by Liese Anning
They were in a haberdashery, and Lady Harrington was distracted choosing ribbons to decorate one of Verity's dresses when she heard a familiar voice call her name.
'Maisie,' she replied in surprise, 'what are you doing here?'
'Probably the same as you. Buying ribbons,' she answered with a smile. 'I almost did not recognise you. The dress you are wearing is beautiful.'
'Thank you, Maisie. It is rather lovely, is it not,' Verity replied, patting the skirt, 'I have left the school, and I am now staying with Lady Harrington. I cannot believe it; she was my mother's best friend. I met her only yesterday, and she immediately recognised me as my mother's daughter.'
'How lovely,' Maisie said sounding genuinely pleased, 'she does indeed look rather grand.'
'Yes, she is,' Verity said with a furrowed brow, 'and she has insisted on buying me all these lovely clothes. I feel rather embarrassed.'
'You must not be embarrassed,' she said, putting her hand on her arm, 'you deserve it.'
'Thank you,' Verity said, touched by her friend's words. 'But, what about you? You left so abruptly the other day. Madame DuPont mentioned something about you being called back home by relatives, but she did not believe a word of it.'
'No,' Maisie said, 'I did not, for a second, think that she would, but that is what Arthur told me to write.'
'Captain Richardson?' Verity replied, her eyes wide open.
'Yes, Captain Richardson,' Maisie said with her head bowed
They both stood in the shop quietly, and only the mumble of conversation of Lady Harrington and the owner of the establishment could be heard. Maisie at last spoke, 'that night, Captain Richardson had every intention of taking me back to school. We were both in the carriage. He was still furious with me and had not said a word to me since we had left you. I do not know why, but I told him, I loved him.'
Maisie shut her eyes, 'Oh Verity,' she said with a sigh, 'I knew, in fact, we both knew that we could not be apart. He took me back to his rooms and then next morning he asked me to marry him.'
'Congratulations,' Verity said joyfully, 'that is marvellous news.'
'Oh, Verity,' Maisie said, putting her hand on Verity's arm, 'I have not yet given him an answer. I have told him to wait until peace has been restored. But, I have already decided to refuse him.'
'But Maisie...'
'No Verity,' Maisie said with feeling, 'I have already told you, I will not let him ruin his life over me. His family expected him to marry well. Otherwise, they will all be ruined. If he survives this conflict, he will return to England, and he will marry the woman he has already betrothed.'
'What about you?' Verity said, concerned for her friend.
'I will survive, I always do,' she said, but this time there was a touch of sadness in her voice.
'He will not be happy with your decision. I only met Captain Richardson once, but he seemed to be the type of gentleman who would want to treat you honourably.' Verity said.
'I have to go,' Maisie said quickly, avoiding Verity's question, 'you should not be seen talking to me.'
'No, Maisie,' Verity said forcefully, 'I will speak with whom I choose.'
'You are a good friend, but I will not embroil you in any of my scandals. I am now nothing more than the mistress of an officer. I was not cajoled to be with him. He did not force me, or blackmail me into it; I chose it for myself. And, in the future, once he has gone, I will have to live with the consequences.' There was a short silence before either of them spoke. Lady Harrington turned around and looked at them and gave Maisie a stony stare. 'I have to go, she must know who I am,' she said, looking down at her shoes, 'goodbye, Verity, take care of yourself.'
Before Verity could reply, Maisie had left the shop, leaving Verity feeling a deep sadness over the loss of her closest friend.
'Who was that?' Lady Harrington asked after she had re-joined Verity by the door of the shop.
'Just a friend I used to work with,' Verity replied in a faraway voice.
'Lady Caroline to see you, my lady,' the butler announced to Lady Wrexham.
'Show her in,' Lady Wrexham said authoritatively.
'Very good, my lady,' the butler replied as he quietly glided out of the drawing room.
'Good afternoon, my dear,' Lady Wrexham said to the younger woman as she entered the room. 'How are you?'
Lady Caroline did not look happy. Her face was wrinkled up in a scowl. 'There is nothing good about this afternoon,' Lady Caroline replied, 'nothing good at all.'
'Please sit down, my dear, and tell me what is troubling you?'
Lady Caroline sat down opposite her patron. 'That woman,' she spat out, 'Miss Stanwick, or is it, Stanhope? I can never remember.'
'Are you referring to Miss Stanford?' Lady Wrexham answered coolly.
'Yes, her,' the young woman spat out, her nose wrinkled up in disgust.
'I would not worry about her,' came the measured reply, 'I think we made it perfectly clear what we thought of her. She has returned to that second-rate school of hers, and I very much doubt we will see her again. James will come to his senses soon enough.'
'I came to tell you that Lady Harrington has taken her in,' Lady Caroline said in anguish.
'Lady Harrington?' Lady Wrexham said puzzled, 'are you certain?'
'Yes,' Lady Caroline said her voice almost in despair, 'I heard it from one of her closest friends. They told me Miss Stanford is the daughter of one of her best friends from her come out season. And I have just seen that woman travelling in a barouche with Lady Harrington.'
'I would not worry about her,' Lady Wrexham replied, trying to comfort her prodigy. 'Any day now we expect the announcement of your betrothal to my brother-in-law. She will be forgotten by him soon enough.'
'But how can I marry him if he does not ask?' She said with an air of desperation, 'it has been three weeks since you assured me that his proposal was imminent.'
'Be patient, my dear Caro,' she said nonchalantly, 'just bide your time. Both our families support the marriage, and he has not lead you to believe that he will not ask?'
'Yes, but...' Lady Caroline said, urgency evident in her voice. 'He has not given me any indication that he wishes to marry me.'
Lady Wrexham put her hand on Caroline's arm, 'now, my dear. There is no hurry. My husband and I will speak to him, and he will soon come around. Presently, he is rather busy with the Duke and has not been to as many social engagements as I would have liked him to attend, but, once this is over, he will make his offer.'
'But, I cannot wait,' Lady Caroline said impatiently, 'I want to marry him now.'
Lady Wrexham thought that her impatience came from her youth. She remembered well how impatient she had been waiting for her husband to ask for her hand. From the moment, she had seen the Earl, eight years ago, she had decided that he would marry her. She played the game and won the prize. Now, she was counselling the next generation of young ladies to do the same. And Lady Wrexham knew that this was not the right moment for her brother-in-law to think of his future. 'Well,' Lady Wrexham replied at last, 'you must wait until he proposes. As you said yourself, you cannot marry him until he asks.'
'But what about her?’ Lady Caroline said in anguish, 'I have seen the way he looks at her.'
'Who?' Lady Wrexham replied, 'Oh! Are you still referring to that plain looking schoolmistress with the red hair?' She put her nose in the air and sniffed. 'As I have said countless times before. Do not worry about her. She is a nobody. She has no money and has a questionable bloodline. He would never marry a woman like that, never.'
'She did not look dull, or like a nobody just now next to Lady Harrington.'
Lady Wrexham looked at Lady Caroline with compassion, 'my dear, next to you, she will pale into insignificance. You are beautiful, and no one this season has come close to looking as lovely as you. Be confident, and you will win your prize. When you next see him at a ball, try and get him alone on the terrace or another secluded spot. Then you can use your feminine wiles
to make him fall in love with you. Once you have done that, it will not be long until he forgets that schoolmistress.'
Chapter 21
James had had another busy day. The little news he had received from France, had been confusing. It was difficult to distinguish between intelligence that was true and that which was false. The French had spies everywhere, and he was in a country that, only a year ago, had been loyal to France. Many locals still distrusted the British and were secretly hoping for Napoleon to cross the border and vanquish their foreign occupiers back across the channel.
Over the past week, young Stanford had done an excellent job. He had ridden for hours, without complaint, delivering messages to other commanding officers, based in the surrounding countryside. James had kept a close eye on the young man, and, as far as he knew, he had not been either drinking or gambling. James had made it clear, on the morning after he had been extracted from Ellington's club, what was expected of him. He would spend the day in the saddle delivering important messages. And at night, he would be on call, just in case an urgent communication needed to be sent. Consequently, young Stanford had no free time to call his own.
But tonight, James was expected to go to dinner at Lord Marlow's. He had promised his Lordship that he would attend one of his wife's soirées some time ago, but this one came at an inconvenient time. The last place James wanted to go was to a society drawing room so that he could listen to music played by mediocre musicians and engage in small talk with people he did not like. But, he had no choice. He had given his word that he would attend, and attend he would.
As usual, he arrived a little later than planned, just as the guests were about to enter the dining room for dinner.
'Good to see you, Colonel,' the booming voice of Lord Marlow said as he entered, 'just in time. We were about to make our grand entrance into the dining room.'
James recognised most of the guests gathered in the room. His brother and wife were in attendance, along with their ever-present escort, Lady Caroline. His heart sank when he saw the young woman in question, who smiled at him as he looked over at her. It seemed that at every function he attended, she was always there. He had told his sister-in-law, on numerous occasions, that he did not fully trust Lady Caroline. He did not know why, but there was something about how she conducted herself publicly, that did not sit well with him. James always prided himself on being a shrewd judge of character, and over the years his judgment had been proven correct. Now, looking over at the young woman in question, he was in no doubt that she was hiding something from the world.
He was busy pondering schemes to avoid being left alone with her when Lord Marlow boomed once more, 'have you met my friend Harrington and his good lady wife, Lady Harrington?'
'Yes, of course,' James said as he turned around to greet Lord and Lady Harrington politely. However, his attention was soon drawn away from the introduction.
He barely recognised the young lady that stood next to the Harrington's. She was beautiful, standing in the candlelight wearing an ivory silk dress inlaid with embroidered gold thread. Her glorious red hair had been swept back and was held in place with golden combs, studded with little pearls. And around her neck, she wore a single pearl drop necklace with a delicate gold chain, that was paired with matching earrings. If it had not been for those amber eyes, looking at him with a flicker of amusement, he would never have recognised her.
He quickly came to his senses and greeted Lord and Lady Harrington. 'I do believe you are already acquainted with Miss Stanford,' Lord Harrington said as he motioned towards Verity.
He suppressed a smile as he saw a faint blush in Verity's cheeks, 'yes,' he said, without showing any discomfort, 'her brother is a young Cornet in the 7th. And has been working for me carrying messages around Belgium.'
'Excellent,' Lord Marlow said as his voice, once more, was heard clearly by everyone in the room. 'Miss Stanford was without an escort. Would you do the honours?'
'With great pleasure,' James replied, offering Verity his arm. She rested her hand on his sleeve, and they walked into the dining room together.
During dinner, he was unable to engage her in conversation. Even though she sat opposite him, she was a little too far away for him to converse with easily. He did, however, when he could spend a little time examining her. He still could not believe how beautiful she looked, and he found it very difficult to concentrate on the conversation he was having with the person next to him. She occasionally looked over, and, when she caught his eye, she gave him a shy smile.
After dinner was over, the gentleman did not linger long over their port, and they quickly re-re-joined the ladies in the drawing room. After tea was served to the assembled guests, Lady Marlow, the evening's hostess, suggested musical entertainment. She encouraged anyone, who could play the pianoforte or sing, to perform to the other guests. Several of the young lady’s present, were eager to show off their talents to the congregated guests. During the melee, which proceeded Lady Marlow's request and the first performance, James managed to position himself so that he was sitting next to Verity.
'Do you play?' he asked her as the first performer took her seat at the pianoforte, 'I did not see you volunteer.'
She smiled and looked down at her hands, 'my musical repertoire is limited to a few hymns, and I only play them when absolutely necessary.'
The young woman began to play a complicated Mozart sonata that seemed, to James, to last for hours. When, at last, it had come to an end, and the young lady was basking in a polite ripple of applause, from the rather bored looking audience, he spoke to her once more. 'I did not know you were acquainted with Lord and Lady Harrington,' he said as the next performer got out of her seat and walked over to the instrument.
'Neither did I,' she said, 'I met Lady Harrington when I went to tea with Lady Wrexham. I found out that before she married, she was a good friend of my mother. Lady Harrington asked me if I would come and stay with them. I could not refuse. She can be very persuasive.'
The next performer had now taken her place at the pianoforte and was about to play. The young lady chose a piece that was not as technically difficult as the previous sonata, and consequently, she gave a more polished performance. Once she had completed the piece, she stood by the pianoforte and politely acknowledged the ripple of applause. James then leant over and spoke to Verity once more. 'I must apologise for Lady Wrexham's rude behaviour towards you the other day.'
'She was rude, but you do not need to apologise. If I had not accepted her invitation, I would never have met Lady Harrington. And she has been very kind to me.'
'How long are you going to stay with them?' he asked curiously.
'Lord and Lady Harrington have invited me to stay with them as long as I remain in Brussels,' Verity replied.
The next performer, Lady Caroline, stepped forward and walked, with her head held high, towards the pianoforte. As she sat on the stool, she announced confidently to all the assembled guests, 'I would like to sing a duet, but I am in desperate need of a gentleman to accompany me. And they must have a good tenor voice.' There were a few volunteers, but Lady Caroline knew her quarry.
After the challenge had been issued, Lady Wrexham walked over to James and said, with a loud commanding voice, 'come, brother, you sing well, and I know that Caro especially wants you to accompany her.'
'Not tonight, Charlotte,' he said, flashing her with a warning glance.
Lady Wrexham was not deterred and continued, 'my brother's voice complements Caro's to perfection, and I can think of no one, in this room, who would be able to accompany her so well.'
'Oh, please do,' Lady Marlow pleaded, clasping her hands together and looking at James imploringly, 'we rarely see a gentleman of your talent perform. It would indeed be a rare treat for us all.'
His sister-in-law had outmanoeuvred James, and he was in a position where he could not politely decline Lady Caroline's invitation. Reluctantly, he joined her at the pianoforte. He stood on the stool as she selec
ted a song for them to sing, from the collection of sheet music available. Once she had made her choice, she put the music on the stand and began to play. The young woman was undoubtedly talented; her voice was sweet and clear. And when James joined in and sung the accompaniment, their voices mingled together perfectly.
As they performed the love song, James kept his eye on Lady Caroline. He saw her, many times, glance over towards Verity. Lady Caroline had the unmistakable look of triumph in her eyes. His sister-in-law, who was now sitting next to Verity, in the chair he had just vacated, occasionally leant over towards her and made a comment. It was evident, from the stony look that Verity gave Lady Wrexham, she did not welcome the intrusion.
Once the performance was over, and the audience had given them the most enthusiastic applause of the evening, Lady Caroline remained at the pianoforte to sing another song. James then went to stand next to his brother. 'I do wish you would stop Charlotte from meddling in my affairs,' he said to him forcefully, 'she has not stopped interfering since she arrived here in Brussels.'
'Do not mind Charlotte,' his brother replied nonchalantly, 'she is harmless. She only wants the best for you.'
'I am old enough to know what is best for my life,' James answered in frustration. 'I am not sure who is worse, Charlotte or mother. I could do without their infernal interference.'
His brother just smiled and leant over to him. 'All I know is that when she’s fussing over you, she leaves me alone.'
'You did not bring your mistress, Elsa, with you. I heard that you gave her her marching orders just before you left for Brussels.'
'Not Elsa,' he replied, 'she was becoming far too demanding. But, there are others.'
James was familiar with his brother's infidelity. Just after he had first married Charlotte, she had objected to his many paramours. But, her mother-in-law soon taught her that to keep her position in society, a wife had to ignore her husband's adultery and hold her tongue. She had learnt that if he was discreet and did not flaunt them publically, she should be happy. However, recently Lord Wrexham was spending less time with his wife and more with his mistresses, and he was becoming a little less discreet in his dealings with them. He was, therefore, grateful for the distraction that his brother provided. As his wife directed more of her time organising his brother and less time berating him for his unfaithfulness.