A Civil Contract

“I’m not cross! And if you don’t choose to tell me where you’re going I’m sure I don’t care!”

“Now that,” he said gravely, “I am excessively relieved to know, because I don’t choose to tell you — unless my errand prospers, when I’ll make a clean breast of it.”

Her face puckered; she turned it away, saying in a thickened voice: “I’m sorry! Don’t heed me! You must think yourself married to a positive vixen!”

“No, just a hedgehog!” he assured her consolingly.

She was appeased, she could even laugh; but when ten o’clock had struck on Thursday evening she abandoned hope, realized that he had callously availed himself of her permission to remain away from home, and sank into gloom. The reflection that she had only her own ill-humour to thank for this miserable state of affairs did nothing to alleviate her woe, but before she had succeeded in convincing herself that he was seeking consolation in the arms of some dazzling bird of paradise she heard a carriage draw up in the street. She listened eagerly, torn between hope and a ridiculous wish not to be deprived of her grievance. But it was Adam. She heard his voice, and hurried out of the drawing-room to look down the well of the staircase. She saw him, and exclaimed: “It is you!”

He looked up, laughing at her. “Yes, and I’ve no need at all to tell you what my errand was! Yow shall instead tell me if I have brought you an agreeable surprise, ma’am!”

The next instant he was thrust rudely aside, and Lydia came running up the stairs, calling out: “Jenny, isn’t this capital? Oh, how happy I am to be here again! Wasn’t it a splendid notion for Adam to take into his head? Are you glad to see me? Please say you are!”

“Lydia!” gasped Jenny, bursting into tears. “Oh, Lydia!”

She very soon recovered from this most unusual demonstration, emerging from Lydia’s embrace with a transformed countenance, and uttering disjointedly: “Oh, I was never more glad of anything! How kind of Lady Lynton — Oh, Adam, the idea of your doing such a thing, and never a word to me! I must have your room made ready immediately, love! If I had only known — ! Come into the warm directly: you must be frozen!”

There could be no doubt of her delight; Lydia’s arrival acted upon her like a tonic, and within a very few minutes she had lost her weary look, and was chuckling over Lydia’s account of her life in Bath, and her description of one Sir Torquil Tregony, whom she insisted on referring to as her Conquest. Jenny, round-eyed with astonishment, gathered, from the graphic word-picture offered her, that this unknown baronet was so stricken in years as to be tottering to the grave; but Adam, more conversant with his sister’s notions, assumed (quite correctly) that the dotard was in the region of forty years of age, and slightly afflicted by rheumatism.

“Fabulously wealthy!” announced Lydia, helping herself to her third lobster patty. “Oh, Jenny, you can’t think how truly blissful it is to be here again, and to have such sumptuous things to eat! Aren’t you going to eat one of these delicious patties? You aren’t eating anything!”

“I should think not, indeed, when I dined only a couple of hours ago!”

“On a morsel of chicken, and a baked apple?” interpolated Adam. ‘

“Good gracious, are you obliged to starve if you have a baby?” enquired Lydia. “I never knew that before! And I must say — ”

“Of course I don’t starve!” said Jenny. “Never mind about me! Tell us about this Sir Torquil of yours!”

“Oh, him! Well, Mama thinks him very eligible. In fact, she favours his Suit! Partly because he is very connected, but mostly because of his wealth. Of course, I see that if I married him I should be able to eat lobster parties every day of my life, but lobster patties, after all, are not everything.”

“Very true!” agreed Adam. “There is also cold pheasant — though even Sir Torquil’s fortune won’t enable you to eat that every day of your life. Here you are, snatch-pastry! don’t hesitate to tell me if I haven’t carved enough for you! Let me tell you, by the way, that Mama says you are inclined to encourage Sir Torquil’s — er — Suit!”

“Well, yes,” admitted Lydia. “But that was only because sitting at home every evening, listening to Mrs Papworth flattering Mama became so intolerable! Sir Torquil wanted to escort us to the Upper Rooms, you see, and I knew Mama would go if he invited us.”

“Oh, Lydia, you naughty girl!” Jenny exclaimed, much entertained. “Of all the wicked flirts — ! And did you enjoy the Bath balls?”

“Not above half. All the Bath quizzes sit round the walls, staring at one. Brough says they are a set of fusty tabbies, and that Bath is the slowest place on earth.”

“Brough?” said Adam, surprised. “Has he been in Bath? He said nothing to me about it!”

“Yes, he was visiting relations in the neighbourhood. At least, not precisely visiting them, because he stayed at the Christopher, but that was what brought him to Bath.”

“Relations living in the neighbourhood? I wonder who they may be? I had thought I was acquainted with most of his relations, but I never heard of any that lived in Somerset”

“I don’t know: he didn’t tell us — and I don’t think he liked them much, because he didn’t seem to go out to see them often.”

By this time Jenny had succeeded in catching Adam’s eye, directing such a dagger-look at him that he blinked. “Well, that was agreeable,” she said, transferring her attention to Lydia. “And for how long can Lady Lynton spare you to me? I must write to tell her how much obliged to her I am.”

“She says I may stay until Charlotte and Lambert go to Bath for Christmas. They mean to spend a night in town, you know, and so they can take me up. Oh, and whatever do you think? — Charlotte is increasing too!”

“No!”

“Yes, she is. Mama had the letter only this week.”

“How pleased she must be!”

“Yes, except that she has a presentiment that Charlotte’s baby will take after Lambert. But I must tell you, Jenny, that she didn’t say anything like that about your baby. She seems to think it will look just like Stephen, though why it should I can’t imagine. However, it has put Mama into such a flow of spirits that I took care not to cast a doubt in the way. And I,” said Lydia proudly, “shall be a double aunt!”

Jenny soon learned from Adam that very little persuasion had been needed to induce the Dowager to send her youngest loved one to her. The news that Jenny was soon to provide Fontley with an heir had acted powerfully upon her. As little as Jenny herself did she doubt that the child would be a boy, and so delighted was she that she sent a great many solicitous messages to “dear little Jenny,” and even forbore to censure her for feeling sickly. Adam delivered as many of these as he could remember, when he went into Jenny’s room to bid her good night, and as soon as Martha had gone away he demanded to know why he had been glared at in the middle of supper. “You surely don’t think that Brough is dangling after Lydia?” he said incredulously.

“Good gracious, Adam, of course I do!” she exclaimed. “It’s as plain as the nose on your face!”

“But she’s only a baby!”

“Fiddle!”

“Good God! Jenny, I’ll swear she has no such thought in her head!”

“No, not yet,” she conceded. “But you won’t tell me she hasn’t a decided preference for him! As for him, I suppose you think it was for the pleasure of my company that he came here so often when Lydia was with us and escorted us all about! What’s more, you’ve only to let him know that she’s here, and mark me if he don’t come up to town — to visit some more of his relations, I daresay!”

He laughed, but looked a little dubious. “I shan’t let him know. If you’re right, I don’t think we should encourage it — not yet, before she’s out! I’m. positive Mama wouldn’t like it.”

“No, very true, but I fancy he knows that, and don’t mean to pop the question yet. Something he said to me once makes me pretty sure that he knows you and my lady would say it was too soon. You wouldn’t dislike it, would you, Adam, if it did come to pass?”

“Good God, no! I should be delighted.”

“And your mama?” she asked.

“Yes, I should think so. The Adversanes are as poor as Church mice, of course, and at the moment Mama’s mind seems to be running on the fabulously wealthy Conquest, but — ”

“You don’t mean to tell me she really does wish Lydia to marry him? I thought it was just Lydia’s nonsense! Well, I hope you’ll put your foot down, my lord! The idea! And with a name like that, too!”

“Don’t worry! I shan’t have to,” he said laughing. He bent over to kiss her cheek. “I must go, or Martha will