‘An excellent evening, eh, Blackwood?’ Lord Harworth came up to him, his mother leaning on his arm. ‘I hope you enjoyed yourself, sir. ’Twas your first ball here in Town, was it not?’
‘It was, my lord.’
‘I doubt you have such glittering occasions in the north, Mr Blackwood,’ remarked Lady Harworth.
‘Certainly we cannot boast such elevated society as one finds in Town, ma’am,’ returned Daniel, ‘but we have our balls and assemblies.’
‘Indeed, Mama, they ain’t savages,’ chuckled Lord Harworth. ‘And we shall soon be adding to the society, ma’am, will we not?’ He turned to Daniel, smiling. ‘Mama has suggested that we should open Kirkleigh Hall and take a party to Yorkshire in July. You suggested we should travel north to look at the mills and Kirkleigh is perfectly placed between Hestonroyd and Arkwright’s mills at Cromford, less than a day’s ride from either place. No harm in mixing a little business with pleasure, eh, Blackwood?’
‘No indeed, my lord,’ said Daniel. ‘Although I had planned to show you more than just Cromford: if you are serious in building a mill of your own we shall not have a great deal of time for society—’
‘Nonsense, sir, there is always time for society!’ declared Lord Harworth. ‘We shall take a little longer over the business, that is all, and I have no doubt Mama will like to entertain while we are there—even a ball, eh, Mama, now you have seen Blackwood dance? I am sure we can find you a few pretty girls to stand up with, although none to surpass your last partner.’ He gave Daniel a playful dig in the ribs. ‘Exceptionally pretty little thing, ain’t she?’
‘Miss Wythenshawe?’ said Daniel coolly. ‘She is far above my touch.’
‘Indeed?’ said Lady Harworth, suddenly showing an interest. She turned to watch Kitty as she walked out of the room. ‘Letitia was not very forthcoming about her family. I believe she comes from the north, too—do you know her family, Mr Blackwood? Are they very wealthy?’
Lord Harworth laughed.
‘Must be as rich as Croesus if they won’t look at Blackwood, Mama. His family owns half of the West Riding!’
Daniel disclaimed, but Lady Harworth was not listening. She excused herself, saying, ‘I believe my dear sister is about to leave, and I must go and say goodbye to her.’
‘Well, that was a success and no mistake!’ Lady Leaconham settled herself back into the corner of her carriage and gave a satisfied sigh. ‘You danced every dance, and I cannot tell you how many compliments I received for you, my love! You were enchanting.’
Kitty gave a little nod but said nothing. She knew that at least one person was less than delighted with her. She had been quite dismayed by her behaviour towards Daniel Blackwood at the end of the evening, when she had suddenly been overcome with nerves. She had intended to be charmingly grateful for his standing up with her, yet when she spoke she had been cool to the point of rudeness. Even now she was embarrassed to think of it.
So she would not, she decided quickly. She would concentrate instead upon what her godmother was saying.
‘Yes, Kitty dear, I could see from the first that Lady Harworth was disposed to like you. I was afraid she might think you a little too pretty, but with your dark hair you are such a contrast to Ann’s fair beauty that you complement one another perfectly! And nothing could have exceeded Clara’s affability, when she came up to us just as we were leaving. She hinted at many more invitations this summer.’
‘How delightful for you, Godmama.’
‘For me? Kitty, you little goose, the invitations will be for you, too.’
‘But I have already been with you for a whole month, ma’am. I thought I should be thinking of returning home very soon…’
‘Nonsense,’ retorted her godmother briskly. ‘A month is nothing, and if my niece has taken to you then nothing could be better than for the two of you to be seen together—so much more attractive than to be always accompanied by a matron!’ Lady Leaconham paused while she smoothed the wrinkles from her long gloves. ‘My sister can seem a little…cold to those she thinks beneath her notice, but I know she takes her responsibilities very seriously. I have no doubt she would like to see Bertram settled and raising a hopeful family, but Ann must be causing her some anxiety, to be nearing one-and-twenty and still unmarried! So I can quite see why Clara is happy to promote your friendship with her daughter. Two such pretty young ladies out on the Town together will be sure to attract any number of gentlemen.’ Lady Leaconham reached out and placed a hand on Kitty’s knee, saying urgently, ‘Think of it, my dear: if we can secure a gentleman of good birth with even a modest fortune, the settlements will allow your mama and her sister to give up their sewing and live in the manner more suitable to their stations!’
‘Yes, I suppose so,’ said Kitty, brightening. ‘And you think it is possible, Godmama?’
‘I think it very likely,’ returned Lady Leaconham, leaning back in her corner. ‘You charmed a number of gentlemen this evening, even my nephew. What a great thing it would be if he were to offer for you.’
‘Lord Harworth? Oh, no, ma’am, surely not. He was merely being kind to me, because I am your goddaughter.’
‘He showed you a great deal of attention, my love. But perhaps you are right: we must not be too ambitious for you. But neither must we settle for anything less than your equal in birth—whoever we choose for you must be a gentleman!’
From the number of callers at Portman Square over the next few days it did indeed appear that Kitty had made a good impression at her very first ball, as her godmother was quick to explain to Ann when she came to see Kitty.
‘I am delighted to hear it,’ declared Ann, smiling. ‘I have never known Mama to be so taken with any of my friends before.’ She added, when Lady Leaconham had left the two young ladies alone, ‘Was it not the most wonderful ball? I was engaged for every dance, and whenever I looked across you were always dancing, too!’
‘Yes, I was very fortunate. I had not looked for such attention.’
‘And you even persuaded dour Mr Blackwood to stand up with you.’
‘Why do you call him dour?’ asked Kitty, intrigued in spite of herself.
Ann wrinkled her nose. ‘Well, he is perfectly polite,’ she said slowly, ‘but he is so very quiet, and only seems to want to talk business with Bertram.’ Her eyes twinkled and she added ruefully, ‘He makes no attempt to flirt with me. In fact, he makes no attempt to engage my attention at all! I am most impressed that he danced with you.’
‘That was your brother’s doing.’ Kitty felt the colour rising to her cheeks. ‘I think, since he is staying in your house, he could hardly refuse to dance with me when Lord Harworth suggested it.’
‘Yes, that will be it.’ Ann nodded. ‘They have become wondrous great friends. My brother wrote to old Mr Blackwood when he first conceived the idea of building a mill and they were corresponding for several months before Mr Daniel Blackwood came to London. Bertram says that with the exception of Mr Arkwright, no one knows more about mills and manufacturing than the Blackwoods. But this is very boring talk! Let us discuss instead the Abolition meeting tomorrow evening. Have you given any thought to how we shall get there?’
‘I confess I have not,’ admitted Kitty. ‘Perhaps we should not go, if your mama disapproves…’
‘Mama disapproves of everything except achieving a great match for Bertram and the same for me,’ declared Ann. ‘I am determined to go. It is quite the fashion now, you know, to support the abolition of the slave trade.’
‘My family have been fighting against slavery since before I was born,’ replied Kitty. ‘My father was vehemently opposed to it, and my mother still does what she can—we do not buy sugar from the West Indian plantations, you know.’ She wanted to add that Mama could not afford to buy very much sugar at all, but remembered her godmother’s warning that she should not chatter on about her family. Ann was regarding her with admiration.
‘How good you are! I have no idea whether Bertram has any slaves, but I am even more determined that we shall go to the meeting tomorrow. Now all you need do is to tell Aunt Leaconham that I am taking you to join us for dinner tomorrow and that we will not be returning until late. What time shall I call for you?’
‘It cannot be too early,’ replied Kitty. ‘I have an engagement tomorrow. With Lord Leaconham. He is going to take me driving in the park.’
She ended a little hesitantly. Garston had issued the invitation and Kitty had accepted quite happily without reference to her godmother, but when Lady Leaconham heard of her plans she had looked a little shocked.
‘I am sorry, Godmama,’ Kitty had said, anxious and bemused. ‘I thought there could be no harm in going out with Lord Leaconham in an open carriage.’
‘No, of course not. It is just that…’ Lady Leaconham bit her lip and gazed at Kitty, a shadow of unease in her eyes. ‘It is just…I do not want you to develop a tendre for Garston, my dear. I had planned on finding him, um…’