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with my man of business soon. I have left a roll of money in your dressing case. It should be enough for your needs until you are home and can call on my bankers.’

 
Chapter Five
     
    Fanny refused to leave Vienna.
    ‘He will come back,’ she protested, when Julia tried to persuade her to follow Frederick’s orders to go home. ‘I know he will, and if I’m not here for him, he may go back to - to her!’
    ‘He’s gone to Russia with her,’ Julia said patiently. ‘Even if he turns back soon, it could be several days. And he might choose not to come back here. He’ll be too ashamed to face people, I’d imagine. Besides, he’ll expect you to have set off back home, so he is more likely to head there.’
    ‘He will come back,’ Fanny insisted. ‘I have to wait here for him, or he will not know where to find me.’
    She was oblivious to the excitement attending the Duke’s arrival. However, as he caught a cold and remained for some days in Castlereagh’s rooms, the people gradually lost their interest in him. The crowds waiting to catch a glimpse of the military hero grew less, as people went about their own business. They would no doubt have plenty of time to see him later.
    Frau Gunter, denied entry on the grounds that Fanny was too ill to see anyone, waylaid Julia and the children one day when they were coming back from a visit to the market.
    ‘Tell your sister I have lost all patience with her,’ she hissed. ‘I get rid of that Russian trollop and bring her husband back to her, at no little inconvenience for myself, and she’s not clever enough to keep him. I wash my hands of her and all her family.’
    ‘And of your grandson?’ Julia asked, her voice as cold as the slush on the road. ‘Surely his is the main fault? He did not have to make such a cake of himself by running off with the wretched woman.’
    Frau Gunter glared at her. ‘I didn’t ask for your opinion. No man will stray if his wife satisfies him, and looks after his needs.’
    Julia snorted inelegantly. ‘Where have you lived? Are you blind? Can you not see unfaithful husbands all around you here in Vienna? Is every wife inadequate? Can you honestly say your husband never strayed?’ And if I’d been her husband I’d have been off like a shot, she added to herself.
    ‘You’re an impertinent chit, not fit to be in charge of my grandchildren. Heaven knows what you are teaching them!’
    ‘I thought you had disowned them?’ Julia asked sweetly. ‘In which case you can have no possible interest in what I teach them. Goodbye, Frau Gunter.’ I hope your spleen chokes you, she added under her breath.
    Julia renewed her efforts to persuade Fanny to leave Vienna, for everything she saw or heard reminded her of Frederick, and she was constantly in tears. Then fate took a hand.
    They received a message from Frau Schwartz that the Congress was going on for too long, so she was returning and wished to reclaim the apartment in four days, and trusted they would not be too inconvenienced, as they could always return to stay with Frau Gunter.
    * * * *
    In between his semi-official duties Sir Carey found time to worry about not hearing from Angelica. However often he told himself that she was at best an indifferent correspondent, and during the Christmas festivities would have had less time than usual, he grew more and more concerned. Was she ill? Had some accident befallen her? Was she snowbound on the Yorkshire moors, at her house party?
    Of course letters were lost. Some people, to make sure their news was delivered, might send two letters in the hope one would get through. But Angelica did not do that. He almost laughed at the thought of her penning two copies of her short letters.
    He found time to visit Lady Cunningham, but Julia said she was too distraught to see anyone. No wonder, he thought, for all Vienna knew of Sir Frederick’s elopement.
    ‘Give her my regards, if you will, and remember, if there is anything I can do, call on