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Festivities suited to the season would be resumed in Radstowe. There would be lawn tennis in the big gardens, and young men in flannels and girls in white would stroll about the roads and gay voices would be heard in the dusk. There would be garden-parties, and Mrs.
She pictured herself, youthfully slim, gravely petulant, her round neck rising from a Byronic collar fastened with a broad, loose bow, and she fancied the society of Radstowe exclaiming with one voice, 'That must be Reginald Mallett's daughter! She was to learn, however, that in Radstowe the memories of Reginald Mallett were somewhat dim, and where they were clear they were neglected.
'I do hope we're going to be friends. This was more than a statement, it was a request, and Rose shrank from it; but she said lightly, 'We shall be meeting often. You will see more of us than you will care for, I'm afraid. The Malletts are rather ubiquitous in Radstowe. It's fortunate for us, or Caroline would die of boredom, but I don't know how it appears to other people.
But at last Caroline uttered a majestic 'Now' and led the way like a plump duck swimming across a pond with a fleet of smaller ducks behind her. No expense and no trouble had been spared to justify the expectations of Radstowe.
It was the custom in Radstowe to make much of Caroline and Sophia: they were respected and playfully loved and it was not only the middle-aged gentlemen who asked them to dance, and John and Charles Batty were not the only young ones who had the honour of leading them into the middle of the room, taking a few turns in a waltz and returning, in good order, to the throne-like arm-chairs.
She had her place in local society: she had a fine house in that exclusive part of Radstowe called The Slope, and her husband was a member of the oldest firm of lawyers in the city. 'You are very naughty, Miss Caroline, she said, knowing that was the remark looked for. She gave a little nod of her flower-covered head. 'And we've just got to put up with them, whatever they are.
'That is necessary for a love affair, ma chere. 'I would much rather she married Francis Sales and came to see us every week. Or any other nice young man in Radstowe. She would never marry beneath her. 'On the contrary, Caroline remarked, 'she's bound to marry beneath her not in class, Sophia, not in class, though in Radstowe that's possible, too. Look at the Battys!
Each morning she went to her window and looked over and beyond the roofs, so beautiful and varied in themselves, to the trees screening the open country across the river and if the sight reminded her to sigh for her own sorrows and to think bitterly of Aunt Rose, she had not time to linger on her emotions. Summer was gay in Upper Radstowe.
And not because she was a Mallett though it was a name honoured in Radstowe, but because she was herself. Hats would always be touched to her, and it was the touchers who would feel themselves complimented in the act.
'You must learn to speak French, and it is a long time since I have been abroad. It will be a kindness to me. I don't care to go alone. We have no engagements after the middle of January, so shall we settle to go then? There was authority in her tone. 'We shall avoid brigands, Sophia, but I think we ought to go. It is not fair that Henrietta's experiences should be confined to Radstowe.
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