Читаем A Dangerous Fortune (1994) полностью

Tonight she had arranged for Edward to walk in to dinner with Emily Maple, a shy, pretty girl of nineteen who was with her father, a Methodist minister, and her mother. They were plainly overwhelmed by the house and the company, and hardly fitted in, but Augusta was getting desperate in her search for a suitable bride for Edward. The boy was now twenty-nine years old and he had never shown a spark of interest in any eligible girl, to his mother's frustration. He could hardly fail to find Emily attractive: she had big blue eyes and a sweet smile. The parents would be thrilled by such a match. As for the girl, she would have to do as she was told. But Edward might need to be pushed. The trouble was, he saw no reason to marry. He enjoyed his life with his male friends, going to his club and so on, and settling down to married life had little appeal. For a while she had blithely assumed this was just a normal phase in a young man's life, but it had gone on too long, and lately she had begun to worry whether he would ever come out of it. She would have to put pressure on him.

On her left at the table Augusta placed Michael Fortescue, a personable young man with political aspirations. He was said to be close to the prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, who had been ennobled and was now Lord Beaconsfield. Fortescue was the second of the three people Augusta needed to help her get Joseph a peerage. He was not as clever as Hobbes but he was more sophisticated and self-assured. Augusta had been able to overawe Hobbes, but she would have to seduce Fortescue.

Deacon Maple said grace and Hastead poured wine. Neither Joseph nor Augusta would drink wine, but they offered it to their guests. As the consomme was served Augusta smiled warmly at Fortescue and said in a low, intimate voice: "When are we going to see you in Parliament?"

"I wish I knew," he said.

"Everyone speaks of you as a brilliant young man, as you must know."

He was pleased but embarrassed by her flattery. "I'm not sure I do know."

"And you're so good-looking, too--that never hurts."

He looked rather startled. He had not expected her to flirt--but he was not averse to it.

"You shouldn't wait for a general election," she went on. "Why don't you stand in a by-election? It should be easy enough to arrange--people say you have the ear of the prime minister."

"You're very kind--but by-elections are expensive, Mrs. Pilaster."