Louise Allen – Regency Pleasures: A Model Débutante (страница 13)
‘I am too old, Zenna, and I know no one.’
‘Nonsense.’ Zenna leapt to her feet and began to pace the room. ‘Lady Parry would advise you.’
‘She already has,’ Tallie admitted. ‘She has invited me to stay with her and make my come-out under her aegis.’
‘Did you not agree? That is a marvellous opportunity, you could not hope for anything more fortunate.’
‘Yes, I did agree, but now I think I must tell her I have changed my mind,’ Tallie said slowly. Her conscience was pricking her very badly and she knew that, whatever her views might be about Lord Arndale’s opinions, she owed it to her kind patroness to ensure that she brought not a whiff of scandal to her household.
She met Zenna’s bemused gaze and blurted out, ‘I must tell her about my work for Mr Harland. I cannot risk the scandal if anything came out, it would be a dreadful way to repay her kindness.’ She did not add the other consideration, which had been looming large ever since she saw Lord Arndale’s inimical stare fixed upon her friend.
If a respectable governess was not considered a suitable acquaintance for the newly wealthy Miss Grey, what would Lady Parry make of a lodging-house keeper and an opera dancer?
‘I must speak to her this afternoon,’ she said resolutely. ‘I will thank her for her kindness, but she will see that I am an unsuitable recipient of it. Better to do it at once, before she has the chance to make any further plans on my behalf.’
Zenna shook her head sadly. ‘You must do as you think fit, of course, but it is such a shame that you will not make a come-out.’
‘Never mind. Tomorrow we can start to make plans for the school—if that idea is still agreeable to you.’
‘How can it be anything else? I cannot believe my good fortune—I declare I feel as dazed as you look, Tallie dearest.’ She broke off at the sound of the front door opening. ‘That must be Mrs Blackstock. What will you tell her?’
‘Nothing yet, I think. I have no wish to embarrass our friends with the size of my inheritance, although I would value your advice about how I might help them at some point. I think perhaps tomorrow we can tell her of our plans and give notice. If she finds other tenants before the school is ready, we can always find lodgings together, or go to an hotel.’
‘An hotel?’ Zenna echoed, wide-eyed.
‘Why, yes,’ Tallie said recklessly. ‘I can afford it, after all!’
This frivolity did not last much beyond luncheon. Zenna was distractedly making lists, breaking off to suck her pen, gaze into space and then resume her scribbling.
But Tallie was imagining how disappointed in her Lady Parry was going to be when she discovered that her protégée was so abandoned as to supplement her living by posing naked.
Rainbird hid any reaction he felt at Tallie’s second, unexpected, call of the day. ‘Her ladyship is At Home, Miss Grey, and has no one with her at present.’
‘Talitha! What a nice surprise.’ Lady Parry put down the book she was reading and looked up with a pleased smile as Tallie was announced. ‘Come and sit down by me.’
‘I … I think I would rather stand, ma’am.’ Tallie took a deep breath and said, ‘I am very sorry to appear ungracious, Lady Parry, but I feel I should not have accepted your kind offer this morning and I thought I should come and say so immediately.’
‘Why ever not? My poor child, stop standing there looking like a parlour maid who has broken the best Minton and sit down. There, that is better. Now, I know you must have had a shock this morning, but—’
‘It is not that, ma’am. I had not considered what a difficult position I would be putting you in.’
‘Because you have had to work for your living? If I do not regard it, be certain that Society will not— not when they learn of your family and fortune, and observe your ladylike deportment.’
‘My friends, ma’am—’
‘Your friends are more than welcome in my house, Talitha.’
‘Lady Parry,’ Tallie said with some emphasis, feeling she was being swept along faster than she wanted, ‘my only friends are a governess, a lodging-house keeper and an opera dancer. I do not believe you could have been aware of that fact when you made your kind offer just now.’
‘I have never met a governess who was not respectable and I am sure if the lodging-house in question is where you make your home, its proprietress is bound to be most acceptable.’
‘The opera dancer is her niece and lives with us,’ Tallie persisted.
‘And is she a nice girl?’
‘Very. And despite what the world thinks of actresses and performers, she is a modest, virtuous and respectable young woman into the bargain.’
‘There now, so where is the problem?’
‘You would not object if I were to continue my friendships?’
‘Certainly not. Your friends are most welcome in my home whenever they wish to call upon you.’
‘Thank you, ma’am. But not everyone will be of your opinion.’
‘By everyone, I assume you mean my nephew?’
‘Er … I …’ Tallie had no wish to tell tales or to sound in any way critical of Lady Parry’s family.
‘And which of your friends has Nicholas been viewing with that chilly eye of his?’
‘Miss Scott, the governess.’
‘Foolish boy—he has always been overprotective. And has he set eyes upon the young lady from the opera yet?’
‘I believe not.’
‘He will,’ his fond aunt prophesised cheerfully. ‘At least, he probably already
‘That is not all, Lady Parry.’
‘I thought we had agreed that you would call me Aunt Kate?’
‘You will not wish me to when I tell you about the other matter, ma’am,’ Tallie said, feeling ready to sink now that the moment for confession was upon her. ‘I am not just a milliner, I have been earning my living in another way as well.’
‘I know,’ Lady Parry said calmly.
‘You know? But, ma’am, you cannot … I have been sitting for an artist!’
‘Indeed. Mr Harland, a most talented gentleman, I believe.’
‘But, Lady Parry, how could you have discovered what I have been doing?’
Her ladyship held up a hand to silence Tallie as Rainbird appeared with a tea tray.
‘Will you pour, my dear?’ She waited while Tallie handed her her cup with a hand that trembled. ‘A macaroon? No? You must not become so agitated, Talitha. I called upon Mr Harland a while ago as I am considering having my portrait painted. I observed a canvas and asked who the model was, for I thought I recognised her.’
‘He told you?’ Tallie was aghast, both at the thought that the compromising classical paintings had been displayed in the studio and that Mr Harland had been so indiscreet as to reveal her name.
‘He was immediately very embarrassed at his slip. I am sure it was only because I said I thought I knew the model.’
‘And you are not shocked, ma’am? The fact that I was sitting for an artist at all, let alone the way I was … dressed.’
‘Admittedly it was not the way in which one would normally wish an unmarried lady to be depicted, but under the circumstances I feel we should disregard it.’
‘Circumstances?’ Tallie said weakly.
‘I can tell Mr Harland is a most respectable person and I am sure that his slip in revealing your name would not be repeated.’
Tallie was so taken aback that for a moment she could not find the words to continue.
Finally she ventured, ‘But, ma’am, if it should be found out once I am launched in Society, it would reflect upon you. After all, I am of no account, but you are a leading member of the
‘And have more than enough credit to carry off any little indiscretions of my protégée,’ Lady Parry said with a chuckle. ‘And it will not be long before you too are a figure in Society, mark my words. A fortune the size of yours is more than enough to cover up any number of indiscretions. Now then, you are still going to be able to move here in a week?’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ Tallie stammered.
‘Aunt Kate, please, my dear Tallie. Goodness, is that the time? I am due at Lady Fraser’s in an hour, and be seen in this gown I cannot and will not! No, there is no need for you to rush off, this is your home now. Just ring if you need anything.’ Lady Parry sprang from the sofa on which she had been decoratively draped, fluttered across to drop a kiss on Tallie’s cheek and was out of the room before the younger woman could do more than gasp,
‘Goodbye.’
Tallie got slowly to her feet, too bemused to pull herself together and leave. She had been steeled to explain why she was an inappropriate person for Lady Parry to take under her wing and had found both her anxiety for her friends and her scrupulous confession about Mr Harland swept aside.
Which meant that in a week’s time her former life also would be swept away and she would be making her come-out as a young lady of fashion. Her money worries would be about how to invest and spend it, not how to make enough to afford a new pelisse.
Tallie stood by the window and stared out at the fashionable street life bustling below her. She untied the ribbons of her bonnet and tossed it onto the sofa as though freeing her head would help her think, but things still seemed just as unreal and unbelievable as they had before.