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“From watching Lady Napier at various events, it is clear that she is being hunted by those only interested in her wealth. Now this is hardly a rare happening but she is seen as easy pickings by those that know no better. There is no family to protect her. From an occasional comment, I know that she is finding the whole experience tiresome. That is why I invited her to dinner, it would allow her a chance to enjoy an evening. I am not sure how many of the evening events she truly enjoyed this season.

“While I am disappointed in your gaffe, much of the blame lies with me. I should have prepared you better. Andrew, Lady Napier arrived this season with the reputation of being nothing but a gold-digger, a fortune hunter who had struck lucky. But it was simply not the case. There is still no confirmation of how the two of them met but she loved her husband. When she talks of him there is an ever-present sense of sadness about her. I suspect that she still loves him.

“But all of that is background to her new life. She has gradually convinced the ladies of the Ton that she is in fact nothing like she was portrayed, and is exactly as she appears; a young widow, gentle-born and moving in society for the first time. And immediately she is being pursued by men, I will not grace them with the title gentlemen, who are exactly what she was presumed to be.”

The Countess leaned back and considered the situation.

“Your father and I will be in Bath over the summer, likely the whole of August and September, and you may join us if you wish. While we are there, it would not be presumptuous for me to visit Lady Napier. I will see if I can mend some fences for you but that will be up to her. She is not a simple debutante, you will have to listen to her, actually take into account her wishes, and her experiences. But perhaps most importantly you need to recognise that she is fed up with society, and the men in it. It will be up to you to change that perception, and I do not think it will be easy.”

Andrew stood before leaning down and kissing his mother on the cheek.

“Thank you. I will do a lot of thinking but my present plans now include joining you in Bath during the second half of the summer.”

He smiled ruefully.

“Can you believe that it was Richard who told me that I should talk to you.”

They chuckled as he left, neither of them any more aware than before of the quiet schism that was widening within the family. After all why bother? He was just the spare.

--

“You have done good work Fitzwilliam. These men are ready to join their comrades in arms and finally defeat the Corsican tyrant.”

“Thank you, sir. I will await the movement orders. Is it the south coast? Or over to Bristol?”

“Bristol for sure. France from the south coast is obviously shorter but we have had too many troops stuck in harbour, or worse at sea, because of the damn wind. The journey across to Bristol will complete their training, riding in formation, away from the comfort of a barracks. You will ride with them, remain in command of the squadrons until they embark and will then return to Horseguards, basing yourself at Hyde Park Barracks. You may take a spot of leave once they are safely embarked; shall we say a month?”

Richard heaved a sigh of relief when the General mounted up and headed back into London. It was clear the war was close to being won and he doubted that he would be assigned another group to train. There was no guarantee even these troops would be there in time to take part in the final battle.

Rather than head to the Mess he retired to his room in the officers’ block of the training barracks. Being granted leave was good, but he had no idea what he was going to do while on it. Spending time away from his family was necessary, he knew he was bitter with them and he needed to bring himself under better regulation. He doubted however, that he would completely extinguish the flames of jealousy.

Despite being a Cavalry officer Richard went for a walk, thinking about his future. It was already 1814, the war had lasted more than 20 years, his entire adult life. If Napoleon was finally defeated then what awaited him? As a member of the Cavalry there were many outposts of the empire where it was simply impossible for Cavalry. There were no regiments of them in the Sugar Islands, and the lands around the Caribbean Sea. None of the islands were large enough and the climate was ghastly for both men and beasts.

Other than Ireland, there were three main postings for the Cavalry regiments of the British Army. There were regiments in Canada and India, and there was talk of Australia. All three of them involved long sea voyages, Canada was several weeks and the other two were measured in months. His regiment might get sent there but they would have to purchase, train and ride local horses. Richard Fitzwilliam realised he was unenthused about any of these postings. He had served in both Canada and India, and Australia was even further away than the latter. That left Ireland, ‘supporting the civilian authorities’, and he had no wish to be embroiled in that mess.

Which brought him back to the present, walking Hounslow Heath thinking about life after more than 15 years in the Army. Nothing had changed for him, he still needed to marry a woman who brought wealth to the arrangement. He had no title, he was nothing but the spare, but surely he had sufficient cachet to interest a wealthy young woman. Thinking of such women his bitterness bubbled to the surface. His mother had guided such a person through her first season in society, but apparently her younger son was not considered eligible enough for her.

His mood lightened. He knew that Lady Napier’s estate was near Bath. Once his final escort assignment was complete, he would spend his leave in Bath. The family would not be in residence until later in the summer, which left the field clear for July.

It was time to stop being passive and actually call upon a young woman.

--

Somethings never changed with George Wickham. He was still as bad as ever at cards, and once again had to skip town to escape debts of honour. He had left without a word to anyone while a Lieutenant in the Militia, and thus was officially a deserter. Somehow he had dragged Denny down with him and the two of them had absconded early one morning.

But Brighton had not been all bad for Wickham. On one of the rare occasions when he won at cards, the officer in the Regulars had been due to deploy the next morning and could not settle his debt. Wickham was not happy to miss out on some much needed funds and instead had to settle for a note from the man. Wickham had been granted permission to stay on one of the family’s secondary estates. It was not meant to be an open-ended offer but on reading the letter the next morning it appeared that way. Neither man had been sober the night before and so Wickham tucked the letter away, he had no other choice.

After having deserted, he and Denny made their way to Saltford, four miles to the west of Bath. The manor was derelict and the Steward reluctantly allowed them to stay in a small cottage. It was ideal for the two of them as it was sufficiently isolated to stop casual visitors but close enough to the farmhouse kitchen for them to eat easily.

“What are we going to do George?”

“We have ditched the Militia uniforms, we are nothing more than a couple of respectable gentlemen. There are plenty gentlemen hanging around Bath, we will not stand out. We have a base here, quiet, out of the way, and no one to ask any questions. The Captain is on the Peninsula and may be there for years.”

“How do we make some money?”

“The same way we got these clothes, we take it.”

“I understand that, but how?”