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Chapter Twelve
The atmosphere between the Dowager Countess and Lady Josephine remained strained, but both women attempted to fake good feelings for each other. No one was fooled.
It was a simple question of doing one’s social duty, though. Lady Josephine tried to remind herself of her lord father’s advice to be diplomatic with the older woman, who might well see a newcomer as a threat to her own power.
It was now early April. With the Court presentation completed, the Dowager Countess’ attention turned to planning the wedding, which was scheduled for the last weekend in June. The marriage service would be celebrated at the very exclusive St. George’s Church in Hanover Square—a favorite of thehaut ton.And the date, set at the very end of that year’s Season, ensured that the Earl of Worthington and Lady Josephine’s nuptials would crown all preceding social events of the past year.
The wedding was less than twelve weeks away. Lady Josephine, dreading the prospect, tried not to notice how fast the days were passing. She focused on the wedding gown, the guest lists—anything but the marriage itself.
Lady Seraphina, who was supposed to be in charge of planning the wedding, found herself almost entirely supplanted by the Dowager Countess and the “Two Prus.” It was just as it had been before the Court presentation. Lady Josephine felt that the Worthingtons were trying to isolate her, little by little, from even her own family.
The Dowager Countess expected to hold the wedding breakfast at Worthington House. But on this matter, the Duke put his foot down; it was the prerogative of the bride’s family to host the wedding guests. So the staff at Clover House were put feverishly to work, cleaning and redecorating.
Not to be outdone, the Dowager Countess gave orders for Worthington House to receive the same treatment, for in the weeks leading up to the wedding, it was certain that the Dowager Countess and her daughters would also be entertaining many guests.
* * *
“I say,” the Earl complained to some of his friends at the Royal Navy Club, “Worthington House is just about unlivable these days. Every room I enter, there’s a maid with a mop and bucket or a fellow on a ladder changing the drapes. And it’s even worse at Clover House.
“What say we get away from it all and go down to Worthington Hall for a good, old-fashioned country weekend party? I may even be able to get the Prince Regent and his cronies to join us. Clover can get him, if I can’t. It would be quite the social coup, to have the Prince with us.”
“Not to mention that it would be quite entertaining to include some of the lovely ladies who travel in the Prince’s company,” one young buck said.
“Indeed! And will your lovely fiancée be joining us also?” asked one of the Earl’s aristocratic friends, arching his eyebrow.
“Well, I’d as soon leave her behind. I’ll be stuck with her long enough in life.” This drew an appreciative chuckle from the other men. “But I’m sure the Duke will want his daughter to be included...and he’s not likely to help me in getting the Prince to attend if I offend him.”
So the Earl sent an informal invitation to the Duke at The Wanderer’s Club, where His Grace typically spent his days. The Duke soon responded in the affirmative, both as to his own attendance and his willingness to talk His Royal Highness into joining them.
When next they met at Clover House, the Duke thanked the Earl for his kind invitation. “My only concern is that His Royal Highness needs me to do a small errand for him, which may involve a trip to France around that time. But the earldom of Worthington is tucked between Somerset and Dorset, is it not, right across the Channel from France? So I can easily arrange travel directly from there, if I must.”
The Earl said, “Another thing, Your Grace, I would very much like to have Lady Josephine attend also. We’ll be wed soon—she needs to get to know my circle of friends, and their wives too.”
“That sounds reasonable to me,” the Duke said. “Have you mentioned the invitation to Lady Josephine?”
“I thought I would ask you first. I didn’t think you’d mind her attendance—my sisters will be there to chaperone her. But, Your Grace, I don’t want that low-class boxer fellow to accompany her. I just don’t like the man.”
“You mean Mr. Smith?”
“Whatever his name is.”
“My lord, Josephine is still my daughter. She is not yet your wife. She is my responsibility. With the world in the state it’s currently in, I’m afraid my enemies might seek to harm me by harming my daughter. I must insist that Mr. Smith travels with Lady Josephine’s party of servants.”
“She can have Lady Hermione or Miss Duckworth—”
“Pshaw, my lord Earl! What could that pair of biddies do against armed men?”
“I am an admiral in the King’s Navy, Your Grace. I think that if I can protect our country from Napoleon Bonaparte, I can certainly protect my own fiancée.”
“Be that as it may, my lord, I will not put Josephine at risk. If she travels, Mr. Smith must be in her entourage. If it saves face for you, we can say he is serving as my valet during the trip, rather than referring to him as a bodyguard.”
The Earl muttered his dissatisfaction. But the Duke, for all his friendliness and congeniality, had a backbone of steel when he considered a matter to be important. And Lady Josephine’s life was certainly important. While the Duke may not think that having a husband with a bit of a bad temper really represented a threat to Josephine, after all, no doubt the pair would work out any hard feelings between themselves with some kisses and hugs! But the Duke’s enemies in wartime—those were the real threat.
* * *
If the resentment between Lady Josephine and her future mother-in-law was simmering below the surface at Clover House, then the anger between Ace and Lady Josephine was a roiling river of lava, ready to erupt.
Ace could not understand why Lady Josephine seemed to be so upset with him. Had he not jumped immediately to her defense when that cad, the Earl, had dared to strike her across the face? He knew His Grace had not hired him in order to protect Lady Josephine from the Earl. There were other, much more dangerous enemies out there.
