Natalya had not even noticed that Freddie had gone. She hastened to assure her friends that was not the case, but they did not wish to believe her.
‘What a wasted opportunity, Lya,’ Jane commiserated with her. ‘If you had planned it better, you might have had a good twenty minutes alone with him! It is too late now, Mr and Mrs Pridham are already making their way over and they will make sure you have no occasion to speak to him privately.’
‘You appear to be on very good terms with Lord Dalmorren,’ Laura observed.
‘She needs to be, if she is to marry his nephew,’ opined Jane. ‘After all, we know the Pridhams will do all they can to oppose the match. Not that that will matter after Saturday, will it, Lya? Because that is your birthday and you will be one-and-twenty. Then you will not need their permission!’
‘Well, I do not know how you can bear it,’ declared Laura. ‘To be constantly escorted wherever you go and not to be allowed to stand up for more than two dances with a gentleman.’
‘She did manage to dance several times with Freddie when Mrs Ancrum escorted her to the Assembly Rooms,’ Jane pointed out.
‘Yes, but then poor Lya was locked in her room for a whole week,’ exclaimed Laura. ‘You were probably fed on bread and water!’
Natalya laughed. ‘No, no, it was nothing like that, I assure you!’
Jane touched her arm, saying eagerly, ‘But we have hit upon a plan to rid you of your chaperons, Lya, at least for an afternoon. We are holding another sketching party at Royal Crescent on Thursday next. Mama will speak to Mrs Pridham and tell her you will be collected and returned in our own carriage, so there will be no need for you to be accompanied by your dragon of a maid.’
‘Aggie is not a dragon, Jane!’
‘But you will not deny the Pridhams have instructed her to keep a close watch on you,’ said Laura. She leaned closer, her eyes shining. ‘What will you do, when you attain your majority—will you run off and marry Freddie?’
‘No, of course not!’
‘Well, that is what everyone is saying will happen,’ retorted Miss Grisham, pouting.
‘Oh, Jane, surely you do not expect Natalya to tell us her plans!’ exclaimed Laura, laughing. ‘Or Freddie, either.’
‘We have no plans,’ Natalya insisted, flustered. ‘Now can we please talk of something else?’
Tristan gave Mrs Ancrum his arm to walk the short distance from the carriage to the chairs set out for the comfort of the more elderly members of the party.
‘I am glad to see young Erwin doesn’t sit in Natalya’s pocket,’ she remarked, nodding to the three young ladies sitting together. ‘I hear Pridham refused to allow the boy to make an offer.’
‘Really, ma’am? How did you come to hear that?’
‘Now don’t you fly up into the boughs, my lord! You know how word spreads in Bath, there’s no stopping it. Everyone knows your nephew is dangling after Natalya.’
Tristan said cautiously, ‘Perhaps Miss Fairchild does not wish to marry him.’
‘If that was the case, then I think she would have given him an indication of it! Natalya is not one to give a young man false hope.’
He did not reply. Having observed Freddie and Natalya all day, he was not at all convinced there was a strong attachment between them, but he knew he could no longer trust his own judgement. He did not want Freddie and Natalya to be in love and for the most selfish of reasons.
‘Ah, do sit down and join us, Mrs Ancrum,’ Mr Grisham waved and called out as Tristan approached with his companion. ‘We are talking of the imminent arrival of the Allied Sovereigns. It is little more than a week away now.’ He turned to his neighbour. ‘No doubt you will be going, Mr Pridham?’
‘No, sir. We remain in Bath. I have no interest in these visiting foreign dignitaries.’
‘Have you not?’ Mrs Grisham fluttered her fan. ‘Oh, that surprises me, sir, because I recall Mrs Pridham telling me she has a relative working at one of the embassies. What a spectacle it will be, I am sure. I vow I am so excited that we are able to go and to have obtained rooms overlooking the procession route, too!’
‘Aye, we was quite fortunate there.’ Her husband chuckled. ‘It was not cheap, but Jane and my dear lady were adamant that we should go!’
‘I was,’ affirmed Mrs Grisham, ‘but I was also determined that we should not miss dear Natalya’s birthday party. We intend to set off the following morning.’
‘Oh, never say you will travel on a Sunday,’ exclaimed Mrs Pridham, looking shocked.
‘I am afraid it cannot be helped,’ Mr Grisham told her. ‘It is nigh on a hundred miles and cannot be done comfortably in a day. We need to be in town by Monday evening to see the procession on Tuesday.’ He laughed. ‘I only hope the royal party is not delayed in France.’
‘Well, I confess I shall be very happy to remain in Bath,’ declared Mrs Pridham. ‘The crowds in London will be quite unbearable, everyone bustling for a view of the Allied Sovereigns. I believe there are any number of entertainments arranged for them.’
‘To say nothing of various visits out of London, including Oxford, I believe,’ added Mr Grisham.
‘Good heavens,’ declared Mrs Ancrum, laughing. ‘I hope they all have strong constitutions so they are not laid up from the crossing!’
Having escorted Mrs Ancrum to her chair and brought her a glass of wine, Tristan moved away to sit down beside Natalya.
He said, ‘With the Grishams going to London, perhaps you regret now that you do not go.’
‘Not at all. Jane has promised to write to me and I shall enjoy hearing all about it.’
‘And there will be reports in the newspapers.’
She laughed. ‘I do not think we shall lack descriptions of all the celebrations! But I dislike crowds and pomp and London
