Lady Jane's Ribbons (5 page)

Shortly after this, she was seated at the escritoire in the blue saloon trying to write a letter to her favorite aunt, Lady Agatha Derwent, when through the open windows she distinctly heard the sound of a carriage above the
noise of the crowds. Could it be Henry? Had he remembered after all and turned back? Swiftly, she got up and hurried to the balustrade overlooking the vestibule, but as she gazed down to see who was admitted, the hope faded abruptly away, for it was Charles Moncarm, Marquis of Bourton, who stepped inside and handed his hat, gloves, and cane to Melville.

‘Is Lady Jane at home?’ she heard him ask.

‘I’m up here, Charles.’

He smiled up at her. ‘Good afternoon, Jane.’

‘Good afternoon, Charles. Please come on up. Melville, will you serve some tea in the blue saloon?’

‘Very well, my lady.’ The butler bowed and withdrew.

Charles came up the staircase toward her. He was twenty-seven years old and of medium height and build, his wavy brown hair worn in the
side-whiskers
which were fast becoming the rage with gentlemen of fashion. He wore a mulberry coat and gray trousers, and there was a ruby pin in the center of his discreet, uncomplicated cravat. His looks were agreeable rather than handsome, but his hazel eyes had a certain appeal which made him far from unpopular with the opposite sex. To Jane, however, he was simply Charles, the friend she’d grown up with and liked so very much, and who would never amount to anything more, no matter how much he wished it otherwise.

Reaching the top of the staircase, he drew her hand to his lips. ‘It’s good to see you again. Six months is far too long.’

‘It’s good to see you again too, Charles.’

‘I hope I haven’t called at an inconvenient time.’

‘No, I was just about to try and write to Aunt Derwent.’

‘Try? I thought letter writing came disgustingly easily to you.’

‘It does usually, but today I’ve got so much on my mind. Shall we go to the blue saloon?’

He pulled her hand gently through his arm. ‘Can I be of any assistance with this whatever it is that’s on your mind?’

‘Not unless you can produce my odious brother out of thin air.’

He closed the saloon’s elegant double doors behind him and leaned back against them for a moment, looking curiously at her. ‘Produce Henry out of thin air? Have you lost him then?’

‘In a manner of speaking. He’s taken himself off to Brighton, would you believe, and on Blanche’s big day! I could box his silly, selfish ears for him.’

‘From your tone, I’d hazard a guess that it’s his infernal coaches that have caused this.’

‘Yes.’ She explained what had happened. ‘So you see, I really don’t know if he’s going to be there tonight or not. If he doesn’t get there, he’ll be
positively
thrusting
Blanche into Dursley’s horrid arms, and her father will be doing all he can to help her on her way. Oh, Charles, what am I going to do?’

‘What are
you
going to do? I fail to see that there’s anything you
can
do.’

‘Should I warn Blanche what’s happened?’

‘I rather think not. What if he arrives in time after all? You’d have upset her for nothing, wouldn’t you?’

Jane sighed and nodded. ‘I suppose so.’

‘Besides, I’m sure Henry will do the right thing and present himself in good time. If he doesn’t, I’ll escort you.’ He led her to the sofa. ‘Now then, sit down and relax a little. You look positively fidgety.’

‘So would you be if Henry was your brother.’

‘I hardly want Henry as my brother, since that would make you my sister, and that’s not how I want things to be at all.’

To her relief, Melville came in at that moment with the tea, which was prompt because it had been about to be served anyway. The butler placed the elegant silver tray on the table before the sofa and then withdrew again. Jane poured the tea into the dainty pink-and-white porcelain cups and handed one to Charles. ‘What have you been up to while I’ve been away?’

‘Don’t change the subject.’

‘I wasn’t aware that we were discussing any particular subject.’

‘I was pointing out to you that I don’t regard you as my sister.’

‘I know you don’t, Charles.’

‘I’ve thought a great deal about you since you so providently handed Ardenley his
congé
, and I’ve come to the conclusion that now is once again my opportunity. You know what I’m going to say, don’t you?’

Slowly, she nodded. ‘Yes, but I wish you wouldn’t.’

‘I can offer you a great deal, Jane.’

‘I know.’

‘I love you very much.’

She met his steady gaze then. ‘I know, and I love you too, but it isn’t the right sort of love.’

‘But it’s still love, and I believe it would grow into that other sort of love. We could do very well together, Jane.’

She shook her head. ‘It wouldn’t work, Charles. No, hear me out. I couldn’t be satisfied with what you and I would have together, for it simply wouldn’t be enough. I’d need to feel very differently about you in order to marry you.’

He put his cup down. ‘Meaning that you’d need to feel as you did about Ardenley?’

‘Yes.’

‘And where did that get you?’

‘Don’t, Charles….’

‘No, I want to know. If that love was so wonderful and fulfilling, why did he keep the Duchess of Brantingham’s charms so very close all the time? You’re deluding yourself about that so-called
love
, Jane; it was a fleeting passion which was as intangible and inconsequential as a will-o’-the-wisp!’

‘It was a little more than that, Charles,’ she said quietly.

He was silent for a moment. ‘Maybe it was, but the fact still remains that it came to a very unhappy conclusion.’ He studied her for a moment. ‘That is, if it is concluded.’

‘It is.’

‘I wonder.’

‘Can’t we talk about something else? The weather perhaps? Or the queen’s return?’

‘Both are exceeding tedious subjects.’

‘Then shall we gaze at each other in amicable silence?’

He smiled then. ‘No, I’ll just say my final piece and then remove myself so that you can continue your letter writing. I’m not going to give up yet, Jane. I’m determined to win you, and I rather suspect that I will after tonight.’

‘Tonight?’

‘When you are faced once and for all with Ardenley’s love for Alicia. You haven’t seen them together, have you? You dashed off to Cheshire to lick your wounds, and that was that. Maybe you’ve thought about him being with her, but you haven’t seen them for yourself. And maybe, too, in your bitterness, you’ve forgotten that although Alicia may have a rather
scandalous
reputation, she’s still a very beautiful and fascinating woman, certainly beautiful and fascinating enough to keep her hold on a man like Ardenley.’ He got up then. ‘I’ll ask you again, Jane, and again, until you accept, of that you may be sure. And remember, if you need me to escort you later, just ask.’ Leaning over, he kissed her lightly on the cheek and then left.

Later, with the letter to her aunt completed at last, Jane went up to her rooms to begin her lengthy preparations for the ball, and in the first instance that meant taking a bath. Ellen undressed her and brushed her long dark hair before pinning it up into a loose knot on the top of her head. Then the maid drew a screen around the elegant copper bath tub in the center of the little bathroom, and Jane stepped into the deliciously warm,
lavender-scented
water. She leaned her head back against the soft pink cloth which had been draped around the tub, and closed her eyes. The bath was meant to be relaxing, but she had far too much on her mind for that. First there was Henry and his atrociously ill-timed flight to Brighton; then there was Charles; and finally there was Lewis….

Her thoughts traveled back to the first time she’d met him. It had been at Kensington Palace the previous June, when society had attended the
christening
celebrations of the little Princess Victoria, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Kent. After a while, she and Lewis had slipped out into the gardens overlooking Hyde Park, and had walked between the flowerbeds which had been a riot of roses, geraniums, and honeysuckle. How sweet and
warm the air had been, and how still. Above them had wheeled the rooks and jackdaws for which the palace was famous, and the sound of music had drifted out from the great assembly within. Not a word had passed between them – indeed, they’d hardly spoken at all from that first fateful moment when Henry had introduced them. As he’d taken her hand and drawn it to his lips, his gray eyes so dark and clear as they’d gazed into hers, she’d felt a shock of emotion pass through her such as she’d never known before. Then, as they walked in the gardens, their hands had brushed together again, oh, so briefly. He’d pulled her into his arms, her body crushed close to his, her lips bruised with the passion of his kiss, a passion she’d returned. She’d lost her heart and soul to him, and both would be his until the day she died; but he’d only been toying with her, he had no heart, and his soul was cold.

‘My lady?’ Ellen’s voice roused her.

‘Yes?’

‘Your gown has been delivered.’

‘Oh, good. I don’t suppose there’s any word of the earl?’

‘No, my lady, I’m afraid not.’

Jane finished her bath and then put on her wrap. Ellen had turned back her bed for her to sleep, because the ball was bound to go on until almost dawn, but it was impossible with all the din still going on in the street. The queen had evidently appeared on the balcony again, for the noise was tumultuous.

She must have managed a little sleep in the end, for Ellen was suddenly bringing her some tea, and the crimson and gold of sunset was slanting into the room. The crowd was still chanting.

Jane sat up, looking hopefully at the maid, but Ellen shook her head. ‘There’s still no word, my lady.’

Jane’s heart sank. He’d forgotten completely, she knew that he had. What was she going to say to poor Blanche? And what was she going to do about her own escort? She didn’t really want to ask Charles, not so quickly after his proposal – she’d feel a little awkward being so alone with him. No, it would be better to take Ellen and trust that her predicament was
understood
.

‘Ellen, I’d like you to come in the carriage with me tonight.’

‘Yes, my lady.’

She only picked at the tempting cold chicken and salad Ellen brought for her. She knew she should eat before an occasion like the ball, but her appetite seemed to have deserted her.

Afterward, she sat at the dressing table for the maid to apply the face lotion she always prepared before balls and other such tiring assemblies. It was a mixture of cream, crushed grapes, and lemon, and it smoothed and refreshed, leaving the skin perfect for the subtle application of cosmetics. Opening the elegant japanned box of Chinese papers, the maid took out the
ones she required. It was considered very vulgar to apply heavy rouge to the cheeks and lips, but a little shading was very necessary if one was to look well under the harsh glare of many chandeliers. The papers were applied very sparingly, leaving a soft pink on Jane’s lips and cheeks, and the merest hint of pearly white on her nose, to prevent it from shining in the heat of the ballroom. The touching of a little of Yardley’s excellent lavender water to her throat and wrists and behind her ears completed this part of her toilet, leaving only the pinning up of her hair and the donning of her clothes and jewels.

At last she was ready, her hair put up into an intricate knot from which fell a single long curl, while her face was framed by a froth of little curls. Around her forehead she wore a plain golden circlet graced by a large, bright amethyst surrounded by diamonds, while more amethysts and diamonds shimmered from her ears and at her throat, making her eyes seemed even larger and more violet than usual. The gown was exquisite now that the bead decorations were complete, for they caught the light so softly that they resembled the sparkle of frost. Silk stockings, satin slippers, a
delicate
lilac-and-cream shawl, and a spangled reticule put the final touches to her appearance, leaving only the bringing of the painted fan from the silver casket on the dressing table.

Outside, above the continuing clamor of the crowds, she heard her carriage arriving. It was time to go. She glanced at her reflection in the cheval glass. What lay ahead tonight? Would Henry do the right thing and turn up after all? She lowered her eyes. And would she be able to conduct herself as if she was completely indifferent when she saw Lewis and Alicia together? Had she enough of the actress in her for that?

Taking a deep breath, she accepted the fan from Ellen and then,
accompanied
by the maid, she went down to the vestibule and emerged into the noisy evening to get into the waiting carriage.

Mr James Lyndon was a very important man of finance, acting for several members of the royal family and also for a great many aristocrats and other wealthy persons, so even had it not been for his wife’s enviable reputation as one of the finest hostesses in London, the annual ball celebrating their daughter Blanche’s birthday would have been a dazzling highlight of every season. Mrs Lyndon could be relied upon to make any occasion brilliant, and tonight was no exception, for both the decorations and the ambience
were quite outstandingly pleasing.

Lyndon House was set in its own grounds in a corner of Berkeley Square, and was approached through two pedimented gateways set in the tall wall fronting the great courtyard. There was already a crush of fashionable carriages as Jane arrived, and as she drove beneath one of the gateways, she saw that the courtyard, usually rather plain, had been transformed with tiny fountains, each one surrounded by beautiful flower arrangements in the three colors comprising Blanche’s name – white, yellow, and green, for Blanche Xanthe Lyndon. The guests exclaimed in admiration as they alighted, pausing for a moment on the herb-strewn steps to gaze around at the magical scene. Then they went up the steps to the porticoed entrance, where the columns were garlanded with still more white, yellow, and green, a mixture of laburnum, white rhododendrons, and leaves. At the doors, two little black pageboys in mock-Elizabethan clothes presented each gentleman with a white carnation for his buttonhole, and each lady with a wrist favor of tight white rosebuds.

Ellen gazed around, her eyes wide, as the carriage halted at the steps. A footman assisted Jane down to the ground, where the bruised herbs filled the warm evening air with perfume. The splashing of the fountains could be heard above the clatter of the carriages and the music and laughter
emanating
from the brilliantly illuminated house. The maid remained in the carriage and would be there to chaperone her mistress home afterward. Jane hesitated, suddenly apprehensive, but then went slowly up the steps, smiling at the pageboy as he presented her with her favor. Then she was in the great vestibule, with its magnificent black marble double staircase and priceless French chandeliers, and the scene which greeted her made her halt in wonder, for she had never seen so many flowers before, all of them in the same three colors. There were blooms, boughs, leaves, and petals
everywhere
, garlanding columns, draped along mantelpieces, twining up the
staircase
, covering console tables, adorning windows and corners, and even tumbling from the ceiling, where baskets frothing with lace and ribbons overflowed with roses and irises. It was all staggeringly beautiful and must have cost a fortune, but it transformed the house into a bower where the goddess Flora herself might have appeared at any moment.

There was a great crush of people, and the noise was quite considerable, so that first she didn’t hear Charles calling her as he pushed his way toward her. ‘Jane?’

She turned at last, smiling at him. ‘Good evening, Charles. What a press this is!’

‘Which gives me an excellent excuse for standing rather closer to you than is quite proper,’ he said, bending over her hand. He looked very
dashing
in a tight indigo velvet evening coat and white trousers, and there was a very large diamond in the pin adorning his white silk cravat. He smiled into her eyes then. ‘You’re more beautiful than ever tonight, Jane.’ He tied the
favor onto her wrist. ‘I take it that there’s no word yet from Henry?’ He looked at her a little reproachfully for not asking him to escort her, but he knew why she hadn’t.

‘None at all.’

‘There’s time yet.’

‘Maybe.’

‘You don’t sound very hopeful.’

‘I’m not. Oh, Charles, what am I going to say to Blanche and her parents? How can I possibly excuse him?’

‘We’ll do our utmost to delay seeing them, shall we?’

‘We couldn’t possibly.’

‘Why not? Is there a rule which says we must go directly to the ballroom? No, there isn’t, so we’ll make an
extremely
leisurely circuit of the house first, taking in the drawing room, the music room, the library, and anywhere else we can think of, and we’ll stop to talk to every living soul we meet, even those whose claim to actually being alive stands in question, since they seem to me to have been visited by a taxidermist at some point.’

She had to laugh at that. ‘You’re good for me, Charles Moncarm, and I know I’m the end in fools not to snap you up straightaway.’

‘You’ll come around to it, and before much longer,’ he murmured,
drawing
her hand through his arm. ‘Shall we proceed?’

It wasn’t difficult to ensure a lengthy dawdle, for they were acquainted with almost everyone they met, and there was one burning topic of
conversation
which seemed to occupy everyone’s interest – the rights and wrongs of the queen’s return.

‘My dear, if my husband had used me as hers has done, I’d think myself
entitled
to act as she has.’

‘Poor, dear Lord Sidmouth was going home last night with the Duke of Wellington, and he couldn’t get into his house for the mobs. There were missiles hurled after his carriage, and squibs set off under his horses’ very hooves! It’s quite disgraceful that such vulgar elements should be permitted to rampage like that!’

‘The press is paid abundantly to support the queen, all the radicals like Wood have seen to that, and the city is with her too, although I understand our wise host tonight has thrown in his lot with the king.’

‘The Times
went so far today as to say that the landing of neither William the Conqueror nor William III agitated the bosoms of Londoners as much as the arrival of
brave
Queen Caroline!’

‘Admiral Lord Yarmouth could stand no more of the yahoos outside his house this morning – they’d kept him awake all night and he’s a crusty fellow at the best of times. Well, he rushed out at them brandishing a sword and a pistol, and they scattered in all directions, like ants. I haven’t laughed so much in years, although Yarmouth was too furious to find anything
amusing
in the situation.’

‘Dursley had his carriage waylaid coming here tonight because it was seen emerging from the royal den of iniquity, Carlton House. He was forced to doff his hat to the queen, and showed astonishing presence of mind by aping Wellington and wishing her majesty all she merited. The buffoons didn’t know he was being clever and actually cheered him on his way. I confess I didn’t think Dursley had it in him, but then he’s been positively
busy
recently, hasn’t he? If Felbridge doesn’t watch it, the Lyndon fortune’s going to be lifted from right under his fool nose, and it’ll be no more than the rash young rip deserves. Ribbons before a fortune? Ye gods, if he had any wisdom at all, he’d make sure he’d
married
the fortune before deserting it to play knight of the road. The fellow needs his head examined, and no mistake. He’s changed so much recently that I hardly know him, and I’m damned sure
la belle
Blanche must be feeling the same.’

This last was uttered by a gentleman who didn’t see Jane and Charles join his group in the library, and he looked very embarrassed and uncomfortable when he realized they’d heard every word. He cleared his throat. ‘Er, forgive me, m’dear, I didn’t mean anything….’

Jane’s fan wafted to and fro and she smiled in a little embarrassment too. ‘Sir, no doubt all you say does indeed run the risk of coming true, but now, if you will forgive me….’ She inclined her head and hastily withdrew from the room, followed by Charles.

On the crowded landing above the double staircase, she halted, turning agitatedly to him. ‘I can’t keep this up for much longer – I feel so guilty. Oh, I know it isn’t my fault, but I still feel as if somehow it is. It really is too bad of Henry to carry on like this, and it’s so embarrassing to hear him being discussed in such a way. If it’s being talked of here, you can guarantee it’s all over Town. I could choke him for his irresponsibility, truly I could!’

‘Perhaps it would be better if I took you home.’

‘Oh, no, I couldn’t do that.’

‘Why not? If it’s upsetting you like this….’

‘Too many people have seen me here, I couldn’t just leave; it would be most discourteous, as well as cowardly. No, I’ll have to face Blanche, and her parents, there’s nothing else for it.’

‘If you’re quite sure.’

She nodded. ‘Yes.’

He drew her hand through his arm and they turned toward the staircase, but then Jane halted in dismay, for coming up in their direction was Alicia, Duchess of Brantingham.

Jane would have retreated, but the crush was too great because a large party had emerged from the card room to go down to dance. There was nothing for it but to face Lewis’s odious mistress.

The Duchess of Brantingham was one of the most beautiful and most notorious women in London, having taken a number of lovers from the very outset of her marriage to the elderly but extremely wealthy duke who now
refused at any price to divorce her. Her crimes, as such, hadn’t been so very great, a number of important ladies had been equally guilty, but she had lacked the discretion to keep her amours secret, and that was the most heinous crime of all in the eyes of a society which thrived on such double standards. But there was something about her which turned men’s heads, and there was no doubt that when she chose she could be witty and
amusing
, so that the
monde
had not been all that surprised that she had snapped up a man like Lewis Ardenley, stealing him from the arms of a proud but unwary rival. Now, as she slowly ascended the staircase toward that rival, a number of people realized that an extremely interesting confrontation was almost bound to take place, and so made little secret of their interest,
pausing
to watch, no doubt hoping for the proverbial fur to fly.

Alicia hadn’t as yet noticed Jane, and engaged in a brief conversation with a gentleman. She looked particularly beautiful tonight, in a lime green silk gown the neckline of which plunged perilously low over her curving,
flawless
bosom. Her willowy figure would have been eye-catching even had she not been so very beautiful, for her sense of style and fashion was
impeccable
. Her hair was thick and tawny, and possessed of a strange air of weight which made it always seem on the point of tumbling free from its pins, but it never did; it always remained perfectly groomed and enviably shiny. She had green eyes and a creamy complexion, and her lips never seemed to need rouge, they were full, warm, and softly pink, and they curved in an inviting way which made many a man forget what it was he had been talking about a moment before. There were diamonds at her throat and sparkling from her ears, and soft white plumes springing from the tall, jeweled comb in her hair. Tonight, she was evidently at her most witty, for her tinkling laughter rang out audibly as she tapped the gentleman’s arm with her closed fan and proceeded on up the staircase. Then she saw Jane, and her green eyes became almost feline. ‘Good evening, Jane. Charles,’ she said, her voice carrying plainly in the sudden hush surrounding them.

Charles inclined his head. ‘Alicia.’

Jane merely held the other’s gaze. ‘Good evening.’

A faint, rather taunting smile played about Alicia’s lovely lips. ‘How very pretty you look tonight, quite charming. Do tell me, how was Cheshire?’

The hush was almost deafening.

‘Just to the east of Wales, as it usually is,’ replied Jane conversationally, steeling herself for a vitriolic exchange.

Alicia’s eyes flickered with cool amusement. ‘My
dear,
how very droll you are, to be sure. Perhaps I should phrase my question another way. Did you enjoy your stay in Cheshire?’

‘I enjoyed it immensely. Did you enjoy Paris?’

‘Well, to be perfectly honest, my dear, we didn’t go out a great deal while we were there, so I really couldn’t comment.’ Alicia’s smile was positively silky.

There was a ripple of unashamed amusement from the onlookers, who were quite blatantly listening to every word.

‘What a waste of Paris, to be sure,’ replied Jane smoothly. ‘One might as well stay in in London.’

‘But, my
dear
, staying in in Paris is so much more fun!’ declared Alicia, glancing deliberately around and inviting more laughter.

But Jane wasn’t about to allow her the last word. ‘Really? Well, I suppose I must take your word for it, since the enjoying of that particular kind of fun has been an art you’ve more than perfected over the years, and with so many teachers that I declare I quite forget their names.’

The barb went home. Alicia’s eyes flashed with anger and her fan snapped open. Gathering her skirts she walked on past, leaving the way clear at last for Jane and Charles to proceed down the staircase. As they did so, a babble of conversation broke out behind them as the confrontation was dissected word by word, point by point.

Jane managed a smile which conveyed a high degree of triumph. ‘Victory to me, I fancy, Charles.’

‘I had no idea you possessed such fearsome claws.’

‘I needed them, since hers were unsheathed the moment she saw me. Did you see the cat in her eyes? I merely dealt claw for claw.’

‘And very dextrous you were, too. I doubt if even a barber-surgeon could have wielded a sharper edge.’ Charles paused at the foot of the staircase. ‘If you didn’t still love him, you wouldn’t have bothered with her just then, would you? The mere fact that you crossed swords proved to me that beyond a doubt you still want him.’

‘Want someone who treated me so very shabbily? I think not, Charles.’ But she knew she didn’t sound very convincing. ‘Can’t we forget him and just go to the ballroom so that I can attend to my guilty conscience?’

‘Forget him? Oh,
I
can do that cheerfully enough, but I doubt very much if you’ll ever be able to.’ He drew her hand over his sleeve and escorted her through the crowded, flowery vestibule to the equally flowery inner hall, and then on to the immense black-and-white-marble steps that led grandly down to the glittering, flower-decked ballroom, where an ocean of elegant, bejeweled people moved to the sedate music of an allemande.