Silk

Whilst Beth looked shocked Amber replied honestly, ‘It would depend on who was doing the kissing.’

‘Well, yes, of course. He’d have to be handsome, and rich, although I suppose in your case, Amber, all that would matter was him having a title.’

‘She’s such a cat,’ Beth said angrily after Louise had gone. ‘She hasn’t changed at all.’

Amber said nothing. After all, what could she say when Louise’s comment had been the truth, at least as far as her grandmother was concerned?

‘I’m so pleased we shall be coming out together,’ Beth told Amber warmly. ‘I’ve been dreading it, but now it’s going to be fun. Oh, look, Mummy wants us.’

Amber hung back.

‘What is it?’ Beth demanded.

Uncomfortably Amber explained how she’d been excluded and ignored, adding that she didn’t want to put Beth in an embarrassing position by clinging on to her.

‘I shouldn’t be surprised if it’s Lady Rutland people want to avoid and not you,’ Beth told her firmly. ‘She isn’t very well liked, you know.’

And not as well connected or socially powerful as Beth’s mother, as Amber soon discovered, after Beth had insisted on dragging her over to her mother.

People who had ignored her when Lady Rutland had introduced her were now being astonishingly pleasant. Girls who had previously turned their backs on her were now smiling at her and making room for both Beth and Amber to join them round tables set up for tea.

Engrossed in conversation, Amber only noticed the dark look Louise was giving her when she happened to glance up and see her, standing by the door with one of her own coterie of friends.

Seeing her look at Louise, the girl sitting next to Amber told her conspiratorially, ‘That’s Louise Montford. She’s fearfully fast, you know. My brother met her at a house party over Christmas.’

‘What do you mean?’ Amber asked her curiously.

The other girl gave her a coy look and then told her breathlessly, ‘Well, when they were playing hide-and-seek one evening, no one could find Louise for ages, and then when they did find her in one of the boots cupboards she swore that she’d been on her own but someone else said that they’d seen one of the boys sneaking away from the cupboard just before they found Louise. And then another night she went and joined the boys in the billiard room after supper, and she was the only girl there. One of the boys, Edward Fearton, told my brother that she’d let him kiss her and that she’d sat on his lap and let him put his hand on her knee. If she isn’t careful she’s going to get herself in an awful lot of trouble.’

Amber digested these confidences in silence. It was true that the kind of behaviour the other girl had just described was very fast and not acceptable at all for a young unmarried girl. There was a certain wildness about Louise at times, she admitted, as though the other girl enjoyed taking risks and breaking the rules. But the reality was that Louise could not afford to flout convention, not if she was to make the kind of marriage her mother needed her to make to repair their family finances, to someone of equal social standing to her own, and with money: the kind of man that every mother wanted for her daughter and the kind of man too who could take his pick of socially acceptable well-brought-up young women when looking for a wife. The kind of man who was not likely to choose a young woman with the wrong kind of reputation.

‘I suppose you think you’re something special now just because Beth has taken up with you,’ Louise challenged Amber later when they had returned to Cadogan Place. ‘Well, you aren’t. You’re still just a Macclesfield mill girl. What was Julia Smethington-Blythe saying to you about me? And don’t say she wasn’t because I know she was. I could tell from the way she was whispering to you.’

‘She mentioned that her brother had met you at a house party, that’s all,’ Amber answered diplomatically.

‘Oh, him. He was a complete drip. He couldn’t even dance, and his teeth stick out.’

Louise scowled. She hated Amber almost as much as she hated the life that being poor imposed on her. Louise craved luxury and excitement; she wanted to sweep into the most fashionable places wearing the most expensive clothes and jewels, on the arm of a handsome man and looking so wonderful that people turned to stare at her.

Louise had never known a time when money hadn’t dominated her life. Her mother rarely spoke of anything other than their lack of it. Louise had only been able to attend the exclusive girls’ school she had because a relative had paid the fees.

Mummy was always irritatingly vague about the exact relationship between her and ‘cousin Hugh’. So much so, in fact, that Louise was beginning to wonder if they were lovers.

Louise was extremely interested in people’s sexual relationships, and all the more so if they were illicit. In fact, Louise found the whole idea of sex very exciting. It must be rather fun to be the mistress of a very rich man; a man who was prepared to indulge one’s every whim and shower one with clothes and jewels. First, of course, she would have to be married: a rich husband and then a rich lover. She hated being only seventeen and treated like a child. She couldn’t wait to be grown up and free to do whatever she wanted.

The invitations were mounting up on the mantelpiece in the drawing room of the house in Cadogan Place, and all the more so, Amber suspected, since Beth’s mother had kind-heartedly taken Amber under her wing.

Some mothers might be having to cut corners, but of course, thanks to Amber’s grandmother, there was no question of economising for the ball Lady Rutland was giving for Louise and Amber, after their formal presentation.

Lord Cadogan had given permission for the private gardens to be used, and a marquee was to be erected there, whilst decorators had been set to work refurbishing the reception rooms.

Some families were hosting private dinners before their balls but Lady Rutland had eschewed this idea, much to Amber’s relief.

Along with everything else she had managed to organise during her week’s stay in London, Amber’s grandmother had chosen both the flowers for the ball and the supper menu – a copy of one chosen by the Duke of Westminster for a ball at Eaton Hall he had given for Royalty – even though she herself was not going to be present.

Amongst the invitations arriving at Cadogan Place was one from the Hon. Mrs Guinness to attend a ball at 10 Buckingham Street, which had caused Amber a pang of anxious guilt, and worry that Lady Rutland might wonder how Diana Guinness had come to be sending them an invitation, or even worse, that somehow or other it might come out that she had met Amber at the Ritz, until Lady Rutland had remarked that there was a family connection between her own late mother and Diana’s family, the Mitfords.

‘We have been invited as well,’ Beth had informed Amber, when Amber had told her about the invitation. ‘My mother’s family are connected to the Guinnesses, although Mummy is a bit concerned about me going.’ Beth had pulled a small face. ‘I don’t think Mummy approves of the fact that Diana is so very modern, but I think she is such fun. My mother’s godson is part of that set and he says that she gives the most wonderful parties.’ Beth giggled. ‘To be honest I don’t think that Mummy always approves of Teddy either, but of course she can’t say so, and since he has insisted on accompanying us she can hardly refuse. I’m looking forward to it.’

‘So am I,’ Amber had agreed fervently.

It was nearly a week since she’d last seen Lord Robert, and she missed him dreadfully, although he had warned her that he was having to go away for a few days.

She may have told Beth that she was looking forward to the Guinness party, but right now, as she stood in front of her bedroom mirror whilst Renton finished fastening the buttons of her kid gloves, prior to Amber leaving for the ball, Amber acknowledged ruefully that what she was actually feeling came closer to nervousness.

Amber’s Norman Hartnell gown was a soft eau-de-Nil. The bodice was trimmed with rows of tiny crystal drops that shone in the light, and was modestly high-necked, but the skirt was rather dashingly cut on the bias.

Over it Amber would be wearing a matching draped satin bolero jacket several shades darker than her dress, but lined in exactly the same eau-de-Nil satin.

Her hair had been dressed in soft curls, the pins securing it decorated with small individual crystals to complement those on the bodice of her dress.

Her matching satin purse was just the right size to hold a dance card, a handkerchief and a small bottle of scent. Lady Rutland did not approve of makeup, although Amber knew that Louise ignored her mother’s disapproval and wore lipstick.

‘Are you sure I look all right, Renton?’ Amber asked her maid anxiously. She had found the maid a little stern and formidable at first, but she had quickly come to value her judgement and her good taste, and had soon found that she was turning to Renton for the answers to her questions on matters of etiquette in high society with which she was unfamiliar, rather than Lady Rutland. Renton, Amber had learned, had grown up on the estate of the Earl of Rads-bury in Norfolk and had gone into service with the countess at fourteen, determinedly working her way up through the household hierarchy until a vacancy as a lady’s maid to one of the countess’s friends had brought her to London, and then to Cadogan Place when her previous mistress had died.

Renton had told Amber that she had been on the point of returning to Norfolk to share a cottage with her sister, who was now retired, when she had been interviewed by Amber’s grandmother.

‘I could see straight away that Mrs Pickford knew what was what,’ Renton had told Amber, surprising her with the approval she could hear in her voice, ‘and that she knew how to treat a person properly.’

Amber acknowledged that she was glad that her grandmother had chosen Renton to be her maid.

‘You look just as you should,’ Renton told her now, giving Amber one of her very rare smiles. Amber felt that, in her own way, Renton was every bit as formidable as her grandmother.

The road outside the Guinnesses’ house was filled with chauffeur-driven cars conveying guests to the party, but whilst Louise was anxious to get out of the car and impatient at the delay, Amber was content to gaze wide-eyed at people whom she recognised from the newspapers and the society magazines; people like Emerald Cunard, who was wearing what Amber knew immediately must be a Schiaparelli gown, white satin with a black satin cape. Eventually their car was close enough to the entrance to the house for them to get out, Lady Rutland’s gown of puce satin rustling stiffly as they climbed the front steps.

Once inside, a smiling maid offered to relieve them of their wraps.

Amber’s eyes widened when she saw how low-cut Louise’s rose-pink gown was, surely much lower than when they had had their fittings.

The elegant reception room on the first floor was filled with so many people that the sheer volume of their conversation made it impossible to hear the music from the quartet playing in the antechamber.

A waiter carrying a tray of glasses came towards them.

‘Cocktail, madam?’

Amber looked uncertainly at the bright green liquid, but Louise was already reaching for a glass whilst her mother, who was engaged in conversation with another chaperone, had her back to her. She had finished her drink and picked up a second by the time Lady Rutland joined them.

Amber was relieved to see Beth, but her relief turned to amazement and delight when she saw who was standing at the countess’s side.