A Virgin Bride (6 page)

“I am writing a personal note to Frederick Worth,” she announced. “Please send it with the order, Bridget.”

When they drove away from Mrs. Herbert's house, a number of boxes containing the gowns had been placed in the back of the carriage.

“Thank you, thank you so very much, Aunt Alice,” Venetia smiled. “I am sure that the gowns will give me courage. I will certainly need it if I am to play the part you have cast for me.”

“You must play it as if it was a great drama on the stage of the
Opéra
. I don't suppose you were allowed to go to any other theatre in Paris?”

“No. We were able to attend some of the classical performances at the
Opéra
and I did learn so much about music with my last teacher.”

“Now you will have to learn an entirely new lesson, Venetia, and if you don't come top of the class, I will be very disappointed and feel it is all my fault!”

“Oh, my dear Aunt Alice! No one could have been kinder or more helpful than you. I was in despair when I came to see you. But now because you have made it all a challenge, I am going to try to win, although the odds are still very much against me, I fear.”

“You may be an outsider,” replied Lady Manvill, “but as you well know, outsiders often romp home when it is least expected!”

“I hope you are right. I suspect that I may not see you again because, although Papa has not yet said so, he is sure to want to go to the country tomorrow – to prepare for the wedding.”

“So you think you will be married at home?”

“Papa was so angry with me for not being thrilled at the whole idea of marrying the Duke that he did not go any further than threatening me.”

“It's no use fighting against the inevitable and quite frankly I am sure that there is no chance of changing your father's mind, or even getting him to agree to postponing the wedding. I am sure that is what you want to do.”

“Yes, it is. Two weeks will hardly give me time to breathe!”

“Which actually is a good thing. The longer you think about it, the worse you will feel. So make up your mind that, if you are in an unavoidable situation, the only way is to face up to it. Work out intelligently how you can be the winner, however unlikely it seems.”

Venetia laughed.

“You are making it a game! I cannot help feeling much happier now than when I first came to see you.”

“Of course it was a shock, my dearest, and I think it extraordinary that your father did not realise that and break it to you gently. Equally if you have to know the truth, it is better to know it all at once than to suspect that something frightful is coming while not knowing what it is.”

“All I can say, Aunt Alice, is that I am going to try to follow your wonderful advice. Now I think about it, I could insist on staying in London to buy my clothes, even though Papa will want me to go to the country.”

“I think it would probably be wisest if you did go.”

“Why, Aunt Alice?”

“Because when
The Gazette
does appear tomorrow morning, everyone is going to talk endlessly about it! I do think when you meet the Duke he will automatically be on the defensive, because he will expect you to be shocked. Unless he is a bit stupid, which he is definitely not, he will think, quite rightly, that you do not wish to marry him.”

“As he sounds rather conceited, he may expect me to throw myself into his arms and tell him how pleased I am to be his wife.”

“That will come later, my dear, but I think any girl, including you, would be shy at encountering Rock for the first time – not as a stranger but as his fiancée.

“I think you should make it quite clear to him that you realise you are a port in a storm for him, but that you are accepting him only at your father's insistence.”

Venetia did not reply.

“At the same time it would be a great mistake to antagonise him from the very beginning. So don't tell him
that you think he is behaving abominably in using someone
as young and as innocent as yourself as a way of escape!”

Unexpectedly Venetia laughed.

“It's becoming absolutely ridiculous and so like the
cheap novelettes all the girls read at school, although they
were not supposed to. I expect that instead of crying I will
laugh at my own efforts to behave as you wish me to do.”

“If that's what you will do, it will be intelligent of
you. As I have already said, you will eventually make the
Duke fall in love for the first time in his life.”

“How can you be sure he's not been in love before,
Aunt Alice?”

“There have been many women who cried bitterly
when they lost him. There have also been those who have
been furious when he left them.”

Venetia laughed again.

“I am sure you are making him up and he does not
really exist. No man could be quite so different from what
one could have expected – and certainly nothing like I would
think of as my dream hero.”

“No one ever turns out exactly as one wants them to
be and I am sure, Venetia, when you do fall in love, you will find, as everyone does, that it is not only different from your expectations but very much more wonderful.”

“If it ever happens to me now, I will be astonished. I had it all planned out in my mind that, after two or three years of enjoying the Season, I would meet someone who liked the same things I like.”

She paused before she continued,

“We would write a book together and gradually be aware that life could not go on unless we were together.”

Lady Manvill's eyes were soft and understanding.

She was thinking that despite her intelligence and her beauty, Venetia was really only a little girl lost in a bewildering world she had strayed into without realising it.

‘She will have to find her own way out of it,' she thought, ‘and undoubtedly she will. But it could be a very painful process.'

She put out her hand and touched Venetia's cheek.

“Never forget one thing, Venetia, God has blessed you with a beautiful face and, I am certain, a heart as warm and understanding as your dear mother's. You will, as a Duchess, be of great influence and it is up to you whether you make the best or the worst of it.”

“Now you are frightening me!” protested Venetia.

“I would not do so, but you must never underrate yourself. I personally am totally convinced that one day you will find exactly what you are seeking.”

“I only hope that's true,” mumbled Venetia.

The carriage then came to a standstill outside Lady Manvill's house in Belgrave Square.

“Goodbye, my dearest,” said Lady Manvill, “and if you stay in London come and see me every day to tell me what is happening.

“But I think you should go to the country with your father. It would be much more effective to appear for the first time at your wedding dressed in a fabulous gown Mrs. Herbert will obtain from Frederick Worth.”

“It will certainly add to the drama,” Venetia replied rather sarcastically. “Everyone will be looking at my gown
and not at me
.”

Lady Manvill's eyes twinkled.

“You will be lucky if the women are not all looking at the bridegroom!”

She then walked up the steps to her house and, as she turned to wave Venetia goodbye, she heard her laugh.

Lady Manvill went into the house.

She was reflecting that perhaps for the first time in his life Rock would find himself up against something he had never experienced before.

As Venetia drove on home she thought that it was the strangest afternoon she had ever spent.

However she was feeling very differently about the whole situation than she had this morning.

It had been Lady Manvill's idea before they left that Venetia should leave her own dress with Mrs. Herbert for the courier to take to Paris, as it was essential for Worth to have a model that fitted her perfectly.

Actually the dress she was now wearing, which had been made for Mrs. Herbert, fitted her almost perfectly, but she was a little smaller round the waist.

It had undoubtedly, Venetia reckoned, as she gazed intently into the mirror, transformed her from a schoolgirl into a young woman.

It was extremely smart and so much more elaborate than any dress she had ever owned before.

By the time she arrived home, it was already after five o'clock and she felt sure her father had come back earlier.

Bates was waiting for her in the hall and, before he could speak, she asked him,

“Is His Grace back, Bates?”

“He's in the drawing room, my Lady.”

Venetia gave a little sigh.

She had hoped she would have time to think before meeting her father again.

Then she told herself she had accepted the situation, so thankfully there was no reason for them to quarrel.

She pulled off her hat, gave it to Bates and ran up the stairs to the drawing room, which was on the first floor.

Tea was arranged in front of the sofa and her father was standing with his back to the mantelpiece obviously waiting for her.

“I am sorry to be late, Papa,” began Venetia, “but as you can see I have been shopping and I have ordered a delightful but somewhat expensive trousseau. I hope you will approve of it.”

She was very perceptive.

She realised that her father was on the defensive and ready to argue with her again.

Now he was pleased that she had mentioned her trousseau as it told him that she now intended to accept the marriage.

“Let me look at you,” he asked.

Venetia put out her arms and twisted round in front of him.

“This is an original Frederick Worth, straight from Paris, Papa. Clever Aunt Alice knows exactly where I can obtain enough clothes so that you will not be ashamed of me on my wedding day.”

“I would never be that,” her father replied gravely. “And I think your mother would be proud of you if she saw you at this moment.”

“Now I must give you your tea, Papa.”

She began to pour from the silver teapot that had been in the family since the reign of George III.

“What I was thinking,” her father said as he took the cup from her, “is that we should leave for the country tomorrow morning. There is nothing to keep us in London if you now have the clothes you want. I think we will be happier and more peaceful in the country.”

“What you are saying Papa, is that there will be a great deal of chatter and talk when my engagement to the Duke is announced. It will be very difficult to answer all the questions that would be put to me.”

She was thinking that everyone was bound to ask her how well she knew the Duke.

And they would be curious, even if they were too polite to say anything, as to why her engagement was announced immediately after the scandal the Duke had created.

To keep away from the subject Venetia remarked,

“What I am most looking forward to is seeing your new horses, Papa. I thought the one pulling the carriage today was superb and I understand you have some others.”

“I thought I had written and told you about them and I want you to ride them. There is one which I am quite certain will win many races.”

“What about the Gold Cup at Ascot?”

He made a gesture with his hands.

“I would love to win the Gold Cup, but I suspect that Rockinston will always pass the winning post first.”

“At least try to beat him, Papa,” Venetia urged. “I would be so thrilled if you could pass him at the post.”

She could see as she spoke how pleased her father was that she had accepted the situation.

He had obviously come back to the house expecting their argument to start all over again and him to lose his temper as he always did if he was opposed.

Venetia continued to chatter away.

“Aunt Alice is really fantastic. She always has the answer to any problem and when I told her that I wanted my trousseau to be ready in under a fortnight, she did not even say it was impossible.”

“She has always been a remarkable woman, but to tell the truth, I had really forgotten about your trousseau. I have never understood women saying they have ‘not got a thing to wear' and then having hysterics at having to buy everything so quickly!”

“My gowns are all coming to me from Paris from Frederick Worth – ”

“Then you will be outstanding. I remember when I was last in Paris being astounded that the crinoline should have disappeared so quickly. Apparently the new fashion is to have a bustle at the back.”

“You are quite right, Papa, and that is actually what my evening gowns have. Not a very large one, but I am so thankful that I don't have to wear a crinoline.”

“Your mother always said they were a nuisance and I know she would be delighted at the way you look now.”

“Then I am not concerned with what anyone else may think of me one way or another.”

She tried to keep the conversation off her marriage during dinner.

Rising as soon as dinner was over in case her father started to talk about her future husband, she said she must retire to bed.

“I really am tired after travelling from Paris and I want to feel ready to jump and gallop for hours tomorrow.”

“I will pick out my best mount for you.”

She kissed her father goodnight and walked upstairs thinking that Aunt Alice would praise her for having been so diplomatic.

‘She is right,' thought Venetia. ‘I have to use my brains – after all a great deal of money has been spent on developing them. If they don't work, I shall feel inclined to ask for Papa's money back!'

Then she laughed at herself, undressed quickly and climbed into bed.

She had expected to lie awake and go over in her mind all that had happened in the day, but she was more tired than she thought and fell asleep almost immediately.

*

When she was called at eight o'clock sharp the next morning, she was still fast asleep.