Page 71 of Henrietta

‘You mustn’t be,’ the young gentleman to her left assured her.

It was then that Hetty noticed Trixie was surrounded by princes. She narrowed her eyes as Trixie accepted the assisting arm of Prince Wilhelm of Orange, who solicitously helped Trixie to the nearest chaise longue, where she – looking remarkably hearty – reclined for the remainder of the evening. Upon their departure, the Prince anxiously requested of Lady Allerton whether he might be permitted to call upon them very soon.

‘There, Mama,’ Trixie said as the carriage drew off. ‘You have two possible royals, now – you will certainly be able to press Prince Wilhelm into attendance, he feels so guilty.’

‘Trixie!’ Lady Allerton gasped. ‘You cannot mean to tell me – I cannot expect to – to prey on that poor boy.’

In fairness to Trixie, she had tried to achieve the thing in as elegant a fashion as possible, signalling her faintness with such clarity that, she complained with some disgust, it ought to have been clear to anyone that she was about to swoon. Unfortunately, the young Prince Wilhelm, engrossed in the firework display, was not one of them.

‘A dunce for the ages,’ Trixie said with some disgust, examining her arms. ‘This one will go purple!’

‘It serves you right,’ Hetty said.

‘Certainly,’ Lady Allerton concurred, though she could not quite hide her pleasure. ‘We shall have to cover them when he visits.’

The rest of Trixie’s scheme had unfolded exactly according to plan, with Prince Wilhelm’s sympathy roused even more firmly, given his failure.

‘See, Mama,’ she said. ‘We can manage perfectly well without men – we do not need Arthur!’

‘Yes,’ Hetty agreed after a pause. ‘Perhaps we do not.’

CHAPTER XXII.

LEAVING Belcourt before dawn had properly broken, Arthur and Timothy still arrived back in Berkeley Square with only an hour for Arthur to change into his regimentals and make his way across town for the procession.

‘Quick, quick, quick,’ his mother greeted him, urging him towards the stairs which Arthur ascended two at a time, before coming to an abrupt halt on the first-floor landing – for there was Hetty.

She halted, too. There was a pause. Then: ‘Good morning.’ Finding it still rather difficult to look him in the eye, she fixed her gaze upon his left eyebrow. ‘I trust you had a pleasant journey?’

Arthur had a hundred things he wished to say to her – half of them, following Timothy’s confession, recriminations – but could not utter a single one of them. The expression upon her face was too unsettling: she had retreated behind a wall in a way he had never known before.

‘I did,’ he confirmed at last.

‘You will be late if you do not hurry.’

‘I have a moment,’ Arthur said.

Hetty shook her head. ‘I do not. We are expected at a breakfast party ahead of the procession. Mrs Corcott has hired a window on the Strand so that we may be sure of a good view.’

With that, she dipped a curtsey – a curtsey! – and edged past him, trying not to look as if she were running away. Arthur turned to watch her rapid departure for a moment, before shaking himself and making his way upstairs.

The breakfast party at the Corcotts’ had been arranged so as to prevent their guests getting caught up in the traffic which was already filling London’s streets. No one in the whole city wished to miss the procession, and now that Arthur was to join it, Lady Allerton could be pleased rather than envious that Mrs Corcott had had the foresight to organise such a scheme. After a delightful breakfast, they made their way to the Strand, where they disembarked and were ushered up to the second floor of the building.

‘Oh, yes, we shall be able to see everything from up here!’ Trixie said, tripping over to the window. ‘Prince Wilhelm has promised to wave to me – do you think they will be able to see us?’

‘The Marquis de Nicolet,’ the butler announced. ‘And Mademoiselle de Nicolet.’

Timothy looked up from his conversation with Mr Hargan to hiss: ‘Mama, you did not tell me they were coming!’

Lady Allerton was baffled. ‘I thought you would be pleased!’

Timothy was not pleased. He had spent a great deal of time mulling over Arthur’s warning the other night and, not expecting to encounter Mademoiselle de Nicolet until the evening, had not yet decided how to proceed.

‘What a wonderful scheme, Mrs Corcott!’ Lady Davenport was effusing to her hostess. ‘I own, I had wondered if Nicolet and Mademoiselle de Nicolet would find it odd to spectate on so many of their cousins – but they declared it all good sport!’

‘You would watch your cousin in a procession, would you not?’ Mademoiselle de Nicolet asked Timothy.

‘Revolting Hubert?’ Timothy grimaced comically. ‘Certainly not.’