Page 139 of The Mistress of Ashmore Castle

The prince, in morning coat and grey trousers with a white camellia in his lapel, looked by far the more nervous of the two, but Giles was both touched and a little uneasy to note that his mother seemed not her usual monument of icy calm, but just a little fluttered. In consequence, she seemed younger and, to his astonishment, almost beautiful. As she was a widow, there were no bridesmaids, but Rachel had a new dress of pale blue trimmed with narrow white fur, and a wide upturned hat of pale blue filled with wax flowers, and would have been very pretty if it weren’t for her beaten-down look.

The carriages were sent for. Outside the church a crowd of locals had gathered despite the cold, to cheer and wave handkerchiefs for ‘their’ prince, marrying at last. He paused on the steps to wave back, his eyes full of tears. Giles thought he was moved by the tribute, though it might just have been the cold wind making them water.

The service was long and, of course, in German, and the church was cold. The small number of guests made it seem overlarge, echoing and unwelcoming. Kitty, her hands deep in the sable muff, tried to concentrate on the moment, but her mind kept drifting back to that very, very warm and downy bed, and Giles, and the thought that they were to have two more nights in it.

After the service and the cold church, it was back to the lovely warm house and the wedding feast that the servants had been preparing while they were out. The best of the local families had been invited, for even a small wedding must be celebrated, and the nuptials of an Usingen were of import beyond his family. In the great hall there was room for all to stand and chat and drink champagne, before being called to the dining-table.

Giles, glass in hand, did his best to circulate and talk to everyone, aware that as head of the bride’s family he had certain responsibilities. Soon he came up against Uncle Stuffy, already on his third glass, and looking mellow.

’Extraordinary thing of Maud’s, this,’ Stuffy said, by way of greeting. ‘Getting married again. I mean, I’m in favour of marriage in general, but she’s already done it once – you’d think she’d have had enough, after your father.’

‘Perhaps it’s a case of love,’ Giles said, not entirely ironically. The prince, standing by the fire with his bride, holding court, looked to be in rapture, while Maud seemed fairly pleased with herself, and certainly had a bit of colour in her cheeks.

‘Even if they like each other, marriage is going a bit far,’ Stuffy said. ‘I’ve overheard some of the locals on the subject – they’re not too pleased, given Usingen’s never been married before and has no heir. The heir presumptive is some cousin called Adelbert, or some such name, who’s not popular, and they’ve been hoping Usingen would bring home some rosy Gretchen in breeding prime. But Maud – if she’s not past child-bearing already, she soon will be.’

Giles was uncomfortable with this line of conversation and changed the subject. ‘What can you have been doing in Italy all this time?’

Uncle Stuffy’s face took on a smile that was not just serene, but almost smug. ‘Italy’s lovely at any time of year,’ he said. His eyes twinkled, as though he was enjoying a joke at Giles’s expense. ‘As you ought to know – spent enough time there, haven’t you?’

‘I didn’t go for idle pleasure. I was studying,’ Giles pointed out. ‘And working.’

‘Nothing idle about pleasure, if you go about it properly. Takes it out of you. But in any case, I was working. Seeing to the renovating of m’ house in Venice. Got into a bit of a poor state over the years, from neglect.’

‘I didn’t even know until this year that you had a house in Venice. You never went there, did you?’

‘Forgotten about it.’

‘How can you forget an entire palace?’

‘Shan’t do so again.’

‘And what will you do with it when you have renovated it?’

‘Oh, something will occur, I expect,’ he said, his eye wandering. It fell upon his niece. ‘What’s going to happen to little Rachel, now Maud’s married? How does her step-papa feel about her?’

‘An odd thought. It hadn’t occurred to me before that Usingen is her step-papa,’ Giles said. ‘She’s not looking very happy about any of this.’

‘No, she’s very mumpish, poor child. But he’s as rich as Croesus, I understand, and well-connected. If he exerts himself to get her a husband, I can’t see how he’d fail. He might even stump up a dowry for her.’

‘It’s not his job to do that,’ Giles said, crossly because he was sensitive on that subject.

‘Well, it’s not yours any more,’ Uncle Stuffy said, clapped Giles’s shoulder, and eased himself away through the throng.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Mr Bland sank half of the pint in one extended swallow, as though he had a long thirst to satisfy. Sebastian took only a sip at his. He enjoyed a glass of local Brakspear’s ale by the river when he was at his house in Henley, but he had no idea where this stuff came from. It had an acrid taste that went with its yellowish hue. The random thought came to him that it probably looked much the same when it left the body as it did going in.

The other denizens of the Blue Posts seemed to be quaffing it without distress; but probably they had other priorities than taste.

Bland wiped his mouth and said, ‘Well, sir, you’ll be pleased to know I have found your quarry.’

Sebastian felt a little bolt of shock in his stomach. So it was starting at last! ‘Indeed? That’s good news.’

‘The trail was a long and twisted one – I don’t suppose you want all the details?’

‘You may cut the to end. Where is he?’

‘In Brighton, where a lot of London villains end up, in my experience. They seem to feel they can hide there almost as well as in the Smoke, and find clients just as ready for fleecing. I don’t know if you are acquainted with Brighton at all, sir?’