My Last Duchess, стр. 40
“Well, that I will not put up with,” Maddie said, nodding her head as if she had the faintest idea how to train a child.
“Wetting the bed,” Lady Knowe said with a melodramatic groan. “Day and night. During naps until the age of five. We have threemore years of it ahead, given that little Joan is scarcely two.” She heaved a lugubrious sigh. “But, of course, they are darlingchildren. Edith met them yesterday and I’m certain she agreed with me.”
“Indeed,” the lady stated.
“I brought all eight of them to London. If you don’t mind plain speaking, they are tired of my oversight. I am always havingto punish them for this or that.”
“The boys are at Eton,” Lady Woolhastings pointed out.
“When they are at Eton. They’re constantly being sent down for some prank. I can’t decide whether Alaric or Parth is the naughtier, but onbalance, I think Parth wins. We had to pay the barkeeper after that most unfortunate episode with his daughter.”
“One of your sons cavorted with a barmaid?” Lady Woolhastings said, turning to Hugo. Her brow was furrowed.
“‘Cavorted’ is a strong word,” he said.
It was clear to Ophelia that Hugo knew nothing of the barmaid, and Parth didn’t either. In short, Lady Knowe had begun toembroider the truth in an elaborate effort to alarm Lady Woolhastings.
“I never share such trifles with the duke,” Lady Knowe said, leaning over to pat Lady Woolhastings on the knee. “A good halfof each day is spent soothing the anguished spirits of those who have fallen victim to His Grace’s children. I cannot waituntil he takes a third duchess. I mean to retire to an estate I have in Kent and try to recover my lost youth!”
For the first time, Lady Woolhastings looked appalled. Ophelia saw her assessing Lady Knowe’s wrinkles.
“They have turned my hair white,” Hugo said with a shrug.
Ophelia rolled her eyes. She’d seen Hugo’s hair at close range. Perhaps there was a little silver over the ears, but onlyenough to make him look distinguished.
Lady Knowe smiled sympathetically at her brother. “As we have both learned, when one has children, particularly so many children, one must give up on life’s vanities.”
“I did not neglect myself while raising my daughters,” Lady Woolhastings stated.
“I am hoping that I carry a boy for more than one reason,” Maddie chimed in. “Nothing is crueler than the contrast betweenthe unlined skin of a young girl in the first blossom of youth and the mother who chaperones her.” She clasped her (cotton-filled)belly. “If I carry a daughter, I only hope I shall face the disparity with good grace! Humiliation is too strong a word.”
“The Wilde girls are, of course, extraordinarily beautiful,” Lady Knowe said innocently. “As you yourself noted yesterday,Lady Woolhastings, Betsy will certainly grow up to be a beauty, and she’s nothing compared to Joan. With her golden hair andperfect features, she will cast everyone in the shade when she debuts.”
Lady Woolhastings had the look of a woman who has made an important decision. She rose to her feet. Hugo stood, and Maddiejumped up, which caused her “belly” to jiggle alarmingly.
“I am feeling unwell,” the lady announced.
“If you’ll forgive me, you do look rather sallow,” Maddie said. “I well remember when your daughter and I attended our first balls together, my motheroften retired to bed exhausted.”
“At your age, dear lady, it is always best to retire early with a restorative,” Lady Knowe said sympathetically. “My own dearmother—”
Lady Woolhastings bridled. “I am not the age of your mother!”
“I trust you will feel much improved on the morrow, Lady Woolhastings,” Ophelia said, intervening.
After a round of courtesies, Hugo led his visibly irritated fiancée toward the door in search of their hostess.
Lady Knowe, Maddie, and Ophelia said nothing until Lady Woolhastings and the duke had left the room.
Then Lady Knowe said, with a cackle of laughter, “I thought all the naughtiness would be effectual, but you found the perfectweapon, Lady Penshallow!”
“Please, call me Maddie,” she said, reaching out and taking Lady Knowe’s hand. “I have a feeling that we might become muchbetter acquainted in the near future. Phee is my dearest relative and I cannot bear to lose her to the wilds of Cheshire.”
Ophelia felt herself turning pink. “I believe this conversation is uncalled for,” she said. “Nothing . . . That is . . .”
“Surely my brother has thrown himself on his knees and declared his love? Because he does, you know.” Lady Knowe regardedOphelia with bright eyes. “He’s in love. Simply dizzy with it.”
“I don’t know why,” Ophelia said, glancing at the door, but their hostess had not reappeared, and neither had the duke. Presumablyhe was escorting Lady Woolhastings to her house.
“I’ll leave the whys up to him,” Lady Knowe said. “If I know my brother, he’ll be able to convince you of his reasoning. AllI can say is that I haven’t seen him so happy since Marie died. He made a mistake with Yvette, but he had the best of intentions.”
“He was trying to find a mother for his children,” Maddie said, nodding. “I thought that was why he asked about Phee. Butthen it turned out he didn’t even know that Phee is an excellent mother. He didn’t know who she was at all.”
“He’s not in love with her for that,” Lady Knowe said. “Mothering is the least of it. I will warn you, my dear, that my brother seems to be extraordinarily potent.Yvette complained endlessly and swore he wasn’t allowed to come near her without a French letter, but to no avail.”
Ophelia discovered that she didn’t want to hear anything more about Yvette. Or Hugo’s beloved first wife either.
Lady Knowe apparently read her expression, because she turned to Maddie without taking a breath. “So, tell me, when