Widow in White

Chapter Five: Mistake

Most of the important families of the district surrounding Leamont were home for the winter, to rest and recuperate from their adventures in Brighton or London or Paris. The first week of her reluctant reentry into society, Laura went to four dinners, a ball, and two afternoon teas. Smiling and listening to people talk wearied her, and she was painfully conscious of the curiosity in people's sidelong glances at her. A natural curiosity perhaps, as it was the first time in three years that she had seen most of her acquaintances, but an uncomfortable curiosity all the same.

The only person she truly wished to see again was Richard. She knew he was absent through December, knew her father was avoiding his company, but their social circle was so small that, sooner or later, they must meet. And what then?

She tantalized herself by imagining what might happen next time she saw him. It was a particular joy to her, when pretending to listen to one of her suitors, to bend her thoughts instead towards Richard and that night in the library. She could not know how those thoughts made her smile, how much encouragement her unwanted suitors mistakenly took from those smiles, and she was surprised by how warmly Lord Denbury and Lord Yardly received her aloofness.

To Sir Frederick, she was downright cruel. She could not forget that he had called her 'Miss Prim'. The first time she saw him face to face, she took pleasure in assuring him she did not recognize him now he had grown so old and fat. By the end of the week, he dared not go within earshot of her. Her only regret was that she still did not know the identity of the other man who had been in the library with him, and could not bully that man too.

It was almost February when at last Laura saw Richard again and learned the identity of the other man in the library. Lady Harriet Hunstall was holding a small dinner at her house. Laura went with her father, rather miserably, as Sir Frederick was not to be there and she would have no one to bully. As she entered the drawing room, her expression was gloomy, her brows drawn, her gaze downcast. For that reason, she did not at first see Richard, sitting in a corner talking to Lady Harriet's middle-aged companion, Miss Wilson. It was only when Lady Harriet flung her arms around Laura and kissed her cheek that Laura's gaze was forced up, over Lady Harriet's shoulder, and she found herself staring directly into Richard's eyes across the room.

Laura's gloom vanished. Richard, meanwhile, went pale. A sudden quickness of emotion in his face was hidden from Laura as Lady Harriet pushed her back to kiss her on each cheek.

"My darling Lady Laura," she cried. "It's been an age! You missed my birthday party — my fortieth, you know."

It had, in fact, been closer to Lady Harriet's fiftieth, which Laura well knew, but she said nothing and returned the kiss, tasting the bitterness of rouge on Lady Harriet's cheek. It gave her the chance to look over Lady Harriet's shoulder again and seek out Richard's eye, but he had turned back to Miss Wilson and all Laura got was the dark curls on the back of his head.

"The salon was such a crush, one could hardly move," Lady Harriet continued blithely. "You should have seen it!"

"I was in mourning," Laura said, impatient to be done with Lady Harriet. "I could not have come."

"Of course!" said Lady Harriet. "Your poor husband! I remember I was simply devastated when my Roger passed — and that ten years ago." A glittering tear rose to Lady Harriet's eye. "I loved him more than any woman ever did love a man."

There was no point being offended by Lady Harriet. Her cruelty came from stupidity, not malice. Laura only bit back an angry smile and said a polite nothing in return.

She was lucky, for Lady Harriet transferred her attention to Lord Brocket, kissing each of his cheeks with a smack and allowing Laura to slip away. Laura laughed at the look of horror on her father's face. It was Lady Harriet's chief ambition to marry again, despite her dear Roger, and any widower was her hapless victim. In fact, thought Laura, if it hadn't been that Lord Denbury was to be here tonight, her father wouldn't have dared come at all.