Chapter 24

24

Cassandra was not a woman to waste the day, and so as soon as she was up and dressed she set about separating Lady Carston from the rest of her guests with ruthless determination, and in a remarkably short space of time they were to be found tête-à-tête in Lady Irlam's private sitting room. Jane eyed her hostess rather warily – she wasn't entirely sure if Cassandra knew the rather curious particulars of her recent marriage, nor indeed whether she was aware of her delicate condition. She couldn't imagine why her hostess should so plainly desire this private interview. It wasn't very likely that she'd been drawn aside so that Cassandra could upbraid her for immorality; Lady Irlam didn't in the least appear to be that sort of person, and the way she lived her own life was none of her business. But one never knew.

She relaxed considerably when Cassandra said, ‘Captain Winterton and Lady Ashby seem to be getting along famously.'

This wasn't really true; they certainly weren't spending a great deal of time together, or carrying on any obvious sort of a public courtship. Jane, who was in the know, had seen glances, the odd whispered word, perhaps a brush of a hand across a shoulder that might have been accidental but wasn't. Yet she wasn't sure any of it would have been enough to alert someone who was entirely ignorant of the situation.

‘Do you suspect that your husband's cousin is developing a tendre for Lady Ashby?' she asked cautiously. Best to put it that way.

‘I know Leo has strong feelings for her,' replied Cassandra bluntly. ‘He told Hal so.'

‘And you… disapprove of that?' Jane fenced. She wouldn't betray a confidence, a promise made to another woman.

‘I don't disapprove of anything except people's feelings getting hurt.'

‘You think that's likely?'

‘I think it's inevitable.' They eyed each other warily, but neither was prepared to say more.

‘Oh, you are admirably discreet!' said Cassandra with a smile at last. ‘I cannot tell if you know things I do not, and I must not ask you to break a confidence, if indeed confidence has been reposed in you, which I expect it has by the conscious look on your face. But I think I know something that you do not, and I will tell you it: Leo is in love with her. He fell in love almost on sight, as I understand.'

‘Oh Lord,' said Jane ruefully. ‘I promise you she has no idea of it.'

‘And if she became aware, what would she do? Have you the least idea?'

‘She is entirely determined never to remarry,' said Jane. ‘I think it very likely that she would leave here immediately and do her best never to set eyes on your cousin again.'

‘You tell me of her determination, but what of her affections? Do you think it at all possible she cares for him more than she has admitted to herself?'

Jane rose to her feet and took a restless turn about the room. ‘I don't look at this situation in the same way as you do, you know, Lady Irlam.'

‘Cassandra.'

‘Very well then, Cassandra. I must presume that as a member of Louisa's family, you are aware of my situation, at least in part, though we're not talking about that just now. I have never made any secret of the fact that I am an advocate of the rights of women. Men have plenty of rights, it seems to me, where we have almost none. And so I am sorry that your cousin should be hurt – I don't know him at all; from what I have seen of him, he appears to be an entirely admirable young gentleman. But he is also an adult. Men have been treating women much worse than Lady Ashby is treating him since the beginning of time, so will you think badly of me if I say that I cannot weep many tears when I see the balance being redressed a little?'

Cassandra sighed. ‘Don't imagine that I am the standard-bearer for marriage in all its forms. And I cherish no na?ve illusions about men in general, I assure you. You weren't in Brighton last summer, so you may not know my background; I'm an heiress, and my uncle was effectively keeping me prisoner while he attempted to force me to marry a friend of his so that they could divide up my fortune between them. This man assaulted me, and I was obliged to flee.'

‘I am sorry,' said her companion. ‘I didn't mean to imply that you were?—'

‘Of course you didn't. I'm not offended. What I meant to say was, I certainly don't believe that a woman should seize upon the opportunity to marry any man who shows an inclination to offer for her, and be grateful to him for it. If she doesn't care for him, I would be the last person to say that Lady Ashby should marry Leo just because he's in love with her. Why should his feelings take precedence over hers? Of course they should not. She is bound to him for nothing more than the decent treatment we all owe each other.'

‘We are in agreement to that extent, then. I'm glad.'

‘So am I. Therefore please believe me when I say that I'm not running around Hampshire making matches to gratify my own sense of self-importance. Nor am I swayed by a natural partiality for Leo, even though you're quite right, he is a perfectly lovely person. It was merely that my understanding of Lady Ashby's plans for her future made me a little melancholy. Not,' she hastened to add, ‘because she has no plans to marry, but because it sounds like a sadly reduced life. To devote oneself to someone who is dead and out of reach, to live entirely looking backwards; to commit irrevocably to such a life at a cruelly young age…'

‘I won't say I disagree, but it's her choice, and we must respect that. But I didn't answer your question, did I? I simply can't say if she really cares for him and does not know it. You are concerned, I take it, that she might be allowing her fixed intention to live her life in a certain set way to blind her to what is under her nose, and even perhaps to her own altered emotions?'

‘Exactly,' said Cassandra eagerly. ‘I fear that she will take her leave, if so, and only later realise what she has lost. And of course if that should happen, she will be far too proud to summon him to her side.'

‘Especially since she has not the least idea of his true feelings because he daren't tell her. What a coil!'

‘I wish there were something we could do.'

‘I can't see what. Like you, I think, I am naturally inclined to act rather than do nothing. But it is such a delicate situation, and we would be so likely to do more harm than good.'

‘We can't ask her, we've established that. I don't suppose…' She fell into a brown study for a moment or two. ‘It would be immensely useful if she could be made jealous. If Leo were to flirt with someone, and she saw it, and found as a result that she cared for him, that might make her reflect and maybe alter her plans. It would be a start, at least.'

‘I don't believe he has the least desire to flirt with anybody but her.'

‘But if somebody were to make a dead set at him…'

‘There is nobody here who is so disposed, or in any sense a possible candidate, unless indeed you choose to do it yourself, and I am sure you never would. It's one of the things I most particularly like about the party you have assembled. It's so restful. If you had been at Northriding Castle earlier this year when the Duke dropped the handkerchief…' She shuddered. ‘My feelings of sisterhood were severely tried, I assure you.'

‘I can very easily imagine what it must have been like. And of course I'm not going to flirt with him myself; everyone would imagine I'd run mad, Hal most of all. I'm not that keen to help Leo. No, I think we need to go to a ball, Jane. Or an assembly.'

‘You can't assume that his mere appearance in public will be enough to inspire young women to throw their caps at Captain Winterton.'

Cassandra chuckled mischievously. ‘Oh, can't I? You weren't with us in London. Word has got about of all the prizes he took; his estate is not so far from here and is well known to be substantial enough, and his family are well-established and highly esteemed here, quite apart from their connection with the Pendleburys. Why, I dare say he is easily the most eligible man in Hampshire at the present moment! If he was the object of some marked attentions in Town, how much greater will be the furore, do you think, here, where he was born? Oh, why did I not think of it before?'

‘But will it work? She may not give a fig for any of it.'

‘It may not, and she may not. But I have to do something.'

They felt themselves to be conspirators now, and shared further confidences: that Lady Carston was with child, which had been the entire purpose of her marriage, and that Cassandra was definitely not, and had no desire to be, or not at present. By the time they parted, they found that they had reached an excellent understanding, and in some sense, despite their superficial differences, each had recognised in the other a kindred spirit and a woman of action.