set to say I was too tired. I tended to agree with Sid and Gus that society gossip was very tiresome, especially when one didn’t know any of the people who were being talked about and when one’s mother-in-law was likely to drop hints about the sort of girls Daniel might have married.
“We needn’t stay long and they are anxious to meet you,” she added. “You’ll probably find that some of the ladies attending came to your wedding.”
After that I had to agree. I could see she really wanted to go. She looked pleased. “They are very well connected and could be useful to Daniel someday.”
We were driven in the pony and trap by Jonah. The Blackstones’ house was much grander than Mrs. Sullivan’s—a proper mansion with a portico, terraced gardens, and a small ornamental lake. My mother-in-law mentioned at least a dozen times what a good match Letitia had made and how happy her parents had been for her.
Tea had been set up in the shade of trees beside this lake and there were several other ladies present, mostly of Mrs. Sullivan’s generation. I was made a great fuss over when I arrived.
“To think that Daniel is going to be a father at last,” Mrs. Blackstone said as she escorted me to my chair. “And you despaired that he’d never marry, Mary.”
“Whatever happened to that other girl—the Nortons’ daughter, wasn’t it?” an older woman asked from her deck chair.
There was an uncomfortable silence. Arabella Norton had been Daniel’s intended when I first met him.
“I gather she’s married—into a Philadelphia Mainline family, so in fact a better match than…” the speaker broke off and cleared her throat in embarrassment.
“And is your family from this area, my dear?” another of the women asked me, rapidly changing the subject.
“Molly is from Ireland,” Mrs. Sullivan said for me, before I could disclose that I’d come from a peasant’s cottage.
That pretty much put an end to the topic of conversation, since we knew no people in common, and the talk reverted to local matters. I sat and listened as they discussed people and events that meant nothing to me, eating my slice of cake and sipping at my tea. My attention wandered to a pair of mallards on the lake, to a flock of chickadees in the tree above us while unfamiliar names washed over me.
“Don’t tell me they mean to divorce? I know he behaved badly but how shocking that she really plans to divorce him. Rather shortsighted of her, when you consider the fortune he will inherit one day. How tragic for Marjorie. And they are related to the Wetherbys, aren’t they?”
“The Wetherbys? That big brick house on the road to White Plains?”
“You know, Estelle Wetherby. You met her at a dinner party at the Van Horns.”
“Was she the one whose daughter married that Mainwaring fellow?”
I was instantly alert and sat up in my seat.
“Leonard Mainwaring? That’s right. She did. Estelle thought it was a good match at the time, but I’m not so sure personally. Of course he has plenty of money and comes from an important English family but…” The women leaned closer into a tight little group from which I was excluded. Their voices were lowered.
“But he was a bit of a rake, wasn’t he? Got into trouble with gambling debts?”
“And an eye for the ladies, so I heard. Perhaps he’s settled down now he’s married. They often do, don’t they?”
“Do they live nearby?”
“Closer to the river, don’t they? Estelle told me once. Irvington, I think.”
“Big fancy house, so I hear. At least Estelle’s daughter has got something out of it.”
The talk moved on to other people I didn’t know, but my brain was buzzing. Mrs. Mainwaring, of the right social class and with a big enough house to be able to afford more than one parlormaid! I couldn’t believe my luck. Now I had to work out how I could manage to pay a call and find out if they had employed Maureen O’Byrne.
* * *
I gave myself a stern
“We needn’t stay long and they are anxious to meet you,” she added. “You’ll probably find that some of the ladies attending came to your wedding.”
After that I had to agree. I could see she really wanted to go. She looked pleased. “They are very well connected and could be useful to Daniel someday.”
We were driven in the pony and trap by Jonah. The Blackstones’ house was much grander than Mrs. Sullivan’s—a proper mansion with a portico, terraced gardens, and a small ornamental lake. My mother-in-law mentioned at least a dozen times what a good match Letitia had made and how happy her parents had been for her.
Tea had been set up in the shade of trees beside this lake and there were several other ladies present, mostly of Mrs. Sullivan’s generation. I was made a great fuss over when I arrived.
“To think that Daniel is going to be a father at last,” Mrs. Blackstone said as she escorted me to my chair. “And you despaired that he’d never marry, Mary.”
“Whatever happened to that other girl—the Nortons’ daughter, wasn’t it?” an older woman asked from her deck chair.
There was an uncomfortable silence. Arabella Norton had been Daniel’s intended when I first met him.
“I gather she’s married—into a Philadelphia Mainline family, so in fact a better match than…” the speaker broke off and cleared her throat in embarrassment.
“And is your family from this area, my dear?” another of the women asked me, rapidly changing the subject.
“Molly is from Ireland,” Mrs. Sullivan said for me, before I could disclose that I’d come from a peasant’s cottage.
That pretty much put an end to the topic of conversation, since we knew no people in common, and the talk reverted to local matters. I sat and listened as they discussed people and events that meant nothing to me, eating my slice of cake and sipping at my tea. My attention wandered to a pair of mallards on the lake, to a flock of chickadees in the tree above us while unfamiliar names washed over me.
“Don’t tell me they mean to divorce? I know he behaved badly but how shocking that she really plans to divorce him. Rather shortsighted of her, when you consider the fortune he will inherit one day. How tragic for Marjorie. And they are related to the Wetherbys, aren’t they?”
“The Wetherbys? That big brick house on the road to White Plains?”
“You know, Estelle Wetherby. You met her at a dinner party at the Van Horns.”
“Was she the one whose daughter married that Mainwaring fellow?”
I was instantly alert and sat up in my seat.
“Leonard Mainwaring? That’s right. She did. Estelle thought it was a good match at the time, but I’m not so sure personally. Of course he has plenty of money and comes from an important English family but…” The women leaned closer into a tight little group from which I was excluded. Their voices were lowered.
“But he was a bit of a rake, wasn’t he? Got into trouble with gambling debts?”
“And an eye for the ladies, so I heard. Perhaps he’s settled down now he’s married. They often do, don’t they?”
“Do they live nearby?”
“Closer to the river, don’t they? Estelle told me once. Irvington, I think.”
“Big fancy house, so I hear. At least Estelle’s daughter has got something out of it.”
The talk moved on to other people I didn’t know, but my brain was buzzing. Mrs. Mainwaring, of the right social class and with a big enough house to be able to afford more than one parlormaid! I couldn’t believe my luck. Now I had to work out how I could manage to pay a call and find out if they had employed Maureen O’Byrne.
* * *
I gave myself a stern
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