57. Arabella's birthday - and conversations are had

The Dorrington's town house in Belgravia was bathed in warm sunshine, which seemed entirely appropriate given the pleasant nature of the birthday girl. She herself, looked very elegant and quite beautiful, and there was a large crowd of picturesque young men about the place, each vying for her attention. She paid little attention to them and welcomed us all warmly, my mother especially, when we arrived. I presented her with a necklace as a gift.

Elizabeth had laid on a lavish buffet, a string quartet played under the shelter of a gazebo in the garden, and the house and garden were busy with guests. I found myself talking to a young officer from the 10th Light Dragoons, though they are more properly known as the 10th Hussars these days. He was due to embark with his squadron for Portugal next week. He looked very fine in his braided pelisse and hussar breeches.

The lieutenant - when he found out I had not long returned from service in the Peninsular, was asking me about the conditions out there. I apologised to him, in that I knew very little about the needs of the cavalry, only having my own horses to care for while I was there, but I did advise him that the grazing in the Peninsular was generally poor and that he should not rely on it for his mounts. I also gave him some pointers about problems he might face around his men and the differences between England and Spain, in particular the heat, which takes many by surprise.

We were just discussing Wellesley and his habits, when I noticed that Helena, who had been by my side, was not there. Begging the lieutenant's pardon and wishing him God-speed, I set off to find her. I suppose I searched for some ten minutes, or more before Elizabeth told me that she had seen my mother and Arabella in the garden.

I discovered them there some minutes later. They were seated together in a swinging seat near to the musicians. But they were paying very little attention to the music. Their heads were inclined towards each other, and they were talking together, in hushed tones. Arabella looked very serious for a young woman celebrating her birthday, while my mother was giving her fullest attention to what she was saying.

As soon as Helena saw me, she touched Arabella's hand and they stopped. Any sign of their previous conspiratorial behaviour vanished.

Standing, my mother turned to Miss Dorrington, and bent to embrace her and kiss her cheek. She turned again and took me by the arm, then she turned me around, and drew me back towards the house. There was something about her manner that brooked no argument, so I offered none.

Helena led me to Elizabeth Dorrington, whom she embraced, before apologising for our early departure. She explained that while we would be going, my sisters would be staying, which baffled me somewhat. We would send the landau back for them.

And that was it, we were in our carriage, heading home to Mayfair.

Helena never removed her hand from my arm, all of the way home, it rested there and when we returned to Rogeringham House, she led me inside and up the stairs to my room. It was there, finally, that she let go of me. In the privacy of my bedroom, Helena urgently began to remove her clothing.

Up to this point I had been silent. From the moment I first saw the two of them on the swinging seat, through Helena taking my arm, smiling my goodbye to Elizabeth Dorrington, travelling home, and arriving back at Mayfair, I had not said a word.

I was about to ask what in the Lord's name was going on, when Helena launched herself at me and kissed me passionately for a long couple of minutes.

"Helena! Beloved!" I finally said, pinning her arms to her side. "In God's name? Please tell me what the deuce is going on?"

My mother squirmed out of my grasp and climbed onto the bed, pulling the sheets back and indicating the space next to her.

In an effort to regain a modicum of control, I slowly removed my own clothes, all the while watching Helena, who seemed unable to sit still while I did so.

At last, I climbed in next to her and it seemed as if she would explode in anticipation, before she threw herself onto me and began kissing me again.

Kissing led to caressing, and caressing led to stroking. Stroking led to fondling and fondling led - inevitably - to fucking. It was a glorious, joyous tumble, a mid-afternoon bed wrecking, and a jumbled tangle of sheets, as I slid into her lubricious quim, and pounded her into the mattress. No matter what I did, none of it seemed sufficient. Helena pulled at me with her hands, wrapped her legs around me and squeezed me in. She clenched her thighs on me, and her finger nails clawed at my back. My mother was a woman possessed, but I knew, I felt it in every desperate movement, that she was a woman possessed by passion, aflame with it.

At last, after I had spent in her cunny, the creamy jism filling her, we both collapsed back onto the bed, though she still clung tightly to me.

I recovered my breath before I spoke. "Well?"

Helena took a moment to speak. "I spoke with Arabella," she said, "But you saw that didn't you?"

I nodded.

"I wanted to know her better. To understand her. We talked about the two of you."

"And?" I asked carefully.

"She was most complimentary regarding your character and your ability as a lover. Both of which things I knew already, but she also complimented me, as your mother. She believes that you could only be such a fine example of a man because of my influence on your childhood."

I really had no argument against that, and said so. Helena seemed most pleased.

"That all sounds very well," I suggested, "But when I saw the two of you, it appeared as though you were exchanging state secrets."

Helena smiled. "Arabella told me that she envied you. That she understood why you were enamoured of me. She was quite complimentary ..."

"Well of course," I began, "You are ..."

Helena looked embarrassed, and pushed at my chest to stop me going further.

"But you are!" I retorted, "You are everything that she said, and more, my love. It would do you no harm at all to hear your praises sung by someone other than myself and accept them for what they are, respectful and genuine."

Helena nodded. "It goes against my nature," she said, "But Miss Dorrington did seem most genuine in what she was saying."

I nodded. "Arabella is a complex woman for her age, she is direct, and adventurous, but also perceptive, thoughtful and honest. If she said those things then, I believe that she truly means them."

It was Helena's turn to nod, "She is all of that and more, a most remarkable young woman. Once one sees past the forward, flirtatious chit that she appears, she is quite remarkable.

"She is indeed flirtatious, and forward." I agreed.

"I like her," Helena declared, which considering the proposals on the table, boded well for the future, given that the two women would be sharing a household.

"I also asked if she would be willing to have your children."

I was stunned. "I beg your pardon?" I exclaimed. I mean, I had already mentioned this to Arabella, but that Helena would broach the subject with her directly, came as a bit of a surprise.

"Given that I cannot bear you a child, and succession is crucial, given Arabella's preferences I had to know her feelings on the matter, so we discussed it and she told me that she was quite prepared to bear your children to ensure your line continues. She said that it seemed fair given the freedoms you were offering her."

"And did she say anything else?" I wondered.

"Yes," and I could hear the smile in Helena's voice as she said it. "But that was between Arabella and I." And there was a finality in my mother's voice that suggested that trying to get her to say more would be a pointless exercise.

No more was said, and we lay there in the warmth of the afternoon, enjoying the closeness and time together.

Eventually Barclay knocked to find out whether we were going to dress for the evening - we were due to meet the Dorrington's again at a ball thrown by the Duchess of Richmond.

While dressing, I reflected upon the afternoon. I had not appreciated how deep Helena's feelings on the subject of me fathering children were. I had assumed that there would be children eventually, somehow - hence my asking Arabella while we walked in the garden, but it had not been a major consideration, until now. But to Helena, given her circumstances, it was a bigger issue. I suspected that Arabella's reaction to my mother's question eased many of her anxieties, the easement of which I assumed had led to the outburst of passion that led to her dragging me home to make frantic love in the afternoon.

The succession issue aside, it was essential that my mother did not see Miss Dorrington as a rival, Arabella knew that my affections were entirely for my mother, and was quite content with that, but it was important that Helena understood that also. It appeared that they had come to some sort of agreement on that between them. It had also been my hope that they could be friends as well, and after this afternoon that also seemed to be a likelihood.

In fact, when we met the Dorringtons later at the ball, the cordiality with which they greeted each other was plain to see. Helena embraced Arabella when they met and the two women spent the evening in close proximity to each other, leaving me to accompany Elizabeth.

Several of the scandal rags reported their closeness the next day, which sent the authors into paroxysms of delight as they speculated on the ins and outs of the relationship. The rumour-mongers had a field day - my mother was arranging our marriage there and then, I was making up to Elizabeth, Arabella and I had fallen out and even that we were planning a huge wedding within the next week. Of course, none of them came even close to the truth of it. Which caused much amusement as we read them aloud over breakfast the next morning.