“Why is that, exactly?” asked Julia.

“Well, as you know, Dominic and David were in the same regiment in Spain. My brother was with his men outside the fortress at Badajoz, waiting for the assault on the French to begin. His commanding officer knew that he had been in the area before, and asked him to be ready early the next morning to lead a group through very dangerous terrain towards breaches already made in the castle walls. That night, as usual, he had been drinking heavily with his friends. The following morning when he was roused from sleep by his servant, he was much too drunk to get out of his bed.”

“Oh,” said Julia, “how dreadful!”

“It is not so unusual,” said Freddie, “for officers to get drunk the night before a military advance, but not that drunk. Anyway, his commanding officer realised that somebody else would have to lead the assault. So he asked David to go instead, although he did not know the locality at all. But your brother agreed to go in Dominic’s place.”

Julia could just imagine David doing that; he would have been keen to get involved in the action as soon as possible.

“When your brother left the camp with his men and they began to make their way up a narrow gully towards the rear of the fortress, an enormous mine left by the French soldiers exploded. They were all killed instantly.”

Julia closed her eyes for a few moments—it was so easy to imagine, and so very painful.

“Dominic told me afterwards that, if he had led the patrol himself, he would have kept to the higher ground, because he knew that mining a gully was a favourite French tactic. But he had not been able to remind David about that because he was so drunk that morning.”

“So,” said Julia slowly, “Dominic feels guilty about my brother’s death because if he had not been drunk, he would have led the troops himself; or if he had told my brother about the French practice of laying mines, David would be alive today? Oh, now I see.”

“As you can imagine, his commanding officer was not at all happy about what had happened at Badajoz. It wasn’t the first time that Dominic’s behaviour had caused problems. When my brother returned to London, he decided that army life was not for him, and he bought himself out of his commission as soon as he could.”

He hesitated. “Emily, did you tell Julia about Dominic and Christina?”

She nodded. “I did, a little, but not everything.”

“Since he came back to town, I suspect that Dominic has been seeing the girl again regularly, without my parents’ knowledge. You probably know that they will not allow an engagement, but they can’t stop him from doing as he likes whilst he’s in London. And I guess that he is losing so much money at the gaming tables that he must be in dun territory, very short of money, but I can’t do anything about that.”

It is just as well, thought Julia, that Freddie and Emily are such good friends of mine, so that I know about all this. Otherwise, I could have been pushed by Mama into marriage with Dominic in ignorance of everything, and found myself in a very difficult situation for the rest of my life. Indeed, I still could. Mama believes that anyone with a title is a worthwhile catch as a husband, however unfaithful he would be.

In her bedroom that night, Julia thought about what she had learnt. It seemed to be very unlikely that the information about Dominic’s behaviour in Spain would be of any consolation to her mother, and nothing could bring David back. It might, she reflected, be in her own interest for her mother’s opinion of Dominic to be damaged, but she would have to keep that idea to herself as a last resort.

The following morning, the two young ladies went shopping at Wilding and Kent in New Bond Street for fabric to have made up into new gowns when they returned to Derbyshire.

“The Countess has told me to charge her account with a length of French silk for you as well,” said Emily.

Julia demurred, not only embarrassed at this unexpected generosity, but anxious not to do anything that might imply a closer connection with Dominic Brandon.

Her friend was not deceived. “Julia, the Countess is very generous, and would not want me to purchase for myself without getting something for you. Forget about Dominic, this has nothing to do with him.”

“Can you tell me, please, whether this is genuine French silk?” Emily asked the assistant.

“Of course, Madam, all our silk fabrics are French.”

Julia chose a length of pale blue, and it was not until they had taken their purchases and were on the way to the carriage that her friend continued, “What that girl didn’t say was that the silk must have been smuggled into the country, because of the blockade in the Channel.”

“Oh!” said Julia, horrified. “Should we have been buying something illegal?”

“Everybody else does, so why not us?” said Emily, quite unconcerned.

Freddie had a business appointment in the afternoon, but he had arranged for the carriage to take the two friends to Somerset House in the Strand, where the Royal Society’s annual exhibition of paintings was on display.

“There are said to be nearly a thousand pictures on the walls this year,” said Emily, “although with this throng of people we shall be lucky to see a tenth of them!”

Julia silently agreed, for the noise and hubbub were so great that she could hardly hear her friend speak. For people of quality, there was a great deal of pushing and shoving going on in the galleries, so that the busy road outside seemed quite peaceful when they finally emerged and found the carriage waiting for them in a side street.

To celebrate their last night in London, Freddie had been persuaded by Emily to take them to the famous Vauxhall Gardens. Julia had heard so much about these pleasure walks and entertainments. They both put on their best evening attire, Emily in pink and Julia in palest green. Freddie wore his full regimentals and looked very grand. It cost them a full two shillings to enter, which he kindly paid for each of them.

The gardens were alongside the river and were planted with beautiful trees arranged in lines. On the paths around the gardens was every kind of person— people of quality walking in groups, all dressed in the latest fashion, but also ladies whose raiment proclaimed them to be looking for more intimate attention from the many young single gentlemen roaming the paths, seeking an assignation for the night. Julia was glad that they had Freddie to escort them.

There were musical groups playing in each corner, illuminated fountains, fireworks, and magicians performing tricks to deceive the eye. Freddie said that the gardens attracted people from all levels of society, from English royalty to shop boys and their sweethearts. In between the musical events, people paraded along the walks in their finery.

Turning a corner, Emily suddenly exclaimed, “Isn’t that Dominic over there, under those trees?”

They all peered across the throng and saw that it did indeed appear to be Dominic. He was dressed in the height of fashion and had his arm around the waist of a willowy blond beauty wearing a diaphanous pink muslin dress topped by a fur tippet, and displaying a great deal of expensive-looking jewellery.

“Is that Christina, do you think? What a beautiful dress! It is so elegant,” said Emily.

“Yes,” said Freddie shortly. “Probably a very expensive garment, and rather too revealing if you ask me. Come, let’s go a different way.” And he led them in another direction along the gravel path under the lanterns.

They took refreshments in one of the supper boxes that Freddie had reserved overlooking the orchestra. After that, they did not stay too late, for the carriage was to leave for Bath early on the following morning.

Julia and Emily said good-bye to Freddie rather anxiously, as he was due to rejoin his regiment and leave for Spain within a few days. Emily was rather quiet for the first few miles of the journey, and Julia suspected that she was thinking of the difficulties that might lie ahead for her cousin on the Continent. There didn’t seem to be any very effective way of consoling her, except by saying that Freddie was one of those lucky people who always seemed to survive anything.

“Do you know,” said Emily, changing the subject firmly, “what entertainments your aunt has in mind for us in Bath?”

“Not yet. As Aunt Lucy has no children of her own, she always spoils us when we stay with her, which is so very kind. Look at all the nice things that she bought for Harriet at the end of her time at school. She is very generous, but I expect that she really enjoys having someone to fuss over. What I do fear is that she will want to introduce me to every eligible young man in Bath. I really would like not to have to think about marriage at all whilst I’m there.”

“I have told my aunt, the Countess,” said Emily, “that I am not going to marry until I am at least thirty years old!”

“Well, you will be quite on the shelf by that time, Emily. But perhaps Freddie will find you some elderly officer from the regiment who is looking for a bride?”

“Perhaps, but I hope that the war will be over by then, otherwise I might find myself a widow within a few months of marriage.”

They then turned their conversation to more cheerful subjects, and the rest of the journey seemed to pass quite quickly. The carriage soon passed through the village of Marshfield and turned down the long slope on the hill into the city of Bath. Aunt Lucy’s house was situated in the Paragon, just along the street from the Royal York Hotel. She gave both of them a very warm welcome.

“Julia! And this is your friend Emily Brandon? I’m so delighted to meet you, my dear. Have you had a pleasant journey? I have been looking forward so much to seeing you both, and have all kinds of plans for your entertainment.”