Apple Blossom Bride

by Marina Oliver

  'Why should you?' he demanded. 'You have been very kind to me, and I am grateful, but we are not related.'

  'If I lent you the money? Would you accept that?'

  James hesitated. 'No,' he said at last. 'I would not know when I could pay you back. That would be a worry. And from all I hear,' he added with a grin, 'officers all spend the whole of their pay. Only those with substantial private incomes have money to spare!'

  Justin laughed. 'That is true of many,' he agreed. 'But things may change over the next few years, while you are at Oxford. You may lose this desire to join the army.'

  'No. It's been my ambition for at least ten years, though I learned not to tell that to my father.'

  'Why is he so very antagonistic towards the notion?'

  'I don't really know, except he has sometimes made remarks about soldiers that made me think he had quarrelled with one once.'

  'Do you know who that might be? Were any of your neighbours soldiers, perhaps?'

  'I cannot think of one. But Papa is very quarrelsome, as you may have seen, despite the gentle pretence he employs when in company. I think it is because he feels he is always right, and always knows better than the other fellow, whoever he might be. Why, I'm sure, if he meets them while he is in France, that he will be telling the generals how they should have fought their battles. Yet he has never been near a battle, or talked to anyone about them.'

  It was clear James had little or no respect for his father, which Justin felt was a pity, but even having met the Rector only a few times, he could understand the boy's feelings. He began to tell him about his friend, the new tutor.

  'I was at Oxford with David Shore, and though he was two years younger than most of us, he was so brilliant he always came top. His powers of argument were phenomenal, so that the rest of us always felt worsted by him if we held different opinions.'

  'Then won't he be scornful of my abilities?' James looked apprehensive. 'I am not clever.'

  'Not at all. That is one of his main advantages. He always understands where the other fellow is coming from, and knows how to guide him into changing his views. Do you understand what is meant by the Socratic method?'

  'I think so. Isn't that where Socrates asked questions until he received the correct answers?'

  'Yes, in essence. He employed logic and fact, until the person being questioned came to the right conclusions by himself.'

  James was thoughtful. 'That will be a change from Papa's method!'

  'What was that?'

  'He stated his own beliefs or opinions, and poured scorn on any others. I sometimes felt I would have been learning just as well if I had been given a book to learn by heart.'

  'You will enjoy being with David. Stephen wrote to me that he was feeling much more confident about the examinations he faces now, and is actually enjoying his studies.'

  'I will be glad to see Stephen again. It was grim after he left. Papa was so furious and seemed to blame me that he had gone.'

  'Oh dear, I am so sorry! It was my decision, and I never dreamt you would suffer.'

  'Well, it's over now, thanks to you and Sir Peter. I heard he was going to marry Amelia. I had wondered whether he might marry Eve, but I suppose as she has no dowry she can't expect someone like him to offer for her.'

  *

  'Talia is back,' Caroline said at dinner.

  'How? I thought she was to stay in Bath?' Amelia said.

  'I understand she is going back to Russia. Apparently the society of Bath did not appeal to her.'

  'But – how did she get to London? Peter didn't go to escort her, it was for his mother.'

  'No. I understand the Countess became so annoyed with her she hired some woman to play duenna, and a pair of guards to ride on the carriage, and sent her back to Peter's house. And the Countess went back to Devon. I believe Talia had so offended all Bath society she did not care to remain there.'

  'Poor Peter!' Sir Bernard commented.

  'And he was going to Bath to help his mother,' Eve said. 'Had she already left?'

  'Yes. He is back in London now.'

  'So does he have to organise Talia's journey onwards?' Eve asked.

  'I don't know, but we will see him tomorrow, and no doubt he will satisfy our curiosity.'

  'I wonder how they are getting on?'

  'He has moved to stay with Justin, saying he dared not stay in the same house as Talia with only Mrs Dangerfield as chaperone.'

  Sir Bernard laughed. 'Is she as dangerous as her name?'

  'Worse, I believe, an absolute dragon.'

  They saw him on the following morning. He had walked round from Grosvenor Square, and Talia came with him. He had, he explained with a rueful smile, called in at his home to collect some papers and she had insisted she wished to pay her respects to Caroline, and say farewell.

  'I really do not understand why we could not have come in the carriage, Peter,' she said as soon as they had been taken to the drawing room. 'Good morning, Lady Montgomery. Can you understand why Peter forces me to walk in that slush and cold wind, which is so uncomfortable, because he will not make his coachman work as he should?'

  'It's a very short distance, my dear, and not worth getting out the carriage. The roads are still very icy, and dangerous.'

  'But if I can travel all the way from Bath in safety, surely a few hundred yards in London should not be a problem?'

  'Enough, Talia! You have caused sufficient gossip with your interference,' Sir Peter said, sounding harassed.

  'What interference? I have never interfered with anyone! It is beneath me to do so.'

  'So sending a notice of our betrothal to the papers, which was completely untrue, is not interference?'

  'It was a misunderstanding! I had understood, from things you said, that we were betrothed. But you choose to change your mind. I hope,' she added, turning to Amelia who was looking angry, 'that you do not regret accepting him! Be careful he does not deny your betrothal.'

  'I have no regrets, Talia, and I trust Peter. I believe you are planning to return to Russia?'

  'Yes, indeed. I find Englishmen not to my taste after all, even the dukes who have offered for me. Their titles are not enough to encourage me to suffer living in this uncivilised country.'

  'What dukes?' Amelia whispered to Eve.

  'In her imagination, but the Russians will soon be believing the Prince Regent himself wanted to marry her.'

  Amelia could not control a spurt of laughter, and Talia glared at her. Caroline hastily asked if she preferred ratafia or a glass of Madeira.'

  'I wish you had vodka, but the English have no taste, in drink as with anything else. Why do you like these insipid, tasteless drinks?'

  'Each to his own,' Sir Bernard said, handing her a glass of ratafia, which she eyed suspiciously and then began to sip slowly. 'When and how are you going to Russia?'

  'I am going by sea. No doubt we will have to stay in Amsterdam if the Baltic is too iced, but I believe society there is quite sophisticated.'

  'Peter isn't escorting you, is he?' Amelia asked in sudden alarm.

  'He has declined, which I think very uncivil of him. He is content to see me escorted only by that really uncouth woman his mother employed, who does not speak a word of Russian, and some man I have never met as courier. It is not at all what I expected of my English relatives. Not that my aunt is English, but I find she has become too like the English to matter.'

  They endured another half hour of her complaints and insults, until Amelia, as she afterwards confessed to Eve, felt like demanding the butler tossed her out into the street.

  'Only he would not have done. He is too correct, and after all, she hadn't been rude to him.'

  'But soon we'll be rid of her. Isn't that something to celebrate?'

  *

  On the following day the Earl came to see them, and when Eve asked whether James was still with him, shook his head.

  'I took him to join my brother at his new tutor's yesterday,' he explained. 'And
no, I will not tell you where he is. You may write letters and I will send them. And send any of his to you.'

  'James is not noted for writing letters. Why, before he ran away, I never received one from him. But why may I not have his direction?'

  'Because if the Rector indulges in one of his furies, you may be forced to tell him. Now, you can honestly say you do not know.'

  Eve nodded her understanding. 'But he will then be furious with you, won't he?'

  'Do you imagine I cannot deal with that?'

  Eve grinned. 'You can. I suppose it is because you were in the army, used to facing an enemy?'

  He laughed. 'Is your father my enemy?'

  'Don't laugh. He will be when he knows what you have done. And he never lets go of a grudge. He will hate you for having defeated him.'

  'I think I can bear that.'

  She was troubled. He did not know her father. Then she sighed. He did not live near them, and once Amelia's wedding was over she expected to be going home. They might never meet again.

  Sir Bernard had suffered no more seizures, and his doctors said that if he were careful, he might go back home once the wedding was over. That meant Eve would miss most of the Season, but as Amelia would not be in London, she could not expect her brother and his wife to remain there for her benefit. She suppressed a sigh. Perhaps, next year, after Rachel had had her baby, she might be well enough to come to London for a few weeks, and renew her invitation. It was a long time to wait, and she must make the most of these next few weeks. And then, if her father had not returned, she must inflict herself on Rachel until he did come home.

  The weather was improving, and it was sometimes possible to drive in the Park. Now, because Amelia always went with Peter, Eve drove with Justin, and to her delight he occasionally permitted her to take the reins.

  'If you can make that slug you drive at home move,' he said, laughing, 'you can manage these.'

  'Oh, how much I would like to have a better horse at home, and tool round the lanes in a curricle! But it will never happen. Not that I don't love my old slug,' she added. 'We all learned to ride on him, and he was the safest, steadiest beast you can imagine, even when John was just two years old. I hope he is not making a nuisance of himself to Rachel.'

  'I'm sure he will not be. Doesn't Rachel have step-daughters his age?'

  'They are a little older, and John despises all girls who do not enjoy doing the horrid things he likes.'

  Justin laughed. 'The sort of things most boys enjoy, such as messing about in water and mud, and collecting worms to dissect, and – '

  'Don't! I will never forget when he found a dead blackbird and insisted on cutting it up. It was full of maggots! Fortunately Papa never heard of that.'

  'I expect your father enjoyed such things when he was John's age.'

  'Papa? He has never been young! I expect from the time he could read he was always reading the Bible and playing at being a clergyman!'

  'You are severe.'

  'Perhaps. Have you heard anything from him? Or about him?'

  'Not yet, but there is considerable confusion in France. I'm sure we will hear something soon, and let us hope it will be good news.'

  *

  When Amelia came into the drawing room Eve stared at her in astonishment. She flung herself into a chair, scowling.

  'What is it?'

  'He doesn't love me! If he did he'd do what I ask.'

  'Peter? What has he done that's making you so angry?'

  'He's insisting on escorting that wretched girl to Dover.'

  'But that means she is on her way home. Isn't that good news?'

  'He doesn't have to go with her. If that Dangerfield woman can manage the journey to Russia, surely she can manage a day's journey to Dover! After all, England is a more civilised country than Russia.'

  'Isn't it just good manners for Peter to escort her?'

  'She'll persuade him to go further, I know she will!'

  'Oh, Amelia, he wouldn't do that.'

  'I know her scheming ways. She'll find some excuse, some reason to make him feel it's necessary for him to be with her.'

  Eve regarded her friend in some perplexity. It was so unlike Amelia, normally so sunny tempered, to give way to these sort of doubts.

  'Don't you trust Peter? He's asked you to marry him, he's looking forward to the wedding, and he loathes Talia. He's probably just going to make sure she does set off.'

  Amelia looked startled. 'I never thought of that. But it would have served just as well for him to see her off here in London, once she was on the coach with her dragon of a duenna.'

  'Would you trust her not to order the coach to turn around and come back to London?'

  'Oh, I suppose not. But I asked him not to go, and he refused. Why did he refuse to do as I asked?'

  'Would you want him to do everything you asked? If he did people would soon say he was living under the cat's paw.'

  'It wouldn't be like that!'

  'Wouldn't it?'

  'I'd only ever ask him to do what was important.'

  'Important to you?'

  'Well, yes. Of course.'

  'And if it were important to him not to do it, how would you feel if he gave way to you?'

  Amelia sighed. 'Oh, why do you make things so difficult?'

  'Have you read the marriage service?'

  'No. Why should I? Surely all I have to do is say things after the priest? I don't have to learn them all by heart.'

  'Well, I have had to be present when my father has been conducting marriage services, and the bride has to promise to obey her husband.'

  'Always?' Amelia looked aghast. 'You mean over every little thing? Whenever they have a slight disagreement, or want different things, she is always the one who has to give way?'

  Eve chuckled. 'From what a few of the women in the village have told me, there are many ways a wife can persuade her husband to do as she wants, and they do not include having a tantrum or being in a bad temper.'

  Suddenly Amelia laughed. 'I shall have to come and talk to the women in your village. Oh, Eve, I'm sorry! Yes, I do trust Peter, and I won't think horrid things about him. And I'm so very glad Talia will soon be out of the country. And perhaps I'd better read the marriage service just in case there are other nasty unexpected traps in it for me!'

  *

  The Earl and Sir Peter were at the War Office reading the latest despatches from the continent.

  'At least they have signed the Treaty. We are all now united.'

  'And all that remains is to find Napoleon and deal with him.'

  'And settle the details of the peace,' the Earl reminded him. 'They are still busy at Châtillon. I just hope I am not required to go there. I have too much to do here in England.'

  'But when it is over, will you go back to the regiment?'

  'I haven't yet decided. It's probably time I stayed at home and looked after my estates. I have good bailiffs, but I can see things that need to be done, and only I can authorise them.'

  'And I will not be needed here. I hope Paris will be free by the time I get married, as I've promised to take Amelia there.'

  'To buy more gowns?'

  Sir Peter laughed. 'Yes. But I have never seen it, and my father talked so much about the palaces, and the food, and when my mother was not around, about the women!'

  'Your mother was there, wasn't she, studying the language. Does she not talk of it?'

  'Not a great deal. Mostly she talks about how gallant the Frenchmen were compared with the boorish English.'

  'Yet she chose to marry an Englishman.'

  'I suspect she was more perceptive than she is given credit for, and could see that the French nobility were doomed. There was a good deal of unrest at the time, well before the revolution.'

  'And now she is content ruralising in Devon?'

  'She says so, but I do not expect it to last. Once she is recovered from Talia she will begin to miss her old friends. But she is not going to disturb our peace i
n Berkeley Square. I am buying her a house in Half Moon Street. She doesn't know it yet, and will no doubt be furious for a while, until she realises she is no longer mistress of my houses.'

  They were laughing when a clerk came in with more papers.

  'More from France, I'm afraid, my lord,' he said as he deposited them on the Earl's desk.

  'So I can't go home yet. Thank you, Dorney.'

  Sir Peter stood up. 'I had better see if there is anything new for me.'

  'No, wait. I have just caught sight of the word clergyman. Let me read this, it may be news at last of the Reverend Ripon.' He quickly scanned the letter, then shook his head. 'It's not definite. Just a rumour than an English cleric has been found in Spain. No details, so it may not be Eve's father. I will have to wait for more information. If you see Eve, don't mention it to her. I know she is getting more and more concerned about her father, and I don't wish to raise her hopes.'

  'How long has he been gone now?'

  'It was in December, before Christmas, so it's almost three months. He was going to ask all along the south coast, and I'm not sure when he went on the Falmouth mail boat. I suppose if he was spending time with the troops still in Portugal and Spain, he might not yet have reached France.'

  'We'll hear soon, now matters are clearer there.'

  *

  Eve and the Montgomeries were invited to a musical evening at a house in Grosvenor Square. The music was to be mainly by Beethoven, interspersed with lieder sung by one of the stars at the Opera House. During the interval they moved into another room where small tables were set out, and a buffet laden with delicacies.

  Eve was entering the room when the hostess, Lady Farley, came up to her with a man beside her.

  'I have someone who wishes to meet you,' she said, in a soft voice that was little more than a whisper, and Eve glanced up at the man. He was, she judged, in his sixties, with thick white hair that hung down almost to his shoulders, which she thought for a moment might be a wig. He had deep-set brown eyes, under bushy eyebrows, and his face was wrinkled and deeply tanned.

  Just as the hostess said his name there was a burst of laughter from some young men just entering the room behind her, and she didn't catch it. The hostess turned away and the man led Eve to one of the small tables.