Bad Miss Bennet Page 10

  I was raised up by Lord Finchbrook who allowed me to lean against his manly chest and sob with relief and who knows what else. Miles called out again. We saw him bending over Jerry and shaking his head.

  ‘Surely you have not killed him?’ I wailed. Lord Finchbrook patted my head.

  ‘He was a villain and a highwayman. Eventually he would have been hanged and taken you with him as his accomplice. It is better this way.’ I snivelled again and made to run over to the body to make a last farewell. His lordship restrained me gently and lifted me onto his horse. Miles removed the blue box and the pistols from Jerry’s body and we rode away leaving the corpse under a tree.

  I shall never forget my last sight of that still form lying under the black, midnight branches of an oak tree, with pale moonlight shining on the cape spread out around the body like wings. Jerry’s face was turned away from me but one pale, lifeless hand rested on the grassy verge.

  That night was the longest of my life. We returned to Halfcrown House where Selena and Adelaide were awaiting us, white with fear and anxiety. I felt more dead than alive but we huddled round the table fortifying ourselves with brandy while the men outlined their plan of action.

  The blue box lay open in the centre of the table. A magnificent pendant necklace of diamonds and emeralds with matching pendant earrings and a wide bracelet – all set with delicate oval shaped stones of a deep lustrous green lay on a bed of black velvet. Lord Finchbrook closed the box and we sat staring at each other.

  ‘At first light Miles and I will present ourselves at the Royal Pavilion and tell the whole story.’ I looked alarmed and he quickly reassured me. ‘We will explain that you were abducted from the prince’s bed by the villainous Jeremy Sartain who intended to steal the jewels. He took you because you were a witness. Miles and I came upon you both in the woods and in the attempt to liberate you the villain was shot dead. We were thus able to rescue a lady in distress and to recover the royal jewels.’ He gave a broad smile. ‘Naturally, we were delighted to be of service to the crown!’

  ‘How will you explain the opening of the secret door?’ I asked. Miles gave an even broader grin and slapped the table. ‘We will simply tell the truth, that we have no idea how it was done. Naturally, you had nothing to do with it. Perhaps Sartain discovered the secret of the mechanism.’

  ‘Can you imagine the prince’s gratitude, my dears? There will be a handsome reward for this and Lydia’s unfortunate connection to the highwayman will remain undetected.’ I felt tears pricking my eyes once more as an even more unpleasant scenario passed before my eyes.

  ‘If the prince is really grateful he might demand my presence in his bed on a regular basis. I do not think I could contemplate that.’ Lord Finchbrook assured me that he would tell the prince that I was prostrate with shock and unable to leave the house.

  Selena chimed in at this point. ‘I think it might be a good idea if we removed ourselves to Bath. We could say that Lydia needed to take the waters after the shock to her nervous system. After a while Prinny will have forgotten all about her. I hear that his attention span is very short.’

  ‘Among other things,’ I remarked silently.

  Miles and Lord Finchbrook did not appear overjoyed by this suggestion.

  ‘I shall remove myself to London,’ Finchbrook declared. ‘The Bath waters always give me a deuce of a headache and I can’t abide the company of the ancient and the broken down.’

  With that we retired to snatch a few hours of sleep before the dawn broke although Miles was heard to say that he felt fit for anything and fancied a bowl of mutton and beans and a heavy wet.

  ‘Fighting and bloodshed always cheer him up,’ Selena remarked as she led him away. I felt more tears pricking my eyes and I sought oblivion in slumber.

  When I rose again to face the world it was almost time for nuncheon and the menfolk were in high spirits. Everything had gone according to plan. There had been some consternation in the royal quarters when the prince woke alone. Amazingly, no-one had thought to check the jewels which were still unmissed when Miles and Lord Finchbrook presented them while the Regent was having his breakfast.

  Jerry Sartain’s treachery would be a nine days’ wonder at court. The prince avowed that it was a pity he had escaped a good hanging. He was full of praise for the two heroes, especially for Miles who had done the actual deed. He promised a generous reward but we all knew how parlous the royal finances were. I wondered if he planned to sell the Cambridge emeralds after all, or merely to raise a loan through Mr Getheridge.

  That gentleman suddenly reappeared after his strange absence – or rather he communicated by letter in the most forthright and unpleasant manner. No doubt he had heard of my elevation to the royal bedchamber and was jealous.

  His letter, delivered soon after nuncheon, stated that he could no longer support me in ‘lavish’ style in view of our apparent estrangement.

  ‘He means because you have not spent time in his bed,’ remarked Selena. He requested that we vacate Halfcrown House within the week. I knew I had only to plead with him in person and trip lightly into his bed and all would be well, but I had no intention of doing so. A royal mountain was one thing but a gorilla was quite another. Once again I remembered my brief moments of pleasure with Jerry and felt emotion overwhelming me. I fled the room as Selena said firmly,

  ‘We will definitely go to Bath.’

  I remained in my room for the next twenty-four hours, reading quietly and writing in my journal while Adelaide packed our belongings. Selena loaned me a Gothic mystery to distract my mind. It was Mrs Radcliffe’s The Confessional of the Black Penitents.

  ‘Is it horrid?’ I asked her. ‘Are you sure it is horrid?’ While I immersed myself in the terrors lurking behind the black veil a messenger arrived from the Royal Pavilion. He delivered an elegant note from the prince assuring me of his devotion. He hoped that the enclosed gift would mitigate to some degree the terrible ordeal I had suffered. The gift was a row of perfectly matched pearls with a diamond pendant.

  By an astonishing coincidence another messenger arrived hot on the heels of the royal emissary. I opened an ornate, gilded card bearing the arms of a foreign court. A note said briefly that Count Ferenc Esterhazy of the Austrian Embassy in London had caught a glimpse of me at Mrs Fitzherbert’s house and wished to make my acquaintance.

  ‘You have found a new career, my dear,’ Selena remarked quietly.

  Chapter Eleven

  Bath, Spring 1816

  We left the town on the following day. I realised that we needed to get away from Brighton after our recent experiences – but we had been there for such a short time! There would be no more soirées at the Royal Pavilion, no more invitations to take tea with Mrs Fitzherbert – and no chance to patronise Madame Renée’s establishment. I sighed and again sought comfort in a novel as we bowled along, but I could not help wondering about my mysterious Austrian admirer. What should be my response? Would this be my opportunity to rise in the world? Visions of a countess’s tiara swam before my eyes. Such carriages I would have. And the gowns, the entrée to royal courts, my own château … The coach jolted me back to reality. There was a possibility that I would merely receive another invitation to an assignation. I clutched the box containing the prince’s necklace in frustration. Adelaide sat opposite giving me speculative looks. I fear she can read my mind.

  Lord Finchbrook continued to befriend us in the most gallant manner, acting as go-between with the royal household, assuring the prince of my deepest gratitude for his gift and my prostration with shock necessitating a stay in Bath, as agreed. He also offered us the use of his house in Laura Place in that city.

  ‘It is really my aunt’s house but she is seldom in residence and I have the run of it whenever I want.’ In addition, he arranged to meet us in London and convey us to Bath in his own carriage. We were extremely obliged to him. It was obvious that he still yearned after Selena. I must have a serious conversation with her on that subject.
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br />   When we reached London we broke the journey by putting up at the White Horse in Piccadilly for two nights. My friends had given up their London house for financial reasons. My spirits remained low and I thought often of Jerry. I knew he was a rogue and no gentleman, but the heart cannot be swayed by logic. I tried on the prince’s necklace, admiring my image in the mirror, but finding that I was only partly comforted by this.

  News has come to London that Lord Byron has taken a villa on the shores of Lake Geneva where he holds court with the mad poet Shelley and his wife, his paramour, and a household of fallen women and strange doctors. How I wished I could join them. If I am to be an outcast and a scarlet woman what better company could I have? Instead, I am en route to Bath and the company of elderly invalids and twittering debutantes. I can only hope that my admirer, the Count, will seek me out. If only we had been introduced when we visited Mrs Fitzherbert. I recalled the two elegant gentlemen who left as we arrived. Which one of them had been smitten by my charms? Selena had not recognised either of them and even Adelaide had nothing to report.

  My friend confined herself to commenting that she hoped the Count was in possession of a good fortune. Did I detect a note of jealousy in her voice? Once again, I confided my exploits, hopes and fears to my journal before leaving London. There was much to tell.

  Adelaide knew that Bath was no longer the height of fashion. As we resumed our journey she remarked that some trollopy servant at the inn had told her it was stupidish to visit the city. Nobody of any account was travelling there. I looked meaningfully at Selena but she was busy writing lists of things to do.

  ‘We must have cards printed immediately,’ she told her almost insensible husband who was nodding off in the corner of the carriage.

  ‘We have left a good deal of unfinished business in Brighton,’ I remarked. ‘There is still the matter of how Von Mecks was killed – and why, and how Mr Getheridge was involved.’

  ‘It is not for us to trouble ourselves with such things,’ she rebuked me. ‘What have we to do with matters of state and the prince’s finances?’ I reflected gloomily that we were already involved and we had surely not heard the last of them.

  Although we contrived to sleep through part of the journey we were weary and out of humour when the carriage rolled into Bath in the late afternoon. We were soon conveyed to Laura Place where we found the household in immaculate condition. Lord Finchbrook bade us farewell and left us to the care of the requisite steady cook, giddy housemaid and sedate, middle-aged manservant. Fires were lit and a meal prepared in the greatest comfort. I retired early to seek solace with my novel while Selena contemplated the joys of shopping in Milsom Street.

  Adelaide remarked darkly that the serving maid looked the type that was always on the gad. I have noticed that my maid affects to despise other servants. I was disturbed to discover that she had brought along Von Mecks’ boots and cape which I had forgotten about. I felt uneasy as I contemplated the tasselled Hessians and splendid cape. Surely it was bad luck to be carrying around the possessions of a murdered man and I had attracted enough of that already. My maid obediently tucked them away at the back of a closet. They were too fine to be given to a beggar.

  Miles declared that wild horses would not compel him to drink the spa waters but he had no doubt that blue ruin was as readily available in Bath as elsewhere. Selena placed a restraining arm on his.

  ‘We must first be seen at the Assembly Rooms. If we consult the visitors’ book we can discover who is in residence and leave cards.’ I could tell that my friend’s mind had turned to financial matters once again. She was planning a card game, I had no doubt. Something altogether more sedate than the London gathering, however. Perhaps a lethal game of whist.

  The dawdling, genteel atmosphere of Bath served, unaccountably, to put my friend in the highest of spirits, while Miles and I remained downcast. At least I was able to buy some good lace and borrow books from Duffield’s library in Milsom Street. Selena, who knew Bath well, could not wait to drag me along to Sydney Gardens. I made a decision and wrote to the Count that I was in Bath and I would be delighted to receive him either in that city or when I returned to London. I am sure, dear reader, that you would have done the same in my position.

  I agreed with Selena that the wide, tree-lined thoroughfare that was Sydney Place and also Great Pulteney Street were most impressive to stroll along. The warm, honey-coloured stone of the houses with their classical lines, white doors, black railings, set against the green hills in the distance, cannot fail to lift one’s spirits. Selena ecstatically described the routs and gala evenings held in the gardens with fireworks and dancing. As we wandered among the grottos and arbours I had to agree that Bath could be delightful and was certainly less frantic than London.

  ‘Wait until you see this place filled with three thousand people,’ Selena enthused. ‘What fun, and what opportunities for clandestine meetings!’

  ‘Were you thinking of Lord Finchbrook?’ I asked. ‘You know he hates Bath.’

  ‘No, you silly creature. I was thinking of you.’ I sighed, thinking again how tiring the life of a scarlet woman might become. Within a few days of our arrival we duly went to the gardens for the public breakfast, escorted by a reluctant Miles.

  ‘The weather is far too chilly for alfresco meals,’ he complained. ‘I could be at home, warm and snug and pushing a glass about.’

  ‘Is it not a little early in the day, my love, even for you?’ Selena’s tone was more acid than usual. Adelaide was dragging her feet too. I knew she was disappointed to leave Brighton but as my maid she cannot expect to have any say in the matter. I was paying her seven pounds a year and all the tea and sugar she required. This was more than generous bearing in mind my paltry allowance from Darcy. Only this morning she surveyed my wardrobe with some disdain and asked when I planned another card game. She has realised her usefulness to me and takes advantage. My mother always advised me to be firm with the servants. It was the only sensible piece of advice she ever gave me.

  Our low spirits were soon revived when we arrived at the gardens where pretty booths could be hired. We ate our rolls and drank our chocolate to the soothing accompaniment of a trio of musicians playing stringed instruments. The gardens were delightful to wander about in with grottos, waterfalls, plants and shrubs arranged to give the maximum pleasure to the eye.

  After breakfast we returned to the house but Selena insisted on going back to the gardens at dusk. Crowds of people were pouring through the gates and the night sky was lit up with fireworks. A military band was playing near the hotel and the sounds of dancing and singing could be heard.

  Sir Winthrop Meyers and Lady Dorothea, our neighbours in Laura Place, graciously agreed to escort us on this occasion, leaving Miles to find his own distractions in the less salubrious parts of the city. Sir Winthrop was most attentive, introducing us to some of the gentlefolk of his acquaintance. Sadly, none of them were less than fifty years old.

  One of them escorted me to supper and told me an improbable story.

  ‘Did you know, my dear Mrs Wickham, that at least one former resident of this fair city believed that the breath of virgins could prolong life and ensure good health?’ He winked at me in an inappropriate manner and I gave a sour response.

  ‘The number of decrepit citizens on the streets of Bath would indicate that virgins are not as easily come by as they once were.’ My companion sniggered and attempted to pinch my rear. I stepped aside quickly and returned to the main party where a dowager was extolling the merits of the adjustable mattresses for invalids available at a Milsom Street store. A Catherine wheel exploded overhead in a shower of pink and green and violet.

  The delights of the gardens and the shopping possibilities of Bath began to pall after a few weeks, but as we left the premises of Smith & Jones in New Bond Street, one morning Selena announced triumphantly that she had arranged a card party.

  ‘It will be held at Laura Place, I am sure Lord Finchbrook would not obje
ct.’

  ‘How can you possibly do that?’ I cried. ‘There are not enough people in sufficient health in this city to undertake gambling for high stakes. Any losses would probably result in heart failure.’ Selena gave me a playful rap with her reticule.

  ‘You exaggerate, Lydia. I have chosen the victims carefully. There are some members of the ton here at the moment. Most of them are in possession of their own hair and teeth and, more importantly, large sums of money that they are anxious to lose.’ I realised that Selena had researched her prey carefully at the Assembly Rooms. Even Miles could be useful at such times, striking up conversations in unlikely places.

  I remained doubtful of the wisdom of this enterprise, even though I knew we needed to replenish our funds. I wondered how our neighbours would react when they realised what was happening, but Selena had thought of that too.

  ‘Of course we shall invite the Meyers. They will take part in a sedate game of whist and a hand of loo while we gather a small number of enthusiasts to play for higher stakes in another room. There will be an elegant supper. It will be the talk of the Assembly Rooms.’

  ‘It might be as well to ask Lord Finchbrook to come down from London with some friends. It is his house, after all – or his aunt’s.’ I had a sudden vision of the ancient aunt making a surprise visit in the midst of all this. ‘Finchbrook will do anything for you,’ I added slyly, ‘you know he is sweet on you.’ Selena blushed and turned away. I resolved to wear the prince’s necklace in public for the first time. Of course my friend was able to win me over by persuading me of our urgent need for ready cash.

  ‘Miles is already talking of buying more etchings,’ she complained. ‘He is frequenting those little shops near Abbey Churchyard. You know his spendthrift ways, Lydia.’ Indeed, and I also knew that acquiring some expensive jewellery was no substitute for ready money. My friend gave signs of being on the fret like a thoroughbred horse. Her nostrils quivered and she gave a low whinnying noise of distress. I stepped back hastily and agreed to everything.