Garlands of Gold

by Rosalind Laker

  Again there was whispering among her listeners. Then a voice spoke up. ‘How else is one to get a truly white complexion?’

  ‘There are ways with balms and powders. Leave the white-painted faces to the dandies.’

  There was a ripple of amusement. Many dandies not only used cosmetics to whiten their faces, but contrived with lip rouge to give themselves a rosebud mouth, their lashes blackened and high, pencilled eyebrows, which all combined to give them a mask-like look. Unfortunately, due to the poor quality of some cosmetics, many women present had the same unfortunate appearance without realizing it.

  More questions followed. Saskia felt that she was only giving sensible advice and was inwardly surprised by the ignorance of many of the women, for by their clothes and jewels it was apparent that all present enjoyed an affluent way of life. She would have expected better from every one of them.

  Finally she closed the meeting by saying that she would receive by appointment any ladies who wished to consult her privately here in the assembly rooms one day a week. Her assistant would take their names.

  There was a rush towards Joan, who had seated herself at the table with pen, ink and a book in which to record names and appointments.

  Saskia managed to ease her way through to Elizabeth and her companion. With sparkling eyes Elizabeth said immediately, ‘Allow me to present you two ladies to each other.’ She gestured gracefully towards each of them. ‘Mistress Wren and Mistress Harting.’

  Saskia showed her pleasure and curtsied deeply. ‘It is an honour to meet you, madam. I admire what I have already seen of your esteemed husband’s fine work.’

  Mistress Wren smiled. ‘I’ve been told by Mistress Gibbons that you have a talented husband too.’

  ‘I believe him to be.’

  Elizabeth explained how this unexpected acquaintanceship had come about. ‘We met by the side door that you had advised me to use. I had seen Mistress Wren most rudely pushed aside at the main entrance and immediately I beckoned her to enter with me.’

  ‘I’m so glad you did,’ Saskia said.

  ‘I found all you said most interesting,’ Mistress Wren commented. ‘I could have listened to you for much, much longer. Now I’m like the rest of your audience in still having questions I’d like to put to you.’

  ‘Then may I offer you some hospitality,’ Saskia asked. ‘My home is not far from here.’

  Mistress Wren hesitated only briefly. ‘That would be most kind.’

  The three of them drove in their individual carriages and were soon settled in Saskia’s drawing room with tea and small cakes being served to them. It had been Saskia’s mention of her herb garden at the meeting that had particularly interested Mistress Wren and after they had finished tea Saskia took her out to see it, Elizabeth following. There were two medicinal herbs that Mistress Wren did not have at home and Saskia gave her clumps of each in a basket that she could plant in her own herb garden in the country.

  ‘I come to our London home infrequently,’ Mistress Wren said as they wandered back indoors again. ‘My husband prefers the quiet of the countryside just as I do, and so we retreat to our country house as often as possible. Fortunately he is able to leave London tomorrow with me for a few days respite from the city. Although he will not be idle! He will be poring over his plans and drawings or making models of buildings that he will create. There are not enough hours in the day for him.’ In the hall Mistress Wren paused, ready to depart, and smiled at Saskia. ‘I congratulate you. I’m like my husband in admiring those who work hard and overcome odds to make a success of life, whether man or woman. He will be most interested when I tell him about you.’

  After she had gone Elizabeth stayed on for a while as she discussed excitedly the success of the afternoon. ‘I recognized Mistress Wren immediately. I had seen her at a banquet with her husband, but never supposed our paths would ever cross. Unless,’ she added wistfully, ‘Grinling should ever get a commission from him.’ Then she clasped her hands together joyfully. ‘But the whole afternoon was a triumph for you! My congratulations once again!’ Then she remembered that she had left her baby son with his nursemaid far longer than she had intended and departed in a hurry.

  Joan was waiting to show Saskia the list of appointments that she had written down. One glance was enough for Saskia to see that it would take her at least six weeks to get through them.

  ‘Every item you left on the table disappeared,’ Joan said, shaking her head at such dishonesty. ‘I was so busy taking names that I did not notice. I never expected ladies of quality to be light-fingered!’

  ‘Never mind,’ Saskia said. ‘Let us hope that each of those items will result in orders for more of the same.’

  She recalled how Elizabeth had declared the meeting a triumph, which could not be denied. There had been waves of goodwill wafting towards her all the time. Yet she felt that her true success was in being presented to Mistress Wren. Now the person whose approval mattered most to Robert would know that he was married to a wife of whom his wife approved.

  The next day a letter came in which Mistress Wren thanked Saskia for her hospitality as well as the kind gift of the herbs. She also expressed the hope that they would soon meet again.

  Seventeen

  Saskia had returned with Joan from her seventh weekly gathering of ladies to find that Robert was home. It was not a surprise as he had notified her of his forthcoming return, his task at an end in Yorkshire and everything concluded satisfactorily. She had not been looking forward to his coming home again, but she had made sure that everything was prepared for him. The cold March wind swirled her skirts as she entered the house just ahead of Joan, who swiftly closed the door after them.

  He was standing in his study doorway, his frown deep, and he had one hand behind his back. She guessed immediately that he was holding the file of her bills, which she had left on his desk.

  ‘Welcome home, Robert,’ she said, slipping off her hooded cloak, which Joan immediately bore away.

  ‘I trust you are well, Saskia,’ he said grimly.

  ‘Yes, indeed,’ she replied, leading the way into the drawing room where she held her hands to the flames for a few moments before sitting down in the nearest chair. ‘I know by your expression that you wish to discuss money matters with me.’

  ‘Yes, I do.’ He had remained standing and now he brought the file from behind his back, opening it to reveal the wad of its contents. ‘These accounts have certainly surprised me,’ he challenged. ‘When I gave you carte blanche with your expenses I had not expected you to run up bills to this amount! You appear to be producing your cosmetics on a grand scale, judging by the apothecary bills, and the cost of the china pots seems astronomical to me.’

  She thought what a typical husband-and-wife scene was being enacted between them, although it was not about an extravagance in clothes, hats and general fripperies as was most likely with other couples. ‘You have no need to be concerned,’ she replied. ‘I shall repay every penny. As you will see I have kept careful account and have already paid some of the smaller bills out of the money I have earned so far.’

  ‘So how do you propose to settle the rest?’ He put the file on a side table and then sat down, his elbows resting on the chair arms, his fingertips propped together in an arch as he gave her his stern attention.

  ‘By building up my business sufficiently to pay back all that I owe you. You know from what I have said in the past that my ultimate goal is to rent a shop in a prosperous street and conduct my sales from there.’

  He saw through her words. The financial independence that he had once forecast for her would rebound against him, for she was planning an escape from their marriage. The bills themselves were of no importance to him, for he could settle them without a second glance, but he had seen them as a warning and that had seriously alarmed him.

  ‘How long do you expect it to be before you can carry out this ambition of yours?’ he asked bluntly.

  ‘Not as long as I first t
hought. Already I have an enthusiastic body of women eager to purchase from me, although,’ she added frankly, ‘I find the richest women are the slowest to pay. At first they seemed to think I should present my account at the end of the year as tradesmen are expected to do, but I consider myself to be an artist. So I have been following Grinling’s pea pod method, which has worked very well.’

  ‘Whatever is that?’ he exclaimed.

  ‘If Grinling sees that he is to be kept waiting for his account to be settled he leaves pea pods open in his carving. In my case whenever a debt is mounting I switch to presenting my cosmetics in plain pots without the green ribbons that I always have specially dyed. Without my saying a word my clients soon understand just as Grinling’s clients do at the first sight of an open pea pod when they visit his workshop to see how the piece they have commissioned is progressing. Now my bills are like his in being settled promptly.’

  Robert was grinning widely. ‘I remember admiring your business acumen some time ago and now you have proved it once again. Are your wares expensive?’

  ‘Yes, they have to be or else they would not be valued. Nobody appreciates something for nothing.’

  ‘I know that to be true.’

  ‘Let us not fall out over this matter of my work, Robert,’ she urged, holding out her hands in appeal. ‘I’ll not let anything interfere with the running of this household. We shall have people to dine and hold parties and card-playing evenings and all else. I shall be a perfect wife.’

  ‘In all ways but one!’ he gave back with sudden harshness.

  She caught her breath. ‘We have an agreement.’

  ‘Yes,’ he replied impatiently, flicking a dismissive hand. ‘Forget what I said.’

  She saw it was time to disclose what she was eager to tell him. ‘We shall have our first dinner party next week with two important guests.’

  ‘Grinling and Elizabeth?’ he assumed casually.

  ‘No, he’s away. It is Master and Mistress Wren that have accepted our invitation.’

  He stared at her in astonishment, leaning forward in his chair. ‘How on earth did that come about?’

  ‘Mistress Wren came to my first gathering at the assembly rooms. She had heard of my use of herbs, which particularly interested her. I have met her several times socially since that day. It is my belief that her husband agreed to an acceptance of the invitation because he wishes to see for himself just how you have settled into married life.’

  He gave a shout of laughter, throwing his head back and clapping his hands down on his knees. ‘You’re a genius, Saskia! Are you sure that you don’t create magic spells with those herbs that you use?’

  She laughed with him. ‘Perhaps I do.’

  He sprang to his feet and took her hands to draw her up out of the chair. ‘How shall we celebrate your success?’

  ‘Wait and see the result of the dinner party first,’ she advised, smiling. He was holding her hands against his chest, but when she would have drawn them away his clasp tightened.

  ‘Why not weave a spell for us?’ he said softly, looking down into her eyes. ‘One that would banish Grinling from your heart for ever.’

  She turned her face away from him, unable to make any reply. She was aware how his gaze grew cold on her and she shivered. Then he let her hands drop as he took a step backwards. Pausing only to pick up the file of bills, he left the room and went to his study.

  She remained standing in the firelight, accepting now what she had always been reluctant to admit to herself, ever thrusting the thought away. The reason why Robert had refused to consider eloping with Jane Montgomery was now very clear. It was not from a mercenary reason as he had said, but because he had been so long in love with her that she had eclipsed all other women for him. She saw now that it dated from their first meeting in the Rotterdam house when the stare he had fixed on her had been the beginning of it all.

  She took a few paces up and down. Between them they had created an impossible situation. She must leave his house just as soon as he had gained Wren’s patronage on a permanent footing. Robert had been kind to her in many ways. She would not desert him while her presence at his side was needed for their masquerade.

  With Robert’s return she saw again the portrait medallion that Grinling had carved for him all that time ago. She had gone into his study with a letter that had just been delivered, for she allowed nobody else to enter there when he was working. She came to an abrupt halt.

  ‘You still have it!’ she exclaimed. In her surprise she forgot the letter she was holding.

  He was seated at his desk and looked up to follow the direction of her gaze. ‘Did you suppose I had thrown it away?’ he asked drily.

  ‘Where has it been? Has it been kept in a box or a drawer?’

  ‘No. I’ve always had it with me on my travels.’

  She gave him a surprised glance and then went closer to it. ‘How young I look!’

  He gave a mirthless laugh. ‘You look no older now. In fact you still have a virginal bloom.’

  She flushed and remembered why she had come into his study. ‘Here’s a letter for you.’

  He took it from her. ‘I can see it is from my lawyers. Wait a moment, Saskia,’ he added as she would have left the room. ‘Let us see if it contains any good news about regaining my family home.’

  She waited until he had read it through and then saw him shake his head ruefully. ‘The case is still being heard. By the time the lawyers finish their game I’ll have no money left to enable me to live in the house.’

  She knew he was jesting, but his frown had shown a deep anxiety that he might yet lose the case and have to wait until his stepmother’s demise before the family home came at last into his rightful possession.

  They spent Christmas Day with Grinling and Elizabeth, who with Lucy’s help had decked the rooms with evergreens just as Saskia had done at home. While doing it Saskia had remembered nostalgically the clog filled with sweetmeats that Vrouw van Beek had always given her for St Nicholaes Day.

  Robert’s gift to her was a gold bracelet, which she thought was beautiful, and hers to him was a book on old London. He was extremely pleased with his gift, for it was a volume for which he had been searching and he had not known that she was aware of it.

  She wore the bracelet every day from that time on.

  Eighteen

  Saskia discussed the menu at length with Louis, the chef, for the evening when the Wrens would be present. When the day came she spent considerable time decorating the table as she had once longed to do when watching Mistress Gibbons give the final touches. As it was early December there were few flowers to be had anywhere, but she used what she could find and added rowan berries for colour while ivy trailed delicately along the table and encircled the bases of the silver candelabrum with the tall white candles. The effect was later admired by Mistress Wren herself.

  Saskia was fascinated to meet that lady’s famous husband with his strict principles and extraordinary talents, for not only was he a brilliant architect, but also a mathematician, a geologist, an astronomer and much else, and had once successfully transferred blood from a healthy animal to a sick one, which had never been done before and would probably never be done again. Yet he had given lectures on its possible benefits for human beings instead of the bloodletting that most physicians considered essential for most ailments.

  Saskia curtsied deeply to him when he and Mistress Wren arrived and Robert had welcomed them.

  ‘I have been hearing about you from my wife, madam,’ he said, smiling at her. ‘Your success is much to be admired. We need beauty in all its forms in this world of ours and you are contributing in your own unique way.’

  She had liked him on sight and his compliment meant much to her. He was not a commanding figure, being slight of build, but she thought him most remarkable for his keenly intelligent eyes that seemed to encompass everything at a glance. His nose was long and thin with finely curved nostrils, his cheeks clear cut and his m
outh pleasingly indented at the corners. His periwig, which flowed over his shoulders, was a dark coppery shade that most surely echoed his own hair colour to judge by his brows and lashes. He was handsomely dressed in a sea-green coat of richest velvet, and the lace trimming his cravat and flowing from his cuffs was as fine in appearance as the lace that Grinling had once carved.

  There were only eight guests and conversation flowed freely around the table. One gentleman, forgetting that his hostess was Dutch, brought up the subject of the current war with Holland. Immediately Wren intervened.

  ‘Remember that we are both great maritime nations,’ he said, ‘both expanding our colonies and our trade routes. Friction has been inevitable, but all will settle down again before too long.’ He turned to Saskia, for he was seated at her left hand. ‘Believe me, madam, it was only a squabble between two seafaring friends. Our bonds with your nation are too strong to be severed. Even the King’s niece is wife to the Prince of the House of Orange, and your country gave refuge to our Merry Monarch himself during his years of exile. Bonds have been formed over the years that will never be broken.’

  ‘I thank you for your kind and reassuring words, Master Wren.’

  He had averted what could have been an embarrassing interlude for her and after that the talk was mostly light-hearted and amusing. Once during dinner Saskia’s glance was caught by Robert at the head of the table. He gave her a smile that told her the evening was already a success.

  It was as the guests were leaving that Wren spoke quietly to Robert. ‘I shall be in my office tomorrow morning. Come and see me about eleven o’clock if that is convenient.’

  ‘Indeed it is, sir,’ Robert replied swiftly.

  ‘Good. Thank you again for a most enjoyable evening.’

  When the last guest had departed Saskia and Robert faced each other in the drawing room. ‘Tomorrow I’ve an appointment at eleven o’clock with Master Wren at his office,’ he said triumphantly.