. It was still just as sparsely furnished, there being only the pianoforte and the two dozen or so gilt chairs arranged in front of it, but as the room was not very large, there was not really a need for much more. A carpet on the hardwood floor might have been nice to mute the slightly hollow sound of the music, but it was not absolutely necessary.

In an effort to forget the tensions of the previous two hours, Teresa played a vigorous piece by her favorite Spanish composer, Antonio Soler. As it required her fingers to fly up and down the keyboard very quickly, Teresa was flushed and out of breath when she finished, but it felt good to release all of her pent-up emotions on the instrument. The applause that followed, however, quite startled her. Her eyes flew to the door, where Richard stood with a half-smile of awe on his handsome face.