“Did the Duchess of Devonshire come?” Eunice asked.
“She never made it up the stairs, but here is her card,” Allegra said gleefully. “I’m amazed she came at all. She is up until dawn gambling. One wonders when she sleeps.”
“I saw Mr. Pitt the younger,” Caroline said excitedly. “He did manage to get into your drawing room.”
“He is very nice,” Allegra recalled. “But, Caro, where was your aunt? Lady Bellingham accepted my invitation, and it isn’t like her not to come to such a levee. I know she wouldn’t have missed it for the world. All ofsociety is in town now, and the gossip to be had is quite marvelous.”
“No,” Caroline admitted. “It isn’t like Aunt to miss such a gathering. I cannot imagine what has happened to her.”
“Perhaps I should send a footman around to make certain that she is all right,” Allegra suggested, and then she did just that.
Marker brought the tea. He was followed into the room by several young footmen carrying large silver trays. Upon one were the tea sandwiches. Salmon with a sharpmoutardedressing, thinly sliced cucumber, roast beef, cheese, delicate breast of capon, and precisely cut slices of bread and butter. A second tray contained freshly baked scones, bowls of clotted Devonshire cream, and strawberry conserves. A third silver tray held the desserts. There were thinly sliced pieces of fruitcake, dark, rich, and filled with raisins. There were tarts of lemon, raspberry, and apricot; a caramel custard; and the duke’s favorite, Genovese cake with its coffee cream filling.
Allegra poured the tea from a large silver pot into dainty Sèvres cups while the footmen passed about plates of sandwiches, scones, and desserts. They gossiped about this afternoon’sat home, and what people had worn, and who came. Even the gentlemen joined in enthusiastically. They were almost sated with tea when the footman returned from the Bellingham house.
“You have no message for me?” Allegra demanded, seeing that he carried nothing in his gloved hand.
“I was told to tell Your Grace,” the footman began, “that his lordship received a letter from foreign parts this morning that has quite upset both him and her ladyship. They send their be-be-belated,” he declaredtriumphantly, “apologies.” Then the footman bowed to the duchess.
“Thank you,” Allegra said. “There was nothing more?”
“Nothing, Your Grace.”
“You are dismissed,” Allegra told the footman. She turned to Caroline Walworth. “Who lives abroad that might send a letter that would distress your aunt and uncle so greatly?”
Caroline thought for several long moments, and then she said, “Uncle Freddie had a younger brother who married a French lady, but other than that I know nothing.”
“Then we must go at once to Lady Bellingham and learn how we may help her,” Allegra said. “She has been so kind, and good to all of us. How can we not at least try to repay that goodness?”
Everyone agreed, and so capes and cloaks were brought, as the carriages were advised to stand ready before the house. The six young people hurried out, entering their vehicles which set off through the dark London streets. The traffic was light as it was that time between the theatre and any formal dinners or parties to be held. Lord and Lady Bellingham lived but two squares over on Traleigh Square. The butler opening the door to their house looked quite surprised, for he had not been told that there were to be guests tonight. Then he saw Lady Caroline Walworth, his mistress’s niece.
“Tell my aunt we have come to learn how we may help,” Caroline instructed the butler as the single footman on duty struggled to take all of their outdoor garments.
“At once, m’lady,” the butler replied as he showed them into the main drawing room.
They sat and waited in silence until the door openedand Lady Bellingham came into the drawing room. They were all shocked by the good woman’s appearance, for she was drawn and pale. It was obvious she had been crying most of the day as her eyes were puffy and red. She was dressed in a housegown, and her hair disheveled. It was as if she had not prepared for her day at all. “Ohh, my dears, how good of you to come,” Lady Bellingham said, and then she burst into fresh tears.
“Aunt, what is the matter?” Caroline cried, going to her relation, and putting her arms about her.
“It is your cousin, the Comtesse d’Aumont,” Lady Bellingham managed to say before she wept again.
“I have a cousin who is a French countess?” Caroline said, bemused.
“Come, dear Lady Bellingham, and sit down.” Allegra began taking charge of the situation as it was obvious no one else was going to do so. “Quinton, a sherry for the poor woman.” She drew the older lady to a settee and sat down next to her. “Here, drink this. You must calm yourself, Lady Bellingham,” Allegra continued. “Whatever the problem is, you will not solve it by weeping. If we are to help then we must know what is troubling you.”
“Ohh, my child, I do not think anyone can help us,” Lady Bellingham said, but she nonetheless sipped her sherry until she felt a bit more at peace with herself, and able to speak.
The others sat down about her, and waited patiently.
Finally the distraught lady was able to begin. “My husband,” she began, “has two younger brothers. Caroline’s father as you know is the rector of St. Anne’s Church down at Bellinghamton. It is a modest living, but one that allowed him and his family to be comfortable. The youngest brother, Robert Bellingham, had thegood fortune to marry a Frenchwoman. She was the only daughter of the Comte de Montroi, and he doted upon her. Consequently her dowry portion was very generous on the provision she and her husband remain in France. With nothing in England for him, Robert Bellingham saw no reason not to remain in his bride’s homeland. So they were married. I remember going to France for the wedding. It was thirty-five years ago. We never even got to Paris, for Robert’s wife, Marie-Claire, lived in Normandy.” She stopped a moment to sip the remainder of her sherry, and then held out her little glass to the duke for more. He complied silently.
“A year after the marriage they had a little girl who was baptized Anne-Marie. Sadly there were no more children. Anne-Marie was married when she was eighteen to the Comte d’Aumont, a neighbor. She is some years your senior, Caroline, which is why you have never met. Robert and his family were quite content to be country folk as were Anne-Marie and her husband. They have never been to England, and Robert never returned after he married.
“When Anne-Marie was twenty her parents were killed in a carriage accident. The shock caused her to miscarry a child, but the following year she bore her husband a daughter, whom she named after her mama; and then two years later, a son, Jean, after her husband, and Robert, after her papa.” Lady Bellingham swallowed down some more sherry, then continued.
“They lived happily for some years, but then fifteen months ago the Comte d’Aumont was caught up in the Reign of Terror, and guillotined. It was a terrible accident of fate that it ever happened. He was in Paris. An old friend had been detained by the Committee for Public Safety. Jean-Claude had gone to his aid. The comte was, you see, a Republican himself. He believed in theRevolution, but when he visited his friend in prison to see how he might help he, too, was arrested. It was so naive of him to have gone, but he truly trusted in reform, although how he could after the murders of King Louis and his wife I do not understand. He was a kind man, I am told.” She sniffled into her handkerchief.
“Anne-Marie and her husband were very much like our own country people despite their aristocratic backgrounds. They were kind to their tenants, and when the harvest was bad they never demanded their rent, but rather helped to feed their people. They are loved in their village of St. Jean Baptiste. After her husband was killed we begged our niece to come to England where she and her children would be safe until this horror is over, however it ends; but Anne-Marie is all French despite her English father. Her little son Jean-Robert is now the Comte d’Aumont. His lands are all he has. Anne-Marie is afraid if she leaves those lands, they will be taken away from the family. So she has stayed, and now this!” Lady Bellingham broke into fulsome sobs again.
