Page 43 of Lady Beast's Bridegroom
Then the Duchess of Winshire, one of society’s most influential matrons, cast the weight of her reputation on their side. She had one of her stepsons escort her to the Ransomes’ theater box, where she reminded Peter that she had known his mother. She further claimed to have kissed Arial when she was a baby. She took a seat next to Arial, in full view of the rest of the theater, chatting for several minutes.
When she stood to leave, she said, “You are doing the right thing, my dear Lady Ransome. Facing down these ridiculous calumnies is your best option. It is unpleasant, I know, and takes courage, but I and my friends have seen that you have plenty of courage and are of good character, besides.”
She held out her hand to Peter. “You have found yourself a treasure, Lord Ransome. Young ladies who are beautiful on the outside are common enough in Society. Young ladies who are brave, wise, and honorable are much rarer—and my friend Cordelia Deerhaven assures me your wife is all three.”
Peter bowed and mimed a kiss above the back of the duchess’s hand. “I am fully sensible of how fortunate I am, Your Grace. My wife is a delight to my eyes as well as a true friend and partner.”
“Good answer,” the duchess replied. “Come along, Drew. Your father will wonder what is keeping us.”
Chapter Nineteen
The day theywent to Hyde Park and the theater proved to be the turning point. With people like Lady Deerhaven, the Almack patronesses, and the Duchess of Winshire showing their favor, the snide remarks, rescinded invitations, and public snubs ceased.
Undoubtedly, some people still chose to believe that Arial had purchased a husband because she could not get one by any other means, and that Peter had been greedy enough for her fortune he had been willing to take her along with it. That was close enough to the truth—if you left out the mitigating circumstances—to sting Arial’s pride a little. The growing affection between Arial and her husband, which the same people regarded as a public display with no substance, soothed the sting.
The Stancrofts had tried to reignite the public outrage against Arial, but their remarks had so incensed those who followed the lead of Society’s grand ladies, that they had retreated to their country estate.
As one of Arial’s new friends, Regina Paddimore, said, “Good riddance.”
The dowager Lady Ransome and the Turner sisters had been circumspect through the whole nasty business. If they had contributed to the gossip, they had been careful to do soaway from the public eye, and those they confided in had been unusually silent about their sources.
As for the Weatheralls, Miss Weatherall had agreed to break her betrothal at the end of the Season. John—Arial and her husband’s closest friend were on first name terms in private conversation—treated the Weatheralls with stiff courtesy in public, and his betrothed responded by flirting madly with her court. Arial assumed she hoped to find a replacement before the end of the betrothal. She doubted the split would come as a surprise to anyone.
Arial could admit to being selfishly glad it had lasted this long. According to Peter, John had told the two women he would publicly jilt Belinda if he found out either one had been speaking against Peter or his wife.
The end of May saw the couple still in London. Deerhaven had persuaded Peter to take an interest in the responses of the government to the disorder in the provinces. Peter sympathized with the need to address dangerous working conditions, and the economic hardship suffered by so many people throughout the country.
Deerhaven was a Foxite Whig, a member of the main Whig opposition. Peter was uneasy about some of the things espoused by the Whigs, but he agreed with their stand against the suspension ofhabeas corpus, and he had a deep sympathy for those labelled as seditious merely because they marched for reform.
He allowed Deerhaven to propose his name for several committees in the House of Lords.
While he was finding satisfaction in helping to run the country, Arial had cemented friendships with several ladies whose passion for helping people to a better life sparked her own philanthropic urges. She helped Lady Charmain raise money for a medical clinic in the slums. She, Mrs. Paddimore, and severalother ladies made baby clothes for poverty-stricken mothers in expectation of a blessed event. She even taught for an hour twice a week at a ragged school, finding that the little ones learning their letters first demanded an explanation of her mask and the tracery of scars, and then ignored them.
She missed Viv and Rose. The two girls had returned to Three Oaks with Miss Pettigrew. Peter had made the decision after several incidents in which children repeated the insults they had heard from adults, sending Viv into a fighting fury and reducing Rose to tears.
They had gone willingly when they found that the promised ponies had been found, purchased, and transported to Three Oaks, and were ready to meet their new owners. They wrote several times a week, and Arial wrote back. Peter twice rode down to visit and to attend to estate business, but both times, she had commitments that prevented her from traveling with him.
Arial and Peter had settled into a routine that she found vaguely disappointing. The nights were still bliss. But the promise of those first few weeks of their marriage had never quite been fulfilled. Peter was always willing, when he was available, to be her escort. He always treated her with courtesy and respect. But their commitments took them in different directions, and they seldom spoke of anything more gripping than the weather, what joint invitations they might accept and snippets of news from the girls.
Arial could barely wait for Parliament to go into recess. In four more weeks, they would be on their way to Three Oaks. Perhaps, in the more casual atmosphere of the country, she and Peter could recapture some of the closeness that she missed.
Breakfast was her favorite meal. Peter was often at Parliament at dinnertime, and frequently ate lunch at his club. Or Peter was at home, and Arial was out and about. Even whenthey were both at home at the same time, Clara was always with them. In the morning, Clara usually took a tray in her room, and Peter and Arial breakfasted alone together.
They would tell each other their plans for the day, perhaps arrange a place and time to meet if they were going to the same event and discuss anything in the early morning mail that was interesting enough to interrupt breakfast for.
The interruption to breakfast on the second Monday in June came not through the mail but in a letter hand delivered to Barlowe. “A groom from Three Oaks arrived with this a few minutes ago, my Lord. He has ridden through the night. I hope it is not bad news, sir?”
From Peter’s worried frown as he scanned the single page, it was bad news indeed. Arial reached out to put a hand on his arm, hoping to comfort him. He briefly covered his hand with his own. “Viv and Rose both have measles,” he said. “Miss Pettigrew thinks I should come.”
Arial stood. “I will order our baggage packed.”
Peter caught her hand, and she turned to look at him. “Arial, have you had measles?”
Arial frowned. “Not that I can remember. Nancy might know.” Nancy had been her mother’s maid before the fire, so she had known Arial a long time.
“I remember I had it when I was nine. You and your family were staying, and they wouldn’t let you visit me,” Peter said. “Check with Nancy, but if you have not had the disease, you had better stay here in London or go to Greenmount. I don’t want to risk you, Arial. Measles is dangerous enough for children, but it is worse for adults.”
Nancy confirmed that Arial had never had the illness, and she reluctantly agreed to remain behind. Peter set Barlowe to packing his bag while he called Sergeant Miller in to remind him of his responsibilities. Miller had been missing several timeswhen wanted—making up to a young woman, Barlowe said. Peter told the man to attend to his duty and leave flirting until his day off.
