Free Lord Sidley's Last Season by Sherry Lynn Ferguson Page B

TinckneyDwight.
    Katie had singled out the young woman at a soiree just
days before. Delia’s father, Sir Philip TinckneyDwight,
having served the king in some inestimable manner, had
garnered both position and fortune. But Delia’s brilliant
season several years before had been unhappily cut short
by her mother’s illness. Now, as a recent widower, Sir
Philip was rumored to be applying himself, with the
same fervor that had brought him a knighthood, to
achieving a consequential match for his daughter. From
all she had heard and the little she had seen, Marian considered Delia to be Katie’s most formidable rival.
    The other name circulating in the betting books was
Rebecca Harvey’s. Though reputedly not as lovely as Lady Katherine, eighteen-year-old Becca had endeared
herself to the gentlemen with a reputation as a neck-ornothing rider. Her considerable fortune of 100,000
pounds also did not go unremarked. True, her parents,
having gained their wealth in trade, still lacked a prestigious country property. And Marian’s cousin Edith,
who was usually most forgiving, had declared Mrs. Harvey to be an irritating, ingratiating “mushroom.” But
the Harveys’ wealth would be all too welcome to many
impoverished peers. Marian did not know the state of
the Sidley finances-proper young ladies did not know
such things-but she had to imagine that a well-placed
100,000 pounds would never be scorned. She recalled
Colonel Bassett’s comment at the Hempthorne card
party, that Sidley lacked “wherewithal,” and the colonel’s reference to the appalling state of Sidley House in
town. Though Colonel Bassett’s information had proved
unreliable in other respects, Marian had to conclude that
Lord Sidley did indeed need funds, else this haste to wed
in his waning days made little sense.

    Again she reminded herself that she did not care,
that the matter did not concern her. She determined to
spend as little time as possible in company with the
misses Harvey and TinckneyDwight.
    “Marian!” Katie nudged her. “You are woolgathering again! I have asked you twice if you remembered to
bring your silhouette shears” The small, delicate pair
served admirably for rendering the popular cut-paper
profiles.

    “I did. But Katie, ‘tis not a pastime this sophisticated
group is likely to find entertaining.”
    “Such stuff! You could not be more wrong. Everyone
wishes to have at least one likeness.” Katie happened to
have several. “And yours are always much commended”
As Katie invariably volunteered Marian’s talents, Marian was resigned to the performances; at least they gave
her practice, though the entertainment did sometimes
border on drudgery. “I believe we shall all have a very
merry time of it,” Katie added.
    “I do not understand how you can be so cheerful,”
Marian said. “There is something-something gruesome about this situation. As though everyone were
chasing after a casket”
    “That is too bleak of you, Marian,” Edith said. “Lady
Adeline would never have countenanced visitors at
Aldersham if Lord Sidley were wasting so very-so very
rapidly. And to have saved you as he did-well, perhaps
we have been misinformed”
    “No doubt he is that much closer to expiring after the
exertion,” Marian observed glumly.
    “But I had it that he was never even ill abed,” Edgar
said, “and came on here days ago. He must have a few
more weeks in ‘im… ” He fell silent as they pulled into
a curved gravel drive.
    Aldersham was a revelation. Marian had anticipated a
ruin, a building that would in some manner reflect the
various tragedies that had befallen the Sidley family. But the house itself, an expansive, three-story Elizabethan
stone with tall mullioned windows, impressive gabled
wings and attic dormers, was magnificent and welcoming
at once. In the afternoon light the ancient stone glowed
with gold highlights. Scaffolding enclosed one farther
wing, though