by Mary Nichols
It was left to Aunt Lane to explain what had happened and Mr Hemingford returned to his study slightly mollified, telling them to do what they must as long as he was disturbed no more until dinner was ready.
‘Is he always like that?’ Harry asked Jane.
‘Like what?’
‘Self-absorbed, indifferent to other people.’
‘He is not indifferent. I expect he is in the middle of a difficult piece of work and needs to concentrate.’
Harry did not think so. He began to feel sorry for Jane if that was the way her father normally behaved. No wonder she wanted to be married. But would Allworthy be any less of a petty tyrant than her father?
Doctor Harrison was young, hardly older than his patient. He was also a handsome man, scrupulously clean and with a twinkle of humour in his eye. ‘A severe chill,’ he said when he returned to the drawing room where Harry waited impatiently for his verdict. ‘Keep her in bed and keep her warm. I will leave something to alleviate the symptoms, but rest and good nursing are the best cure.’
‘She shall have that,’ Jane told him.
‘Jane, are you sure you want to do this?’ Harry asked, after the physician had gone. ‘I can arrange for good nursing at Bostock House.’
‘Of course I am sure. The doctor has said she should not be moved, and do you not think she has had enough jolting for one day?’
‘Then, may I call and see her?’
‘Good heavens, naturally you may, what a silly question. Papa is not an ogre, you know.’
‘I was not thinking of your father’s lack of a welcome, I have become used to that kind of thing, but of you.’
‘Me? Do you think that I would stop you coming? You must have a very poor opinion of me, if you do.’
‘Not at all, but we will inevitably meet. And if it is distressful to you, then I will endeavour to come at a time when you are out or busy elsewhere.’
‘It is not distressful to me, why should it be?’ She was aware, even as she spoke, that she was not being wholly truthful. ‘And I do not plan to be out while Anne needs me.’
‘I am glad,’ he said softly, noticing the colour flare in her cheeks. ‘Does that mean you have forgiven me?’
‘For what? For your rudeness to me? You have just saved all our lives, and if not our lives, then our valuables. If you had not been with us, I do not know what we would have done. In the circumstances it would be churlish to hold a few hot words against you.’
‘So, I have my uses, after all?’
‘What are you trying to make me say?’ she demanded, made uncomfortable by his steady gaze. ‘You wish for compliments? You would like me to grovel?’
‘No, but perhaps that is what you expect of me, but I have to tell you grovelling is something that is not in my nature.’
‘I already know that,’ she snapped.
‘Then if I ask you again if you have forgiven me, will you accept that as the nearest I am likely to come to a good grovel?’ He was smiling down into her face, winding her round his thumb, and even knowing that, she could not maintain her animosity. She found herself smiling back at him.
‘Oh, do stop acting the fool, Harry. If you are referring to your behaviour when I broke off our engagement, then of course I forgive you. It was a long time ago and we have both grown up since then.’
‘So we can be friends again?’
‘We can be friends. It will not help Anne’s recovery if we are constantly at odds with one another.’
‘Thank you.’ He bent and brushed his lips lightly against her cheek.
It was only a featherlight pressure, but it sent a surge of heat flowing right through her to her very toes. She felt her insides tighten like a coiled spring that would fly all over the place if she did not keep a tight hold on it. Her breath came out in a gasp and her hands lifted and then fell uselessly to her side. She stepped back from him, away from whatever it was that held her in thrall. ‘That does not mean you may take liberties, Captain.’
‘A little kiss for old time’s sake, you surely do not object to that?’
‘Yes, I do. You forget that I am all but promised to another man.’
‘I do not forget.’ He stood gazing down at her, no longer smiling. ‘Are you sure he is the man for you, Jane?’
‘Of course. He is kind, considerate, courteous at all times, and generous too.’
‘A paragon, then.’
‘I have yet to find a fault in him.’
Harry broke the tension by laughing. ‘How very boring, my dear.’
‘But safe.’
‘Ah, you wish to feel safe?’
‘Why not?’
‘Is this the woman who confronts highwaymen with a pistol? Is this the woman who rides hell for leather across country? Is this the woman who tools a coach and four as if she had been born with ribbons in her hands? That woman did not think of safety. She was fearless.’
‘That was different. And I was not fearless. When those highwaymen stopped us I was never so frightened in my life. What I cannot understand is why they chose us. It wasn’t as if we had a cache of valuables with us.’
‘They did not know that. They saw the necklace you were wearing when we stopped at the inn and supposed we were all plummy. That’s what the older one told me.’
‘Oh, then you were right. I thought…’
He smiled wryly. ‘You thought I was jealous.’
‘I did not!’
‘Jane, there is no need to fly into the boughs. I was thinking of your safety, and as safety seems so important to you…’
‘I am sorry,’ she said, then smiled. ‘We are not making a very good hand at being friends, are we?’
‘Oh, I think we are doing very well. Friends may be open with each other, may disagree without making a Cheltenham tragedy of it, and still be friends. I was thinking of something Oliver Goldsmith wrote: “Friendship is a disinterested commerce between equals: love an abject intercourse between tyrants and slaves.” It is better to be friends, don’t you think?’
‘Yes.’
‘Now, if you will excuse me, I shall go and see Anne before I take my leave, and as soon as I reach home I will send Miss Parker to help you look after her. Where is your aunt? I should bid her farewell.’
‘I don’t know.’ Aunt Lane should have been chaperoning her, but she had disappeared almost as soon as she had spoken to her father. ‘Oh, she must have gone to see the Countess of Carringdale in her court dress before she sets out for the banquet. It was why she was so determined to be back in town today.’
‘The banquet. I had forgot it. If I hurry, I might not be too late.’ And with that he rushed from the room and up the stairs two at a time to see his sister. Jane followed at a more leisurely pace.
Harry was reassuring himself his sister was comfortable when Mrs Lane bustled in, her eyes bright with excitement. ‘How is the patient?’
‘A little better, thank you,’ Anne said.
‘I am glad to hear it,’ she said, sitting in the chair Harry had just vacated by the bedside. ‘Now, I am come to cheer you up by telling you all about the Countess’s court gown. It is magnificent. The skirt is at least two yards wide, net over silk, embroidered all over with pearls and silver thread. The bodice has a deep point at the front and the dćolletage is so low it is almost indecent, but she assured me it is nothing out of the way. And she has had her hair done up monstrous high, powdered and finished off with three long feathers. She told me they had been obliged to take the seats out of the carriage and put in a little stool, so that they would not hit the roof. And the Earl is in white breeches with a dark blue coat, with yards of gold braid and white silk stockings and high-heeled shoes—’
‘My goodness, how old-fashioned!’ Jane said. ‘Anne, you were never going to dress like that, surely?’
‘It is de rigeur for court functions,’ Mrs Lane said, slightly miffed.
‘So it may be for the old ones,’ Anne said. ‘I could not wear anything so outrageous.
But I did have a beautiful gown…’ She paused. ‘Harry, I will not be denied. Do you go home and send Miss Parker back here with it. Jane shall try it on. It will compensate me a little for not being able to go.’ And, as Harry hesitated, looking from her to Jane, she added in a croaky voice, ‘Go on, you have no time to dally. Make yourself ready, then come back. I want to see you and make sure you pass muster before you go. I should not like to think of you meeting the Regent with your cravat all awry.’
He opened his mouth to protest, but decided against it. If she was crossed, she might take a turn for the worse and he would never forgive himself.
‘Anne, you will make him late,’ Jane protested. ‘And you have exhausted yourself. You must rest.’
‘I will, but promise to let me know immediately Amelia arrives with that gown.’
‘Can it not wait until tomorrow?’
‘No.’ She grabbed Jane’s arm in a grip that was surprisingly strong. ‘Promise me.’
Jane made the promise and they left her to rest.
Half an hour later, Amelia Parker arrived in a cab, carrying a small valise and the gown wrapped in tissue. She was a thin, middle-aged woman dressed in brown. ‘Where is she?’ she demanded almost before she was through the front door. ‘Where is my lamb?’
Jane took her up to Anne, hoping they might find her asleep, but Anne had heard the door knocker and was sitting up in bed.
‘Oh, you poor dear,’ Amelia said, hurrying over to her. ‘You do not look the thing at all.’
‘I am better than I was.’
‘You cannot possibly go to that banquet and it is unkind of the Captain to expect it.’
‘He does not, Amelia. I want Jane to see my gown.’ She sighed. ‘I want to look at it and dream of what might have been. Jane, put it on to please me. Pretend you are me.’
Jane knew that to argue would exhaust her friend, so she smiled and gave in. Besides, the temptation to wear the gown that Amelia had unwrapped and laid across a chair was overwhelming. The underdress was made of shining cream satin, the overdress of fine gauze. There were dozens of silk roses sewn in a double line down the front from the high waist and three rows round the hem, the stems and leaves of each one embroidered with silk floss. The train, falling separately from the high waist, was similarly embroidered. The round neckline and the little puffed sleeves were decorated with rows of cream satin ribbon, studded with pearls.
It had looked rich, lying on the chair, but on Jane it was magnificent. It fitted so well it could have been made for her. She lifted the train over her arm and moved about the room, turning this way and that. ‘Oh, Anne, it is lovely. But it must have cost a great deal.’
‘I do not know how much it cost. Grandfather paid for it.’
‘You will wear it one day for another occasion.’ Jane began to struggle with the back fastenings to take it off.
‘Don’t take it off,’ Anne said. ‘Put the shoes on too. And let Amelia do your hair. There are some matching roses for that.’
Jane was completely arrayed in everything Anne had intended to wear, including a necklace of pearls, when Harry returned. So absorbed were the two girls they had not heard the door knocker and were taken by surprise when Aunt Lane brought him up to them. ‘Here is Captain Hemingford, all ready to—’ She stopped suddenly. ‘Oh, Jane!’
Harry silently echoed her exclamation. Jane had never looked lovelier. The soft folds of the dress draped themselves bewitchingly over her slim figure. Her eyes were brilliant, her cheeks a soft rose, her pink lips slightly parted as if she was going to speak but had suddenly stopped. Her hair, thick and shining and interlaced with cream silk roses, had been wound into a chignon behind her head, with soft curls in front, one of which lay on her forehead. He simply stood and stared at her.
‘Does she not look lovely?’ Anne asked her brother.
‘Indeed she does.’
He was looking very grand himself in dress uniform. Tight-fitting breeches and stockings did nothing to disguise muscular calves and thighs. The epaulettes on his jacket made his broad shoulders seem even broader. Rows of black braid decorated the jacket and sleeves. It was finished with an orange sash, black buckled shoes and a sword. He had looked good in his lieutenant’s uniform two years before and Jane had been proud of him, but this magnificent specimen took her breath away.
‘She must go to the banquet in my place.’
‘Anne, have you run mad?’ It was Jane who uttered what they were all thinking.
‘Jane, it is important to Harry and he ought not to go without a partner. It will throw all the Prince’s arrangements out and you know how particular he is.’
‘Too particular to entertain a cuckoo in the nest.’
‘Why should he know? Pretend to be me. His Highness will never know the difference. There will be hundreds of people there, he won’t be able to see and speak to everyone, will he?’ She was seized with a fit of coughing and had to wait until Jane had helped her drink a little of the cordial placed by her bed before she could go on. ‘You will go, won’t you?’
‘Certainly not! How could you even suggest it?’
‘But you are dressed now and it would be a terrible waste to take it off. Harry, you persuade her.’
Jane, realising her friend had manoeuvred her into a corner, turned to Harry, who was laughing. The magnificent upright soldier had turned into the mischievous boy Jane had always known. ‘It is all very well for you to laugh…’
‘Shall we humour her, Jane?’ he asked. ‘I fear she will go into a decline if we do not.’
‘Jane!’ Aunt Lane exclaimed. ‘You cannot. You have no invitation.’
‘Oh, but I have,’ Harry said, producing the card from inside the cocked hat he held under his arm and pretending to scrutinise it. ‘Captain Harry Hemingford and Miss Hemingford, it says. It does not specify which Miss Hemingford.’
‘What will Mr Allworthy say?’ her aunt asked.
By reminding her of Donald, Aunt Lane could not have said anything more calculated to spark off the contrary quirk in Jane’s nature. ‘He cannot possibly object, can he? An invitation from the Regent is a command. I shall write and tell him all about it tomorrow.’ And with that, she bent and kissed Anne’s cheek, curtsied to her aunt and sailed from the room, the magnificent train over her arm. Harry, grinning broadly, followed her.
Chapter Five
Harry had hired a tilbury as soon as he had received the invitation and it was as well he had, for there was not a carriage, cab or chair to be had in the whole of London. Long before they reached the corner of St James’s Street and Pall Mall the traffic was building up, all moving slowly in the direction of Carlton House. There were carriages in front and carriages behind and it took over an hour to cover the last fifty yards. Both sides of the street were packed with onlookers, all waiting for a glimpse of the guests arriving, hoping to catch sight of some visiting royal, debating among themselves whether the Regent’s estranged wife would appear, or his mistress, Mrs Fitzherbert, or even both!
Neither Harry nor Jane had spoken since he had given the driver their destination. Both were unwilling to begin a conversation that might end in recrimination or dissension, but both knew that they could not spend the whole evening in silence. He was the one to speak first, as the carriage came to a complete halt. ‘We shall be lucky if we arrive before they serve the first course,’ he said. ‘I hope we shall not be refused admission on that count.’
‘If we are, there will be hundreds of others in the same predicament,’ she pointed out. ‘They can hardly turn so many away.’
‘No, you are right. I have no doubt they have allowed ample time for everyone to arrive.’
‘I believe it happens every time his Highness entertains, so I expect they are prepared.’
They were talking to each other like strangers, stiff, awkwardly, uncertain how the other would react.
‘Why is this banquet so important to you?’ she asked. ‘Do you hope that it will set the seal on you
r acceptance back into Society?’
‘If, by Society, you are referring to the ton, then no, I care little for it. Most of its members are shallow and selfish and think of nothing but fashion and gossip.’
‘You used not to think that; you were once very careful of your dress and manners. I collect it was because you cared so much for the opinion of Society you went away.’
‘Perhaps.’ He had cared, oh, how he had cared! But it was not Society’s condemnation that had driven him to enlist, but hers and his determination to prove himself worthy of her. How foolish he had been! She had moved on, found another love, and dragging her off to this banquet was unlikely to alter that.
They began to move forward very slowly, then stopped again, indicating that someone at the head of the queue had left their carriage and it had rattled away. ‘So, you do hope to be reinstated in Society?’
‘I believe I have already achieved that, except where it matters most to me.’
‘Oh.’ She paused, wondering what he meant. ‘And you hope tonight will remedy that?’
‘I have little expectation of it.’ He knew they were talking at cross purposes, but he could not tell her that without destroying every gain he had made. Their fragile truce would not survive an altercation about the mistakes of the past. He had repented his folly, but she had been foolish too; she had listened to the stiff-necked, sanctimonious people who told her what to think and feel, instead of listening to her own heart. The trouble was, she was still listening to them.
‘I am sorry for that, Harry, truly I am.’
He turned in his seat to look at her. There were street lamps at intervals and lights from windows that spilled across the road; they were not in complete darkness. Her eyes and the gossamer embroidery on her gown seemed to pick up what little light there was. He could see the creaminess of her throat and the outline of her dear face and all he wanted to do was take her in his arms, crush her to him and kiss her until she was breathless. For a brief moment he imagined it, felt her lips on his, her small body pliant in his arms, but then he pulled himself together and smiled slowly. ‘It is of no consequence.’
