“Nor have I,” Charlotte returned. She felt a sudden urge to make light of the situation. “Let us go downstairs and try to enjoy the novelty of the situation. There is no guarantee that it will happen again!”
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
“Your Grace, I am rather astonished that you have not visited Haddington Hall before,” Lady Margaret said.
The last course was just being cleared away by the servants, and so far, Luke thought, the dinner had gone quite well. The viscount, sitting on his left, had been all civility, and he had enjoyed chatting with Charlotte, sitting on his right. Across the table sat Martha, next to a sullen and angry-looking Miss Jarvis. Up until now, Lady Margaret had been surprisingly quiet, allowing the conversation to take its natural course, but now, it seemed, she had something of significance to say.
“I very much regret, my lady, that I have never had the pleasure before of visiting such a fine estate,” Luke said. “I enjoyed Miss Hervey’s tour around the gardens this afternoon.”
Miss Jarvis rolled her eyes at this comment, and Luke raised an eyebrow. The disrespect she and her mother showed for Charlotte and her sister was blatant, and he found it very difficult to stomach.
“It is a shame that Alison was not able to accompany you,” Lady Margaret said. “She has such a fine eye for detail and knows just as much as Charlotte does about herbs and flowers and such things.”
Luke gave a tight smile. He doubted very much that what Lady Margaret said was true. Charlotte had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of all the plants in the garden and had such an easy way of talking about things, too. He was sure that an afternoon spent with Miss Jarvis would not have been so pleasant.
Next to him, he felt Charlotte shift in her seat slightly. He turned to her with a questioning eye, and she gave him a little nod. It seemed that, for now, all was well with her. He gestured to the footman to top up her wine glass and then his, then raised his glass. “I should like to propose a toast,” he declared.
“A toast? Well, how marvelous!” the viscount said pleasantly, raising his own glass as he spoke. “And pray, what are we drinking to?”
“To Miss Hervey,” Luke said, looking at Charlotte again. She blushed rather prettily and clinked her glass with his, then took a delicate sip of her wine. Luke held her gaze and lowered his voice a little. “I very much look forward to furthering our acquaintance, Charlotte.”
She flushed even more at this first use of her Christian name, and Luke felt something swell within him. She seemed to be enjoying herself, and he found, more and more, that all that mattered to him was that she was happy.
“Indeed.” Lady Margaret’s voice cut through his pleasant reverie, and he shuddered a little. “And, of course, it is such a shame that you never met Charlotte’s mother, the first viscountess.”
Luke narrowed his eyes, sensing the direction that the conversation was about to take. "It is a matter of much regret to me that I never met that lady,” he said with feeling. For, indeed, he had already come to the conclusion that Charlotte’s mother was someone he would very much like to have known.
“She was indeed a most singular lady,” Lady Margaret said.
Luke could not fail to notice the smirk that crossed Alison’s face as her mother spoke. He tried very hard to conceal the disgust that he felt, but it was not an easy task.
“In fact, Charlotte’s mother was a great gardener! That is why Charlotte knows so much about the – how shall I say it – the coarser elements of land management.” Lady Margaret paused, seeming to be waiting for the effect of her words to land on the Duke. But he remained impassive, and so she carried on. “Whereas Alison here has never been exposed to such common pursuits. Her knowledge is much more suitable for a young lady, don’t you think?”
Luke coughed. “Actually, I had a most fascinating conversation earlier with Charlotte about the composition of the soil in different parts of the garden,” he said determinedly. “I had never known such a thing, and it really was most interesting. And such useful knowledge, too, for someone who may go on to manage a large estate themselves.”
Lady Margaret gaped at him. “Manage a large estate? Whatever do you mean?”
Luke said nothing for the moment and simply turned to look at Charlotte fondly.
She cleared her throat. “I am very glad that you found our conversation so interesting, Your Grace,” she said, smiling at him with a slight twinkle in her eye. Luke thought that she might be enjoying this almost as much as he was.
Luke leaned back in his chair and waited to see what Lady Margaret would do next. It was clear to him that she was trying to discredit Charlotte and promote her own daughter’s cause instead. He was finding her antics somewhat amusing, despite how grotesque and mean-spirited her behavior was.
He glanced at Miss Jarvis, then, to see if there was any hint of shame on that young lady’s face. If she had seemed to be finding her mother’s behavior embarrassing, he might have felt sorry for her. But when she met his eye, she simpered and batted her eyelashes at him in such an obvious way that he felt nothing but distaste for her.
“And, of course, my Alison has such an eye for fashion, too,” Lady Margaret said, looking indulgently at her daughter. “I am sure, Your Grace, that ladies’ fashions do not interest you very much, but you cannot have failed to notice her superior dress on every occasion.” The viscountess paused and looked across the table at Charlotte and Martha in turn, with a condescending smile. “Charlotte and Martha, you know, learned what they know about clothes from their mother, and of course, she was a commoner before the viscount elevated her to the position of a lady.”
Luke watched Martha’s face change as Lady Margaret spoke of her mother in such unequivocal terms. He could see the girl trying to hide her feelings, but her fury and frustration were evident in her eyes. Next to him, too, he felt Charlotte stiffen.
Enough, he thought to himself.
“It pains my heart sorely that I never had the chance to meet the first viscountess. I am sure she and I would have got along famously,” Luke said. “And I must say, my lady, that when I entered the ballroom at Lord Thomas’s home the other evening, my eyes fell immediately on the Miss Herveys. I could see that they were attracting considerable attention.” He paused and waited to see what the viscountess would say in response.
“Well, indeed, they always do attract attention, if you may call it that,” she conceded with a sniff. “But I am not sure it is quite the same sort of attention that Alison attracts.”
Her blatancy really knows no bounds, Luke thought. He wondered if she really thought that this performance would change the direction of his supposed attentions. If he were faced with a choice of Miss Jarvis or Miss Hervey for a genuine courtship, he had absolutely no doubt as to where his preference would lie.
He made a bold move and reached out to take Charlotte’s hand. She raised her eyebrows in astonishment, but he did not flinch.
