Chapter Eleven

T he day was lovely, the sky bright blue, the clouds no more than threads, and sparse fall flowers were still in bloom. It was a good time to get outside and take the fresh air. So said everyone at breakfast. Everyone except Lieutenant Taverston, who had not been there. His absence should not have disappointed Georgiana, but it did: what would the man have eaten? Then she was ashamed of her own curiosity.

Five of them marched down to the stables. Georgiana’s riding habit was black with white frills, and Lord Taverston complimented it twice before they reached the gate. She thanked him without pointing that out.

Georgiana did enjoy riding so long as there was no galloping involved. She was a bit taken aback when she saw the spirited mount being led out for Lady Olivia, but thankfully her own horse and Alice’s were more docile.

Lord Taverston held her stirrup. He looked so handsome in his buckskin riding breeches and brown jacket, smiling his one-dimpled smile, that she could not help lightly frosting him. Wooing should be an effort, not a given.

They rode off across a grass-and-mud meadow: she and Lord Taverston to the front, the others behind. They followed a track to the lakeside. The surface of the water was still as glass and reflected the blue of the sky. She noted the boathouse, and that several large flat stones had been laid near the water.

“Do you swim from there?” she asked.

“We do, but only in the summer months. Crispin might still, but the rest of us are more sensible. We can take a boat out another day if you wish.”

She nodded. “I like rowboats.” Then, to move things along, she said, “My brother Charles does too. He’s a strong rower.”

“Charles is at school?”

“Yes. His first year at Oxford.”

“Does he like his studies?”

“I believe so, though he complains horribly.”

She made herself smile. It was an unfairness she had long made her peace with; if she had been permitted to go to Oxford, she would not have complained. She made do with the books her father allowed her to sneak from his library, books her mother would disapprove of. Charles used to discuss them with her, but their interests did not coincide, and now that he considered himself grown, his interests were more “important” than hers, in his opinion anyway.

She did love her younger brother dearly, even if she was envious. He had his faults, as all brothers must, but he was a good young man and smart. If he was getting into trouble at school, she suspected it was of the temporary variety. But she didn’t tell Lord Taverston any of this. Nor did she mention Randolph. He’d died while away at school. An accident was all she was ever told, though she had heard whispers he had fallen into a fire. But this was not a topic for today’s conversation. Besides, they had finished with siblings, and he was already beginning a brief history of Chaumbers and the village of Iversley.

“We should have brought a picnic!” Lady Olivia exclaimed, drawing up alongside them near the water’s edge. She managed her horse so keenly that Georgiana felt perfectly green.

“We just finished breakfast!” Lord Taverston laughed. “But yes, we can come again with a picnic.” He turned to her. “If you like.”

“I do enjoy picnics.”

“Well, if the weather remains mild, we’ll return another day.” He pointed away. “If we follow this path, it will take us to a fork. One path will lead to the village, and another continues around the lake.”

“Mama thought an excursion to the village on Saturday would be clever,” Lady Olivia said. “We can go to the shops—”

“Why don’t we let Lady Georgiana choose?” he interrupted, firmly but not unkindly. Even so, his sister looked chastened.

Georgiana said, “I am curious about the lake. Why don’t we continue along it?”

“All right,” he said, smiling. Evidently, she’d made the correct choice.

Georgiana glanced at Lady Olivia, who looked as though she felt out of place. She would have said something warm to draw her in, but Alice called, “Olivia, please come tell me if this is true. I think Mr. Taverston is telling me a Banbury tale.”

Olivia made a soft noise to her mount and returned to her group.

“Shall we?” Lord Taverston asked.

They continued. Behind them, merriment erupted. The two girls, who were already using one another’s Christian names, were giggling ferociously at something. Then Mr. Taverston’s deeper laugh rang out. Georgiana felt a surge of…resentment. Who said Mr. Taverston was not fun?

Lord Taverston continued to point out features of the landscape. It was all quite nice, nothing as grand as Sayles or as charming as Marbury, but she was not so spoiled that she could not recognize that other people’s homes could also be nice. A good thing, she supposed, if she was going to be Iversley’s countess.

The path narrowed. Their chaperones fell farther behind. Lord Taverston returned to the subject of Oxford. “I was merely a fair student. Obtained my gentlemen’s degree and was out in two years. Reg was the family scholar.”

“You skipped over Lieutenant Taverston.”

“Oh, yes, well, Crispin. He didn’t finish.” He cleared his throat. “He caught the soldiering fever, you see. A terrible row, but off he went.” He chuckled. “We expected a bigger row when Reg announced he was going to Cambridge. He does things like that. Well, I guess they both do.”

“Things like what?”

“Make up their minds that they want something, then just pursue it.” He gave her a meaningful look. “I suppose we all do that, come to think of it.”

“Cambridge though,” she said, shifting the focus. “That must have come as a surprise.”

“Yes, quite. How about you? Did you like your governess? Were you a mischievous child?”

The conversation rolled along its predetermined course. She answered many of the same questions she had answered earlier for Mr. Taverston, but she was quite sure Mr. Taverston had been fishing for other information. How much of a bluestocking was Lady Georgiana and should he warn his brother? And she had been careful with her responses. It had made that conversation more of a challenge than this one. More interesting. She wondered if Lord Taverston was paying as little attention to her casual replies as she was to his.

He asked about Sayles next. She described the grandeur of the cliffs. The pretty wilderness walk.

She might never have been so bored.

And behind them, for the duration of the outing, she heard the girls’ chatter she could not make out, laughter she could not join in, and, often enough to believe he was involved in their discussions and not merely putting in a comment now and then for politeness, she heard the rumbling of Mr. Taverston’s voice and his clap of laughter.

On the return, during a lull in their own conversation, a thought struck her. Had Mama and Lady Iversley plotted more than one match? Did they think Alice and Mr. Taverston…

Why not? And how happy, of course, Georgiana would be if it were true. They would be sisters as well as cousins. She didn’t know where Mr. Taverston intended to make his home, but surely it would not be far from Chaumbers. Unless he settled in London.

Alice and Mr. Taverston. They would make a wonderful match, wouldn’t they? Or maybe not. At any rate, the thought did not make her as happy as it should. She didn’t dare investigate that any further. She didn’t like that the term “sour grapes” came most quickly to mind.

*

After returning the horses to the stables, they climbed the hill to the house and separated. Georgiana and Alice went to their room to bathe away the scent of horse, then rest, then dress for tea. Mama informed them they had decided to take tea on the terrace, as the weather was so gentle. Still, she suggested, it might be wise to wear something warm.

Georgiana decided on a simple cotton floral and wrapped herself in her shawl. Alice wore a pretty, pink-and-gray-striped dress that was perfect for autumn and made her look gay. They went down the stairs arm in arm.

“You and Lady Olivia were having a grand time this morning.”

“Yes, we were. She’s so funny. Even Mr. Taverston was in stitches.”

Georgiana supposed none of it would be as humorous repeated. She sighed and said, “I hope I will have opportunity to spend time with her.”

“I suspect you will have a good deal of opportunity.” Alice looked at her sidelong. “Did you enjoy the ride? The estate is beautiful.”

“Yes, it is.” It was too soon to burden Alice with her misgivings. Surely she was just nervous and would soon adapt. She should ask Alice how she found Mr. Taverston’s company.

Lieutenant Taverston met them at the bottom of the stairs.

“Ladies, they are setting up the tables outside, but tea service will still be another half hour. I hope you are not too peckish?”

“Why, no,” Georgiana said. She was afraid to ask if he was.

He grinned. “Good. Jasper is detained for a bit.” He wrinkled his nose. “Correspondence to see to. And Reg has disappeared as he is wont to do, so I am afraid you are left with me to entertain you until teatime.”

“Only if we aren’t pulling you from something you should rather be doing.” They didn’t need constant entertaining. In fact, she had been hoping for a spare moment to return to the library and be sure Analytical Calculation was still there. It must belong to Mr. Taverston, as he was the reputed scholar. She worried that he might not want her handling his books, especially after she’d mistreated his Principia . But surely he would not pack them away.

“I was hoping you might be interested in a game of billiards.” Lieutenant Taverston focused on Alice. “I thought Jasper might have spoken out of turn last night when he dismissed it as nothing ladies would enjoy.”

Alice flushed but answered truthfully. “I do play with my father sometimes.”

“Ha! Come along then. Olivia is awaiting us. We’ll play teams.”

Teams. So Georgiana would be needed as a fourth, even though she could not play well and would have preferred a little time alone. She trailed along behind, thinking Alice was having more success at this country gathering than she was. If only they could trade places! Alice would make a much better countess. Not only could she adorn an earl’s properties and run his household, but she would be rapt if he should come home prattling about Parliament and bills and such.

They reached the room, which was shouting distance from the library—but, of course, she was not supposed to have discovered yet where the library was.

Lady Olivia was waiting for them, wearing a lively look of expectation. The younger sister possessed the golden good looks of her elder two brothers. The square jaw might have lent her a slightly masculine appearance if not for the long lashes framing her wide blue eyes. Mr. Taverston had gotten his mother’s dark hair and more angular features. The Earl, she recalled, had been fair.

“They do play,” Lieutenant Taverston announced, with a hint of I-told-you-so.

“Alice does,” Georgiana said quickly. “I am not at all skilled.”

“Then you should be on Olivia’s team. She’s the best of us.”

“Pooh!” Lady Olivia cried. “I’ve only ever beaten you twice.”

“Fine. You take Miss Fogbotham and I’ll take Lady Georgiana. You may lead off, Miss Fogbotham.”

Lady Olivia asked, “Cue or mace?”

“Cue,” Alice said.

“Leather tipped?”

“Of course.”

Lieutenant Taverston laughed. “And for you, Lady Georgiana?”

“The same, I suppose.”

Lady Olivia placed three balls on the table. “House rules.”

Alice nodded. Then she bent over the table and used her cue to tap one ball into the others.

“Cannon!” The Lieutenant said. “Good for you!” He turned to Georgiana and swept his hand to the table. “Lady?”

She grimaced and tried to mimic Alice. Her ball rolled slowly to one side and stopped. She gave her partner an apologetic shrug.

“Well,” he said, forcing a frown to cover his laugh. “A game try. Olivia?”

Lady Olivia smirked and lined up for her shot. The game was interrupted by Mr. Taverston bursting into the room, carrying a large bucket. He looked angry. No, he didn’t. He looked as if he were trying to look angry but was more likely to laugh.

The Lieutenant said, “Oh, good idea. The pockets are likely a bit too small for Lady Georgiana.”

Lady Olivia slapped her cue against his arm. “Crispin!”

Mr. Taverston said, “This was in the library. In place of the chair.”

The words made no sense, but the Lieutenant gleaned something from them because he crossed his arms and said, “An outrage! Did you fall in?”

“No, it was upside down.”

“Small favors.”

“Do you have any ideas?”

“We’ll think of something.”

Lady Olivia put in, “You’re being very rude. What are you talking about?”

The Lieutenant laid his cue across the table. “I think it’s teatime. Olivia, dear, take our guests up to the south terrace. We’ll be right behind you.”

Lady Olivia tossed her head. “I hate when you get like this.” But she looked rather gleeful, so presumably her brothers were pranksters, not madmen. “Come along, Alice. Lady Georgiana.”

“Please just call me Georgiana,” she said, as Lady Olivia linked her arm through Alice’s.

“And I am Olivia. Phew, that’s much better, isn’t it?” She put her other arm through Georgiana’s and led them both out the door.