Regency Rumours/A Scandalous Mistress/Dishonour And Desire

by Juliet Landon

  They had accepted an invitation to spend the evening with the Ellison family at Laura Place and, in spite of Amelie’s reservations concerning Caterina’s strangeness, she believed that to take her mind off things was preferable to having her dwell on them. So they went, the young son and daughter being among those they had first met in Meyler’s Library, a lively pair but well bred and respectful. Caterina would be in good company. There was music and a cotillion or two, even on a Sunday, card games and mild flirtations, a very good supper and then, to the dismay of some of the elders, waltzing. The Ellisons, Caterina told her later, were an unconventional family who happily turned a blind eye to such harmless capers. Amelie would like to have tried it herself.

  They were in bed by midnight, Amelie lying wakefully in the soft candlelight, comparing Caterina’s breakfast mood with the rest of the eventful day and the almost feverish energy she had displayed later. To her relief, Tam had behaved more soberly, but she hoped he would stay away tomorrow, for Caterina must relax and prepare herself for the singing assignation.

  Her failure to appear at breakfast next day, her disappearance from the house apparently dressed for riding, and the lack of any message, while causing alarm, was at first taken to be another visit to the top of the hill. But no one had seen or heard her go, and not even the groom who slept above the stable knew she had taken her mare until later. Riley was sent post-haste up the hill to find her, but returned with nothing to report. A man sent to Sydney Place came back with the same, but said that Mr Tam Elwick was still at home and knew nothing of Caterina’s whereabouts. Amelie thought he might come to help in the search, but he did not.

  Sick with worry, she sent servants to every part of Bath, to the Pump Room, the abbey, the libraries and the favourite shops in the abbey precincts and Milsom Street, to the milliner’s and to the apothecary in Wade’s Passage, thinking of her headache. The apothecary, Mr Carey, said he had not seen Miss Chester since Saturday.

  ‘Mr Carey saw her?’ said Amelie, incredulous. ‘Did you ask him what she wanted?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Millie, who had no reservations about asking such a personal question, ‘I did, my lady. He said she went in to purchase some laudanum drops. He suggested that pills would be safer, but she said she preferred the drops and that anyway they were for you. She even gave him her bottle to fill.’

  Words and imaginings did a slow somersault in her mind before she could force them out. ‘Laudanum? I sent her for no such thing. Did he sell some to her?’

  ‘Yes, m’lady. The best. He said she had only just enough money to pay for it.’

  ‘And she had a bottle … to be refilled? God in heaven, Millie. Did you know anything about this?’

  ‘I swear to God I didn’t, m’lady,’ said Millie, stoutly. ‘Miss Chester must’ve been very careful to keep it hidden, ‘cos I didn’t even smell it. And I know what it smells like ‘cos my mother takes it for her pains.’

  ‘But Caterina didn’t have any need for it. Why would she want it? And who has introduced her to it? And where?’

  ‘On her visits with the young ladies and gents, m’lady, I dare say. I know people like them take it for fun. Lots of them do. It makes them happy, though I must say I never thought Miss Chester would do it. Still, she’s been a bit down lately, hasn’t she?’

  Clapping a hand to her forehead, Amelie uttered a long slow sigh of despair, sitting down suddenly to fight the wave of nausea that swept hotly over her. Laudanum. Easy to obtain as a painkiller, used in small doses on teething babies and feverish children, more widely used to relieve war wounds and the pains of the elderly and the incurable, but deadly dangerous for young people unless administered by a doctor. The liquid version was a mixture of opium and alcohol coloured yellow with saffron, the pills brown and easier to measure accurately. No wonder Caterina was sky-high between bouts of unhappiness. For the pain of rejection, laudanum would do wonders.

  ‘Then young Tam Elwick must know something about this business,’ Amelie said. ‘That must be why he’s keeping out of my way, though I thought he’d have shown some concern. Tell Riley to bring the phaeton round, Millie, and then go and look in Miss Chester’s room to see if you can find anything that might help. Ask Mrs Braithwaite to come up.’

  Millie disappeared, talking as she went about not worrying, while Lise lit the spirit stove beneath the little brass kettle.

  Things did not improve, nor was it young Mr Elwick who called ten minutes later, but Caterina’s travel-weary father.

  ‘Mr Stephen Chester, m’lady,’ said Mr Killigrew, sonorously.

  Next to the appearance of Caterina herself, or Lord Elyot, this was the most comforting. ‘Stephen! Oh, thank heavens you’re here!’

  The enthusiasm of her welcome was as much of a surprise to him as his timely appearance was to Amelie, though the new butler’s serious face had warned him that something was amiss, and his first words were not an enquiry after her health but, ‘What is it? What’s happened, Amelie?’

  ‘How on earth did you know?’ she cried, taking both his hands in hers, but misreading his questions.

  ‘I don’t know anything. Tell me what’s going on. Where are you off to?

  ‘But how did you get here so soon?’

  ‘In my carriage, of course. How else? Caterina’s last letter sent from Richmond was so disturbing that I thought I’d better come and see for myself what the situation is. I’m glad I found you at last.’

  ‘So you went to Richmond first?’

  ‘Of course. They told me you were in Bath. Look, Amelie, sit down and tell me. We’re talking at cross-purposes here.’

  Only then did she actually look at him to see the dear friend and brother-in-law whose kindness had been her mainstay in Buxton. Like his late elder brother, he was tall but more physically active and slender, almost willowy. Dark red and thinning, his hair looked as if he’d been standing with his back to the wind, and his gingery eyebrows sloped downhill to give him an air of scepticism that was quite undeserved. His usually merry brown eyes were now almost green with concern as they searched affectionately over Amelie’s face, absorbing her agitation.

  Moment by moment, his expression darkened as he heard in some detail of his daughter’s strained relationships with Lord Rayne and Tam Elwick, which were innocent but not without risk. It was a saga which, in the telling, made Amelie realise what emotional turmoil Caterina was suffering, together with the excitement of a new life among complete strangers without her family to talk to, the sudden discovery of a remarkable voice, and the emergence of the butterfly in all its first trembling beauty, only to find that none of this was enough to turn the head of the man she wanted. Amelie now saw for the first time that her own lightning-speed engagement to Lord Elyot must have seemed to Caterina like a normal wooing when, in fact, it was exceptional by any standards. She had not set her niece a perfect example.

  ‘I’m sorry Stephen,’ she whispered. ‘I’m deeply ashamed to say that I’ve failed her. And I’ve failed you, too. Where on earth can she have gone?’

  ‘You have not failed either of us,’ Stephen said. ‘You have your own life to lead, and I placed you under an obligation that I should not have done. But she needed a woman’s hand so much. Sara too, now.’

  ‘I know, dearest. I know. I was … still am … happy to have her with me. She’s been good company and now she’s made dozens of good connections too. She has an appointment with a world-famous singing teacher this afternoon and now I fear we shall miss it. Perhaps she didn’t really want it, after all. Have I been pushing her too hard, I wonder? For my own benefit?’

  ‘From what you tell me, my dear, I feel an urgent need to go and find this young Elwick and flog him,’ said Stephen with a rare flash of anger. Striding to the window, he looked out across the town. ‘Where does he live, the little bounder?’

  Amelie caught at his arm. ‘No, Stephen … no! I really cannot believe Tam would wish her any harm. He may well have introduced her to drug-taking, bu
t he’s just irresponsible, not … not like that.’

  He pulled his arm away, turning to her with a fury she had not seen since his brother’s death. ‘Not like what, Amelie? He’s a young scoundrel who was floored only days ago by the brother-in-law he sees as a rival. Do you think he’ll have forgotten and forgiven? Already? No man would. He was humiliated in front of women. He’s getting his own back, isn’t he?’

  ‘On Caterina?’

  ‘On Lord Rayne through her. You’ve got your charity blinkers on again, Amelie. You were always too damn charitable. And as for getting yourself hooked up to this Richmond family to help launch Caterina into society … well … even a blind man could see what that’s all about. Elyot’s name and exploits have reached Buxton, you know, since he sent his man up there, and now he’s gone off to London already, and no word from him in a week. Hah!’

  ‘Oh, do say what you think, Stephen. Don’t be too nice for my sake,’ Amelie snapped. ‘You’re saying it’s a sham, I take it. Well, you’re right. It is. I’m not so charitable, you see, that I don’t know how I’m being used. But even you will have to admit that Caterina has made a huge impact locally, and will do so in London, too, if I can hold on long enough.’

  Shocked into a new realisation, Stephen stared at her. ‘You know? You’re allowing yourself to be used, for Caterina’s advancement? Amelie, tell me it’s not true. That’s not what I wanted to happen.’

  ‘I know it isn’t, but I can’t tell you it’s not true because it is. To all intents and purposes, I am Lord Elyot’s betrothed until I have done what I agreed to do for Caterina and you, and if that means going to bed with him, well, that’s the price of success down here as it is elsewhere. And now I think we have to get out there and find her before something terrible befalls her.’

  Gripping her elbows, he held her still before him. ‘Amelie, you had no need to do this. That was not part of the deal. Was it Hurst? Did Elyot find out about … you know … Josiah?’

  ‘He knows about the duel, yes. Hurst is still in London.’

  ‘Tch! I was right to come. I should have come sooner. You know I would have … well, you do know, don’t you? I never wanted you to be tied to a man like Elyot who uses women and throws them away again. It must be so painful for you, after Josiah. He was so—’

  ‘Yes, Stephen. He was. But I had to buy Lord Elyot’s silence. I had no choice, but he was more than a match for Hurst. We’ll not see him again. Now, we must go and look for Caterina. You saw nothing of lone female travellers on the London to Bath road, did you?’

  ‘Nothing at all. Where does this singing teacher live?’

  But Caterina was not there, either, and the rest of the day was spent in fruitless searches in and around Bath, especially on the many hills and lovely glades that had brought back memories of home. Stephen alerted the town constables who could do little now that the light was fading, but agreed to begin an investigation in the morning. One by one, the servants would arrive only to be sent off again on another wild goose chase while Amelie, sick with distress, was told to wait at home in case there was news of her. Unable to eat, to sit down, or even to think clearly, she watched the darkness fall and, with it, a steady rain that would chill anyone to the bone. Beguiled by her own reflection in the window panes, she threw a heavy shawl around her shoulders and waited inside the open front door, willing all the lights in the town below to yield up to her, alive and unharmed, the girl she had grown to love like a daughter. ‘Bring her back to me, Stephen,’ she prayed. ‘Bring my lovely girl back to me, please. Please.’

  When Stephen returned, it looked as if her prayers had been ignored, for his face was haggard with worry and the futility of empty searches. ‘Nothing,’ he said to her, passing a cold hand across his face. ‘Nothing.’ He staggered up the steps as his carriage moved away with white clouds rising from the horses into the lamplight, and Amelie caught him in her arms to stop herself from bursting into tears.

  ‘Come inside,’ she said. ‘You’re shivering.’

  The sound of hooves and the rumble of wheels over cobbles made her glance over his shoulder. One of the neighbours, perhaps? The coachman hailed her from a distance. ‘Lansdown, is it, lady? Looking for Lady Chester’s residence.’

  ‘Here!’ Amelie shrieked. ‘It’s here! Who is it? Have you news?’ Thrusting Stephen away, she ran along the pavement to the door of the carriage with her shawl flying behind her, grabbing at the handle as it opened from the inside to release the tall dark figure of Lord Rayne, who leapt onto the pavement even before the wheels were still.

  ‘Go inside!’ he barked at her. ‘You’ll get drenched. We’ll bring her in. Nick’s with me. Go on, we can manage.’

  ‘Caterina?’ she yelped.

  ‘Yes. Go inside.’ He turned to the carriage to receive Caterina into his arms, then strode with her past her stupefied and speechless father into the soft glow of the hall.

  Mrs Braithwaite’s face crumpled. ‘Upstairs, my lord, if you please,’ she said.

  Chapter Nine

  In their relief at Caterina’s safe return, there was no time for more than an exchange of meaningful glances between Amelie and Lord Elyot before attending to the comfort of the two exhausted Chesters, though she could see from the grim countenance that there would soon be a demand for detailed explanations. Nevertheless, his presence in Bath, at last, gave her more pleasure than she was prepared to admit until she was sure that it was for her pleasure he had come. While Caterina was being settled into her bed, it was enough that he was here. The drowsy young woman was in no fit state to provide her aunt with a coherent account of her adventures, though she did indicate that she had been riding to Richmond to find Lord Rayne since he had not come to find her. She had been quite sure it was the best thing to do and well within her capabilities. Which, Amelie thought, she would do, being high on laudanum. Amelie had asked no more questions about how she was found and brought home in a blanket by the one she had been seeking. If this was not mere coincidence, Amelie thought, then Someone had been watching over her rather well.

  Alternating between sleepiness and shivering, Caterina was otherwise unharmed, had no idea what day it was, whether she was in Richmond or Bath, though the brief contact with her father brought an angelic smile to her face before she let go of his hand, probably believing that she might be in Buxton.

  Leaving her to be tended by Lise and Millie, Amelie returned to the candlelit parlour to an atmosphere of concern and relief, but also to an icy civility hardly thawed by a roaring log fire, Madeira wine and fruit cake. ‘She’s going to be all right,’ she said. ‘She needs to sleep it off, then we’ll see. Have you been introduced? Yes, of course, you will have guessed, I’m sure. My lords, Stephen and I cannot thank you enough for bringing Caterina home. We were frantic with worry. A most dreadful day. May I ask how … where was she, exactly?’

  ‘On the road to Richmond,’ Lord Elyot growled, ‘which you might have guessed if you’d both used some imagination. We were heading for Bath when we took a stop at Chippenham. Seton recognised her horse in the stableyard. It had cast a shoe, and Miss Chester was out for the count on a bench in the taproom with an audience of travellers debating her identity.’

  ‘I came along the Bath road myself this very morning,’ said Stephen, tetchily, ‘and there was no sign of her then.’

  ‘The upper road, or the lower road?’ said Lord Elyot, fixing his wine glass with a frosty stare.

  ‘Er … well, the lower one, I think. Through Devizes.’

  ‘That’s why you missed her, then. She was on the upper road.’

  Sensing that the conversation would veer in the usual masculine fashion towards routes, distances and timing, Amelie came to Stephen’s rescue with a defence that was perhaps unnecessary. ‘My brother-in-law arrived only today,’ she said, ‘quite by coincidence. He’s not had time to familiarise himself with the routes.’

  ‘Really,’ said Lord Elyot, lifting an eyebrow. ‘So you will not have had ch
ance to introduce Mr Chester to the utterly harmless Mr Elwick, who is also here. Have you had time to change your mind about his morals, yet?’

  ‘If you are implying, my lord,’ Amelie said, ‘that we came to Bath to follow that young man and his sister, then you must have a very low opinion of my intelligence, after what happened. We came here to meet Signor Rauzzini because our first appointment was cancelled and because we both needed a change of air. Your sister and I have chaperoned Caterina closely.’

  ‘As we have seen,’ said Lord Elyot. ‘And did young Elwick help you to search for her?’

  ‘No,’ snapped Stephen. ‘He did not. And when I catch up with him tomorrow, he’ll be looking for the shortest way home.’

  ‘Stephen!’ said Amelie. ‘First we must allow him to explain himself. What interests me at this moment is why Caterina was so very unhappy that she wanted to … oh, dear, I’ve made such a mess of this, haven’t I? I thought … thought I was…. doing …’ She sat down, holding the back of her hand to her nose.

  But Stephen seemed ripe for an argument. ‘Surely there are better ways of dealing with unhappiness than dosing it with laudanum. When I’m unhappy, I take—’

  ‘Well, you’re not a woman, are you, Stephen?’ croaked Amelie. ‘At least young Tam was helping her to deal with it, which is more than I was able to do. And I don’t think it helps at all to start looking for the blame until we know what caused the problem in the first place.’

  Placing his glass upon the mantelshelf, Lord Rayne looked sadly at Amelie. ‘The problem and the blame lie with me,’ he said, quietly. ‘As I think you know, my lady. She must have talked to you, surely?’

  ‘She did, my lord. Some would call it the blind leading the blind.’

  ‘Then you have no cause to feel guilt. On the contrary, you have done more for your niece than some mothers do for their daughters.’