Charlotte House Affair 01 - My Particular Friend

and Mrs Fitzhugh addressed them.
    ‘Mr Williams, Mrs Williams, Miss Williams, Mr Wallace, may I introduce …’
    Etiquette and Mrs Fitzhugh were ignored however, when Mrs William asked, ‘Do you have them, Miss House?’
    Seeing her distress, my friend quickly said, ‘I do. All is well.’
    ‘Thank God!’ Mrs Williams cried loudly, drawing everyone’s attention, but as I was closest to her, I saw Miss Williams swoon. I rushed to her side, however her weight was unsupportable and I staggered. Suddenly I felt strong arms holding me upright and then relieving me of my burden. Then the gentleman, Mr Wallace, was carrying Miss Williams to a chair.
    ‘Thank you, sir,’ I said to Mr Wallace, who merely nodded to me, his attention to the young lady. Her mother, however, pushed him aside and sat beside her.
    ‘Catherine, it is all right. We are saved,’ she told her daughter, patting her hand. Catherine opened her eyes and smiled faintly at her mother. The tension was drained from our group. Within a few minutes everyone was smiling and they thanked Mrs Fitzhugh and my friend. Mr Wallace, however, turned especially to me.
    ‘I apologize Miss …’
    ‘Woodsen … Jane Woodsen,’ I said.
    ‘John Wallace,’ he said in return and bowed, and I curtseyed.
    ‘I apologize for …’ and he made a vague gesture with his hands. His discomfiture was quite becoming in contrast to his sturdy, capable appearance.
    ‘There is no need. Thank you for …’ and I made a similar fumbling gesture.
    He started to laugh but was cut short by a voice.
    ‘You! Miss House!’
    I turned and saw Lady Dalrymple approach, trailed by the woman I took to be her niece.
    ‘Lady Dalrymple, so good to see you,’ Miss House said, and curtseyed, followed by myself and Mrs Fitzhugh, but not Mrs Williams, who returned hostility with hostility. Mr Wallace and Mr Williams bowed but I could tell they did not like it.
    ‘I thought I made clear that the matter is at an end,’ Lady Dalrymple, oblivious to our presence, told Miss House.
    ‘But the world turns regardless of your wishes, Lady Dalrymple, and your saying black is white does not make it so. And if your nephew chuses to marry Miss Williams and she chuses to accept, then you can have no objection, for there is no impediment to their union. I repeat: there is no impediment. If there ever had been one, it no longer exists.’
    She was magnificent. Boadicea herself could not have appeared more magnificent. Lady Dalrymple shrank. She opened her mouth to speak and thought better of it after noticing the attention her words had attracted. She turned quickly, almost colliding with her companion, and walked away. #
    The Williamses again thanked Miss House, and Mrs Fitzhugh and me, although they could not have known what little part I played. Hands were pressed and kisses were exchanged—Mr Wallace was excessively charming—and when it was over, Charlotte, Mrs Fitzhugh and I watched the Williamses, now a happy party, leave.
    Miss House leant her head toward me and said quietly, ‘And that is my employment, Miss Woodsen. That is what I do.’

An Explanation
    ‘You have questions from last night, no doubt,’ Miss House said the following morning, after we had breakfasted.
    ‘Yes, Miss House, you confirmed last night that this is your employment. But what is it exactly? What is it that you do?’
    ‘I suppose you could say that I am an intermediary. Mothers come to me and ask my aid in the matter of their daughter’s matrimonial prospects.’
    ‘I see,’ I said, puzzled. ‘And for this service …’
    ‘I am not in trade, my dear.’
    ‘Of course not,’ I said, hurriedly, with a shake of my head. ‘There was no question. I merely meant …’
    ‘I get satisfaction, you see, when a suitable match proceeds.’
    ‘And if an unsuitable match?’ I asked.
    She made a face that suggested displeasure and shook her head. ‘I never seek to stop a match. I try only to further love’s interests, not impede.’
    ‘It is a noble calling.’
    She smiled brilliantly and said, ‘I thought you would understand.’
    ‘And as to last night,’ I said, ‘who was …’
    But she stopped me with her hand. ‘Alas, I can answer few questions as to the particulars of last night. Although I know that I can place my confidences with you, Miss Woodsen, the Williamses and the other players in this … affair … do not know you. They did not have an opportunity to form a good opinion of you and in all