Something passed between the two women in the looks they gave each other. “Well,” Clara said, “there is much to do in the next days. You will need a wardrobe fitting your station, of course, and your own coach and pair.”
“I would like my own phaeton.”
“A phaeton no less. Can you handle one?”
“I began learning at Teyhill. Brentworth taught me.”
“He sounds very accommodating to your preferences,” Clara said, casting another look at Amanda. “Did he give you anything you wanted?”
“Not the land, of course. That is why we went there. I regret I did not find enough proof for him, although I found enough for me. However, he is rebuilding the manor house, and even rehabilitating the gardens, so I suppose he gave me that. I don’t think it was his intention to do that otherwise.”
“You astonish me,” Clara said. “I find it difficult to see him doing anything he did not intend to do. He sounds almost romantic.”
“We have become friends.”
“Friends,” Amanda said curiously. “Friends,” she repeated to Clara.
“I do not think Brentworth ever had a woman friend,” Clara said. “Most men do, but not him. He does not see either of us as friends. We are the wives of his friends, which is something else.”
Davina shrugged. “I do not doubt I am his friend, so he has changed, it appears.” It was the one thing she did not doubt, and she clung to it. If she loved this friend in other than friendly ways, at least there was some kind of affection returned.
“Did he give you this?” Amanda asked, touching her fingertip to a simple necklace hanging around Davina’s neck.
Davina fingered the stone dangling on the gold chain. “Last night. He brought it to me. It was his mother’s jewel. But he said it was mine, andnot part of the family hoard, whatever that is.”
“I will explain all of that, and other such things you need to know. The lessons I received from Clara are still very fresh,” Amanda said.
“You married in Scotland. Was there a contract?” Clara asked.
“No contract. Just the two of us and the witnesses. We signed the church book, of course.”
“No contract,” Clara murmured. “That will never do. One more thing to be handled soon. I will have my husband broach the matter with him. It was a mere oversight of the moment, I am sure.”
“I have nothing, so it will not be complicated.”
“It is always complicated. And utterly necessary. Leave it to me, however. Now, tell me, do you want some time to get your sea legs, or do you want us to start introducing you to people? I daresay you can call on whoever you like. No one refuses to receive Brentworth.”
“Sea legs sound good to me, thank you.”
“We will allow you a fortnight. We can address your wardrobe during that time, and you can demand the phaeton from Brentworth.”
* * *
No one brought Brentworth to any back chambers when he entered St. James’s the next drawing room day. The king left the diplomat he conversed with, crossed the chamber and greeted him as if they were brothers. With winks and smirks, he let it be known that this marriage to Davina pleased him very much indeed.
After Brentworth extricated himself from the king’s attention, Haversham pulled him aside. “A splendid resolution, Your Grace. Felicitations on your nuptials.”
“It was a most felicitous coincidence that I decided she suits me and I her. It had nothing to do with the king’s preference.”
“We don’t need to emphasize that to him, do we? He is happy. You are happy. All is well. As for your wife’s claim, we have found nothing. However, I think if a bill is introduced to reinstate the lands to that family, with her as the inheritor, it will have no difficulty in passing both houses.”
“I think it would be nice if the title is reinstated too.”
Haversham’s lips folded in. “That is more complicated. The baron was a rabble-rousing Jacobite. Had he not died in battle, he would have been among those executed. Our research into this entire matter uncovered evidence ofthat, unfortunately.”
“It was long ago. No one remembers. No one will care.”
“I am not so sure, Your Grace. After the recent Radical War, emotions can be strong on the question.”
