Lady Ellingham and the Theft of the Stansfield Necklace: A Regency Romance (12 page)

      Felicity pouted,
‘you would have done the same, if you had arrived at the scene first.’ ‘No I
would not!’ he countered and added somewhat sarcastically, ‘I have the annoying
habit of thinking before I act and a peculiar sense of responsibility towards
my family. As endearing as the animal may be he is just not worth it Flick. What
is more I do not know what you think to do with it? You can hardly keep it. You
are a guest in someone’s home and they may not perhaps like to have a little
dog thrust upon them.’

      ‘Nonsense,’ she
replied, ‘Alex won’t mind.’  She looked at him still seated on his horse,
obviously in high gig. ‘Will you?’ Alex by now was laughing. ‘No not at all,’
he replied. ‘Here hand him up to me.’

      Felicity beamed
at him. ‘There Richard you see. Alex is not nearly as heartless as you are.’
She handed the little dog up to Alex who grabbed it by the scruff and rested it
in front of him on his saddle. He had pleased Felicity and was quite in charity
with himself.  Richard looked condemningly at his friend, he should have least
expected support from that quarter but Alex only grinned with amusement.

      Felicity was
beginning to shiver.  The cold was starting to penetrate to her bones. It was
obviously time to put an end to this sibling rivalry. Alex nodded to Richard.
‘We have hung around too long discussing the fate of this little dog.  Felicity
is getting cold, we should get her home and into a hot bath.’

      Richard muttered
something under his breath, hoisted his sister roughly into her saddle and then
climbed back on his own.  He was still angry with her but she knew that it
would not last.  He was too thankful that she had emerged from the incident
unscathed.

      The trio returned
to the house and handed over the horses to the groom.  Felicity was really cold
by now. She could not feel her fingers and toes and Richard helped her into the
house.  Alex strode into the hall carrying the little dog and directing orders to
the servants. Lady Stansfield and the Countess hearing the commotion came down into
the hall to see Felicity standing with lank wet hair and dripping droplets of
water on the black and white tiled floor, and the Marquis standing holding a
little dog.  He was ordering a hot tub to be prepared for Felicity in her room and
demanding that the footman take the little dog and see that it was rubbed down,
fed and looked after.

The Countess ran over
to Felicity, ‘Oh my goodness Flick, whatever has happened?’

‘The fool jumped into
the river to save a little dog, that is what happened.’ Richard answered
crossly.

Lady Ellingham looked
troubled, she could not expect Felicity to go the whole week without some
calamity but goodness, did she have to go and trip up on the very first day.

Lady Stansfield noticed
Lady Ellingham’s discomfort and hobbled forward on her stick. ‘Never mind
Sophia, we will get her warmed through; she will be as right as rain with a hot
bath and a hot drink in her.’

The Countess gave her
hostess a grateful nod and took Felicity up to her room where the Dowagers
personal maid and Sarah were already starting to fill a hot tub.

An hour later Felicity
came downstairs.  Alex and Richard were sitting with the Dowager and telling
her the whole story and the little dog was sitting happily on the Dowagers lap.
It had been dried off, fed and had made itself quite at home. When Felicity
entered the room the little dog recognised her and jumped down, scampering
about her feet in adulated excitement. She bent down to pick it up. ‘I see you
are well recovered you little imp,’ she smiled, rubbing its head and tickling
it under the chin.  Felicity looked apologetically at the Dowager, ‘I am so
sorry for all the commotion I have caused and I do hope that you do not mind
this little dog.’

Elise Sheraton gave an
understanding smile, ‘Why of course not my dear, why I remember when I was your
age, I was reaching for a kitten and tumbled head long into a six foot.  My
beau pulled me out and I was covered in slimy mud and rotten leaves and
smelling like the mire.  My family did not let me live it down for weeks but I
loved that little kitten.  Anyway my dear, what are you going to call your
little dog?’

Felicity held the dog
in the air above her head and gave it an affectionate shake. ‘I do not know. What
shall we call you?’ she asked out aloud.  She thought a moment and frowned,
‘Anyway, what are you, a boy or a girl?’

Alex tittered, ‘I think
we can safely assume it is a boy.’

‘Oh,’ Felicity frowned,
‘a boy’s name then.’

The dog was white with
tan patches over it eyes and ears.  It had a short wiry tale and short legs and
looked most disreputable. ‘I know I think I will call you Tiberinus after the
Roman God of rivers, for out of the river I pulled you but that is a mouthful;
it shall be your Sunday name. I will call you Tiber for short,’

The next day the
company sat at breakfast discussing what they should do for the day.  The Duke
was true to his word and had made sure he was available to entertain his son’s
guests.  It was his Grace, Lord Stansfield who came up with the most exciting
idea. He turned to the Countess.  ‘I know you live in Yorkshire country
yourself but I believe you live in Richmond. Have you ever been over this way
and visited old mother Shipton’s Cave and Dropping well.’  The Countess’s eyes
lit up, she had heard of the attraction but never had the opportunity to visit
it.  It was just too far away for a day’s pleasure outing. ‘Now that,’ she beamed,
‘is a wonderful idea. What do you think my children? Are we agreed?’  Richard
had no objection and Felicity was positively enthusiastic about the plan.

The party made a late
start because the attraction was only four miles away from Stansfield Park. 
Even Lady Stansfield made one of her rare trips as she was having a good day
and her joints did not seem to hurt as much.  Felicity also insisted on taking
Tiber as he was quite attached to her and might fret if he was away from her
for too long.  The Cave and Petrifying Well were situated on the banks of the
river Nidd. The surroundings were very scenic and the party walked along the riverbank. 
The Duke walked in step with Lady Ellingham, pointing out to her the numerous
places of interest and Richard patiently assisted the Dowager as she slowly
made her way along the path with her arm linked through his for support.   Alex
walked alongside Felicity who was quite excited as they approached the main
attraction.  The terrier scurried up ahead sniffing in the long grass and carefully
examining each rabbit hole as he made his way.

When they got to the Petrifying
Well however, they were greatly disappointed because the Well had done the
unthinkable and collapsed on itself.  The centuries off high mineral build up
had made the well too heavy to support itself.  No doubt, the exceptionally
rainy season had contributed to the disaster.  It had been big news but somehow,
it must have passed the Duke by.  He apologised to his company about his error
but they reassured him.  They could still have a good time, as there were many
other interesting things to see. Objects had been placed under the mineral
waters and their surfaces had petrified.  Many of them had survived the
collapse and amongst them were objects such as shoes, reticules and children’s
cloth toys.

Felicity was clearly
enjoying the outing.  She had read much about Old Mother Shipton as she had
borrowed a book from Hookham’s library only two seasons ago. She turned to
Alex, ‘do you really think Old Mother Shipton was a prophet?’

‘Well she seemed to
prophesy about many things that came true. She said that Cardinal Wolsey would
never see York despite being its Archbishop and it came true.  He came within
10 miles of the place and was recalled to London to stand trial for high
treason but died on the way back.’

‘Ah but,’ Felicity argued,
‘I have read a book and it said that this prophecy only came to light in 1641
and so was published after the fact, so it could not have been written by Old
Mother Shipton at all.’

Alex smiled to himself;
Felicity was artlessly revealing herself as a blue stocking. Many a man would
have been threatened and have a disgust of her but as for himself, he found her
quite refreshing.  Alex thought about her observation and gave an opinion of
his own. ‘As her prophecies were passed down orally for nearly 150 years and
just written down in the mid seventeenth century, maybe we shall never know. 
She prophesied the death of Mary Queen of Scots as well; and you can apply the
same argument to that.’

Felicity sighed and
looked at Alex.  ‘Do you know what really annoys me?’

‘And what is that?’
Alex asked curiously.

‘She is said to be a
contemporary of Nostradamus and yet just because he was a man and allowed an
education, he was respected.  Old Mother Shipton had no recourse to an
education and because of it, she was depicted as an ugly old woman with a
hooked nose, protruding chin and bulging eyes, and ended up living in this
cave. I bet she was no such thing and no way out of the ordinary.  She was probably
no different to Nostradamus and so it hardly seems fair.’

Alex laughed. ‘Oh dear
then let us hope the old dear is a legend then, it is just as well you did not
live in her time, you would be banging on the kings door demanding justice for
women.’

Felicity was
disgruntled. ‘I sometimes feel like doing that now, the restrictions on women
can be very tedious and in London it is positively stifling,’ she sighed.

The conversation ended
because the Duke turned around to speak to them. ‘Sophia and I were just saying
that we are quite peckish.  Earlier this morning I took the liberty of sending
a servant ahead to bespeak a parlour at the local Inn for refreshment.  Is
everyone agreed?’

The Countess smiled,
‘That is very kind of you Gareth, I think we must all be getting a little
hungry.’

Everyone agreed but
Felicity gave a little frown.  Since when had his Grace taken to calling her
mother Sophia, and to make matters worse, her mother had replied in kind.  It
struck her that the Duke had monopolised her mother’s company for most of them
morning and what is more, dinner this last two evenings had not proved to be
much different.  He had been very attentive and his eyes were warm when he
looked at her. Just where was Richard when you needed him.  He was quick to
censure her if he thought it necessary but he obviously had another standard
when it came to his own mother and it galled her. She gave Richard a decisive
look but he appeared unperturbed.  Perhaps, Felicity thought wilfully, he
should stop paying so much attention to her and direct it towards their mother.
Well if Richard was not going to say anything she would, but now was not the
moment. She made it her resolve to watch her mother closely and when they were
partaking of luncheon at the Inn, it did nothing to allay her qualms.

After luncheon, they
made their way up the hill to visit Knaresborough Castle.  It was largely a
ruin as it had been a Royalist stronghold during the English Civil war and was
destroyed by parliamentarian troops in 1648. However, the castle still had some
interior remains, in which they were able to visit.

The old Dowager was
quite tired and although the Duke offered to drive her the short way up the
bank in the carriage, she elected to stay at the Inn until they returned. 
Richard offered to stay with her and the landlord provided them with a game of chess.
 She dismissed them all. ‘You young people get along with you,’ she demanded
with a wave of her hand. ‘This lovely young man here will keep me admirably
entertained.’  As it was, Richard was entertained as he found the old Dowager
vastly amusing.  She had been quite a character in her youth and had may a tale
to tell.

The Duke of Stansfield
and Lady Ellingham walked ahead up the bank leaving Alex and Felicity to stroll
behind. Tiber kept running up to the Duke and running back to his mistress to check
that she was still there, sniffing the pavements as he went.  When their
respective parents were far enough ahead and Felicity was sure they would not
be heard, Felicity turned to the Marquis and hissed. ‘You know, I do not like
the way your father is looking at my mother.’

Alex who was not blind
pretended to be oblivious, ‘and in what way would that be?’ he replied
humorously.

‘I am not quite sure,’
she replied, ‘he looks...’ she hesitated, ‘he looks.... Oh, I don’t know how he
looks.  He has a hungry look!’

‘Alex laughed, ‘Perhaps
it is because he has been starved for so long.’

Felicity looked
perplexed, ‘he should not be hungry, for he has just eaten with the rest of
us!’

Alex gave out a loud
guffaw, ‘that is not quite what I meant Flick.’

‘Well what did you mean,’
she retorted innocently.

‘Oh never mind,’ he
grinned. ‘You should not concern yourself, they are both consenting adults.’

Felicity could be
nothing but direct.  ‘But she is my mother, and if it comes to that, where is
yours?’

For a moment Alex was
quiet, ‘We do not talk about my mother at least not in front of grandmother. 
She will not have her name mentioned in the house.  You see she ran off with a
German Prince in the spring of 1801. Her portrait hung on the staircase and my
grandmother ordered it to be taken down.’

Felicity looked almost
sorry she asked, ‘Oh how wicked, how she could be so cruel as to run off like
that? Your father is a handsome and personable man, what more could she ask
for?’

Alex was grim,
‘Obviously she thought a Prince was of more use to her than a Duke.’ Alex
nodded to the older couple walking up ahead.  They had nearly reached the
castle gate. ‘You need not worry about my father, he is a good man.’

Felicity was somewhat
pacified but still questions were whirling in her head. Was the Duke still
married? Was he free to take an interest in another woman? She did not want to
see her mother hurt.  Alex seemed to sense her questions and put her mind at
rest.

‘My father is divorced.
It is unusual I know, but after all he was not the guilty party and in his
influenced position, he got his way. He was inconsolable at the time but
grandmother helped him through it.  She has been the nearest thing to a mother
I have had in all these years.’

Felicity stopped and
touched Alex on the arm empathy.  It was the first sign of affection she had
shown. Alex grabbed her gloved hand, drew it through his arm and smiled. ‘I
survived with no harm done and I am none the worse for it.’  He hesitated and
gave a rakish grin.  ‘Ah well that may not be quite true, I am not the paragon
my father is, my reputation precedes me. It only stands to reason that I have
inherited some traits from my mother.’

Felicity looked at him
adroitly. ‘Yes I know it!  You forget I have been at the sharp end of your
abominable behaviour.  Tell me, do you treat all women so atrociously?’

He gave a wicked nod
and looked directly into her violet blue eyes, ‘No Flick, only those I desire.’
Suddenly he bent down and surreptitiously stole a kiss.  He had been speedy
enough to take her by surprise, but measured enough to savour her soft lips. 
Felicity flushed with embarrassment and looked in the direction of her mother
and the Duke who were still ambling unconsciously ahead.  Tiber scampered at Alex’s
feet, yapping incessantly, in an attempt to offer him a rebuke.  His doggy
sense stopped him short of biting his ankles as his basic instincts told him
that, that shiny booted leg might just be dangerous.

Felicity recovered her
senses and offered him a halfhearted reprimand of her own. She responded
jauntily enough, ‘Your behaviour is outrageous sir, but I have given my solemn
promise to Richard and mama that I shall not make a scene today, so I will
refrain from doing so.  I am determined to live through one day at least,
without being a termagant.’

‘Just one day?’ Alex laughed.
‘Shame, I always live in expectation of what you will do next.’

‘Well I regret I will
have to disappoint you, for I am going to be the model of propriety.’  And then
she added with a mischievous grin, ‘well at least for today.’

‘I cannot wait to see what
tomorrow brings then,’ he replied with roguish humour.

By that time, they had
reached the castle gate, the Countess bent down to stroke Tiber. ‘Goodness why
is Tiber making so much fuss,’ she asked.  Felicity bit her lip.  ‘I don’t know
mama; he may have spotted a mouse in the gutter.’  Sophia tickled him behind
the ear and suddenly he was off again into the castle grounds, which was a
veritable doggy heaven of grass, bushes, creepy crawlies and rabbit holes.