Bluestocking Bride (8 page)

The embarrassment that Catherine evinced on seeing
Rutherston
was plain for anyone to see. She could only stammer disjointed introductions to Lady Mary before turning away in confusion. Lady Mary was at a loss to see her sister so obviously distressed, and looked with wonder at
Rutherston
.

"Lady Mary, may I beg your indulgence? I should like a few words in private with
Cath
. . . Miss Harland." His note of appeal was unmistakable.

"No!
pray
do not. . . Catherine looked in dismay from one to the other.

"Please, Catherine. I shall only keep you a few minutes."

Lady Mary held out her hand to the child. "Come, Jeremy. We shall go in and see
Grandmama
." In a few moments she had disengaged the children from Catherine's clasp, smiled encouragingly at her sister, and moved off in the direction of the house.

"Catherine, walk with me." He held out his arm, but she would not touch him. He turned to lead her to a nearby bench and, indicating that she should sit, settled himself beside her on the farthest reach of the seat.

"You must hear me out, Catherine. I promise I shall try not to distress you." He waited for some response, but Catherine was gazing at the ground as if her life depended on it.

"I cannot let you think that your conduct was at fault. I blame myself for losing control of the situation. You have my word that I never intended to insult you."

Rutherston
waited, hopeful of some sign from Catherine that his words were having a conciliatory effect, but since she continued to gaze steadfastly away and maintained her stony silence, he began again.

"I beg your pardon, Catherine. My intention was not, as you think, to harm you. If anything had happened, you must see that I would be honor bound to offer for you?"

Catherine remained mute.

"The prospect is not unwelcome to me." He paused, watching her guardedly, but the set of her brows and chin deterred him from pursuing his suit.

"I beg your forgiveness! I should never have contrived to place a lady in such a compromising position. I was completely at fault. Catherine, please believe me when I say that I truly admire you."

Catherine was in no position to know that the apology that she had just received from the Marquis of
Rutherston
was, by his standards, a handsome one. His last few words brought an angry sparkle to her eyes and a quick retort to her tongue. She looked at him now in outrage.

"You admire me, my lord? Yes, I am sure of it! You say you are sorry to have placed a lady in such a compromising position—but you never mistook me for a lady, did you, my lord? No! The things you most truly admire about me are those things which convince you that I am, in truth, no lady."

In spite of himself,
Rutherston
laughed aloud, and Catherine, stung to the quick, leaped to her feet.

In a moment, he had grasped her by the wrist and held her.

"Catherine," he said in exasperation. "You must calm yourself. You cannot go on like this whenever you find yourself in my company. Do you want to have the suspicions of the whole world roused against us? I have tried to make amends. What more can I say?"

"There is nothing you can say, my lord, which is of the least interest to me. I have only to be in your company this one last time,
then
I need never set eyes on you again."

Rutherston
rose and stood facing her, his grip tightening on her wrist.

"You are mistaken, ma'am. You will find yourself often in my company. Let me advise you, if you do not wish to become the latest on-
dit
of the gossip mongers, that when you find yourself with me, you conduct yourself with propriety and civility."

His tone was so stern, so haughty, so much that of the aristocrat, that Catherine quailed.

He released her wrist and held out his arm. "Take my arm, Catherine, and allow me to escort you to your sister."

It was impossible to refuse without creating a scene, and Catherine had no wish to provoke the marquis to further anger. She wondered what he had meant when he said that she would find herself often in his company, but could not bring herself to ask him.

She was quick to see that he was right when he said that she would rouse the suspicions of the whole world against them, for she was conscious of the watching eyes of Mr. Norton and Lady Mary whenever
Rutherston
was in the least proximity to her, and she forced herself to smile at him and converse easily on any topic of conversation he introduced. He made no effort to say anything to her of a private nature, and on taking his leave observed that he looked forward to meeting both the Misses Harland when he should return to town.

Catherine and Lucy arrived in London in the middle of March when the Season was just underway. Their aunt, Lady Margaret
Henderly
, had her dwelling in Mount Street, an imposing terrace of townhouses built in the popular neoclassical style and situated in that small select area where most of the leading families of Society resided when in town. The
Harlands
, although country born and bred, were no strangers to the big city, since
Ardo
House was within seventy miles—a matter of an overnight stop when traveling sedately by private coach. The Misses Harland therefore, had had occasion to be in London from time to time and to have a nodding acquaintance with town manners and ways. But the family outings and small select gatherings that they had attended as schoolroom misses were not to be compared to the succession of balls, parties, and entertainments that they would soon enjoy and that were the means of launching all hopeful debutantes into High Society.

Lady Margaret was related to Catherine's father through her first marriage, and had been a widow for a number of years until her present marriage to Sir John. That gentleman was not expected in London for some time, for he was engaged in negotiations on behalf of his country of a most delicate nature, and Lady Margaret supposed him to be in Lisbon, although she vowed she could never be sure of his whereabouts, for a diplomat's life was erratic and entirely at the disposal of His Majesty's government.

In point of fact, Lady Margaret was a connection rather than a relative, and the title of "aunt" was merely a courtesy. It had been a matter of deep regret to Lady Margaret that she had been childless, but not one to pine for the impossible, she had taken an interest in the various offspring of her many relations and in particular in the Harland family, since she saw that she was in a position to be of use to a branch of the family that was fast finding itself on the periphery of society life.

Catherine's father, as a younger son of a younger son, although comfortably situated, was not by inclination or fortune in the position to keep a house in town or spend the time necessary in cultivating those acquaintances who were so placed as to open the doors of polite society to his daughters. Lady Margaret, however, was so placed, and pleased to be of service. Moreover, she was looking forward
tp
the prospect of the Harland girls' company and the new diversion they would bring in shopping expeditions and an increase in entertainments.

But it would be wrong to suppose that Lady Margaret was motivated primarily by her own inclination or a desire for her own pleasure. She was very sensible of her duty to her late husband's family and wished to see the Harland girls creditably established in prudent matches. Her circle of friends and acquaintances was such that she saw no reason why this should not be accomplished in short order—as indeed had been done with the eldest Miss Harland some four years before—and she set about planning her strategy as might any general overseeing a campaign.

So it was, in the first weeks of their stay, that Catherine and Lucy found themselves, chaperoned by their aunt, making calls on various homes in adjoining streets to make themselves known to the young ladies and their mamas who had it in their power to ease their way into Society.

"For you may depend on it," said Lady Margaret with worldly wisdom, "that it is the ladies
who'decide
who will be received and who will be cut. A young gentleman, be he ever so eager, cannot invite a female into his mama's drawing room if that young lady has given offense, and many a girl," continued Lady Margaret, relishing her role as tutor, "has ruined her chances by flirting with the young men while ignoring the civilities due their female relations."

Catherine and Lucy had no wish to offend the young ladies or their mamas and they exerted themselves to be as charming as they could, and found that they were enjoying themselves enormously. Their circle of friends increased rapidly, and before many days had passed, they could not drive in the park, or enter a shop, or walk down Bond Street, but they were certain to run into one of the young ladies whose acquaintances they had so recently made. And if, as it sometimes happened, a brother or gentleman were introduced to the Misses Harland and they conversed somewhat shyly, not pushing themselves forward in any way, to the eyes of the watching mamas it only proved that the Harland girls knew how to behave and that they need have no fears in promoting their society to their daughters and sons.

Lady Margaret, so it seemed to Catherine, knew everything about everyone. She kept up a running commentary on all their acquaintances. They learned that one might be only a plain Mr. or Miss, yet be related to half the great houses of England and be better endowed financially, and that the holding of a title, in itself, was not considered enough inducement to
ogen
the doors to more "discriminating homes if there was anything lacking in propriety.

Catherine and Lucy absorbed it all as if learning their lessons in the schoolroom, for there was much that they needed to know before being fully launched. How much more improper did Catherine's conduct with Lord
Rutherston
now seem to her than it had before, and she wondered what these sedate mamas would think if they knew that she had almost succumbed to his seduction. She became aware that the qualities that
Rutherston
so much admired in her were the ones that she must now take the greatest pains to conceal from the watching world.

A few weeks in London had made a remarkable difference to Catherine and Lucy. They no longer felt
so
countrified as they had at first, since they were now in possession of the extensive wardrobes for which they had been fitted a month before. They had come up to town, accompanied by their mama, for the sole purpose of choosing the silks, muslins, and fine
cambrics
that were to be fashioned into the numerous gowns that every young lady of quality required to be successfully launched into her first Season. The expenses were prodigious, but not unexpected, and the funds for the occasion had been carefully set aside for many years.

In the normal course of events, Catherine would have had her come-out before her younger sister, but Lady Mary's pregnancies, always resulting in confinement at an inopportune moment, had delayed it for two years. At the same time, Catherine and Lucy were more than pleased that they should have each other for company in town, since they found Lady Margaret's manner rather daunting, much as they appreciated all her endeavors on their behalf.

Catherine was sitting by a window, idly reading a morning paper, impatiently waiting for Lucy to dress so that they might walk to
Hookam's
Circulating Library in Bond Street, when her ladyship's butler announced Mr. Charles Norton.

"Charles!" she greeted him as if he had been a long-lost friend, then, aware that she had inadvertently used his first name, colored, and began again. "I do beg your pardon, Mr. Norton. How glad I am to see you."

"No, no, Catherine, I believe that we are better friends than that! I am glad to think that the formalities can be dispensed with between us two. Let it be Catherine and Charles!" He looked at her with admiration. "I can hardly believe that the young lady of fashion before me now is the Catherine that I knew three weeks ago in Breckenridge."

"Oh, Charles, you will not know me at all, for besides the fine clothes, I must warn you that I am become a lady of great propriety and decorum."

He feigned dismay. "Do not say so, Catherine! I will not believe that the irrepressible Miss Harland has been persuaded to adopt the ways of the ton!"

"Charles, you must be careful not to tease me in your usual fashion when others are present, for if you do, my character will be ruined!"

"Then you must return to
Ardo
House before all is discovered!"

This easy address and playful manner were exactly suited to Catherine's mood. She realized with a pang how much she missed the raillery and teasing that
were so much a part of a brother's converse
with a
.
sister and that had drawn in his friend.

"I must inform my aunt and Lucy that you are here for I know that they will both wish to see you. But do strive for a little propriety!"

She returned in a moment with Lucy in tow and rang for refreshments, since Norton seemed in no hurry to take his leave of them.

"Do you plan to stay long in town?"