For Myself Alone: A Jane Austen Inspired Novel Read Free Page B

partners and which girl had the prettiest gown.”
    “I barely noticed what anybody wore, Mama. As for the affair itself, I cannot imagine that there is anything extraordinary to tell. It was just what you would expect and have seen a dozen times before: the usual people were there; the standard dances performed; and the supper edible, but not overly fine. We all had a delightful time, and nobody got overly inebriated or taken into custody.”
    “What kind of a reply is that, child? I declare, your report is no better than your brother’s after all. If I had been able to go myself, I would not need to trouble you for descriptions. But I could hardly leave your father with his health in such a poor state.”
    Effectively chastened, I apologized for my impertinence at once and answered all Mama’s questions, supplying the colorful little details of which she is particularly fond. Since being out in company is one of the chief pleasures of her life, missing the festivities of the previous night had been a true sacrifice. This she had dutifully borne in consequence of Papa’s troublesome indisposition: gout, the curse of many a well-to-do gentleman.
    “I see Papa did not come down to breakfast again,” said I. “Is he quite unwell?”
    “He is not in bed, but he keeps to his room this morning,” Mama replied.
    “Can Mr. Trask do nothing more for him then?”
    “The draughts he prescribes give little relief, and your father has thus far resisted the other recommendations – moderating his diet and taking the waters at Bath. I do not know how much longer we can go on like this, however. He is in a great deal of pain.”
    “Then he simply must go to Bath. The hot mineral springs are said to be highly therapeutic. Do they not have the credit for Mr. Tupper’s cure a year or two ago?”
    “Yes! You are correct, my dear. I had quite forgotten. I shall have to remind your father of Mr. Tupper’s enthusiasm for the place. And perhaps you could put in a word for Bath as well, Jo. Together we may be able to persuade him to take medical advice in spite of himself.”
    “Oh, I do hope so… for his health’s sake.”
    Yet, in truth, it was more than my father’s gouty legs that I imagined would benefit from a change of situation. A removal to Bath would be no hardship for me either, I believed. I found it a very compelling prospect to trade the society of Wallerton, which had lately become so irksome, for a completely fresh arena, one wholly unspoilt by prior knowledge of my circumstances.
    Once again I mused over the paradox of my inheritance. Whilst it gave me a degree of independence that I had heretofore no right to expect, it had also made me its bondservant. Although with silken cords, I was tied to the thing nonetheless and could not escape the unpleasant effects it secondarily created, at least not in my own county. Elsewhere, with any luck, no one would know about my fortune unless I chose to tell them.
    My mind was soon made up on the subject. Father simply must be convinced to submit to a season in Bath for his own good… and for mine. Any scruple I might have felt over attempting to influence him in such a matter I successfully crushed with the weightier notion that the goal – his recovered health – justified whatever means I had to employ. When, a few days later, I found him alone in his library, sitting with his legs propped up on cushions, I took my chance. I came in and perched upon the edge of his desk as I had been in the habit of doing from when I was a girl of six or seven.
    “How are you feeling today, Papa?” I asked. “I have been so worried about you.”
    “Very poorly. Very poorly, indeed,” he growled. “I suppose I should not grumble, though. After all, as your mother would probably point out, compared to what some people suffer, my complaint must be considered quite trivial. Still, it is enough for me, I admit.”
    “Is there nothing you could take to give you present relief? A glass