91. The eve of my wedding

On the evening of the last day of April, I stood at Hawley's tavern in Rogeringham village with a small group of friends and we drank, well, we drank to damned nearly everything. We drank toasts to my bride-to-be, my mother, my sisters - each one in turn, the House of Rogeringham, Henry Rogeringham, 1st Duke of Norton, and his daughter Elizabeth, the Church of England, the King, the Queen, the Prince Regent, King Charles II and his roving eye, Viscount Wellesley and his victories, we drank to Buckinghamshire, and we toasted to each and every one of us that was assembled there.

In truth though, though I drank to each and every toast, I never lost my wits. I do not know whether it was the coming nuptials or what, but I remained reasonably sober.

Sir Montague Fellowes looked as if he had slept in a ditch, but without the services of a good man-servant like Barclay to make him presentable the next morning.

He barged into the tavern and walked towards me through my guests. I could see Barclay moving around behind the interloper but waved him off with a motion of my head. Fellowes' hair was disarrayed and he had not shaved in a day or so. His neck-cloth was stained and his clothes were rumpled.

"I am sorry Your Grace, I must have missed the invitation this time," he sneered as he stood in front of me.

There were murmurs from my guests, a sound not unlike the sort of low growling that a dog will make before he attacks.

I held my hand up for silence.

"Erm. Sir Montague Fellowes, isn't it?" I said after regarding him for a few moments.

"As you damned well know, it is, sir!"

"And is there something we can do for you, Sir Montague?" I asked pleasantly.

"Have you not done enough, sir?" He snarled.

"Not I, sir," I saw Mr Langton off to Fellowes' left side. "Anything that has been done to you was by the court of law, and your own deeds, of course."

"I am damned nearly penniless, sir, practically destitute!"

"Was it not you that coerced my clerk to rob me, so that he could then sell the land to you? As a result of which he was killed, leaving a grieving wife and daughters. All consequences of your actions, sir."

"Wife? She was not his wife ...!"

"Be very careful sir," I interrupted his rant, even as I started to speak, I saw the direction in which this was heading. Well, so be it. "We have spoken about this before. I believe I told you then that the lady is under my patronage, and that she is a proper gentlewoman - and that I would be offended if you said anything untoward about her."

"She is an incestuous bitch, and her daughters are the get of an incestuous union." He said calmly and deliberately. "And as we are discussing you being offended ..."

He paused for a moment, and I wondered what it was that he was going to say - could he possibly know about Helena and I?

"I understand that your bride-to-be has slept with most of Wellesley's army," He announced loudly.

The next sound that I heard was all of my assembled guests drawing their breath, as they waited for an explosion on my part.

Instead - and knowing Arabella and her tastes, I actually laughed out loud at his suggestion. I could not help it. The sheer ignorance of his statement was ridiculous, though even I thought that the sound of my laughter was incongruous given the tension in the tavern.

"I do not know how you intend this to go, Sir Montague, but I will play your game." I took a glove that someone offered and theatrically threw it down in front of him. "I take it that you have a second you can call on?"

Fellowes nodded.

"In that case - swords or pistols?" I asked, though to be truthful I did not care.

"Pistols. Yours or mine?"

I waved my hand dismissively, "You may provide the weapons. There is a meadow at the end of the lane by the church, tomorrow at dawn would be acceptable."

With a curt nod, he turned and walked out.

"What a rude chap!" Sir Arthur observed.

I explained who he was, as the Justice had been involved on the periphery of the case.

"Gentlemen!" I said loudly as the drinks went round again, "Please, for the sake of her peace of mind - and my life - I implore you, do not anyone tell my mother about this."