The Companion of Lady Holmeshire (25 page)

The Duke paused, Emma stepped to his side and the Marquess stood looking at her, numb. “The Princess was recently named after her mother, the late Princess Emmanuel of Tremeine, by the King.” The Duke looked intensely at Breyton. “Perhaps you have heard of her before?”

The Marquess barely managed to stutter out a, “Yes, Your Grace.” It was as he had suspected. He bowed in forced homage to the Princess. The entire multitude bowed and curtsied as the Duke continued.

“
The late Princess went on holiday in Italy twenty and some years ago, where she met a Viceroy who stopped there on his way to India. He had recently received the title the Marquess, the Lord Breyton, for heroism at Waterloo. They married,” he related to loud gasps, “and soon thereafter, Breyton went on to India for his tour of duty. The Princess returned to her home in Tremeine to await their life together, where she realized that she was with child. Perhaps you would like to become better acquainted with her daughter and learn from her the rest of her story, should she choose to reveal it. For now, I believe, Her Majesty, the Queen, is ready to dance!” And Trent backed into the crowd, leaving the stunning Emmanuel of Tremeine alone, unique in deep red, in the center of the room.

The Marchioness looked at her husband in dismay. He confessed to her that, yes, it was true. Ashamed and humiliated, he tried hopelessly to explain, “My darling, surely you understand. I was young. One becomes confused about life, you know, in one’s youth.” He spoke gingerly, completely discomfited. “And she was royal. It was a cardinal opportunity. I was son-in-law to a king! You must understand, my beloved?”

“
We were engaged, sir, did you consider that? You had proposed to me before leaving for India! And where is this wife of yours, now?”

Genny had drifted to Emma’s side and had curtsied to her, and they were locked in a sisterly embrace before a stunned throng. “You look so elegant in your mother’s dress, Your Highness! You will stand out from the crowd, as you ought. I am so proud to be the only one in this huge assembly to be allowed to claim you as my sister!” She then stood back and looked at her again. “I know well that you have the loveliest white gown in existence, but I am so pleased that you wore your mother’s regal red.”

“
My darling sister, I am so pleased that you have accepted me so willingly. With so much in common, we will enjoy, indeed, a sisterly life.” Their smiles gleamed, in even the twilight of the stateroom.

Emma then eagerly searched the room for the abjuring Mr. Gabriel Hughes. He stood still, but her nod beckoned him to come. He approached sadly, and bowed deeply.

“
Mr. Hughes.”

“
Your Royal Highness.”

“
Sir. I believe you had kindly requested of me the first dance?” She held up her white satin-gloved hand for him to take. They waited in silence for the trees to be waltzed away to somewhere nearer Athens and for the Queen to step forward.

“
I should be happy for you…and I will be someday,” he turned toward Emma and murmured, “but this is the end of my ever-so-dear hopes with you. Though you never encouraged me, it is yet very hard for me accept, and to dance with a smile.” She smiled sadly. They went forward and joined in the Grand March, following the dukes and duchesses, and then the first waltz.

Afterward, she asked Gabriel to bring her some drink and to sit with her. She graciously postponed the approaching excited visitors, some bearing profuse apologies. Wills, and several other men with their dance requests, were acknowledged with a wave. Wills was, however, asked, “Will you kindly return to me soon?” Gabriel arrived with drinks, and they went to a terrace to talk.

“
I learned just recently,” she began, wishing that she could sufficiently console him, “that the Marquess is my father and that the late Princess was my precious mother. What a shock this has been, and a great joy, though it has quite overwhelmed me!”

“
I have no doubt that this has been quite astonishing, and assuredly bewildering, for you!”

“
It has, sir. I’ve been informed that my mother came to be with child before returning home from Italy, but her father, most angrily, refused to accept the marriage. It was not the bloodline that he had chosen for his grandchildren. He had other intentions for her, marriage to a certain Prince, you see, which she had hoped to escape. She had possibly married quickly to avoid the other match, although her writings indicate that she was deeply in love with her husband. Lord Breyton is not royal, so in my grandfather’s eyes, he was but an outrageous pretender, and was perhaps even intent on the throne! He told her, in a dreadful rage, that he would hide her away until I was born and then send me to my father’s family! She feared that he would actually keep it all a secret and have me put in an orphanage or even destroyed, without her knowledge, so that no one could ever expose the situation.”

“
And I am so thankful that he failed. The world has been highly favored with your presence, your life.”

“
Thank you, sir. I am ever so grateful to have been saved. As it happened, my mother quickly contacted someone she knew, Caroline of Brunswick, who was soon to be traveling here to England. As she moved through the Continent in the Queen Caroline’s coach, she dressed as a servant woman to hide her identity. The Queen was coming back, hoping to be crowned alongside His Majesty, King George IV. My mother came with her to hide out and wait for her husband to return to the country.”

“
And I know, of course, that Queen Caroline was tried for adultery, turned away at the coronation, and that she died soon thereafter. What, then, became of your dear mother?”

“
The Queen, before her death, commended my poor mother to the care of Her Grace, the Duchess of Trent, who was just returning from abroad. I was born in Helena’s home; the bed I’ve been sleeping in here is the very bed I was born in! My mother became very ill soon thereafter, no doubt as a result of enduring so much cruel grief. She died when I was only a few months old. Alas, I have never known my dear mother, as you have never known yours.”

“
And I wish we had known both. They are in God’s hands.”

“
They are, indeed, in better hands than those they were in before death. Your mother was apparently cast to the streets. My dear mother had written to her husband, the Lord Breyton, that she was ill, that the doctors had said she was dying, and that I would need him. She also told him about her father’s anger, though he had already received threats from Tremeine, as he was not in the King’s favor. She no doubt hoped he would hurry home to see her before it was too late, and to make provision for my care. He wrote back to the address she had given him; the Duke had warned her not to give the Lord Breyton
his
address in case the letter was intercepted. In his reply, Breyton said that he was not willing to deal with her father and his threats, or to raise the baby after she died. He ordered her to write to her father that the child had died and then put me in an orphanage. His hope, after all, to have a lofty position in Tremeine as well as here, was gone. To him, it was a relief that my mother would die.”

“
He is, indeed, a scoundrel!”

“
Had he but kindly told her that he was delayed, I could forgive him. She could have died with less affliction. But he told her that he had met another woman and wished to start a new life. In reality he had been previously engaged. That woman was Miss Grace Bellingham, a lifelong friend of Winnie’s, now The Lady Breyton. He simply did not care for the complications that this secret marriage to my mother had created, and certainly not the female issue of it, as a woman cannot inherit Tremeine‘s throne. He now felt free to go on about life as though it had never come to be. My mother did not wish him to know that she had stayed with the Duke and Duchess of Trent, as he might someday try to locate me through them, whatever designs he may have had. The Trents had lost all respect for Breyton and agreed to keep their involvement, and my location, a secret. They had, at first, wished to take me as their own child and to say that I had been born in Switzerland. The timing was perfect, and they would have done so if not for the question of the British throne.”

“
To be sure! There was, at the time, no heir! A child of theirs would have received the attention of the world and would have been assumed to be the future queen. The Duke of Kent may not have married his princess, and a rightful heir may never have been conceived!”

“
Yes, that is it exactly. It just could not be. Helena hid us for a short time, but was in fear that we would be hunted in London and found. Lady Holmeshire came out to take us to the country. Helena kept my mother’s belongings, such as this gown, here with her, so that I could not be identified by means of them. But before they left London, my mother began to fear even leaving me with nobles, where her father might look and even Breyton might wonder. She told Lady Holmeshire that she had decided to leave me with commoners before going up to Holmeshire Hall. She felt that they would not look in such a place for me. The lady recommended the Squire’s family, so that I would always be near her. She had always admired Mrs. Carrington’s goodness and genteel ways. That is when I was placed on the doorstep of their home, without telling the Carrington’s anything, in a plain basket with only a little blanket. It was a warm summer evening. She made one stop with me, though, first. She stopped at a small, ancient chapel on the south side of Holmeshire Village to pray for me. That chapel has, strangely, been a beloved place for all of my life!”

“
How very interesting! It is almost as if you remember. And did your mother inform the family of your name? For His Grace has informed the crowd tonight that it was the King of Tremeine who has named you Emmanuel.”

“
No, it was mere coincidence that the Carringtons named me Emma, which was the name of Mrs. Carrington’s grandmother! My mother left no note. After leaving me, no doubt with further injury to her poor heart, she was then taken up the hill to the home of the Earl of Holmeshire.” Emma removed a glove. “She left information about us, and this, her once treasured wedding ring, for me with Her Ladyship. She asked her to take me in when I was older and raise me as a servant in her household, until my grandfather’s death, for my protection. This is how I came to be a housemaid.”

“
But your mother did, then, die?”

“
Yes. She died at Holmeshire quite soon after leaving me down the hill. She had used the last of her strength to carry me to a place of safety and then to write me a letter, as loving mothers would do.”

“
And are you safe, now?” Gabriel inquired.

“
Thankfully, yes, my grandfather died recently. My uncle’s first act as king was to send out to try to find my mother and me, should we still be living. You see, he loved his sister, and he sent a message that her child would be as his own to him. Her sons and grandsons would be next to him and his son in line of succession to the throne. At least I know who my mother was, and who I am, now, and that I have a living family. That means ever so much more to me than being a princess. I am sure that you fully understand that sentiment.”

She looked inside, to where the Breytons were falling apart, and said unhappily, “And there, I’m afraid, is my father. Her Grace, Aunt Helena, and the Countess of Holmeshire felt so badly for Lady Breyton all these many years and were so unhappy with her husband, but they were forced to carry on as usual with him. King George IV was adamant, you see, that they make a marriage contract for their first children. How hard life can be.” Gabriel nodded his agreement.

Emma stopped talking for a moment and pulled a bronze coin from inside her glove to give to Gabe. “This coin bears a picture of my mother. I have two of these; one for myself and the other is for you; a remembrance.”

“
It is beautiful! It could be you; you so resemble her! It is no wonder that Lord Breyton was so unfriendly toward you and so distressed when you arrived with the Queen. Thank you. I shall greatly treasure it, though I could never forget. I...I am so overcome by all this! Would that my adoption by the Princess of Wales had made me royal.”

“
I am truly sorry, Mr. Hughes. I care for you a great deal and have the utmost regard for you, but this all makes it the more impossible. You must know, I could not accept this seeming tale at first. It was nearly impossible to believe, and I so hated sorting it all out. However, I was soon invited to Buckingham Palace, once I had heard of it all. The Queen offered me a place to stay, there with her, though I asked to be allowed to remain where I was. That assured me that it was, though, all quite true.”

“
And will you go to your uncle?”

“
I will go there as soon as I possibly can, perchance next summer, as I have people here to meet with, and things here to accomplish. I dearly wish to meet my uncle, though, and thank him for having sought for me. He must be grieving my mother’s death, so long ago. Perhaps I will stay there for some time to give him consolation, and as I do have a nation waiting for me. I hope, at least until then, to stay with Lady Holmeshire.”

“
And thus, I came to know a Princess of Tremeine. My dear Emma. The greatest hope of my life, with the saddest ending for me.” The patience of Wills and the crowd that wished to steal Emma away was ending.

“
I am so sorry, my dear Mr. Hughes. Life is sadly, for all of us, so bittersweet.”

They stood up; he kissed her hand, and they slowly parted, with him holding her hand as he bowed and backed away from her. She followed him to the ballroom floors. Gabriel bowed to the Queen, thanked Genevieve, excused himself and escaped the company of happier people.