Read Online Connie (The Daughters of Allamont Hall Book 3) by Mary Kingswood - Free Book Online
Authors: Mary Kingswood
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Reginald asking about this person or that, Connie giving names and details, her hand comfortably resting on his arm. It was only when she saw the Marquess going into dinner with Jess Drummond on his arm that she realised that she had spoken to no one but Lord Reginald. Naturally, he also sat beside her at dinner, and when the rugs were lifted in the saloon for dancing, he earnestly besought the honour of her hand.
She liked him very well, but his attentions were quite marked, and he was distracting her from her scheme of getting the Marquess to fall in love with her. Fortunately, propriety was her friend, preventing Lord Reginald from standing up with her again immediately. Her next partner was Mr Drummond, who flirted outrageously, as always, and then Sir Osborne, who said little, but was so attractively attired that he set Connie’s new gown off to perfection. She had no wish to become Lady Hardy, but she could not but feel that they made a most handsome couple. Then Daniel Merton claimed her, and finally, to her relief, for she had begun to fear she would not exchange a single word with him all evening, the Marquess.
Yet his first words to her beyond the commonplace courtesies were, “So how do you like my brother, Miss Constance? Is he not charming?”
“He is a very pleasant fellow,” she said.
“A pleasant fellow? Is that all you have to say of him? For he is the finest brother in the world, I would have you know. He is not so handsome as I am, of course, and his style of dress is sadly plain, do you not think? Not a bit of colour about him, but he is always impeccably turned out.”
“Oh yes,” she replied. “I will grant you that he is excessively well-dressed, but I do not judge a man’s character by the quality of his tailor and valet, my lord.”
“By jove, no, I should think not. But his horse — now there is a far better means to determine the soundness of a man. His choice of horse, his manner of driving and perhaps how well he dances. Yes, now that I give the matter proper consideration, I believe that only the most complete gentleman will be able to excel in all those areas.”
Connie tried not to laugh, not altogether successfully.
“Oh, you do not agree with my assessment?” he said, not at all offended.
“By no means.”
“Then pray tell me, what encompasses your ideal of a gentleman?”
Connie knew the answer to that at once, for he was presently watching the dancing with his wife. Mr Ambleside was her ideal made flesh, but she could hardly say so. After a moment’s thought, therefore, she replied, “A gentleman is defined by his manners, Lord Carrbridge, and by the way he treats others. I expect honesty and openness, and he must be everything that is honourable. If he is kind and generous and thoughtful, his aim only to please, that is a man I should think well of, whatever manner of horse he rides.”
His expression became thoughtful. “Honesty, eh? Honourable — of course, honourable, or so I should hope. But his aim only to please? That is asking a great deal, Miss Connie. A man, particularly a man of some standing in society, may surely have some expectation that others would wish to please him , do you not agree?”
“Oh, certainly. Everyone of breeding should aspire to the same ideal, but in a gentleman, perhaps something more may be expected, by the unequal nature of the sexes. A man must always have power over a woman, my lord. He may order her life as he chooses, and therefore it is imperative that he treat her kindly, otherwise her life would be quite miserable.”
Now she was thinking of her father, and his strict regime that had kept his daughters in subjection and, if she were honest, not a little fear. She fell into abstraction, reflecting on her narrow escape from matrimony with Mr Ambleside. She had so nearly stumbled from the clutches of one autocratic man to another, and although Amy was happy to have her life ordered for her, and all decisions made by
She liked him very well, but his attentions were quite marked, and he was distracting her from her scheme of getting the Marquess to fall in love with her. Fortunately, propriety was her friend, preventing Lord Reginald from standing up with her again immediately. Her next partner was Mr Drummond, who flirted outrageously, as always, and then Sir Osborne, who said little, but was so attractively attired that he set Connie’s new gown off to perfection. She had no wish to become Lady Hardy, but she could not but feel that they made a most handsome couple. Then Daniel Merton claimed her, and finally, to her relief, for she had begun to fear she would not exchange a single word with him all evening, the Marquess.
Yet his first words to her beyond the commonplace courtesies were, “So how do you like my brother, Miss Constance? Is he not charming?”
“He is a very pleasant fellow,” she said.
“A pleasant fellow? Is that all you have to say of him? For he is the finest brother in the world, I would have you know. He is not so handsome as I am, of course, and his style of dress is sadly plain, do you not think? Not a bit of colour about him, but he is always impeccably turned out.”
“Oh yes,” she replied. “I will grant you that he is excessively well-dressed, but I do not judge a man’s character by the quality of his tailor and valet, my lord.”
“By jove, no, I should think not. But his horse — now there is a far better means to determine the soundness of a man. His choice of horse, his manner of driving and perhaps how well he dances. Yes, now that I give the matter proper consideration, I believe that only the most complete gentleman will be able to excel in all those areas.”
Connie tried not to laugh, not altogether successfully.
“Oh, you do not agree with my assessment?” he said, not at all offended.
“By no means.”
“Then pray tell me, what encompasses your ideal of a gentleman?”
Connie knew the answer to that at once, for he was presently watching the dancing with his wife. Mr Ambleside was her ideal made flesh, but she could hardly say so. After a moment’s thought, therefore, she replied, “A gentleman is defined by his manners, Lord Carrbridge, and by the way he treats others. I expect honesty and openness, and he must be everything that is honourable. If he is kind and generous and thoughtful, his aim only to please, that is a man I should think well of, whatever manner of horse he rides.”
His expression became thoughtful. “Honesty, eh? Honourable — of course, honourable, or so I should hope. But his aim only to please? That is asking a great deal, Miss Connie. A man, particularly a man of some standing in society, may surely have some expectation that others would wish to please him , do you not agree?”
“Oh, certainly. Everyone of breeding should aspire to the same ideal, but in a gentleman, perhaps something more may be expected, by the unequal nature of the sexes. A man must always have power over a woman, my lord. He may order her life as he chooses, and therefore it is imperative that he treat her kindly, otherwise her life would be quite miserable.”
Now she was thinking of her father, and his strict regime that had kept his daughters in subjection and, if she were honest, not a little fear. She fell into abstraction, reflecting on her narrow escape from matrimony with Mr Ambleside. She had so nearly stumbled from the clutches of one autocratic man to another, and although Amy was happy to have her life ordered for her, and all decisions made by
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