The Emperor (74 page)

‘
Oh, stuff,' Lucy said firmly. 'It's not as if I'm doing it in
public - I make a point of keeping the races to our own
land. These things are only a matter of foolish convention,
anyway.'

‘
I don't think it's quite - decent,' Roberta said hesitantly,
‘for a female to sit
astride
a horse.'

‘
Now don't be fusty, Roberta,' Lucy said. 'I wouldn't do it in London, in the Park, because it would be too tiresome
to have the old hens clucking at me all the time, but here on
my own land, I shall do as I please.’

Apart from Roberta the company at Wolvercote was
exclusively male, and the young men who ran tame about
the house and stables thought her ladyship a trump card, a
great goer, and absolutely up to the rig. Roberta let the
subject drop, and told Sands to hold her tongue. The matter
resolved itself when the continuing hot weather made the ground too hard for races, and the steeplechasing petered
out into innocent picnics and sight-seeing rides.

At the beginning of June a letter came from Captain
Haworth, dated from Portsmouth, with the news that the
Africa
had been recommissioned under him, with his whole
crew, for a further two years, and had been ordered to sail
immediately her stores were completed to join the blockade
of Brest under Lord Bridport.

‘
He may see something of Harry, then,' Lucy said as she read the letter to Roberta. When the
Excellent
had paid off, Cuthbert Collingwood had got his flag at last, hoisting it in
the old
Triumph.
Of his kindness, he had taken Harry with
him, and they too were now with the Brest squadron. ‘Your
blockade captains are amazingly sociable, always in and out
of each others' ships.’

Haworth's letter concluded with the hope that, now he
was in home waters, he might have more opportunities for
shore leave. Until then, he sent Hippolyta his love, and a
guinea under the seal for ribbons.

‘
Now that Hippolyta is nearly six,' Lucy decided, it's
time she learned to ride. I shall teach her myself, rather than
leave it to a groom. Mary was taught by a groom, and she
was never more than an indifferent rider,' she explained to
Roberta. 'I mean to see Polly has a better start. I owe it to
Captain Haworth.'

‘
Is he a good rider, then?' Roberta asked, looking up
from her tambour-work.

- 'Why, no - I don't know. I don't suppose so - sailors
hardly ever are, are they?' Lucy said.

‘
Then, I don't quite understand,' said Roberta. 'Why do
you owe it to him?’

Lucy found herself puzzled. 'Because I like him,' she said
at last, a little lamely.

‘
Oh,' said Roberta, and looked down at her work again.
‘It does seem hard that he should have been sent off to sea
again without any time on shore.'

‘
I expect he liked it of all things,' Lucy said practically.
‘He'd have but just got his crew used to his ways.'

‘
But he hadn't even time to come to see Hippolyta. I
don't suppose she would recognize him now.'

‘
I wonder about his other child. I do think he must be
forced to send her home, at least at the end of summer. It
was one thing to have her with him in the Mediterranean
but when the autumn gales hit the Channel, and then when
winter comes – ‘

Roberta shook her head. 'I don't know how he can think of it. And Mary's maid is still with him, taking care of the
child, isn't she?'

‘
Yes, dear old Farleigh,' Lucy chuckled. 'She must be as
tough as ship's beef after all! But I suspect she would endure
anything for the sake of the baby. She adored Mary, you
know, for all her crusty ways.’

Roberta stitched in silence for a while, and then said
tentatively, 'I wonder, if you are really going to teach
Hippolyta to ride, would you consider teaching Bobbie,
too? I know he's only three, but he's very sensible, and boys
ought to learn sooner than girls, don't you think?'

‘
Of course I will,' Lucy said at once. 'It's a capital idea.
Perhaps I'll start a regular school – Lady Aylesbury's
Academy of Equitation! He and Polly will help each other
on – it's always better to learn in company. And you're
quite right that Bobbie ought to begin as soon as possible. Perhaps I'll put Minnie up, too?' she added, and then had a
mental image of plump, bolster-shaped Flaminia on a pony.
‘On second thoughts, perhaps not. I don't think Minnie is
destined to be a horsewoman.’

So with running the house, riding, walking with Roberta, teaching the children to ride, and taking lessons in shooting
from the faithful Danby Wiske, Lucy found the days passed
pleasantly; and lest she should miss London Society, she
gave Major Wiske a standing order to invite people to
Wolvercote every weekend, or, if there was anything
happening in Town that he thought would amuse her, to
procure her an invitation and escort her to it.

Of Chetwyn she saw little. From courtesy she always sent
her card to his lodgings when she came up to Grosvenor
Street; she saw him once standing with a friend outside
Asprey's in Bond Street, and he raised his hat to her as she bowled past in her curricle; and once they were in adjacent
boxes at the Haymarket theatre, and he strolled round
during the entr'acte to ask her how she did. At Easter he
came down to Wolvercote with a party of his own for the
shooting, and for four days his guests and hers met atdinner, before he took his off to Cheveley.

She found, however, that she did not miss him. The idea
of their separating had upset her a great deal more than the
fact; she had not liked to have it spelled out, but once she got used to it, she found she hardly ever thought of him at
all. How he liked it, it never crossed her mind to wonder.

*

In June the Pope gave his decision on Mrs Fitzherbert's
marriage to the Prince of Wales: he was her lawful husband in the eyes of the Church, and she might therefore live with
him without sin. In his gratitude, the Prince declared that
Roman Catholicism was the only religion for a gentleman;
he and his Maria once more became inseparable, and on the
seventeenth Mrs Fitzherbert gave a public breakfast at her
house in Tilney Street, by way of announcing formally that
they were reconciled.

Obedient to the promptings of curiosity, and to Wiske's affirmation that 'Everyone would he there', Lucy accepted her invitation. It was a grand occasion, with four hundred
guests, for whose better accommodation three huge
marquees had been erected in the garden. Mrs Fitzherbert, still an attractive woman, was looking almost bridal in her
triumph, as the Prince stood beside her to receive the guests.

‘
Ah, Lady Curriele, good of you to come,' the Prince
greeted Lucy smilingly, bending his tall bulk over her hand.
He was looking splendid in a white morning-coat with gold
frogs and a muscovy sable collar, across which his blue ribbon
and star shewed up beautifully; a lilac and white striped Marseilles quilted waistcoat; finest doeskin pantaloons,
tasselled boots of blinding brilliance; a new, elegantly oiled
nut-brown peruke; and hanging from his sleeve a muslin
handkerchief embroidered all over with gold spots and well-
scented with rose-water.

‘Highness,' said Lucy, curtseying low.

The perfectly manicured, perfumed and bejewelled hand
raised her. ‘Wiske brought you, I see. Well, you'll find
plenty of friends here today, eh, Maria? All friends, you
know. They tell us so themselves, so it must be true, what?’

He was in the best of moods, merry, affable, full of little
jokes and pleasantries. His charm was considerable where
he felt himself loved and respected, and that day he seemed to have no doubts. His behaviour towards his beloved Maria
was almost boyish, and the effect of her influence was
clearly seen in that though he drank heavily throughout the
long entertainment – which involved two changes of
costume, beginning at two in the afternoon, continuing
through dinner at seven, and lasting until five the following
morning – he was never nearer to being drunk than a slight unsteadiness.

Lucy joined the throng and was claimed at once by old
Admiral Scorton, who had with him Captain Macnamara, a
friend of William's – they had been lieutenants together –
who was famed equally for his pet Newfoundland dog, and
his passion for duelling. They begged leave to introduce
another sea captain, an extremely handsome young man named Thomas Manby, who bowed and mentioned diffi
dently that he was acquainted with James Weston.

‘
Manby's just back from Naples,' Macnamara said. 'Says
Nelson's got himself into the deuce of a scramble over
Hamilton's wife.'

‘
Damned lot of fustian,' Admiral Scorton grumbled. 'Let
a man have his batter puddin', I say. What's it got to do with
it? Is he a good sailor or ain't he, that's all I want to know.'

‘
I don't know that Admiral Keith would agree with you,
sir,' Macnamara smiled. 'According to Manby here, he says
he's tired of having the fleet commanded by a woman.
Nelson does whatever Emma Hamilton commands.'

‘
I know Keith,' Scorton said. 'A good man, but stuffy, He
don't understand. When a man ain't in the petticoat line,
which Nelson never has been, he falls hard if he falls at all.
But Nelson's a damned fine sailor, and he'd never do
anything amiss in the naval way, just because a woman told
him to.'

‘
But Lady Hamilton, sir, admires Admiral Nelson
exceedingly, and does not hesitate to tell him so,' said
Captain Manby. 'What man could resist such flattery? He
says he is not happy anywhere but by her side, and has idled
in Naples month after month in order to be so.'

‘Pah! She's a silly woman – and not out of the top
drawer, neither. I don't know why Hamilton ever took her
on. But why shouldn't she admire him? Hero of the Nile,
and all that sort of thing.'

‘
Well, the hero's on his way home now,' Macnamara said
with a grin, travelled overland, if you like, with Lady
Hamilton
and
Sir William! And in spite of the Nile, I
wonder whether St Vincent will be able to save his Protégé's
bacon this time. Keith has made no secret of his opinion.'

‘
Johnny Jervis won't be swayed by a lot of idle gossip,'
Admiral Scorton said firmly.

‘
They say Nelson's sworn to have Lady Hamilton
presented at Court,' Macnamara went on teasingly. 'I
wonder how he will introduce her to Lady Nelson? Is the
ménage a trois
to become a
quatre?’

Admiral Scorton was beginning to grow red in the face,
and Manby took pity on him and said with a bow, 'But I am
sure we are boring Lady Aylesbury. We must find a topic
more suitable for her ears.'

‘
I assure you,' Lucy said, 'nothing to do with His
Majesty's navy bores me. But tell me,' she went on casually,
‘have you happened to meet with Captain Weston recently?
I believe he was in Naples a few weeks ago.'

‘
I did have the pleasure of dining with him last month,'
Manby said with a faint smile. 'I am delighted to be able to inform your ladyship that he was in excellent health, and in
as good spirit as could be expected in the circumstances.'

‘
Eh? What circumstances'?' Admiral Scorton asked
inopportunely.

Lucy frowned, and Macnamara said with a grin, 'Not all sailors, sir, are lucky enough to be able to have their loved
ones with them.’

Admiral Scorton looked from one face to another, and
then enlightenment cleared his brow. 'As you say, as you
say,' he said hastily, and crooked an arm towards Lucy.
'What say we go and look for a glass of champagne, m'dear?
It's damned hot in here. Can't think how the Prince can
wear fur in this weather – and a flannel waistcoat, if I know
him, under that fancy Marseilles confection he's sportin'.'
Lucy, with a glance at the two young captains, slipped her
hand demurely under the Admiral's, and let him lead her
away. When they were clear of them, the Admiral squeezed
her hand against his coat and said, 'Don't you mind it,
m'dear, if those two tease you a little.'