The Accidental Marriage (21 page)

She watched Elizabeth glance down at the letter and a sudden horrid suspicion assailed her. ‘He couldn’t be bringing her here, could he?’ she demanded. ‘He says nothing about her. Oh, Elizabeth, I could forgive him if he came back to me, but it would be so hard if she is anywhere near!’

‘We must not assume that. She has big estates in Russia, does she not? There will be matters there which need her attention. I doubt she would wish to come to England. And Frederick says,’ she added, waving the letter, ‘that he is needed here.’

‘He doesn’t say he loves me, or is sorry for having betrayed me,’ Fanny said, her initial euphoria beginning to wane.

‘From what I saw of your husband in Vienna, he was not a demonstrative man, towards you or the children. He may find it difficult to express his feelings.’

Fanny was unconvinced, but she nodded slowly, and took back the letter. ‘I shall just have to be patient, and wait until he comes.’

‘And take care of yourself for the baby’s sake. It does seem as though you can carry it to term now. Sir William says you may get up for an hour or two each day if you are careful. That alone will be a pleasant surprise for him.’

* * * *

Julia rode out with Sir Carey almost every day, and came to know his tenants and their families. They were invited to visit several of the local squires, and dined out with them. Julia asked if she might arrange a dinner party to return the hospitality.

‘When do you mean to return to London? Can we fit it in beforehand?’

‘We’ll go next week. It’s a full moon on Wednesday, will that give you sufficient time?’

‘I’ll send out the invitations at once.’

‘Shall we include Caroline? She’s growing up, even if I won’t agree to her having a Season next year. I was wondering, if you feel it would not be too much for you, if we should take both girls, and Miss Trant, of course, to London with us?’

‘She’d be delighted, and I’m sure she’d be on her best behaviour,’ Julia said, smiling. ‘I enjoy their company, and I am sure Miss Trant will find plenty of educational visits to occupy them.’

‘The British Museum, for instance? I’m not sure Caroline would appreciate that! But Susan could go to some concerts. Very well, I’ll tell Miss Trant to arrange things.’

The only disturbing thing at Courtlands was Angelica. The girl rode or drove over to see them every two or three days. She sometimes met them when Julia and Sir Carey were out riding, and as this was often in the direction furthest away from her home, Julia was certain the girl deliberately waylaid them. There were no outbursts such as had happened on her first visit, and she seemed to be making an effort to be pleasant to Julia, but Julia was uneasy. The girl was devious, and Sir Carey might begin to regret his hasty marriage. At least he had not suggested inviting Angelica to her dinner party.

On the day of the party Julia stayed in the house to supervise the arrangements. It was an hour before the guests were due to arrive when Caroline came to find her in her dressing room. Julia had just finished pinning up her hair, in her old style, for Molly was still not a very expert hairdresser, and was trying to decide whether the emeralds Sir Carey had given her were the right jewels to wear with the pale lilac dress she had chosen. It was a very pretty dress, one she had loved the moment she saw it, with white lace trimming and a cascade of white and lilac ribbons.

Regretfully she laid the emeralds aside. They did not look right, and she would look better with no jewels apart from the belated betrothal ring Sir Carey had given her. She turned to smile at Caroline, who looked quite grown up in a pale blue gown.

‘I like that gown,’ she said, but Caroline did not appear to notice.

‘Julia, Angelica is here, and her horse is lame. She had to walk the last four miles, which is why she is so late. She can’t ride home tonight, and Carey says it’s too late to send her back in a carriage.’

‘Her parents will be worried!’

‘No, they won’t, for she was going to stay the night with Penelope at the Rectory.’

‘Then why can’t she go there now?’

‘Penelope has one of her migraines, and Angelica says she doesn’t want to spend the evening answering questions. You know how the Rector is.’

Julia did, and bowed to the inevitable. She nodded, wondering whether this was some devious trick planned by Angelica.

‘Shall I ask Foster to lay a place for her at the table? I can lend her an evening gown,’ Caroline said.

* * * *

On the day after Angelica’s unexpected inclusion in the dinner party Sir Carey said he wanted to travel to London on the following day. ‘I need to be there. It’s worrying news about Napoleon. Lord Castlereagh writes he would appreciate my advice. We can’t be sure some of his former allies might not rejoin Napoleon.’

Julia felt a surge of relief. So he did not wish to remain here, looking forward to the renewed visits Angelica had gaily promised when she finally rode away, on a horse which did not, to Julia, look as though it was at all lame. She had slept badly, considering all night what she ought to do. She admitted she loved Sir Carey, but being with him all the time, when he showed her just normal courtesy, was beginning to be a strain. She had contemplated offering to free him. They could obtain an annulment of the marriage, for it had not been consummated. Then he could marry Angelica. When she dropped into an uneasy doze at dawn she had resolved that was the best way to ensure happiness for both of them. She could resume her former life, once more becoming a companion or governess. He could marry the girl he really loved and wanted.

When Molly brought in her morning chocolate she changed her mind. Angelica was still a child, shallow and interested only in gossip and clothes. She would not make him happy. He would, as any man would, for a time relish the possession of such a lovely girl, but when the initial rapture wore off, could they live happily together? Unless Angelica changed as she grew older, Julia doubted it.

He seemed content with her. He praised her alterations in the house, and she knew she made his life comfortable. That was not enough for her, but it was all she had a right to expect. She would fight for her position as his wife, and perhaps, she thought wistfully, one day he would decide he needed an heir. Then she might become a wife in every sense of the word.

‘I can be ready,’ she said now. ‘I’ll begin packing at once.’

* * * *

When they reached London Sir Carey went straight to the Foreign Office to see Lord Castlereagh, while Julia supervised the unpacking and then went to read the correspondence and invitations which had been delivered that morning. She recognized Fanny’s handwriting, and saw that it was unusually uneven. Breaking the wafer she began to read.

The note was short, telling her only that Frederick was coming home, and begging Julia to visit her as soon as she was back in London.

Sir Carey had told her to accept those invitations she wanted, so she wrote hurried notes of acceptance to hostesses begging their presence at balls and receptions. The Season was in full swing, and there were parties every night. She would need to buy more gowns. But first she would go and see how Fanny did.

Elizabeth met her in the hall and beckoned her into the empty dining room.

‘She is pinning her hopes on a full reconciliation,’ she told Julia. ‘I’ve tried to convince her he must have finished with that wretched Russian Countess, and I think she believes it now. Having read his letter, though, I’ve been wondering. He doesn’t say so. Nor does he show any hint of remorse, or say a word of apology. I hope you’ll try to keep her hopes and spirits up.’

‘Of course I will. Frederick is not the man ever to admit to having made a mistake, or to offer an apology, particularly to a woman, so I don’t see anything strange in that.’

‘You know him better than I do. I’m relieved, I admit. I have been worried, and in some ways I hope he does not arrive too soon. The longer she has without any disappointment, the more chance she has of keeping this child.’

‘We’ll all encourage her. Elizabeth, I have a favour to ask. I need more clothes. Will you help me choose some?’

‘You need to have some made. I’ll send my own dressmaker to you, but I will happily help you to select materials and all the other things you must buy, like fans and shawls and slippers. Shall we do that tomorrow? Another thing. Will you want vouchers for Almack’s?’

‘Sir Carey hasn’t said. Will he want to go there? Isn’t it mainly for debutantes and prospective husbands to meet? That’s what it was when I had my own Season. Not that it found me a husband,’ she added, recalling the many young men who had paid attentions to her, and rapidly retreated when they discovered she had no fortune, not even a modest dowry.

‘The Marriage Mart? Yes, it still is, and most other people find it amazingly dull. But some of the patronesses were in Vienna, you may enjoy meeting them again. Now you had better go up to Fanny. Come and have a nuncheon with me afterwards.’

As Julia bent to kiss Fanny, who was reclining on a day bed, she thought her sister looked unhealthily flushed. Her eyes glittered, and she felt too hot for comfort.

‘Dear Julia, I’m so glad to see you. I am so bored having to rest all the time, and with so few people bothering to visit me. They come once, but when they hear about Frederick they avoid me. But when he is back it will be different.’

‘I think you imagine that, dear. It’s the Season, there is so much going on, people don’t have the time. Do you recall when I came out, and we were going to three or four parties every night, as well as all the rides and drives and morning visits?’

Fanny sighed. ‘I wish I knew when he would be coming. He didn’t say, in the letter, where he was, so I cannot even make a guess at the time he will take to travel back to England. Here, read it,’ she added, pulling a crumpled sheet of paper from under the cushion she’d been lying against.

Julia took the letter, and though she was used to Frederick’s terse manner of correspondence, she decided that Elizabeth was right to be concerned. There were no words of affection for Fanny or the girls, and very little information beyond the bare fact he was coming to England. He did not even refer to it as home.

Fanny was still thinking of the parties she was missing. ‘I wish I could go out and meet people,’ she repeated. ‘I want to discover what is happening, with such excitement about Napoleon’s escape, people wondering whether the wars will start all over again.’

‘Don’t you read the newspapers?’

‘Yes, but that’s not the same as talking to people who really know, as we could in Vienna.’

‘I’ll bring you any news I hear. And you will be fit again before Christmas. There will be next year’s Season to look forward to. You have to think of the baby now. Is everything all right?’

‘They say so, and this time I am hopeful. When I lost the others it was always earlier than this. But tell me your news. How is Sir Carey? What is Courtlands like? Do you get on with his sisters?’

Julia did her best to describe Sir Carey’s home, being careful not to mention the attacks on her, or the visit of the unmarried Angelica. They had not moved in the same circles before, so she hoped none of Fanny’s visitors knew about the girl and her activities.

‘You look tired,’ she said after a while. ‘I’ll go now, but I’ll come back whenever I can, and if I hear any interesting news I’ll be sure to tell you.’

* * * *

‘Wellington is in Brussels now, so we shall see some action,’ Sir Carey told Julia that evening. They were dining quietly at home, and he was complimentary about the dinner she had ordered. ‘The armies are preparing, and are expected to meet soon.’

He was debating with himself whether he ought to go to Brussels, or even rejoin the army which he had left seven ago after his father died, before the war in the Peninsula had begun. Wellington needed all the support he could find, since the actions of the other powers might be in doubt. It was, too, a ragbag army, with many foreigners, since many of the best troops were still in the Americas. Castlereagh had advised him to wait, saying there might be tasks he could perform more usefully in England. Sir Carey hoped these did not involve travel to consult the other powers.

‘Will the Congress end now?’ Julia asked.

‘Apparently not. Most of the negotiations are finished, just a few smaller matters to be settled. How was your sister? And what entertainments are we promised?’

‘I have put the invitations in your study. As for Fanny, she was a little feverish, I thought, but that might be accounted for by the news of Frederick’s return.’

‘So the man has admitted he was wrong?’

‘Not in so many words.’ Julia explained about the doubts she’d had when reading Frederick’s letter. ‘It has cheered Fanny, though, and if she is happy the child is less at risk, I’m sure.’

‘It seems strange, but I have not yet seen her since we married. Is she well enough for me to call?’

‘She would welcome more visitors.’

‘Then I suppose I ought to ask formally for your hand,’ he said, grinning.

‘She’s not my guardian!’ Julia protested. ‘I’m of age, and she never was my guardian.’

‘I’ll make it a courtesy call.’

‘She said she was anxious for more news, so I’m sure she would welcome whatever you can tell her. I suppose, if Frederick is travelling back from somewhere in Russia, he won’t become involved with the fighting?’

‘He is probably only a few days after his letter. And we don’t know where he went. No, if he’s in Prussia or the Netherlands now he’ll be perfectly safe. People are remaining in Brussels, even. Many of the English went there once Napoleon had abdicated, and seem to be having a good time, so they don’t wish to leave.’

I hope their faith in Wellington is justified, he thought to himself. ‘The Duke is a very successful commander, but so is Napoleon. They have not yet met face to face. The Allies must be persuaded to send troops.’

‘Surely they will. They won’t want to return to what it was like before, endless fighting.’

‘We must hope so. I’ll go and see Lady Cunningham tomorrow,’ he said. ‘An excellent dinner, my dear, but I fear I must leave you now as I have people to see.’