Sussex Summer Read online

  “Thank you, Miss Hampton. Must say, you’re in excellent looks yourself this evening. Very becoming gown,” he said, viewing Jane with appreciation. It was Jane’s turn to blush with pleasure at the obviously sincere compliment, and she was glad she had chosen to wear the new pink and white gown with puffed sleeves that she had ordered from the village dressmaker after Lady Juliette had arrived in Sussex with her fashionable wardrobe.

  Christopher helped himself to some of the fried chicken breasts in the dish before him and offered them to Jane. As she took one and passed the dish to her father, it occurred to Jane to wonder if there would be a repeat of the conversation on the Peninsular War. She hoped for Captain Tremaine’s sake there would not be. Fortunately the subject did not come up, and the dinner passed pleasantly.

  The arrival of coffee indicated the end of the meal, and time for the women to leave the men to their port and cigars. Lady Archer signalled the ladies to follow her into the drawing room where they would visit until the gentlemen rejoined them.

  Jane seated herself on a Sheraton-style settee, where she was joined by the vicar’s wife, Mrs. Fairchild, and Mrs. Shirley the squire’s lady. Fanny and Marianne took side chairs next to each other, and Lady Martin settled into the most comfortable-looking armchair. Jane noticed that Lady Juliette sat a little apart from the rest of the company, making no attempt to join in conversation with any of the woman. Not for the first time, it occurred to Jane that Lady Juliette rarely exhibited her charm of manner when there were no gentlemen present. At the moment she was making no effort whatsoever to disguise her boredom with the company as she looked restlessly about the room. Lady Archer must have noticed Lady Juliette’s ennui, for she suggested to her daughter that she play a selection on the spinet to entertain the guests.

  Marianne obediently left Fanny to go to the instrument, a pretty spinet of satinwood veneer, and played a light country air, accompanying herself in a clear if weak voice. Fanny joined her at the piano and added her soft soprano to Marianne’s, and Jane got up to add her deeper contralto. Lady Juliette did not join the group about the spinet, however, and after a few songs Lady Archer tried another tack with her difficult guest.

  “Lady Juliette, would you do us the favour of playing a selection? My son Christopher tells me you are a talented performer.”

  “Of course, I should be pleased to, Lady Archer,” Lady Juliette replied, thus appealed to directly for her participation in the entertainment. She took Marianne’s place at the spinet, spreading her silken skirts gracefully about the stool.

  “My niece is quite talented,” Lady Martin proclaimed in loud tones as Lady Juliette riffled through the music Marianne offered her. “You will be quite edified by her performance, although, of course, she requires a proper pianoforte to do her playing justice,” she finished, looking at the Archers’ modest instrument with disdain.

  Lady Juliette made her selection and launched into a difficult sonata by Mozart. Much as Jane disliked Lady Juliette, she was forced to appreciate her undeniable talent. It cast Marianne’s performance quite into the shade. As Jane listened to the cascade of notes rippling through the room, she wondered if that had not been Lady Juliette’s purpose, if she had intentionally chosen a piece that would demonstrate the superiority of her accomplishments to the rest of the company. Jane tried to dismiss the ungenerous thought and enjoy the music, but the suspicion remained.

  While Lady Juliette was still playing, the gentlemen rejoined the ladies, and Lady Juliette’s playing became even more brilliant. Lord Staplefield and Captain Tremaine stood beside the spinet, watching Lady Juliette’s fingers as they flew unerringly over the keys, and at the end of the sonata the entire company applauded enthusiastically. Lady Juliette smiled graciously and inclined her head in recognition of the applause. Lord Staplefield requested she honour them with another selection, and Lady Juliette complied, choosing a short but technically difficult piece by Bach.

  As Jane watched Lady Juliette, to whom the music was familiar enough that she was able to smile up at the gentlemen as she played, she mused how gullible men appeared to be. They would never see that Lady Juliette’s charm was a only a veneer, or better, a mask, put on and off at will. They were quite taken in by her pretty face and the pretty manners she could display when she chose, Jane thought resignedly.

  Lady Juliette finished her second selection to more generous applause, and would not allow herself to be talked into a third. She rose from the stool with a smile, and was escorted to a chair by Lord Staplefield and Captain Tremaine.

  “Come, what say we have a rubber of whist?” Baron Archer suggested before his wife could ask another guest to perform on the spinet. “Let us leave the youngsters to themselves,” he added with a wink toward Fanny and Christopher.

  Jane smiled at Baron Archer’s obvious ploy. The baron was an inveterate card player, and evenings at his home inevitably ended in a game. She had noticed the card tables had already been set up in the smaller drawing room adjoining the one they were in, and she could see the servants moving about, lighting the candles at the corners of the card tables.

  The older guests rose and went into the adjoining room, obediently accepting their host’s suggestion. Jane, who would play if she was needed to make up a table but did not truly enjoy cards, stood in the doorway for a moment to see if her presence would be required, but upon seeing that it was not, she returned to her place on the settee. Jane did not see her father in either room, and had no doubt he was to be found in the baron’s rather sparsely furnished library.

  “I say, why don’t we try a few dances?” Christopher suggested to the company remaining in the larger drawing room.

  There was general agreement, and without bothering to ring for servants, the men moved the furniture to the walls and rolled up the carpets. Marianne good-naturedly volunteered to play, and struck up a boulanger and Jane watched wistfully as Captain Tremaine led Lady Juliette onto the floor. She was not left long without a partner however, for Lord Blackwood approached her as soon as he shoved the last chair against the wall.

  “Will you do me the honour of granting me your hand for this dance?” he asked with exaggerated formality.

  “It would be a pleasure, Lord Blackwood,” Jane replied with a curtsy, and they joined the others on the small floor. Lord Blackwood was an excellent dancer, and Jane soon lost the tinge of sadness she had felt upon seeing Captain Tremaine choose Lady Juliette as his first partner.

  After three dances, Lady Juliette graciously offered to take Marianne’s place so the younger girl could have a chance to dance as well, and before long the whole company was hot and flushed with their exertions. Lady Juliette ceased playing, and Christopher opened the doors to the gardens. Cool breezes blew temptingly, and there was a general exodus to the garden.

  Jane felt another twinge of envy once again when she saw Captain Tremaine escort Lady Juliette outside, but Lord Blackwood was again at Jane’s side, his flattering attention erasing the momentary hurt. They wandered down a gravel path to a bench near some fragrant pinks where they sat down to enjoy the breeze and the perfume of the flowers. Lord Blackwood seemed very relaxed, and he smiled at Jane contentedly.

  “My experience of country life here in Sussex is tempting me to settle in the district, Miss Hampton,” he confessed.

  Jane laughed. “It may seem peaceful and pleasurable to you for the moment, but I feel very certain you would soon miss the excitement of London and become filled with ennui.”

  “I think it might depend upon the company I kept,” Lord Blackwood replied with a meaningful look at Jane. “Do you ever become bored and long for the excitement of a new way of life?”

  “No, but I am content with country pastimes because I have never known anything else. I do not think my excursions to Bath would count as Town experience.”

  “I suppose you are correct,” Lord Blackwood admitted, “we do not miss what we have not known.” Interestedly, he began to question Jane about her life.
>
  Jane answered Lord Blackwood’s questions unreservedly, feeling quite at ease in his presence. She told him of her quiet upbringing as a vicar’s daughter, and when she had finished, was bold enough to ask him to reciprocate.

  “Now it is your turn to tell me about your life, fine sir,” she teased.

  “I fear my life has not been as edifying as yours,” Lord Blackwood replied. “My father is an earl, but also a gambler, and although my mother tried her best to make ends meet, she did not succeed. We were never more than a step away from debtor’s prison despite my father’s title. When I became old enough my father taught me to play at cards, and as I had rather more luck than he, the family came to depend on my winnings.” Lord Blackwood went on to describe his family’s hand-to-mouth existence, culminating in the flight of his father to the Continent after a duel.

  Jane listened sympathetically to Lord Blackwood’s confidences. She felt she could also understand Lady Juliette’s apparent determination to marry a man of wealth. Yet, she thought, it did not excuse the unkindness she had so often observed in Lady Juliette. Lord Blackwood had grown up under the same conditions, after all, and he was not unkind. She wondered about the elder sister, who had gone to the Continent with the father, and whether she was more like Lord Blackwood or Lady Juliette.

  Lord Blackwood finished his recital, and the two lapsed into a comfortable silence, sharing the peace of the evening as they continued to sit quietly on the stone bench listening to a nightingale and breathing in the sweet evening perfume of the hesperis as it mingled with the spicy fragrance of the pinks. Jane was staring into the distance looking at nothing in particular and thinking of Lord Blackwood’s unhappy life when she felt a light touch on her cheek. She turned around, and Lord Blackwood bent his face to hers, kissing her softly on her lips. Unless she counted the curate at her father’s former parish near Bath, this was Jane’s first kiss. And as she experienced more of Lord Blackwood’s expert kiss, Jane decided the former gentleman’s definitely did not count. The curate’s kiss had not stirred her like this.

  Finding Jane did not resist, Lord Blackwood’s lips became more demanding, his tongue teasing her lips open and tasting her mouth. His arms enveloped her shoulders, holding her close enough to feel his heartbeat. Jane was startled but not repulsed, and strange new feelings ran down her spine clear to her feet. She leaned into his kiss, raising her arms involuntarily to hold him close in return. She was beginning to feel oddly light-headed and wondered if she were going to faint from the sensations when she heard a crunch of gravel nearby.

  At the sound of the footsteps, Jane quickly pulled away from Lord Blackwood, fearful of being seen in a compromising position. Lord Blackwood released her without protest, but his eyes glowed strangely, and Jane looked away, unable to hold his intense gaze. Although Jane did not see anyone, whomever she had heard on the path evidently having taken another direction, the mood between Lord Blackwood and herself had shattered. Rather shakily, Jane straightened her stole and rose from the bench, wishing to escape Lord Blackwood and return to the safety of the others.

  Edward started to reverse his direction and walk back to the Archer’s house, then changed his mind and went farther down the gravel path to a bench near a Greek-style statue. He had several things he wished to think over in privacy. The kiss he had interrupted between Jane and Lord Blackwood had disturbed him deeply. Jane was so innocent, unused to the ways of men such as Adrian Blackwood. Although he liked Lady Juliette’s brother well enough, for he was very good company, Edward was aware of the young lord’s reputation and quite sure it was well-deserved. He frowned as he recalled the strawberry Lord Blackwood had placed between Jane’s lips at the picnic, forgetting he had done the same with Lady Juliette.

  Edward sighed. He would have to warn Jane, and he was not quite sure how to do so, since although he felt as protectively toward her as a brother, he was not in fact her brother. Her father would have been the proper one to approach his daughter on the subject, but Edward did not feel he knew Mr. Hampton well enough to broach such a sensitive issue. Yet he could not sand idly by and allow Jane to fall in love with a rake and have her heart broken or her reputation ruined.

  Edward stood up and scuffed absently at the statue with his top boots, ruining the shine his valet had laboured to put on them. The summer was not turning out as he had planned. Lady Juliette did not seem the same here in Sussex as she had been in London, and he was disappointed with the reception she had been given by his family. Although his parents were impeccably hospitable, their welcome had been restrained. Jamie was courteous when he spoke to Lady Juliette, but ignored her when he could, a state of affairs that was mutual, Edward admitted fairly. Jane, whom he had envisaged becoming fast friends with Lady Juliette, was polite but distant. Not that he could fault her for that; Lady Martin was at times quite rude in her speech to both Jane and Fanny, and Lady Juliette had done nothing to moderate her aunt’s behaviour.

  Edward had been rather surprised at Lady Juliette’s failure to stop her aunt from making disparaging comments to Jane and Fanny. Although he did not like to admit it, Lady Juliette’s conduct did not seem as charming here in the country as it had in London. For instance, there was her churlishness at dinner tonight. She had been placed between himself and Jamie, and since his attention had been claimed by the vicar’s wife, Mrs. Fairchild, Jamie had tried to be civil and converse with Lady Juliette. But she had rudely ignored his efforts, sitting in morose silence until Lord Staplefield had engaged her in conversation. Edward thought of the contrast with Jane, who had good-naturedly conversed with that young sprig of fashion, Christopher Archer, next to whom she had been seated.

  And then there was Lord Staplefield. The charming manners Juliette had exhibited towards himself in London she now exhibited whenever the earl was about. Her flirtatious manner troubled him, and he wondered about the earl’s motives as well. Were his gallantries part of the absurd act it appeared to amuse him to put on in Juliette’s presence, or was there something more serious underlying them? Edward almost began to wish almost that he had never met the Blackwoods—almost, for he could never quite think of Lady Juliette’s beauty without desiring to make her his wife.

  That evening, as she lay in her bed with the fragrant night air wafting through the open window, Jane thought seriously about Lord Blackwood and what his intentions towards her might be. She was realistic enough to know that as the daughter of a country clergyman, with no great beauty or fortune, she was unlikely to be the object of serious intentions. Too, Fanny had told her Lord Staplefield had hinted that Lord Blackwood was something of a rake. Jane had often dreamed that a country gentleman such as Edward might someday care for her and ask her to be his wife. But if Edward could not love her, it seemed highly unlikely that a nonpareil such as Lord Blackwood would. Most likely he was only amusing himself with her to pass the time in the country. Yet even so, Jane had to admit to herself, his attentions were flattering. At least one man found her worth courting, if only for a while.

  As Jane lay in her bed assessing her situation with the interesting Lord Blackwood, the gentleman himself was knocking on the door of his sister’s dressing room. He had decided that sibling loyalty behooved him to warn his sister that she was in danger of losing her quarry.

  “Enter,” Lady Juliette called, and Adrian opened the door and went into his sister’s room.

  Lady Juliette sat on a stool before her dressing table while her maid vigorously brushed Juliette’s glossy black hair. Adrian caught his sister’s eye and glanced at the maid meaningfully.

  “You may go, Perkins,” Juliette ordered, turning to her brother as the maid left the room. Adrian took a delicate Hepplewhite chair, straddled it, and resting his arms along the chair back; he gazed at his sister thoughtfully.

  “Tell me, sister, are you going for a bigger fish?”

  “And if I am?” Lady Juliette asked, turning her back to him and viewing herself in the glass with satisfaction.

  �
��I would advise caution. At the risk of speaking in clichés, I should remind you a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”

  Lady Juliette tapped her fingers impatiently on the dressing table.

  “Edward has not yet made an offer. Let him compete for my attentions. A woman who is too easy to capture is not worth the hunt.”

  Adrian knew that was true of many men, but was not sure it applied to Edward and said as much to his sister.

  Lady Juliette shook her head impatiently. “Who are you to criticise my tactics? What about you, dear brother? What are you doing setting up a flirtation with the Hampton girl? Do not ruin my chances by making Edward angry, he is protective of the family for some reason. Perhaps because the younger girl is betrothed to his ridiculous popinjay of a brother, or so I have heard, although they do not behave as if they are engaged.”

  Adrian shrugged. “There aren’t any country heiresses in the district. I must amuse myself somehow, and Miss Hampton is quite delightful.”

  “Just see that your amusements do not upset my plans. Now if you have said what you came to say, you may leave. Have Perkins come back in as you go.”

  Adrian rose and sauntered out, pausing at the door of Lady Juliette’s bedchamber to summon the maid to attend to her mistress again. He had warned his sister; more than that he could not do. Or would not, Adrian confessed to himself. He admired his sister and had a genuine affection for her, but he also took enormous pleasure in seeing her machinations fail.