The Regency (44 page)

‘
It's so strange to think of that funny little man as Prime Minister,' Lucy said. ‘If anyone had predicted it five years
ago, everyone would have laughed.'

‘
I've a great respect for him,' John Anstey said firmly.
'He may not be a man of great qualities, but he's a good
politician, and he's held things together through a very
difficult time.'

‘
What can you mean by a good politician?' Lucy asked,
wrinkling her nose at the term.

‘
He's a good orator, he's immensely brave, and he has an
instinct not only for what's important, but also for what's
possible. I tell you, Lucy, we could do a lot worse than him.'

‘
Once we have a Regency, we probably will,' Lucy said with
grim humour. 'No doubt the Prince will have the Tories out
and the Whigs in — Grenville and Sheridan and Moira and
the rest. A shabby crowd, to my mind.'

‘
Yes, I suppose so. It will hardly be a strong administration;
though I have heard that Grenville has spoken of asking
Canning to come in with them, which would be all to the
good. He may rub people up the wrong way, but he's
talented, and he's been sorely missed in the Foreign Office. If
only he and Castlereagh hadn't fought that disastrous duel!'

‘
That was a perfectly foolish affair,' Lucy agreed. 'But the
Prince would never accept Canning — he's been too closely
associated with the Princess of Wales.’

John shrugged. 'That remains to be seen.'

‘
At any rate, will you come and tell me tomorrow, as soon
as you know which way the vote goes?'

‘
Of course. I'll see you get your news fresh and hot,' Anstey
said good-naturedly.

‘
Come to dinner, if you'd care to. The children will be glad
to see you. Did you know I had Bobbie Chelmsford and
Marcus staying with me, while Roberta's in the country?'

‘
No,
I didn't. I'm surprised she didn't stay in Town for Christmas like everyone else, with the Regency crisis un
decided.'

‘
She hasn't gone away for pleasure. There were apparently
family problems to be sorted out, caused by her father's
death. You did know the old Colonel died in November?'

‘
Yes, of course I did. But I didn't know she had any family,
apart from him.'

‘No close family — only some elderly cousins. But apparently
there's some sort of legal wrangle over a house, and she's
gone to sort it out, and taken Mr Firth with her, for the
sake of his fine legal mind. So I have her boys.'

‘
You're lucky. I've missed my own children dreadfully. It
was hard not to be with them over the Christmas season.'

‘
Hard on Louisa, too, I should think, especially after that
last confinement of hers. Really, John, you'll have to stop
increasing your family! Ten children in fifteen years — no
wonder poor Louisa's worn out. Isn't it enough, in all reason?’

Though he had known Lucy since she was a little girl, it
still made him blush to hear her talk so freely of such things;
but he tried to make light of it. ‘Ah, yes, but of course reason doesn't come into it much, when you're in love, as Louisa and
I are.'

‘
If you love her,' Lucy said sternly, undeflected, 'you had better make your mind up to leaving her alone. Let this new
baby he the last. What was it you called it, again?'

‘
Aglaea,' John said defiantly. 'Louisa chose it. Well, it's the
fashion to give Greek names.’

Lucy grinned. 'I know. Billy Tonbridge's wife has called
their latest daughter Psyche! Still, with a Hippolyta and a
Flaminia under my own roof, I suppose I can't complain.’

*

As Anstey had predicted, the vote was close; but the amend
ment was defeated and a restricted Regency for the period of
a year was accepted by both Houses of Parliament.

‘
Now the fun begins,' he told Lucy with a shake of the head.
‘Lord Grey has come posting down from Northumberland
to Carlton House to confer with the Prince and Grenville
about forming a Whig government; but I don't believe they
have an idea how difficult it's going to be. The Whigs have
been in opposition so long, they all have long lists of promises
to fulfil, apart from their own personal ambitions, which are
bound to conflict.'

‘
Grenville, I suppose, will be First Lord of the Treasury —
that's traditional for the Prime Minister,' Lucy said.

‘
Yes, but he says he can't afford to give up his sinecure as
Auditor of the Exchequer, which brings him a large part of
his income; and Grey is adamant that he can't hold both
posts together. And then Grenville wants his brother to be First
Lord of the Admiralty, which Grey has already promised
to Whitbread; and Buckingham says that if Whitbread goes
to the Admiralty, he won't support the Whigs at all.'

‘
The Prince will have some suggestions of his own to make,
I imagine,' Lucy said. 'He has friends to please and debts to
pay like everyone else.’

Anstey smiled. 'Oh yes! That's another problem. He's
promised Norfolk he can be Lord Privy Seal, and Grenville
won't work with Norfolk; and he wants Northumberland in
the Cabinet, and Grey hates Northumberland worse than he hates Canning. It's going to be the deuce of a job satisfying
everybody. Winning the war will be simple by comparison.’

The discussions and speculations went on for days. London
seethed with place-seekers, and the clubs throbbed uneasily
with faction and jobbery, ancient debts recalled and old
slights revived. Lucy was greatly diverted by the reports
brought to her every day on the latest state of the nego
tiations, and said to John Anstey that the Whigs went through
more contortions than the famous Flexible Man at Astley's
Circus. But even when the Whigs had decided amongst themselves who should have what place, they had great difficulty
in persuading the Prince to commit himself.

‘
He's afraid the King is going to recover, that's what it is,'
Danby Wiske said, warming his tails at Lucy's morning-room
fire. He and George Brummell had called to take Lucy out
riding in the Park. 'Wouldn't look good, you know, if he'd
dismissed his pa's ministers the first minute. Filial piety and
so on,' he added vaguely.

‘
Filial piety?' Brummell said, raising one perfectly-arched
eyebrow. 'Stuff and fustian! The fact of the matter is that he's never had the least loyalty to anyone or anything but
himself. His career is littered with broken promises and
betrayed friendships.'

‘Now, George —' Wiske protested uneasily.

‘
I think there may be more to it than that,' John Anstey
said judiciously. 'The Prince knows as well as anyone how
little the Whigs agree amongst themselves, and he must also
be aware how important it is at the moment to have a united government.'

‘
I don't believe he has any real sympathy with the Whigs at
all,' Lucy put in. 'It's my belief he only pretended to be a
Whig to annoy his father; and now he's come to realise that
he's a Tory at heart, like the rest of us. It's all very well to have revolutionary ideas when there's no chance of putting
them into action, but when you actually find yourself in
power, things look very different.’

There was a brief silence, and then Anstey said, 'That's
very profound, Lucy. You could be right.'

‘
Well, don't look so surprised,' she snorted. 'I'm not a
complete simpleton, you know.’

The door opened, and Bobbie and Marcus came in.

‘
Oh, I beg your pardon, ma'am,' Marcus said. 'I didn't
know you were engaged.'

‘
It's all right — come in,' said Lucy. 'We were just discussing
the possibility of a Whig government. It's a pity your tutor
isn't here to put us all right. But perhaps after so many years
under his influence, you can tell us what he would say?’

Marcus looked around hesitantly, not sure whether or not
he was being roasted. 'I shouldn't like to speak for him,
ma'am; but for myself, I think it would be a bad thing.’

The years under Firth had improved Marcus enormously,
John Anstey thought, remembering the timid, pale, oppressed
creature he had been years ago. He had grown up into a
pleasant, thoughtful young man, and though with his father's
rather protruberant eyes and pale eyelashes he would never
be precisely handsome, he had a manly dignity which did him very well instead. Lucy's younger daughter, Rosamund, had a
crush on him, and quoted everything he said as if it were Holy
Writ, while Bobbie, at fourteen, two years younger than
Marcus, evidently both loved and admired him. Marcus was
kind and patient with Rosamund, and was very protective of
Bobbie, which would have annoyed Lady Barbara greatly had
she been aware of it.

‘Why so? Let's hear your opinion, my boy,' Anstey said
encouragingly. 'I should have thought all you young people
would be wild for a change of government.'

‘
Well, sir, I don't think the Whigs have ever been in favour
of the war,' Marcus said, glancing round shyly at the illus
trious company, 'and it seems to me that we need a government
that will prosecute it vigorously.'

‘
Prosecute it vigorously? That sounds like Mr Firth's
phraseology,' Lucy said, and Marcus blushed with embarrass
ment. Since his skin was very fair, he blushed easily, and
Danby Wiske felt sorry for him.

‘
I'm sure you're right,' he said. 'And I think there will be
one change which you'll approve, Mr Morland — the Prince
is determined to reinstate his brother at the Horseguards.’

Marcus turned to him gratefully. 'The Duke of York to be
Commander-in-Chief again? That would be beyond anything
great! Do you really think so, sir?'

‘
Sure of it — don't you say so, Geroge? You're closer to the
Yorks than anyone.'

‘
It certainly looks that way,' Brummell said. 'Have you
military ambitions yourself, Mr Morland? I know your
father's serving in the Peninsula. Have you a mind to follow
him?'

‘
Yes, sir, Papa's in Portugal with Lord Hill. It's the one
thing I really want, to go out there too.'

‘
If it's what you really want, you probably will,' Brummell
said kindly.

But Marcus knew the expense of a pair of colours, and his
mother's dedication to economy seemed unlikely soon to
change. 'I'm afraid the war may be over before I have the
chance,' he said sadly.