Complications Read Free Page B

Was he?
    * * *
    Amelia’s day was not improved by finding
Lottie away from home at a time they had agreed to meet and she had the
unpleasant feeling that Saverney would always be her friend’s priority from now
on and that Amelia would come a poor second. Her life was rapidly changing and
not in the pleasant way she had always envisaged.
    She had her carriage take her home,
arriving just in time as her mother was about to leave for some charitable
meeting, resplendent in a blue and purple walking dress with an elaborate
feathered hat, and would need the carriage. Unfortunately, the family finances
were such that they only had one equipage. On impulse, and able to think of
nothing better to do, Amelia offered to accompany her mother.
    “How kind of you,” Mrs Daventry said with a
sceptical glance.
    The morning was in fact not as dull as she
would have expected and it was nice to spend some time with her mother. Amelia
had, of course, been raised by a nurse then a governess so she had generally
not seen her parents for more than several hours a week growing up. It was only
in the last year that she had begun to know them and that would likely change
when she married. So it was quite pleasant to spend some time with her mother
as an adult. Amelia made some suggestions at the meeting which were well
received by some of Edinburgh’s most influential ladies and she returned home
feeling virtuous and a little smug.
    It was this mood which prompted her to
retire to her bedroom to work on an embroidered cushion cover which would be a
birthday present for her father. The work was more than a little tedious so,
after half an hour or so, she was happy to be interrupted by a quiet knock on
her door.
    Lottie entered the room, a worried frown
marring her gentle expression. “Benjy said that you called to see me earlier -
I had entirely forgotten we had arranged it. Can you forgive me?”
    Amelia smiled as she put down the
embroidery and rose to her feet. “Of course I can. It is of no consequence.”
    They embraced and Lottie said, “It will
never happen again, I promise.”
    “Then let us change the subject. How is Mr
Saverney today?”
    Lottie beamed as they crossed the room to
sit on chairs beside the window. “He is wonderful, so kind and attentive. His
mother suggested that we have the wedding within the next three months, perhaps
as soon as next month. Is it not excellent that she and Mr Saverney feel the
same as I and do not want to wait?”
    It seemed a little strange to Amelia but
she dismissed her surprise and said, “Then you will still have a spring
wedding. That could not be better.”
    “Indeed. Mr Saverney suggested either
London or Paris for our honeymoon. What do you think?”
    Amelia frowned, thinking of the changes
that the French Revolution had brought about, the deaths and those fleeing the
country, then the aftermath with everyone who had ever expressed a remotely
liberal view being charged with sedition and transported to Australia. “With
the war so bad, I would not have thought France was a safe place to visit just
now, but of course I am not an expert on the subject. I should think London
would be wonderful. It has the best modistes in the country and, of course, you
must buy a whole new wardrobe.”
    “Even with a new wardrobe of clothes I
could never look as beautiful as you,” Lottie said in a comforting way and
Amelia realised her words must have sounded wistful.
    She smiled brightly, putting the thought of
elegant afternoon outfits and stunning ball gowns from her mind. “Clearly Mr
Saverney thinks you more beautiful than anyone else.”
    Lottie blushed and laughed. “Perhaps. It
still seems unbelievable that he can love me as much as I love him. I will try
so hard to be the best wife possible to him.”
    “He is the one who is lucky and should
strive to deserve you, but as he regularly expresses his admiration for you he
seems to be aware of his good fortune, which is in his favour. Do you