The Yuletide Countess: Harriet's Traditional Regency Romance (2 page)

Later that
afternoon, after Isobel had returned from her work site, the two ladies met in
the drawing room to enjoy a reviving cup of tea before dinner.

“Did you have
a successful day at your digging site?” Harriet inquired as she poured tea for
them both.

Isobel added
milk to her cup. “It has been very slow progress, but I think we are beginning
to encounter some new walls that may indicate that there were far more
buildings here than I had at first anticipated. I am quite excited now to see
what the remainder of the summer may reveal.”

“How
delightful for you, Isobel,” Harriet exclaimed. “While I cannot share your
enthusiasm for poking around in the mud, I am very glad you are so pleased with
the progress.” She also added milk to her tea, then took a sip before
continuing. “I too had a most interesting day. I walked down to the Dargenwater
to do a little sketching, and had the opportunity to meet Lord Glencairn’s
children and their governess.”

“Did you
indeed?” Isobel said in a surprised tone. “How very interesting. In three years
of coming here, I’ve never met him, or seen the children.”

“I learned
today from the governess, Miss Catherine Dalburn, that Lady Glencairn died more
than a decade ago. I gathered that Lord Glencairn is a rather reserved
gentleman. Besides, this area is by no means populous.”

“No, its
emptiness is among its chief charms in my opinion, although I expect one might
find more persons of quality nearby than we think, Harriet. Still, travel over
these hills and rough roads does make entertaining and paying calls rather
difficult,” Isobel observed.

“Fortunately,
Glencairn Castle is situated only a very short walk from here, and Miss Dalburn
has said she will come to drink tea with me on her half day, two days hence,”
Harriet declared triumphantly.

“How
delightful,” exclaimed Isobel. “Another gentlewoman nearby would be a great
addition to our summer. You especially will benefit, for I know you are often
bored when I am at my work site.”

“Yes, I think
you are right Isobel,” Harriet said. “Also, the children are adorable.”

Isobel
interrupted her with a laugh. “Harriet, you think all children adorable. You
even find my brother’s brood tolerable.”

“There is
nothing wrong with little Freddie!” Harriet responded with some heat.

“We will have
to agree to disagree on this score,” Isobel said peaceably. “I will allow that
you seem to have an excellent way with them. But perhaps you can tell me more
of Glencairn’s offspring rather than debating the merits of my brother’s.”

 Oh, they are
lovely children. Douglas looks to be about eleven years old and quite well
grown. I let him try painting with my watercolors. Miss Sophia is thirteen, and
bids fair to be quite a beauty. They are both clever and well-behaved. Miss
Dalburn seems to have done very well with them since their mother’s death.”

“Well,
Harriet, I am eager to meet your Miss Dalburn, and learn more of our neighbors.
I will definitely look forward to her visit her on Thursday. I’m less certain
of the children, however,” she laughed. “I don’t think you have ever met a
child you failed to find delightful.”

The two days
passed uneventfully, with Isobel working in her library in the early mornings
and visiting her worksite each afternoon to update her sketches of the layout
of the ancient roman settlement as it emerged from the earth. Harriet saw to
her stitchery and correspondence and enjoyed her gentle walks. But the
possibility of another lady with whom to converse in the neighborhood was
powerfully appealing to her, so the cook was requested to prepare special cakes
and biscuits for their visitor and the tea tray and the best china was laid out
with great care.

When the
manservant opened the drawing room door and announced “Miss Dalburn,” Harriet
leapt up to clasp her guest’s hand.

“How good you
are to walk here to join me for tea!” she exclaimed. “I have been looking
forward to meeting again since Tuesday!”

Miss Dalburn
pressed her hand warmly. “I share your feelings,” she replied. “Lord
Glencairn’s children are delightful, but I am very glad to have the company of
a female friend.”

“Do sit down,”
Harriet said, waving at the settee. When the ritual of pouring tea and
selecting cakes had been completed, the ladies settled back with contented
sighs.

“You must tell
me a bit about yourself, Miss Dalburn, I know nothing but that you are in Lord
Glencairn’s employ as a governess.”

“Well, with a
last name such as Dalburn, I suppose you can guess that I am of Scottish
origin,” she replied. “But beyond that, the tale will not surprise you much,
since the story of every governess is much the same; how fate led her to
genteel poverty and a position in another family, rather than a marriage to a
gentleman and a home of her own.”

“So true, dear
Miss Dalburn,” replied Harriet. “As a paid companion, however greatly cherished
by my cousin, Miss Paley, my history will be a change rung on the same theme.
Nonetheless, do share your story.”

“My father was
Sir Roderick Dalburn, and I have two sisters and a brother. He owned an estate
in Aberdeenshire, and had a comfortable, though not large, fortune most of my
life, and our family was a happy one. When my mother died however, he was
overcome with grief. At first, he closeted himself in his library, or went for
long, solitary walks, and spoke almost not at all. We all feared he might do
himself harm, but knew not how to help him.”

“Oh, how very
painful for all of you this must have been,” Harriet sympathized.

“Indeed it
was,” Catherine concurred. “And yet, as I look back, were it not that his soul
would have been damned for all time, I could almost wish he had done that which
we feared. For after some months of this behavior, it was as though a mania
seized him, and he became a man none of his children or his neighbors even
recognized.”

Catherine
paused, and clasped her hands together, as Harriet murmured soothingly. “In any
event, he became a drunk and a gamester, and engaged in every form of
licentious behavior. He left Dalburn Park for the south, and we heard from him
not at all, except for demands on the estate for money. We never saw him alive
again, for after some months we received a letter telling us that he had died
in an accident, having stumbled into the street when drunk, and fallen under
the wheels of a carriage.”

Harriet
reached over to her and patted her shoulder. “I suppose that he had run through
his entire fortune by then,” she said.

“Oh yes,” Miss
Dalburn said bitterly. “He had not had time to sell off the estate, but there
were mortgages for my brother to repay. My mother’s small fortune was safe, as
it was left for dowries, but it was not enough to provide large portions for
three girls. My sisters favor her, and are short and bonny with curly hair;
only I look like my father and brother, with their long frames, straight hair
and darker coloring. They were able to marry gentlemen, but I am not pretty
enough for a lack of fortune to be ignored. So, I chose to be a paid governess
in another’s home rather than an unpaid one in the house of one of my siblings.
My little inheritance is in the percents, so when I am old, I will at least
have an income.”

“Oh my dear,”
sighed Harriet, reaching out for her hand. “‘Tis a tale one hears all too
often. You will not be surprised to learn that mine is not so different,
although I am luckier than you have been in Isobel, Miss Paley that is, being
my relation, and so very generous to me.” She paused and refilled the tea cups,
taking a sip before continuing.

“The Walcotts
and the Paleys are both large and prosperous families, widely spread across
England. My father was a younger son in a more junior branch, and went into the
church. Because of the family’s excellent connections he rose in the church to
an archdeaconry, as well as being the holder of two very good livings. When I
reached twenty, I had the chance of a Season in London thanks to the generosity
of those same connections, with Lady Walcott bringing me out along with her
daughter, a girl far lovelier than I and with the most pleasing manners. I
didn’t take particularly, and had no fortune, so I returned home unwed. My
father was carried off by a sudden fever the next winter, and my mother, sister
and I had to remove to a cottage on the estate of another cousin, Viscount
Wereham, who is Isobel’s brother, as without my father’s income our
circumstances were much reduced.”

“My mother
suffered an apoplectic fit, and though she was revived, she never was able to
care for herself again, for her right side was stricken and she could not walk
or lift her arm. I was her nurse for the eight years that she lived. My brother
was not suited to the church, so he went into the Army, where the family was of
great help to him as they had been to my father. He is a Major in the Dragoon
Guards, and it is generally thought that he will continue to rise. “

“Five years
ago, Miss Paley’s mother, the previous Lady Wereham, was preparing to bring
Isobel out, and she offered to sponsor my younger and quite beautiful sister,
Philippa. She was good enough to not only dress her, but also settle a
respectable portion on her, and she married a Kentish gentleman with a lovely
home near the sea. They have children of their own now. “

“How came you
to be Miss Paley’s companion and chaperone?” Miss Dalburn inquired in the
silence that followed this recital. “It is an unusual thing for an unmarried
woman of her age to be living in her own establishment, rather than with her brother
and his wife.”

“If you knew
Miss Paley and her brother only a bit better, you might wonder less at it,”
Harriet answered with a little laugh. “I will tell you a little of her brother,
but since you will meet her shortly, when she comes in from her digging to join
us, I will leave her to tell her own story. Her brother Viscount Wereham is as
opposite her in personality as it is possible for a sibling to be. He is
pedantic where she is witty, of average understanding where she is a scholar,
and feels that men must have the ordering of women for their own sake, while
she is a reader of the works of Mary Wollstonecraft.”

A broad smile
had grown across Miss Dalburn’s face as she heard this. “My only surprise now
is that she is on speaking terms with him at all.”

“Part of the
reason that Miss Paley set up her own establishment was to ensure that she and
Lord Wereham did remain on speaking terms. Her father doted on her and left her
a manor of her own as well as a very handsome private income, so she has the
means to do so, and to lead her life as she chooses. Since it is clearly
ineligible for her to live alone, she invited me to join her as companion and
chaperone. “

“And why did
you choose to live with Miss Paley rather than your sister? Surely she would be
glad to have you in her home.”

Harriet
smiled. “I love Pippa dearly, but she lives quite retired, and I would feel
much underfoot with her husband about the house. Truth to tell, Isobel’s way of
life, though some might disapprove, is far more amusing to me, and she has need
of me in a way that Pippa does not, as she cannot, for propriety’s sake, live
alone. I am fortunate indeed to be in this position. Her home in Wiltshire,
Kitswold, is delightful, and we remove to her elegant town house in London for the
Season, then come here to the beautiful Scottish hills each summer so she can
pursue her archaeological studies. Isobel does not like me to speak of her
scholarly tendencies, with others, but I am sure she will hardly mind if I tell
you.”

“It sounds as though
you are very attached to Scotland.” Miss Dalburn observed.

“Very true,”
Harriet answered. “I knew on our first journey here, as I saw the hills rising
in the north, and the gorse and heath in bloom that this would become dear to
my heart. But when I saw the Dargenwater, and realized the peace and silence of
this place, I was lost completely. I would stay in Scotland year round if I
could. No other place has ever suited me as well.”

Just then a
door could be heard opening in the hall, along with the indistinguishable
rumble of the footman’s voice. Very soon, the door opened, and Isobel peered
in.

“Dear
Harriet,” she said, “Here you are with your visitor. How delightful to see you
here, Miss Dalburn. As you can see, I have just come in, a bit late I know, but
we found another section of wall, and I could not tear myself away. I will go
upstairs to dress and be back with you in a trice,” she continued, and promptly
disappeared again.

“What a
strikingly beautiful young lady,” exclaimed Catherine.

“Oh yes,”
Harriet replied with pride. “Even after five Seasons she is still acclaimed as
a diamond of the first water, and is very well liked, in spite of having
refused any number of proposals of marriage.”

“Refused any
number of proposals?” Miss Dalburn repeated, astounded.

“Oh indeed.
You will remember that I told you she was a great one for Miss Wollstonecraft’s
works.”

“You cannot
mean that she is a believer in those libertine notions promoted by Mr. Godwin
and Shelley?” Miss Dalburn said.

“Oh, I think
not, but she is unwilling to give up a jot of her freedom to pursue her studies
and do as she likes. She has also very recently had the example of her dear
friend Lady Morgan’s difficult circumstances thrust before her, and is still
more shy of marriage than ever before.”

“And what
happened to Lady Morgan?” Catherine enquired.

“She is the
former Letitia Devereux, and came out the same year as Isobel. They were great
friends, and she married Lord Morgan after the end of the Season. They had two
children, but he became more and more of a drinker and gambler it seems, and
this past Season she appeared at Isobel’s townhouse one day with her two
children, saying her husband had brought his mistress to Morgan Park, and told
her leave and be damned!”