The Nightingale Girls - By Donna Douglas Page 0,63
like a lady, and how was her diamond necklace supposed to look right with those awful red marks around her neck?
‘It’s where my collar rubs all day,’ Millie explained. ‘I’ve tried putting Vaseline on my skin, but it didn’t really help.’
She saw the shocked looks Louise and Polly exchanged, and knew exactly what they were thinking. She was treated worse than her father’s staff.
Her grandmother came in just as Louise was rearranging her hair for the third time.
‘Well? Will I do, Granny?’ Millie waited anxiously for her approval.
The Dowager Countess’s gaze swept over her. ‘Louise has done a good job, I suppose,’ she conceded stiffly. ‘Now hurry along, or the year will have ended before we get there.’
Chapter Nineteen
THE CLAREMONTS’ FAMILY home, Lyford, was some thirty miles away. It was a beautiful Georgian house, far grander than Billinghurst, with its elegant symmetry and imposing frontage of Corinthian columns sitting in the centre of beautifully manicured parkland, surrounded by intricate flowerbeds and topiary.
As Felix the chauffeur drove the Daimler through the gates and up the sweeping drive illuminated by flaming torches, Millie could almost feel her grandmother’s bristling resentment. She and the Dowager Duchess of Claremont were distant cousins, and there were rumours that Grandmother and the old Duke had once been romantically involved before Cecilia swept in and snapped him up.
Millie understood why her grandmother might covet such a grand house, but she much preferred the homeliness of Billinghurst.
As she stepped from the car, her grandmother said, ‘Now remember, Amelia, Richard will be here this evening. I hope you will make a point of speaking to him?’
‘Try to catch his eye, you mean?’
‘Don’t be vulgar, child. But if you must put it that way – why not? He is Claremont’s eldest son, and one day all this will be his. And he always had rather a soft spot for you, as I recall. Don’t look at me like that,’ she added, as Millie frowned at her. ‘I dare say there will be a great many young women here tonight hoping to catch his eye, as you so crudely put it.’
Then they’re welcome to him, Millie thought. Sophia’s older brother Richard was an officer in the Guards, and one of the most pompous men Millie had ever met.
She had visited Lyford many times as a guest of her friend, but the impressive entrance hall, with its grand sweeping staircase, still took her breath away. It looked even more beautiful this evening, lit by the glow of hundreds of candles. The sound of a string quartet mingled with laughter and chatter and the clink of glasses from the ballroom beyond.
The Duke and Duchess greeted their arrival. Caroline Claremont was in her late forties, elegant and even more regal than Millie’s grandmother, if that were possible. Millie could never meet her without fighting the urge to bob a quick curtsey.
‘Rettingham, how wonderful to see you.’ The Duke was a very genial man, and a close friend of her father’s. They had served as officers together during the Great War. But unlike her handsome father, years of good living had left Claremont with a rounded figure and a red, hearty face. ‘And Lady Rettingham, you’re looking very well.’
‘Thomas,’ her grandmother greeted him. ‘How is your dear mother?’
‘Alas, she is indisposed and will not be joining us this evening.’
‘Oh, how very sad.’ Only Millie spotted the slight lifting of the corners of her grandmother’s mouth. ‘Do give her my very best wishes, won’t you?’
‘Amelia, how wonderful that you could join us.’ Millie felt unnerved as their host looked her up and down with a speculative gleam in his eyes. She was well aware of the Duke’s reputation as an old roué.
‘We were rather afraid you would be too busy nursing the sick to join us this evening.’ Caroline Claremont looked amused.
‘I’m still training, they haven’t let me loose on any sick people yet,’ Millie replied.
‘How fascinating. We can’t wait to hear all about it.’ Then, just in case Millie thought she meant it, the Duchess immediately changed the subject. ‘Sophia is longing to see you. I believe she has some rather exciting news for you.’ She gave Millie a meaningful look.
Millie could already guess what it might be. But she didn’t have to wait long to find out as Sophia rushed up to greet her as soon as she entered the glittering ballroom.
‘I’m engaged!’ she blurted out, waggling her left hand under Millie’s nose. The impressive diamond sparkled in the light of the chandeliers.