Lady Ellingham and the Theft of the Stansfield Necklace: A Regency Romance (9 page)

      Alex bowed. ‘No
need to worry, I shall act all that is proper in public.  I like you Richard,
so I feel free to warn you that I find your sister extremely attractive.  As
you say, she is unaffected and quite artless.  She appears to be completely
unaware of her natural beauty.  Unlike other society ladies I have met I find
her totally refreshing and I cannot promise you my friend that I will not try
to attach her.’

      Richard frowned. ‘And
what makes you think that you would make a good husband.  You have mistresses
littered all over London.  I must warn you that under such circumstances I
could not countenance your suit.’

      ‘Oh come now
Richard.’ Alex smiled, ‘are you telling me that you have not had your share of
fair Cyprians? I would not believe it if you said so.’

      ‘Certainly not to
the extent that you seem to enjoy, if any of the rumours I have heard are true.
 Since my father died, I have had to pick up his gauntlet; I have not the time
for such extracurricular activities, neither the desire.  I would prefer to
find a Lady of good virtue, with whom to spend the rest of my life, not like
that ladybird that you have been keeping Russell Square.’

      Alex leaned
forward and whispered as if conveying a secret. ‘If it is any consolation I got
rid of that ‘light o love’ a few months ago. I pensioned her off very
generously. She was not nearly as upset as I would have hoped, as she quickly
found a replacement for me.  I am not nearly as wicked as people would believe,
but I would ask you Richard to keep it to yourself.  I believe my reputation
protects me a little from the interfering old tabbies who are forever throwing
their daughters at my feet.  You must know what it is like Richard. You are
tauntingly eligible yourself.’

      Richard could be
nothing but sympathetic because he did know what it was like. In fact, it was
worse for Richard, for he was the epitome of respectability and pretended to be
no other. He could not however appear to weaken his resolve and merely
answered, ‘Never the less I cannot have you seducing my sister, so you must be
warned.’

      Alex clapped
Richard on the back and chuckled. ‘All I can say to that Richard is that I
cannot feign disinterest but you have my word that my attentions will be
honourable.  You will have to satisfy yourself with that. Shake hands on it?’ Richard
gave Alex a long and hesitant look then took his hand. He knew him well enough
to accept his word and if he was as innocent of his reputation as he claimed, his
suit would not be entirely unacceptable.  However, that remained to be seen.

      Richard and Alex
parted company and Richard went off to find Bernadette Livingstone, the Lady to
whom he had promised the next dance.  He could hear the quadrille striking up
and he would have to be quick if he were to find her in the crush.  Alex on the
other hand had another agenda.  He found Felicity a few feet apart from her
company and studying a piece of art on the wall.  It was a copy of a river
scene by Peter de Wint painted in 1810.

      Thorndale crept
up surreptitiously behind her and remarked over her shoulder. ‘A fair admirer
of art I see, and do you like it?’ Felicity nearly jumped out of her skin. ‘For
goodness sake your Lordship, do you normally creep upon people like that.’

      He gave a rakish
laugh. ‘No, only you.’  He nodded towards the picture. ‘A Peter De Wint I
believe.  A River Scene at Sunset. A relatively new painting of his, are you an
admirer of his work Felicity?’

      She looked back
at the painting, ‘I do not know, this painting is rather dark for my taste but
it has a certain quality about it. I like the way the trees are reflected in
the water and the way the fading sunlight is reflected through the trees.’ She sighed.
‘It reminds me of murky evenings at home when I am returning home along the banks
of the river Swale after a long ride on Artemis.’

      ‘Do you miss
home?’ he asked sincerely. ‘Oh yes,’ she sighed. ‘I miss the freedom of the
country and the open spaces and the freedom to do more or less as I please. No
one is watching my every move. I can be myself and I do not have to ride sidesaddle
despite Richards’s admonitions.  It is stifling here in London.  I like the
theatre and the balls of course, but really I can have those at home in Richmond.
 We have the most wonderful little Georgian theatre there, it is so quaint and
they do present some good plays and musicals.’

      ‘Why do you come
to London then?’ he asked.  She looked at him wearily. ‘Need you ask?  Mother
of course. She will not be content until I am married off with brood of
children at my skirts.’

      ‘And is that not
what you want?’ he replied.

      ‘Oh I do not mind
but I am not quite prepared to marry just anyone. Mother is exasperated as I
have had plenty of offers but none that I would seriously contemplate and
Richard scares off all of the bounty hunters. He can be a bore, but sometimes
he does come in rather useful.’

      Alex smiled, he
was quite sure that she must have had any number of offers and well aware that
Richard would never be very far away.  Her beauty was astonishing and her
nature was trusting and generous but he could imagine that her intrepid
personality would put off the more staid members of the male fraternity.  He
realised however, that here in London she was careful not to overstep the boundaries. 
She certainly knew how to behave in public and applied herself when it was
necessary, but it was obviously difficult for her to conform and like him she
did not hesitate to flaunt convention if the situation called for it.   He
turned back to the picture. ‘We have a river just like that running through
Stansfield Park in Yorkshire, the river Nidd you would like it.’

      She turned to
him, her violet blue eyes bright with pleasure. ‘Oh have you. How lucky you
are, it must be lovely.’

      ‘I should invite
you and your family over sometime and you can see for yourself.’

      She gave him a
wistful smile, ‘I do not think Richard would agree.  I do not think he approves
of you.’

      ‘You are wrong,’
he replied. ‘Richard and I understand each other well enough. I think you would
find that with a bit of persuasion he would not be adverse.’

      ‘We shall see,’
she whispered softly. 

      The music for the
second waltz of the evening was starting. Alex bowed to Felicity, ‘Our dance I
believe.’  She left off her study of the painting and took his outstretched
hand and he led her back onto the dance floor.

      The week
following the ball Richard accompanied Felicity and his mother to the British
Museum. The papers were full of news about the Museums new exhibition.  The
British Government had newly purchased the Parthenon Marbles from Thomas Bruce,
the seventh Earl of Elgin, and placed them in the British Museum.  The whole of
London was talking about the new exhibition that was said to consist of
classical Greek marble sculptures and inscriptions. There had been a lot of
controversy over the acquisition and Lord Elgin had been accused of ‘the worst
sort of vandalism’ but had been subsequently exonerated by the British
Government.

      Lord Byron had
been very vociferous about the marbles, calling them ‘misshapen monuments’ and
wasted no time about criticising Lord Elgin for removing them from Greece. Being
no lover of Byron or his opinions, the Countess and Felicity wanted to see the
marbles for themselves before the season was over.

      Richard called
for the Lealholme carriage to convey them to the British Museum.  It was
raining again.  It really had been a horrendous summer, why in parts of the
country it had even snowed in June and July.  ‘Ah well,’ sighed the Countess as
she stepped out of a puddle and into a carriage. ‘This is a good a day as any
to visit the marbles, and at least it will be dry and warm.’

      Once inside the
museum they made their way to the gallery displaying the marbles. They walked
the length of the frieze depicting the battles of the Lapiths’s and the
Centaurs.  Felicity consulted her programme. According to the legend, the
Centaurs had been invited to the wedding feast of Pirithous.  They became drunk
and the Centaur Eurytion attempted to rape the bride. The Centaurs followed
suit attempting the rape of the women and boys. Battle ensued as Theseus came
to the Lapiths’s aid and cut of Eurytion’s ears and nose and the Centaurs were
finally expelled.  Felicity read on.  The accounts were fascinating.

      By far Felicity’s
favourite piece though, was the Selene Horse and she thought of Artemis her own
beloved hunter.  The brochure informed her that Selene was the Greek goddess of
the moon who drove her chariot across the night sky. The horses head was
beautifully sculptured with it ears pinned back.  Its veins stood out over the skin,
it had flaring nostrils, and bulging eyes showing the stress of a horse that
had rode invisibly through the sky at night and disappearing over the western
horizon.  The thought of Selene riding her steed through the stars in the night
sky sounded so romantic and made Felicity sigh.  

      The marbles were not
in such very good condition but never the less the party thought it a rainy
afternoon well spent. As they came out of the Museum, the rain had temporarily
stopped and the Countess voiced a desire to make a stopover at Regent Street to
visit Madam Fournier.  She wanted to order a new warm pelisse for the coming
winter months in Richmondshire and attend for the final fitting of her new ball
gown.

      When they arrived at Regent
Street Richard ordered the Coachman to stop the carriage.    As the party
stepped out onto the pavement, they bumped smack bang into Lord Alexander
Sheraton.  He stopped and greeted them with a smile and tipped his hat. ‘Good
afternoon ladies, appalling weather again.’ 

      The Countess agreed.
‘Yes indeed.  We thought it a good day to visit the new exhibition at the
British Museum. Have you been to see it yet?’

      ‘Ah the Elgin Marbles,
they have caused quite a stir I believe.  Alas no, I must remedy that lack in
my education and make time to visit.’

      Felicity had been
standing quietly listening to the conversation when she noticed an altercation
on the other side of the street.  A thug was assaulting a middle aged Lady on
the far sidewalk and trying to snatch her reticule, but the Lady was hanging on
to it for dear life. ‘Oh my,’ Felicity gasped and before anyone knew what she
was about, she ran across the street and began to whack the ruffian solidly
about the head and shoulders with her umbrella. ‘Take that you brute,’ she
cried with vehemence as she continued with her assault.  Richard and Alex ran
across the street to assist but they were seconds too late.  With one full swing,
the thug had knocked Felicity down and she fell unconscious onto the wet
pavement. Alex was furious and seized hold of the scoundrel before he had a
chance to run. He wrestled him to the ground and delivered him one swift right
hook to the jaw.

      By that time, a huge
crowd had gathered. Alex looked up. ‘Someone call the constable,’ he commanded.
 A little voice broke in from the crowd. ‘I will sir,’ and a little urchin rang
off in search of a constable, in the hope of receiving tuppence for his
trouble.

      Richard was joined by
his mother and was bending down over Felicity trying to rouse her and the elderly
Lady, still holding onto her reticule flitted about like a mother hen.  ‘Oh deary,
deary me,’ she clucked. ‘Is the young Miss alright?’ Felicity was slowly coming
too.  Blood was seeping from her temple and onto the pavement where she had hit
the ground.  The Countess was in all of a panic, ‘Flick, Flick, Flick, wake up,
oh give me some space,’ she cried pushing the crowd out of the way.  She turned
to Richard. ‘Is she all right?’ Richard lifted her shoulders and held her up in
his arms and she moaned. There was a small cut on her temple and there was
blood everywhere but as he knew that head wounds tended to bleed profusely and
look worse than they were, he remained calm.  Alex with the thug under
restraint looked over anxiously. ‘I have the scoundrel here, is she alright?’

      Felicity opened her
eyes and moaned. ‘Yes,’ Richard replied. ‘I am sure she is all right, she has
sustained a slight blow to the head but the bleeding appears to have stopped. 
We must get her home.’ Alex waved over. ‘Go then, I will wait for the constable
and see to this thatch gallows here.’  Do not worry I shall see that justice is
done.’

      Richard picked
Felicity from off the ground and carried her to the carriage. He laid her
gently on the seat and the Countess climbed up beside her.  She regained consciousness
but was decidedly white. Richard looked back and gave Alex a wave of thanks. 
He knew he could rely on him to do the right thing with the constable, but
meanwhile Felicity was his priority.  He waved to the concerned Coachman. She
is all right Daniel but get us home as quickly as possible.  At that, the
carriage moved off leaving Alex in the road to deal with the aftermath.

      Two hours later
Felicity was sitting up.  She refused to go to bed so they made her comfortable
on the chaise long in the drawing room. The doctor had come and gone.  Having
stitched the small cut on her temple and covered it with basilicum ointment; he
pronounced that there was no lasting damage to her health. He advised a little
Laudanum for the nerves, which Felicity refused point blank to take.  Some of
her colour had returned but she still looked quite pale and although the
Countess and Sarah had tried their best to remove the blood from her hair,
vestiges of it remained caked to her scalp.  ‘Oh dear,’ the countess sighed,
‘there is nothing much else to do but to wash it but that will have to wait
until you are feeling better.’

      Wilson the Butler
entered and addressed Richard, ‘Your Lordship, Lord Alexander Sheraton the
Marquis of Thorndale has arrived to enquire after Lady Felicity. ‘Send him in,’
Richard replied.

      Alex entered the room
and looked straight at Felicity. ‘I have come to enquire after the invalid,’ he
smiled with concern. Felicity gave him a wan smile and maintained that she was
quite well and that she would be as right as a trivet in the morning.

      ‘I am glad to hear
it,’ Alex replied but there was a note of censure in his voice, ‘but why did
you do such a madcap thing. Both Richard and myself were present and although
you were obviously the first to witness the scene it was only seconds before it
came our notice and if you had let us deal with it, things would have been far different.’

      Felicity brought her
hand to her head in obvious discomfort and gave Alex a resentful look.  Richard
rolled his eyes and replied for her. ‘Why does Flick do anything? She does not
think that is why!  She is constantly careering headlong into trouble without a
thought for anyone else.’

      ‘That is not fair,’
Felicity retorted. ‘The man would have got away if we stopped to talk about
it.’ She groaned suddenly putting her hand to her head as if her own defence
had been too much effort.

      Richard pulled his
hand through his unruly blonde hair and looked at his sister in frustration.
‘Even if that were true, the contents of a reticule are not worth your life
Felicity, but will you listen to me? No you will not, and look where it has got
you.’ He turned to Alex in frustration, ‘Now do you see what I have to put up
with.’

       Felicity closed her
eyes.  Her head ached far too much to argue so she just scowled at Richard
indignantly. The Countess looked reprovingly at her son.  He was right of
course but surely, he could see that Felicity was not in prime twig, and should
have left his chastisement for another time, and certainly not scold her in
front of a relative stranger.

      Alex smiled
sympathetically.  It could not help that Richard and his sister were of the
same age and that Richard had the added misfortune of being born second, but the
Marquis rallied to his support.  ‘Your brother is right of course, it would have
been better if you had left well alone but at least you are all right.’  He
turned to Richard. ‘I held the fellow at bay until the constable arrived, they
have taken him away and he will be up before the magistrates tomorrow. 
Apparently he is a wanted felon; they have been after him for months so they
were quite pleased with their catch.  I have taken the liberty of giving them
your direction as they may wish to take a statement.  There were plenty of
witnesses present so there is no doubt he will get what is coming to him. I
slipped that young urchin a hind, I do not think he has seen a half a crown in
the whole of his life but he was worth it. He skipped off hardly believing his
luck.’

Richard could not thank him
enough.  ‘That was very generous of you. Perhaps I can invite you to remain for
a while and have a drink with us?’

     Alex accepted and spent
a good hour with the family before departing.  Felicity was quiet but that was
only to be expected. The more he observed her however the more he felt that he
had met her before under different circumstances.  Some nagging feeling
tormented his soul. He racked his brains for some kind of recollection but none
came to him. Ah well he thought to himself, maybe she just reminded him of
someone, but of whom he could not think.