Bath Tangle Part II

Serena realises that Ivo was right, and that living so close to her old house is hard for her, as it means that she is bound to clash with Hartley and Jane. She and Fanny befriend a young girl called Emily Laleham, whose father has a small estate narby. She is only 17 and due to come out in Society soon. Her mother is ambitious and hard, and wants her pretty daughter to marry well. Ivo spends part of Christmas at one of his houses nearby and he flirts a little with Emily, when they go to a local Assembly, but he leaves soon as he is not really interested in young women at a small town gathering. Serena tells him off when she finds out, as she thinks it is not gentlemanly to pay attention to a pretty girl, raise her hopes and then leave, and to ignore the other girls at the Assembly. Furious, Ivo retreats but they later learn that he went back to the party and took another girl out to dance, because while he is arrogant, he is not incapable of improvement. Jane has another son, Francis but she and the Carlow ladies are still not on good terms. Fanny is happy enough in the Dower house but she is a sensitive young woman and is upset by the arguments. By February, they get so unhappy that Serena suggests they go away. Although they are in mourning, they could go to Bath and drink the waters for health reasons and they could go out a little, and meet people. Fanny feels happier at the prospect. She worries that Serena who is much cleverer than her, finds her boring, but they are genuinely fond of each other. They hire a house in Bath and travel there, to settle in for a few months. At first, it all seems well and they enjoy the Spa, the libraries and so on. Serena tells Fanny that when she was 19, she fell in love with a young officer, and wanted to marry him. He went off to war, and she then had a romance with Ivo, and they got engaged. Fanny was never in love with Lord Spenborough, he was kind to her but she was pushed into the marriage by her mother.