Kitty was not deceived by her airy tone.
‘Surely you do not think a lord would look at me, Godmama.’
‘I do not see why not,’ returned Lady Leaconham. ‘Now that Meakin has cut your hair and dressed it a little more stylishly, you look exceedingly pretty, and your manners are very good, so I have no doubt that if you exert yourself a little you could make yourself very agreeable—you must not talk about your family, of course.’
‘Oh, must I not?’
‘No, my dear. It is not the thing in Town to chatter on about people known only to oneself.’ My lady clasped her hands together, her pale eyes taking on a dreamy look. ‘Only think how pleased your mama would be with both of us if we were to catch you a lord!’
Kitty did not think it worth trying to reply, so she obediently slipped away to her room to change into her new gown of lemon-coloured muslin with the blue sash and to put on the soft yellow kid sandals that her godmother had purchased for her. When she returned to the morning room some twenty minutes later she found her godmother sitting with her visitors.
‘Ah, my dear, come in.’ Lady Leaconham drew her forwards. ‘Clara, may I present my goddaughter Katherine to you?’
‘Why, she is quite charming,’ cooed Lady Harworth as Kitty dropped into a deep curtsy. ‘And how old are you, child?’
‘Not yet twenty, ma’am.’
‘Oh, how wonderful. You must talk to Ann, my daughter. She is only a little older than you. She will attain her majority in June. I have no doubt you will have much in common.’
The fair-haired young lady sitting beside Lady Harworth rose to her feet, smiling.
‘Mama says that of every young lady we meet. But in your case I think she may be correct.’ Ann Harworth took Kitty’s arm and led her away to the other side of the room. ‘There is a liveliness about your countenance that I like very much.’
Kitty blushed and laughed.
‘Thank you, Miss Harworth, I hope I do not disappoint you.’
‘I am sure you will not. You come from Yorkshire, you said? We have estates there, or rather my brother does, which is the same thing. Come, sit here in the window with me and tell me how you like London!’
Kitty happily obliged and after a half-hour’s lively discussion was pleased when Miss Harworth declared that she had found a friend.
‘I am so glad to have discovered someone with a wit to match my own. And someone who knows their own mind, and is not afraid to say so, Miss Wythenshawe.’
‘Am I so unusual, then?’ asked Kitty, her eyes twinkling. ‘I must learn to guard my tongue if I am not to be labelled an oddity.’
‘No, no, you must say exactly what you mean. I always do. We are holding a ball on Friday and—Mama, have you invited my aunt?’
‘Manners, my love.’ Lady Harworth frowned at her daughter’s impetuous interruption. ‘As a matter of fact we were just discussing it, as well as the little party we will be holding next month to mark your birthday, Ann.’
‘So your son will be there on Friday?’ enquired Lady Leaconham, flicking a small, triumphant glance towards Kitty.
‘I would not consider such an event without his being there,’ replied Lady Harworth. ‘It is his house now, after all, and while he says I must continue to treat everything as my own until such time as he takes a wife, it is so very difficult, for I no longer feel like the true mistress now I am a widow. But you must understand that, dear sister, since you are in very much the same position.’
‘Well, Garston is somewhat younger than his cousin, Clara, and he is content to leave everything as it was when his dear father was alive,’ replied Lady Leaconham.
Kitty heard the faint note of dissatisfaction in her voice and closed her lips tightly to prevent herself from expressing her own opinion. She had not yet met Lord Leaconham but she could not help thinking that at five-and-twenty, her godmother’s only son was more than old enough to be taking responsibility for his inheritance.
‘But you will come?’ Ann implored her. ‘Do say you will, dear Aunt!’
‘Lady Leaconham has agreed to attend, and to bring Miss Wythenshawe with her,’ replied Lady Harworth, a touch of impatience creeping into her well-modulated tones. ‘Now, pray you go away with your new friend and talk quietly so that your aunt and I may enjoy a little conversation.’
Ann turned to address Lady Leaconham.
‘Perhaps Miss Wythenshawe and I could take your dear little dog for a walk, Aunt.’
‘But Kitty took him out this morning.’
‘I am sure he would enjoy another airing,’ Ann persisted. ‘It is such a lovely day. I am sure the fresh air would do us good.’
‘Oh, do let them go out, sister,’ begged Lady Harworth. ‘My maid is sitting in the hall with nothing to do, so she may accompany them.’
In the face of such enthusiasm Lady Leaconham capitulated. Ten minutes later the girls were stepping out into Portman Square with the little Scottish terrier trotting merrily along beside them on his silken leash.
Ann gave a noisy sigh and slipped her arm through Kitty’s.
‘It is so good to be on our own, where we may say what we please. Oh, you need not worry about Norris,’ she added, as Kitty glanced back towards the maid following silently behind them. ‘She has been with us for ever and is very discreet. And I am so pleased that you will be coming on Friday.’
‘It will be my very first ball,’ Kitty admitted.
Ann gave a little squeak of excitement.
‘How wonderful! I shall be able to introduce you to everyone! How long will you be staying in Town?’
‘I do not know…as long as Lady Leaconham is pleased to have me with her.’
‘I hope it is for ever!’ cried Ann. They had reached the gate in the low railing that surrounded the gardens and she stopped. ‘This is very pretty, but shall we go instead to Hyde Park? There will be so many more interesting people there.’
Kitty hesitated. ‘I do not think…’
‘Oh, do say yes,’ Ann squeezed her arm. ‘We have only to slip across Oxford Street to get there.’
‘I do not know London as well as you, Miss Harworth, but I do not think one can slip across such a busy thoroughfare.’
‘No, but there are crossing sweepers, and we have Norris, so there can be no objection. Oh, do say yes, Miss Wythenshawe!’
Kitty was not proof against her new friend’s entreaties. They left the square, safely negotiated the traffic of Oxford Street and soon found themselves in the relative peace of the great park. Although it was not the fashionable hour there was a considerable crowd and several carriages to be seen, but once they had crossed the broad carriageway and walked some distance from the gates they found themselves alone. Kitty released the little dog and watched him running happily amongst the bushes.
‘Oh, this is infinitely better than a dusty street,’ declared Ann.
Kitty turned her face up to the sun, so much warmer here than in her native Yorkshire.
‘I have to agree, Miss Harworth.’
‘Let us be done with this formality. You must call me Ann and I shall call you Katherine.’
‘Kitty, if you please—apart from when Godmama introduces me to new acquaintances the only time I am called Katherine is when I am in disgrace.’
‘Very well, then, Kitty! And since we are now such good friends, you can tell me if you have a beau.’
‘Goodness me, no,’ replied Kitty, laughing and blushing at the same time.
‘What, is there no gentleman waiting back in Yorkshire for you?’
Kitty shook her head. ‘There were no gentlemen in Fallridge. None that Mama approved,’ she added, thinking back to the occasions when she had seen the carriages driving up to the King’s Arms for the monthly assembly.
‘Farmers and tradesmen,’ her mother had said, dismissively. ‘Very good people, I am sure, but not suitable companions for you, my love.’
‘Were you very lonely?’ asked Ann.
Kitty looked up quickly, and Ann smiled at her.
‘You looked so wistful that I thought, perhaps…’
‘Yes, I was lonely,’ Kitty confessed. ‘I should have liked to go to school—’
‘Oh, I went to school,’ broke in Ann, pulling a face. ‘It was the most horrid experience and of very little use, for apart from learning to dance what do I need with history, or the use of globes, or even to speak French, when we are forever at war with that frightful country?’
‘But surely you made friends there?’
‘Well, of course, although most of them are married now. Or betrothed.’ She flicked a glance at Kitty. ‘I am considered quite old to be still unwed, you know. Poor Mama is beginning to despair.’
‘And do you not wish to marry?
‘Oh, yes,’ replied Ann casually, ‘eventually I suppose I must accept someone. Poor Mama is even more desperate for Bertram to wed, because he is nearly forty and Mama says we must have an heir. As for me, I am enjoying myself far too much flirting with all the gentlemen of my acquaintance! Do you like flirting, Kitty?’
‘I do not think I have ever tried it.’
Her frank reply brought Ann’s astonished gaze upon her.
‘Never?’
‘No, never. I know so few gentlemen, you see. The Squire and Reverend Denny are the only gentlemen who called upon Mama, and they are both very old.’