Complications (3 page)

Amelia was not so certain but they could
worry about that later. “Have you any ideas for your wedding dress?”

Lottie brightened. “Oh, yes…”

They talked of lace, muslin and silk then Lottie
took her leave and Amelia was left to wonder yet again when she would get to
plan her own wedding. A few minutes later she heard footsteps on the stairs and
glanced out into the corridor to see her mother returning from a luncheon
engagement.

On impulse she said, “Mama, may I speak to
you for a moment?”

“Yes, dear. You can talk to me while I
change for dinner.”

Amelia followed her mother into her bedroom
and sat down on a chair to one side of the bed as Mrs Daventry’s maid, McInnes,
helped her out of the lovely green and yellow walking outfit and into an
elegant grey evening dress. The colour was too pale to suit Amelia, who mused
that she would wear brightly coloured evening dresses when she was married. And
emeralds or possibly rubies.

“What did you wish to discuss?” her mother
prompted.

Amelia pulled her thoughts back to the
present. “Lottie said something that seemed strange to me but perhaps I am
failing to comprehend the matter fully. She said Mrs Saverney wanted the
wedding to take place as soon as possible, maybe next month.”

Mrs Daventry frowned as McInnes buttoned up
the side of the evening dress. “It does seem a little odd.”

“It is Lottie’s family who will gain
financially from the wedding, not Mrs Saverney’s.”

“Perhaps she simply wishes to see Mr
Saverney settled as soon as possible for his own happiness. When did she talk
of the wedding with Charlotte?”

“Mr Saverney conveyed the information while
he and Lottie were riding in the park.”

“Then that explains the matter.” Mrs
Daventry sat down in front of her dressing table so that McInnes could dress
her hair. “Doubtless, it is he who is impatient to be married and he used his
mother as an excuse to suggest it.”

“Oh, I see.” It still seemed peculiar to
Amelia but, since she knew little of men’s behaviour, she accepted her mother’s
explanation and forgot about the matter.

LOTTIE AWOKE and, as always these last few weeks, her
first conscious thought was of her fiancé, Mr Saverney. She gave a laugh of
delight. She had never known such love was possible and had no idea what she
had done to deserve it, but suddenly her life was a paradise. If she could
devote the rest of her life to being with Mr Saverney and making him happy then
she could not imagine being unhappy ever again.

She hoped Amelia would find someone to love
soon, as she knew her friend had been feeling left out recently. They had known
each other from infancy, both the same age and of old landed families, so their
friendship was encouraged. In all honesty, there had been times when she envied
Amelia’s beauty and ability to charm everyone around her and Lottie had
secretly feared that no one would ever look beyond Amelia and see her, but that
had been before Mr Saverney.

Lottie was one of the few people who really
knew Amelia and, underneath her love of balls and pretty things, was
intelligence, wit and a good heart. It was Amelia who had enabled Lottie to
take the occasional risk or speak her mind and Lottie knew she would have been
greatly the poorer without Amelia’s friendship. So now she wanted Amelia to
have her own share of joy - there must be someone as wonderful as Mr Saverney
waiting for her.

Her thoughts drifted to wedding
preparations and she was thinking about flowers for the church when an exclamation
of horror interrupted her thoughts and she jolted back to reality. She could
now hear her parents’ voices, loud and agitated. It was unusual for them to argue
and, from the tone of her mother’s voice, she was distressed over something.

Lottie hastily got out of bed, put a wrap
on over her nightgown and hurried into the corridor. She paused for a moment,
hesitant to interrupt, but the voices continued, quiet, as if they did not want
to be overheard, but alarmed. She got up her courage and knocked on the door to
her mother’s bedroom. She opened it to see her parents standing, her father
fully dressed while her mother was still in her nightgown.

Mama was a strong-willed woman who had
always looked with contempt upon women who fainted or developed nervous
complaints. Now, though, she was pallid and looked on the verge of collapse and
the sight of her like this scared Lottie.

“What is wrong?” she asked from the doorway
and when her parents turned their gazes to her their expressions grew even more
distraught.

* * *

Amelia was startled to be led into the
drawing room when she arrived at Lottie’s house, instead of simply going to her
bedroom or garden as she usually did. The room was large and elegant, even
though it was not decorated in the latest style and even though some unworthy
person might have said that it was a little shabby. Neither her family nor
Lottie’s had much money so neither of their rented houses were in the most
fashionable squares in Edinburgh’s New Town, nor were their furnishings grand,
but if both of them were to marry well – as Lottie was set to do – they could
greatly improve the family fortunes.

“I’ll check if Miss Harrington is up to any
visitors, Miss Daventry,” the maid said and vanished before Amelia could
question these unsettling words. She took a seat on an elaborately carved but
uncomfortable chair.

After a sufficiently long wait that Amelia
was nearly beside herself with curiosity and worry, the maid returned. “I’m
very sorry, Miss, but neither Miss Harrington nor Mrs Harrington can see you
right now. Miss Harrington asked if you’d be good enough to return this
afternoon.”

“But what has occurred?” Amelia asked,
shocked. Charlotte had only refused to see her once before and that was when
she had been ill.

The maid looked uncomfortable. “I cannot
speak of it, Miss.”

“What about Mr Benjamin Harrington or Mr
Harrington? Are they available?”

“They’re not at home, Miss Daventry. I’m
truly sorry.”

She looked close to tears so Amelia
hastened to say, “It is not your fault. Just let Miss Harrington know that I
will return later as she requests.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Amelia left that house feeling disturbed
and mystified. Had there been a death in the family? Was someone ill? Had
Amelia herself done something to mortally offend her friend? By luncheon
Amelia’s head was full of questions but no answers.

She was frowning over a glass of lemonade
when her mother rushed into the dining room, still wearing her walking clothes.
“I have heard the most dreadful rumour,” Mrs Daventry said, removing her hat,
“but it cannot be true. You saw Charlotte Harrington this morning, did you
not?”

Amelia denied this, her worry escalating as
she explained what had happened.

Her mother sat down heavily on the dining
chair opposite. “Then it is true.”

“What is?” Amelia begged. “Please tell me
at once what has happened.”

* * *

Lottie heard of Amelia’s return with dread,
fearing she would burst into yet more tears and be unable to explain a thing. She
steeled herself and carefully walked down the stairs on shaking legs. Amelia
left the drawing room and met her at the foot of the stairs, clasping her hand.
For some reason Lottie was aware of how dull she must look with her plain features
and in her unadorned white morning dress next to Amelia’s beauty and style. They
walked back into the drawing room, which was lit only by candles, the curtains
closed to protect the furniture and tapestries from fading. They sat down,
Amelia pulling her chair close to Lottie’s.

“Mr Saverney cannot have done something so
despicable?” Amelia burst out.

She wondered who had told her. Surely there
could not be gossip already? If only she could say it was not true. “He… Mr
Saverney … Yes, he has left me…”

“Eloped with some unspeakable woman?”

Lottie dug her fingernails into her palms. “I
know nothing against her character, just that she is working class.”

“She was a maid in his own house?”

“Yes.”

“How did he inform you? Did he send you a
letter?”

Lottie shook her head, the reminder causing
a stab of pain.

“Nothing?” Amelia’s voice shook with fury. “He
left you to discover his actions with no word or warning whatsoever?”

Lottie nodded, unable to speak, head bent
over as she tried to blink back more tears. She had never thought Mr Saverney
was capable of doing anything callous; she still wanted to believe that it was
all a mistake and he would appear at any moment to explain the
misunderstanding, but she was beginning to accept that he truly had left her
and the pain of it was worse than anything she had ever known before.

Amelia rang for a maid and left the room to
speak to her. Lottie heard her asking for tea to be brought in to them. As the
door opened again Lottie hastily wiped her eyes and told herself she was fine;
she would find a way to get through this.

Amelia resumed her seat and took Lottie’s
hand and her sympathy nearly made Lottie fall apart. “He is clearly the worst
form of cad and was never in any way worthy of you.”

The words, clearly supposed to reassure
her, only made her feel more miserable. She had thought she knew everything
about Mr Saverney and how could she ever trust her instincts about people again
if he had deceived her? “I loved him.”

“I know.” Amelia squeezed her hand. “But I
do not believe he was ever the man he pretended to be.”

“Do you think he ever loved me?”

“I do not know.”

Neither did she and somehow that was the
worst part.

SAVERNEY’S SHAMEFUL behaviour and desertion of Lottie
were on the lips of everyone by the next day. Her parents were discussing the
matter over breakfast. Half the guests were making cruel jokes about it at a
picnic she attended; indeed she left early or she would have rebuked them in a
way her mother would have been displeased about. Then her father came home
mid-afternoon and said the matter had been the sole source of conversation at
his club. Amelia grew increasingly worried. How was Lottie ever to get over
this if it was such a source of gossip?

She paid a visit to her friend that
afternoon and found Lottie shut in her room, sitting by the window, pretending
to read, but her pale face and red-rimmed eyes spoke their own tale. Amelia
pulled a chair close to her friend’s and removed her gloves and hat,
automatically touching her hair to make sure it had not become disordered.

“How was the picnic?” Lottie asked and it
clearly took an effort for her to feign interest.

“Quite dull. You certainly missed nothing
exciting.”

Lottie aimed a shrewd look at her. “Are
people gossiping over me?”

“They are talking about what a revolting
specimen Saverney is. You, naturally, have everyone’s sympathy.”

Lottie looked dubious about this. She was
innocent but not naïve.

“Perhaps you would feel better for a little
fresh air. We could stroll round the park or visit the shops?”

Lottie shook her head. “Mama says the same
thing but I just cannot face them all yet.”

“You will feel better soon.” Amelia
wondered which of them she was trying to convince. She had never seen Lottie in
so broken a state and had no idea what to do to help her. Worse, she remembered
her selfish dislike of the engagement and realised what a terrible friend she
had been. She would refuse offers of marriage for an entire year if only she
could see Lottie happy again.

They spoke for a while longer but Lottie
seemed too tired and distracted to cope with much conversation. When Amelia
went downstairs she saw Mr Benjamin Harrington looking out of the library
window, a shuttered expression on his normally expressive face, and walked into
the room to join him.

“I have never seen her so dejected,” she
confessed.

“Nor I. I could kill Saverney for this,” Mr
Harrington said.

“Yes. Do you think poison would be a
sufficiently unpleasant death for him?”

He gave a wan smile and said, “It is worth
considering.”

* * *

Mr Brightford, too, was worried for Mr
Harrington’s family. He had spent the morning looking over horses to find a
good quality matching pair for his new curricle, with several friends, and
aside from the quality of the aforementioned geldings, Saverney’s desertion of Miss
Harrington was all anyone wanted to talk about.

When Brightford had first heard of the
scandal he had been appalled. He had always thought Saverney to be a
wishy-washy fellow, following the instructions of his mother like a child, but
he never expected him to rebel in such a cruel, destructive manner. Saverney
had ruined his own standing in society and left Miss Harrington the subject of
damaging gossip that might haunt her for the rest of her life.

Miss Harrington was a young lady who had
Brightford’s greatest respect, her demure behaviour, modesty and quiet warmth
impressing him. She was the opposite of that irritating friend of hers. Miss
Daventry might be a beauty of the first order but she was all too aware of the
fact and her arrogance, mercenary pursuit of a wealthy husband and outspoken
tongue annoyed him every time he saw her.

Miss Harrington was faultless in this
matter and she must be suffering badly from Saverney’s treatment and from being
the focus of everyone’s interest in the worst way. Without the support of
people around her, this event could ruin her life. Brightford resolved to visit
her brother the next day and express his desire to help the family in any way
he could. He doubted the self-centred Miss Daventry was even concerned about
her friend…

* * *

At something of a loss without Lottie
beside her, Amelia put on her riding clothes and took her mare for a ride in
the park, accompanied by one of the grooms. A couple of men, barely older than
her, paid her compliments but she was not interested in silly flattery. She
tried to think of some little gift she could get for her friend but such things
seemed meaningless compared to the enormity of Lottie’s pain. It seemed like a
terrible failure on her own part that she could do nothing to help. Worse still
was the memory of her jealousy of Lottie’s engagement. She was not used to
finding fault with herself but could not deny the conviction that Lottie had
always been a far better friend than she herself had.

Lottie’s engagement to a wealthy man had
been a matter of great importance to her family. They had used to have a good
deal of money but Lottie’s grandfather had been an idle second son who
inherited the estate when his sibling died then spent the rest of his life
gambling money away and doing no work to keep the estate in order. It was
Lottie’s father who had struggled to re-build the estate, in the end only
saving it - Lottie had revealed - by marrying her mother. The story was an
interesting one, unlike that of Amelia’s own family who had apparently never
been very wealthy. As a child, Amelia had asked Mr Harrington if she could
adopt his family’s thrilling story for her own. He had looked doubtfully at her
and expressed relief that his daughter did not have Amelia’s imagination.

Lottie was someone who hated being the
centre of attention - part of the reason she had always been such an ideal friend
for Amelia - and would probably have preferred to return to her family’s
country estate until the rumours died down, if not longer. However, Amelia knew
that Lottie’s parents would never allow this, still expecting her to make a
good marriage. This made Lottie’s situation even more difficult.

Amelia returned home in a depressed mood
and half-heartedly worked on a watercolour painting until she had to change for
dinner. Walker asked if she felt unwell when Amelia said she did not care what
dress she wore; she could muster no enthusiasm for such things.

“How is Charlotte?” her mother asked over
the first course.

Amelia looked down at her soup, appetite
fleeing as she remembered the ghostlike creature her friend had turned into. “She
is devastated. How could he have treated her like that? Why did he ask her to
marry him?”

“That might well have been pressure from
his mother. Mrs Saverney is a strong-willed woman, keen to have her son married
to a girl of good family as soon as possible after the late Mr Saverney’s
sudden death.”

“Nothing could possibly excuse his
conduct.”

“If he marries this chit then he will be
excluded from good society,” Mr Daventry said, putting down his spoon and
dabbing his mouth with a serviette.

“He should be hanged.”

Mr Daventry patted Amelia’s shoulder. “He
certainly behaved in an unnecessarily cruel manner and I am sure he will suffer
for it.”

He certainly would if Amelia ever set eyes
on him again.

* * *

Benjamin walked to the bar of his club and
ordered a double whiskey. He was not usually a heavy drinker but he was so
furious over Saverney’s treatment of Lottie that he wanted to kill someone. Tonight
he needed to relax over a card game or two and drink himself into a better
mood.

He joined a card table that was just
getting started, preparing for a game of piquet. As he sat down his eyes fell
upon the man opposite him and he recognised his former friend and the former
object of his affection, Mr Duneton, who glared at him, got to his feet with a
scrape of his chair and stalked to another table. Benjamin slugged back the
rest of his whiskey and ignored the way the other players went quiet.

After another long minute a new gentleman
took Mr Duneton’s place and the game began. When he won the first hand he began
to relax but then he heard Saverney’s name mentioned at the adjacent table. He
looked over at the group of young men.

The gaudily dressed, red-faced gentleman
talking, clearly more than a little drunk, was Mr Wenton, someone he knew
slightly. “… Clearly thought she had got him under her thumb by forcing him to
propose to the Harrington chit, but I had seen his pretty maid and Miss
Harrington could not compare…”

Benjamin was not even aware of having got
to his feet until he dragged Wenton out of his chair. “You are speaking of my
sister, sir, and I demand satisfaction.”

Wenton blanched, protesting that he had
meant no offence, then several gentlemen from Benjamin’s table pulled him off
the man and tried to calm him down. He was too angry to remain, though, and
stalked out of the club in a worse mood than when he had entered it.

Damn Saverney. When he next saw the man, Benjamin
would find a way to make him suffer for what he had done.