The Accidental Marriage

by Marina Oliver

  They had to go through with it now, ready to face the gossips when they returned to London. He’d drive through the night, and make sure he reached England and made his marriage known by sending a notice to The Times before the malicious Webbers reported the facts with all the inaccurate embellishments they were capable of.

  ‘We’ll be up early tomorrow,’ he said. ‘Can you pack tonight? I’d like to set off as soon as the ceremony is over. We should try to reach London before the Webbers.’

  Julia smiled rather grimly, and nodded. Yes, he’d not underestimated her intelligence. She had clearly seen the wisdom of this at once, and having accepted the situation, seemed determined to make the best of it.

  ‘I’ll say goodnight, then, sir. As to packing, all I have is my coffee-stained gown. I’m afraid I shall not do you justice in my wedding dress!’

  *

  Anna was in Julia’s room, and turned to her in excitement when Julia went in.

  ‘This is only a small town, but I managed to find a few gowns and nightclothes, and a fur-lined pelisse and hat. I even found some oil of jasmine Sir Evelegh said he particularly wanted you to have, as you lost yours in the accident,’ she said proudly, holding out a small glass phial.

  Julia blinked back tears. How thoughtful of him, and how clever of him to have known the perfume she preferred.

  ‘I bought a trunk to pack them in,’ Anna said, ‘and I threw your old gown away, it was impossible to get the stain out. Look, this one will do for your wedding dress, and it is warm enough for you to travel in tomorrow. Sir Evelegh said you were leaving at once after the ceremony. A pity, we’d all have liked to wish you well. But Herr Ritter says that anyone not working can attend the wedding, if you don’t object.’

  Julia could not speak. The bed was covered in clothes. The gown Anna was holding up was a warm woollen one in a delicate shade of rose. The pelisse was a darker shade, trimmed with sable, and the hat, close-fitting and also trimmed with fur, was of an identical shade. There were gloves, a sable muff, some half boots of black kid, plus a small black leather reticule. A fur-lined cloak in serviceable black was draped over the only chair.

  ‘Don’t you like them?’ Anna asked anxiously. ‘Sir Evelegh gave me so much money, and told me to buy the best the town could provide.’

  ‘I’m overwhelmed,’ Julia said, blinking back tears. How incredibly thoughtful of Sir Carey. ‘I was not looking forward to getting married in my old gown!’

  ‘It’s all so romantic,’ Anna babbled on, as she folded the clothes and packed them into the trunk. ‘Fancy you knowing him in Vienna, and him turning up here without knowing you were also here.’

  Julia was stroking the fur of the muff, then she held it to her cheek. It was not romantic in the way Anna meant, but it was dreamlike. She had been attracted to Sir Carey from the start, but had never thought he might make her an offer, even before she heard about his betrothal to Angelica. If only he felt more than mild liking for her! He’d overborne her objections, and she had no option but to marry him. She could only hope they would neither of them regret it in the future.

  *

  The actual wedding ceremony passed in a blur. Julia, wearing the pretty rose-coloured dress, made her responses in German when prompted, but afterwards could remember nothing until the pastor, a jolly, round-faced little man, nodded and beamed at them.

  ‘You may kiss the bride,’ he said in heavily accented English, and chortled.

  The sound of quiet laughter made Julia glance over her shoulder. Several of the servants from the inn were present, and when Sir Carey turned her towards him and took her in his arms, they broke into applause.

  He pulled her to him and bent towards her. Mutely she stared as his face came closer, and gasped in surprise as his lips, warm and soft, descended on her own.

  It seemed an eternity before he drew back, smiling. ‘Thank you, Lady Evelegh,’ he said, almost in a whisper.

  Julia wanted to touch her lips. Not to wipe away the unexpected kiss, but with the foolish idea that if she covered them up she would continue to feel the frisson of excitement which had overwhelmed her.

  ‘The carriage is ready, Sir Carey, and fully provisioned as you ordered,’ Herr Ritter said, breaking the tension.

  Sir Carey took Julia’s arm and led her to where the carriage was waiting, with Frisby and another man, a stranger, sitting on the box. Tanner stood holding the open door, and Sir Carey, pausing to say a few words of thanks, ushered Julia inside. Tanner climbed in after them and sat on the forward seat, as far as he could away from them, trying to look inconspicuous.

  There were hot bricks wrapped in cloths to warm their feet, and several thick rugs to tuck round them. Sir Carey clearly travelled in as much comfort as could be managed.

  Julia waved to the people who had come to see her off, and saw several more of the inn servants standing on the steps. Behind them, glowering, were Mr and Mrs Webber.

  ‘Good, we’ve a start on them,’ Sir Carey said, sounding satisfied. ‘Julia, I’ve hired a second coachman as far as the coast. I plan to drive through the night most of the time, so that we may reach London first. Don’t worry, the carriage is well-equipped, I had it specially built for travelling when I went to Russia, where one cannot always find inns. You will be able to sleep in comfort.’

  Julia glanced quickly at Tanner, who was sitting with downcast eyes. Was he thinking this was an odd way of spending a wedding night? But she was relieved. Sir Carey had promised he would make no demands on her, and from that she had assumed they would occupy separate bedrooms. This might be impossible if the inns they stayed at were crowded.

  She took a deep breath and turned to smile at him.

  ‘I’m sure I will, Sir Carey.’

  *

  It took them eight days to reach the coast. Sir Carey told Julia that the couriers between London and Vienna, riding hard, could sometimes make the journey in two weeks. They spent two nights at inns, and to Julia’s relief they had been able to hire suites with a parlour and separate bedrooms. As Sir Carey had said, his carriage was well equipped to provide them with comfortable beds. Their seats could be pulled forwards so that they could lie flat, and Tanner, with whichever coachman was not driving, curled up on the forward seat. Once Julia became accustomed to sleeping in the same small space as three men, she found the rocking of the carriage lulled her to sleep.

  Sir Carey was always concerned with her comfort. At each halt for food or to change the horses he insisted on more warm bricks being brought to place under Julia’s feet, so that she was protected from the bitter cold. Sometimes, at the start, they ate as they drove along. Herr Ritter had packed a lavish hamper, with pies and cold fowl, hard boiled eggs, even some smoked trout, as well as loaves and cakes and some small, wrinkled apples. There were bottles of wine and brandy, and one of champagne. There seemed enough for the whole journey, Julia thought, but Sir Carey decreed they needed to eat a proper meal occasionally, sitting beside warm fires and at tables like civilized people. These breaks allowed Julia to stretch cramped limbs, take brief walks to see the sights in the towns where they stopped, and be ready for several more hours of travel.

  Tanner’s presence inhibited private conversation, and Sir Carey confined himself to describing Courtlands and the surrounding countryside in more detail. Julia once said she felt she could find her way about it without a guide, and Sir Carey laughed.

  ‘I challenge you!’ he said. ‘When we arrive I will send you in alone, with a list of the rooms to visit.’

  He seemed more light-hearted than when Julia had known him in Vienna. Perhaps it was because he was not involved in the political negotiations, worrying about the outcome. Perhaps it was the thought of soon coming home. She dared not attempt to hope it was her own presence.

  That changed when they were fifty miles from the coast. They stopped at an inn for dinner, to find a flag showing the Imperial Eagle flying from one of the windows.

  ‘That’s deuced odd,’ Sir Ca
rey commented. ‘Have we found some of Napoleon’s supporters? It’s not everyone who relishes the return of the Bourbons, but I wasn’t aware the Emperor’s supporters were so open about it.’

  They soon discovered the reason when they entered the inn.

  ‘Napoleon is back!’ an elderly man sitting in the taproom told them, waving a tankard at them. ‘He’s escaped from Elba, and he’s marching on Paris. We’ll soon send Louis packing!’

  *

  ‘It’s bad,’ Sir Carey told Julia half an hour later. He had installed her in a private parlour and gone out to glean what reliable news he could.

  ‘Is it true?’

  ‘He landed in the south a week ago, and is marching towards Paris. It appears no one is able, or willing, to stop him.’

  ‘So the fighting will start all over again?’ she asked. ‘We have been at war almost all my life.’

  ‘He can’t possibly gather yet another army. He’s taken all the young men, and the losses have been terrible in Spain and Russia, as well as many other campaigns.’

  ‘Will the Congress end now? Is there any use in continuing to negotiate while no one knows what the situation will be like in a few months?’

  ‘We’ll have to see. But it must have been rank incompetence that let him get away from Elba. Metternich warned at the time he was sent there it was too near France, and there would be another war within two years. He’s been proved right. It’s taken less than a year.’

  *

  They reached London three days later, and drove straight to Sir Carey’s house in Upper Brook Street.

  ‘Will the servants be expecting you?’ Julia asked, afraid they would find the shutters up and no preparations made.

  ‘They’ll be expecting me,’ he said, chuckling. ‘I sent a message as soon as the Duke arrived in Vienna, for I knew I’d be coming home soon.’

  His face grew sombre for a moment, and Julia recalled he would have been coming home for his wedding to Angelica.

  ‘You’ll be a surprise to them, though,’ he added, and smiled at her.

  ‘I ought to let Fanny know I am safe,’ Julia said. ‘Even if my letters did reach her, she’ll be so worried about me. And I have to explain how all the baggage was lost, and – and about Maggie and the Pryces’s servants.’

  ‘You can write her a note, someone will take it to the Pryces’ house. I expect she’ll still be with them, but if not I’ll send one of the grooms down to Greystones with it.’

  ‘May I go and see her tomorrow?’ she asked.

  ‘Of course, my dear Julia. You are to do exactly as you wish.’

  ‘But if you need me, as hostess,’ Julia added quickly, ‘or to meet your friends, you must tell me and I will not arrange anything else.’

  ‘I will tell you,’ he promised, ‘but you are not my servant. You will soon have your own friends and your own life to lead, here and at Courtlands.’

  So he expected her to lead an independent life, did he? Well, she had no right to expect anything else.

  ‘We have an agreement,’ she told him. ‘I am to be your hostess and run your houses.’

  ‘I’m sure you will do it admirably. Here we are.’

  It was a tall, narrow house, and as the carriage drew up at the door it opened to reveal a stout, elderly butler who beamed at Sir Carey.

  ‘Welcome home, sir,’ he said. ‘We’ve been expecting you for some days now.’

  Sir Carey leapt down and turned to hand Julia from the carriage. ‘I delayed in order to get married, Foster,’ he said. ‘Meet Lady Evelegh. Julia, Foster has been with the family since before I was born. If you need to know anything, just ask him.’

  Julia had to admire Foster’s imperturbability. There was not even a flicker of surprise crossing his face. She wondered if they all knew about Angelica. No doubt there had been gossip and speculation when Angelica’s marriage to someone else had been announced.

  Sir Carey led her into the hallway, the floor chequered in black and white marble, and an elegant staircase curving away at the far end. He opened a door on the right and ushered her into a small parlour which overlooked the garden at the rear of the house.

  ‘Lady Evelegh has no maid, Foster. Can you suggest one who could help her until we have time to hire one?’

  ‘I think Molly will suit, sir. Where shall I have the baggage taken?’

  ‘Have Lady Evelegh’s put in my mother’s old room. Tanner knows which is hers. It’s in order?’

  ‘Always, sir.’ Foster seemed offended at the question, and Julia tried not to smile.

  From what she could see the house looked clean, the rugs swept, and the furniture polished. There were, though, no ornaments, no flowers such as Fanny always had, and the curtains were faded. The paintings in this room were of poor quality and undistinguished. The couple she’d glimpsed in the hall, of gentlemen in Elizabethan costume, were presumably ancestors, but there was so much varnish which had darkened with age it was difficult to see any features. The house had lacked a woman’s touch for too long.

  ‘I shouldn’t have asked! You are always efficient. We’ll have a light supper in the morning-room, while our baggage is unpacked. Have someone ready in a few minutes to deliver a note.’

  *

  Fanny was asleep when Julia’s note was delivered, so did not read it until her breakfast tray was brought to her. Recognizing Julia’s handwriting she tore open the note, and scanned it swiftly, then burst into tears of relief.

  ‘Thank goodness! She’s alive and well! Please ask Mrs Pryce to come here as soon as she is dressed,’ she told the maid.

  When Elizabeth, in a dressing-gown, entered the room a few minutes later, looking anxious, Fanny thrust the letter into her hands.

  ‘Fanny, what is it? You have a high colour. You mustn’t excite yourself. Is something wrong?’

  ‘No, but this is from Julia. She’s in London, and she’s well. But she says she had to leave Maggie and Williams behind, there was an accident. Oh, why does she give no more details, and where on earth is she staying? She can’t have had the audacity to go to a hotel by herself, surely? Even Ibbetson’s is not suitable for a single young lady. And did she travel by herself? Why did she not come here? She could have guessed I’d still be with you.’

  ‘Fanny, don’t fret, you’ll make yourself ill. We will soon know.’

  Elizabeth straightened out the sheet of paper and read it slowly. ‘How very odd,’ she commented. ‘She’s written it on headed notepaper, and I know that address. It’s where Sir Carey Evelegh lives.’

  Fanny sat up abruptly. ‘Sir Carey? How does she come to be with him? What has she done now? She’ll be ruined if anyone else hears about this. Oh, Elizabeth, will you send someone round at once and ask her to visit me immediately? I shall die of frustration if I don’t discover what this is all about soon!’

  It was an hour later when Julia entered Fanny’s bedroom. She went across to her sister and they hugged convulsively, and Fanny burst into tears.

  ‘I have been so worried!’ she sobbed. ‘Where have you been all this time? What’s all this about an accident?’

  ‘I wrote. Did you not get any of the letters?’

  ‘No. Julia, what happened?’

  Julia explained. ‘So Maggie won’t be here for a while. And she may find it difficult to travel now Napoleon is gathering another army. I’m thankful Williams will be with her. He’s sensible and will look after her.’

  ‘He doesn’t appear to have looked after you when he let a wheel fall off the coach! Poor Maggie.’

  Fanny was genuinely sorry for her maid, she was fond of the girl, who was cheerful and efficient, but she was more concerned with what sort of coil her sister was in.

  ‘Now, Julia, what in the world are you doing at Sir Carey’s house? Is he there with you? You mustn’t let people know. You must come here at once. Elizabeth is preparing a room for you. Why didn’t you come here?’

  Julia sat down on a chair beside the bed, and was straightenin
g the fingers of her gloves. Very good quality gloves, Fanny thought, and now she had time to notice, so were Julia’s pelisse and dress, as well as being new, better quality than she was accustomed to wearing.

  ‘Elizabeth tells me you are breeding, and the doctor insists you stay in bed,’ she said. ‘How are you feeling?’

  ‘Better than I did at first. The jolting and swaying of the coach was dreadful, of course.’

  ‘Have you heard from Frederick?’

  Fanny shook her head. She both longed for her husband to come back to her, and was furious with him for the way he had deserted her.

  ‘Not a word. Julia, tell me at once why you are staying at Sir Carey’s house! You haven’t done anything foolish, I hope? But I didn’t think he was that sort of man.’

  ‘I’m not sure if it’s foolish of me or not,’ Julia said slowly. ‘Fanny, he asked me to marry him, and I said yes, and we were married in Bavaria.’

  Chapter Ten

  JULIA WAS EXHAUSTED by the time she left Fanny. Her sister had demanded every detail of the journey, pressed repeatedly for assurances that there had been nothing improper between her and Sir Carey which had forced his hand, and exclaimed about Angelica’s defection in words which Julia, amused, thought rather disparaging to herself, even if she privately agreed with them.

  She had thought it expedient not to reveal the real nature of the marriage, for that would have set Fanny off again in further speculations.

  On the way back to Upper Brook Street she bought some flowers. From what she had glimpsed of the garden there, it would provide nothing but dark green ivy, and some cheerful spring blossoms would do much to brighten the house.

  Foster greeted her politely, and informed her that Sir Carey had gone into the City to see his man of business.

  ‘Shall I send Molly to you, my lady?’

  ‘Please. And is there anywhere I can arrange these? Do we have some vases?’ she asked as he took the flowers from her.