1816
Perdita Wentworth looked about her with a wondering expression. ‘This Almack must be the cleverest man in London,’ she announced. ‘How on earth has he managed to persuade polite society that this is the place to be seen?’
Her mother hushed her at once. ‘Do keep your voice down, darling. I know that you didn’t want to come here, but at least look as if you are enjoying yourself. When Lady Castlereagh sent us the vouchers she believed that she was doing us a kindness. She had many other requests for them, you know.’
‘I could wish that she had handed them out elsewhere.’ Perdita was unrepentant. ‘Stale sandwiches and weak lemonade? I’m surprised that there hasn’t been a riot.’
‘Now, love, you know that food is not the attraction here.’
‘Well, it can’t be the décor.’ Perdita laughed. ‘I’ve seen many a barn with a more inviting interior. The place is downright shabby.’
‘You’ll forget all that when the music starts, my dear. You know how you love to dance…’
‘I do, but not as an exhibit, Mother. Just look at the old biddies seated by the walls. If they haven’t priced each item of my clothing I shall be surprised.’
‘Oh dear, and I was just about to join them.’ Elizabeth Wentworth twinkled at her daughter. ‘Sadly, I’ve forgotten my walking stick and my lorgnette.’
Perdita laid an affectionate hand upon her mother’s arm. ‘You had best not let Papa know that you fancy yourself an old biddy,’ she teased. ‘He would take it much amiss. In his eyes you will always be the girl he rescued all those years ago.’
‘Your father does not change, thank goodness,’ Elizabeth said fondly. ‘Now, my dear, I see Emily Cowper by the door. I must go and speak to her. Your card is filled?’
‘For every dance, Mama.’ With an effort Perdita refrained from commenting upon her prospective partners, most of whom she regarded as barely out of leading strings.
The gentleman standing behind her was not so charitable. ‘Dear God!’ he said with feeling. ‘What are we doing here? Almack’s hasn’t changed in all the years I’ve been away. Let us leave and go at once to White’s or Watier’s.’
‘Adam, you can’t!’ his friend said bluntly. ‘If you wish to launch your ward upon the world, you must make yourself agreeable to the lady patronesses.’
‘And which of them do you suggest?’ The Earl of Rushmore regarded the seated ranks of ladies with a jaundiced eye. ‘Damned if they ain’t a bunch of harpies, set on matching up these ninnies with a passel of schoolroom misses.’
The Earl had not troubled to lower his voice, and Perdita heard him clearly. It was unfortunate that at that moment her mother had chosen to seat herself with the other ladies. Her anger flared. To hear herself described as a schoolgirl was bad enough, but she would not tolerate the description of her mother as a harpy.
Stepping back, she trod hard upon the speaker’s toes, and was gratified to hear a sudden curse. Smiling artlessly, she turned to face him.
‘I beg your pardon, sir,’ she said politely. ‘How clumsy I must seem!’
The Earl of Rushmore caught his breath. This diminutive creature was quite the loveliest woman he had ever seen. Unfashionably dark, perhaps, with raven-black curls framing the perfect oval of her face, and emphasising a creamy complexion against which a pair of fine eyebrows stood out above huge lustrous eyes.
He didn’t know what he had expected. Possibly blushes and maidenly confusion? Instead she looked directly at him. He was quick to make his apologies. ‘Not in the least, ma’am. The fault was mine alone. My foot was in your way…’ He bowed and turned away.
‘So it was!’ Something in her tone brought him round to face her again. There was no mistaking the light of battle in her eyes. ‘Did I hurt you, sir?’
Rushmore was no fool. He understood her perfectly now. The chit had stamped upon his foot deliberately. His lip curled as he bowed again. ‘You’ll be delighted to hear that I am quite uninjured.’
His sneering tone brought the colour to Perdita’s cheeks. She spun round and began to walk away, but was not out of hearing before she heard his comments.
‘Who is the beauty?’ The question was so casual as to appear almost uninterested.
‘That is Perdita Wentworth. She is quite lovely, isn’t she? You’ll have heard of the family, of course. The Earl of Brandon is one of her connections. Her father is a younger son, and a naval man. This is the girl’s first Season.’
‘Has she caught herself a husband yet? With that face and those connections it shouldn’t have proved too difficult.’
‘I don’t think so. Nothing has been announced. Why, Adam, are you thinking of trying your luck?’
‘Good God, no! The lady is too obvious for me. I think she knows her worth and is aiming to become a countess at the very least. I’ve seen it all before—dropped handkerchiefs, twisted ankles, fainting fits, anything, in fact, to effect an introduction. I’ll give her credit for one thing. She was, at least, original.’
Rigid with fury, Perdita stood riveted to the spot. Then, wheeling round, she turned to confront the speaker.
‘Why, you insufferable popinjay!’ she cried. ‘You must think yourself the catch of the Season!’
The Earl was startled into silence, but he heard a snort of laughter from his companion. He ignored it. Always aware of his surroundings, he noticed at once that the young lady who stood before him, bristling with anger, had become the focus of all eyes.
With a winning smile, he took her hand as the music started, and led her into the dance. A young man barred their way.
‘There must be some mistake!’ he said stiffly. ‘Miss Wentworth is promised to me for the waltz.’
‘The lady has changed her mind.’ The Earl’s reply was uncompromising. ‘She will dance with me…’
Disposed to argue, the young man caught the eye of Perdita’s companion and changed his mind, retiring in some haste.
‘How dare you?’ Perdita struggled to release her hand. ‘I won’t dance with you!’
‘You will, you know!’ The grip on her hand and about her waist was too firm to allow of escape. ‘Miss Wentworth, pray consider your situation. Every eye in the room is upon us at this moment. A public brawl will do nothing for your reputation.’
‘Much I care for that!’ she hissed.
‘Then you are a fool, my dear.’ The Earl swung her into the dance with expertise. ‘You may dislike convention as much as I do myself, but we live in this world, and we must abide by its rules.’
As he spoke he was seized with a feeling of self-disgust. Even to his own ears he sounded like a prosy old bore. Clearly his partner shared that opinion.
‘Don’t glare at me!’ he said sweetly. ‘A smile would not come amiss. You dance very well, by the way.’
‘But not with you!’ Perdita slipped out of his grasp and turned, intent on leaving him alone on the dance floor.
It took but the barest hint of a hip throw and she stumbled. Then his arms were about her, lifting her off her feet.
‘Make way!’ he cried in clarion tones. ‘The lady has turned her ankle.’
Perdita was unable to contradict him. A large hand cradled the back of her head, pressing her face into the fine fabric of his coat. Rushmore strode swiftly to an alcove and laid his fair burden upon a sofa. Then, conscious of the interested spectators, he knelt to examine her ankle.
‘Don’t touch me!’ she cried hotly.
‘You must try to be brave!’ came the tender reply. Then, using his broad shoulders to shield her from the gaping crowd, he bent his face to hers. ‘Use your head!’ he muttered in a different tone. ‘Do you wish to cause a scandal?’
A hand rested lightly upon his shoulder.
‘Thank you so much, my lord,’ a clear voice said. ‘Pray don’t feel obliged to trouble yourself further. I have asked that my carriage be brought round to the entrance so that I may take my daughter home without delay.’
The Earl rose to his feet and turned to face the speaker. There could be no doubt that this was Perdita’s mother. They might have been sisters, but it was clear that the girl had inherited her beauty from the stunning creature who stood beside him.
The Earl bowed. ‘I fear I am a clumsy dancer, ma’am. It appears that the young lady has turned her ankle. It is not broken, but it must be painful. If you will allow me, I will carry her to your coach. My name is Rushmore, by the way.’
‘I know who you are, my lord, and I am sensible of your kindness to Perdita.’ Elizabeth Wentworth looked about her. The interested crowd of spectators was pressing ever closer. ‘If these people will make way for you…?’
‘Mother…! There is no need!’ Perdita’s mouth set in a mutinous line as Rushmore bent towards her, but an icy glance from her mother silenced her. She was forced to submit to being carried from the ballroom by this giant of a man, much though she detested him. Then she noticed that his chest was heaving.
‘Put me down!’ she hissed. ‘I am too heavy for you.’
‘Light as a feather, ma’am!’ He choked.
Then she realised to her chagrin that he was laughing uncontrollably.
‘You find this amusing?’ she ground out.
‘Vastly amusing, ma’am! Confess it now, you are hoist with your own petard.’
‘I don’t even know what that means, but I make no doubt that it is an insult…to add to your others.’
‘Not so! I was merely pointing out that your scheme to injure me has rebounded against yourself. And when did I insult you, ma’am?’
‘First of all you said that I was a schoolroom miss, and then…and then…you said that I was planning to make myself a countess.’
Rushmore looked down at the vivid little face. It was devoid of guile, but there was no mistaking the dagger-look.
‘Unforgivable!’ he said gravely. ‘I see now that you are a lady of mature years…almost an ape-leader, if the truth be known…and with not the slightest prospect of becoming a countess.’
Perdita could have struck him, but she was helpless in his arms. He was grinning down at her with every appearance of enjoyment. She was tempted to put out her tongue at him, but that would have been childlike. Her chin went up and she turned her head away, determined to preserve what shreds of dignity remained to her.
Her temper was not improved when Rushmore laid her in the coach with exaggerated care, solicitous for her comfort with the most tender of enquiries. Then he stood back to allow Elizabeth to take her place in the opposite seat. He bowed and then, expressing the hope that Perdita would be much recovered by the morning, he stood back to let the coach move away.
Elizabeth called him back.
‘My lord, allow me to give you our direction. We are staying with the Earl of Brandon. My husband will be anxious to thank you for your kindness to our daughter, if you should care to call upon us.’
‘I shall be honoured, ma’am!’ Rushmore caught Perdita’s eye and surprised a look of horror. He gave her a charming smile, stood back, and watched the carriage until it was out of sight.
‘Oh, Mother, why did you ask him to call upon us? He’s quite the most hateful man I’ve ever met.’
‘I asked him for the best of reasons, Perdita. Tonight you made an exhibition of yourself. When, and if, the Earl calls, you will apologise to him for your behaviour.’
‘Oh, no! I can’t! You don’t know what he said.’
‘I don’t care what he said, unless he made some coarse suggestion to you, which I think unlikely.’
‘Of course he didn’t. We are all beneath his touch, you know. He said that we were schoolgirls—’
‘And you felt obliged to confirm that belief this evening?’
‘It wasn’t just that. He sneered at everything and he said that the older ladies were a bunch of harpies.’
‘So that was why you trod upon his foot? Must I remind you that you had been saying much the same yourself not five minutes earlier? You won’t deny that your action was deliberate? I saw you do it.’
‘I didn’t hurt him,’ Perdita mourned. ‘My slippers were too soft.’ She stole a sideways glance at her mother. ‘Are you very angry?’
‘Need you ask?’ Elizabeth replied in an icy tone. ‘That action was bad enough, but it might have passed unnoticed as an accident. Why did you go back to challenge him?’
‘He was insulting, Mother. He told his friend that I was trying to attract his notice, in the hope of becoming a countess.’
‘You knew that wasn’t true, so why let it upset you?’
‘He is detestable!’ Perdita cried. ‘Puffed up with pride, and convinced that he is the catch of the Season! Insufferable nincompoop!’
‘You gave him your opinion, I make no doubt?’
‘I did, but, Mother, I didn’t mean to make a scene. I didn’t want to dance with him, you know.’
‘In another second or two that would have become obvious to everyone in the room. You may thank your stars that the Earl had more concern for your reputation than you have yourself. To leave him alone in the middle of the floor must have given rise to speculation, most of it unpleasant. You were already attracting attention before he led you out. No doubt that is why he did so. You have much to thank him for.’
‘He’s a stupid creature!’ Perdita muttered.
‘Indeed! Well, it may or may not interest you to know that the Earl was one of Wellington’s most capable commanders. He will, no doubt, be glad to accept your opinion of him in preference to that of the Duke.’
Perdita was silenced.
Her mother did not speak again until they reached their destination. ‘Pray do not allow the servants to help you. I know quite well that you have not turned your ankle.’
Once indoors, Elizabeth turned to her daughter. ‘You had best go to your room,’ she said. ‘I shall speak to your father when he returns, but I can tell you now that he will not be best pleased to hear of this latest piece of folly. We shall see you in the morning.’
It was an utterance which promised little sleep for Perdita that night. Her fiery temper had got the better of her again, and she confessed as much to her sister.
‘You are home early,’ Amy said brightly. ‘What was it like at Almack’s? I want to hear all about it. I can’t wait to make my own come-out…’
‘It was the same as usual,’ Perdita said heavily. ‘Deadly dull, I must confess, unless one believes all the nonsense spoken by these hopeful younger sons.’
‘I should not object to being told that my eyes were like stars,’ Amy informed her wistfully.
‘It’s nonsense!’ Perdita informed her. ‘Stars are high in the heavens, millions of miles away. Are we supposed to believe such rubbish?’
‘Oh, you ain’t in the least bit romantical. No wonder all your beaux are afraid of you.’
‘They are not my beaux,’ Perdita said with dignity. ‘And if they are afraid, I don’t think much of their courage.’
Her sister gave her a quizzical look. ‘You are crabby tonight. What has happened to upset you? Have you had more offers?’
Perdita shook her head. ‘Nothing like that, but I’m in disgrace again. How was I to know that I should find myself beside the most obnoxious man in the kingdom?’
‘Another one? You are mighty particular.’
‘This one was different,’ Perdita said slowly. ‘Insulting, insufferable and far too sure of himself.’
‘Well, that’s a change!’ Amy said brightly. ‘You mean he didn’t quake in his boots when you spoke to him?’
‘Far from it! He…he actually laughed at me. I’ll make him pay for that!’
‘But who was he? You haven’t spoken of him before.’
‘He’s one of Wellington’s men, I believe, and just returned to this country.’
‘A hero? Oh, love, how wonderful!’
‘You would not think so if you met him. Doubtless he is in his element brandishing a sword, or charging over ramparts, or whatever soldiers do. He doesn’t appear to much advantage in polite society.’
‘But…neither do you. Mother is forever telling you to keep your opinions to yourself, and not to seem so independent.’
‘She doesn’t mean it, Amy. Mother was a force to be reckoned with, even as a sixteen-year-old.’
Amy nodded. ‘Well, what happened tonight? What did you do that was so dreadful?’
Perdita explained. ‘Was I wrong?’ she asked at last.
‘He sounds vile!’ Amy spoke with conviction. ‘You should have bitten him!’
‘I would have, but he held my face against his coat!’ Perdita caught her sister’s eye and dissolved into peals of laughter. At last she wiped her eyes. ‘Oh dear, it really isn’t amusing,’ she admitted. ‘Mother is very angry with me. I suppose it isn’t the kind of behaviour that one expects at Almack’s.’
At that moment Elizabeth Wentworth was expressing the same sentiments to her husband. Perry had spent a convivial evening at a naval dinner, but his contentment vanished at his wife’s expression.
‘What is it, my darling?’ he asked in some alarm. ‘Are you not well? Sit down, my love! Let me get something for you—’
‘Don’t fuss, Perry! I am perfectly well, but we need to talk.’ Swiftly, she related the events of the evening, and saw with dismay that her husband was trying to hide his amusement.
‘Now, Perry, I beg that you will not laugh!’ she reproached. ‘Our daughter was in danger of losing what remains of her reputation. You shall not encourage her in her folly.’
‘She’s just a child,’ Perry said cheerfully. ‘Will you tell me that Rushmore is in the fidgets because of all this nonsense?’
‘I’m glad you agree that she is still a child,’ Elizabeth said gravely. ‘We should not have allowed her to make her come-out, in spite of all her wheedling.’
‘Well, we couldn’t send her back to school,’ Perry pointed out. ‘Miss Bedlington would not have her.’
‘Quite! Have you forgot her words? Let me remind you of them. “Perdita is the most disruptive influence ever to enter my doors.” Half London is aware of it.’
‘Lizzie, let me ask you something! Did you blame her for what she did? We haven’t raised either of our girls to be silent in the face of injustice.’
‘Oh, my dear, I love her just as much as you do!’ Elizabeth stretched out her hand to him. ‘Perhaps she was right to throw a bowl of water over Miss Bedlington, but she’s a young woman now, and must learn some self-control.’
‘I’m glad she soaked the sour-faced old cat!’ Perry was unrepentant. ‘There was something sadistic about the way that woman took so much pleasure in humiliating the prettiest of her pupils. Perdita wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine, and I, for one, don’t blame her!’
‘You are incorrigible!’ Elizabeth sighed. ‘Miss Bedlington was wrong to force Charlotte Ingham’s head beneath a tap just because the girl had curled her hair, but Perdita half-drowned her.’
Perry chuckled. ‘Do you know, she reminds me strongly of a girl I used to know…I can’t quite recall her name…’
His wife had the grace to blush. ‘That was long ago,’ she demurred. ‘Times were different then. Now that we are at peace there won’t be so much latitude allowed. Society will become more circumspect.’
‘And you approve?’ The question was accompanied by a quizzical look.
‘I can’t change attitudes,’ his wife said softly. ‘Oh, my dear, don’t you see? If we are not careful, our girl will acquire the reputation of a hoyden. Neither of us has an eye to the main chance as far as marriage for her is concerned. She won’t be coerced in any way, but we must think of her happiness. It cannot serve to have the world regard her as a pert and wilful girl. She is deserving of much more than that. She has a heart of gold.’
Perry fell silent for a time. Then he gave his wife a rueful look. ‘What are we to do?’ he asked. ‘Perhaps, in Gibraltar…?’
‘I think not!’ Elizabeth chose her words with care. ‘I know that you promised her the trip, my dear, but it would be folly.’
‘I don’t care to go back on my word,’ Perry said stiffly.
Elizabeth looked at him and sighed. When he set his mouth in that mutinous line he reminded her so forcibly of their elder daughter.
‘Nor do I, Perry, but it is time that Perdita was taught a lesson. Aside from anything else, can you see her in Gibraltar, setting that bastion of respectability by the ears?’
‘She might liven it up!’ Perry twinkled, but he received no answering smile.
‘I wish you will be serious, love. I think it best to send her to Aunt Beatrice in Bath for the time being. It will get her out of London, and she and Amy can travel together when Amy goes back to school next week.’
‘You can’t mean it, Lizzie!’ Perry looked his dismay. ‘Perdita is like to die of boredom in the place. If you worry about her in Gibraltar, how do you suppose she’ll go on in Bath?’
‘I’ve thought about it carefully. Bath is not exactly in the depths of the countryside. It is a fashionable place.’
‘It was used to be, my love, but that was in the middle of the last century.’
‘Nevertheless, we are not condemning Perdita to a life of solitude. She may walk, and ride, and go to balls and picnics.’
‘Behaving always with perfect rectitude?’ Perry chuckled.
‘I’m hoping that the loss of her trip to Gibraltar may cause her to think more carefully before she acts.’
‘Are we not being too hard on her?’
‘Oh, Perry, she has got to learn that she isn’t a law unto herself. I know you hope, as I do, that she will make a happy marriage, but she frightens all the men away with her readiness to speak out.’
‘More fools they!’ her husband answered with conviction. ‘Perdita need not trouble herself to find a husband yet. I’d rather she never wed at all than threw herself away upon some fool who did not value her. In any case, at seventeen she’s much too young to think of marriage.’
His wife hid a smile. ‘I was younger when we met,’ she reminded him. ‘You didn’t allow that to stand in your way.’
Perry slipped an arm about her waist and hugged her to him. ‘I saved you from a dreadful fate,’ he teased.
Elizabeth rested her hands against the fabric of his coat and looked up at him. ‘I wonder,’ she said solemnly. ‘Most certainly I did not bargain to be saddled with a fond papa who will not discipline his daughter. Oh, my darling, let me have my way in this. It will be hard for all of us, but it seems to me to be the only thing to do.’
Perry kissed her then. ‘She’ll be very disappointed, Lizzie, and so will I. I was looking forward to having both of you aboard my ship for this trip to the Mediterranean.’
‘There will be another time,’ his wife assured him. ‘Won’t you make do with me alone?’
‘That won’t be a hardship, love.’ Perry kissed her again. ‘You won’t change your mind about Perdita?’
‘I think not, Perry. Nothing we have said or done to date has changed her behaviour in the least. Trust me, my dear. We can’t allow her to run wild.’
Perry was silent for a time. He wasn’t convinced that Perdita’s behaviour needed changing. Her disregard for convention always amused him, but he would not see his wife distressed.
‘Very well,’ he said at last. ‘I’ll agree if you think it best.’ Then a thought struck him. ‘Aunt Trixie may not wish to have her, though. Don’t she spend her time drinking that filthy water in the Pump Room, playing cards, and gossiping with her cronies?’
Elizabeth saw the hopeful gleam in his eye. ‘Perdita need not take the waters, nor need she play cards or gossip. Aunt Trixie loves our girls, you know. She has been begging for this age to have them stay with her. You must recall how good she was when they were at school, taking them out on holidays? She tells me that they brightened up her life.’
Perry repressed a smile. Miss Beatrice Langrishe clearly had no idea just how much brighter her life could become with a lively seventeen-year-old in her care.
Elizabeth read his mind. ‘I think you need not fear that Perdita will upset her. She is too kind for that. Perdita thrives on opposition, but I doubt if she will set her will against that of a gentle, elderly lady who sees the best in everyone.’
‘Perdita’s arrival will mean extra work for her staff,’ Perry insisted.
‘No, it won’t. I shall send Ellen with her.’
Perry whistled. ‘By Gad, you mean it this time, don’t you? Perdita won’t like that. She’ll think you’re sending her old nurse to keep an eye on her.’
‘She will be right. Perdita may dislike the idea, but I shall explain that she mustn’t be a trouble to Aunt Trixie. Officially, Ellen will be there to augment the staff.’
Perry raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘She won’t believe you, love. Will you not sleep on this decision?’
‘I will, but I shall not change my mind. Now, Perry, you must back me up. I sent Perdita to her room. She is not to leave it until we summon her tomorrow.’
Perry took a turn about the room. Then he gave his wife a guilty look. ‘I won’t be here,’ he told her hastily. ‘Tomorrow I must make an early start. I have an appointment with my Lords of the Admiralty.’
‘How convenient!’ Elizabeth’s tone was dry. She was disposed to argue and then thought better of it. Perdita could always twist her father around her little finger. Knowing him, Elizabeth realised that his resolve would melt in the face of his daughter’s disappointment. It would be best if she spoke to Perdita alone.
‘Very well,’ she continued. ‘You are leaving it to me, my dear. Now tell me about your naval dinner. Did you see any of your old acquaintance?’
It was a clear invitation to change the subject, and Perry bowed to the inevitable.
Perdita was up betimes next day. In spite of her forebodings, she had enjoyed a good night’s sleep, and was ready to defend her actions. Her father would take her side. She felt sure of it. Mother would be more difficult, but if she was suitably contrite, all might still be well.
As for the obnoxious Earl of Rushmore—she thought it unlikely that he would trouble to call. Doubtless, at that very moment, he was congratulating himself upon his lofty position, and denigrating lesser mortals.
She sipped her morning chocolate and nibbled at a roll. A glance at the clock surprised her. She had slept late, it was almost noon. Reaching out, she rang the bell for Abby, her little maid. Abby would dress her quickly. She must be ready when her mother sent for her.
It was Ellen who entered the room.
Perdita greeted her politely, but an enquiry as to Abby’s whereabouts was greeted with a grim smile.
‘Your ma asked me to look to you this morning, Miss Perdita. No need to rush. She ain’t ready for you yet.’ The old woman walked over to the clothes press and lifted out a gown.
‘Ellen, I haven’t decided what I’ll wear today,’ Perdita said with some hauteur.
‘Then you won’t have to trouble your head. You ain’t going out, I think. This blue will do well enough.’
Perdita’s temper flared. She would not be treated as if she was still in the nursery. ‘How do you know what I will do today?’ she asked. ‘I may decide to ride, or to do some shopping, or visit the beasts in the Tower of London.’
‘You won’t be doing any of that,’ Ellen forecast darkly. ‘Though it’s a toss-up which has the worst temper—you or them beasts. Been up to your old tricks again, have you?’
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ Perdita said with dignity. She slipped out of bed, cast aside her night-robe, and walked over to the ewer and basin on her wash-stand.
Ellen watched her with a critical eye. ‘You could do with some flesh on them bones,’ she announced. ‘Been following that Lord Byron, have you? I hear he lives on vinegar and potatoes.’
‘I have not. If you must know, Ellen, I have an excellent appetite.’
Ellen chortled. ‘Then it’s that nasty temper of yours as keeps you thin. Them hip-bones would cut a man to ribbons, if your tongue hadn’t done it first.’
‘Don’t be vulgar!’ Perdita said coldly. She sat down at her dressing-table and picked up her hairbrush.
‘I’ll do that!’ Ellen snatched it from her. ‘It comes to somethin’ if I don’t know how to brush your hair.’ She set about her task with enthusiasm
‘There’s no need to knock my head off!’ Perdita’s eyes were watering.
‘Might do you some good—knocking sense in, as you might say.’ She paused as Amy burst into the room. ‘Well, miss, where’s the fire?’ she demanded in caustic tones. ‘Don’t they teach you anything at that fine school of yours? Wasting their time, they are, in my opinion. No lady rushes about as if the fiends of hell were after her.’
‘Sorry, Ellen!’ Amy was too full of her news to spare more than a winning smile for her old nurse. ‘Perdita, you’ll never guess. Mother has a morning caller!’
Perdita smiled at her. ‘The Prince Regent, at the very least, to judge by your expression?’
‘No, not him!’ her sister cried impatiently. ‘Can’t you guess?’
‘The Duke of Wellington, Marshal Blücher, the Tsar of Russia?’
‘Of course not, silly! It is your enemy…the Earl of Rushmore!’
Perdita stared in disbelief. ‘It can’t be! Are you sure?’
‘Of course I’m sure,’ Amy cried indignantly. ‘I heard the commotion at the door and went to see who it was. I heard Knox announce him.’
‘Who…who did he ask for?’ Perdita said in hollow tones.
‘He asked for Father first, but Father is gone out. Then he asked for Mother.’
Perdita’s heart sank. Her father was her staunchest ally. He, at least, might have taken her part in what she guessed would be a humiliating confrontation.
‘The man’s a monster!’ she ground out. ‘He hasn’t wasted much time in coming to claim his pound of flesh…’
Ellen cackled aloud. ‘He won’t get much flesh from you, but you’ve done it now! I shouldn’t be surprised if your ma and pa don’t send you back to school with Miss Amy. I never heard of such a thing—setting yourself up against his lordship in the way you did.’
Perdita’s eyes flashed. ‘You know nothing about it, Ellen!’
‘I’ve heard some—and I can guess the rest. We’d best get out our boxes. You’ll be on your way to Bath next week.’
‘No, I won’t!’ Perdita stamped her foot. ‘I’ll run away before I go back to that awful place.’
Ellen’s smile broadened. ‘And how will you earn your living, Miss Perdita? You won’t do as a lady’s maid, seeing that you’ve never yet set a straight stitch in your sewing, and young gels ain’t popular as governesses. They ain’t yet taking women in the army or the navy, though I make no doubt you’d fire a gun with the best of them. It’s a pity that the war is over. You might have won it on your own.’
‘Ellen, you may go,’ Perdita snapped. ‘You may keep your spiteful remarks to yourself.’
‘I don’t doubt that you’ll hear worse this day,’ the old woman forecast with some satisfaction. Nodding to herself, she left her charges to their lamentations.
‘Did you see Rushmore?’ Perdita asked.
‘Yes, I peeped at him through the banisters. He…he’s very grand, isn’t he?’
‘Grand, and proud, and arrogant, and hateful! Did…did he seem very angry?’
‘I couldn’t tell,’ Amy said honestly. ‘He seemed to cross the hall in a couple of strides. I didn’t see his face. Knox showed him through to Mother in the study.’
Both girls were silent. Then Amy sighed. ‘I wish we could be a couple of flies upon the wall,’ she said. ‘I’d like to know what he is saying.’
‘Well, I can guess,’ Perdita announced. ‘His precious feathers have been ruffled. Most probably he’s insisting that I grovel on my knees before him. Well, I won’t do it. Mother can lock me in my room and make me live upon bread and water, but I won’t give in.’
Amy laughed. ‘Mother won’t do that, and well you know it.’
‘I know.’ Perdita hung her head. ‘But I’d rather she did that than look so disappointed in me. I wish I were more like you. You don’t fly out as I do. You’ve even managed to charm Miss Bedlington, which must be the wonder of the age. Don’t you mind that awful school?’
‘I can stand it for another year,’ Amy reassured her. ‘Miss Bedlington doesn’t bother with me. I’ll never be a beauty, which is all that seems to worry her. Besides, I have my friends. They miss you, love.’
‘I miss them too. It will be fun when you make your come-out with the others.’ Perdita stirred uneasily. Her expression belied her words. It was clear that fun was the last thing on her mind.
‘I wish that Mother would send for me,’ she said at last. ‘I’d rather get my scolding over with, whatever the result.’
‘It may not be so bad,’ her sister comforted.
‘I don’t know.’ Perdita shook her head. ‘What can be taking the Earl so long? I thought that morning calls were to last no longer than a half-hour.’
‘They may be speaking of Wellington’s campaign,’ Amy suggested.
‘Some hopes!’ her sister cried. ‘Mother is being given a blow-by-blow account of what took place at Almack’s. It’s sackcloth and ashes for me, I fear.’