India nodded. "Then she writes, ‘I know how much you are in demand, but I write with the faint hope that you are free. His Grace's eldest son, Tobias Dautry, has recently acquired a country estate just outside London called Starberry Court. It likely needs some refurbishing, although Tobias bought it with its contents intact. He is courting Miss Laetitia Rainsford and he wishes to ensure that the house is in suitable condition before he invites her parents to the country. Naturally, I told him that you were the only person I would trust in such an endeavor.' "
"Eleanor is not happy about the match," Adelaide stated. "How interesting! I suspect that means that the duke is equally displeased."
"What on earth gave you that impression?"
"If Eleanor were happy about Dautry's courtship, she would say so. And you know how informal Eleanor is; she uses Laetitia's full name. She doesn't like Lala."
"I only met her once, but I thought she was a very sweet girl."
"She's beautiful, but not very bright," Adelaide said with a touch of asperity. "I suppose that explains why the duke and duchess are not in favor. Her parents must have weighed her lack of wits against his unfortunate birth. What did you say that estate he bought was called?"
"Starberry Court."
"The Earl of Jupp's country house!" Adelaide exclaimed. "Supposedly he draped the walls in red damask and invited fourteen Italian women to live with him. The naughty sort of Italians. He held very popular parties, by all accounts. No one ever admitted to going to one, but everyone seemed to know the details."
One quickly lost all naïveté when investigating the antics that could disrupt a badly managed household, so India nodded, unsurprised. "Starberry Court became a bawdy house?"
"Not precisely a brothel, since the services offered were gratis," Adelaide said. "Jupp died last November, I think it was, and everyone said that he was brought low by the French disease. I expect the furnishings are deplorable."
"We could strip the damask in a day or two." A little prickle of excitement went down India's spine at the idea of tackling such a large task. Of course, there was the issue of finding a husband, but surely that could wait for a few more weeks. These days a small army of craftsmen awaited her command. She could have a house painter, a master wood carver, and a stonemason on the doorstep in a matter of days.
"You could likely make it acceptable," Adelaide conceded. "Still, I don't know what Dautry was thinking, buying that particular estate. Given the circumstances of his birth, why buy an estate with such a sordid reputation?"
"It was probably an excellent bargain."
"I wonder if Lord Rainsford is feeling a pinch. His wife is both spiteful and recklessly extravagant. Perhaps Lala is being sacrificed on the altar of parental excess."
"Eleanor goes on to say that she and the duke will be in attendance when Mr. Dautry entertains the Rainsfords in his new house," India said. "She invites us to stay as well. I hardly think that accepting an offer of marriage from a duke's Midas-like son, even if he was born on the wrong side of the blanket, can be termed a sacrifice."
"You're wrong there. Lady Rainsford is one of the most arrogant women on God's earth, obsessed by her connection to the Court. Mark my words: she is mortified to think that one of her daughters is considering marriage to a bastard. What's more, Eleanor wouldn't want any child of her beloved Villiers being less than celebrated. She is ferociously loyal and protective of her husband's motley brood."
India folded up the letter. "But if Villiers champions the marriage-which he must be doing, given that Eleanor will host the house party-it will take place." She was reasonably certain that the duke got everything he wanted, whether that meant marrying his bastard son to a lady or to a royal princess. He was that type of man.
"We should do it!" Adelaide exclaimed. "Lala's so witless that she might spend her whole life dancing attendance on her mother. Eleanor needs our help. That house needs our help. But heaven help her, that girl needs our help too.
"What's more," she added gleefully, "the betrothal will take Lady Rainsford down a peg or two. I can't tell you how many times she's informed me that her family has attended royalty since the time of Henry VIII."
"You make Lala sound addled," India objected. "I think her reputation for witlessness must be overstated."
"She can't read," Adelaide confided. "She told me herself."
"She needn't read once she's married to Midas; three secretaries can read aloud to her. Though I do think her governess should have been more persistent." India had fierce opinions about inadequate education.
"By all accounts, they tried. She still had a tutor as of last year, but she just couldn't grasp it. That must be the real reason the Rainsfords are considering this marriage. If she cannot read, she cannot run a household." Adelaide hesitated. "I wonder if Dautry knows that?"
There was something about this proposed marriage that India didn't like. The mercantile nature of it was jarring.
On the other hand, her parents had married for love-disastrously. Even though her father's estate desperately needed an influx of money in the form of a dowry, he had decided that happiness would solve everything. He had been wrong. Love was a terrible reason for marriage, in India's estimation.
"Eleanor is requesting that we spend the next fortnight at Starberry refurbishing the house, after which they would join us," India said.
Adelaide's expression cleared. "An excellent idea! And it would give you time to do something with your hair before we return to London."
India's hair was thick and hard to handle, as well as being an unusual color, more like silver than gold. One minute Adelaide thought she should rinse it with rosemary extract, and the next with egg yolks. Or better yet, dye it yellow.
India simply instructed her maid to pin it up as best she could. In her experience, women were of the opinion that her hair could be "brightened up," but men seemed to like it as it was. India just thought there was too much of it.
As best she could tell, she had her paternal grandmother's bosom, and there was too much of that too. Fashionable clothing was designed for small breasts, which always caused problems with fitting gowns-but luckily, she hadn't had reason to dress fashionably. In fact, it was the opposite.
She had to wear gowns that promoted respect, but also trust. In order to do her job, the people who hired her must feel she could be trusted with their homes, and dressing in the very latest styles often frightened them.
Consequently, she traveled with three trunks, because she never knew how she might need to present herself. Sometimes the master of a household responded best if she dressed like a duchess, with an emphasis on diamonds. (They invariably assumed that her jewels were family heirlooms, even though India had bought them herself.)
Other times she presented herself as a docile, modest young lady, who valued every word that dropped from the man's lips. And then there were times when the seventeen-year-old scion of the house was clearly going to make a nuisance of himself. She would come to breakfast with braided hair, wearing a dress of brown homespun reminiscent of a German governess.
If she took on Starberry Court, she should probably wear something that minimized her rank. A man who wished to rise in the world and overcome his illegitimate birth would be looking for reassurance. She would have to protect Dautry's sense of amour propre, while giving tactful instruction about the manners and style of a great house.
"All right," she said, making up her mind. "We'll say farewell to Lady Dibbleshire and inform Mr. Dautry that we will help him with the renovation. And with catching the woman of his dreams."
"An excellent plan," Adelaide said, nodding. "But India darling, I must remind you that time is passing. This house cannot be an excuse to put off a decision about marriage."
India's good cheer wavered. She summoned a smile. "The house won't take long."
"You must decide between your various suitors, my dear." Adelaide patted her hand. "They won't wait forever."
"I will," India said, the words hollow even to her own ears. "I mean to find a perfect husband, Adelaide. Just as soon as I have time."