Page 105 of Rivals at Ashmore Castle

‘I go one better,’ he said. ‘A tent, and a camp fire, under a sky like a wheel of stars.’

‘Oh, yes,’ Nina said. ‘And if you feel civilisation creeping too close, you can fold the tent, load up your horse and ride further away.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Kitty said.

He tore his gaze away from Nina’s and said, ‘A dream for people who feel the world is too much with us. Shall we go? Rachel has called, and she’ll eat all the teacakes if we don’t hurry.’

Kitty stood up. She didn’t understand, but she was used to that. ‘You haven’t even looked at Nina’s baby,’ she said.

He glanced down. ‘I’m afraid I’m no expert on girls. Is she coming to tea as well?’

‘Of course,’ Kitty said. ‘Aunt Caroline will want to see her.’

She put her arm through Giles’s, so Nina took over the pushing of the perambulator and they walked on. This first meeting with Giles after so long was bound to be disturbing, she thought. And if she had supposed the old attraction had simply gone, she had deluded herself. There would always be that vital connection between them, that sense of shocked recognition when their eyes met. He was her first love. But she found she could live with it now. They would never be together, but that was all right. She loved her husband, and she had a child – that was her life, and it was a good one. You couldn’t change the past, but you could let it sleep.

The following day, Lepida called on Nina. She was looking well – her intermittent illness had been in remission for several months – and she brought a gift for the baby, whom she admired dutifully. ‘I can see the attraction,’ she said. ‘As long as you don’t have to give up all your intellectual life.’

‘I don’t think there’s much danger of that,’ Nina said.

‘Ah, yes. Papa said you were worried about your qualification for the life of a political hostess.’

‘How on earth did he hear that?’

‘He called on Lady Manningtree,’ Lepida explained. ‘They are awfully thick, these days, so she tells him everything. And she heard it from Lady Stainton, in whom, apparently, you confided – though confidence is perhaps not the right word here.’

‘I don’t mind. Lady Manningtree is like an aunt to me – a rather softer one than the one I have. And I have been worrying about my future responsibilities. A big house, and big parties – I haven’t done anything like that. Country weekends. Keeping up with current affairs, entertaining foreign dignitaries, perhaps.’

‘But you have a mind. Nothing is beyond you if you use your intellect. You must look at the problem logically and solve it.’

Nina smiled at this typically Lepida advice. ‘Kitty said I should get a good, experienced housekeeper.’

‘Yes, that will help with the practical side of it. A good cook, too, though Papa says that’s a long process of trial and error, mostly error.’

‘And what’s your advice?’

‘Preparation. You must make lists.’

‘Lists?’

‘For every occasion, write down who is to come. Spend time over the placement at table – Mama and Papa do that together if there are new people invited. Plan the menu. Make a note of some topics of conversation in case of awkward pauses. “Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains.”’

‘Thomas Carlyle,’ Nina said absently. ‘Is that all it takes?’

Lepida smiled. ‘You have been to fashionable parties. You have met society ladies. Do they all strike you as exceptionally clever?’

‘So it’s just a matter of writing things down?’

‘That’s the larger part. Oh, and after the event, keep a record of who was there, what food you served and what you wore, so that you don’t repeat yourself. And keep a separate log of the guests, noting beside each any observations you make. Lady A doesn’t eat fish. Lord B gets angry when Ireland is mentioned. Mrs C and Mrs D are mortal enemies. That sort of thing.’

‘You make it sound like a job – a career,’ Nina said, frowning.

‘Isn’t it?’ said Lepida. ‘Lady Wigston.’

Nina sighed. ‘I suppose that’s how I must think of it.’

‘But you’ll enjoy it, once you get over your first nerves! I can picture you, reigning over the drawing-rooms. With your intelligence and your education, and your pleasant manners, you were made for it.’

‘Thank you for the character,’ Nina laughed. ‘I’m sure to get the job now.’