The Regency (74 page)

Africa plainly thought there was a great deal to be said,
and Héloïse intervened on her behalf. 'I think perhaps if we
write to Captain Haworth, Cousin Lucy, he may change his
mind.'

‘
Oh certainly — write by all means. In fact, I'll do it
myself, and get Yorke to put it in the first bag going out to Gibraltar.
I've
no objection to your staying here, child, but
until your father sends his permission, to Bath you must go.’

Africa looked stricken. 'But it might be six months before
we can get a letter from him!'

‘
Oh dear,' said Héloïse, 'I know it is hard,
ma pauvre,
but
the time will soon pass. If you work hard and attend to your
lessons, you will find it goes quicker than you imagine.’

Africa knew better than to argue any further, but her
mouth set grimly, and her agile mind began to revolve plans
in her head, mostly impractical ones to do with hiding aboard
a ship and making her way to the Mediterranean to find her
father. Aunt Lucy ran away to sea dressed as a boy, she
thought resentfully; but her common sense told her that,
well-grown at thirteen-and-a-half, she looked less like a boy
than Aunt Lucy did even now.

‘
I'll take her to London with me when I go back,' Lucy said to Héloïse later, 'and send her on from there. There's no great
hurry, I suppose, to be rid of her?'

‘
None at all; I wish she might stay here,' Héloïse said.
‘How is Fanny behaving? You've been chaperoning her, I
suppose? Has she been difficult?'

‘
Oh no,' Héloïse said. 'I've been much pleased at how well
she behaves. Of course, she loves being out at last, and having
all the young men flock round her — as they do, Lucy, for
really, she is very pretty! Not precisely beautiful, I suppose,
but she has a certain something all her own which is very
attractive.' Héloïse sighed. ‘I'm afraid she flirts dreadfully,
but she does it so prettily one must be amused. To see her
play off one poor stuttering beau against another!'

‘
It will do her good to be in London,' Lucy said, 'where she's of less consequence. Once she sees how many other pretty girls there are, and with good fortunes, she'll settle
down and find her place. It's probably just as well to give her
a London Season before she gets too high an idea of herself.'

‘
I think Fanny was born with a high idea of herself,'
Héloïse said.

‘Where is she now, by the way?'

‘
Hunting,' Héloïse said succinctly. 'She goes out three or
four times a week, which is a good thing, for it uses up her
energy. I have not been able to take her about since Christmas,
but as long as she can hunt, she gets up to no mischief.
Edward takes her out. It is astonishing how well they get on,
considering how he has always criticised her. But she always
was a good horsewoman.'

‘
Hmm. Well I shall see for myself, I suppose, for I mean to
get a little hunting in, while I'm here. I must have some
compensation for waiting around for you to give birth, when I
ought to be in Town with my finger on the pulse. Great
things may happen without me!'

‘
Have you heard from Major Wiske recently?' Héloïse
asked.

‘
Oh yes, he writes regularly. He makes the most surpris
ingly good correspondent.'

‘Why surprisingly?' Héloïse asked.

‘
Oh, I don't know,' Lucy said vaguely. 'Somehow I never expected him to be; I suppose because he was never a great
talker. But he wrote most amusingly about the siege of Cuidad
Rodrigo. Wellington took the French completely by surprise,
marching in the middle of winter like that, and in such
terrible weather. The way Danby described it, you could
almost have been there — all about how it was so cold their
wet uniforms frozen on them, and how the ground was so
hard they could hardly dig the trenches around the walls. But they took the fortress, as you know, and with the loss of only
a thousand men, which considering the conditions was not
a bad butcher's bill at all. Danby came out without a
scratch, though they lost Craufurd, which was a blow. He
was well-liked. The last I heard from Danby, they were
marching straight away to take Badajoz. Once they have
that, the border is secure, and they can start pushing into
Spain.'

‘Does he enjoy campaigning, do you think?'

‘
Oh, beyond anything,' Lucy said with a rueful laugh. 'The
hardships are nothing to him, which when you consider the
sort of life he used to lead — a downy bed, hot water at ten,
hot rolls and coffee while his man laid his clothes out — is
astonishing!'

‘
But Lucy, you always said he was brave,' Héloïse
reminded her.

‘
Brave, yes, I grant you — but who would have thought he
could bear dirt and discomfort? I always though him another
George Brummell — now it's impossible to imagine
him
being
happy in a place with no mirrors or curling-tongs!'

‘
I suppose it must be the adventure Major Wiske likes. Men
are all the same. Even James sometimes speaks wistfully of his soldiering days.'

‘
James is humbugging,' Lucy said firmly. 'I remember very
clearly that he sold out the instant war was declared. Mother
was relieved, but as I remember, Papa pursed his lips a little.
Not all men are born soldiers, you know.'

‘
It is lucky, then, that we have people like Lord Wellington.
What does Major Wiske think of him?'

‘
Oh, Danby speaks very highly of him. He says he has
made a wonderful change in the men under his command.
You know what common soldiers are usually like — the
sweepings of the world — but Wellington has them drilled
and disciplined like machines, and they adore him for it.
Perverse creatures, men! They call him Old Hookey, because
of his big nose, but they'd die for him just the same. No-one out
there, according to Danby, would give credit for the progress
they're making to anyone else.'

‘
It is heartening to have some good news at last,' Héloïse said. 'There is so much trouble here in the North, with manu
facturers failing, and all this dreadful frame-breaking, and
poor people starving because the price of bread is so high.’

Lucy shrugged. 'These things can't be helped. We must win
the war first — that comes before everything. But the good
news strengthens Perceval's hand, at least, when he has to ask
for another vote of money for the war. Grey and Grenville
say the manufacturers have been complaining about the cost
of keeping two armies in Portugal. It's lucky most of the mill-
towns don't have a Member. God help us if they ever get the
vote! They'd have us make peace with Boney, for the sake of
their looms and steam-engines.'

‘
Peace! It is impossible to remember what it was like,'
Héloïse said. 'I sometimes think the war will go on for ever.
Unless — do you think there is anything in what Captain
Haworth says?'

‘
About Russia? Oh yes, it looks as though Boney's thinking
of it. He's taken men out of the Peninsula, and moved an army of twenty thousand right up to the Russian border.
Official reports say he claims that Russia's broken the agree
ment to ban trade with our ships, but of course that's only an
excuse. He wants to be master of the world. He was bound to
want to conquer Russia sooner or later.'

‘But will he succeed?'

‘
It's hard to say. The Csar can certainly put more men into
the field than Boney, but they're not experienced soldiers,
and they won't have the leadership. Everyone agrees that
Boney can work miracles on the battlefield. If anyone can
conquer Russia, it's him.’

Héloïse was silent. Lucy eyed her. 'I think we've talked
enough about the war,' she said briskly. 'This is not the time
for you to worry about things you can't help. Your business is to have a healthy baby, and to have it quickly so that I can get
back to Town in time to plan the coming-out ball.'

‘You'll take Fanny with you when you go?'

‘
Of course. It will take time to have her Court dress made,
and I shall want to introduce her to some of the leading
hostesses beforehand, to be sure of getting the right invitations
for her. James does know he must be there for the ball itself,
doesn't he?' she added suspiciously.

Héloïse smiled. 'Yes, he understands that. I think under
neath he is not at all unwilling. He pretends to be for the sake of being manly, but really he longs to see Fanny take London
by storm. I don't think he would miss the ball for worlds.'

‘
Good,' Lucy nodded, 'because I must have someone. It's
very tiresome of Danby to go away to the war just as I have
three girls to bring out.'

‘
You must miss him very much,' Héloïse said, meaning
only to be polite, and was surprised that Lucy looked put out.
'He was useful,' she said briefly, looking away.

*

Héloïse went into labour late in the evening of the last day of
February. Lucy, Docwra and Marie shut themselves into the
great bedchamber with her, leaving Mathilde downstairs to
comfort the waiting men and to act as messenger between
them. Fanny and the children had already gone to bed, but
some sixth sense woke Sophie, and she got out of bed and
went padding along to the bedchamber, where she found
Castor and Kithra, also banished, sitting with their noses glued
to the closed door. Here Mathilde found her when she came
upstairs for news.

‘
What are you doing out of bed?' she asked, but gently,
seeing Sophie's anxious eyes turned up to her.

‘
Is Maman all right? She won't die, will she?' Sophie asked
abruptly.

‘
I'm just going in to see how things are going,' Mathilde
said. 'But you mustn't wait here. Go back to bed, and I'll
come and tell you in a little while how she is.’

Sophie shook her head in dumb fright. A low moan sounded from inside the room, and her eyes widened.
‘Maman!' she whispered.

Mathilde took her by her bony shoulders and turned her
firmly round. 'Sophie, go downstairs to Papa. He's waiting in
the drawing-room. Go on, now, or I won't tell you anything.
I'll come down in a few minutes.’

Sophie went reluctantly. In the drawing-room she found
her father pacing up and down, his face drawn with anxiety.
Uncle Edward sat by the fire, staring hard into the flames.
They both looked up as the door opened. Sophie ran to her
father, and for the first time in years he picked her up and
held her against his shoulder.