Lisa had wondered aloud why Teddy was permitted to use her left hand, and Teddy told her; though she had surmised the answer. Oh, it must be because I have powerful relatives who love me, Lisa, she had whispered and then giggled, hunching her shoulders. But she had not said this with any degree of smugness, or a sense of superiority, just as fact. And one day she confided in Lisa just how powerful they were. One uncle was a duke, another an earl. Her closest cousin was a double duchess, and her mama was a lady, daughter of an earl. Lisa was awe struck. Teddy’s relatives were not just powerful, they were from the aristocracy, and at the very apex of their class. Teddy made her promise to keep this a secret, to not mention it to the other girls. She did not want them to think any differently of her. Lisa promised and then asked why, if her relatives were nobles, she had been sent to Blacklands, and not had a governess, or been sent to a seminary for the daughters of noblemen.
Teddy had screwed up her freckled nose in thought, then shrugged, saying her mama and step-papa wanted her to be comfortable, to learn to speak French like a native—all her mama’s family did—but most of all they wanted her to be happy. They thought she would be happiest at Blacklands. And Teddy was happy. Lisa marveled at her best friend’s exuberance for life, her confidence, and her sunny disposition.
Though, for a short while, when she had first arrived at Blacklands, Teddy had been miserable, pining for home, and Lisa comforted her.
Lisa had already been at the school for four years, and being an orphan who spent only the Christmas holidays with her cousins, Blacklands was her home. Whereas, Teddy had never been away from her family before, and never from her mother, and this was her first stay in London. And although Blacklands was in Chelsea, on the outskirts of the fashionable streets of Westminster, so was practically the country, it was not the country, and never would be as far as Teddy was concerned, whose home was in far-off Gloucestershire.
Teddy told Lisa all about the beauty of the Cotswolds, the magical Puzzlewood with its fairies and travelers and woodland creatures, the big rambling house of yellow stone that she lived in with her family, and the cloth mills owned by her step-papa, who was not only a wealthy merchant, but an important squire in her corner of England. And she lived with a menagerie of animals inside the house, her step-papa’s dogs, her whippet Nera, a number of cats and song birds, and outside on the farm, as well as her favorite mare, there were chickens, dairy cows, bees, and sheep known as Cotswold Lions because of their big shaggy coats.
Lisa could listen for hours to Teddy’s stories of her home and her ramblings through the countryside, and did. She wished she could visit such a wondrous place. Lisa had never been further from the city than Blacklands, ever. Teddy promised that one day Lisa would indeed visit her and meet her family, which not only included her mama, her step-papa, her Granny Kate, and two little brothers, but there was also Fran, Granny Kate’s companion, and Silvia and Carlo, who were from Lucca, which was somewhere in the Italian states. Lisa had never heard of such a place. Teddy assured her it existed, and that when Lisa came to stay, Silvia would make her the most delicious food she had ever tasted, and dishes made with flour and eggs called pasta. And when Teddy married Jack and took up residence at Abbeywood farm, which was just in the next vale across from her family, Lisa could come to stay for as long as she wished.
“Jack?” Lisa had asked, surprised to learn Teddy knew whom she was to marry.
They were both thirteen years old, and Lisa had not even thought of boys, least of all knew one she would one day wish to marry.
“My cousin. I’m going to marry him on my eighteenth birthday. But I promised Mama I would attend Blacklands for a few years first. That was one of the conditions,” Teddy confided. “Because Mama wants me to be a lady, and to learn a little of the world, which she says will help me be a better wife to Jack.”
Lisa was intrigued, and had turned her head on the pillow to look at Teddy in the moonlight that streamed in through the undraped window and across the narrow bed where they were snuggled up under the coverlet, to keep each other warm, and where they could have a whispered conversation without disturbing the night nurse.
Teddy had said this with such certainty that Lisa wondered if her marriage to Jack was an arranged union. Lisa had heard of such marriages for people who had powerful relatives. Teddy’s response was to shake her head and press her lips hard together to stop herself from giggling. Lisa saw the laughter in her eyes, and smiled. She was glad Teddy wasn’t being forced into a marriage. Even as a thirteen-year-old she was a romantic.
“Does Jack know you are going to marry him?”
“Naturally.”
“And when did you know—know that you wanted to marry Jack?”
“When I was ten.”
“Ten? Ten years old?”
Teddy nodded. “And I told him when I was twelve.”
Lisa’s eyes went very round. “When you were twelve you told him you were going to marry him? Was he surprised? What did he say?”
“He was. But he said he would marry me though it was usual for boys to do the asking. And if I was sincere, I was to ask him again when I was older. He said I might change my mind.”
“Do you think you will—change your mind?”
Teddy shook her head on the pillow. “No. Never.”
“How old is Jack—now?”
“He’s nineteen.”
So he was six years older than they were, Lisa calculated, which she thought very old indeed but did not say so.
Teddy mistook Lisa’s fascination for incredulity.
“It’s true. And while I’m here at Blacklands, Jack is going on a Grand Journey—no! It’s not called that… Oh! He’s going on the Grand Tour. Yes. That’s what it’s called. Which is what boys do when they leave Oxford—that’s university. Mama says the boys go in groups and wander about old palaces and ruins, and spend a lot of their time pondering old paintings.”
“Couldn’t he do that here? There must be old paintings to ponder and plenty of ruins to wander about in England.”
“Mama says young men need to go abroad to ponder, to see the old world. She says it’s good for them, because when they come home they are no longer boys, and they will want to settle.”
“Settle…?”
“Marry, silly.”
“Oh! How long will he be away on this tour?”
“Mama says he’ll be away for years—”
“Years?” Lisa was so surprised she forgot to whisper. Then added in a hiss. “But what if he forgets you while he’s away?”
“Forget?” Teddy sat up on an elbow, and frowned through a tangle of hair. “He won’t forget me. He’s promised not to. Besides, I gave him a lock of my hair so he won’t!”
“Teddy!” Lisa gasped, now also up on an elbow. “Oh, but how wonderful of you!”
Teddy grinned and nodded, and then they both quickly lay back down and snuggled in under the coverlet because there was footfall and low voices. They smiled at each other then stared up at the ceiling illuminated by moonlight, and remained still and quiet and waited. They waited a very long time for it to be quiet again, too excited to sleep. There was so much more Lisa wanted to know about Teddy’s family and Jack, and the wondrous things boys could do once they had left Oxford and went abroad to ponder.
“Will you miss him while he’s away?” Lisa finally asked, watching Teddy who was still staring up at the ceiling.
“I will—a little. Mama says I mustn’t. That I’m not to—fret. That Jack being away will give me plenty of time to grow up, too. And she says I’m not to worry about him, because he’s going on this tour with his best friend, Harry, and they’ll keep each other company and be too preoccupied to be thinking of home.”
“Their parents are not worried they are going to be away from home for so long?”
“Worried? Why would they? Mama says going on the tour is a much better use of a wealthy young man’s time than spending it in gentlemen’s clubs, gambling, smoking, an
d drinking their days away—”
“Your mama said that to you?” Lisa’s eyes were very wide.
“No. Not to me. I overheard her say it to my step-papa. And he agreed with her. She also said that there was little possibility of them getting into too much trouble, when they are journeying with a-a yeomanry of attendants.”
“What is—what is a yeomanry of attendants?”
“They are the persons who are part of their traveling party, so Granny Kate tells me.”
“Servants who carry their belongings?”
“Oh no. Of course they do have servants with them to do such tasks as carry their trunks, and to look after the carriages and horses, and to keep them safe while traveling about. But the yeomanry are people attending on them while they are away. Not servants in the strictest sense, so Granny Kate says. Jack and Harry will have their own physician traveling with them, and two tutors, a major domo who looks after all the arrangements for their travel and accommodations, and of course they need their valets to dress them. Oh! And I nearly forgot, two of their school friends are also going along, too, and they’ll have their own yeomanry.”
Lisa’s eyes could not grow any rounder. She was envious of such travel arrangements and wished she had been born male and wealthy, so she, too, could be part of such a grand adventure.
“Imagine Jack and Harry and their friends and all those men in carriages, and on horseback, riding about the countryside and through towns,” Lisa whispered with excitement. “The local people would be sure to stop and stare, and their children wave and jump up and down, to see such an astonishing procession! Don’t you wish you could be part of it? To visit old towns, see old paintings, and meet the people?”
Teddy shrugged and was less than enthusiastic.
“I’m happy here—not here—but home. When Jack comes home and we marry, we’ll never leave the Cotswolds again.”
“Never?”
“Except when Jack comes to London for Parliament. My uncle Roxton is making him a Parliamentarian when he returns from abroad, so Jack says he must spend a few months of the year in London doing whatever it is Parliamentarians do. Which is why Mama says I need to learn to be a lady, so I can be a helpmate to Jack,” Teddy confided. “I don’t know how I am to help him by being here at school, but I will try. Mama says if I busy myself with my schooling I won’t think about Jack being away, and the time will pass very quickly. But even if I do what she says, and I try my hardest, I still can’t stop thinking of my family… I miss Mama every day, and my step-papa, and—Do you have any brothers and sisters, Lisa?”
Lisa sought Teddy’s hand and held it because she could see her friend was on the verge of tears.
“I don’t. And both my parents are dead. I do have cousins… But they have each other… And I know if I had a mama like yours, and a family like yours, I would miss them very much too. Will you tell me about your family? I want to know everything. Don’t leave anything out. I want to know all about them.”
Teddy blinked the tears away and smiled and snuggled in, hand comfortably in Lisa’s hold.
“I have two brothers. They are just babies. They are my half-brothers on account of Mama marrying again and starting a second family. Papa died when I was eight, and then Mama married Uncle Bryce—my step-papa. My big baby brother is named David and he’s two. He has red hair just like mine. Granny Kate calls him her cheeky monkey. My little baby brother is just six months old and his name is Luke. He has black hair like my Uncle Dair, Mama’s brother. But he’s still too small for us to know if he’ll be as cheeky as David. But he does laugh a lot and is a happy baby, so Granny Kate and I think he could very well be just as cheeky. I don’t have a sister—yet. I asked Mama if her next baby could be a girl, and she said she would do her best—Lisa! I’ve had the best thought. You don’t have any brothers or sisters, and I don’t have a sister… we can be sisters! Would you? Would you like to have me as your sister…?”
“OH, TEDDY, I have missed you so very very much,” Lisa uttered on a whispered sob, Teddy’s handwriting bringing to life the vivid recollection of girlhood confidences shared with her best friend.
Such wonderful memories, such happy days… Bittersweet tears spilled on to her cheeks and her heart swelled with warmth as she briefly closed her eyes, still dazed to think that not only did she have letters from her school friend, but an invitation to her wedding, and best of all, she would soon be reunited with Teddy.
For now, she lay on her bed and read and re-read Teddy’s letters, all six of them written over the two-year period since Lisa had left Blacklands. She then stared at the invitation for the longest time with the biggest smile. So Teddy was finally marrying her Jack—more correctly Sir John George Cavendish Bt.—just as she said she would, but not on her eighteenth birthday, but closer to her nineteenth, which was what her parents had wanted, so Teddy had written in her final letter. She also gave Lisa the surprising news that her Mama had finally, after all these years, given her a sister—Sophie-Kate. Teddy had written her letter to Lisa just a week after the infant’s birth in the early spring. And with this welcome announcement, Teddy added a postscript that she had enlisted the help of her mother’s cousin, the Duchess of Kinross, to ensure Lisa received this letter and invitation. She was determined to have her Blacklands sister at her wedding. And the Duchess had promised to do her very best to make this happen.
Lisa was in awe to think Teddy had gone to such lengths to make contact with her again. That she had also co-opted a duchess to help her verged on fantasy. But here she had that letter in her hand, and the invitation, and, finally, Teddy’s other letters, too. So it was all true, and in two weeks’ time she would be off to Hampshire to be reunited with Teddy, meet her family, and be part of her wedding celebrations. And she could thank the Duchess of Kinross in person for going to such lengths on her behalf.
Two weeks could not go quickly enough for Lisa. But there was still much to do between now and then, not least of which was to be fitted for gowns, shoes, and undergarments, and such fripperies as fans, pockets, and delicate lace fichus, the like of which Lisa had never had before. But that did not mean she could neglect her duties at the dispensary, so Mrs. Warner lectured on Monday morning at breakfast.
Lisa nodded mutely because she was so surprised to find her cousin up at such an hour and in the breakfast room. But there she was, and by her gown and application of cosmetics and arranged coiffure, was dressed to leave the house.
Minette Warner informed her that her parents and sister had returned from Paris, and she was off to Fournier Street for the day, to welcome them home and to give her mother an account of preparations for Lisa’s stay in Hampshire. Her mother needed reassurance everything had been done that could be done to make certain Lisa was a credit to the de Crespigny family. There were no doubts she would be dressed for the various occasions during her two-week stay, the family had made certain her clothing was of a suitably high standard to be seen amongst the rarefied atmosphere of Treat. As to how she conducted herself while in such illustrious company, that was out of their control, and entirely in Lisa’s hands. Did she understand?
“I do, Cousin,” Lisa replied gravely and instinctively straightened her already straight back under Mrs. Warner’s steady gaze.
Her cousin never missed an opportunity, since Lisa had received the invitation to Teddy’s wedding, to repeat her mantra that Lisa must be on her best behavior, and never put herself forward nor get herself noticed. If she did not conduct herself with circumspection and humility, if she were singled out for any social infraction, her aunt would be mortified, and the family would never forgive her. The situation was a delicate one for everyone concerned. Nerves were frayed. Reputations and friendships balanced on a knife edge. How had it all come to this…? She wondered aloud on a sigh.
Lisa took her cousin’s monologues on correct conduct and consequences in good part, and was careful to temper her enthusiasm and happiness, saying with a smile, “Please pass on m
y best wishes to my aunt and uncle, and to Toinette, for their safe return. And thank them on my behalf for supplying the fabrics for my gowns. And you will tell my aunt we have economized on employing a maid because Becky Bannister has agreed to accompany me to—”
“Yes. Yes. I will tell them,” Minette Walker interrupted on a sigh, as if it was the most arduous task of her long day, and it not yet begun. “At least this Becky Bannister is expert with a needle, which has saved me employing my seamstress. I will grant, that was a stroke of luck—Oh! And while I’m away today, on no account are you to step outside the house. Heaven forbid something should befall you with less than a sennight until your journey, after the expense and effort we’ve incurred.”
“Lisa will be fully occupied in the dispensary all day, dear heart, if the huddle of persons already at the door is any indication,” Dr. Warner assured his wife with only one ear to the conversation, looking up over his wire rims from a letter that was consuming all his thoughts. He had left off his usual morning perusal of the newssheets.
“Good news I trust?” Mrs. Warner asked, sipping at her tea, gaze dropping to the letter in his hand.
“Good news? No. Confound it,” Dr. Warner replied with uncustomary harshness. “It is not good news, my dear. It is the worst possible news!”
“Oh dear,” Mrs. Warner pouted. “I do so dislike to see you so put out, Robert. It makes my head ache.”
“Forgive me, my dear. But I’m afraid my mood has little chance of altering in the next little while—”
Satyr’s Son: A Georgian Historical Romance (Roxton Family Saga Book 5) Page 8