The Folly

The Folly

By

Irina Shapiro

© 2012 by Irina Shapiro

All rights reserved.  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for quotations in printed reviews, without permission in writing from the author. 

All characters are fictional.  Any resemblances to actual people (except those who are actual historical figures) are purely coincidental. 

'For Love, tho' blind, will reign around
'The world; but still where-ever found,
'Folly shall lead him.'

From
the
poem
“Love and Folly”
by Charlotte Smith

Prologue

December
181
5

The
coroner
looked out over the crowded room.  The hush was so complete that he could almost hear dust motes twirling in the ray of sunshine filtering through the not-so-clean window of the makeshift courtroom.  He hated what he
had to
do, but what choice was there?  He had presided over many inquests
during
his long career, but
t
his one had been the toughest.  Sir Henry had been a friend of his youth and watching him sit in the front row, his shoulders stooped and his eyes red-rimmed with grief
,
did not make this any easier. 

The case was baffling.  There was no evidence, no witnesses and
seemingly
,
no motive.  The only
people
to testify had been
Sir Henry, the groom
and Lady Elizabeth’s maid.   The
c
oroner
had personally examined the bodies
,
and attested to the fact that
both
Lady Elizabeth and Captain Flynn
had been shot through the heart at close range
;
their bodies dumped in the lake in the hopes of either never being found
,
or being so disfigured and bloated by the time they were
,
that identification would be almost impossible.  To compound the tragedy,
the maid informed
the court
that the young Lady Flynn was in the first trimester of pregnancy, a blow to her poor husband who longed for a child from his bride. 

This inquest would be followed by another one tomorrow
.  That one
would be
for Silas Manson, the gamekeeper at the estate of Sir Henry Flynn
, who discovered the body of Lady Elizabeth
.  The man blew his head off while cleaning a hunting rifle
and although the death appeared to be
accidental
,
some
believed
that he
’
d committed suicide out of guilt, having known something
of
the double murder. 
Coroner
Davi
s
did not believe that for a moment.  Silas had been a good, God-fearing man.  He would never
have
con
c
eal
ed
evidence if he had seen
or heard
something.  On the other hand, he
had
also
been
a proficient hunter and the idea that he shot himself by accident was a ludicrous one.  It
might have been suicide, but that would be between Silas and God. 

The
coroner
read the verdict of the jury one more
time
,
took a deep breath and addressed the assembly.  “Ladies and Gentlemen, in the case of Lady Elizabeth Flynn and
Captain
Jeremy Flynn, the verdict is
“M
urder by persons unknown.
”
 
The case is now closed.” 

The room erupted in a cacophony of noise, but Sir Henry just sat and stared at his hands, his shoulders quaking with sobs.  He
’
d lost his pregnant young wife and son, who had only recently returned home after the Battle of Waterloo.  Sir Henry was a broken man and there was nothing anyone could do to help him now.
 
Coroner
Davis watched as Lady Elizabeth’s father gently patted Henry on the shoulder and walked from the room, erect and dry-eyed
, even in his grief
.

Six
Months
Earlier

June 181
5

Chapter
1

Elizabeth waited patiently while her husband adjusted his night shirt, stuck his feet into slippers and donned a silk banyan
,
before giving her a fatherly kiss on the forehead and leaving her in peace.  She listened to his steps retreating down the carpeted hallway
until
the door to his own room click
ed
shut
,
before jumping out of bed and running for her toilet closet.  She took out the rubber bulb with a hose attached to it from its hiding place
,
and filled it with a solution of water and vinegar
;
squatting over a basin and douching thoroughly.  Elizabeth opened the window a crack to make sure that no one was outside
, then
dumped
the contents of the basin onto the lawn beneath her window
,
before hiding the apparatus and going back to bed. 

She was forced to endure her husband’s visits, but she would be damned if she allowed herself to get with child.  Thank God for Willa, she thought for the hundredth time.  Willa’s
mother and
grandmother had been
midwives
,
and although the girl did not care to follow
in their footsteps, she knew things that no young bride would ever be privy to. 

Elizabeth blew out the candle and stared at the intricate pattern of the canopy
,
just barely visible in the darkness.  After two years of marriage, she still dreamed of freedom, but in her heart
,
she knew that the only way this marriage would end
,
was if either
she
or Sir Henry died.  She had no plans of dying herself
,
and she didn
’
t wish her husband ill.  He was a good man
who’d
rescued her from ruin when no one else would have her, but the idea of spending her life with him was paramount to being buried alive.  She still could not believe that out of all
the things that could go wrong in a woman’s life, what went wrong for her was the weather. 

How differently her life could have turned out if she had just turned down the invitation to the Lawn Party
,
or if the weather had held out that day.  She might have been allowed to have a
S
eason and possibly fall in love, having a say in her destiny
;
rather than being sold off like a prized cow to a squat, balding man
,
old enough to be her father.  Some people would argue that she didn’t make out so badly.  After all, she became a Lady by marrying Sir Henry, her social standing skyrocketing overnight, but Elizabeth would give up her title in a heartbeat if she could just
relive
that one day all over again.  Oh, how careful she would have been, how cautious.

The day
that ruined her life
started out ordinarily enough.  Elizabeth had woken up late and had a leisurely breakfast while Willa la
id out her frock for the party.  It was lemon yellow, the color of sunshine and joy
,
and Elizabeth had a pair of matching slippers and a parasol to go with it. 
She had
deliberately
chosen the yellow to offset her coloring, highlighting, but not clashing
,
with her auburn hair and tawny eyes. 
The party was to be held at the home of their neighbors
,
Lord and Lady Jarvis
,
and was the social event of the summer.  There would be hundreds of guests and a
good opportunity to meet some
eligible
young men
. 

The daughter of the
house
was a particular friend of Elizabeth’s
,
and they had planned and gossiped about the party for weeks, breathless with anticipation.  Caroline
’s
brother, Peter
,
was coming home for the big event and Elizabeth looked forward to seeing him and hearing about his travels.  Peter had been sent on the Grand Tour by his parents after
completing his education
,
and had been traveling on the Continent for the past year with a close friend.  Elizabeth hoped that some day she
’
d marry a man who was fond of traveling
,
and they would visit all the exotic places she had only read about and seen in pictures.  She would have loved to start with Italy and Greece and then maybe go somewhere more exotic like Egypt
or
Morocco.  She
’
d recently turned seventeen and life seemed like an exciting book that was just waiting to be read, chapter by chapter. 

At last it was time to leave for the party
,
and Elizabeth joined her parents for the short drive to the Jarvis Estate.  The day was a little overcast, but the lawn was set with round tables,
surrounded
by spindly, white chairs. 
Refreshments
would be served all afternoon
, followed by
games and a string orchestra to entertain the guests.  Caroline had confided in Elizabeth that her father had planned a fireworks display once it got fully dark and the girls couldn’t wait, having never seen fireworks before.  It would be perfect. 

Elizabeth spent the first hour chatting with her acquaintances
,
and nibbling on dainty cakes and sugar
e
d fruit laid out on the long buffet table
,
manned by white-gloved footmen
. 
There were several attractive young men who begged an introduction and extracted a promise to partner them in a game or a dance.  She was glad to give them her promise, but first she wanted to speak to Peter.  He had just appeared on the lawn, impeccably dressed and in the company of his traveling companion, Lord Allenby.  Elizabeth found Albert Allenby to be a trifle effeminate, but Peter had always been her ideal of the perfect gentleman
:
handsome, well
-
mannered and witty.  She put her arm through Peter’s, pulling him away from Allenby and walking toward the lake.

“Peter, I am so glad you are back.  Tell me
all
about your travels.  Have you seen many foreign places?”

“It’s
wonderful
to see you, Lizzie,” Peter whispered to her.  “I
’ve
missed you while I was away.  I have seen many beautiful places, full of exotic women, but none of them could hold a candle to you.”  He led her down the path toward the lake and answered her questions patiently
;
describing
the temples
of
Greece, palaces
of
Venice, and the pyramids
of
Egypt.  Elizabeth didn’t even notice that the sky turned the color of pewter and fat rain drops began to fall
, wetting her carefully arranged curls
.  She opened her parasol, but the thin fabric
was soaked
within
moments
, being no protection against
the
downpour. 

Peter
grabbed
her
by the hand and they ran into the boathouse, seeking shelter against the torrent of water.  The inside of the boathouse was cool and dim
.
Elizabeth
sat down on an overturned boat, continuing the conversation
they had been so involved in.  Peter sat across from her, describing the Doge
Palace in Venice and singing a song he heard from a gondolier. 
Peter’s blue eyes sparkled with merriment and his floppy, blon
d
hair fell into his eyes as he took a theatrical bow at the end of the song
, making
Elizabeth
laugh with delight.

“Mother will be furious.  She planned this party for weeks
,
and now the whole thing is a complete washout.  I suppose she will go with the
contingency
plan and move everything
indoors
.  The lawn will be soaked with rainwater, so the games will be canceled, but the orchestra can just move to the ballroom and we can still have dancing.  Promise me the first dance, Lizzie.”

“If
Roger
Drake doesn
’
t claim a dance instead of his game of crocket, you can have the first dance and even the one after that.”  Elizabeth liked Peter and hoped that someday she would meet a young man just like him.  She was realistic enough to know that his parents would never approve a match between them, him being a Lord and her being just plain Miss
Shipley
, but maybe she would be lucky enough to find someone as handsome and charming as him, someone who would be easy to talk to and someone to laugh with through all the days of their li
ves
.

“I think it’s starting to clear up.  We better get back to the party before we
’
re missed.
  You know how people talk.
”  Peter offered her his hand to help her get up off the boat
,
and they left the boathouse, running down the path and trying to avoid the bigger puddles.  Elizabeth knew that something was wrong as soon as she saw her mother’s face.  She was the color of whey
,
her eyes full of horror.  “Where have you been, Elizabeth?”

“What’s wrong, Mama?  Peter and I just waited out the rain at the boathouse.” 

“Were you
unchaperoned
?” hissed Mrs. Shipley, turning a shade whiter.

There were a dozen people within hearing distance
,
some of them already turning around to
look at her and Peter. 
People were
making
comments to each other behind their hands
,
making
Elizabeth
realize that she had just admitted to being alone in the boathouse with an unmarried man
,
long enough to do whatever it was people did to ruin their reputation. 

The remainder of the party was a blur
,
and by the time the fireworks ended and her father helped her into the
carriage
;
Elizabeth knew that her life would never be the same.  Word of her escapade spread through the gathering like wildfire
,
and there wasn’t a single person who wasn’t aware of the fact that Elizabeth
Shipley
and Peter Jarvis had been alone together for at least
a
half hour. 
Elizabeth’s mother went to bed with the vapors, but her father summo
n
ed her into the library.

“Elizabeth, you are young and naïve and I have
n
o doubt that you did not do anything to dishonor yourself, but people are vicious and cruel
,
and there is many an ambitious matron who would relish ruining your reputation for the sake of giving her own daughter a better chance on the marriage market.  I pray this will blow over, but I fear there will be consequences.”

“Papa, nothing happened.  That’s the God’s honest truth,” Elizabeth replied, still hoping that this would all just go away.

“That’s completely irrelevant, Elizabeth.  The truth is what people
perceive
it to be and right now they believe that you have been compromised by young Jarvis.”

Her father looked stricken
, leaving
Elizabeth
frightened and
confused.  Nothing happened between her and Peter.  Nothing at all.  They talked and laughed and waited out the rain.  Surely, he would tell everyone that
,
and they would all ju
st forget about it by next week, but next week came and went
,
and things did not die down.  Peter and his friend left the day after the Lawn Party.  He didn’t even come to see Elizabeth to reassure her that he would help her weather this storm.  The next time her father called her into the library
,
Elizabeth was genuinely scared.

“
Elizabeth
, I have spoken to Lord Jarvis and he has informed me that Peter has left.  He didn
’
t
admit that
anything happened at the boathouse, but he didn
’
t deny it
either
, leaving people to speculate and
gossip
.  The situation is dire.  You can no longer come out
this
Season
,
and the only way to salvage your reputation
,
is to marry quickly.”