an hour later Sophie set off for home with a light step.
* * *
Two days later, Mark and Jane brought Harry to visit his grandparents. There was nothing unusual in this; they were frequent visitors, but Sophie immediately assumed they had come on her behalf and joined them in the drawing room. ‘I am so glad to see you,’ she said, taking Harry from his mother and sitting down with him.
‘Naturally, we all are,’ her mother said. ‘But I suspect your enthusiasm has something to do with this idea for having a Season. Am I right?’
‘I thought Jane might help.’
Lady Cavenhurst turned to her eldest daughter. ‘Were you planning to go to London for the Season, Jane?’
‘No, Mama, I would not leave Harry or the Hadlea Home for so long, but I gather Teddy has agreed to escort Sophie.’
‘I don’t know how she managed to talk him into it,’ her ladyship said. ‘It is not something I would have expected of him.’
‘Why not?’ Sophie asked.
‘He might find the responsibility tedious. Besides, he is too young. You need someone mature enough to be aware of how a young lady should behave in society and to look out for all the pitfalls that might attend her, of being unknowingly lured into a situation that might reflect badly on her reputation, for instance.’
‘I know that and can look out for myself,’ Sophie insisted. ‘And I am sure Teddy knows it, too. Besides, Aunt Emmeline will chaperone me and see I meet the right people, won’t she?’
‘What do you think, Jane?’ their mother asked.
Jane was thoughtful. ‘I really don’t know. Have you spoken to Teddy about it?’
‘He has said he will do it, but of course there is the cost of a come-out.’
‘Money is not a problem.’ Mark spoke for the first time. ‘I will happily sponsor Sophie, but only if you and Sir Edward agree that she may go.’
‘Oh, Mark,’ Sophie said, eyes shining. ‘Would you really?’
‘Yes, if your parents say you may.’
‘That is more than generous of you, Mark,’ her ladyship said. ‘I suggest you find my husband and see what he says. You will find him in the library. Tell him I have ordered refreshments and would like him to join us.’
Mark rose and left them.
‘Oh, I can’t wait,’ Sophie said, hugging the child on her lap. He squirmed to be put down and she set him on the floor and he crawled rapidly to his mother, who picked him up.
‘It is not a foregone conclusion,’ Jane said. ‘There is Aunt Emmeline to consider. She may not be well enough to have you. I recall when we were there she tired easily and she is so very deaf. If she agrees to have you, you must be very mindful of that.’
A maid brought in the tea tray and set it down on a table at her ladyship’s elbow. She left the room as Sir Edward came in followed by Mark and Teddy, who was in riding coat and buckskin breeches, having just returned from a ride. ‘Excuse me, Mama,’ Teddy said. ‘I’ll go up and change. I won’t be long.’
‘Well?’ Sophie asked of her father. ‘May I go?’
He sighed as he sat on the sofa next to his wife. ‘It seems you have marshalled your forces very well, child. I have been outmanoeuvred.’
‘You mean, you agree?’ She jumped up and went over to put her arms about him and kiss his cheek. ‘Oh, thank you, thank you, Papa.’
He gently disengaged her. ‘It is Mark you should thank. He tells me he has to go to London on business next month and will take you and Teddy in his carriage and see you safely to Lady Cartrose’s house. After that it will be up to your aunt and your brother to see you come to no harm.’
She turned to Mark. ‘Oh, you are the kindest, most generous of brothers-in-law. If I could find a husband like you, I should be well content.’
‘Sophie!’ admonished her ladyship.
Mark laughed to cover his embarrassment. ‘You will find the right man for you,’ he said. ‘Do not be too impatient.’
Teddy came back into the room, dressed more fittingly for a drawing room in a single-breasted tailcoat and light-coloured pantaloon trousers. ‘Is it decided?’ he asked, looking round the company.
‘Yes,’ his father said. ‘Provided you know what is expected of you.’
He found a seat and accepted a cup of tea from his mother. ‘Look after my little sister and see she don’t get into any mischief.’
‘Precisely. And keep out of mischief yourself. No gambling.’
‘What, none at all? That’s a bit hard on a fellow, ain’t it?’
‘In a social situation, it is permissible,’ his father said. ‘With counters or low stakes, and only if Sophie is being chaperoned by her aunt at the time. But no gambling hells.’
‘Of course, that is what I meant.’
‘Then, if Lady Cartrose agrees, you may take your sister to London at the convenience of Mark. Bessie will go with you.’ Bessie Sadler was her mother’s maid. She had been with the family many years, but was close to retirement and had been training a young successor. Apart from the family, no one knew Sophie better than she did and she would spot trouble before Aunt Emmeline or Teddy.
Sophie, always effusive, be it through happiness or misery, jumped up and ran to everyone to thank them. She was so happy, she had them all smiling, too. After that, they moved on to how the Hadlea Home for orphans was growing and, as always, was in need of more funds. It was one of Jane’s main tasks to secure those. Mark, with his standing and influential connections, was a great help to her in that and it was the reason he was going to town. He was in the course of arranging a concert to raise funds, an idea borrowed from the Foundling Hospital where they had been doing it for years.
* * *
Lady Cavenhurst wrote to Lady Cartrose and a reply soon arrived, saying her ladyship would be delighted to have Teddy and Sophie to stay. She did not often go out and about herself, but would undertake to introduce Sophie to friends who might invite her to join them for outings, if that would suffice. Sophie agreed that it would and her ladyship’s offer was accepted.
* * *
It was a month before they were to go and Sophie passed the time impatiently dreaming of what she would do, the outings and balls she would attend, the beaux she would meet and planning what she would take in the way of clothes. She was not short of garments, but when she came to review her wardrobe was cast down to think nothing was good enough for a come-out Season when it was absolutely essential she look her best at all times. Her day dresses were perfectly adequate for Norfolk but, in her view, useless for town and would do nothing but let the ton know that she was a country bumpkin. She did have one very fine gown that she had worn at Jane and Issie’s double wedding and an afternoon dress of blue crepe decorated with pale-blue-and-white embroidery that she had worn for Harry’s
