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“It is not my place to disclose the amount of your dowry, my lady.”
“Whose place is it, sir?” she demanded.
“Why, your guardian’s place, of course. Your father named Mr. Adam Savage as your legal guardian, and it is his permission you must seek on any and every matter. As must your brother.”
“You mean this stranger on the other side of the world rules what we can and cannot do? That is preposterous! I shall write to my mother immediately and inform her this is intolerable.”
“Your mother cannot alter the law, my dear. Your father’s will would have to be contested to change the situation.”
“I see,” she said with quiet resignation. “This Savage person can interfere in my life any way he wishes. Lord Lamb needs money. Will he really have to go begging hat in hand to this Savage?” Antonia asked with distaste.
“My dear lady, Mr. Adam Savage is in total control of the purse strings, so much so that he could spend the money himself, if he so desired.”
Antonia’s mouth fell open. Well, if that was the case, she’d damn well spend his money and see how he liked it! A diabolical plan regarding Edenwood began to form in her mind.
When Antonia returned to Curzon Street, Frances Jersey was ensconced in the salon with Roz. “Antonia, I’m so sorry you’ve been deprived of your season. It’s such an advantage to begin husband hunting at sixteen.”
“Men! I’d like to shoot the lot of them,” Antonia announced, removing her hat and stabbing it with her hatpin.
“Roz, you’ve prepared her beautifully for society. Men deserve to be treated like dogs.”
“Speaking of which, what’s that puppy, the Prince of Wales, been up to lately?” Roz asked.
“Well, you recall how he escaped from under the tyranny of the King last summer by taking refuge with his uncle, the disreputable Duke of Cumberland?”
“Yes, at that seaside place with the peculiar name, Brighthelmstone,” Roz said, nodding.
“Well, the Prince has taken a house for the summer and the place has become so popular that on weekends London is positively deserted. They have even changed the name to Brighton.”
“Seawater is supposed to have therapeutic qualities, but it didn’t do a thing for George’s swollen glands. I hear he’s taken to wearing high neckcloths to disguise it,” Roz said.
“Yes, and wouldn’t you just know it, high neckcloths have become the latest rage, just as Brighton has. The smart set rushes coastward to be cured like tongues dipped in brine,” quipped Frances.
“We know the real attraction is the disreputable Cum-berlands,” Roz stated flatly.
“Why are they disreputable?” Antonia asked, becoming caught up in their conversation.
“The King’s brother Cumberland has gone from one scandal to another all his life,” explained Roz. “It all came to a head when he had an affair with Lady Grosvenor and Lord Grosvenor discovered the filthy letters he wrote her. Grosvenor brought an action against Cumberland and was awarded thirteen thousand pounds. It was the first time a prince of the blood appeared in divorce court.”
Lady Jersey took up the tale. “Did Henry Frederick learn his lesson? Not a bit of it. He up and wed that young adventuress Anne Horton. She had a wide experience and eyelashes a yard long. She got him banished from Court. … It was because of her the King got the Marriage Act passed. No one in the Royal Family may marry without permission of the King.”
“It’s precisely because the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland are banished from Court that the Prince spends so much time with them. He hates and detests his father and will do anything to send him off into another fit of madness.”
“Roz dear,” said Frances Jersey, “it’s no wonder he hates his father. The King raised his children in that abominable Teutonic manner. The boy’s tutors were such cruel disciplinarians that the Prince of Wales’s teacher used a dog whip on him. Is it any wonder his neck is permanently swollen and he escaped to his disreputable uncle!”
“The Princesses fare no better. None of them is permitted into society and none of them may marry. Wags refer to St. James’s as the Nunnery,” Roz lamented.
Frances Jersey laughed. “Too bad the girls aren’t allowed a visit to their uncle. They’d soon learn debauchery as George did. Actually,” Lady Jersey confided, “Henry Frederick is charming, witty, and deliciously amoral, no wonder the Prince is completely under his spell.”
“How was the Duchess of Devonshire’s ball?” Roz asked.
“The usual dice, dancing, crowding, sweating, and stinking in abundance! The Earl of Bristol’s false teeth are made of Egyptian pebbles. They look positively squalid. No wonder he carries a fan.”
“Ugh,” Roz shuddered. “Why can’t he wear the new porcelain with the paste from Wedgwood? How is dearest Georgiana? I must call on her before I leave London.”
“You’ll never catch her at home. You’ll find her at that new toy shop in Fleet Street buying loaded dice. Her gambling debts are even higher than her bosom friend’s, the Prince, though her beauty still has every beau in London at her feet. Everyone goes to the toy shop to make assignations.”
“Was our friend Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, at Georgiana’s ball?” Roz asked eagerly.
