And the jest is, the damsel in question has arrived in London—bold as you please, the hussy. The old biddies are sharpening their hatpins and the bucks are laying wagers on who will have her first.
Yours truly wants to know the real story, you dark horse!
‘I am going to London.’ Will pushed back his chair, the letter crushed in his hand. ‘First thing tomorrow morning.’ He tugged at the bell-pull. ‘Peplow, send my valet to pack, tell the stables to ready my travelling chaise.’
Whatever she wanted, whatever she was to him, he was damned if he was going to leave Verity Wingate to the wolves.
Chapter Fifteen
‘That went very well, I thought,’ Aunt Caroline said as the carriage pulled away from the Queen’s House and began to skirt Green Park on its way back to the Bruton Street townhouse.
‘Her Majesty was very gracious.’ Verity still felt as unreal as when they had been ushered through the long corridors to the Queen’s private sitting room. She had made her curtsy at St James’s Palace, of course, swamped in hoops and ostrich feathers and in the company of dozens of other young ladies. But that had been in her first Season, cut short by her father’s illness, and she had been too miserable over Thomas Harrington’s treachery to be overawed.
Coming face-to-face with the Consort over the teacups was quite another matter. ‘I had not known what to expect, but she is very intelligent, isn’t she?’
It was one thing to read that the Queen was a keen amateur botanist, much involved with the gardens at Kew, and quite another to actually hold a discussion with her about Mr Banks’s discoveries and the voyages of Captain James Cook. ‘And she is interested in the education of women. I had not known that.’
‘That is one reason why I thought she would be sympathetic to you when she realised that you are an intelligent, well-informed young lady and not some fast, wilful girl who has thrown over a duke on a petulant whim. And she has kept her daughters close to her—when I wrote I implied that it was mainly duty to your father that has made you turn away from marriage. She sympathises with that and approves.’
‘Will she help me? Does she ever interfere in such a way?’ Verity found she was fidgeting with her skirts and clasped her hands in her lap before she twisted indelible creases into the silk.
‘You will be invited to a Drawing Room which will signal approval and the fact that we have been received will soon be widely known—and in the Court Circular. That in itself will not be the final word for the Patronesses. Which reminds me, that must be my next concern, to secure you vouchers.’
‘How may I help?’ The prospect of actually being able to do something to help herself was invigorating.
‘What we need is a party, one where we may be sure of influential ladies being present. I will see what invitations I have when we are home.’
* * *
They went straight to the drawing room. ‘Now, let me see.’ Aunt Caroline took a stack of invitations from her little writing desk and fanned them out. ‘Not a ball, you do not have a suitable gown yet. Not a masquerade, too much of a romp which is not the impression we want to give. Ah, the very thing—Lady Notting’s musical evening. Good food, pleasant music, but not too much of it and the very best of company, for she only invites interesting people.’
‘That sounds perfect,’ Verity said. ‘A chance to dress up, meet new people—I cannot wait.’
It might be an ordeal if the visit to the Queen had failed to work its magic and she was cut, but she had to be optimistic and it was a long time since she had enjoyed social events in London, not since her father’s illness. Not that she resented their quiet life or the company of her close friends, but even so, country society did tend to dinner parties and small dances where the same people met over and over again.
‘And tomorrow we will embark upon some serious shopping. You have a few pretty gowns—the one you are wearing is charming—and the half-dress gown you showed me will be very suitable for this evening, but you need a complete new wardrobe, my dear, and all the accessories. No one will think you have anything to hide if you dress in the first stare of fashion. Modestly hiding yourself among the wallflowers will not serve our purpose at all.’
‘But my allowance—’
‘Your papa sent me a draft on his bank, Verity. He wants this belated Season to succeed as much as we do.’
* * *
‘Aylsham! What a pleasure, I had no idea you were in town.’
Will bowed over Lady Notting’s hand and then kissed her cheek. ‘Aunt Julia. I am hoping that if you had known, you would have invited me and, as it is, I am presuming on the forgiveness of my favourite godmother and honorary aunt not to have me thrown out as a gatecrasher. My coming to London was in the nature of a last-minute decision or I would have called.’
‘You have, if I recall rightly, six godmothers and you call all of them aunt, so do not think I will fall for your outrageous flattery, young man.’ Lady Notting dealt him a painful rap over the knuckles with her fan, but she was smiling, as he had known she would. ‘
I am glad to see you out and about. Dreadful business with your father and then to lose your grandfather so soon afterwards—enough to cast anyone into the dismals. But you can enjoy yourself this evening, even if you are as much a stickler for form as the old Duke. It is all very decorous and respectable. No dancing, no light music—perfectly acceptable for a man in mourning.’
‘Ma’am, you are very gracious, but I am holding up the line. Perhaps we may talk later.’
Will walked through into the first of the reception rooms, his progress impeded by having to stop and speak to virtually everyone he passed. When he had merely been Lord Calthorpe he would have exchanged bows with most of the older ladies and gentlemen; now his rank overcame the disparity in ages and everyone wanted to chat. And, he realised, they wanted favours, however subtle they were about it. Some had sons and wanted his advice on where they might find useful occupation—he filed a few names away as possible librarians for Stane Hall. One had a younger brother in holy orders, looking for a living. Any number of hopeful mamas were too subtle to thrust their daughters at him directly but murmured of this or that select gathering at which they hoped they might see him.
He reached the second room, congratulating himself on not having committed to anything or anybody, and took a glass of champagne from a proffered tray with the sense of having earned it. No wonder his grandfather had developed that air of cool distance. It had not been an exaggerated sense of his own position, but sheer self-defence.
He had arrived in the early morning after travelling through the night with his valet and the essential baggage. His groom, following with his riding horses and the travelling coach to carry the rest of the luggage, had arrived in the early evening.