Hannah steeled herself to forget the nastiness of her tormentors. This was a moment to treasure.
The Prince of Wales entered. He was fat and florid, his hair teased and curled all over his head, and hiswatery blue eyes looking haughtily about. Lord Alistair realized that the prince was in a bad humour and wished suddenly he had not brought Hannah. Although the prince had been amused by Lord Alistair’s account of events, he had the fault of believing only the last person who spoke to him. Lord Alistair had a sinking feeling that some malicious gossip had given the prince an unflattering picture of this Miss Pym.
The prince came down the line, stopping here and there to exchange a few words, followed by Lord Southern. He came to a halt in front of Lord Alistair, looked at Hannah and at the sparkle of her diamonds, and said, ‘That female ain’t here, is she?’
In a colourless voice, Lord Alistair said, ‘May I present Miss Hannah Pym, Your Highness.’
Hannah sank into a court curtsy. The prince scowled down at her. Hannah raised her eyes to his. The prince saw they were full of tears. ‘Why do you cry, hey?’ he snapped.
‘Oh, sire,’ said Hannah Pym. ‘I am overcome with emotion. This night I have met England.’
The scowl left the prince’s face, for in Hannah’s eyes was simple adoration and that was something the touchy, oversensitive prince was not used to seeing in the eyes of his subjects. He forgot that he had recently heard that this Miss Pym was as common as the barber’s chair and had been putting about that he was in love with her. His fat cheeks creased in a flattered smile and he slowly held out his arm.
There was a little gasp, someone let out a slow hissof surprise, and the dazed Hannah took the royal arm and was led forward. At the head of the line, the prince turned and faced Hannah. ‘Now you can tell everyone you walked with royalty,’ he said indulgently.
‘If I could die now,’ said Hannah fervently, ‘I would die happy. I have long worshipped you from afar, sire.’
‘Tol-rol!’ said the prince dismissively, but highly delighted. ‘We are pleased to meet a lady of such character and breeding.’ He signalled to his friends and courtiers, who clustered around him as he was led away. Lady Jenks, a friend of Mrs Cambridge, whispered in her ear, ‘Did you hear that ? Do you not think now the original rumour was true? He called her a lady of character and breeding. And look at the way her footman dared to abuse us!’
Hannah sat down again by the edge of the ballroom in a happy daze. The dowager beside her smiled and said, ‘I have not had the pleasure of your acquaintance . Miss Pym, is it not?’
But before Hannah could reply, she found she was being asked to dance by Lord Southern himself, Lord Southern who had only given her two fingers to shake on her arrival, and yet who now seemed to wish to mark her out for special attention.
Hannah was still wrapped in rosy clouds of glory. The only thing that marred her pleasure was that she was a childless spinster. What a tale to tell grandchildren before a winter’s fire! She did not even notice that Lord Alistair had taken Lady Beatrice on to the floor.
Lord Alistair had noticed that Sir Geoffrey Handford, who had arrived late, was approaching Lady Beatrice in a threatening way, and something had moved him to prevent her from being faced with a nasty scene. The dance was another country one and took quite half an hour to perform, and Lord Alistair had the satisfaction of seeing Sir Geoffrey stride off to the card-room.
There was not much opportunity for conversation during the figures of the dance, but afterwards, as was the custom, Lord Alistair promenaded with Lady Beatrice round the floor.
‘Our Miss Pym is in high alt,’ said Lady Beatrice. ‘What did she say to make our sulky Prinny take such a liking to her?’
‘She treated him with all the reverence normally accorded to a saint and he reacted favourably. It is
The Prince of Wales entered. He was fat and florid, his hair teased and curled all over his head, and hiswatery blue eyes looking haughtily about. Lord Alistair realized that the prince was in a bad humour and wished suddenly he had not brought Hannah. Although the prince had been amused by Lord Alistair’s account of events, he had the fault of believing only the last person who spoke to him. Lord Alistair had a sinking feeling that some malicious gossip had given the prince an unflattering picture of this Miss Pym.
The prince came down the line, stopping here and there to exchange a few words, followed by Lord Southern. He came to a halt in front of Lord Alistair, looked at Hannah and at the sparkle of her diamonds, and said, ‘That female ain’t here, is she?’
In a colourless voice, Lord Alistair said, ‘May I present Miss Hannah Pym, Your Highness.’
Hannah sank into a court curtsy. The prince scowled down at her. Hannah raised her eyes to his. The prince saw they were full of tears. ‘Why do you cry, hey?’ he snapped.
‘Oh, sire,’ said Hannah Pym. ‘I am overcome with emotion. This night I have met England.’
The scowl left the prince’s face, for in Hannah’s eyes was simple adoration and that was something the touchy, oversensitive prince was not used to seeing in the eyes of his subjects. He forgot that he had recently heard that this Miss Pym was as common as the barber’s chair and had been putting about that he was in love with her. His fat cheeks creased in a flattered smile and he slowly held out his arm.
There was a little gasp, someone let out a slow hissof surprise, and the dazed Hannah took the royal arm and was led forward. At the head of the line, the prince turned and faced Hannah. ‘Now you can tell everyone you walked with royalty,’ he said indulgently.
‘If I could die now,’ said Hannah fervently, ‘I would die happy. I have long worshipped you from afar, sire.’
‘Tol-rol!’ said the prince dismissively, but highly delighted. ‘We are pleased to meet a lady of such character and breeding.’ He signalled to his friends and courtiers, who clustered around him as he was led away. Lady Jenks, a friend of Mrs Cambridge, whispered in her ear, ‘Did you hear that ? Do you not think now the original rumour was true? He called her a lady of character and breeding. And look at the way her footman dared to abuse us!’
Hannah sat down again by the edge of the ballroom in a happy daze. The dowager beside her smiled and said, ‘I have not had the pleasure of your acquaintance . Miss Pym, is it not?’
But before Hannah could reply, she found she was being asked to dance by Lord Southern himself, Lord Southern who had only given her two fingers to shake on her arrival, and yet who now seemed to wish to mark her out for special attention.
Hannah was still wrapped in rosy clouds of glory. The only thing that marred her pleasure was that she was a childless spinster. What a tale to tell grandchildren before a winter’s fire! She did not even notice that Lord Alistair had taken Lady Beatrice on to the floor.
Lord Alistair had noticed that Sir Geoffrey Handford, who had arrived late, was approaching Lady Beatrice in a threatening way, and something had moved him to prevent her from being faced with a nasty scene. The dance was another country one and took quite half an hour to perform, and Lord Alistair had the satisfaction of seeing Sir Geoffrey stride off to the card-room.
There was not much opportunity for conversation during the figures of the dance, but afterwards, as was the custom, Lord Alistair promenaded with Lady Beatrice round the floor.
‘Our Miss Pym is in high alt,’ said Lady Beatrice. ‘What did she say to make our sulky Prinny take such a liking to her?’
‘She treated him with all the reverence normally accorded to a saint and he reacted favourably. It is
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