Lament for a lost lover

“A health unto His Majesty “ These citizens were in love with him He had a natural charm which it was impossible not to be aware of His happiness in being back was obvious to all There could scarcely have been a man or woman in the multitude who did not believe that this was the day he or she had been waiting for all through the dreary years of Puritan rule His thirtieth birthday’ Not too young but still young enough. He was tall, very tall, so that he towered above his fellows, some might judge his dark, rather saturnine face ugly, but none could deny his charm If any man in that press of people had dared raise his voice against good King Charles, he would have been hung by his neck on the nearest tree From every church the bells were ringing, people had hung tapestries across the streets, from windows girls and women threw flowers at the King as he passed here were trumpets and music and banners fluttering in the !g oreeze Never had a people shown its monarch such loyalty, and because he had come home and not a drop of blood had been shed to bring him to his rightful kingdom, they loved him the more.

People danced. They scooped up the wine which flowed from the fountains. That night some would be drunk and perhaps quarrelsome, but for the moment it was all joy. How exhilarating it was! I was caught up in the euphoric joy, and I really felt, as I rode through the streets of London, that this was the start of a new life. Then I saw her in the crowd. She was riding with Sir James Gilley and she was clearly the most attractive woman there. She was dressed in blue velvet and in her hat was a long curling feather. She looked pleased and happy, and I felt a pang of anger to think that she could as easily abandon her child.

I tried to push my horse through the crowd to reach her, when I felt a restraining hand on my reins.

It was Carleton’s.

“You can’t reach her,” he said. “You should not try. The daughter-in-law of Lord Eversleigh should not openly consort with harlots.”

I felt the colour flame into my cheeks.

“How ... how dare you say that of ...”

“Oh, good and loyal Arabella,” he whispered. “Dear, sweet, simple Arabella! That woman is no friend to you. You should stop thinking of her as such.”

“How can you know who is and who is not my friend?”

He brought his face close to mine. It looked mocking. “I know a great deal,” he said, “was not born yesterday.”

“And nor was I.”

“Who shall say how long ago was yesterday?”

I ignored him, still looking at Harriet.

“You should send her bastard back to her,” he said. “Why should you be responsible for her mistakes?”

As I turned my horse away from him, I heard him laugh softly. “Temper!” he whispered. “On such a day. Of course it may be that your good friend Harriet will soon be back, begging for admittance. It is well known that James Gilley doesn’t keep his women long. He’s a good husband, really, and does his duty by his wife. Now he is back he’ll keep her pleasantly in Shropshire with a growing family, which well gives evidence that he visits her when he considers it necessary. If she had been in London today, he would have ridden with her. He never thinks of his women as anything but what they are.”

“It seems,” I said curtly, “that he is a most cynical man.”

“You might say that of many of us. How, my dear, good Arabella, shall you adjust yourself to this wicked society?”

“I have no doubt that there are virtuous people even in ...”

“Restoration London,” he finished. “Perhaps so. Well, it will be interesting to see ...”

“To see what?”

“How you like the new life. Come. You are scowling. People watch us. It is not in the mood of today to quarrel. You must smile. Everything has changed. You must believe that now the King is home, England has become a paradise.”

“Is that what you believe?”

“No more than you do.”

“What is he telling you?” asked Barbary. “Don’t believe it. He’s a deceiver, you know.”

“There speaks my loyal wife,” said Carleton, raising his eyes to heaven. They made me feel very uneasy, those two. I couldn’t stop thinking of what he had said about Harriet and her lover. And I wondered with an anticipation tinged with satisfaction when she would come seeking shelter from me. I could see problems ahead. It would be different in Eversleigh Court from what it had been in Congreve. I was still thinking of this during the banquet in the King’s honour, for belonging to two Royal families I was naturally entitled to be present at this. Listened to the King, I was given his strangely appealing smile. He was a man whom women loved rather than men.