Lydia had realized that she did not know herself. Whether she recognized it or not, this was the first step in coming to an understanding of oneself. So far she had been drifting through life with a set of principles which were if anything very lightly defined and barely her own. She was well educated and glad of it, not merely for the value in it, but for the joy, which made her a better person than most girls her age. She did not know any longer, however, if she wanted to lead the life she had always supposed she had; she had now begun to criticize seriously the life which was expected of her. Her eyes were opening not only to the absurd nature of those around her; this absurdity was always of some note to her and she had taken some fancy in it, but she was now beginning to take note of the fallacy in some of their supposed belief systems.
Josephine was not the answer, she had readily ascertained that: Lydia did not approve of Josephine’s marriage or subsequent affair, and she could never forgive her for her desertion of her child, which Lydia refused to be believe was anything less than desertion. Josephine was merely worldly, educated, rash, and vivacious, which Lydia did enjoy, because most of the girls she knew had been encouraged to be quiet mice, with performing qualities, which were only put into action to attract men. Josephine was not after men’s money, she had enough of her own, and she also was not after titles: Josephine wanted handsome and when ever possible intelligent men to fall in love with her--she was after power over the male sex. This is what Lydia found admirable. Not that Lydia wished for power over men, but she would have liked some equality in understanding, which is why she would never yield to those around her these days. The arguments she had with Brent were sexually charged to be sure, but they were also battles of domination, which Lydia fought unevenly, as of yet unsure of her intent.
It was in this frame of mind that Lydia went to the Garden Room to meet with Brent, who she reluctantly admitted had stirred in her the questioning of her world. Lydia was familiar with romantic novels, which rotted the brain, as her nurse often said, and she also had this vision in mind when she arrived at the Garden Room. Part of her disappointment with Brent was that he was so different from the heroes of such novels, he was entirely too rough and not at all a gentleman. She glanced about and quickly laid eyes on Brent, sitting in the corner stretched out looking very predatory and yet relaxed. She waved, and then quickly brought down her arm, wishing she had not done that. He smiled as she came his way, and he stood up to bow as she stopped next to him.
"I’m so glad that you decided to come, Miss Pierce, after you treated me so badly last night: I thought you would be too embarrassed to show your face." They sat down. "Too embarrassed indeed. I had nothing to be embarrassed about, but it won’t work, you are not going to get a rise out of me." He appeared as if he was about to laugh. "You are going to be all sugar today?" "Yes," she said as she looked demurely down at her lap. "I don’t know what has come over your pretty little head, but I certainly hope it isn’t me. I wouldn’t want to thus affect you." "Would you rather have it be Mr. Ramsey or perhaps Mr. Warner? Besides, don’t flatter yourself." "That reminds me, I’d like to make a request. You see something rather disturbed me last evening. I’d like to ask that you either choose my coarse embraces, or you refrain from giving yourself up to other imbeciles so easily." Lydia was locked in his gaze: she did not dare look away, because he sounded and looked deadly serious. "Your flirtation could place you in danger with some of these ‘gentlemen.’ Not that they would ruin you by any means, but they might just expect you to marry them, and I won’t break up marriages, even for you, my darling."
He took a drink from his glass, which was apparently filled with brandy. "Would you care for something to drink? Some wine perhaps?" She nodded ‘yes.’ "Good, there is no reason to deny yourself good wine on account of people’s opinion." He waved his hand for a waiter. "Some of your best red wine for the lady." He sat, watching her for awhile, but Lydia’s face was static, as she did not know what to say. "I would like an answer today as to what I am to expect. You really must act in an mature manner and try to know your mind, my dear. I am not a great fan of indecision. Do I take your silence for a rejection?" The waiter came back with a glass of dark red wine, which he sat in front of her on the low coffee table. Lydia leaned forward, giving Brent a choice view of her cleavage in her new day dress, which Josephine had cut lower in the front. She picked up the glass and tipped it back slightly, filling her mouth with the strong flavor, which was almost too much. She swirled it around in her mouth and watched the glass; glad to have something to look at other than Brent himself.
Thoughts were knocking around in her head, and one was very prominent. After she took another sip, she cleared her throat to speak. "Will you give up completely on me if I choose the second option. What I mean to say is, shall I have to give myself up to you if I wish to be…to be near you?" Brent sat his glass down. He had not considered that she might even seriously contemplate his offer. She had been so very fickle and childish in all his other dealings with her. He had only to say ‘yes,’ and it appeared that she would reluctantly do his bidding. He did not much like this situation. "No, I shouldn’t give up on you, but I won’t put up with seeing stupid boys manhandling you." Lydia sipped more of her wine, and closed her eyes, feeling as if she had just evaded a dangerous situation, albeit perhaps one that irrationally seemed only slightly repugnant. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "It really bothers you?" "It puts me into a heated temper, if the truth be known, and I will never forgive you if you try and use that against me."
He downed the remainder of his glass of whiskey and she still toyed with her wine. Sitting less than a foot away she could smell his calming sent of cigars, whiskey, and cologne, which she had never found attractive before. "I’m going to be very nice from now on Brent, I promise." "You shouldn’t make promises you don’t intend to keep or can’t." "Oh I do, I mean to keep this promise, because I’ve only been fighting you, because I knew it was wrong to like you." She bit her lip, and he smiled. "Well, I don’t mind being your corrupter…your flirtation with the Devil, so to speak. And I don’t wish to be your husband, which of course would make it ‘wrong to like me.’" "It’s wrong to take advantage of me Brent in the state I’m in." "I don’t suppose you realize that I have just refused to take advantage of you do you?" Lydia swallowed the last bit of wine, and wished there was more, but the wine had been so strong that her head already felt a bit clouded, and she hoped her actions were not being affected.
It was late to be in the Garden Room at this point, and Lydia figured that she was already late for dinner. The last few people were leaving when Lydia stood up to go, so that they were the only one’s in the room save the waiters who were busily cleaning up. Brent was standing very close to her staring down at her, and while she had said that she needed to leave, she merely stood there dumbly. "What are you waiting for Lydia?" He smiled. She gazed up into his eyes, wishing he was more romantic like the heroes of her novels or the operas she had seen. "Do you want me to kiss you?" He looked around playfully and then bent to lightly touch her lips with only the slightest touch of passion, and then he lightly pushed her away. Lydia left the room, her head spinning with more than the wine. As she left, Brent thought to himself, ‘she will, because she wants to, not because I’ve coerced her.’
Chapter 11
The next morning two corsages had been delivered to her. During the summer a few such gifts had arrived from various young men, but this was out of the ordinary in that she received two in one day. They were in two gold boxes stamped by the local florist in Rock Lucian, whose symbol was RFL. Lydia was not terribly excited, whereas she would have really enjoyed such a gift just three months ago during the winter season. She picked them up and carefully undid their ties and pulled up the lids. The first one she opened were simple violets, a very typical corsage for young ladies for everyday wear. If she kept them cool they would last two days. The other box held a much more exotic and expensive spray. It was made up of a beautiful orchid and a spray of fuchsia. Eagerly Lydia pulled it out and carried it to her window. ‘This is very expensive, and how beautiful!’ She brought it to her nose to drink in the intoxicating aroma. ‘Someone had very good taste,’ she thought. Curious who could have sent such a lovely gift, she put the corsage down on her table and went back to the boxes.
She looked in the first box which had contained the violets, she knew she would not wear these today, if only because they would last longer than the lovelier one. The card was in a tiny white envelope with her name on the outside. Inside the sender had written: To Miss Pierce-- May these bring you some pleasure. Your admirer, Mr. Ramsey. She had certainly let him get the wrong idea. She tossed the card down and grabbed up the other. Like the other, her name was written on the outside and there was an enclosure card reading: Is this vulgar enough? Your Tempter, Brent. "Vulgar? It’s perfect!" Lydia shouted, before she could stop herself.
She ran to her balcony and pulled open the door, before she decided that she wanted to first put on her corsage. She ran to her dressing table and opened a drawer to find a hatpin or something of the sort to attach it to her dress. Upon finding one she hurried to pin it on her light blue day dress. After she had placed it on her left side, she went to the balcony, where she hoped she could see Brent on his balcony, where he usually had his breakfast. As she had hoped, he was sitting at a table with his newspaper on the balcony perhaps five balconies away, a good shouting distance. Lydia leaned over the side of her balcony, towards Brent and began to wave. "Brent!" He looked up, but Lydia could not make out his facial expression, but it looked as if he was laughing. "You like it?" he shouted back. "This is more like it! It’s absolutely beautiful." "I had a muse." "Oh Brent, thank you so much, you are a dear…an absolute dear! I’m wearing it, can you see?" She pointed to herself. "Not clearly, but perhaps I’ll see you later." "Excuse me?" "Never mind. Go inside Miss Pierce. You are making a spectacle of yourself." "Will I see you?" "Yes. Goodbye Miss Pierce!" Lydia went back in her room and as she entered she saw her nurse watching her.
"What were you doing, Miss Pierce? What was all that yelling about?" "I wasn’t yelling." "You certainly were. Who were you yelling to?" Lydia dodged the question, and ran up to her nurse. "Madame, look at my beautiful orchid." The nurse admired it. "I saw the violets on the table. Now I know why you aren’t wearing them. Who sent them to you?" Lydia went to sit on her bed. "You’ve never been interested before." "No one has ever sent you such a gift before." Lydia laid back on the bed, squeezing her eyes closed with delight. "They are beautiful aren’t they." The nurse went over to Lydia’s table were she had left the cards from Mr. Ramsey and Brent. "Oh! They are from Mr. Ramsey! I would have never thought he had taken such a liking to you. Tell me you haven’t entered into an engagement with him." Lydia quickly got up and came over to her nurse. Lydia snatched away Mr. Ramsey’s enclosure card and grabbed up Brent’s as well. "These are private, Madame. I will ask you not to look at them." "It is my job to make sure that you do not enter into foolish associations or engagements." Lydia stopped herself from saying that she was uninterested in Mr. Ramsey, thinking that such a confusion could aid her. "Well I won’t stand for this. I will tell your mother immediately if you don’t promise not to enter into engagements without the prior agreement of your father." Lydia pouted. She knew Madame would say something to her mother about Mr. Ramsey if she held out for awhile. "Be a good girl, Lydia. Promise Madame that you won’t do anything so foolish." Lydia turned her back. "Have you done so already? Take those flowers off!" The nurse came over to her, and Lydia had to cover her orchid with her hands. This was not a turn she had expected. "Yes, all right: I promise." The nurse stood up satisfied, but still intent on tattling. Lydia felt that she had made the appropriate scene. "Who are the other flowers from?" her nurse demanded. "The violets are from Cousin Robert." "Well that was thoughtful of him." Lydia knew Robert would support her tale, but she would have to send message to him or see him personally about it.
***
"You got me in a great deal of trouble today, Brent," she told him as he fooled with the sails on his sailboat. She stood on the dock where she had followed him, gripping at her hat, which blew in the wind. "With whom?" "My nurse. She heard me shouting to you." "That was quite a scene," he said laughing, "but I’ll make it up to you." He put out his hand, and she took it. He pulled her on to the boat. "Let me take you for a jaunt." She stood pressed against his body. "I don’t think so Brent. It would spoil my plan." He raised his eyebrows. "A plan?" "My nurse, and soon my entire family will think that I am madly in love with Mr. Ramsey."
He smiled and lightly kissed her on the lips. "Mr. Ramsey?" "Madame thinks the flowers are from him and I simply took advantage of the misunderstanding." "I’ve made you into a schemer." "No, just partly, but I do have to go to visit my cousin Robert to get our stories straight." "You’ve involved your honorable cousin?" he asked mockingly. "It couldn’t be helped, but I think he will enjoy the cover up just the same." "Can he be trusted?" Brent laughed. "Are you questioning my family?" "No, no: I wouldn’t dare." "But of course you see why I have to go." "Well I am sorry to hear it, but if it will help the lovers plight." "Don’t tease Brent. I never said I was in love with you." "Yes, I am well aware of that." He pulled her back as she tried to step off the boat and he kissed her passionately making her knees feel like jelly. "Leave with that on your mind, my dear. Say hello to your cousin for me." She felt a bit unsteady and she looked about the dock area to see if anyone she knew was around. He called after her as she walked down the dock: "you like your orchid then?" She turned around and blew him a kiss feeling extremely impish.
***
Lydia had the good luck of finding her cousin, but he was not alone. He was with a number of other young men, in front of whom she could not talk. He was lounging in an open-air café, where the maid had said he could be found. Robert caught sight of her and waved her over. "Dearest cousin, come join us!" She sat down in the chair he offered. The young men all bowed. "Have you met my beautiful cousin Miss Pierce?" A few of the men nodded. She recognized all of them even if she could not recall their names. "What has brought you here, Lydia?" "I came looking for you, Robert. I wish to speak with you." "Oh! I’m so glad you could find me, which I admit can be difficult. I’ve only seen you maybe three times since I returned. We shouldn’t have let that happen. Miss Pierce plays the piano beautifully gentlemen, and I have missed hearing her." "Thank you, Robert. You are a very dear cousin." "Where is Valerie, dear?" "I’m sure I don’t know. She is very busy lately." She looked directly at one young man whom she knew had taken an interest in Valerie at some occasion. "Robert, do you think we could discuss something of familial nature? I would hate to break up your merry party." "No, no. I certainly wouldn’t deny you my audience. We will just pardon our leaving these excellent gentlemen." He stood up and pulled Lydia’s chair back so she could stand. "Excuse me, I’m sorry to steal Robert away from you all. I certainly hope you won’t hold it against me!" The gentlemen protested, and Lydia smiled, accepting their forgiving compliments directed towards her.
Robert took her arm and they began to stroll down the street. "I’m afraid I fibbed a bit. It isn’t really a family matter that I would wish to discuss with you, although it does involve me." He looked at her expectantly. "It’s about my corsage really as silly as that sounds." "It’s beautiful." "Well that’s what I thought upon receiving it, but my nurse was set on taking it away, because she thinks I’m engaged to Mr. Ramsey," Lydia said laughing. "Of course you’re not!" "Certainly not, but she thought they were from him. Do you follow?" "Yes, but where do I come in." "Well I also received violets, which out of necessity I was forced to tell her came from you, which of course they weren’t." "I would send you flowers cousin, but I knew you already received so many from your many admirers."
Robert always avoided any possible offense, however remote. "You are the most admirable cousin in the world, but I must ask you to pretend that you sent me the violets. Would you do that? I know concealment is decidedly against your good nature, but it would help me immensely." "Of course I would like to help my dearest cousin, but do you mind me asking why?" "Oh, certainly not. I meant all along to inform you of the particulars. This orchid is from the man, for whom I confess I care very dearly, which is not Mr. Ramsey. Mr. Ramsey sent me the violets, and I care not for him, but Madame got the cards mixed up, and so she thought the orchid was sent by Mr. Ramsey." "And you retrieved the card from your admirer before she read it?" "How adept you are! Yes, so if I hadn’t said the violets were from you, she would have seen that the card was from…well I had better not speak on this count." Lydia batted her eyelashes and tried to seem very vulnerable and in need of help. "It is all very complicated, but I will do my part, Lydia. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. When it comes to matters of the heart, I understand perfectly." He kissed her on the cheek and squeezed her hand warmly. "You go home or shopping or whatever will make you feel better, and I will attempt to smooth things over. It is best to let them believe the story of Mr. Ramsey. Is it not?" "If you say so. Thank you so much Robert. I don’t know what I would do without you. I knew that you would set everything right for me." Lydia almost laughed: as if she could love someone like Brent.
