“I know!” Fanny said grimly. “Well, if I have to face it I may as well get it over with!” And she picked up her skirt so as not to have the hem trailing the carpets and getting soiled.
“That’s the spirit!” Dora cried and escorted her out of the room to the stairway.
The concert part of the evening was already under way when Fanny came to stand in the anteroom just off the ballroom, as a stout soprano was singing some frantic, high-pitched song about the beauties of an English garden. It went on for what seemed to Fanny an endless time, with the elderly male pianist anxiously accompanying the soloist with great energy.
The plump singer ended on a fantastically high note on which her voice noticeably cracked. Not taken back by this, the woman bowed to the loud applause which followed, giving a slight curtsy in the direction of the Prince. Then she marched off grandly, followed by her accompanist clutching his music. They went past Fanny without noticing her.
George suddenly appeared with a mild-looking older man at his side. He said, “This is the pianist with the orchestra. You describe your song and how you sing it and he will accompany you.”
Fanny knew fresh despair. She told the pianist, “It’s a number Little Nell made famous, called The Dairy Maid and The Squire’.”
The pianist nodded. “You’re in luck! I know it! You set the tempo and I’ll follow along for both the song and dance!”
George’s eyes showed a merry twinkle. “So you see! All your problems are settled!” And he marched out to the ballroom while she remained in the ante-room with the pianist.
George was greeted by applause. He smiled and accepted the good-natured laughter and ovation. Raising a hand, he began to speak; “Thank you, dear friends! I fear I must disappoint you. I shall not be entertaining you this evening. But I do have a special treat and surprise for you—a mystery lady who does a most spirited imitation of the famous soubrette, Little Nell! I have seen this pretty young woman perform and I can promise you some exciting moments! And some entertaining ones!” He bowed again and with a smile on his face came to the door, gloved hand outstretched, and led Fanny out to the brightly lighted ballroom. There was a loud burst of applause from the guests at the other end of the room.
Once on the stage she lost her nervousness. All she could think of now was her song and dance. The pianist had taken his place and was looking in her direction. She nodded to him and he played a short introduction to the comedy song.
Fanny had gone through the performance so many times before that she was completely at ease. The piano background was a big help, especially when it came to the dance steps. She sang and grimaced like Little Nell and was heartened by hearing the audience laughing at the right times. When she ended her lively dance the staid group went wild! She had to return four or five times to bow and the applause only ended when the orchestra began to play.
The first to reach her in the anteroom and congratulate her was the young Viscount. He seized her by both hands and smilingly told her, “I was proud of you! And the Prince seemed to be enjoying himself for the first time this evening.”
“I’m glad I didn’t trip on my skirt and fall down,” she said.
“No chance of that!” George declared. “And I must say you look damnably pretty in that gown!”
“Borrowed finery,” Fanny protested. “I must get upstairs and take it off. I have to return to work. They’re short of servers!”
The handsome Viscount shook his head. “Not at all! You have done your work for the night. Now the Prince wishes to personally congratulate you. I’m to present you to him!”
“Please, I’d rather not,” she said, weakly.
“You must or the Prince will be offended,” George warned her. “Then father will be upset and there’ll be the Devil to pay!”
Her eyes widened with concern. “What can I say to him?”
“Just answer him as you would anyone,” he said. “You speak nicely. Just be your natural self!”
It was not an easy request. And when George brought her before the brown-skinned Prince Aran she felt herself weak at the knees. Only the fact George was at her side gave her the courage to carry on. She felt that everyone else in the place was watching and whispering.
Prince Aran’s black eyes fixed on her with the same hunger as before but now there was admiration in his face and manner as he said, “You are most talented, Miss Hastings, in addition to being a beauty!”
“Thank you,” she said. “It was only a vulgar, comic song, hardly suitable for a gentleman such as yourself.”
The Prince smiled. “Truly I have too little comic relief in my life. I’m too sober a fellow. Your amusing song was just what the evening needed.”
“You are most kind, Prince Aran,” she said, lowering her eyes.
The Prince went on, “Most people are so in awe of royalty they are inclined to overlook the fact that we have average tastes. Or else, they think that Indian royalty must be savages, to be entertained only by dancing girls or trained cheetahs. This might be true of my father, the Maharajah, but I have remained in this country long enough to have cultivated Western ways.”
George told her, “Prince Aran and I attended Oxford at the same time.”
Prince Aran nodded. “George understands me. He is my good friend. Soon I will be returning to our kingdom in the hills of India and I shall much miss all this.”
Fanny said, “It is to be hoped you return soon again, Your Highness.”
“That depends,” the Prince said. “My father is old and not at all well. If I succeed to his throne I shall not be so free to travel.”
“That would be a pity,” she said with sincere sympathy.
Their eyes met and she was once again aware of his charm. Though his face was narrow and his skin brown, his features were well-formed with the exception of the rather large nose. His beard was short and suited him and she could guess that he had won the hearts of many females in his brief life.
The Marquis came up and bowed to her. “You did well, miss.”
“Thank you, sir,” she said.
Leaning on his cane the Marquis turned to the Prince and said, “I really must tear you away from this lady. Lady Andrews is asking to be introduced to you.”
Fanny was certain this was a strategy on the part of the wily old Marquis to get the Prince away from her. It would be embarrassing to him if the guests suspected the Prince was becoming too familiar with one of the household’s servant girls and that they had been hoaxed in accepting her as a mystery entertainer when she was merely a maid in the house!
The Prince seemed to suspect this also. His brown face took on an ironic expression. He told the Marquis, “Very well, I shall go with you.” And then he turned to her, his eyes making direct contact with hers and offering a message which sent a small thrill through her. He said, “I promise, Miss Hastings, to see you again before I depart for my native land.”
“You are most kind, Prince,” she said.
He bowed and left them. The old Marquis hobbling along with the aid of his cane went across the room to make the promised introduction of the Prince to Lady Andrews.
George gave Fanny a knowing smile. “I must admit you’ve made a conquest in the Prince.”
“I’m sure he’ll promptly forget me,” she predicted. “He meets all manner of pretty girls!”
“None any more so than you,” he replied. “I had to have him notice before I became so aware of you!”
“Mr. George!” she said shyly.
“I mean it,” he said studying her.
At that instant an attractive, blonde girl came rushing up and tapped him on the shoulder, saying, “George! Your memory grows worse! This is our mazurka!”
“Sorry!” he said awkwardly.
“We cannot waste a minute!” the girl said and tapping her fan against his shoulder once more she drew him away with her. She only gave Fanny a slight glance and that an unfriendly one as she left her standing there alone.
A v
oice in Fanny’s ear said, “That beauty was the flirtatious Virginia Andrews! Note how charmingly she took George away from you!”
She turned in astonishment to see it was George’s soldier brother, Captain Charles Palmer, resplendent in his red tunic, blue trousers and yards of gold braid. She said, “Mister Charles!”
“Don’t be afraid of me,” Charles begged her. “I’ve been wanting to congratulate you but George and the Prince have been keeping you to themselves.”
She was truly upset now. She said, “I must go, Mister Charles. I have no right to be here!”
“You have every right here tonight, Fanny,” Captain Charles said, taking her by the arm so she wouldn’t run away. “Surely you must have heard about Cinderella. She won a Prince by merely having her foot fit a glass slipper. You have done much more! Entertained the entire company most amusingly!”
“I did so on command,” she said. “And with that over I ought to leave.”
“Pray remain a moment or two with me, or I shall think I’m a poor fellow whom the ladies all despise.”
“Not at all,” she protested. “I like you, Mister Charles. All of us do below stairs.”
“Just so long as you do,” he said, his pleasant face showing one of his good-natured smiles.
“I’m wearing Miss Dora’s gown!” she said, with naive pleasure.
“Dora’s dancing her pretty head off with a fellow officer of mine,” Charles told her. “She couldn’t care less what you’re doing. But I think you have eyes only for brother George. Isn’t that true?”
“Mister Charles!” she reproved him though she felt her cheeks redden.
“Don’t be ashamed of it, all the girls like him,” Charles said frankly. “I hoped you might be the exception who inclined more to me!”
“You’re making fun of me, sir,” she accused him.
“Never, Fanny,” the young officer said sincerely. “I swear I would not do that. Joke with you, yes. But make fun of you, never! I think you’re the loveliest female here and I say it is a wry twist of fate that you are one of the household staff rather than of the gentry!”
“I’m sure you mean to be kind,” she said.
“I do,” he added quickly. “I should like to be your friend, Fanny. And I’ll start by giving you some good advice. Don’t give your heart to George, my girl; he’s already promised to wed Virginia Andrews. And her father, Sir Matthew, and my father, the Marquis, are bound to make the match happen.”
“So that is why she took him away so quickly,” Fanny said.
“She does not tolerate his enjoying the company of any other pretty girl. She did not know you are a servant so she saw a threat in you. She is a haughty baggage and if she’d guessed you were a maid she would be making a protest at your being present here at all.”
Fanny quickly pointed out, “So you merely prove what I have said. I ought not to be here!”
He shook his head. “I’m suggesting what the shallow Virginia would say. She’s not worthy of your concern!”
“But your brother is going to marry her!”
“And will regret it!” Charles said grimly. “But that is the way with families. When they decree a union it must be or we are considered traitors to our class!”
She said, “I fear I do not understand.”
“Better you don’t,” Charles said. “Now, I have no need to marry anyone. I’m the youngest son, not even the second as my brother the Reverend Kenneth is! I have no hope of inheriting the title so I am comparatively a free man, able to fall in love with the girl of my choice!”
“I hope you find her,” she said.
His blue eyes held a merry twinkle. “Perhaps I already have!”
“No. You are merely playing a game. Saying pretty words to flatter me!”
“Don’t believe it,” the young officer said. “I would truly like to know you better, Fanny. So I beg you not to become too serious about George. I don’t want to see you made sad.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I will remember your good advice.”
It was then that Dora Carson and the young officer with whom she was dancing came up to join them. Dora at once came to her and said, “You were a great success, Fanny. Everyone is talking about your talents and wondering who you are!”
Fanny gave the pretty dark girl a plaintive look. “And I’m terrified, Miss. Please see me out. I’d like to leave now!”
Dora showed mild surprise. “You truly wish to leave the scene of your triumph?”
“Yes!”
“Very well,” Dora said. And turning to the two young men, she said, “You must excuse us while we retire a moment to refresh ourselves for the balance of the evening.”
Charles and the other officer bowed. And Charles called after them, “See that both of you return!”
In a few minutes she was back in Dora’s upstairs room and the dark-haired girl was helping her out of the borrowed gown. Fanny said, “I’m ever so obliged, miss. The young men were keeping me there and I didn’t know what to do!”
Dora stood holding the gown and smiling at her. “You ought to be flattered. You were entrancing! They were charmed! I saw how quickly Virginia Andrews dragged George away from you! She wasn’t about to lose her Viscount to any mystery lady!”
Fanny was now in her maid’s dress again. She smiled grimly and said, “She did give me an ugly look as she took him on the dance floor! I can’t say I like her type!”
“She’s a silly, shallow, spoiled girl!” Dora said with a sigh. Her lovely face shadowed. “My only fear is that she’ll ruin George’s life!”
“Why don’t you marry him, miss?” Fanny said impulsively.
“The old Marquis would never allow it,” Dora said in a weary voice. “You were a Cinderella tonight, Fanny. But all dreams don’t come true that easily.”
“You love him, I can tell!” Fanny said with concern.
“I don’t allow myself to think about it. It’s hopeless! I must go back downstairs,” Dora said, tossing the gown on the bed and rushing out of the room.
Fanny watched after her sadly. Dora was hopelessly in love with the handsome Viscount and it could come to nothing. In a moment of rueful introspection she realized they were both in the same plight. For surely George meant more to her than any other young man she had known. Not that she’d been exposed to many others. He had become special to her. His brother, Charles, had offered her good advice. She should curb her feelings now so the hurt would be that much less.
Having reached this wise decision she made her way back down below to the kitchen. Cousin Lily was seated by the kitchen table drinking from a tankard of ale. The rush of the evening had ended and the exhausted Lily was taking her first rest. Some of the other kitchen help were gathered near her. On seeing Fanny they shrilled out their praise of her performance.
Peg came up with her freckled face glowing and said, “I watched from the gallery! You looked and acted like a real lady!”
Lily sighed over her ale and gave her a worried look. “I hope you didn’t step above your level tonight, my girl. If the Marquis himself hadn’t ordered it I would never have allowed you up there to take part in that nonsense!”
“They seemed very pleased,” Fanny ventured.
Marsden, resplendent in his best butler’s livery, had come into the room and now he walked over to Fanny and patted her on the arm. “Most entertaining,” the butler said in his dignified way. “I understand Prince Aran was enthralled. You’d better mind yourself, my girl! Those heathen Princes can be a danger!”
Cousin Lily looked shocked and told the butler, “There now, Marsden! Don’t be putting ideas into the girl’s head!”
The old veteran of Waterloo chuckled and gave one of his frayed, gray side-whiskers a tug as he winked at her and said, “The Prince also has commented on the excellence of the food and is seeking the identity of the cook. I shouldn’t be surprised if he spirited the both of you back to India with him!”
The stout Lily burst
into pleased laughter. “You are a one, Mister Marsden! You truly are!”
The party was late ending and Fanny was safely in bed in her attic bedroom as the last of the carriages rolled away. There were still a number of house guests at Brenmoor so all the staff would be busy for at least a few days. When the Prince and his entourage left the busy time would be over.
She lay there on her hard, narrow bed in the dismal little room and stared up into the darkness thinking of the magnificence of the evening, of the grand fashion in which the gentry clothed themselves, enjoyed themselves and fed themselves. It was another world, one which would forever be closed to her after this brief experience. She had no doubt that later in life when she was married to some quite ordinary man she would remember this night and the glory of it. And prominent in those memories would be the handsome George! With a sigh she turned and almost immediately fell asleep.
• • •
There wasn’t an idle moment the next morning. Cousin Lily was busy preparing trays and having them sent up to various rooms. Fanny found herself in the ballroom helping to take down the decorations under the watchful eye of Marsden. Everything of value had to be salvaged for future parties of the kind. She and Peg carefully packed away the lanterns and removed the garlands. When this task was over she and many of the other girls went upstairs to tidy the rooms and make up the beds, as the guests were mostly all downstairs by this time.
As luck would have it, Fanny found herself assigned to the room occupied by Virginia Andrews. The vivacious blonde had apparently been the last to rise. She was still seated at her breakfast tray which rested on a table by an open window overlooking the gardens. She was wearing a white lace negligee and her face showed a certain weariness. There were dark circles under her eyes, marring the lovely face of the previous evening. Fanny was surprised by this.
Virginia gave her a haughty glance and said, “You didn’t knock before you came in!”
“I’m sorry, miss,” she apologized. “I did. You may not have heard it!”
“Don’t lie, girl! I despise liars,” Virginia said sharply.
Fanny backed away. “I can return later, miss.”
Vintage Love Page 124