Read Online Echoes of a Promise by Ashleigh Bingham - Free Book Online
Authors: Ashleigh Bingham
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far too distracted by the pending contest for her to introduce the topic of her marriage.
While the train rattled northwards, she sat in the carriage trying to calculate how far south the Fortitude might have sailed by this date. Peter had said that he’d post letters from Cape Town, and suggested that her mail to him should be addressed care of the British Consul in Singapore. It was all so many miles away. So many miles.
Time and again Victoria tried to find some opportunity to talk to her parents, but they remained tight-lipped and distracted throughout the journey. When they finally arrived in his constituency she came to understand their apprehension about this campaign once she’d witnessed the booing and heckling that met her father each time he stepped up on a platform to speak.
Even Lady Mary’s grand dinners at the hotel for some of the Woolcott family’s old Whig connections failed to rally the support George Shelford needed to hold his seat.
After the votes were counted and the Radical candidate had been declared the winner, the defeated Shelfords swiftly retreated to Hanover Square. Victoria went back to work at the Foundling Hospital, while George Shelford spent much his time heaving deep sighs and staring at the fire in his study.
Lady Mary argued that they should get away from London for a time and take a house in Paris, or Rome, or Corfu. And she complained endlessly about Howard Royston’s continuing absence from London.
Eventually, Victoria came to feel that she would never find the perfect moment to break her happy news about Peter while both parents seemed so determined to remain miserable.
She waited until they were alone one night in the drawing room after dinner. Her father’s concentration was fixed on the fire burning in the grate and Lady Mary had her nose in a ladies’ magazine. Neither looked up when Victoria entered.
For a moment she stood in the middle of the room clutching Peter’s letter, along with the marriage certificate produced by the captain. The sound of distant thunder rumbling over the rooftops added to her unease and when wind-driven rain began to beat against the windows like angry fists, the tension inside her became unbearable.
‘Excuse me, Mama, but I have something I’d like to tell both you and Papa.’ Her mouth seemed to be lined with sandpaper.
For weeks, she’d been rehearsing this delicate scene and now, with a galloping heart, she started to describe her meeting with Captain Latham and his nephew in Aunt Honoria’s drawing room. ‘They are both charming gentlemen. Peter Latham is very handsome and he has the qualifications to captain his own ship one day. He and—’
Lady Mary sat forward in her chair, grasping its arms. ‘Oh, God! Victoria, what have you done? What? I can tell by your face that you’ve been up to some kind of mischief!’
‘No, Mama, I want to tell you and Papa that I’ve fallen in love and I want you to be happy for me. It happened while I was in Devon. His name is Peter Latham and we fell truly and deeply in love the moment we met. He’s twenty-six and at present he’s sailing to the East Indies—’
The horror in her mother’s expression told her that this wasn’t going at all as she’d planned. Her hand shook as she held it out. ‘See, Mama? This is my wedding ring. Aunt Honoria gave us her blessing and we were married at sea by the ship’s captain. And when Peter comes back, I’m going to join him on the ship and—’
Lady Mary gave a wounded howl and scrambled to her feet. ‘What? What? Oh dear God, Victoria, are you mad?’ Her cheeks were drainedof colour. ‘Surely you’re not telling me that you eloped with a sailor?’ She shrieked. ‘You did! A daughter of mine ran off to sea with a common sailor!’
‘This is all the doing of your wicked old Aunt Honoria!’ Mr Shelford’s face purpled and he suddenly scrambled to his feet, shouting at his wife. ‘You wouldn’t listen when I warned you to keep
While the train rattled northwards, she sat in the carriage trying to calculate how far south the Fortitude might have sailed by this date. Peter had said that he’d post letters from Cape Town, and suggested that her mail to him should be addressed care of the British Consul in Singapore. It was all so many miles away. So many miles.
Time and again Victoria tried to find some opportunity to talk to her parents, but they remained tight-lipped and distracted throughout the journey. When they finally arrived in his constituency she came to understand their apprehension about this campaign once she’d witnessed the booing and heckling that met her father each time he stepped up on a platform to speak.
Even Lady Mary’s grand dinners at the hotel for some of the Woolcott family’s old Whig connections failed to rally the support George Shelford needed to hold his seat.
After the votes were counted and the Radical candidate had been declared the winner, the defeated Shelfords swiftly retreated to Hanover Square. Victoria went back to work at the Foundling Hospital, while George Shelford spent much his time heaving deep sighs and staring at the fire in his study.
Lady Mary argued that they should get away from London for a time and take a house in Paris, or Rome, or Corfu. And she complained endlessly about Howard Royston’s continuing absence from London.
Eventually, Victoria came to feel that she would never find the perfect moment to break her happy news about Peter while both parents seemed so determined to remain miserable.
She waited until they were alone one night in the drawing room after dinner. Her father’s concentration was fixed on the fire burning in the grate and Lady Mary had her nose in a ladies’ magazine. Neither looked up when Victoria entered.
For a moment she stood in the middle of the room clutching Peter’s letter, along with the marriage certificate produced by the captain. The sound of distant thunder rumbling over the rooftops added to her unease and when wind-driven rain began to beat against the windows like angry fists, the tension inside her became unbearable.
‘Excuse me, Mama, but I have something I’d like to tell both you and Papa.’ Her mouth seemed to be lined with sandpaper.
For weeks, she’d been rehearsing this delicate scene and now, with a galloping heart, she started to describe her meeting with Captain Latham and his nephew in Aunt Honoria’s drawing room. ‘They are both charming gentlemen. Peter Latham is very handsome and he has the qualifications to captain his own ship one day. He and—’
Lady Mary sat forward in her chair, grasping its arms. ‘Oh, God! Victoria, what have you done? What? I can tell by your face that you’ve been up to some kind of mischief!’
‘No, Mama, I want to tell you and Papa that I’ve fallen in love and I want you to be happy for me. It happened while I was in Devon. His name is Peter Latham and we fell truly and deeply in love the moment we met. He’s twenty-six and at present he’s sailing to the East Indies—’
The horror in her mother’s expression told her that this wasn’t going at all as she’d planned. Her hand shook as she held it out. ‘See, Mama? This is my wedding ring. Aunt Honoria gave us her blessing and we were married at sea by the ship’s captain. And when Peter comes back, I’m going to join him on the ship and—’
Lady Mary gave a wounded howl and scrambled to her feet. ‘What? What? Oh dear God, Victoria, are you mad?’ Her cheeks were drainedof colour. ‘Surely you’re not telling me that you eloped with a sailor?’ She shrieked. ‘You did! A daughter of mine ran off to sea with a common sailor!’
‘This is all the doing of your wicked old Aunt Honoria!’ Mr Shelford’s face purpled and he suddenly scrambled to his feet, shouting at his wife. ‘You wouldn’t listen when I warned you to keep
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