Chapter 33: Rewards

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 on 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 will 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 Ricky. The dog did what it was bred to do. It kept Little Tony out of harm’s way. Several times a day Ricky’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. The new bank was chartered under the name of Lambert & Norton. Antonio was holding 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 ago, 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 produced 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 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 Knight Commander for his dedicated service.

King William had 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.”

As it turned out, Ellen had over seven weeks to recuperate. 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 the extra weight.

She began to ride her horse in the parks, sometimes with Eleanor and almost always with Maddalena. The Italian girl had developed a love for horses. Seeing the black curled beauty on her horse, her cheeks red with excitement and her trim body encased in a tight fitting riding dress gave Ellen additional motivation to regain her own slender figure. Maddalena spoke English with much less of an accent now and often young gentlemen found reasons to acquaint themselves with Ellen and her protégé.

Ellen still did not fit into her old dresses, but that was a small problem that a visit to Elisabeth Wilson’s fashion house could easily solve. The new, light blue dress accentuated Ellen’s more womanly figure and even Ellen herself could not find anything wrong with her appearance.

Thus came the solemn ceremony at St. James Palace and the entire Carter clan was present. Anthony Carter was created a Baronet, accompanied by a few kind words from the King. Immediately afterwards, Richard knelt before King William who could not help but comment that he had never, in a single day, bestowed honours on a father and his son.

Old Lady Lambert attended, too. The birth of her first great-granddaughter had been good for her, as was the opportunity to play with her two great-grandsons. The King, obviously pleased to see his old friend well, asked her forward to speak a few words in private to her. Ellen could not understand what they talked about, but she saw the King and Old Lady Lambert looking at her repeatedly.

When the function ended, His Majesty’s private secretary approached Ellen.

“His Majesty asks for a private word with you, Milady,” he told her under his breath.

After a quick glance at Richard, Ellen followed the man.

King William was sitting in a chair in his private study, but he rose to kiss Ellen’s hand. Ellen curtseyed with all the grace she could muster.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice, my dear Lady Lambert! I already spoke to Eleanor Lambert and she assured me that you were perfect for the task I have in mind.”

“Your Majesty?” Ellen asked, thinking, ‘what task?’.

“It’s about my niece, the Princess Victoria. It’s time she was introduced to the real life. That clergyman is filling her head with nonsense and her mother, well, let’s say she isn’t as close to the court as I would prefer.”

Ellen remained silent. She had no idea where this was heading.

“I want my niece to meet with real people from time to time. Young women, such as yourself, Lady Lambert, who have seen something of the world.”