Chapter Thirteen

 

 

Thus it was that within a few days, a large traveling carriage stood outside Ridlington Hall, bearing all the indications of a major trip to the Outer Hebrides. Or the impending journey of two ladies to London. Edmund commented that it would have been impossible to distinguish between the two destinations, given the amount of luggage involved.

“Silly man,” scolded Letitia. “You know well that three of these trunks are for Kitty. Both Hecate and I have been most modest in our packing.”

Hecate nodded. “If you think modest means two trunks and an assortment of bags.”

“All lies,” laughed Letitia. “We shared one of those trunks. We shall contrive nicely, Edmund. The change of horses is arranged?”

He nodded. “Yes indeed. Thanks to Mr. Hodgkins here. Your driver.”

Letitia glanced at the box. “We are in your hands, then, Mr. Hodgkins,” she called up.

He touched his cap. “I’ll take good care ‘o ye, m’Lady.” He looked at the luggage. “Goin’ t’ be a tight squeeze, less’n yer maid sits up ‘here,” he said doubtfully.

“No maid, Mr. Hodgkins. Just the two of us. I believe we’ll be quite comfortable.” Letitia opened the door and put a couple of blankets inside.

Hecate looked at Edmund. “Who is he?”

“He’s working at the inn stables, and according to Watson, he’s very reliable. Turns out he’s been excellent thus far.”

Hecate eyed the driver with a narrowed gaze. “I see.”

“Is something wrong?” Edmund touched her shoulder. “Please tell me if you think this is not a good idea…”

She shook her head. “No, I see no troubles. We shall arrive in town in one piece.” She turned to Edmund and hugged him. “Thank you dear brother.”

“For what?” Surprised, he still hugged her back.

“For not questioning me. For understanding my oddities. And for believing in them.”

“That’s what families do, love. I’m learning, and I hope you are as well, that there are many things families do that we never did. Until now.”

Letitia walked up. “May I have a hug as well? Since we’re being so provincial as to show emotion in front of the staff,” she smiled at the two of them.

Edmund immediately responded. “Please take care of yourself, Letitia. Look after Hecate. I shall wait to hear from you about Richard and Kitty.” He released her to help Hecate into the carriage, then turned again to Letitia, making sure his back was turned to the carriage door. Speaking low, he leaned toward her. “I shall rely on you to keep an eye on her, if you would.”

“Hecate? Of course.” Letitia whispered back, then reached up to drop a kiss on Edmund’s cheek. “You are a wonderful big brother, you know. I’ll do my best to keep everyone safe.”

“Hurry home. You will be much missed. And I look forward to reading that book of yours, so get it published.” Edmund assisted her up to join her sister. “Now you have blankets, and there’s a basket of food on the seat next to you, Hecate.”

“Edmund?” said Hecate.

“Yes?”

“Don’t fuss.”

He sighed. “Sorry.” He closed the carriage door and stepped back.

“Oh look. Rosaline and Hugh are waving…” Hecate laughed up at one of the front windows where she could see her sister-in-law holding a swaddled bundle.

Two arms emerged from the carriage window as it pulled off down the Ridlington Chase drive, waving at Edmund on the top step and at the other couple above him.

Then, as the pace picked up, Hecate closed the window and leaned back. “Well then. Now we’re on our way.”

“Indeed,” sighed Letitia. “And I am torn between eager anticipation and a bad case of nervous dread.”

Hecate thought about that. “Did you mind leaving Harry?”

“In a way, I suppose.” Letitia removed her bonnet. It was going to be a long trip and she’d rather not develop a headache this early. “But I completely agree with her staying behind. Her safety is more important than my comfort. Besides, I have you.” She grinned at Hecate.

“I’m not accompanying you to the privy and holding your gown.”

“Good God, I wouldn’t expect you to.” Letitia blinked. “And I’ve never asked that of Harry either.” She shuddered dramatically. “That’s just awful, Hecate. Where did you get such a notion?”

“I read the papers. Of course some of them are quite old…” admitted Hecate. “But one does like to have at least a passing knowledge about events in our country, Letitia. Sometimes I feel quite ignorant.”

“Hmm. I cannot disagree with your wanting to stay informed, love. But as for having a maid assist me in the privy? No, thank you.” She wrinkled her nose. “I cannot imagine being that helpless. Or so dismissive of the poor woman involved. Ugh.”

“Perhaps you’d better arm yourself, then. Because dismissive might well describe any number of people we may be on the verge of meeting,” cautioned her sister.

“I wish it were not so, but I believe you’re right.”

Letitia leaned back in her seat, adjusting to the movement of the carriage. Would she be seeing James? She couldn’t hide from that thought. And her book was done. Ready for another submission to Mr. Lesley. She was at the point now where she wondered why she had started on it. Why she had ever imagined she could be a writer.

And why such an outrageous topic had forced itself onto the page through her pen.

Editing had been difficult to impossible sometimes, when the things she had written now reminded her of stolen moments in the FitzArden Hall parlour. She’d forced away the tears and refastened the locks on that door. It was a visual image that helped maintain her self control. Most of the time. Nobody knew of the nights she awoke in darkness, only to sob as if her heart was breaking.

Stupid girlish nonsense.

 

*~~*~~*

 

It had been an uneventful, if long and cold, journey to the door of Lady Venetia Allington’s home in Mayfair. But their welcome was just the opposite—warmth billowed from the effervescent Lady Venetia herself as the weary ladies alighted at her doorstep. Kitty was close behind, dancing with excitement, hugging Letitia and Hecate enthusiastically as she introduced them to her aunt.

“Now, now,” laughed Lady Venetia. “Let the dear girls breathe. Yes, Morton, do bring in all the luggage and take it up, if you would.”

The chaos of their arrival soon lessened, and Letitia found herself in an elegant suite of rooms, adjoining her sister’s. Which fact became evident when Hecate’s face appeared through a connecting door. “Oh look. Isn’t this delightful?”

Letitia turned from her bag on the bed. “Indeed. Most luxurious.” She glanced back at the maid. “I think just a simple gown, if you would. We’re both tired from traveling, so no evening entertainments for us.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” nodded the maid. “My Lady said as how you’d probably prefer an early night.”

“I hate to agree because it sounds so…provincial,” grinned Hecate, “But she’s quite right.”

A tap on the door heralded Kitty. “Do you have everything you need?” She pirouetted into the room. “Isn’t it lovely here?”

“It is,” agreed Letitia.

“Do you dance everywhere, Kitty?” politely inquired Hecate.

“Don’t start…” Kitty landed on her heels and pointed at her youngest sister.

“Me?” blinked Hecate innocently.

Letitia sighed. “I hope you’re going to tell us that dinner will be soon, dear. We’re both quite hungry. And we both want to hear about your adventures, of course. If you’ve no engagements this evening, that is…”

“Of course not,” protested Kitty. “How could I even think of deserting my sisters on their first night in town?” She glanced at the gown Letitia had just slipped into, and then at Hecate’s simple wool ensemble. “Besides, I think we need to dress you both before we venture out.”

Hecate met Letitia’s look with one of resignation. “Oh dear. She’s going to Londonize us.”

The meal was, by London standards, a simple one, and Lady Venetia didn’t hide the fact she enjoyed it very much. “So lovely to be able to eat and talk and laugh without concern,” she said, finishing her pudding with evident enthusiasm. “I do adore family times. Not that I get that many, but now that you girls are here, I hope there will be more than just one.”

“I hope so too, Aunt Venie,” smiled Kitty. “But you know we must introduce my sisters. We’re all far too old for a come-out, but I think we may be able to engender some interest about their arrival.”

Letitia touched her napkin to her lips. “Why would anyone be interested in us, Kitty? We’re surely country bumpkins as far as Society is concerned.”

Kitty chuckled. “Well, crass though it is, now that Aunt Venie is as rich as Golden Ball, anything she does and anyone she presents is of interest.”

Aunt Venie nodded. “Sad but true, dear.” She looked at Letitia. “Your family, darling, has suffered greatly thanks to the man who sired you all. And I will apologize for some of the wicked thoughts I’ve entertained about him burning in hell for what he did to you.” She grinned. “Some, but not all.”

Hecate chuckled and Letitia realized that she was going to like this woman. A lot.

“Anyway, be that as it may, I feel it my duty to help Kitty rise above the tarnished reputation that man bequeathed to you all. Otherwise, her chances of making a good match are seriously reduced.”

Kitty nodded. “She’s quite right.”

“Do you want to make a good match, Kitty?”

“Of course,” declared Kitty. “How else am I to go on?”

Hecate had no answer, and neither did Letitia.

“We shall see,” said Aunt Venie. “Now I suggest we call it an early night and have tea in our rooms. I’m sure you girls are tired, I know Kitty will be making lists of things to do while you’re here, and I wouldn’t find a bit of extra sleep amiss.”

“Shall we be out and about tomorrow, then?” asked Letitia. “I need to send a message to my publisher and let him know I’m in town.” She rose from the table, casting a quick thank you glance to the footman who held her chair.

“And indeed you shall. Just pen your note and I’ll have it delivered in the morning. Then, I believe, our Kitty has visits to the modiste scheduled for you both. And herself too, I’ll be bound.”

Kitty laughed and nodded. “You know me so well, Aunt Venie. You don’t mind?”

“Of course not, dear. What use is having money if one does not spend it to improve the lives of others?”

Hecate’s back stiffened. “Will new gowns improve my life, Ma’am?”

“If you let them.” She grinned. “If not, well at least they’ll brighten the lives of those who see you in them.”

Hecate blinked at that. “I take your point.”

“Oh, and I believe that dear Sir James FitzArden wishes to visit while you’re here. I understand he’s a close friend of the family,” added Aunt Venie on her way out of the door. “We should send him a note too. Let him know you’re here.”

Letitia found her teeth clenched tight, and struggled to part them. “How delightful,” she lied. “We have not seen him in quite some time.”

Hecate waited until they were all in their rooms, and had bade Kitty good night before she popped her head around Letitia’s door. “About James?”

Letitia, wrapped in her robe, with her hair down and a pen in her hands, was writing furiously. She looked up. “What about him?”

“Do you want to see him?”

Letitia sighed, put the pen in the inkwell, and leaned back. “If he visits, I will be happy to say hallo, of course.”

“My dear sister.” She walked into the room and sat on the end of the bed. “That was the most insincere tone I’ve ever heard you use.”

“Really? I wasn’t aware of it.”

It was Hecate’s turn to sigh. “Here we are, not in London above a night, and already you’re prevaricating and turning into one of those London ladies who can never give a straight answer to a direct question.”

Letitia knew her sister was right, damn her. But her emotions were in an uproar, she was tired, and she had no idea how to answer truthfully without revealing more to Hecate than she wished. Or indeed revealing more to herself than she could deal with.

“I cannot answer otherwise at the moment, my dear. I’m sorry. You ask a question to which I have no reply. Not tonight. Ask me again tomorrow when my mind has sorted itself out.”

Hecate slid from the bed, came to her sister and gave her a little hug. “That’s better. Sleep well, love.” She kissed her cheek and left.

Warmed by the affection, and conscious that her eyelids were growing heavy, Letitia wiped the pen, capped the inkwell and blew out the candle on the desk.

She hoped she was right and that the morning would bring order to her thoughts. She ignored the annoying little voice that whispered of a hope she wanted to deny.

The hope that she might see James again. Because she didn’t. She really didn’t.

All right, she did, but only for a few minutes and from a distance.

Not too near. Not close enough to smell his unique fragrance or see his mouth quirk slightly at a joke, nor close enough to remember how it felt against her skin…