Salt Redux

by Lucinda Brant

  He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her. Instead, he smiled and bowed with a flourish over her hand in greeting. When he straightened, she grabbed the upturned braided cuff of his frock coat and, with a cheeky smile, disappeared with him behind an eight-paneled tapestry screen.

  The tapestry screen hid a small comfortable room where there was a chaise longue, several chairs about a low table, a washstand, and on a japanned side bureau a row of ornate silver ewers full of iced water, and a tray of glassware. In a far corner there was a dressing screen, and off to one side of this, two chairs drawn up to a small table that had upon it a seamstress’s serviceable nécessaire containing the sewing items required to repair rips and sew on dangling buttons. On the small table there was also a polished wooden box holding the cleaning products required for the removal of the wax that dripped from the candelabras onto the guests’ embroidered silk and velvet costumes. By the entrance to this quiet haven from the multitudes two footmen stood to attention, ready to assist any guest requiring a moment’s reprieve from the noise and the heat of the ballroom or who needed their expert repair services.

  Upon seeing the Lady Caroline in company with the gentleman with whom she had shared a passionate kiss in the anteroom off the Earl’s book room, one of the footmen nudged his counterpart and both took themselves off to stand guard on the other side of the tapestry screen.

  Alone together, Caroline threw her arms about Sir Antony’s neck and commanded he kiss her, to which he readily acquiesced.

  WHEN SIR ANTONY had the inclination to speak, he said, arms about Caroline’s waist, looking down into her upturned flushed face, “You’re not wearing stays.”

  “Silly. Harem girls don’t wear boning. Well, at least, that’s what Aunt Alice says. She is our resident expert, having been to Constantinople.” She sighed. “It is so liberating!” Then giggled. “And just a little bit naughty.” When he did not respond she cocked her head. “I thought you would like me this way…”

  Like it! His scalp prickled with suppressed desire. The thinnest layer of silky satin separated his flesh from hers, and hers was so intoxicatingly curvaceous he could hardly think straight. He swallowed and found his voice.

  “Dressed like that, it’s no small surprise why the Ottomans keep their women locked up in harems away from other men. I think it for the best if this is the first and last time you wear such a costume to a masquerade.” When she scowled, he pinched her chin. “But I would be very pleased if you wore your fetching harem outfit in the privacy of our home—just for me… You see, mostly I am a very congenial sort of fellow, but not where you are concerned. To tell a truth, I find I am inordinately possessive. I do not like the idea of other men looking at you with desire. I want you all to myself—always.”

  She touched his shaven cheek. “You will—always. I never want others to-to come between us, for others to interfere in our lives. I love you with my whole heart, and would hate myself if ever I were a disappointment to you…”

  So she had been surreptitiously observing his alcove conversation with Dacre Wraxton and worried now what that maggot of a man may have revealed to him. He would never tell. Not liking to see her apprehensive and miserable, he said, smiling into her eyes, fingers gently entwined in a long silken lock of her fiery mane,

  “That, my darling girl, will never happen. I, too, love you with my whole heart. I cannot say it enough. Soon I will be able to show you just how much…” He opened his frock coat and to reveal her brooch pinned to his chest, just above the red sash. “This token of my devotion will have to suffice for now. I have never been without it since you gave it to me, and soon, I will never be without you.”

  Caroline’s eyes widened and she gave a little sigh of relief.

  “Oh! You do have it! I thought—I thought I saw it—Never mind!” She dimpled and changed the subject, a hand to the gold buttons and brocade of his wide lapel. “As for your splendid costume, my lord, the only creature who should not see it is Peter. You will surely make him jealous. He thinks he is the only macaw in my life!”

  “Ha! Best Peter the Macaw see me for what I truly am—a rival for your affections.” He picked up his feathered mask and held it up to his face. “Semper will be very pleased his efforts were not in vain. Now, my love, as much as I would prefer to remain cozy with you here, we best rejoin the guests before the Pasha of Persia sends out his eunuchs to find us.”

  “Eunuchs? What is a eu—eunuch?”

  Sir Antony swallowed. A good question for her to ask, but not one to be answered there and then. He forgot that though she might be a widow, Caroline was only two-and-twenty and had led a very sheltered life under her brother’s roof.

  “Not a topic the Pasha would approve. I’ll tell you when we are married.”

  “You will tell me, won’t you?” she asked, eyes narrowed.

  “Of course. You can ask me anything once we are married and I will tell you honestly. My word on it.”

  This satisfied her and she said with a cheeky grin,

  “Pasha of Persia? I call him the Sultan of Glum! You laugh, but that is what he is, ever since he saw the females of his household dressed in Ottoman outfits. He was all very pleased to see Jane in pantaloons but I wish you could have seen the look of disapproval he pulled when told Kitty, Aunt Alice and I were part of his harem. Deep down, he’s always been such a straight-line walker!”

  “And a good thing, too!”

  She smiled cheekily, very pleased with herself. “Wait until he sees Tom and Mr. Willis!”

  Sir Antony chuffed her under the chin.

  “He has. He gave them the same gloomy reception.”

  Caroline’s smile instantly disappeared. She frowned.

  “Is there something or someone bothering him of late? He hasn’t been himself for weeks… I thought it was because he was worried about Jane and her third lying-in. He is always moody and preoccupied just before a baby is born. That surprised me because when there is first news of a baby on the way, he goes about with a grin on his face for days!”

  “I can only imagine it is because childbirth is a very scary experience—for both parents.”

  Caroline pondered this and then said, startling Sir Antony, “Yes, for us, it is. Animals are so much better at it than we are.” Adding seriously, “Is it Diana’s return from the Continent that is bothering him?”

  “I believe you are right. Diana has always had the power to make your brother testy. And now she has returned, he worries she means to interfere in his life.”

  “As only she can!”

  “Yes, as only she can, and will. Which is even more reason for us to rejoin the masses, to offer the Sultan of Glum our support.” He kissed her forehead. “Will you do me a great favor? Keep an eye on the children.”

  “Jane has already asked me to do so. I promised to look in on them every hour. Though why Jane and Salt saw fit to move the entire nursery to the tennis court…”

  “Oh, I am sure the children are enjoying themselves hugely,” Sir Antony said lightly. “With all the excitement in the house over the past few days leading up to this masquerade, and now the ball tonight, it will give them a sense of involvement. Particularly for Merry, who at twelve years of age must be wishing she were able to dress in pantaloons and join in the fun, and not be stuck with three children under the age of four as company. If Ron were here with her, perhaps she would feel differently.”

  Caroline tried to suppress a knowing smile, but Sir Antony caught the look in her eye and knew she was up to something. Sometimes he wondered if he knew her better than she knew herself.

  “Out with it! What have you and Merry concocted between the two of you? Don’t tell me you’ve disguised her in costume and she is somewhere close by?”

  Caroline’s lips parted but she said nothing. She was not going to be the one to give her cousin away. Aunt Alice was also in on the scheme.

  “Out with it, Caro! What have you done with Merry?”

  “Why should
you think I—”

  “Because you did the same at the Hunt Ball when you were fourteen. Don’t think Salt and I didn’t know you had dressed yourself as a page boy and were lingering in the Gallery with the musicians watching proceedings!”

  Caroline gave a sigh at a remembrance.

  “Salt could not have cared less had the house been burning down around his ears! All he cared about was dancing with Jane. Who could blame him? She looked so beautiful in her gold satin gown… I might have been only fourteen, but I saw the way he looked at her and knew, even then, that he was in love with her. He’d been looking at her that way for a month or more! He still does, when he thinks no one is looking at him. I remember thinking then I wished you would look at me that way.”

  “Caro, you were only fourteen. If I’d looked at you at all, in any way, Salt would have had me gelded there and then, and I’d be the one wearing the eunuch costume!”

  Caroline giggled. “So that’s what a eunuch is!” She kissed his flushed cheek. “Wishes do come true. You do look at me that way—now.”

  “Caro, darling, please tell me if Merry is out there amongst that lot. It is very important.”

  Caroline pouted. “It will be much more fun for her if she thinks she isn’t being observed.”

  “I dare say it would be, if she didn’t have Diana for a mother. But she does, and if Diana knew Merry was in costume, flitting about the ballroom, she might create the sort of scene your brother abhors. You know she will blame Jane. So please—”

  “Oh! Yes! So she will. We—Aunt Alice and I—we didn’t think of that. Of course Diana will blame Jane, and cause a scene. It is just the sort of nonsense Diana thrives on. But I’m afraid it might be too late to do anything about it. I left Aunt Alice talking with Diana to find you…”

  TWENTY-SIX

  ‘OH? IS SHE TRULY HERE, here at the ball?” Diana asked with breathless surprise, turning full circle to look about the crush of guests because the large Elizabethan collar encircling her neck precluded her from looking over her shoulder.

  She had her back to the crowd and was talking with Lady Reanay, whom she had spied in conversation with Lady Caroline, Lady Porter and a group of matrons by the open sash window, sipping champagne and exchanging the latest gossip. She had watched Caroline cross the room to an alcove where her brother Antony was in conversation with someone out of her line of sight. With Caroline gone, she made her move and joined the party, Lady Porter and the three women quick to see she wanted a private word with her turbaned mother-in-law. Two minutes of conversation and she had the old woman telling her what she wanted to know without the least need to exert any influence; silly old fool.

  “You mustn’t say a word to Salt! He is already out of charity with me for my attempt to take Merry to visit you. He was pleasant but firm in his refusal but I could see he wanted to bawl me out.” Lady Reanay shivered recalling that unpleasant interview, and looked at Diana with a small smile. “You always did look your best in red, my dear. And that ruff, so majestic! I once wore a—”

  Diana wasn’t about to let her change the topic.

  “He can hardly have objection to me seeing my darling daughter with a hundred onlookers present,” she interrupted. “I promise not to say a word, or give her away. If I could just see her… Please, my lady. You know what an agony it is for a mother to be denied access to her own child!”

  Lady Reanay was in a misery of indecision. She had made the Earl a promise she could not forfeit, and yet she understood only too well the distress of which Diana spoke. She had also promised Merry not to reveal her truancy if she kept to the small alcove between the refreshment rooms and the ballroom, where she could watch the guests, resplendent in their costumes, as they sauntered back and forth from room to room. As all the liveried footmen and pageboys were wearing black facemasks, in keeping with the masquerade theme, no one would be the wiser to Merry’s identity.

  What neither Caroline or Lady Reanay had envisaged was the vigilance which Nanny Browne and her nursery maids and sundry staff were keeping over the Earl’s children. When Merry did not return after being permitted to watch Lady Caroline dress for the masquerade, Nanny Browne sent one of the nursery maids to scour the house to find her, and to not return until she had Miss Merry firmly by the hand. When the nursery maid returned in tears after an hour, Nanny Browne decided to involve the housekeeper, and on it went until the truancy came to the ears of the very servant in whose trust Merry had been placed.

  When the butler had a word in her ear about this state of affairs, Lady Reanay almost lost her turban, such was her jolt of surprise. What Miller confided played straight into Diana St. John’s hands. The old lady put a bejeweled hand to her pearl beaded bodice and taking a deep breath said to Miller,

  “We will keep this to ourselves for the time being. Send word to Nanny Browne that she has been found—oh! And that his little lordship has also been located and is safe with Miss Merry. I will seek out Lady Caroline and she can—”

  “Perhaps I can be of assistance, my lady?” Diana interrupted. “After all, I am here, and Caroline could be anywhere. By the time we find her, Magna and—?” She glanced at the butler with alarm, then said to her mother-in-law, “Pardon me, my lady, but who is this little lordship keeping company with my daughter?”

  Lady Reanay squeezed Diana’s arm.

  “No! No! You mustn’t think that!”

  She pulled Diana by her full length sleeve towards the window, fearing to be overheard, but with the quartet playing and the masqueraders ever boisterous, it was difficult for Lady Reanay to raise her voice to be heard at all.

  “Edward—Lord Lacey—Ned—the Earl’s eldest son, has bolted from his nurse. He is quite a handful, and reminds me so much of his papa when he was the same age—too intelligent by half and just as naughty. Of course with that beautiful face and those golden ringlets he looks like an angel, so he could get away with strangling a cat and no one would think he had done such a wicked thing. Not that he would ever be so cruel. He is very gentle with Viscount Fourpaws, and with any of Caroline’s animals, particularly her darling little pug dog. He is not a wicked boy, just curious, as little boys are wont to be when bored. I just meant—”

  “I understand what you mean,” Diana said through her teeth, losing all patience with the old lady’s ramblings. She made a quick recover, and to hide her intense irritation made a show of fluttering air across her mother-in-law with her fan, and said to the butler, who still hovered, “Have a glass of wine fetched for her ladyship, and a chair. But before you go, tell me what I may do to help recover my daughter and Lord Lacey and return them to the safety of the—nursery…?”

  “Not the nursery, my lady. The children are spending the evening quartered in the gallery of his lordship’s tennis court. But it is to the nursery it seems his little lordship has indeed gone. I fear he is still obsessed with the whereabouts of his sleeping companion.”

  “Sleeping companion…?” Diana St. John asked, feigning ignorance.

  “Mr. Monkey Mischievous,” Lady Reanay told her as if it were common knowledge that was the name given to Ned’s cloth monkey.

  When a footman presented her with a chair, and another handed her a glass of wine, Lady Reanay quickly sat and gratefully sipped at the wine. Events threatened to spiral out of control if Ned and Merry were not fetched at once from the vacant nursery, and before Salt came to hear of it. She was certain her heart was beating too fast.

  “It was one of the footmen who informed me that his little lordship was seen making his way up to the nursery alone,” the butler continued when Diana waved a languid hand for him to continue. “I took the opportunity of asking Miss Merry to leave her position in the alcove and fetch his little lordship and return him to Nanny Browne. I reasoned his little lordship would do as Miss Merry asked of him, and as she herself is now required at the tennis court, both would be back where they belonged.”

  “A wise plan,” Diana St. John praised the butler.<
br />
  “Thank you, my lady. However, they have not returned promptly to the tennis court and so I fear that perhaps his little lordship has turned his truancy into a game and is playing at hide-and-go-seek with Miss Merry.”

  “I do believe you may be right, Miller,” Lady Reanay agreed. “Ned does love to play games, and he may well be hiding from Merry. Oh dear, this is all so distressing…”

  “Are there any servants in that part of the house tonight?” Diana St. John asked the butler.

  “No, my lady. All the nursery staff are at the tennis court, and the footmen who usually service those private rooms are being used here, in the public rooms on account of the masquerade.”

  “So the entire nursery is empty of servants and family?”

  “Yes, my lady.”

  “The nursery maids and the children are being kept—where did you say…?”

  “They are spending the night at the tennis court, my lady. A treat for the children…”

  Diana nodded gravely. Mentally, she was quickly revising her plans. She had hoped to stage her tragedy in the nursery. She so wanted to see those apartments burned to cinders, and their occupants along with it! Mrs. Smith and two hired ruffians should, at this hour, be awaiting her outside the garden gate in the mews. They had enough combustible rags between them to burn down Westminster Hall, and she had enough gold coin in her bodice to bribe the gatekeepers.

  What now that the precious offspring had been moved to the tennis court? Perhaps the change of venue would also work for her plans? After all, the royal tennis court had a door that opened straight onto the mews, so easier access for Mrs. Smith and the ruffians. If both doors could be bolted, and enough smoke generated to fill the gallery boxes, and with the general pandemonium that ensued with a fire, there was every chance the occupants would either be trampled to death or asphyxiated… Perhaps it was worth the risk… She had not schemed and dreamed for all these years to abandon her plan over one small detail.