Instead of being affronted, her mother smiled. ‘I will have Matthew draw up the contract at once, giving you fifty percent of the stocks in Duchess & Co. And we will bring all the soap cakes that you have already made to Brussels with us. I can think of no better advertising than the soap used to tend our wounded, brave soldiers.’
‘Thank you, Mama,’ Frederica said, kissing her on the cheek. Then she ran up a flight of stairs to her bedroom. She scrambled onto her enormous four-poster bed and jumped up and down—giggling. She would own half of the company and her mother would produce her red scented soaps. At last, her life would have meaning and purpose.
Chapter Five
Brussels, May 1815
They’d settled into their Brussels lodging just the day before, with barely enough time for her maid to unpack her belongings before preparing for their first invitation. Frederica entered the ballroom in a crimson gown with a high waist and a matching crimson gauze overlay, delighted that she was no longer required to wear white like a young debutante. It was a dull colour. Frederica’s brown curls framed her face and Wade had intertwined fresh red roses into the chignon on the back of her head. For jewellery, she wore only a single round ruby surrounded by a cluster of diamonds. It hung on a thin silver chain around her long throat. She was not surprised when several eyes focused on her. Both she and her mother were taller than the average height and some of the highest-ranking guests of the party.
Next to them stood the Duchess of Richmond. Lady Richmond was a short woman with large green expressive eyes that missed very little. ‘Lady Frederica, may I introduce my nephew, Captain Mark Wallace, as an amiable dance partner?’
A young man not much older than Frederica walked out from behind the Duchess of Richmond. He was tall and fashionably slender. He had curly black hair, dancing blue eyes, and an engaging smile. He bowed to Frederica, and she curtsied. Her mother nodded, giving her permission, and Frederica held out her hand. Captain Wallace took it and led her back to the dance floor. Frederica had more time to study her partner while they performed a country reel. He really was quite devastatingly handsome.
Quirking up one eyebrow, she asked, ‘Are you going to speak to me or just smile at me?’
The young captain threw back his head and laughed. ‘I am trying to make a good impression. Cousin Georgy suggested that I not say a word.’
Frederica grinned back at him, wrinkling her nose. ‘Would you make a bad impression if you spoke?’
‘Indubitably,’ he said, with a slight Scottish accent and another grin. Both were very attractive. ‘I invariably say the one thing that I ought not.’
She laughed out loud as she took his hands in the circular figure. ‘You need not worry about my good opinion.’
‘No?’ he said with a wink, releasing her hand for the turn and then taking it again. ‘Has some malicious person already told you that I am a second son?’
Frederica touched her chest and pretended to be shocked for only a moment, before spinning to the correct place to take his hand again. ‘No indeed, if they had I would not have danced with you. For I make it my policy to only dance with older sons, in full possession of their fortunes.’
He pulled her closer, his hand on her waist. ‘And I usually only dance with heiresses. But I thought I would make an exception tonight, and dance with the most beautiful lady in the room.’
Nodding her head, Frederica smiled at his compliment. ‘Perhaps I am an heiress. How much money do you require for a young lady to be considered for courtship?’
Captain Wallace twirled Frederica around and around. ‘Oh, not much more than one hundred thousand pounds.’
‘Just a little pocket money.’
He let out another guffaw of laughter and gave her another devastatingly attractive smile. ‘I should like to be kept in the same style I have grown accustomed to, when married.’
Her body shook with silent laughter. Frederica turned and saw two people standing on the side of the dance floor giving her a stern gaze. The first was her mother and the second her betrothed. Heat pumped through her body like blood. She had been right. A uniform suited Samuel’s muscular form perfectly. He wore a scarlet coat with a high collar, gold braid on the shoulders, and a navy sash across his broad chest. He looked formidable and a bit frightening. He positively glared at her. She hoped that he felt jealous. Growing up she had chased him, wanting to be included with the older children. He’d left her behind over and over again. This time she wantedhimto do the chasing and she would decide when and if she allowed him to catch her.
Captain Wallace glanced in the same direction. ‘Who is that stocky officer over there on the left side of the room that is scowling at me?’
Turning away, she said, ‘Colonel Lord Pelford.’
‘I have heard of him. He is an aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington. My cousin Alexander has mentioned him several times. Alexander says that he is a positive demon in action. No better man on the field. Do you know the fellow well?’
‘When we were children, we hated each other with a passion,’ Frederica said, and added conscientiously, ‘but not now we are betrothed to be married.’
The captain clenched his fist and struck his heart, his eyes downcast. ‘How is it that every beautiful girl is already taken?’
‘I have two younger sisters.’
‘A poor consolation,’ he said with a mournful sigh.
Frederica gave him another beaming smile. She had not met such an amusing fellow in all her London Seasons. ‘And how do you know? They could be much prettier than me. You would get along famously with them if you don’t mind snakes or mice.’
He stopped mid dance step. ‘What?’
Gurgling with laughter, she tugged him to the right place in the line. ‘My sisters are both naturalists and extremely fond of all God’s creatures. Particularly the animals that no one else seems to like.’