Regency Belles & Beaux

by Michele McGrath

  Chapter Three

  “Aunt, I have finished my book and I am due to return it to the library today. Do you have any need of me or may I call at Hookham’s this afternoon?” Alice tried to look nonchalant, although her heart beat faster as she waited for Lady Mary’s reply.

  “Of course, my dear. Does Kitty go with you?”

  “She is engaged with one of her friends, so I thought I would take Sarah.” Sarah, her maid, could be relied on to sit still in a quiet corner until her mistress was ready to leave.

  “Do you want the carriage?”

  “It’s such a lovely day, I’m happy to walk.”

  “Very well. Would you be so kind as to return my book also? It’s so uninteresting I really can’t bring myself to finish it. I will fetch it for you.”

  The day was indeed beautiful. Alice enjoyed the short stroll to Bond Street and so did the country-bred Sarah, accustomed to walking far longer distances at home. The streets were crowded as usual and Alice nodded to several acquaintances on her way. Fortunately none of them offered to accompany her, although she had prepared her excuses against such an eventuality. She arrived at Hookham’s in good time for her meeting with Philip and returned both her own book and her aunt’s. Then she said to her maid,

  “I am going to choose something else to read, Sarah. I may be a little time because I am not sure what I want. Pray sit over there and wait for me.”

  “Yes, my lady.” Once she had seen Sarah safely settled, Alice hurried through the shop, pausing only to examine the shelves if she thought anyone watched her. She was doing this when someone said softly behind her,

  “Are you really interested in sermons, little sister?”

  “Philip! You wretch! You startled me.”

  “I’ve been waiting for you this half hour and I’ve discovered a place where few people go. Come with me.”

  The section on mathematics was not very well lit because Philip had blown out one of the lamps. Alice leant against a shelf and asked,

  “Now tell me, why did you come back to England?”

  “I came to see whether Staunton was still alive. You must remember that Uncle Jonathan bundled me onto the first packet to the continent before we found out what had happened to him.”

  “He lived. You didn’t manage to kill him if that’s what you mean.”

  “So there is no warrant out for me?”

  “They gave up searching for you a long time ago. If you suddenly appeared, though, I don’t know whether they would arrest you or not. Staunton is said to swear that you set out to murder him.”

  “He’s right, I did.”

  “Philip! How could you!” Alice felt slightly sick. She stared at her brother as she remembered the boy he had been, honest and upright but with a tinge of mischief. A companion who never let her down. Why would he even consider such an appalling thing as killing someone?

  “Easy, little sister. I had a good enough reason. When a man takes a horsewhip to his wife, it’s time someone puts a stop to his brutality.”

  “But why you? What concern of it was yours? And why try to kill him?”

  Philip turned away from her so she did not see his face. “Why me? Because I loved Celia Staunton. I still do, for that matter. You remember I courted her before she ever met Staunton. I offered for her, but her father insisted she take him instead. A younger son wasn’t good enough for him and Staunton has never lacked money or land. Much happiness she’s got out of the marriage, poor soul.”

  “I’m sorry for her. I didn’t know.”

  “Why would you? You were away in boarding school. I’d just come down from my second year at Oxford, expecting to enjoy the summer at Kirkmore. I found out what was happening quite by chance.”

  “Perhaps, if I’d been at home, I might have helped you.”

  “I doubt it. I didn’t listen to many people then. I must have been mad.”

  “What really happened? They never told me the full story. I discovered a little from what Mama and Julian let slip, but everything is so confused.”

  “Celia had come back to see her mother who had developed a lingering illness which took a turn for the worst. She couldn’t live much longer. I suppose Staunton had to allow the visit or questions would have been asked. All the other Blackwood children returned. It must have been a dreary visit for them all and they escaped when they could to visit their friends in the neighbourhood, Celia included. Staunton appeared to be, on the surface at least, rather proud of his young wife at first. He liked to show her off. They made a few visits and, of course, so did I, although I tried to avoid Staunton. Anyway, one day I met Celia and noticed that she looked pale and had dark circles under her eyes. She moved awkwardly too and seemed to find it difficult both to sit or to stand up. I thought she had fallen off her horse or had a carriage accident, so I asked her if she was ill. She said that she was recovering from an indisposition. I believed her at the time although she never seemed to recover. It took a little while, but eventually she told me the truth. I forced it out of her really. We had been so close before she was married. We became friends before I ever realised I loved her. It was the happiest day of my life when she said that she loved me too. She was only seventeen when her father forced her to marry Staunton. He needed the money because of his debts. Staunton offered to pay them. I didn’t find that out until later, of course. Blackwood did not even allow Celia to say goodbye to me. Papa spoke to me for once and absolutely forbade me to go anywhere near her. I went off to Oxford in a flaming temper. I did not see Celia again until the following summer when she arrived at Blackwood Hall and then she told me what was happening.”

  “Why would Papa do that? He didn’t concern himself with our meeting the Blackwood children before.”

  “He could hardly refuse to acknowledge them since we lived so close. My asking to marry Celia opened his eyes to the possibilities, I suppose. He told me he had never liked Blackwood, Celia’s father. Apparently, they went to school together and there was some trouble between them but he never told me what happened. He was always frostily polite whenever they met, if you remember. He said that he would not have allowed me to wed Celia even if Blackwood had agreed. Celia married Staunton and he became a brute to her. She was terrified of him. I shouldn’t tell you things like that, I suppose, forgive me.”

  “Don’t shut me out, Philip. I want to help you if I can.”

  “Such subjects are not fit for a female’s ears.”

  “Don’t be so stuffy; you sound just like Papa! That depends on the female. Surely you know me better than that. I’ve always been aware that some men beat women. Mollie, the blacksmith’s wife in the village, often had her eyes blacked, if you remember. She told people she’d had an accident, but everyone whispered that Simon hit her when he’d drunk too much ale.”

  “I remember her, poor woman.”

  “Tell me the rest of the story,” she urged. “What did you do?”

  “I was as mad as fire when I found out the situation,” Philip continued. “So I sought out Staunton and challenged him. At first he refused to meet me, called me a young puppy and laughed at me. I flew at him and tried to strangle him, but he shrugged me off. I fell and he had his rapier out. He would have skewered me if I hadn’t rolled away in time. I just got my own sword out in time. We fought. Even though I was in a flame of rage, I was the better swordsman. He’s glaringly abroad, a hacker with no finesse. I always enjoyed fencing if you remember. Either Staunton did not, or he had forgotten what he had learned. In the end I ran him through. I honestly thought I’d killed him, he bled so much.”

  “Where did all this happen?”

  “In a field by the side of the Richmond road.”

  “It’s a wonder you weren’t seen and the duel stopped.”

  “I doubt any one person would have managed to stop me; I was blind with rage, ready to battle the whole world if I had to. When I saw him lying there, I suddenly realised what I had done and what the consequences would be if anyone
caught me. I’d tied my horse to some bushes while I waited for Staunton to appear. His own horse bolted, which would alert people to the possibility that something had happened to him. So I mounted and rode off.”

  “You didn’t try to send him help?”

  “I never even thought of it. I was certain he was dead. I was only twenty, if you remember, and I’d seen nothing of wounded men at that time.”

  “Where did you go?”

  “To Uncle Jonathan.”

  “Why not to Papa?”

  “Papa was at Kirkmore, too far away. I would have been caught long before I reached the border. Uncle Jonathan only lived at Merton. Anyway, would you have told Papa such a thing and expected him to help you?”

  “Never.” Alice shuddered at the thought. Papa had never been a sympathetic parent and always made a fuss over even minor misdemeanours. She could not imagine confronting him with a tale like this. He was a man who lived within his own world of ancient books; his children were, at best, an inconvenience to him. She often thought that the only unexpected thing he had ever done was to insist upon marrying her mother. She imagined her grandparents must have been shocked when he brought home his French bride. Fortunately her mother had both beauty and a marriage portion sufficiently large to compensate for her foreign birth. In time, she had even adopted her new husband’s ideas and way of life. Mama could certainly not be relied upon to support one of her children against her husband. Alice agreed that Philip had acted wisely.

  “When I told Uncle Jonathan what had happened, he didn’t stop to make enquiries. He paid my passage across to Belgium and told me to stay in Ostend until he sent me word.”

  “Did he?”

  “He wrote that Staunton had been found. He was still alive but not expected to survive. I was to go to Hanover, where Uncle had friends. He enclosed a letter telling them I was travelling, but not the reason why. He said he would send me further instructions and money, but that was the last I ever heard from him.”

  “He died just after Christmas, the very year you went away. Didn’t you know?”

  “No. Who would tell me? He was the only one who knew where I was.”

  “When I arrived home from school, Mama warned me that on no account must I mention your name to Papa. When I asked why, I was told that you had been disinherited for very good reasons. She snubbed me when I tried to find out more.”

  “Mama would.”

  “What did you do next?”

  “I stayed for a few months in Hanover, working at whatever I could find to do. I wrote to Uncle Jonathan but I received no answer so I was in a dilemma. I was running out of money and the job I had taken, tutoring a young boy in English, was coming to an end. I didn’t dare to go home but I didn’t like Hanover, so I went to France. That was in 1811. The Emperor was secure on his throne in those days, but he had no love for Englishmen. So I thought it best to adopt another name and pass as French. Oncle Richard suggested I use de Vezey. It’s the name of Tante Françoise’s cousins. Oncle was delighted when I rode up to his door. He’d had no word from Mama or the other members of the family for years.”

  “I see.”

  “That’s about all of it. I went to Paris, I worked hard and the rest I told you. In the end I was ordered to take a package to London, so I seized the chance to find out what was happening here before I returned. I’ve only been in England a short time but I’ve not found out any information about Staunton so far. As you can imagine, I can’t ask about him openly in case someone realises who I am. Staunton doesn’t seem to be in London. Can you tell me anything about him?”

  “Not really. He has never been introduced to me. No one has mentioned his name. If they had done so, I’d have remembered. I knew he was connected to your disappearance. I’ve heard the odd rumour but nothing very much.”

  “He’s most unlikely to be introduced to you. You’re my sister, after all, and people would recall the scandal, even if Staunton no longer reminds them of it constantly. Is there any news of Mrs. Staunton?” Alice could hear the anxiety in his voice and remembered with a pang her laughing, carefree brother. He obviously still cared for his first love.

  “I’ve never seen her. They say that she stays in the country and rarely accompanies her husband.”

  “He used to live near Kew. I wonder if he still does.”

  She caught his strident tone and asked anxiously, “What is it, Philip?”

  “If he is there, Roper’s expedition on Saturday will be mighty convenient.”

  “You didn’t suggest it to him?”

  “Of course not. I’m not such a fool as to take my sister and my cousins with me when I do a little spying, never mind my aunt. It was all Roper’s idea. He’s rather smitten with Kitty.”

  “I realise that. I have eyes in my head and he wears his heart on his sleeve, though he doesn’t seem to know it,” Alice exclaimed. “I believe he will declare himself soon. Now that Edward is come home, he can ask for her hand in due form.” She hesitated, then gripped his hand and said, “Promise me that you won’t do anything stupid on Saturday.”

  Philip looked at her and then he flicked her chin with his finger. “Silly chit. Do you imagine I intend to call Staunton out again?”

  “You wouldn’t?” Alice heard the fear in her own voice.

  “He’d be more likely to send the Runners after me than meet my challenge if he found out I was home. I’m his master with the sword and he was never known to be a good shot. I haven’t lost any of my skill, I can assure you, even if he has improved a bit in the last four years. The fencing masters in Paris taught me to fight even better than I did before. If we fought, he’d lose, and he’s not stupid enough to take the chance. Far easier for him to have me arrested for attempted murder. In his position, I wouldn’t hesitate an instant.”

  “Why do you want to go to Richmond then?”

  “I want to make some enquiries about Mrs. Staunton. Richmond’s near Kew where Staunton lives. If she’s not in London, she’s most likely to be there.”

  “Isn’t that dangerous? It would draw attention to you.”

  “No it won’t. I’m not going to be asking questions, Jacques will.”

  “Who in the world is Jacques?”

  “My servant, the son of one of Oncle Richard’s tenants. He accompanied me to Paris and he has been with me ever since.”

  “Can he speak English?”

  “Excellently. I taught him myself and I’d wager he’ll pass for an Englishman, in most places, as long as he doesn’t say too much. I always tell him to pretend that he’s from another part of the country if anyone asks about his accent. There are bound to be stories about the Stauntons in the local hostelries. You know how yokels love to gossip about their betters. I’ll send Jacques on ahead and then arrange for him to meet me and tell me what he has found out.”

  “Promise me you’ll do nothing more. I can’t bear the thought of you making a mistake and being caught. Papa would never defend you and Uncle Jonathan is dead. Even Julian wouldn’t help you. There was never much love lost between you, was there?”

  “How is our sainted older brother?”

  “He’s well and, before you ask, so are Matilda and Cecily. Don’t try to change the subject. Promise me!”

  “Yes, little sister, I will do nothing on Saturday to give you any cause for concern.”

  “You’ll keep your promise?”

  “I always keep my promises.”

  “Then will you also promise me that you will go back to France when you find out about Mrs. Staunton and before anyone recognises you?”

  “I’ll make a decision once I discover how she is. If she is well and happy, then I’ll leave on the next packet and I won’t return again. Except for yourself, there is little to keep me here.”

  “And if she is neither well nor happy?”

  “Then I’ll decide what to do next.”

  “You will tell me what you intend to do? I couldn’t bear you to vanish again without any word as
you did before. I don’t want to imagine you dying or rotting in some hulk when in fact you are well and living in France. I need to know.”

  “Yes, never fear. Now that I have found you, I won’t lose contact with you again. As for helping me, that is another matter. I won’t draw you into danger.”

  “Do you expect to be in danger?”

  “That is what I must discover, amongst other things. Certainly I can’t remain in England indefinitely whatever happens. If I stay too long, I’m likely to make a mistake or meet someone who knows me well enough not to be fooled by my disguise.”

  “Oh, how I wish I might come with you,” Alice said impulsively.

  “You do? From what I hear you have made a hit in society and are expected to marry well. You would give that up for an uncertain future?”

  “Who told you such an outrageous thing?”

  “Roper and several other people besides. I can’t say I’m surprised. For a sister you’re a pretty little chit.”

  Alice laughed. “I’m enjoying the season but none of it is real, Philip. Everyone acts as if they are in a play. Life isn’t like that and there is no one who has engaged my affections.” Even as she spoke, an image of Edward formed in her mind. In that instant she realised that there was someone who had taken her fancy the moment she saw him. Whether he had any interest in her, of course, was entirely another matter. The next few months would be very interesting indeed.

  “Mama and Papa would have apoplexy. Bad enough for me to run away, what a scandal there would be if you did so too.”

  “That wouldn’t weigh with me,” Alice said. “The only one of us they ever consider at all is Julian because he is the first born and Papa’s heir. But I can’t go, much as I would like to. Aunt Maitland and Kitty have been so very kind. To run away would serve them such a back-handed turn and draw Papa’s wrath down upon them. Perhaps, I could go when the season is over and I have returned home, I could meet you somewhere, but really, I spoke on the spur of the moment, without thinking. Don’t tempt me.”