I shook my head, not wanting him to worry about me. This affected him as much as it did me and Aunt Maude, perhaps even more so. If things didn’t go as we hoped, his hotels would suffer, and their financial situation would be grim.
We met Lady Mandeville in the foyer. She did not greet us with her usual enthusiasm but sighed. “Is it true?”
“Is it true that I adopted this beautiful young woman and she is my heiress, just as I claimed?” Aunt Maude nodded. “Yes. Shall we go to Hyde Park as planned?”
“Is Clara your niece?” Lady Mandeville asked.
“Does that matter? She’s an accomplished, intelligent,wealthyyoung woman who would make any duke proud. She, like the rest of us with new money, is just as deserving of a place in society. Now. Shall we proceed with our plans, or must I find someone else who will help us achieve what we want?”
Lady Mandeville stood for a moment, as if weighing her options, but eventually she, like Aunt Maude, squared her shoulders. “I do believe my carriage is ready for our ride in Hyde Park.”
“Good. Rodgers,” Aunt Maude called to the butler. “We are leaving.”
He must have been standing just out of sight, though not out of hearing, because he stepped into the foyer and opened the front door.
The sky was still overcast as we left 7 Buckingham Gate. Lady Mandeville’s carriage top was down, allowing us to see and be seen as we traveled the short distance to the park. Aunt Maudeand I sat together on one seat and Alec and Lady Mandeville on the other.
“Keep your chin up, Clara,” Lady Mandeville said. “This isn’t the biggest scandal of the season, I can assure you. But we will have to weather the storm.”
It wasn’t bright enough for me to use my parasol to hide under, so I kept it closed at my side as we entered Rotten Row, where all the fashionable members of society would be riding today. It was a long, dusty avenue that cut through the park. Spectators stood along the fence to watch the wealthy parade by.
“Have you heard from the prince?” Aunt Maude asked Lady Mandeville. “Will he still come for the dinner party?”
“If he doesn’t, you will probably not get anyone else to come, either,” she warned. “But I will speak to him personally. He tends to enjoy American drama and often walks toward it, instead of away from it, preferring it to other forms of entertainment. If he is still planning to come to your party, you can be assured that the rest of society will continue to embrace you. But we will have to see.”
“And in the meantime, our adversaries will use this information against us,” Aunt Maude said as we approached a carriage with familiar occupants.
The Garfields.
Mrs. Garfield caught sight of us and then a supercilious smile lifted her thin lips before she tilted her nose in the air and purposely turned away without acknowledging us. Louise did the same, giving us the cut direct, a social rejection that was meant to send a message to anyone watching that they did not know us or were not willing to acknowledge us.
It meant nothing to me, but I looked at Aunt Maude to see how it affected her.
Her eyes narrowed and she, too, lifted her nose, as if to tell the Garfields, and anyone else, that she didn’t care what they thought of her.
“The only people you need to worry about right now are the Prince of Wales,” Lady Mandeville said, “and the Duke of Severton. His family scandal has kept him locked away at Pickering Castle for so long, he might either want to avoid another scandal, or he might relate to Clara, if she comes with a substantial dowry, that is.”
Yes. The dowry. Anyone could put up with me and my past for the right price.
The cynical thought was not like me, but I’d found myself having more of them the longer I stayed in society.
“When might you know if the prince will still come?” Aunt Maude asked Lady Mandeville.
“I’ll send him a note as soon as I get home. If he is not too busy to reply, I might know by tonight or tomorrow.”
“Then we’ll continue on as we have until then,” Aunt Maude said. “We will still plan to attend the ball at Lady Randolph Churchill’s home.”
Jennie Jerome, now Lady Randolph Churchill, had been one of the first heiresses to marry into the aristocracy, not long before Lady Mandeville. She was a leader in London society, and the mother to two little boys, Winston and Jack. I’d met her on several occasions since our arrival and she seemed quite eager to help my cause, though now that she knew the truth about me, I wasn’t so sure.
“Jennie has endured enough scandals to stand up under this one,” Lady Mandeville said. “I believe she will still welcome you into her ball, though we must be prepared for anything. If you’re cut by enough society leaders, there is little you can do to recover.”
“Then we will not allow ourselves to be cut.” Aunt Maude nodded as another carriage approached.
This one contained Lily Parker, the young woman who had been presented to the queen before me. Her mother was inside the carriage with her.
I held my breath. Would they cut us?
Instead of lifting her nose and looking away, Lily offered me an encouraging smile.
