This, Georgiana felt, put her in a bit of a quandary. Would it be right to discuss a murder with the queen?
But then, if she did not wish to hear of it, she would not have asked. She decided she’d just better tell the story as it was.
After she’d ended, the queen said, “I see, so it was the three round circles of blood that gave it away as they could not have been made by anything else but the bottom of a cane.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Georgiana said.
“Very clever,” the queen said. “Well, Lady Mendleton, it appears you have chosen well as the first out of the gate with this new society of yours. I will be interested to hear of what match is made as a result of it.”
The queen then turned her teacup with the handle facing the waiting butler and rose.
Georgiana gently roused the dogs and placed their sleepy heads on the settee so she might rise herself. Their visit was over and it had gone better than she had even dared to hope.
*
Jasper had beendiligent in reading all the newspapers each morning and so far there was no mention of the king’s alleged obsession with lamb and venison and abhorrence of beef and chicken. This came as a great relief and he began to think himself a bit nonsensical in imagining Miss Wilcox to be a spy of some sort. Or more outrageous, a spy for the Stuarts. It began to seem ludicrous, really. She was just a young lady recently come to Town from the countryside.
He especially began to be convinced of it after seeing the queen. Queen Charlotte was utterly confident of Miss Wilcox being an innocent, as proven by her dear dogs’ trust in the lady. Some might have thought that a silly notion, but Jasper did not. Hedidthink dogs had rather good instincts. They did not become influenced by pretty speeches, but they paid close attention with other senses.
Years ago, at the estate, he had noticed his father’s hunting dogs shying away from one of their handlers. The dogs never did seem to get used to him. Some time later, the fellow was found to be on the run from a heinous crime—he had poisoned his wife and fled his village. He had managed to take on a new identity and brought with him forged references. The dogs had understood that there was something to fear in him all along, though the fellow came off as extremely mild mannered.
He also knew the queen’s two Pomeranians well enough. They were highly unpleasant personalities, and so Miss Wilcox having found a way to befriend them certainly said something.
Having put aside his suspicions, he began to allow some other feelings to grow. She really was quite marvelous. Did she thinkhimmarvelous, though? That he could not tell. There seemed to be something between them, some spark, but he could not be absolutely certain. And then, if he were to begin to court her, it was rather awkward that they lived in the same house. He had always presumed that when he’d decided to go forward with such a procedure, he’d begin by calling on the lady.
Though, as shedidlive in the house, he’d found he enjoyed their nights in and had begun to give up going to his club so much. Their small family dinners seemed to please everybody and there had grown an ease between them all. Though she was only recently known to the family, it seemed as if she had always belonged there. Miss Wilcox was exceedingly kind and respectful of his mother and she expertly entertained his father by asking him questions about his horses. And, well, when she looked at him directly or laughed at something he said…it was all rather wonderful.
He also found that he began accepting invitations that he normally would not, after hearing that his mother had accepted them on Miss Wilcox’s behalf.
But now, those interesting family dinners were becoming far less regular than they had been. The queen had told several people of a gossiping nature that Miss Wilcox was found to be charming and had been well-received. This had made the lady suddenly very popular and everybody wished to see her.
He found he could not like this development. He also found himself wondering if he were going to do something firm about Miss Wilcox. If he were, might he not have to do it soon? How long would it be, now that she had found such favor, before some other gentleman would swoop in?
He realized he had counted on her rather uninspired background to put off a horde of admirers. But he also realized that had been a mistake. Even without the queen’s approval, who could ignore the lady? She was so beautiful and clever and unburdened with pretense!
He had also begun to notice that Lord Asturt was becoming a regular visitor to the house and could not like it at all. That fellow was no match for the lady! Asturt was extremely presumptuous if he’d got that notion in his head.
This evening, Lady Featherstone hosted a ball. Jasper was at once determined to secure Miss Wilcox for supper, and wondering if people would note it as saying something. Wouldshenote it as saying something? If she did, what would be her view of it? Then, of course, there was his mother who was still firmly set on Lady Annabelle. It was one thing to escort Miss Wilcox into supper at Ryland’s ball. Lady Mendleton had been approving of that, as it had been Miss Wilcox’s first outing. But how would she view it this time?
He wished to declare some sort of intention, and at the same time declare nothing. He well knew he was being rather a dunderhead about it, but then he had never found himself so affected by a lady. He supposed all men were dunderheads in similar circumstances.
*
Far more hadbeen made of Georgiana’s triumph over the queen than she would ever have thought possible. She had, of course, expected Lady Mendleton to be pleased, as that had been her primary goal. But then it seemed that the meeting had been made public, as the queen herself put it about that she highly approved of the ladies’ new society upon meeting the clever Miss Wilcox.
This had caused an avalanche of invitations to arrive at the door, as Georgiana discovered that whoever the queen even slightly favored was favored by all. She could not help feeling rather a fraud about it, as all she’d really done was put a handkerchief dabbed in mutton grease in her bodice.
As for Lady Mendleton, the development was both thrilling and fraught with difficulties. There was no possible way to accept all the invitations, as so many conflicted with one another. She did not wish to insult anybody, but decisions had to be made. She comforted herself with assuaging anybody’s hurt feelings with an invitation to the ball she would host herself some weeks forward. As far as Georgiana understood it, this had grown the guest list to rather enormous proportions and there were many on it that Lady Mendleton would not have initially considered, and some she did not even particularly care for.
This evening, though, it had been no great matter to decide where they would go. Lady Featherstone, one of the ladies of the society and a dear friend to Lady Mendleton, hosted a ball.
Georgiana had been gratified that Lord Langley would come to it, though he went on horseback and not in their carriage. She did not know why he should do so, but perhaps it was for the best. Though she had worked very hard to put the gentleman from her mind, she had not been all that successful.
Their quiet dinners in, though not as often as they had been, were such a delight! Something was growing between them, she was certain of it. And, while it was wonderful, it was also terrible.
It could not be!
Lord Langley would never marry a lady with her middling background. Lady Mendleton would never approve of it. Not just on account of Lady Annabelle, though that particular lady still seemed highly favored, but on account of her having much grander plans for her eldest son. Georgiana might be many things, but she was not grand. Not even Queen Charlotte’s approval could make her so.
