4
The day before the wedding saw the arrival of the most of the guests. It was not to be too grand an affair; the fact of Alver Park being so far from London had necessitated invitations only to immediate family and close friends. Lord Alverstoke's sisters and their families, of course, as well as Harry Merriville and his aunt Miss Winsham, were the chief guests. Chloe's mother, Mrs. Dauntry, had wavered in her decision whether or not to attend. It was such a distance and she was not at all a good traveller. But in the end her desire not to be excluded from the remarkable event won out over her tendency to invalidism. Her beloved son, in any case, was set upon going, more to see Charis than from any other reason, and he may as well make himself useful in escorting her. So early that morning Mrs. Dauntry set out from Green Street with her faithful companion Miss Plumley and her handsome young son, leaving her youngest daughter behind in the care of her governess.
Chloe had spent the previous day helping Frederica and the housekeeper go over the arrangements for the various guest chambers. She was warmed by the praise Frederica bestowed on her good sense and was beginning to think that perhaps she had a knack for arranging things. It was a gratifying thought, for Chloe was not precisely an accomplished girl. Her talent at the pianoforte was mediocre, her voice only just satisfactory, and her drawings atrocious. In the schoolroom she had excelled in the French and Italian tongues, but as these gifts were hardly useful in the normal social routine, she held them lightly. So it was pleasant to know that she had some sort of skill that others might value. How strange it was, she marveled inwardly, to go from being a child in the schoolroom to an adult member of society in so short a time! She was supposed to have been presented the following year, and it had been such a shock to her when Mama had announced that she was to make her come out some few weeks after her seventeenth birthday. How quickly everything had changed!
She was present to receive her mother upon her arrival. That lady wafted into the hall and clasped her daughter to her bosom, murmuring in low tones, "My child! How you have been missed!" She then released Chloe and moved on to embrace Charis, who was exchanging a most touching greeting with her betrothed. Endymion, forced to release Charis' hands so that Mrs. Dauntry should kiss her, moved to his sister and said that she was looking fine as fivepence.
"Oh, thank you, Endymion; I am so happy to see you," said Chloe, standing on tiptoe to kiss her handsome brother's cheek. "And Charis has been missing you sadly; she has been quite cast down."
"Aye, no more than I," said Endymion feelingly, his eyes wandering back to that vision of loveliness, who was now urging Mrs. Dauntry to go instantly to her bedchamber to rest after her long journey. The sudden thought that both her mother and brother were much more interested to see Charis than herself flitted momentarily across her mind only to be sternly banished. Chloe's disposition was kind even while it was discerning, and she reminded herself that the recent engagement between Charis and Endymion made her beautiful cousin necessarily of more interest than herself.
Mrs. Dauntry was easily persuaded to go to her bedchamber, and the attentions of both Charis and Miss Plumley were apparantly sufficient. So Chloe was left to show her brother into the drawing-room where several others of the house party were gathered. Endymion, learning that most of the male part of the company had gone out shooting, soon departed to join them, and Chloe was then left with the ladies and Felix, stretched out most unwillingly on a sofa at his sister's command. He was most unhappy at Frederica's continued insistence that he spend an hour of each afternoon in this enforced rest, but as Alverstoke had decided to permit his use of the barn turned laboratory on the condition that he acquiesce in his sister's wish, he was to be found at this time each day on his customary sofa.
Both Jessamy and Felix had long since decided that, for a young lady, Chloe was quite tolerable, and Felix did not object to her sitting near him and engaging him in conversation. She tactfully asked after his workshop, and he was made to forget his woes in telling her that things were running along with a bang (figuratively, he hastened to add).
"I can't explain the details," he said in a hushed voice, "for it is a secret. In fact, a wedding present."
Chloe could not immediately bring to mind any kind of gift that could be created in an experimental laboratory that was likely to gratify either the Marquis or his bride, but she did not blink.
"Of course you may repose complete confidence in me," she said promptly. "But if you do not wish me to know, I quite understand the circumstances."
"Well," said Felix, biting his lip in reflection, "I can at least tell you that you might want to sit near a window on the south side of the room tonight. Or even better, go out on the terrace."
This was all he would tell her, and as she dressed for the festivities that evening, Chloe thought with optimism that whatever Felix's surprise might be, at least it seemed likely to take place outside of the house, and was thus not likely to endanger anybody's life.
Mrs. Dauntry saw fit to arouse herself when the bell rang for tea. She glided into the drawing room in a waft of scent and lace, and half-sat, half-reclined upon a sofa. Frederica, who had not lost sight of her plan for the mutual happiness of Mr. Trevor and Miss Dauntry, in spite of its being the eve of her own wedding day, immediately seized upon the chance to seat herself at Mrs. Dauntry's side.
Mrs. Dauntry had not been a supporter of Lord Alverstoke's courtship of the lowly Miss Merriville, but she was not a woman to ever appear ungracious. Already becoming resigned to her son's marriage to Frederica's sister, the Marquis' engagement was not a serious blow, and she immediately saw the advantages of appearing to have favored the connection all along. Louisa Buxted might snipe and moan, but Lucretia Dauntry would do her best to show the world that she had adored the Merriville girls from the start, that she had suspected Alverstoke's inclinations all along, and that she was now prepared to welcome Fredercia and Charis into the bosom of the family with open arms. It seemed the wisest course, after all, while the Marquis had so much wealth to dispose upon his poorer relations.
Frederica, who was not quite so appreciative of this attitude as her betrothed, still could understand Mrs. Dauntry's feelings, and accepted the lady's professions of delight at being invited to Alver with perfect equanimity. By gradations Frederica introduced the idea that she hoped she might often have Chloe with her, she was such a sweet useful girl. And when Mrs. Dauntry protested that she might feel the loss of having a daughter often away, Frederica replied,
"Of course you must, ma'am, but then you will have Charis often about, for she and Endymion will be residing in London and I'm sure Charis will be so very attentive to you! And then you have your own dear Diana as well! What a beautiful girl she is! You must have such hopes for her!"
This struck a chord, for Mrs. Dauntry was indeed excessively proud of Diana's burgeoning beauty. She sighed. "Oh my dear Frederica, you are very right. But I confess myself to be at something of a loss when I think of her future! The two girls are so very close in age; Diana will be turning seventeen just at the beginning of the next Season, and I would so wish to have her come out then. She will be at the height of her beauty, and it would be such a shame to wait another year entirely! But when I think of my dear Chloe… she has only received one most unsuitable offer this season! I cannot think why she has not taken!" This was not at all true, for both ladies knew that Chloe's lack of success in attracting an eligible suitor could be almost entirely attributed to the twin handicaps of her lack of fortune and her habit of always appearing next to the stunning Charis Merriville. But Mrs. Dauntry naturally could not say this to Charis' sister. She continued to pour out her woes to Frederica. "Chloe is indeed a sweet girl, and if I do say so myself, quite pretty, but she would be quite outshone by Diana, and how could I be so unfeeling as to present Diana with Chloe still on my hands?"
"You are perfectly right," said Frederica, with a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "It would be beyond anything to allow the younger sister to outshine the elder! We must hope to find Chloe a husband before the next Season, that is clear. And perhaps you might have to settle for a less than brilliant match."
"I fear you may be right," said Mrs. Dauntry, sighing again. "I would have liked to see her settled in the height of elegence, but even a fond mother must be practical, and must not allow one daughter's limited prospects to ruin another's chances."
Frederica here changed the subject, feeling that she had planted the seed that would ultimately lead to Charles Trevor's success, and that it would not do to push too hard all at once.