Lady Ellingham and the Theft of the Stansfield Necklace: A Regency Romance

by Rochester, Miriam

  Richard and Alex arrived just as she jumped into the river. Richard shouted, ‘Flick No!’ but it was too late; she was in to her chest and began swimming toward the pitiful creature. Felicity reached out and grabbed the dog by the scruff of its neck ‘It’s all right little fellow,’ she said consolingly, ‘you are going to be just fine,’ She arrived at a point where she could stand up. The water was up to her waist and she handed the little dog up to Richard. Richard dropped the dog on the riverbank and reached out to grab his sister’s hand and heave her out of the water.

  Alex had remained on his horse and was leaning over watching the proceedings with slight amusement. Everything was obviously under control and he would just get in the way if he tried to assist. Richard had hauled Felicity out of the river and she was standing there dripping in her chemise. The soaking garment clung to her, revealing every curve of her body. Alex could not help but notice and watched on in some appreciation. It would be quite a shame to deprive his eyes of such an agreeable sight by prematurely bringing it to her attention.

  Felicity had not yet come to the realisation that she was not quite decent for she was distracted by the predicament of the little dog. It had a rope around its neck and on the end of the rope was a boulder. Felicity cried out, ‘Oh how wicked, how could anyone do such a thing to an adorable, helpless little dog?’

  Alex interrupted, ‘possibly one of my father’s tenants. They have had trouble feeding themselves this year, with the crops being so poor, never mind feeding a dog.’

  Felicity looked a little mollified but retorted, ‘Even so there could be kinder ways to dispatch a little dog other than throwing him in the river with a boulder around his neck.’

  Alex agreed, ‘Yes a bullet in the brain perhaps, but not everyone likes to do the deed at such close quarters, it can be rather messy.’

  By this time, Richard realised Flick was quite revealing all and reached for her riding habit. ‘For God’s sake Flick, put this back on, you will catch your death.’ Flick looked down at her shift and noticing for the first time her apparel, blushed with embarrassment. ‘Turn around she demanded,’ as she quickly donned her clothes. Alex smiled; it was rather late for modesty. He had been enjoying the delightful spectacle for the last five minutes. He sighed however and reluctantly did as he was bid.

  Once she was dressed, Felicity bent down to pick up the little dog that was whimpering at her feet and looking at her with adoring eyes. ‘For pities sake Richard, get this stone off from around its neck.’ Richard reached into his saddlebag for a knife and deftly cut the rope. The little dog knew he was trying to help and licked his hands. Richard however was grave and quite humourless. ‘Just because I am freeing his bonds does not mean that I am not angry with you Flick. I cannot believe you risked your life jumping into a swollen river for the sake of a dog. A dog for goodness sake! Are you completely out of your mind? It is a good job it is not such a deep river for it is flowing quite fast,’

  Felicity pouted, ‘you would have done the same, if you had arrived at the scene first.’ ‘No I would not!’ he countered and added somewhat sarcastically, ‘I have the annoying habit of thinking before I act and a peculiar sense of responsibility towards my family. As endearing as the animal may be he is just not worth it Flick. What is more I do not know what you think to do with it? You can hardly keep it. You are a guest in someone’s home and they may not perhaps like to have a little dog thrust upon them.’

  ‘Nonsense,’ she replied, ‘Alex won’t mind.’ She looked at him still seated on his horse, obviously in high gig. ‘Will you?’ Alex by now was laughing. ‘No not at all,’ he replied. ‘Here hand him up to me.’

  Felicity beamed at him. ‘There Richard you see. Alex is not nearly as heartless as you are.’ She handed the little dog up to Alex who grabbed it by the scruff and rested it in front of him on his saddle. He had pleased Felicity and was quite in charity with himself. Richard looked condemningly at his friend, he should have least expected support from that quarter but Alex only grinned with amusement.

  Felicity was beginning to shiver. The cold was starting to penetrate to her bones. It was obviously time to put an end to this sibling rivalry. Alex nodded to Richard. ‘We have hung around too long discussing the fate of this little dog. Felicity is getting cold, we should get her home and into a hot bath.’

  Richard muttered something under his breath, hoisted his sister roughly into her saddle and then climbed back on his own. He was still angry with her but she knew that it would not last. He was too thankful that she had emerged from the incident unscathed.

  The trio returned to the house and handed over the horses to the groom. Felicity was really cold by now. She could not feel her fingers and toes and Richard helped her into the house. Alex strode into the hall carrying the little dog and directing orders to the servants. Lady Stansfield and the Countess hearing the commotion came down into the hall to see Felicity standing with lank wet hair and dripping droplets of water on the black and white tiled floor, and the Marquis standing holding a little dog. He was ordering a hot tub to be prepared for Felicity in her room and demanding that the footman take the little dog and see that it was rubbed down, fed and looked after.

  The Countess ran over to Felicity, ‘Oh my goodness Flick, whatever has happened?’

  ‘The fool jumped into the river to save a little dog, that is what happened.’ Richard answered crossly.

  Lady Ellingham looked troubled, she could not expect Felicity to go the whole week without some calamity but goodness, did she have to go and trip up on the very first day.

  Lady Stansfield noticed Lady Ellingham’s discomfort and hobbled forward on her stick. ‘Never mind Sophia, we will get her warmed through; she will be as right as rain with a hot bath and a hot drink in her.’

  The Countess gave her hostess a grateful nod and took Felicity up to her room where the Dowagers personal maid and Sarah were already starting to fill a hot tub.

  An hour later Felicity came downstairs. Alex and Richard were sitting with the Dowager and telling her the whole story and the little dog was sitting happily on the Dowagers lap. It had been dried off, fed and had made itself quite at home. When Felicity entered the room the little dog recognised her and jumped down, scampering about her feet in adulated excitement. She bent down to pick it up. ‘I see you are well recovered you little imp,’ she smiled, rubbing its head and tickling it under the chin. Felicity looked apologetically at the Dowager, ‘I am so sorry for all the commotion I have caused and I do hope that you do not mind this little dog.’

  Elise Sheraton gave an understanding smile, ‘Why of course not my dear, why I remember when I was your age, I was reaching for a kitten and tumbled head long into a six foot. My beau pulled me out and I was covered in slimy mud and rotten leaves and smelling like the mire. My family did not let me live it down for weeks but I loved that little kitten. Anyway my dear, what are you going to call your little dog?’

  Felicity held the dog in the air above her head and gave it an affectionate shake. ‘I do not know. What shall we call you?’ she asked out aloud. She thought a moment and frowned, ‘Anyway, what are you, a boy or a girl?’

  Alex tittered, ‘I think we can safely assume it is a boy.’

  ‘Oh,’ Felicity frowned, ‘a boy’s name then.’

  The dog was white with tan patches over it eyes and ears. It had a short wiry tale and short legs and looked most disreputable. ‘I know I think I will call you Tiberinus after the Roman God of rivers, for out of the river I pulled you but that is a mouthful; it shall be your Sunday name. I will call you Tiber for short,’

  Chapter 11

  A Day out and Old Mother Shipton

  The next day the company sat at breakfast discussing what they should do for the day. The Duke was true to his word and had made sure he was available to entertain his son’s guests. It was his Grace, Lord Stansfield who came up with the most exciting idea. He turned to the Countess. ‘I know you live in Yorkshire country yourself
but I believe you live in Richmond. Have you ever been over this way and visited old mother Shipton’s Cave and Dropping well.’ The Countess’s eyes lit up, she had heard of the attraction but never had the opportunity to visit it. It was just too far away for a day’s pleasure outing. ‘Now that,’ she beamed, ‘is a wonderful idea. What do you think my children? Are we agreed?’ Richard had no objection and Felicity was positively enthusiastic about the plan.

  The party made a late start because the attraction was only four miles away from Stansfield Park. Even Lady Stansfield made one of her rare trips as she was having a good day and her joints did not seem to hurt as much. Felicity also insisted on taking Tiber as he was quite attached to her and might fret if he was away from her for too long. The Cave and Petrifying Well were situated on the banks of the river Nidd. The surroundings were very scenic and the party walked along the riverbank. The Duke walked in step with Lady Ellingham, pointing out to her the numerous places of interest and Richard patiently assisted the Dowager as she slowly made her way along the path with her arm linked through his for support. Alex walked alongside Felicity who was quite excited as they approached the main attraction. The terrier scurried up ahead sniffing in the long grass and carefully examining each rabbit hole as he made his way.

  When they got to the Petrifying Well however, they were greatly disappointed because the Well had done the unthinkable and collapsed on itself. The centuries off high mineral build up had made the well too heavy to support itself. No doubt, the exceptionally rainy season had contributed to the disaster. It had been big news but somehow, it must have passed the Duke by. He apologised to his company about his error but they reassured him. They could still have a good time, as there were many other interesting things to see. Objects had been placed under the mineral waters and their surfaces had petrified. Many of them had survived the collapse and amongst them were objects such as shoes, reticules and children’s cloth toys.

  Felicity was clearly enjoying the outing. She had read much about Old Mother Shipton as she had borrowed a book from Hookham’s library only two seasons ago. She turned to Alex, ‘do you really think Old Mother Shipton was a prophet?’

  ‘Well she seemed to prophesy about many things that came true. She said that Cardinal Wolsey would never see York despite being its Archbishop and it came true. He came within 10 miles of the place and was recalled to London to stand trial for high treason but died on the way back.’

  ‘Ah but,’ Felicity argued, ‘I have read a book and it said that this prophecy only came to light in 1641 and so was published after the fact, so it could not have been written by Old Mother Shipton at all.’

  Alex smiled to himself; Felicity was artlessly revealing herself as a blue stocking. Many a man would have been threatened and have a disgust of her but as for himself, he found her quite refreshing. Alex thought about her observation and gave an opinion of his own. ‘As her prophecies were passed down orally for nearly 150 years and just written down in the mid seventeenth century, maybe we shall never know. She prophesied the death of Mary Queen of Scots as well; and you can apply the same argument to that.’

  Felicity sighed and looked at Alex. ‘Do you know what really annoys me?’

  ‘And what is that?’ Alex asked curiously.

  ‘She is said to be a contemporary of Nostradamus and yet just because he was a man and allowed an education, he was respected. Old Mother Shipton had no recourse to an education and because of it, she was depicted as an ugly old woman with a hooked nose, protruding chin and bulging eyes, and ended up living in this cave. I bet she was no such thing and no way out of the ordinary. She was probably no different to Nostradamus and so it hardly seems fair.’

  Alex laughed. ‘Oh dear then let us hope the old dear is a legend then, it is just as well you did not live in her time, you would be banging on the kings door demanding justice for women.’

  Felicity was disgruntled. ‘I sometimes feel like doing that now, the restrictions on women can be very tedious and in London it is positively stifling,’ she sighed.

  The conversation ended because the Duke turned around to speak to them. ‘Sophia and I were just saying that we are quite peckish. Earlier this morning I took the liberty of sending a servant ahead to bespeak a parlour at the local Inn for refreshment. Is everyone agreed?’

  The Countess smiled, ‘That is very kind of you Gareth, I think we must all be getting a little hungry.’

  Everyone agreed but Felicity gave a little frown. Since when had his Grace taken to calling her mother Sophia, and to make matters worse, her mother had replied in kind. It struck her that the Duke had monopolised her mother’s company for most of them morning and what is more, dinner this last two evenings had not proved to be much different. He had been very attentive and his eyes were warm when he looked at her. Just where was Richard when you needed him. He was quick to censure her if he thought it necessary but he obviously had another standard when it came to his own mother and it galled her. She gave Richard a decisive look but he appeared unperturbed. Perhaps, Felicity thought wilfully, he should stop paying so much attention to her and direct it towards their mother. Well if Richard was not going to say anything she would, but now was not the moment. She made it her resolve to watch her mother closely and when they were partaking of luncheon at the Inn, it did nothing to allay her qualms.

  After luncheon, they made their way up the hill to visit Knaresborough Castle. It was largely a ruin as it had been a Royalist stronghold during the English Civil war and was destroyed by parliamentarian troops in 1648. However, the castle still had some interior remains, in which they were able to visit.

  The old Dowager was quite tired and although the Duke offered to drive her the short way up the bank in the carriage, she elected to stay at the Inn until they returned. Richard offered to stay with her and the landlord provided them with a game of chess. She dismissed them all. ‘You young people get along with you,’ she demanded with a wave of her hand. ‘This lovely young man here will keep me admirably entertained.’ As it was, Richard was entertained as he found the old Dowager vastly amusing. She had been quite a character in her youth and had may a tale to tell.

  The Duke of Stansfield and Lady Ellingham walked ahead up the bank leaving Alex and Felicity to stroll behind. Tiber kept running up to the Duke and running back to his mistress to check that she was still there, sniffing the pavements as he went. When their respective parents were far enough ahead and Felicity was sure they would not be heard, Felicity turned to the Marquis and hissed. ‘You know, I do not like the way your father is looking at my mother.’

  Alex who was not blind pretended to be oblivious, ‘and in what way would that be?’ he replied humorously.

  ‘I am not quite sure,’ she replied, ‘he looks...’ she hesitated, ‘he looks.... Oh, I don’t know how he looks. He has a hungry look!’

  ‘Alex laughed, ‘Perhaps it is because he has been starved for so long.’

  Felicity looked perplexed, ‘he should not be hungry, for he has just eaten with the rest of us!’

  Alex gave out a loud guffaw, ‘that is not quite what I meant Flick.’

  ‘Well what did you mean,’ she retorted innocently.

  ‘Oh never mind,’ he grinned. ‘You should not concern yourself, they are both consenting adults.’

  Felicity could be nothing but direct. ‘But she is my mother, and if it comes to that, where is yours?’

  For a moment Alex was quiet, ‘We do not talk about my mother at least not in front of grandmother. She will not have her name mentioned in the house. You see she ran off with a German Prince in the spring of 1801. Her portrait hung on the staircase and my grandmother ordered it to be taken down.’

  Felicity looked almost sorry she asked, ‘Oh how wicked, how she could be so cruel as to run off like that? Your father is a handsome and personable man, what more could she ask for?’

  Alex was grim, ‘Obviously she thought a Prince was of more use to her than a Duke.’ Alex nodded
to the older couple walking up ahead. They had nearly reached the castle gate. ‘You need not worry about my father, he is a good man.’

  Felicity was somewhat pacified but still questions were whirling in her head. Was the Duke still married? Was he free to take an interest in another woman? She did not want to see her mother hurt. Alex seemed to sense her questions and put her mind at rest.

  ‘My father is divorced. It is unusual I know, but after all he was not the guilty party and in his influenced position, he got his way. He was inconsolable at the time but grandmother helped him through it. She has been the nearest thing to a mother I have had in all these years.’

  Felicity stopped and touched Alex on the arm empathy. It was the first sign of affection she had shown. Alex grabbed her gloved hand, drew it through his arm and smiled. ‘I survived with no harm done and I am none the worse for it.’ He hesitated and gave a rakish grin. ‘Ah well that may not be quite true, I am not the paragon my father is, my reputation precedes me. It only stands to reason that I have inherited some traits from my mother.’

  Felicity looked at him adroitly. ‘Yes I know it! You forget I have been at the sharp end of your abominable behaviour. Tell me, do you treat all women so atrociously?’

  He gave a wicked nod and looked directly into her violet blue eyes, ‘No Flick, only those I desire.’ Suddenly he bent down and surreptitiously stole a kiss. He had been speedy enough to take her by surprise, but measured enough to savour her soft lips. Felicity flushed with embarrassment and looked in the direction of her mother and the Duke who were still ambling unconsciously ahead. Tiber scampered at Alex’s feet, yapping incessantly, in an attempt to offer him a rebuke. His doggy sense stopped him short of biting his ankles as his basic instincts told him that, that shiny booted leg might just be dangerous.