Apple Blossom Bride

by Marina Oliver

  It was easier to choose ribbons and beads and flowers, and Amelia bought several trimmings for herself, saying they would improve some of her old gowns. Both girls returned to Albemarle street laden and flushed with success. And, Eve thought, she still had quite enough of her father's money to make a second expedition a possibility.

  Lady Montgomery heard them come in and came to Eve's room to see what they had bought.

  'My sewing lady is in the small room upstairs,' she told them. 'She is dealing with your evening gown first, Eve, dropping the neckline and making the sleeves short. It will do for now, and I brought a shawl you can wear with it.'

  Eve gasped. It was not at all the sort of shawl some of the village women wore, thick and heavy. This was gossamer fine, of gauze and spangled with silver beads, with silver threads running through it.

  'Oh, it's beautiful! But Lady Montgomery, you have already given me so much!'

  'I am happy to, for you are keeping Amelia company. And do call me Caroline, for Lady Montgomery from one of Amelia's friends makes me feel so old. Justin and a friend of his are coming to dine with us, so you will both want to look your best. But now, Eve dear, come with me and my sewing woman can take whatever measurements she needs. Afterwards, shall we go to Bond Street and borrow some books from Hookham's?'

  *

  Eve was amazed when they entered Bond Street. It was so close Caroline said they would walk, although a footman accompanied them to carry their parcels. There were, it seemed to her, hundreds of people strolling along or driving or riding in carriages, stopping to talk to one another, or vanishing into shops.

  The shops amazed her, and it seemed fashionable people could obtain everything they needed here in this one street.

  'Not quite everything,' Caroline said, laughing. 'There are shops elsewhere, and they will often be cheaper. As you have already discovered at Bedford House.'

  She was even more astonished when they entered Hookham's Lending Library. It was crowded with both men and ladies looking at the books available. After a considerable time Eve found a copy of Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth. She had heard Rachel talk about it once, and their father had angrily forbidden his daughters to read novels, especially those which dealt with disreputable Irish families.

  'I wonder if he has read it himself?' Rachel had said, smothering a laugh.

  'Surely he would never read a novel!' Eve was aghast.

  Caroline, coming to see what Eve was studying, said she had enjoyed the novel some years before.

  'I am going to take Camilla,' Amelia said. 'I enjoyed the other book by Fanny Burney, Evelina. It was so amusing.'

  'I remember. You lent it to me, and I had to keep it in the hay loft in case Papa saw it.'

  'You can read whenever you like here,' Caroline said.

  They had left the shop and were strolling along when a barouche was halted beside them, and an elderly lady beckoned to Caroline.

  'My dear, how nice to see you in town. I must send you an invitation to my next soiree. And who are your companions?'

  Amelia and Eve were introduced, and Lady Carstairs promised to include them in her invitation. As she drove on, a curricle stopped, and yet another of Caroline's acquaintances greeted her. Eve wondered how many people Caroline knew in London.

  'I thought the Little Season was not very busy,' she said as they moved away from yet another carriage whose occupant had stopped to greet them.'

  'It isn't. But everyone comes to Bond Street to shop, or the men come to visit Gentleman Jackson's boxing saloon.'

  'Gentlemen? Boxing? I thought only rough men did that.'

  'They also practice fencing,' Caroline explained.

  'But men don't carry swords now, do they?' Eve was puzzled.

  'I think some do in the army.'

  'And don't some of them fight duels with swords?' Amelia asked. 'Oh, I do wish I could be present at a duel!'

  Caroline shook her head. 'Duels are forbidden, though they do sometimes still happen. But if you were present, you would be utterly ruined, my child.'

  Amelia looked as though she would not mind, and when they reached Albemarle Street and retreated to her bedroom to examine their books, she complained at how boring it was if men could not settle their quarrels in the usual manner.

  'Perhaps they box,' Eve said, 'though that sounds very uncomfortable.'

  'I wouldn't like that, but I wish I could learn to fence!'

  *

  Rachel considered the letter she held. Eve sounded so thrilled, and Rachel knew just how she felt. It was not only the chance of escaping from the Rectory, but the excitement of going to London. She wondered how Eve was going to manage for clothes, and whether to send her those of her own, from the old days, which she and Annie had already altered. Yes, she suddenly decided. She had plenty of pin money, her husband was generous, she could buy fabrics and make some new gowns for Eve as well before they went to London. She rang for Annie.

  'We'll pack these which are ready, and the pelisse, and my old riding habit,' she said. 'We can send them by carrier to the Montgomery town house. Eve will no doubt be glad of them.'

  Annie suddenly giggled as she held up one of the altered evening gowns.

  'The Rector will have a fit when she goes back home with these. He was disapproving of your gowns when he came to stay here, but he couldn't say so, when the master was always with you.'

  Rachel chuckled. 'But if looks could kill, I'd have been dead, and so would Joseph. All poor Papa could do was ask me, in that gently sarcastic manner he has, if fashions had changed so much since his day, with necklines so low.'

  'Did he ever spend time in London?'

  'I don't know. Now, isn't that odd? I know so little of his early life, and none of his family are still alive. My mother came from Lancashire, that I do know, but I never heard where or how they met. He was a curate in Shropshire, though I never heard which parish, and perhaps she was visiting near there. And none of her family is still alive apart from her brother, who made lots of money in India. At least, I suppose he is, I've never heard otherwise. But he visited us once, when I was just a little girl, about three years old, I think, and I heard him and Papa quarrelling. He left in a hurry, and has never been back, but when I asked Papa why I was told his name was never to be mentioned, he was not a good man. Why, I doubt if he knows my brothers exist, unless Mama wrote to him in secret. But if she did she would have had to do it without Papa knowing, and somehow I don't think she would have had the courage.'

  'Why don't you contact him?' Annie said. 'Was he married?'

  'I don't think so. I'm sure he didn't bring a wife with him that time. But if he is I might have hordes of cousins I never knew about!'

  'Did your father write to tell him when your mother died?'

  'I'm sure he didn't. And I don't know his address, but I suppose he may have gone back to Lancashire.'

  'You know his name, and where he used to live. You could employ someone to go there and ask around.'

  'Yes, I could. Perhaps I will. But these gowns, now, what on earth will Papa say when Eve goes home with them? He'll cut them to pieces or throw them on the fire.'

  'You could suggest that when she goes home she leaves them in Upper Brook Street, ready for when you go there in May.'

  'I'll do that. What ever would I do without you and your commonsense, Annie?'

  *

  Eve's white gown was unrecognisable. The much lower neckline was trimmed with a ribbon in a pretty shade of blue, and a frill of lace. There was more lace on the very short sleeves, and a ruffle of blue ribbon round the hem. Katie came to put up her hair in bunches of ringlets either side of her face. When she looked in the mirror she told Amelia she didn't recognise herself.

  They went down to the drawing room, and Caroline nodded in approval. 'You look very well.'

  Sir Bernard came across to kiss her hand. 'You're a beautiful young lady,' he said, 'and I have a little present for you.'

  He handed her a fan
with ivory sticks and pictures of London on the chicken skin. Eve felt like weeping.

  'You are all so very kind and generous,' she managed.

  Before he could reply the two visitors were announced. Eve was somewhat startled to see the Earl in evening dress. He looked taller, and somehow more remote, intimidating, and when he smiled and came across the room to kiss her hand she felt she had never seen him before, never been plucked by him off her apple tree, never lectured him on how cider was made.

  His friend, introduced as Sir Peter Sankey, was equally well dressed, but shorter and rather plump. He had a round face, ingenuous blue eyes, and an infectious smile. When he led Eve into dinner she felt she was able to talk to him.

  'Justin tells me you make cider,' he said as they were served with soup. 'An unusual hobby, if I may say so, for a pretty girl.'

  'It isn't exactly a hobby, sir, and I don't make it myself, but a neighbour, a farmer, makes it for me from my apples.'

  'My estates are in Devon, and we make cider too. Have you read New Atlantis by Francis Bacon?'

  'No, but I have heard of it. Doesn't he maintain cider prevents scurvy? And other diseases?'

  'I will lend it to you. You are correct. It is also beneficial against many other complaints, such as gout and the stone.'

  The butler, Thompson, came to pour wine, and Sir Peter raised his glass in a toast. 'To cider! I can also lend you, if you're interested, John Worlidge's Vinetum Britannicum.'

  'Yes, I have read that. It was left to my father with a pile of other books, but I'm sure if he had known it dealt with cider making, he'd have forbidden me to read it. He disapproves of strong drink!'

  When the next course was served, Sir Peter turned to talk with Caroline, and Sir Bernard grinned at Eve.

  'We'll have to have you give talks on cider-making to the Royal Society,' he said.

  'Oh, you overheard! Have I been boring?' She looked embarrassed.

  'Not at all, Peter must be delighted to have a fellow cider-making enthusiast. Now, tell me, apart from balls and routs and morning calls, what do you want to do in London?'

  Eve frowned. 'My father says I must be sure to see St Paul's and Westminster Abbey. I will have to go, he will want to know what I thought of them. But I want to see everything, and I would like to go to the British Museum.'

  'We will arrange it. If Amelia does not care to join us, and she has no love of old buildings, I will take you myself.'

  Eve glanced across at Amelia, who was laughing at something the Earl had said. He was gazing down at her with a smile in his eyes, and Eve was sure their engagement would be announced soon, perhaps before they went home for Christmas. Lucky Amelia! She wished she had a handsome man like the Earl, who was amiable as well as good looking, in love with her.

  Soon afterwards the talk became more informal, and they wondered how the army was doing now they had crossed the Pyrenees. The Earl and Sir Peter had no more information. Sir Peter, Eve discovered, also worked at the War Office, as a translator.

  'He puts the rest of us to shame,' the Earl said, 'with his Russian and Hungarian as well as French and German.'

  'I have the advantage of a mother who is half Russian and half Hungarian, and I had a German Nanny,' Sir Peter said. 'I learned them all in the nursery, and speak them all far better than the French I learned at Eton.'

  Soon afterwards the ladies left the dining room, and Caroline took them up to the drawing room.

  'Peter hates not being in the army,' she said as they sat round the fire. 'His father was killed twelve years ago at the battle of Copenhagen, and his older brother at Corunna. His mother was hysterical. She is a somewhat volatile woman – her Russian heritage, I presume. She was begging him to leave the army, as he was now her only child. However, it wasn't at her behest, but that of Ministers, that he came to work in England. We have three men who would rather be in the army than here tonight, but Justin and Peter have to obey orders, and both do extremely valuable work. Justin really is a fine administrator. And Bernard,' she went on, her eyes clouding, 'still has those odd seizures at times, though thank goodness they are coming further and further apart. But they still won't agree to him going back.'

  Eve nodded. She had heard about Sir Bernard's condition from Amelia, which she thought had been brought on by a wound to his head a year or so ago, and that was why he was always accompanied by a groom when he went riding or driving, in case one of the seizures caused him to lose consciousness.

  The men soon came to the drawing room, and made plans to drive the girls in the Park on the following afternoon. Eve would go with Sir Peter in his curricle, it seemed, while Amelia, shuddering and saying she would be terrified, would be in the Earl's high-perch phaeton.

  He laughed. 'It's perfectly safe. You'll love it.'

  'We must make some morning visits first,' Caroline said, 'to let people know we are in town, and make sure they invite us to their balls and parties. But while you are out driving I can leave cards with others. And we must fix a date for our own party. Justin, Peter, you must let me know if there are any dates you cannot manage.'

  Soon afterwards the visitors left, and Eve retired to bed, to relive the evening. Sir Peter was a friendly acquaintance, and she would enjoy more of his company. She looked forward to seeing the books he had promised to lend her. She hadn't expected to find a fellow cider enthusiast in London, and would enjoy comparing notes on how cider making in Devon might differ from what she knew.

  *

  CHAPTER 4

  Eve decided to have both the fabrics she had bought made up into evening gowns. Surveying the ones she had brought with her, and those she had been given, she decided she had plenty of day dresses, but with the active social life Caroline was planning, she would need several evening gowns.

  After a couple of hours making morning visits, however, she knew she and Caroline's sewing woman would have to work hard making changes to all her gowns so that they did not appear twice. She had expected all these gowns would be useful when she came back to London for the Season. Now she began to wonder. Then she thrust the problem aside, for it was time to drive in the Park.

  'London is far less busy than it will be next May,' Sir Peter said as they entered the Park.

  Eve shook her head. 'But there are hundreds of people here!'

  Most were riding, or driving in sporting carriages like his and the Earl's, and the older ladies in more staid carriages driven by coachmen. Many were walking, and the carriages were frequently halted so that their occupants could talk with others. Eve was introduced to several people, and said despairingly she would never remember their names.

  'You will in time. Don't fret. Did you pay a visit to my mother this morning?'

  'No. Caroline said we must first concentrate on those of her friends who did not yet know we were in town, and you would have told your mother. She means to go tomorrow.'

  He grinned. 'Lady Montgomery is working hard. But will Amelia not be marrying Justin?'

  'I – I don't know. I think it was assumed when they were both children, but Amelia has not confided in me.'

  'Well, she has not yet met many young men, and she may change her mind if she meets others.'

  'I suppose so.'

  'And you? Have you left someone behind in Herefordshire?'

  Eve frowned as she thought of Nicholas. Her father certainly expected her to marry the curate, and for the first time she realised it had been odd of him to agree to this visit to London, where she might meet other young men, and receive an offer of marriage. Then she chided herself for being foolish. She had virtually no dowry, just a few hundred pounds left her by her mother, and no young man would want to marry her. But she would never marry Nicholas!

  'No. I don't meet many men there,' she added.

  'You will meet many in town.'

  She might meet a hundred young men, Eve mused as she dressed for dinner later that day, but none would want to marry her. So what was her future? Remaining as housekeeper to her fa
ther? And when he died? He was already almost sixty. Perhaps one of her brothers might have acquired their own parish, for they were both destined to enter the Church, and she could housekeep for him. Or, and the thought depressed her even more, an older man, a widower with children, might see in her someone who could both run his house and become a substitute mother for his children, as Viscount Benson had in Rachel. She shuddered, and determined not to think about her prospects, which were gloomy, and simply enjoy these few weeks in London.

  *

  Sir Peter's mother lived in a large house in Berkeley Square, and was the first call they made the following day.

  'She prefers to be called by her Russian title, since she was widowed,' Caroline told the girls as they were driven there in Sir Bernard's town carriage. 'It's the Countess Paloma Melikov, so don't address her as Lady Sankey.'

  'Heavens, I can't remember that!' Amelia said. 'Is she somehow ashamed of having been married to an Englishman?'

  'I have no notion, except that she likes to be different, and maybe flaunt her Russian heritage. Though,' she added somewhat caustically, 'I believe Russian countesses are as numerous as plain misters are in England!'

  Eve laughed. 'Peter said she was half Hungarian. Does she have another title, a Hungarian one?'

  'If she does she doesn't use it.'

  When they were admitted to the rather over-furnished drawing room, they found two ladies there, both industriously embroidering what looked like chair covers. The older looked up when they were announced, laid aside her embroidery with a sigh, and smiled in welcome.

  'Do come in, Caroline. I'm so happy to be able to stop pretending I enjoy this futile occupation, but people expect it. I have to be discovered employing my time profitably. Now, this one must be your pretty daughter, she is so like you, but who is the other young lady?'

  Caroline drew Eve forward. 'A neighbour from Herefordshire, who is keeping Amelia company for a few weeks. Eve Ripon.'