Chapter 12 #2
Josephine smiled, wishing she had half of Sophie’s faith in fashion solving most of life’s problems. Instead, she had a plan that she intended to put into action as soon as she could.
Lord Huntingly may have disappeared, but he’d also provided her with time to conduct a little research.
She might not find out exactly what happened when he and Pellham served in Italy, but someone in a position of military responsibility would have to know more.
‘Wasn’t Lord Hampton in the army?’ Josephine quizzed as they stepped out of the Rotherby coach and up to the Hamptons’ colonnade entrance.
‘Yes, he was a very respected general,’ Rotherby replied.
‘Lord, Jo, of all the things I thought you might say!’ Sophie chuckled, rolling her eyes.
‘Anyone would think you weren’t in the least bit excited about your new dress…
Oh look, there’s Ursula – in lavender! Goodness me, when will the Hampton ladies realise a pale countenance does not do well in pastels… ’
Josephine smiled but was already a thousand miles away, scanning the crowded hall for sight of Lord Hampton. It wasn’t easy – tonight’s affair looked to be well attended, given the Hamptons’ imminent removal to the country, and as though every family in town had come to wave them off.
‘What a pleasure, Lord and Lady Rotherby!’ Isabella Hampton twinkled in a gown of jonquil, trimmed with blonde lace that made Sophie blink.
‘And Miss Fairfax too! How delightful to see you again, Miss Josephine! Would you believe we have six tables for twelve in this room, and a long table for sixty in the parlour? I only hope everyone is looking forward to the turtle soup and asparagus, for Mama has been talking of nothing else for weeks!’
She peeled off into polite laughter as Josephine bobbed a curtsey, wondering again if there could be any doubt about Isabella’s supposed engagement to Sir Francis. They seemed so very different.
‘Might Lord Hampton be in the ballroom, Miss Isabella?’ Josephine asked. ‘I do so wish to thank him personally for inviting us.’
Isabella stared at her briefly before releasing another peal of polite laughter as she proffered her arm.
‘Oh, Josephine, I declare you are too droll for words! Papa was here receiving guests, but he must have slipped away when Mama wasn’t looking.
I warrant he’s in the card room already but let us look together.
I’m sure he will be most flattered to know you were looking for him.
And never fear, Lord Rotherby,’ she added with dancing eyes, ‘there are no archery plans this evening, so you should be quite safe from any rogue arrows!’
Josephine swallowed a gurgle of laughter, knowing her sister had long ceased finding references to her near-murder of her own husband humorous.
‘Thank you, Isabella,’ Sophie replied, her eyes glinting. ‘I hardly recall the occasion to which you refer for life has been so busy, but then that is so often the way when one weds and starts a family. Perhaps you too will discover this joy for yourself when you finally realise that pastels…’
‘Let us fetch a refreshment, Isabella,’ Josephine interjected as her companion’s smile started to fade. ‘And you can tell me all about the seating arrangements for supper…’
At this enticing invitation, Isabella’s spirits brightened, and Josephine steered her hostess away from Sophie’s glare.
‘Mama is ecstatic that every family of the ton accepted tonight,’ Isabella gushed as they made their way to the refreshment table.
‘Every single one! It is her finest moment and she vows, if Ursula and I are not announcing our matches soon, she will eat her new hat! Bearing in mind her new hat is a monstrous affair with a Prussian-blue brim, a matching ribbon, silk flowers and three peacock feathers at the crown – three! – it’s quite the assertion, don’t you think? ’
Josephine blinked her agreement, wondering what Sophie would make of such a creation.
‘Indeed!’ she replied, as they made their way through the chattering throng in the vast hallway and towards the open doors of the ballroom. ‘And are there any particular gentlemen to whom you might be referring?’
They paused just inside the entrance. A hum of chatter and dancing filled the air, laced together by one of Josephine’s favourite minuets.
She inhaled the colourful scene. She might not have relished her three seasons, but she had missed watching the ballroom, where she where she’d witnessed the start of a few real matches.
The ton was littered with marriages of convenience, but sometimes there was a visible spark between two dancers that filled the void in her chest and made her long for her quill to capture it.
She told no one of these moments, knowing they rightly belonged to others, but the briefest eye-widen or second glance gave her hope that occasionally, magic could happen outside the pages of a book.
‘Well, there might be a certain someone.’ Isabella blushed, pausing beside a solemn footman holding a tray of ratafia.
‘But, as you know, it’s not de rigueur to talk of such matters before—’ She broke off with a wide smile.
‘Aurelia! Or Baroness Caserta, as I should call you now. How well you look!’ She held out her hands in greeting.
‘And you too, Miss Amelia. Oh, it’s been an age since I’ve seen you both.
How is your delightful son, Aurelia? He must be nearing two years of age now, I believe? ’
Josephine looked up as Baroness Aurelia di Caserta and Miss Amelia Carlisle paused to greet them and couldn’t help but stare.
They had identical doll-like eyes, dark lashes, creamy skin, bow lips and small, distinctive chins.
Little wonder she’d been so mesmerised at the Davenports’ soiree: Amelia was a smaller, softer version of her older sister.
‘Oh goodness, how on earth should I know, Miss Hampton?’ Aurelia tittered.
‘It’s quite exhausting enough to recall their particular requirements, let alone the months since they ruined one’s body for all perpetuity.
I didn’t know you were still in town though, Miss Fairfax?
’ she asked in her next breath, turning to Josephine with her old gleaming smile.
‘I thought you’d had quite enough of polite company, and abandoned us for the wilds and your books? ’
‘Oh no, not at all, dear sister!’ Amelia intervened.
‘For I had the good fortune to cross social paths with Miss Fairfax in Devon and, not only is her musical talent second to none, but we shared the most wonderful tête-à-tête, did we not, Miss Fairfax? How lovely to see you again,’ she added demurely.
‘Ah, I do detect a secret!’ Isabella smiled delightedly. ‘Pray do tell, Miss Amelia, for there’s nothing I like so much as a secret…’
Josephine stilled, a wave of sudden realisation drowning out the delightful closing steps of the minuet.
If she wasn’t much mistaken, both Isabella and Amelia were harbouring exactly the same secret about Sir Francis Dashton, and she had no wish to be party to any conflicting declarations – especially when the gentleman in question was not here to clarify matters.
‘Oh, I really cannot be pressed!’ Amelia inhaled dramatically, clutching the pearls affixed to her lemon bodice. ‘Miss Fairfax is a wonderful friend, and I know she will be loyal until the world is a kinder place to young love…’
‘I knew it!’ Isabella exclaimed. ‘I can see the look of love in your eyes – for I may know a little of its torment myself.’ She dropped her voice to a whisper, ‘Tell us, Miss Amelia, is it a desperately romantic love or a forbidden parental love or…’ Isabella’s eyes grew rounder as she tried to think of all the possible permutations of love that society frowned upon.
‘Touching though this display of sentimentality is,’ Aurelia interjected drily, ‘I would urge you both to remember that most types of love are highly impractical when it comes to marriage – indeed, I have found a good circle, better cook and formidable modiste have served me far better.’
‘All I will say is that the gentleman in question is beyond fault and quite remarkable in every way,’ Miss Amelia offered as though Aurelia had never spoken at all. ‘In fact, we share a secret love poem that—’
‘You must not share for fear he will be identifiable,’ Josephine finished swiftly.
‘And I believe I’ve just seen your papa, Isabella.
Do excuse us,’ she added, curtseying to the Carlisle sisters.
‘We were looking for Lord Hampton before this delightful conversation, and I simply must not put off speaking with him any longer – Isabella?’
Without waiting for a response, Josephine grasped Isabella’s hand and pulled her around the ballroom, weaving her way around groups of chattering ladies and gentlemen, until she reached the doorway through which Lord Hampton had disappeared.
‘Really, Josephine!’ Isabella panted, fighting for breath in her tight-fitting corset. ‘There is no urgency to thank Papa, for he will be in the card room for the rest of the evening. And I have so little opportunity to talk with anyone about anything,’ she added woefully.
‘That may be,’ Josephine replied in a low tone, ‘but nothing is undone faster than a love secret, and I presume you do not wish your understanding to be affected?’
‘Oh!’ Isabella replied, her eyes as round as her jonquil bell skirt.
‘Exactly,’ Josephine affirmed. ‘And now your papa is coming over… Good evening, Lord Hampton!’ she called with far greater confidence than she felt, as a silver-haired gentlemen in military dress approached them.
‘Good evening, young ladies.’ He smiled. ‘And what brings you to the card room? Unless you have a desire to make up a four with myself and the colonel?’ he chortled in a way that made his waistcoat strain alarmingly.
‘No, Papa…’ Isabella began, looking anxious.
‘That would be wonderful, thank you,’ Josephine accepted instantly. ‘I have only a rudimentary skill, and would so enjoy a game with more experienced players.’
‘But Josephine?’ Isabella entreated, startled by her friend’s sudden desire to sit in a room of portly older gentlemen and cigar smoke, when there was dancing and gossip to be had next door.
Yet Josephine was already halfway to the table, looking more determined than ever.
‘I trust you young ladies are looking forward to the supper?’ Lord Hampton asked congenially as the game got underway. ‘I am particularly fond of Shrewsbury cake and baked custard myself, though you mustn’t mention it to Lady Hampton, for she thinks I am rather too partial, you see.’
He winked and patted his stomach as Isabella rolled her eyes.
‘Your secret is safe with me, my lord,’ Josephine reassured, taking another card, ‘though it does make me wonder how you developed such a sweet tooth? For you have led a military life, have you not?’
She smiled innocently, though her mind was turning over how to ask about Huntingly without raising suspicion.
‘I have,’ he replied, ‘though I’m retired now, and determined to make up for lost time, for there were few baked custards in France. We were lucky to have our bread of maslin and some bacon, though it all washed down well enough with the right wine.’
At this, he turned to his elderly friend and chortled again.
‘And do you recall many details from your time in France, sir, such as … the soldiers in your brigade, perhaps?’
‘But of course, Miss Fairfax,’ he assured.
‘We were soldiers of occupation following Waterloo, and once Louis XVIII was back life was easier than before, but I still prided myself on being able to address every single one of my officers by name, as well as their concerns. It was part of my role as General.’
Josephine nodded as Isabella eyeballed her ferociously, wilting with boredom.
‘And what of the gentlemen soldiers who’d been injured? Did they remain with you in occupation?’
‘Well, that depended,’ the General replied, rubbing his whiskery chin as he considered her question. ‘Some were sent home, others healed well and wanted to stay. Injuries can vary a great deal, and I’ve no wish to ruin your evening with talk of some of the atrocities I have seen.’
‘My younger sister is keen to pursue nursing, my lord,’ Josephine offered swiftly, ‘so I ask partly to help inform her… Were there many who suffered serious injury and yet stayed on to fight, for example?’
Josephine held her breath as she edged the conversation towards her goal. Thankfully the General seemed not to bat an eyelid, while Isabella scowled behind her cards.
‘Plenty suffered in that way, Miss Fairfax, and every single one pained me. Some managed to stay on, others returned home to make the best of it.’
‘But, of all injuries, injury to an upper limb has to be one of the hardest, surely?’ Josephine pursued. ‘For we use them for everything and take them so much for granted.’
‘Yes, the injury of a limb is always a serious matter,’ he nodded.
‘A few of mine had suffered in that way and I greatly admired their resilience. I recall one soldier in particular who arrived with scarring from significant injuries. I was doubtful he’d last, but he proved himself the finest officer and an even better swordsman.
In the end, I was sorry to see him go, even though it was clear that he was suffering,’ he concluded a little wistfully, staring into his drink.
‘How did he prove himself, sir?’ Josephine followed up, hardly daring to breathe. Somehow, she knew he was referring to Lord Huntingly.
‘Well, he was a quiet one with an air of melancholy. I never quite got to the bottom of it, but there was some family trouble, I gathered… Anyway, he was distinctly honourable, always at the front of a line, and better in combat than any of my other officers.’
Josephine swallowed, recalling Lord Huntingly’s scarred chest. Could he have earned them in battle, and not Italy?
‘So, he returned home after the occupation?’ she asked nonchalantly.
The General wrinkled his brow in thought.
‘Not directly as I recall. He was discharged with full honours, but there was some damnable incident in Italy in the months that followed. He was accused of murder in some street brawl, and I was asked to provide a reference.’ He frowned, re-ordering his cards.
‘Which was all part of my job, of course.’ He stared at his cards intently.
‘Anyway, the investigation was dropped once they discovered the deceased had suffered a family loss and wasn’t in his right mind.
’ He appeared to lose himself in thought before his face lit up suddenly.
‘And on a much happier note, I am happy to declare a sixth trick! Now then, who’s for another game? ’