Page 49 of The Undaunted
Bemmy came down the stairs again, walking slower than an old woman on her last legs.
She held up a different pair of shoes as she sauntered past him. “Right ones,” she said.
As he contemplated taking one of the shoes and hitting her on the head with it, a sharp rap on the door nearly gave him apoplexy. He staggered toward it and threw it open, praying to the heavens it was not more bad news arrived.
The Duchess of Stanbury, Lady Mendleton, and Lady Heathway filled the doorframe.
Bramley stood there, slack jawed, as Lady Easton wailed from the drawing room,Why me?
“Great heavens, Bramley,” the duchess said, “what on earth is happening?”
“I do not know, Your Grace,” Bramley said, staring at the three ladies. “I am very afraid someone has died. You haven’t come to say Lord Easton is dead?”
“Certainly not,” Lady Heathway said, “Lord Easton would never do something so inconvenient. Now, we do no good standing on the doorstep. Step aside and we will find out what has occurred.”
*
Caroline was ratherterrified to go down to the drawing room. Though, as she watched the minutes tick by on the clock that stared at her from the mantle, she was equally terrified to be late. Another quarter hour, and she must descend.
The house had been in chaos all day since she and Bemmy had returned from the boxing exhibition.
Lady Easton had been positively wailing and her cries were clear enough above stairs. Bemmy had grabbed a pair of her shoes so she might descend as if she were taking them to the servants’ hall for cleaning. She’d then come back and taken another pair, much to Mr. Bramley’s irritation. And then another.
With all the upping and downing with shoes in her hand, Bemmy was able to piece together what went on downstairs.
It seemed quite a few couples had sent their last-minute regrets for this evening’s dinner. They could not come, after hearing the gossip spread round about Lord Alvanley’s party. None of it was true, she’d certainly not danced on a table or hid in the dark, waiting to be found by a gentleman. The Prince had been outraged and had let all know it. That should have been the end of it.
It was not the end though. It seemed that the Prince’s opinion only weighed heavily with his friends and those who wished to curry his favor. It was not well-regarded by those who found his habits unsavory.
Then of course, there were the parts to the story thatweretrue. Caroline had been the only young woman present, and the other two women had been Mrs. Fitzherbert and an actress. It appeared the true parts of the gossip were almost as shocking to Lady Easton’s friends as the untrue.
The duchess, Lady Heathway, and Lady Mendleton had arrived and, according to Bemmy, the duchess had taken charge. She’d told everybody to pull themselves together and she’d told Lady Redfield to get her feet off the ottoman and back on the floor like a rational person. The end of it was, that those three ladies and their husbands would fill in for some of the guests who would not come.
Caroline suspected the dinner would be very serious, and disapproving.
Lady Easton had been deeply shamed and insulted and it was Caroline’s fault. On top of that, the dear lady had not even heard all. Caroline was certain Lord Bertridge would reveal that he’d seen her at the exhibition. Then she would know that Caroline had lied and run away from Lady Redfield and poor Lady Redfield would know that she’d never had a reason to be touched.
With sudden and uncomfortable clarity, as if someone had thrown open the drapes to let in the light, Caroline knew she had acted abominably. Why had she done it? Oh, she supposed she’d bristled at Lady Easton and Lord Bertridge scolding her all the time. Especially Lord Bertridge. He did so disapprove of her! She’d been so stung by it. Having been stung, she’d felt very defiant about it.
Lord Alvanley’s dinner could not be laid entirely at her door. Lord Easton had taken her to that. But other thingscouldbe laid at her door. Always going to the boxing practices instead of walking along the seaside or peeking in the shops as she was supposed to be doing. Running away from Lady Redfield. Attending the exhibition. Being the cause of Lord Bertridge being hit in the eye. That was all her doing.
Bemmy might have encouraged it, but Bemmy was her maid, not her sponsor. She should have reined in her maid’s worst impulses, and reined in her own. It was what her father would have expected her to do.
She had been like a rebellious child. She saw that now. Lady Easton and Lord Bertridge had taken the time to give her hints and if she’d had the sense of a pigeon she would have swallowed her pride and taken them. She had not, though.
Now, there would be a price to pay.
Caroline had nearly gone down to Lady Easton to confess all and take whatever consequences there were, but Bemmy had said she did not think the lady could manage one more upset on this particular day. Though Caroline had vowed not to be led by Bemmy into anymore unseemly situations, she could not deny that her maid was likely right about that.
Bemmy came in with a necklace Lady Easton had sent for her to wear, a delicate braided silver chain that would complement her pale green silk dress. Caroline could hardly bear to put it on, so kind was the lady when she had no cause to be.
“Bemmy,” Caroline said firmly, “from now on, I must be very circumspect. I shan’t do anything I would mind the entire world hearing about.”
Bemmy considered this new idea and said, “It don’t sound like much fun, but whatever direction you like to go, I’ll be goin’ with ya.”
“Very good,” Caroline said. “No more suggestions of anything we ought to do that we really oughtnotto do. If we don’t want people to find it out, then we won’t do it.”
“Ah, we’re goin’ on the straight and narrow, are we? Well, I never did try it myself, but where’s the adventure if a person don’t try something new?”
