The Danbury Scandals Read Online Free PDF

sitting beside him on the sofa, sewing and taking
no part in the conversation; indeed, in the few weeks she had been at Beckford
Hall she had learned to keep her own counsel over Caroline’s whims. ‘And what
about you, Maryanne? Is that your wish too?’
    If Maryanne
could wish for anything, it would be to return to the life of a nonentity, but
that was denied her and because she had to make the best of her situation she
stayed in the background as much as possible, allowing Caroline to shine, but
sometimes Caroline’s tactless tongue cut her to the quick and she had to bite
off the retort that came to her lips. When she came into her inheritance and
would no longer be dependent on Lord Danbury, she would leave and take up some
occupation where she could be useful and not have to think constantly of her
position.
    ‘Please, don’t
take me into account,’ she said, lifting her eyes from her sewing. ‘If you wish
to go to London, I shall be quite content to remain here.’
    ‘There you are,
Papa.’ Caroline sat back on the sofa with a smile of satisfaction. ‘Maryanne
does not want to come, and, besides, who will escort her?’
    ‘I will,’ said
Mark, beaming at Maryanne over the newspaper he was reading. ‘I have promised
myself a little of her company.’
    Maryanne,
threading a needle, did not see the look which passed from father to son, but
if she had she would not have known how to interpret it. Only Mark understood
its warning and it tickled his fancy that he could put his father out of humour
simply by paying court to his cousin. She was as demure as a whore at a
christening, but he suspected that underneath that quiet countenance was an
independent spirit and a fire which once set alight would be difficult to
extinguish. If he could make it burn for him, then some of his difficulties
might be overcome.
    ‘The Duchess is
still very ill,’ James said. ‘We can hardly go if His Grace thinks it
inappropriate.’
    ‘Like everyone
else, he has already gone,’ Caroline said. ‘I had a letter from Georgiana
Halesworth. She was at Louis’s reception and saw the Duke there.’ She giggled.
‘She said the French King is even fatter than the Prince.’
    Mark laughed
and began to sing. ‘And France’s hope and Britain’s heir were, in truth, a most
congenial pair; Two round-bellied, thriving rakes, Like oxen fed on linseed
cakes.’
    Caroline
laughed. ‘Oh, capital! Where did you hear that?’
    ‘It’s all the
crack,’ Mark said. ‘There’s more’
    ‘Enough!’ said
James sternly, though there was a twinkle in his eye. ‘Mark, that is hardly a
drawing-room ballad.’
    ‘Can we go?’
Caroline persisted. ‘I know for a fact Lady Markham is holding a ball at the
end of the month and we won’t be invited if we’re not even in town.’
    ‘I shall have
to write to your aunt Emma to find out if it is convenient for her,’ her father
said. ‘And I must ride over and see how my aunt progresses.’
    ‘You mean we
can go?’ cried Caroline, getting up to throw her arms round her father’s neck.
‘I shall have to have a new ball gown. In fact, Papa, I shall need...’
    He smiled and
disengaged himself. ‘I know, a whole new trousseau .’
    ‘But it is my
coming out.’
    ‘And
Maryanne’s,’ he said, getting up to go and write his letter. ‘Do not forget
your cousin.’
    ‘I do hope Her
Grace holds out until the end of the season,’ Caroline said, as the door shut
on him. ‘I should hate to have to spend the rest of the summer in black gloves,
and if I have to wait another year for my coming out I shall be at my last
prayers.’
    ‘Don’t be a
ninny, Carrie,’ Mark said. ‘You’re only eighteen, there is plenty of time yet.’
    ‘Most of my
friends are already spoken for and I have not even been introduced to anyone I
half like,’ his sister went on. ‘And I should like a title. You will be a
Viscount one day, but unless I marry one...’
    ‘Oh, I have my
eyes on more than that,’