Lady Ellingham and the Theft of the Stansfield Necklace: A Regency Romance

by Rochester, Miriam

  Richard collected his things together and escorted Felicity to Jeremy’s phaeton. He climbed up beside her, took the reins and moved off. Jeremy had agreed to return to the city on Artemis. Richard sat stiffly and was obviously angry at Felicity for her part in this morning’s proceedings but he was in no mood for conversation. Felicity did not care. Richard was alive and unhurt and that was all that mattered. She slipped her arms in his and leaned against him. He did not shrug her off she noticed but kept his eyes concentrated on the road. ‘Give him a couple of hours,’ she thought to herself, and he would come around.

  Thorndale remained behind for a few moments to pay the doctor and then climbed into his own carriage. Giles climbed up beside him. ‘All right Alex, out with it, why did you miss? We all know it was deliberate.’ Thorndale turned his head. ‘Richard is an honourable man. I was not about to shoot him for the indiscretions of his sister and after all the trouble Lady Ellingham has gone to this morning, it seemed churlish to disappoint her.’

  ‘But the charge was serious; no one could have blamed you. Is that the only reason?’

  Thorndale grinned at his friend. ‘Can you not guess? I have every intention of winning the fair Lady Ellingham and I will hardly succeed if I kill her brother.’ Giles chuckled. ‘I thought the land might lie that way, for she certainly is stunning.’

  ‘Ah but that is not all Giles. How many women do you know, who would go to such lengths to save their brother? Most of them would sit at home in a swoon, watching the clock and waiting for the dreaded news. Yes Giles a remarkable woman, don’t you think?’

  Chapter 6

  A Mutual Understanding

  Breakfast at Upper Brook Street that morning was a subdued affair. The Countess serving herself some poached eggs, looked at her twins reproachfully. ‘If I did not know any better I could swear that you two have quarrelled again. I swear, I despair of the both of you.’

  Richard was quick to reply. ‘No mother, we have not quarrelled, I am just rather tired this morning,’ and then thinking of his arranged appointment with Thorndale he added. ‘In fact Felicity and I are going to spend the afternoon together.’

  Lady Ellingham raised her eyebrows in enquiry. Richard was happy to escort Felicity anywhere on an evening but with the exception of a planned picnic or a trip to Richmond Park, which due to the weather had been rare this year, they scarcely spent the day together. Richard usually liked to spend his days with Jeremy shooting wafers at Manton’s’ or sparing in Jacksons parlour.

  ‘And what are you proposing to do,’ the Countess asked curiously.

  Richard opened his mouth to reply but Felicity not quite knowing what he was going to say hastily interrupted. ‘Richard has agreed to take me to Bartholomew Fair. He has been promising me for weeks.’

  Sophia Ellingham, not one to overreact, was never the less extremely surprised and gave Richard a disapproving look. Richard looked at his sister exasperated and if he could have reached across the table, he would have wrung her neck.

  ‘Richard I am surprised, I would not have thought it of you. I am sure that it is not quite a respectable place to go but I do believe that you will be disappointed because I am sure that they have long since packed up and left.’

  ‘Well I know it,’ he snapped. ‘I am afraid it is just wishful thinking on Flick’s part. No doubt, Emily has been filling her head with such nonsense. I do not intend to take her to such a place. We shall be doing something a little more respectable.’

  Felicity pulled a face and gave Richard a look of displeasure. The Countess was fond of her children but she sometimes thought that their personalities must have been switched at birth. Felicity was 11 minutes older than Richard and the Countess could only imagine that she had jostled for first position in the womb. Life would have been much simpler if Flick had her brother’s sedate and reliable character. She may then have been happy to stay at home and enjoy all the things a young lady was meant to enjoy but she was never happier than when she was careering around the Yorkshire countryside on Artemis, practising her shooting or trying her hand at target and field archery.

  Being the only girl in her vicinity, she had romped around the countryside with Richard and his young friends and as she got older, she could never understand why her parents had tried to curfew her activities. She had never ceased to get Richard into trouble and then out of it again, but it would appear that in adulthood Richard was increasingly called upon to help Felicity out of a fix. She was curtailed in London and the Countess felt guilty for dragging her to the city, but it was necessary for Felicity to find a suitable husband and there was no one suitable among her suitors in Yorkshire.

  Lady Ellingham sighed and looked across at Richard; it was not that she was disappointed with her son. Far from it, he always stepped up to the plate when it was necessary, but if only he could do it with a bit more passion. The Countess chastised herself. It had been necessary for Richard to take responsibility far sooner than he should have. He was still very young and perhaps it was just as well that he had a serious and sober personality. She would have been most distressed but not surprised if she had known of the events of the morning, but Richard had charged Felicity with the solemn promise of keeping it strictly to herself and if Felicity had many faults tittle- tattling was not one of them.

  After breakfast, Felicity went to her room to decide what to wear for her morning visit to Lord Thorndale. She had dressed quickly that morning and realised that she must have looked a fright and it had not helped her appearance that she had fallen humiliatingly into a muddy puddle. She wanted to look her best for the visit but for the life of her she could not understand why, for she was still of the same opinion. The man was a rogue.

  So promptly at a quarter to twelve, she stood in the hallway waiting for Richard. She was wearing her best afternoon dress of mint green muslin made elegant by its simplicity. It had a modest square, laced neckline and was tied around the high waist with a matching ribbon in a deeper green. The dress sported long slim elegant sleeves tapering to the wrist, a style of sleeve she favoured as it hid the disfigurement on her forearm and alleviated the need to wear her customary elbow length gloves. To finish off the look she wore a cape of green velvet tailored in the same colour as the satin ribbon on her dress. Sarah arranged her hair and trained it into a twist of golden ringlets that were tied at the crown of her head and then fell luxuriously over her shoulder.

  Richard met her in the hallway. ‘You look very fine Felicity,’ he smiled as he took her arm. Despite his pleasure, he had his reservations and cursed to himself. He very much doubted the wisdom of calling on the Marquis of Thorndale with Felicity looking as delightful as she did. He hesitated but there was no time to ask her to go and change now or they would both be late, besides which he would only meet with an argument. Blast it, he would have to make the best of it but why did the woman have to dress so simply divinely at all the wrong times. He could swear that she only lived to exasperate him.

  Richard and Felicity walked the two blocks to Green Street and in typical Richard style; they were knocking on the brass knocker at precisely midday. The butler escorted them to Thorndale’s study where the Marquis was sitting behind his desk. Thorndale stood up to greet them, shook Richards hand and invited them both to take a seat, after which he instructed the butler to bring in some sherry. Felicity looked around at her surroundings. They looked different in the daylight. She had been in this room before rifling through the Marquis’s desk and the knowledge made her blush.

  Thorndale made some small talk until his butler returned with the sherry and then got around to the main purpose of the visit. Felicity took a fortifying sip of her sherry waiting for the inevitable question. Alex gave her a dark brooding look. ‘Well Lady Ellingham, you obviously believe I have a serious flaw in my character and I would seriously like to know what has brought you to such a conclusion. I would like to know who has been spreading such lies and if you have discussed the matter with anyone else for I need
to discover the source of these false accusations.’

  Richard looked at her. ‘We need the truth Felicity before this matter gets seriously out of hand.’ Felicity rolled her eyes. ‘It got seriously out of hand when you two fools duelled at dawn. Can it get much worse? Yes I will tell Lord Thorndale what he wants to know.’

  Richard grimaced at the fact that she had just called Lord Sheraton a fool but Thorndale only grinned in humorous appreciation. Despite his humour however, Alex was not to be distracted from his purpose and sat waiting patiently for her explanation.

  She heaved a sigh and began. ‘Emily Entwhistle called on me the morning before last. She was in a distressed state and told me that on the evening of Lady Colchester’s ball you tricked her into the garden where you proceeded to take the Sapphire and Diamond necklace from off her neck. I have known Emily for a few weeks now and I cannot think of one reason why she would not be telling the truth.’ Felicity gave Alex Sheraton an equally level stare. ‘Well sir, and is it true, did you take it without her permission?’

  Thorndale was silent for a moment before giving his reply but then answered blatantly. ‘Indeed it is Lady Ellingham.’

  Felicity gave Richard a triumphant smile as if to say - I told you so!

  Thorndale however continued. ‘But if that is all she told you, I am afraid you have been seriously mislead because the necklace belongs to me. It is a family heirloom and belongs to a matching broach and earrings. I was fond of Emily and told her she could wear it for a very special occasion but unfortunately she was reluctant to give it back to me.’

  Felicity looked shocked but only momentarily. ‘The necklace belongs to you?’ She recovered her surprise however. ‘But even so, how unchivalrous of you sir to take it back from her in such a manner.’

  Thorndale sighed. ‘I see that if we are to rid you of this misconception of yours I will have to explain everything to you. Listen while I tell you a story. Last Autumn I met Emily Entwhistle in Bath, only she did not look like she does now. She had long brown curls down her back, very much like your own hair Lady Ellingham, only a different colour. She was not wearing those ridiculous spectacles that she appears to have adopted these last few weeks in London, and she appeared very different. I must admit to my own chagrin, I was a fool and fell for the lady. We spent many weeks together in Bath and I lavished her with many gifts. She could not have been more charming and I foolishly thought I was in love.

  To continue, Lady Ashwood of Bath was to hold a ball for her 25th Wedding Anniversary. In view of the occasion, I lent Emily the Stansfield Sapphire and Diamond necklace to wear for the evening with the intent of putting it back in the safe after the ball. She was delighted with my gesture, excessively so when I look back. Anyway, half way through the evening, I went to procure her a glass of lemonade but when I returned I could not find her anywhere. I searched for an hour. Neither she nor her uncle could be found and I discovered later from a witness that the two of them were seen entering a carriage shortly after 9.30pm. Emily in short had disappeared from the face of the earth. She obviously realised the value of the necklace she was wearing and decided to abscond with it.

  She said she lived in Northumberland so I travelled there to try to find her and retrieve the necklace but no one had heard of the Entwhistle family. After many investigations I found out that a woman vaguely answering her description had been travelling around the fashionable resorts attaching herself to wealthy men, enjoying their favours and when she had obtained as much as she could from them in the way of expensive gifts and money she would disappear. The descriptions of the Lady were similar but varied in subtle ways; she is obviously a master of disguise. Adrian Entwhistle the gentleman she travels with is not her uncle but her husband. That is how they make their living. She obviously realised the value of the piece, the necklace was like no other. Emily knew she would have to return it to me after the ball. The pair of them obviously decided it was worth it to disappear sooner than they had planned. The value of the Stansfield necklace was probably worth more than they could appropriate in a whole seasons deception.

  At the beginning of the little season, I was at home at my countryseat near Harrogate. I got a letter from my friend Giles Kavanagh advising me that he had seen a Lady in London wearing a necklace remarkably like the Stansfield Sapphire and Diamond piece and that I should come to London immediately to investigate. I did not for one moment expect it would be Emily who Giles had seen, for I had expected that the pair would have sold the necklace and be long gone.

  I spotted Emily at Lady Colchester’s ball only she looked so different. If it were not for the fact that she was wearing the necklace, I would have walked straight past her. I approached her and asked her to dance. Her eyes filled with dismay when she saw me but I gave her no choice and she reluctantly accepted my hand for a waltz. That is when I took Emily into the garden and demanded the necklace back. I did not wish to embarrass either Emily or myself in the middle of the dance floor, which she well deserved so took her out into the garden where we could be private.

  The necklace was her undoing. She did not realise how famous it was and that at some point it would be recognised. I was in luck; she was obviously so taken with the piece and she decided to keep it for herself instead of selling it. I retrieved my property and I have to say that the Lady was not too pleased.

  I told her that if she did not remove herself from London immediately I would report her to the magistrate. Something I did not want to do, as I had no desire to see her hang in Newgate prison, no matter what she had done. I wish I could say as much for that husband of hers for he is one born for the hangman’s noose. It is only a matter of time and it is of no consequence to me.’

  Thorndale finished his story. ‘So you see my dear I am not so wicked as you would have me. I only took what was mine under circumstances that were not ideal but never the less it was necessary.’

  Felicity heart missed a beat. She could hardly believe it. ‘I am happy to believe you but you must forgive me for asking, what proof have you that the necklace is yours?’

  Richard gasped. ‘Felicity please you have said enough!’

  Thorndale raised his hand to silence Richard and stood up. ‘A fair question, follow me,’ he said as he walked to the study door. He led them up the stairway to the first floor landing and stood in front of a portrait of an attractive young woman with dark hair and deep blue eyes. He looked up at the portrait with affection. ‘This, Lady Ellingham is a portrait of my grandmother Lady Stansfield, at that time Marchioness of Thorndale and later to become Duchess of Stansfield. It was painted in 1764 on the eve of her first wedding anniversary when she was 24 years old. Felicity looked up; the woman in the portrait was wearing a white diamond studded court dress, cut low and with a beautiful diamond and sapphire broach fastened at her breast. In her ears, she wore a pair of beautiful pear drop diamond and sapphire earrings and there around her neck was the very sapphire and diamond necklace that at this moment was sitting in its black velvet pouch in a secret drawer in Upper Brook Street.

  Felicity gasped in astonishment, she was near to speechless, as Alex Sheraton stood exonerated with a roguish smile on his face. Richard coughed. ‘Well Flick I think the least you can do is apologise to his Lordship.’

  ‘Oh I have never been so deceived in all my life. Emily, how could she!’

  Thorndale smiled. ‘I would not be too hard on yourself Lady Ellingham, and after all you are not the only one she has deceived. Emily is a connoisseur of her trade. I do not like the story to be generally known because it hardly stands to my credit. I am not one who is easily gulled but I have to admit that I was fooled by a pretty face.’

  ‘I am very sorry Lord Thorndale. I was a fool to believe her but she was so credible, all I can say in consolation is that I have never spoken of this to anyone. I may have thought the worst of you but I am no scandalmonger. If you hear anything in polite circles it will have come from Emily and not from me.’

  The Marq
uis took her gloved hand and kissed it. ‘I am pleased to hear it Lady Ellingham and I doubt Emily will want to advertise her indiscretions. I care little for what people think of me and I do not tolerate fools gladly, but it would be entirely a different matter to be branded a common thief. Let us consider the matter closed.’

  Richard gave an appreciative smile and held out his hand. ‘I thank you Lord Thorndale. You have been most gracious over the whole affair. I am pleased that you have been able to retrieve your property.’

  Thorndale sighed. ‘I wish it were true but alas the necklace still eludes me. The night before last, an intruder broke into my home and stole it again. I nearly caught the scoundrel but he escaped my grasp and got away. At the time I did not think a pursuit was necessary as it appeared that he had not stolen anything, or so I thought, he had nothing in his hands and carried no bag.’

  ‘It seems rather a coincidence,’ Richard replied, ‘do you know who it could have been?’

  Thorndale nodded. ‘I have my suspicions,’ he replied smiling at Felicity. She held her breath, surely he could not know, but then he continued. ‘The person in question was of medium height, slim, agile and somewhat effeminate. I know only one person of that description and it fits Emily’s husband Adrian Entwhistle, but there is an enigma. He took the necklace but left £2000 in cash. I find it hard to believe that he would leave the money untouched and it perplexes me. It is not as if he had not the time to take it for when I arrived, he already must have had the necklace in his pocket and so could have taken the money as well. Never the less, it is the only lead I have and I have started enquiries to track him down. If he is guilty, he will not find me so merciful the second time around. I can only think that in his greed for the necklace he did not notice the cash.’