Bad Miss Bennet (16 page)

I climbed in without a moment's hesitation and collapsed on the seat followed by Adelaide. I gasped my thanks to the handsome man sitting opposite. He seemed familiar, but I could not place him.

‘You appear to be in some difficulty, my dear,' he remarked in a charming foreign accent. ‘I observed some of the scene in the garden.' I blushed again.

‘I am afraid I inadvertently desecrated the Sabbath and I am sure the penalty for that is most unpleasant.' He laughed and patted my hand.

‘At least it enabled me to meet you again, Mrs Wickham.' At that moment I realised why this elegant gentleman seemed familiar to me. I had glimpsed him at Mrs Fitzherbert's house. This was the Count, my mysterious admirer!

The knowledge caused me deep embarrassment. Aware of my disordered appearance and the circumstances of my departure from the gardens – all witnessed by the Count – caused me to blush to the roots of my hair. I hastily patted my curls into place and adjusted my bonnet.

‘I assure you, sir,' I began to stutter. ‘My behaviour is not usually so wild. I was caught up in an unfortunate escapade. I am quite mortified.' My voice faded away and my blush deepened as the Count smiled reassuringly.

‘I am quite sure that you were the innocent party, my dear Mrs Wickham.' There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

I took a deep breath and leaned back against the luxurious upholstery. Adelaide in her corner watched us wide eyed. The Count was staying at No. 33 The Paragon as a guest of Mrs Sarah Siddons, the celebrated actress, and her husband. ‘I am a great admirer of her artistry.' As the coach rattled along I collected my wits sufficiently to give the Count directions to Laura Place. I entreated him to join us for a dish of tea but he preferred to continue in his mysterious fashion, saying that he would call upon me in London when I returned. He deposited us outside the house and drove away immediately.

Chapter Thirteen

We entered the house and I had only a few minutes in which to compose myself and rest my foot on a stool before Selena and Miles arrived, the former gazing suspiciously at my injured limb before announcing that they had been ignored by everyone at the abbey and we might as well return to London forthwith.

Later, I recounted to Selena my meeting with the Count and his refusal to enter the house. ‘He must have something to hide. Like a wife,' she said. My friend can be very cynical at times.

‘He simply wished to avoid incommoding us,' I insisted. Selena smiled in a superior manner. I fear she is jealous of my good fortune in attracting such an admirer. Sometimes I catch her looking at Miles in a speculative manner. I decided not to confess my other misdemeanours at this stage. There was no point in adding to the household woes. I did venture to point out that if we returned to London we would not have a roof over our heads and I would not be able to receive the Count.

‘I have a little money,' Selena said. ‘We can rent some rooms in a more modest part of town.'

‘That would not be the thing at all, my dear,' Miles argued. ‘If we are to continue with the card parties we need suitable surroundings.'

‘And what do you suggest, husband dear?' Selena snapped at him before putting her head in her hands. I felt downcast for all of us. Our dreams and fantasies were destined to remain nothing more. Miles did not seem at all upset. He patted his chest in a self-congratulatory manner, patted his wife's head and announced that he had some capital news.

‘And I have not even had to resort to selling more etchings.' He explained that he had met an old military acquaintance in one of Bath's drinking dives who had offered him the use of his house in Portman Square for six months at a peppercorn rent.

‘My friend will be abroad for that time and we will act as custodians. We must make our fortune quickly, my dears.' He sat down with a silly smile on his cherubic features while Selena rushed across to him and covered his face with kisses. She vowed to overlook his visits to the lady chiropodist – for the moment – and pronounced him the finest of husbands. To this touching scene I added my congratulations and promised to contribute what I could. I still had Mr Darcy's allowance if I could keep it from Jerry.

Lord Finchbrook was expected down from London later that afternoon and he brought gloomy news.

‘Getheridge has been arrested for fraudulent dealings. They say the bank will fall.' Everyone looked meaningfully at me, no doubt expecting lamentations, but I had not been exactly intimate with the man. Selena remarked that she was glad not to have had money in that particular establishment. The men agreed and I remembered my modest allowance again.

‘My money!' I squealed. ‘Mr Darcy deposits it quarterly at that bank.' Lord Finchbrook said he was sure that Darcy could bear the loss. ‘I must write to him at once,' I muttered. The news quite destroyed my appetite for the boiled mutton in white sauce with boiled onions – a favourite of the Prince Regent, according to the cook. We were attended assiduously by the servants in the presence of Lord Finchbrook but it availed them little. Selena remained determined not to give them a penny when we took our leave.

I retired to my room later and composed a gloomy note to my brother-in-law informing him of the bank's affairs and begging him not to leave me destitute. My small allowance from my father was also paid into that same bank.

Afterwards, I sat by the window trying to collect my thoughts and formulate a plan. I wondered whether my friend was right about the Count. Did he have a wife and were his intentions, therefore, strictly dishonourable? I wondered also whether in fact I cared, especially if he offered to take me to the continent.

My family would be excruciatingly mortified. That thought cheered me somewhat.

There was little else to be cheerful about. The news was all of riots in the streets, failed crops and bad weather. The Duke of Wellington was to leave London soon to become our ambassador in Paris, but I was no nearer to achieving my goal unless I had the help of my new admirer. And what would become of Getheridge – or Jerry? I shuddered when I thought of my involvement with two men who were both felons. I needed to meet the Count soon. At least an aristocratic diplomat would be unimpeachable, unless there was another outbreak of revolution on the continent.

After his somewhat precipitate departure Jerry lost no time in returning to Bath, despite his avowed contempt for the city. I fondly hoped that his swift return meant that he could not bear a parting from me. Alas, I was to discover that he had more pressing financial reasons and my assistance was needed.

He contrived to meet me at St Aldhelm's church, an unlikely spot where we could converse undisturbed on pretence of inspecting the memorials. I was to notify him in advance whether any runners were in the vicinity.

After I had satisfied myself that there was no danger I found a child from the perishing and dangerous class who could be entrusted to deliver a note to the Crown and Thistle public house in Avon Street where Jerry was lodged, in what circumstances I shuddered to think. Later, he announced quite casually that he was sharing a room with several hobbledehoys and a prostitute calling herself Freelove Flower.

He told me that he had
marked
a certain gentleman in Bath, Mr Nathaniel Davenport, and planned to burgle his house knowing that he kept large sums of money at home. If that stratagem proved to be too dangerous he planned a spot of blackmail. Jerry knew of the man's activities in Walcot Street where there was a home for fallen women who were persuaded to follow a new occupation as laundresses. Davenport recruited women from this place to attend lewd gatherings at his house with groups of men. Messages and instructions were conveyed to the women in Davenport's laundry.

Jerry had already befriended one of the women who called herself Belle Fleur. She acted as a spy for him – and who knew what else? Jerry had an effortless way with females, as I knew to my cost. He was irresistible, a force of nature.

‘I will need your assistance, my love.' I had been dreading an announcement of this kind. I knew I would be called upon to give aid in one form or another. Jerry had subtle and not so subtle ways of reminding me of our original agreement and, as always, I felt powerless to refuse.

‘You must distract Davenport while I gain access to the house,' he informed me.

‘What about the servants?' I offered this feeble resistance and he dismissed it. ‘There are only two male servants living in the house and I have arranged for Freelove Flower to keep them occupied.' This was the woman from the inn of doubtful virtue. Some shreds of self respect came to my defence.

‘I will
not
distract anyone in the manner you required of me in Brighton,' I said vehemently. ‘The Prince Regent was all very well but—' Jerry interrupted me using the caressing, wheedling tone I knew well.

‘There will be no need of that, my love. You will simply need to engage Davenport in conversation long enough to enable me to enter the house unseen.'

‘We have not been introduced!' He sighed and instructed me to be outside the house with Adelaide at the hour when Davenport always left the premises, at eleven o'clock. ‘Appear to twist your ankle, or anything that will oblige him to assist you for a few minutes. You will think of something. Leave the rest to me.'

I attempted to strike a bargain, but instead, I found myself begging for some moments alone with him. He gave me a smile and a peck on the cheek before departing swiftly. He would promise anything to gain my assistance. Jerry was truly cast in the same mould as my late husband. I am always attracted to cads of the worst kind.

Unfortunately, Selena insisted on accompanying us on the walk. I fussed over an imaginary stone in my shoe outside No. 26 Bennett Street while both Selena and Adelaide eyed me with suspicion.

‘What ruse are you employing, Lydia? You have had a number of trifling accidents recently and you make an astonishing recovery from them.' Truly one's friends cannot always be relied on for support at crucial moments.

Adelaide contented herself with a sarcastic, ‘Modom?' I replied with a terse.

‘Trust me.'

Mr Davenport duly appeared but he seemed reluctant to be of assistance. He had a narrow face and a ferret-like visage. It was not difficult to imagine him indulging in all kinds of perversions behind closed doors.

I was invited to rest on the doorstep but he made no move to invite me inside. Selena became impatient; she tugged at my arm and grew fractious.

‘We must return at once to Laura Place,' she announced firmly, then hissed in my ear. ‘Whatever game you are playing, Lydia, stop it at once!' Adelaide grasped my other arm and I almost became the centre of a tug of war. Mr Davenport looked on impatiently with a few by-your-leaves, but made no attempt to depart. The front door remained obstinately closed and I wondered how Jerry would gain entry.

At that moment a woman I assumed to be Belle Fleur arrived clutching a pile of laundry which obscured her face. She disappeared rapidly down the area steps, ignored by Mr Davenport. I gave up and allowed myself to be led away. Later, I discovered that the laundress had been Jerry in one of his disguises. His assistant entertained the servants in the kitchen while Jerry had the run of the house.

I heard nothing from him for a few days while Selena and Miles made preparations for our removal to Portman Square. No doubt my highwayman had also departed for London with his spoils. There was a report of the robbery in the
Bath Chronicle
and extra vigilance on the part of the watch, but the mysterious laundress had vanished. I wondered what financial advantage I had gained from the enterprise. Jerry was not keeping the terms of our agreement.

Miles made a last visit to the lady chiropodist in Abbey Churchyard where he met ‘a bluestocking kind of woman called Mary Shelley' who lived in the rooms above. Selena and I looked meaningfully at each other.

‘Does she by chance have any etchings to sell?' My friend asked in a dangerous tone. Miles looked astonished, saying that they had merely exchanged good mornings as they passed each other.

It was the lady chiropodist who had offered the gossip.

‘The woman is said to be the wife of the notorious poet Shelley. He is elsewhere, it seems, and she occupies herself with sketching and writing books. Most unwholesome for a woman,' he added.

At the last moment Selena was reluctant to leave Bath, despite the allure of a free house in London. She loved the place and insisted that we should all attend the Assembly Rooms one more time before our departure, having overcome her fear of public disapproval. Miles and I agreed with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm, but whenever my friend set her mind on something she could not be dissuaded. You may imagine my lack of interest in this event, dear reader, when I say that I wore a simple, pleated, blue silk gauze gown much altered and reworked. It did not seem worthwhile to go to any great trouble. My spirits were low and brought even lower by my latest encounter with Jerry. I resolved to start afresh in London with the Count, if the fates allowed.

We entered the blue ballroom, Selena having confirmed that the Meyers and their friends were not present. Miles was itching to hide away in the gaming room but he was restrained by his wife.

‘You must be our attendant for the evening,' she instructed. ‘We cannot be left alone like two unlit tapers in a glittering candelabra.'

‘Do you so despair of our finding dance partners?' I asked. ‘Then why have we dragged ourselves to this tiresome event?' My friend narrowed her eyes in that strange way I have often noted. ‘Who knows what may happen on such an occasion? I merely wish us to have a permanent escort to hand.' Miles objected to being relegated to the status of a piece of furniture, but Selena was adamant.

‘You know your dancing skills are lamentable, my love. Guard us. That is your forte.'

We stood like two of the three wise monkeys blankly surveying the undistinguished assembly. Even the faithful Lord Finchbrook had abandoned us temporarily. Miles and Selena went to greet an old regimental friend, leaving me alone for a moment.