“She invited Rebecca and me to have tea with her on Tuesday.” Amy turned suddenly to Rebecca. “You will indeed go and not make your excuses at the last minute? You will not leave me?”
“I would not dare refuse,” Rebecca replied with a small laugh.
“Such an honor.” Marianne looked truly happy for her, but the wistful look was back on Hannah’s face.
“I do envy you. I hear she knows Monsieur Voltaire personally. How I would like to hear her stories.”
“It is not for nothing that Spa is called theCafé de l’Europe. My mother is one of her admirers, which is how we were introduced.” Rebecca smiled at Hannah. “As for me, I would rather be spared the honor. I think I might faint from nerves.”
“I might faint as well,” Amy said in heartfelt accents. She allowed herself to turn slightly and follow James’s progress as they drew level at a distance. Miss Prexley said something in his ear,and they both glanced back at her in a way that made her think they had seen the princess honor Amy with her attention.
Mr. Lambert had bid their father farewell, and Mr. Bridwell joined them, his brow furrowed with discomfort. She was momentarily distracted by the look on his face and the fact that he was not improving despite the cure. If he did not find relief in Spa, how would he manage the rest of the tour—or even his life in England? He was too young to be so troubled by rheumatism.
“Amy and Miss Bainesworth are having tea with the Princess Orlova on Tuesday,” Marianne announced, pulling Amy’s thoughts to the more immediate matter.
“Is that so?” Mr. Bridwell was momentarily diverted. “Perhaps she will wish to invite me, as well, for I certainly have many interesting things to tell her. My treatise on the life-dependent nature of moss is near completion, for instance.”
Amy exchanged a look of alarm with her sisters, and Marianne’s eyes crinkled with amusement.
“It would not be proper, Papa,” Hannah explained patiently. “The invitation is for ladies only.”
“Ah, very true,” he said, giving up the plan, much to Amy’s relief.
She little knew what she would say to the princess when the moment came, but she would not easily forget having been singled out by this mark of favor. She might one day end up being nothing more than the beloved spinster aunt of her sisters’ children, but she would have taken tea with a princess.
Chapter 13
James suffered from a troubled conscience. It had come upon him slowly in the weeks Amy had been in Spa and had been strengthened when he had seen her in the Parc de Quatre-Heures. He was coming to the conviction that he had not done right by her all those years ago. After the shock of their first meetings, he was left to sort through what could have brought her to Spa and back into his sphere. In those encounters, he had viewed himself in the light of the party wronged. After all, it was what he had strongly believed the night of Mrs. Waiting’s ball, and nothing in the course of the years following it had altered his perception. Had he not proposed to her? Had he not defied his father and offered Amy his heart and his hand despite all obstacles? He had! And she had repaid him by calling his plan foolish and then publicly accepting to marry another man.
However, James was becoming increasingly dissatisfied over the way he had handled the affair of his youth. There was an element of injustice, he found, when he looked back on his accusation and treatment of her. He could now own that she had been waylaid by the announcement the night of Mrs. Waiting’s ball. Even a woman twice as forthright as she would have found such public pressure difficult to counter, and Amy had always possessed a reserved nature. James had never admitted to her,or even to himself, that the predicament she had found herself in had been difficult to overcome.
And he had never apologized for giving up so easily. The hurt he felt six years ago had caused him to act in a hotheaded manner, and in the impetuousness of youth, he had shoved her entirely out of his mind. Now, having had some years to mature, he had come to view the situation differently.
It would be good to apologize to Amy, he decided. He could not repair the past, but it would bring a sense of closure to the attachment he had shared with her. With this done, he could move forward and build a life in Spa with his betrothed.
Isabel wore his pendant whenever he saw her, but the memory of their conversation in the Capuchin garden removed any contentment he might otherwise feel. Her supposed jest that she was waiting for his great-aunt Mary to die had been the most offensive, but even her request for another piece of jewelry after he had just bestowed one upon her had been difficult to swallow. He had to remember that she was still young and deserved forbearance until she matured. The fact that she scarcely traveled outside of Spa had left her with insecurity, he reasoned, which likely caused her to act in such a way. If he treated her with more attention, she was likely to outgrow this. Their friendship and intimacy would surely deepen with careful cultivation, would it not?
James decided he would attempt to spend more time with Isabel and see if they might begin working toward a greater understanding. He was on the point of leaving his rooms and going to La Redoute to that end. If she was not there, he would seek out the company of gentlemen and perhaps a game of cards. The light repast taken in his own rooms might be a frugal choice, but with no patients to visit, he was eager for company.
When he exited onto the street, Morry was just reaching the entrance to his inn. He smiled when he saw James. “The very man I came to find.”
“I am glad to hear it, for I was going out in search of some amusement.” James pushed the door closed. “What is it?”
Morry gestured in the direction of the watermill at the base of the Hôtel Waldeck. “My aunt and uncle have a carriage waiting near the bridge to take us to visit Waux-Hall, if you are so inclined. They have invested in the project and are to be given a tour of the nearly finished hall. I thought you’d like to come.”
“I would indeed.” James adjusted his pace at Morry’s side. “I cross the hall nearly every day on my way back from the sources. If the inside is as pleasing as its exterior, I believe it will become very popular.”
“More divertissements in Spa must always be welcome, I suppose.”
They reached the carriage, and James greeted Mr. and Mrs. Dearden, Morry’s aunt and uncle, with whom he had exchanged words only a handful of times. They spoke of the thaw in the weather and how the Promenade de Sept-Heures was likely to resume its evening concerts soon. This led to speculation on how frequently there would be outdoor concerts now that there was a new assembly hall. The carriage circled around the back of Waux-Hall and drove along the curved, treelined driveway, depositing them under the covered passageway. James helped Mrs. Dearden to alight and followed the older couple through the nearest doorway. Sounds of other visitors echoed from within the empty hall, and they walked toward it, stopping at the foot of a large wooden stairwell with a decorative iron balustrade. Two gentlemen stood beside it.
“Mesdames et messieurs!”
One of the men called everyone’s attention and waited until the groups milling in other rooms returned to the main hall. Miss Bainesworth appeared through one doorway, followed by Marianne. James’s heart stilled at the sight of the latter, for it meant Amy might also have come. When she entered the hall last, their eyes locked.
“Mesdames et messieurs,” the gentleman said again. “As promised, we will begin the tour of Waux-Hall, a privileged early view for those with enough foresight to invest in this excellent establishment, and for their particular friends. You must not expect all the rooms to be ready in time for the June twelfth opening. We will pass through them, but our attention will be centered on the ballroom, which is nearly completed.”
James glanced at Amy again, but she had her eyes on the speaker. Neither Mr. Bridwell nor Hannah was present. Perhaps he would be given a chance to speak to her here. It seemed as good a place as any, for it was away from the prying eyes of her father and Isabel.
