Chapter 6: The Party
The day seemed to creep by, yet, as always, an hour before guests arrived there was a sudden flurry of activity. As Rachel's friends arrived she embraced all three excitedly and a flurry of compliments and exclamations followed in a string too fast to follow. Pen was wearing a marvellous green dress which set off her red hair to perfection, whilst the periwinkle gown that Maggie wore only brightened the blue of her eyes. As always Helen was wearing the latest fashion, flouting convention by daring a deep mauve, instead of the pastels they were all accustomed to.
"I knew that amount of noise could only have been generated by your posse Rachel" George joked as he came forward to greet everybody. Rachel couldn't help noticing how well he looked. He'd certainly filled out this summer and his starch white collar emphasised his darkening tan, courtesy of his morning rides. As he came to her side he murmured quietly "You look lovely this evening".
Rachel tried to quell the ridiculous grin spreading across her face and muttered back
"All charm tonight aren't we George? You've cleaned up well too. Though you still smell of horses…" George chuckled and quipped
"I'm practicing my charm for more worthy recipients, hopefully they'll receive my compliments more graciously"
"Oh?" said Rachel questioningly "and who might these 'worthy' recipients be."
"Now Rachel, you know a gentleman never tells. Anyway, I'll go warn the cook that guests have arrived… though she can't have missed that racket" responded George, moving towards the stairs.
Rachel laughed
"Please, we both know you're going down to 'taste test' the starters." George winked as he moved away, striding towards the kitchen from which appetising smells were rising. Rachel almost wished she could follow. But instead she turned back to the door and smiled dutifully as she heard a carriage approach.
An hour in and the evening was going wonderfully. Almost all of the guests had arrived and Rachel was thrilled by the constant attention she was getting. Being the hostess she had a myriad excuses to flit from one conversation to the next. She hadn't been trapped into one dull exchange yet! She inwardly groaned as she saw Edmund approach. Perhaps that was to change…
"Rachel, how wonderful looking it is…" Edmund stuttered, then blinked and begun again "I mean how wonderful to see you and you look wonderful…" he paused again.
"Thank you, Edmund" Rachel quickly interrupted "It's good to see you too. I'm afraid I've been quite busy tonight."
"Yes of course, but you're doing very well under the pressure. I mean… well, for one the flowers you have displayed are lovely. Um... are they from your conservatory?" he asked haltingly.
Rachel smiled gently
"They are, has George shown you our conservatory? I'm quite proud of it."
"Yes he has" responded Edmund, seeming to gain confidence "I'm cultivating a garden too and was impressed by how well your roses were flowering… Um, do you mind if I ask what you fertilise them with?"
"Of course not." Rachel smiled genuinely "Our stables provide all the fertiliser we need and it works wonderfully – if you need some we often have ample. As for flowering, this season the roses have done particularly well. I was actually quite surprised as I feared I'd under watered the poor things in this heat." Edmund raised his eyebrows
"Hmm.. I'd heard that roses can bloom more vigorously under water-limiting conditions. I have actually been reading an excellent gardening book lately, you're welcome to borrow it if…" Rachel didn't hear any more as she caught sight of George speaking with Helen. They made a handsome couple, and yet Rachel didn't feel any pleasure seeing them together. She continued watching as George excused himself before quickly focusing back on Edmund. She saw he'd noted her lapse in attention and hurriedly excused herself.
"I'm sorry Edmund, I would like to continue this conversation, but I just remembered something pressing I have to ask George to do." Edmund looked surprised but graciously acquiesced and allowed Rachel to rush to intercept George as he made his way to the terrace.
"George, I'm glad I caught you" she said as she came up alongside him.
"Why is that young lady?" asked George mock-seriously. Rachel rolled her eyes
"I wanted to check whether you had told cook that everybody has arrived" Rachel quickly invented. She had no idea why she'd felt the need to rush over and speak with George… she just had.
"I haven't, because that is not the case. There are still people yet to arrive."
"Only a few… and it is always to be expected that a few will be unable to attend. I thought you'd know that from all those parties in college?" Rachel joked but frowned as she noticed George was no longer looking at her, but past her. "George?" she asked
"Hmm," George glanced distractedly down at her "Sorry Rachel, I'll do that in a minute…" he brushed past her, heading towards the entrance. Rachel, surprised, spun around. Her heart sank at what she saw.
George was making a beeline straight for some guests who'd arrived late, one of whom was Lissa. Rachel narrowed her eyes as she watched George gallantly kiss Lissa's fingertips, his eyes never wavering from her lovely face. Not only that, but Lissa's curvaceous form was garbed in a dress that looked remarkably similar to Rachel's! Rachel caught her own boyishly slim reflection in a nearby mirror and grimaced. Of course, Lissa would upstage the hostess, she thought darkly.
Remembering her own obligations, Rachel proudly lifted her head and walked towards the new arrivals.
On reaching the small group, she greeted the guests cordially before finally turning to Lissa and sweetly saying
"Lissa, how lovely you could come. I must say, your dress is very pretty and quite similar to my own. And here I thought I would never be caught in a dress that you preferred..."
Lissa narrowed her eyes and George frowned at Rachel.
"Thank you Rachel…" replied Lissa slowly "I suppose we do generally wear quite different gowns. After all, I can't pull off the child-like day dresses that you can. But, I'm sure you'll grow out of them soon too." Rachel opened her mouth for a biting retort but was cut off by George who turned to Lissa saying
"Lissa, I took the liberty of organising drinks at this little event, would you be interested in sampling some of them?" Lissa's expression immediately softened as she acquiesced. Rachel watched them go enviously, she'd have to speak to George about this later.
The party went for many hours and by the end Rachel was exhausted. She'd had a lovely time, but there had been one thing to mar her evening. As the final guests left and her Aunt had retired she cornered George and demanded
"You can't really be serious about Lissa?" George sighed, exasperated
"Rachel, I'm tired and am not in the mood to speak about this."
"But Lissa! Of all people!" Rachel complained
"Rachel, I have no idea why you and your posse have some vendetta against poor Lissa. She is nothing but sweet to me. You really shouldn't let jealousy drive your actions!"
Rachel gasped
"Jealousy?! Lissa would be the last person I would ever be jealous of. How can you say she's sweet, you heard what she said to me this evening!"
"All I remember is you sniping at her about her dress choice, which incidentally could only have been accidental, and her responding as anybody would to being insulted."
"You're blinded by her looks. Honestly, you can't even tell how mean-spirited and dull she is!"
"There's only one lady tonight who was mean-spirited Rachel, and you know exactly who it was. Perhaps if you'd ever bothered to speak with Lissa you would realise she is very engaging. But no, instead you choose to bully her and make all of your friends do the same."
"You have no idea George! I have never bullied her, we have perfectly good reasons for disliking her…"
"I very much doubt that."
"I can't possibly let you pursue somebody like that George, you couldn't have chosen a more terribl-"
"I don't want to hear any more Rachel" interrupted George "I like Lissa very much and I intend on pursuing her. And you have no say in the matter." Before Rachel could reply George had stormed off and slammed his door shut. Rachel stood there, furious. How could he be so blind! Rachel knew what Lissa's true colours were and she wouldn't stop until she found a way to expose them to George. He'd thank her later.