24. Whitehall, London—Thursday, 4 January 1810
After a delightful and restful morning of perusing fabrics and styles in the parlour, and on the cleared-off dining table, and even on the master bed, while Auntie nursed little Tommy, Elizabeth and Jane felt that they had the bulk of their order ready for the modiste, and they had pinned the fabrics right to the fashion plates they wished to use.
It was so convenient, crafting the order in this way, at home, Elizabeth could not help but wonder if wealthy women everywhere worked this way to do their ordering in leisurely comfort.
It took a moment, but she suddenly realised that soon she would be a wealthy woman. If ordering clothes from home was not already standard practice, perhaps she could start a trend!
Jane and Elizabeth planned on going to the modiste after Epiphany to be measured and to turn in their order, but today they would go with William to show Jane the beauties of Saint James’s Park.
The snow had melted, but the nights remained so cold that early mornings were always frosted and icy, and therefore quite tricky for walking or riding.
That was why the group waited until half past eleven to meet. Jane, Elizabeth, and Georgiana met in a fond hug, after which Elizabeth turned to William and said, “Another beautiful day. There is surely some magical force here, sir, that you have somehow wrangled to fit your needs; I just know it.”
“Wait a moment,” William said with a delighted smile. “You accused me of lacking reason when I described you as magical—and now you are claiming magic on my part!”
“Well, it is either magic or love…. Perhaps it is actually raining, as London in January properly ought to be, and we are in our little love bubble experiencing pleasant but unlikely weather?”
“That explanation is not entirely reasonable either, my dear.”
Unlike their earlier visit to Saint James’s Park, there were very few birds to be seen.
However, the reason for the lack was immediately evident—many soldiers were crossing the park.
Unlike some of the red-coated soldiers Elizabeth had seen before, these soldiers had blue facings on their collars and cuffs.
“What is going on; can you tell? I am not familiar with these uniforms.”
William narrowed his eyes to look in the distance, and then he said, “I am no expert, but I believe that building you can see just past the line of trees is a barracks, and I believe these may be Infantry Foot Guards, assigned to protect the monarch and royal palaces. My guess is that these soldiers are walking to the Horse Guards Parade Ground, which lies over there.” He pointed, and indeed, soldiers had stopped in a large field and were milling around.
When they reached Georgiana and Jane, who were standing near the path along which the soldiers walked, Elizabeth said, “Jane, dear, I cannot help but think of Kitty and Lydia, and how the sight of all these men in regimentals would send them into transports.”
Jane laughed softly, saying, “I have been thinking about our youngest sisters ever since we arrived. I am determined to remember every detail so I can tell them what we saw.”
Georgiana asked, “Will that not make them upset, since they will feel cheated of a sight they would wish to experience?”
Jane grimaced. “You may be correct. I am not used to being the one who has an opportunity others would wish for.”
“Oh, look!” Georgiana squealed. “Drummers!”
Elizabeth did look, and she saw twelve drummers approaching as they followed the other soldiers to the parade grounds. They had been walking quite casually, several of them with decided slouches, but when they saw the ladies watching them, one of them called, “Fall in! Eyes front! Prepare to drum!”
As he gave the orders, the men formed two straight lines of six drummers each, and they each lifted one hand and drum stick high and held the other straight over the drumhead. Elizabeth felt glad to see the martial precision; she had only ever seen soldiers on parade once before.
How often do they have to practice to make their movements so sharp, precise, and synchronised? she wondered. At that moment, the call was made: “Corps of Drums, march!”
As they marched, they beat their drums in a complex cadence. Brrrrrrr-TAP-tap-tap... Brrrrrrr-TAP-tap-tap... TAP-flam-TAP-flam-TAP-TAP-TAP!
The three ladies began to clap, and then other visitors to the park clapped as well.
When the drummers reached Georgiana and the Bennet sisters, the twelve did a snappy head-turn to the ladies and performed a special, thunderous drum roll.
When the drummers stepped past them, they turned back to eyes-in-front and their original cadence.
The marching and drumming were surprising in their ability to evoke emotion and excitement.
Elizabeth bit her lip as she decided that this sort of appeal to feelings was important in convincing people that a military action was warranted—although Napoleon’s apparent appetite for world domination did seem to necessitate the sort of response Britain’s military was mounting.
“Are you well?” William asked, concern evident on his face.
“Yes, I am just sad thinking about war and sacrifice and the sort of man who makes having a military necessary.”
“Those are, unfortunately, inevitable concerns—important thoughts, necessary worries—but the balance we need for such thoughts is that we can and should also enjoy the good things in life—these beautiful holly plants that brighten the winter landscapes, that lovely swan, the beauty in the sun’s reflection being shattered by every breeze.
If British people who must stay at home do not enjoy these sorts of pleasures, for what would the sacrifice be? ”
“William, you are so precious to me. I do not think too many men would talk about ‘the good things in life’ in terms of holly and swans!”
“And you are enormously precious to me as well, Elizabeth. How many ladies would respond to a dozen handsome redcoats performing especially for them with concern for soldiers in general and philosophical thoughts about the occasional need to take up arms against people no different from ourselves?”
“Are they this way all the time?” Jane asked Georgiana quietly—but loudly enough to ensure that William and Elizabeth heard.
“Yes, they are. All the time. I would have thought it would be irksome, but in actuality it is just sweet.”
“Speaking of sweet,” Elizabeth said, “should we try the syllabub today?”
“Absolutely!” William said, while Georgiana said, “Please, yes!”
Jane looked surprised. “Syllabub? At a park?”
They walked briskly to the Milk Fair and placed their orders, and soon each was sipping on a sweet, frothy, cream beverage.
“This is memorable,” Jane said. “I did not expect cows and milk maids—and certainly not syllabub—at a public park.”
Georgiana asked, “I know Elizabeth is coming, but are you coming to my aunt’s Twelfth Night party tomorrow?”
“Yes, I am. The countess told us to wear ordinary ball gowns or evening gowns. She said that masquerade is not her favourite sort of entertainment.”
“She despises the pranks and high jinks that often occur with the wearing of masks,” Georgiana said. “So, yes, just wear lovely gowns.”
Elizabeth asked, “And will it be just family? Every member of the ton? Or just family plus some single ladies meant to carry off my William?”
Georgiana made a wry face. “No one could, so you need not worry about single ladies. But the answer is that some years they send invitations to everyone who is anyone, in which case I am unable to attend, since I am not yet out. But this year she decided to keep it small—just family—and that is so wonderful for me, since it means I can attend.”
“Will there be dancing?” Elizabeth asked.
“Some. It is mostly parlour games and eating. Richard is usually the Lord of Misrule,” Georgiana replied.
“Of course he is,” Elizabeth said with a laugh.
They had made their way back to the carriages, and Jane cheerfully entered the Gardiner carriage. Elizabeth leant towards William, whispering, “I hate having to say goodbye after such short visits. I will see you tomorrow.”
“The nineteenth cannot come soon enough,” he replied. “But, yes, until tomorrow.”
His kiss on her hand was certainly not the polite gesture it was meant to be. It felt searing.