In Chapter I, titled “Lady Louisa Barking Traces the Finger of Providence,” the unrest that settled over Brockhurst during the previous autumn’s guest visit remains a lingering presence, sparking events far removed from its origin. On a bleak March morning, Lady Louisa walks from Albert Gate to Sloane Street and notices the long-vacant Calmady corner house in Lowndes Square—empty since Richard Calmady came of age—is being redecorated. Louisa, tenacious in her goals, interprets the renovations as divine reward for her patience, a welcome sign amid the Quayle family’s worsening financial troubles: Lord Shotover’s longstanding debts have shifted from chronic to acute, threatening public scandal. Louisa writes a carefully worded, sisterly letter to her brother Ludovic Quayle, then staying at Brockhurst, asking for his confidential opinion on the family’s finances while dropping a casual hint that the Calmadys plan to move to London after Easter. Ludovic, amused by Louisa’s clumsy diplomacy, replies with an alarmist account of the family’s dire situation but confirms the Calmadys’ planned arrival.
News of the Quayle troubles reaches Ludovic’s father, Lord Fallowfeild, at his Whitney estate. He has struggled to summon righteous anger at Shotover’s debts, but is disarmed by Shotover’s candor when he arrives: Shotover admits he considered suicide but rejected it as cowardly, and expresses remorse for the burden his debts place on his sisters. Moved, Fallowfeild agrees to pay Shotover’s debts one final time, arranges to consult his lawyers Fox and Goteway to formalize the settlement, and plans a quiet trip to London to finalize the details. When Louisa learns of the settlement, she concludes her father’s weakness has undermined her own plans, and receives him with cold, reproachful frigidity when he visits Albert Gate a few days later, beaming about his merciful action. She quizzes him about Shotover’s scandalous debts, learns the family will not rent out their Belgrave Square house for the season (meaning they will not be present in London to counter gossip), and overrules his mild objections to bring 18-year-old Constance (Connie) Quayle to London for her social debut, to ensure the family is seen as financially stable. She instructs Fallowfeild to keep Shotover away from her, and sends him off to catch the 6:10 train to Whitney, where he reflects admiringly on Louisa’s clear-sightedness but is unsettled by her hardness before falling asleep on the journey.
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