insisted upon bringing your sisters with you, Merton,' Lady Lyngate said as they were ascending the stairs. 'This is a large house for a young gentleman alone.' 'If he had not insisted, /I /would,' Margaret told her. 'Stephen is only seventeen years old, and while he insists that he is as close to being an adult as makes no difference, I would not have known a moment's rest if I had allowed him to come alone, with only Viscount Lyngate and Mr.
Bowen for company.' 'That is quite understandable,' Lady Lyngate said while Stephen looked sheepish and Miss Wallace eyed him with interest. '/I /would not have guessed you were seventeen,' that young lady said. 'I would have thought you were older than I am, and I am eighteen.' Stephen smiled winningly at her.
Katherine joined them after they had been in the drawing room just a few minutes. She looked tidy and clean with a shiny, freshly washed face.
She also looked lovely, as she always did. But Vanessa, gazing fondly and critically at her, could see that she appeared quite unpolished in contrast with Miss Wallace. 'Perhaps,' Viscount Lyngate said, 'we could excuse ourselves from taking tea with the ladies, Merton. I want to hear what you have accomplished since yesterday.' Miss Wallace looked openly disappointed, but she transferred her attention to Katherine. 'Elliott says you are to go to town after Easter for a come-out Season,' she said. 'It is to be my come-out too. We will be able to keep each other company. I wish my hair had golden highlights as yours does. It is lovely.' Miss Wallace was very dark - like her brother. It was obvious that they got their coloring primarily from their mother, who looked very Greek with her silvering dark hair and strong, handsome features. 'Thank you,' Katherine said. 'I am very much enjoying being at Warren Hall, I must confess. I am not so sure about London just yet, though.
There is so much space to explore here and so much beauty to appreciate, and I am learning to ride.' 'Only /learning/?' Miss Wallace asked, all incredulity. 'I am afraid so,' Katherine said. 'Meg learned when Papa was alive and we still had a horse. And Nessie rode at Rundle Park after she married Hedley, our brother-in-law. But I never had a chance. Constantine gave me a few lessons before he went away a few days ago, and now Mr. Taber, the head groom, is helping me.' 'I am /so /vexed that Con has left,' Miss Wallace said. 'He never comes to Finchley these days and Mama will not allow me to come here alone. I adore him. Is he not the most handsome man you have ever seen?' Katherine smiled and Lady Lyngate raised her eyebrows. 'Anyway,' Miss Wallace continued, 'you simply must come to town for the Season. I brought a book of fashion plates with me - it is in the carriage. Do let me show it to you. Some of the newest styles would look wonderful on you - you are so beautifully tall and slender. Indeed, I am sure they /all /would.' 'Perhaps, Kate,' Margaret suggested, 'you and Miss Wallace would like to take the book into the library, where you may enjoy its contents without interruption.' They went off together, leaving Margaret and Vanessa alone with the viscountess. She smiled at them graciously but kindly enough, and they conversed politely on a number of topics while tea was served. 'You really do all need to make an appearance in town this spring,' Lady Lyngate said eventually, 'though I can understand that the prospect may be daunting to you. Your brother is too young, of course, to mingle freely with his peers as he will be able to do in a few years' time.
Nevertheless, the /ton /will wish to have a look at him. They have been deprived of an Earl of Merton for long enough. Jonathan was a mere boy and incapable anyway of leaving here.' 'It is nevertheless tragic that he died so young,' Vanessa said. 'He was your nephew, ma'am?' 'My sister's boy,' the viscountess said. 'Yes, it was sad indeed, especially as she died not long after his birth. But he was happy all his life, you know. Perhaps happiness compensates for a short life. I like to believe so. And he died suddenly and peacefully. It is your brother who belongs here now, however, and he seems to be a delightful young man.' 'We think so, of course,' Vanessa said. 'He owns a house in town,' Margaret said. 'And so there would be no problem of accommodation if we were to go there. But there are all sorts of other problems, as you can see, my lady, just from looking at us.' 'You are extremely lovely,' Lady Lyngate said frankly, looking, of course, just at Margaret. 'Thank you.' Margaret flushed. 'But that is not the point.' 'No, it is not,' Lady Lyngate agreed. 'But if one of you were just married, your problem would be solved.' 'My husband is dead, ma'am,' Vanessa said. 'He did not move in /ton/nish circles anyway, though his father is a baronet.' 'No,' the viscountess said, her eyes resting kindly upon Vanessa for a moment before moving back to Margaret. 'The husband would have to be well placed in society, someone to give you position and countenance.
And then with a presentation at court and the right clothes and a little polishing, you would be quite able to sponsor your sisters and find husbands for them too.' Margaret's hand crept to her bosom, and her flush returned. '/I/, my lady?' she asked. 'You have been caring for your brother and sisters for a number of years,' Lady Lyngate said. 'You have behaved admirably. But valuable years have gone by. You are still lovely, and you have a natural grace of manner that will make it relatively easy for you to take with the /ton/. But it is, my dear, time for you to marry - for your own sake as well as for that of your siblings.' 'Meg does not have to marry for /my /sake,' Vanessa said, her eyes upon Margaret, whose flush had disappeared, leaving her looking rather white. 'No,' Lady Lyngate agreed. 'But you have had your chance, Mrs. Dew. Your elder sister has not. And your younger sister will need her chance soon - she is older than Cecily. Forgive me. You may say that this is none of my business, and you would, of course, be quite right. However, you confess yourselves to be in need of help and advice. This is my advice to you, Miss Huxtable. Marry as soon as you may.' Margaret's color had returned and she looked suddenly amused. 'I am reminded of the old puzzle over the chicken and the egg,' she said. 'I need to marry in order that we may make an easier entrГ©e into society. But you must agree, my lady, that I would need to be in society in order to find a husband.' 'Not necessarily,' Lady Lyngate said. 'Perhaps there is a prospective husband - an eminently eligible one - closer than you think.' She did not elaborate but asked them if they had thought of sending to London for a lady's maid who could help them learn something of the newest fashions and who could dress them and style their hair more fashionably. She would be very willing to see to acquiring one on their behalf, she told them. 'I would be very grateful,' Margaret told her. 'I have only to look at you and Miss Wallace to understand how much we have to learn.' It was only later, when they had strolled out onto the terrace to look down at the formal gardens while waiting for the carriage to come up and Miss Wallace and the viscount to join their mother, that she said what perhaps she had been hinting at earlier. 'Elliott has decided to take a bride this year,' she said. 'He will be a brilliant catch for any lady, of course. As well as the obvious attributes, he also has a loyal heart - even a loving one if he would but realize it. But the right woman will teach him to discover that. It is his intention - and my hope - to find a lady of character and principle.
Beauty and grace would not come amiss either, of course. Perhaps he will not have to look too far.' She spoke with her eyes on the empty flower beds below, as if she were thinking aloud.
Vanessa was not the only one who read the unspoken message. The carriage departed a few minutes later, Viscount Lyngate riding beside it.
Katherine and Stephen walked off in the direction of the stables - they were going to ride into the village to visit the Graingers - leaving Vanessa and Margaret alone on the terrace. 'Nessie,' Margaret said after a few moments, when the clopping of the horses' hooves grew fainter, 'was Lady Lyngate saying what I think she was saying?' 'It would seem,' Vanessa said, 'that she is trying to arrange a match between you and her son.' 'But that is utterly absurd!' Margaret exclaimed. 'It is not actually,' Vanessa said. 'He is of an age to look about him for a wife - all gentlemen of property must marry, you know, whatever their personal inclination might be. And you are eligible. Not only are you single and beautiful and refined, but you are also the sister of an earl and the very earl over whom he is guardian. What could be more convenient than for him to marry you?' 'Convenient for /whom/?' Margaret asked. 'And /he /is very eligible,' Vanessa continued. 'Just two weeks ago we were filled with awe just to know he was staying at the village inn and would be attending the assembly. He is titled and wealthy and young and handsome. And you yourself explained to Lady Lyngate the awkwardness of our situation, with no lady to introduce us to society.' 'And I would be able to do that for myself and for you and Kate if I were married?' Margaret asked, shivering and leading the way back toward the house. 'Yes,' Vanessa said. 'I suppose you would. You would be presented at court as Lady Lyngate explained and then you might do as you pleased.
And Viscount Lyngate would be able to do all in his power for us without any appearance of impropriety. It would be entirely proper if he were your husband.' For some reason it was a ghastly thought - Meg and Viscount Lyngate.
Vanessa tried to picture them together - at the altar during their nuptials, sitting on either side of a winter hearth in a domestic setting, and… No! She would not even try to picture /that/. She gave her head a little shake.
Margaret stopped beside the fountain. She set a hand on the edge of the stone basin, as if to steady herself. 'Nessie,' she said, 'you cannot be serious.' 'The question is,' Vanessa said, 'whether /she /is serious. And whether she can persuade the viscount to be serious about it too.' 'But would she even have dropped that less-
