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[ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] supposed to know nothing of business." 106 "You know very well that Don Eduardo entrusted me with his business. Indeed, I have arranged to meet with a number of coffee brokers to discuss a contract. I suppose Marco will have to go with me." "It cannot be necessary for you to meet them in person!" "I intend to. I must prepare the coffee for them to sample, so that I know it is properly done." "Marco is too young to be an adequate escort." Andrew ignored Marco's insulted snort. "If you insist on doing this, then I shall go with you." "That will be delightful." Teresa beamed. "I could ask Cousin John, if it is inconvenient for you, though." "Certainly not! I mean, Lord John knows nothing of Costa Rican coffee, whereas I may perhaps be of assistance." "It is most kind of you, Sir Andrew. Now tell me, has Marco explained about the trial?" As the groom drove them back through the crowded streets, Sir Andrew tried to persuade her that her only recourse was to confess all to the duke. At last he convinced her. "I daresay he will be proud of you," he reassured her when they dropped him off in Whitehall, convenient to the Foreign Office. "I am, you know." She flushed with pleasure. "And Cousin John said some would think me a heroine," she said hopefully. Damn Cousin John! thought Andrew as he waved farewell. * * * * When Teresa reached Stafford House, she found that her riding habit had been delivered. Since she had ordered it so as to be able to ride with Lord John, she went to look for him. Boggs directed her to the back of the house, where he was playing billiards with his brother. He declared himself happy to squire her to Hyde Park at the hour of the fashionable promenade. To her surprise Lord Danville requested permission to join them, and even begged her to call him "Cousin Tom." The duke's heir had been in the country, supervising some business at one of the family estates. He had only returned to London the previous night, so she was not well acquainted with him. She remembered John describing him as "starchy," and his manner was certainly stiff compared with both brother 107 and father. Yet he had not looked askance at the unexpected presence of herself and Marco. He had greeted them with kindly aloofness and she was prepared to like him if given a chance to get to know him. After changing into her new habit, she met Lord John on the landing. She had never worn a dress with a train before and it felt strange to have all that extra fabric dragging behind her. She was about to start down the stairs when he put his hand on her arm and held her back. She looked up at him enquiringly. He was laughing at her. "You must drape the train over your arm," he explained, "or you will go down head first. You claimed to be an accomplished horsewoman, Cousin!" "So I am," she assured him, "only I have never had a proper habit before." He grinned down at her. "I should have liked to see you ride without a train to cover your...limbs," he said with regret. "Ah, Tom, there you are. Let us be on our way." "Ought I to take my maid with me?" asked Teresa uncertainly as they descended. "She does not ride. Oh no, I expect a groom should accompany me." "Fustian," Lord John scoffed. "You will come to no harm with us." Teresa had definite reservations about his sense of propriety after his last remark. She looked at the viscount, whose opinion must surely be trusted. "I think in this case, since we are your cousins, a servant may be dispensed with. You are residing in the same household, after all. If ever you ride with only one of us, you had best take a groom." "Thank you, cousin. I will abide by your advice." She dimpled at him and he smiled. He was really excessively handsome when he smiled, she decided. Their mounts awaited them in the street. Teresa, used to the rough working horses of the hacienda, fell in love at first sight with the thoroughbred bay mare the duke had provided for her. She longed to try her paces, but Lady Parr had forbidden galloping in the park. She wondered if that prohibition was one of the shabby-genteel notions she might ignore. When Andrew scolded her for offending the proprieties, he did not realise how difficult it was to steer a course between conflicting codes. 108 They had only to cross Park Lane to enter Hyde Park by the Grosvenor Gate, and she knew at once that this time Lady Parr's rule was commonsense. As far as she could see, lines of elegant phaetons and barouches moved at a walking pace, their still more elegant occupants bowing, waving or stopping to talk to each other and the strollers and riders. "Half the population of London must be here!" she exclaimed. "This is only the Little Season," Lord John reminded her. "You should see it on a fine day in May. Drove my curricle once and dashed if I didn't get stuck in the crush for half an hour. Since then, I always ride." As they merged into the stream, a plump, dowdy lady waved an imperious summons from a carriage coming towards them. "Come, Cousin," said Lord Danville, "I shall introduce you to Lady Castlereagh." He led the way. Lord John leaned towards Teresa and whispered, "One of Almack's patronesses. If they approve you, you'll get vouchers next Season. Deuced flat place, but it's all the rage among the females and you won't want to be excluded. Of course, they won't care to offend m'mother, unless you do something truly outrageous, and Lord Castlereagh is one of m'father's bosom bows." Lady Parr had stressed the importance of being seen at Almack's. No female banned from those august premises could be considered a social success. Thanking providence that her aunt was a duchess, Teresa followed her cousins. The viscount introduced Teresa as Lord Edward's daughter. Lady Castlereagh asked kindly after her father, whom she had met in his rakish youth. As they parted, she promised to invite Teresa to a small soirée she was holding in a few days. Teresa breathed a sigh of relief. That was one patroness, at least, who seemed to approve of her. Making sure her ladyship was out of earshot, she said, "I know I am newly acquainted with London fashions, but is not Lady Castlereagh dressed oddly?" "She is noted for it," laughed Lord John. "It is said that at the Congress of Vienna she attended a party with his lordship's Order of the Garter decorating her hair." The viscount frowned. "Do not make fun of her, 109 John. She is a respectable and benevolent lady, and her husband was instrumental in Bonaparte's defeat." His brother hastily disclaimed any intended disparagement, but began to mutter that riding in the park was deuced flat entertainment. Teresa had noticed a pair of riders cantering in the distance, and she suggested leaving the crowd and stretching their mounts legs. "Limbs, I mean," she corrected hastily. Lord Danville shook his head. "You will note that both riders are gentlemen," he pointed out. "It will not do for a young lady at this hour. If you wish to rise early, a canter--a gallop even--is unexceptionable before nine or so." He smiled at the idea of a female rising early for such a reason. "A capital notion, Tom!" Lord John was enthusiastic. "Eight o'clock tomorrow, coz?" Teresa accepted with alacrity. As they rode on at a snail's pace, her cousins introduced her to so many people that she was sure she would never remember them all. It amused her to [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] |