Receiving assurances from them both that she was always welcome in their home, Jane said her good-byes and went inside.

Eleven

A Dinner Invitation

Some weeks later, Jane returned from a walk and found the house in a frenzy of activity. The Ellsworths had received an invitation from Lady FitzCameron to a dinner celebrating the completion of Mr. Vincent’s glamural in the dining room.

Mrs. Ellsworth was trying to persuade Mr. Ellsworth that they must go at once to order new gowns for the occasion, to which her husband replied, “If our friends and neighbours do not understand and value our daughters’ talent and beauty by this point, then a new gown will not increase their estimation.”

“But what of Captain Livingston?” Mrs. Ellsworth said. “Surely he has not been in our company long enough to form an opinion. Surely we must impress him.” She looked here at Melody. Jane kept the placid expression on her face only by long practice.

Mr. Ellsworth said, “As Captain Livingston has not had time to see the innumerable dresses hanging in your wardrobes, I doubt that he will be more impressed by a new gown than by one which he merely has not seen. Besides, I do not think there is enough time for the modiste to outfit all of you.”

Mrs. Ellsworth was forced to concede his point, so she turned the talk to exactly which of the gowns she and Melody would wear. Jane was included in the conversation, but more as a consultant than as a participant, since the chief purpose of Mrs. Ellsworth’s enthusiasm was to bring Melody to the forefront of Captain Livingston’s attention.

Mr. Ellsworth stood and drew Jane away from the conversation to the side of the room. Looking out the window, he sighed several times before speaking. At last he came forth with, “Will you walk with me, Jane?”

Jane followed her father out of doors, surprized at his request for her company. They proceeded down the Long Walk for some minutes before he ventured to speak. When he did, the topic did not seem one which merited a solitary walk.

“Will you wear the white dress? The one with the pretty”—he waved his hands at his chest in a vain effort to supply the right word—“the pretty green things.”

Her white sprigged chemise, with its sash of delicate green ribbon, which Mr. Dunkirk had once said reminded him of spring. It would be a suitable dress to wear to the FitzCameron dinner. “Of course. I had no idea you took such an interest in my wardrobe, Papa.”

He chuckled and tucked his fingers into his vest. “I take an interest in my daughters’ welfare.” So saying, he was quiet for some time as they continued down the Long Walk, leaving Jane to ponder what it might be that so troubled her father. At last he continued, “I shall trust to your discretion, Jane, but I do worry, as any right-thinking father would. And so I ask what might not be seemly to ask. Does it seem to you that Melody might have shifted her affections? To be precise, have you observed a growing attachment between her and Captain Livingston?”