Chapter 12: Rewards

September 1833

Ellen was feeling lazy. Even with the benefit of a wet nurse, the first days with her new daughter had been tiring. Fortunately, she could rest without a bad conscience this morning. Richard had gone very early. He had a seven o’clock meeting with Sir Robert Norton and he had seen to it that breakfast was served in bed for Ellen. The newspapers were strewn over the bed cover too. Three of them carried the announcement, and that was why Richard had brought them into the bedroom for Ellen to peruse.

Born.

Siobhan Lucy Rebecca Carter, first daughter of Richard Carter, 3rd Baron Lambert, and his wife, Ellen Wilkes Carter. We are given to understand that the child is healthy and growing and expect Lady Lambert to recuperate quickly.

Siobhan Lucy Rebecca Carter! The first name would cause some raised eyebrows. An Irish name for the daughter of a Peer of England!

Ellen’s heart swelled a little. After the birth, when she fed the little girl for the first time and before the wet nurse took over, she had asked Richard to have her birth mother’s name included in the given names of their new daughter. She had suggested the names Lucy Harriet Siobhan. When they asked the grandmothers however, Harriet had been very firm in refusing to lend her name to her first granddaughter.

“The first daughter should be named after the maternal grandmother. Since I’m confident that you will give me more than one granddaughter, I shall patiently wait my turn.”

Thus, ‘Harriet’ was dropped. They settled on naming their daughter Lucy Siobhan. Then Lucy objected.

“Ellen, your real mother gave birth to you, raised you and cared for you. Compared with her I played only a limited role. Please reconsider. Name the girl after her true grandmother and put my name in second place where it belongs.”

“But you are my true mother, Lucy,” Ellen had protested.

“I wish I were and I am proud of my role in your upbringing,” Lucy had smiled. “Be that is it may, I insist.”

Thus, the little girl was baptised Siobhan Lucy Rebecca Carter. Lucy served as godmother, together with Rebecca York, Ellen’s friend from Calcutta. Ellen had still been quite weak during the ceremony, but now, a day later, she was resting comfortably and waiting for what the day would bring her.

First, the day brought a visit by Eleanor. The two young women had rebuilt their relationship after Ellen’s long absence and they had the easy friendship again that had given them so much comfort. Of course, their main subject of talk were their children. Enrique, as Eleanor called the boy, was teething and a terror for the wetnurse. Of course Ellen could relate to that story and she was grateful that Little Anthony was long past those problems.

Little Anthony was two-and-a-half years old and he had been fully weaned for almost a year. He was wearing pants already and he spent his days running through the house with Dicky. The dog did what it was bred to do: it kept Little Tony out of harm’s way. Several times a day Dicky’s bark alerted Ellen and the maids of another imprudent and adventurous enterprise the boy was about to undertake. Such as nearing the front door or trying to climb a steep staircase unassisted. Eleanor marvelled at the bond between the child and the dog and she contemplated jokingly to get a dog herself.

Meanwhile, Ellen let her mind wander with Eleanors voice as a comforting background.

Richard had promised to be back in an hour. Following the interview with Sir Robert, he was meeting an Italian duke who wanted to invest some of his fortune in profitable enterprises and would not speak to mere bank clerks. It had to be Lord Lambert with whom he wanted to discuss business.

That was something Richard had not anticipated. Many British and foreign nobles were not averse to investing their money in modern enterprises, but the traditional bank houses and typical entrepreneurs were not to their tastes. They wanted one of their own to advise them and Richard found himself more involved with his new bank than he had planned. That new bank house was chartered under the name of Lambert & Norton. Antonio was holding sizeable shares too, but he preferred to be a less public partner. Nevertheless, Antonio was an invaluable asset for he was the go-between for the South American aristocrats and even some Spanish nobles who had no trust in the Spanish monarchy.

A week before, Richard had been able to complete the financing for three new steamships to be built for the expanding Peninsular & Oriental Steamship Company. Over 70.000 Pound Sterling had to be raised, but the new directors of P&O expected healthy returns. China was the new Holy Grail for British merchants and a regular steam ship service was planned between Calcutta and Hong Kong.

Silk, china ware, spices and tea were the main goods and they yielded exorbitant earnings. Sir Robert Norton himself, in spite of his advanced age, began to shift his business interests to the Far East.

Now that Ellen would be up and running again, she would have to help Richard on the ballroom front by lining up goodwill and support. There were many functions to attend. Richard had recently been appointed to the Board of Governors of the East India Company. It was a reward for his services, earning him the enormous sum of £3200 a year whilst taking up only moderate parts of his time. Most importantly, the new position brought him in contact with new clients for the bank. Naturally, during Ellen’s pregnancy, she could not host social events to further those contacts, but she was resolved to support Richard’s efforts as soon as feasible.

Another big event was also looming. Richard was to become a Knight of the Bath like his father. George IV had opened the order to civilian servants of the Crown and Richard would be created a Knight Commander for his dedicated service.

King William also deigned to create Richard’s father a Baronet, ostensibly for his role in the Battle of Trafalgar where he had briefly commanded Lord Collingwood’s flagship, the Royal Sovereign, and had been instrumental in the breaking of the Spanish line of battle. Sir Thomas Hardy himself had pushed the issue. The King had kindly waited for Ellen to give birth before this great event in their lives.

Slowly Ellen returned to the present. An amused Eleanor looked at her.

“You were far away, dear.”

“Yes, I’m sorry, Eleanor, darling. I was thinking of Richard’s knighthood. I need to get in better shape quickly.”

Eleanor regarded her with an amused smile. She knew that her sister-in-law was proud of her appearance.

“Don’t worry, Ellen. With that décolletage, you’ll make the King drool regardless of whether you still have a few extra pounds on your waist.”

Ellen looked down with a woeful expression.

“I look like a cow,” she complained. “I wasn’t that big when Anthony was born.”

Eleanor laughed brightly causing Ellen to furrow her brows.

“Ellen, my dearest girl, nobody would liken you to a cow, believe me! You are still your gorgeous self. Once you have recovered enough we can ride out in the park again. That should do you a world of good.”

It was two weeks later, when the butler Oldroyd presented a sealed letter that had been delivered at their door. It was addressed at Lord and Lady Lambert, but Richard shook his head and let Ellen open it. Perusing the enclosed letter, she raised her eyebrows.

“It’s from Mister Potter, dear. We are invited to an exhibition of the antiquities he collected,” Ellen told Richard, handing him the letter.

Richard read it, raised his eyebrows and smiled at his wife.

“They want you to read from your book.”

“Yes, I read that. Do you think I can do that? Those are learned men, and I should hate to make a spectacle of myself.”

“I cannot see that happening, my dear. We should however invite Colleen and Melissa to come along; our parents, too.”

“Fine, have them laugh at me, too,” Ellen mock-complained. “Richard, I would love to see those finds of Mister Potter. I suppose I can even read a chapter of the book for the privilege.”

“That is the right spirit, my darling! Let me ask our parents and the write an answer tomorrow. Fortunately, it’ll be before our appointment at St. James.”

As it turned out, Ellen recuperated quickly. Little Siobhan was healthy and growing and due to the fact that Ellen shared the burden of feeding with the new wet nurse, she was already losing some of her extra weight.

Thus, when the Carters and Wilkes arrived at the British Museam, with Colleen and Melissa in tow, Ellen was wearing one of her new dresses by Elizabeth Wilson to the exposition. Sir Jonathan and Lucy were quite blasé about the event, with Jonathan Wilkes being a member of the Royal Society, and Sir Anthony having friends amongst the Board of Trustees. Thus, only Ellen, Colleen and Melissa were nervous.

Fortunately, they were received by Mister Potter and his wife, Abigail by name. Both were hard to recognise in their finery. Missus Potter, in particular, was dressed in a Wilson creation that showed off her slim figure to its best advantage. Ellen assumed her to be in her mid forties at the least, seeing how her son was already teaching at Cambridge University. There was nothing striking about her, but she was a quite attractive woman, especially now, when she smiled at Ellen.

“Welcome, welcome!” Mister Potter bade them. “It is so kind of you to attend our opening.”

Sir Anthony answered for them. “Well, we decided that we wanted to see what treasures you recovered. You probably remember most of us, but we also brought along Miss Colleen MacAllister and Miss Melissa Martin, who both collaborated with my daughter-in-law on those Memories of the Nile.”

“Much delighted, Miss MacAllister, Miss Martin! Please, meet my wife Abigail.”

Colleen seized the opportunity immediately. “Ellen ... Lady Lambert told me that you accompany your husband on those expeditions?”

Abigail Potter smiled. “Yes, after our children were grown up and my husband retired, we began to explore the traces of Antiquity together. Over the next Winter, we shall visit Greece.”

“This is most admirable, Missus Potter!” Colleen fairly gushed. “I envy you your life.”

They had to move on then, to make room for the next visitors, and began to stroll the hall, viewing the exponates, but also discussing them amongst themselves, but also with other visitors. The steles and tablets bore inscriptions in Egyptian glyphs, and there were tables at their side, translating the texts into English. Most of those texts dealt with the deeds of one pharaoh or another, but some clay tablets also bore mundane content, such as bills of lading or announcements. Those, Ellen for the most fascinating, as they gave them a glimpse of long-ago lives.

After roughly an hour, a tiny silver bell sounded, and Mister Potter addressed the guests.

“Dear Members and Guests, the Board of Trustees welcomes you and wishes you an illuminating afternoon and many fruitful discussions. During our last procurement expedition to Egypt, my son, Professor Potter, and I met another group of British travellers, en route from Bombay, via the Red Sea and the Egyptian desert, on the newly establish Overland Route from India. Amongst them were some of our distinguished guests today, Vice Admiral Sir Anthony Carter and his son, Lord Lambert. They travelled with their wives, and Milady Lambert kept a diary, also sketching the sights along their travel route. Those notes and sketches found their way into a fascinating book, written jointly by Lady Lambert and Miss Colleen MacAllister, with Miss Melissa Martin adding the illustrations. All three ladies are here tonight, and Lady Lambert kindly agreed to give a reading of her book for our enlightenment, so that you may appreciate our exponates even more.

“Milady, may I ask you forward?”

Polite applause sounded as Ellen strode forward, Colleen and Melissa with her.

“Dear Mister Potter, honourable Trustees, Gentlemen and Ladies. We, Miss MacAllister, Miss Martin and I, are deeply honoured by the opportunity to read from our book to such a distingished audience. Therefore, without further ado, I shall start the reading, starting midways from our disembarkation in the Port of Suez.

For the next twenty minutes or so, Ellen kept reading from the book, covering the travel from Suez to Cairo, and she ended the reading with the description of their first sighting of the Pyramids of Gizeh. She smiled at the audience then.

“If I have piqued your interest, you may feel free to find a copy of Memories of the Nile at your favourite bookseller. My own share of the proceeds goes to the St. Albert’s Benevolent Society, to support their charitable work.”

There was applause from the audience, and Mister Potter came forward, presenting Ellen with a bouquet of flowers and a check, care of the Benevolent Society, making Ellen blush a little. Lucy simply stretched out her hand to collect the check, causing laughter all around, for she and her charitable efforts were well known in these circles.