The Irish Witch

'He is a valuable source, so I trust that you have kept him on a string by at least letting him hope that on some future occasion....'

'No.' Jemima's voice was sullen. 'I did not even permit him the usual familiarities.'

'That is unlike you,' Lady Luggala remarked acidly.

'I admit it. Since half a loaf is better than no bread, and it is essential that I should protect myself from becoming known as a society whore by letting men go the whole way with me. But I was in no mood to have him frig me.'

'Why this sudden reluctance, and the aggrieved state of mind you still display this morning?'

'Because last night I was mightily disturbed concerning my own prospects. During a dance with Charles St. Ermins he exploded a bombshell beneath me. He told me that only that morning he had seen the Commander-in-Chief at the Horse Guards, who has arranged a commission for him in the Coldstream Guards.'

Lady Luggala sat up with a jerk and exclaimed in consternation, 'It cannot be true! And this without a word of warning?'

Jemima nodded. 'I've seen him half a dozen times since Christmas, and he gave me not a hint of his intention.'

'But this is terrible. It means that within a few months he may be sent to the Peninsula.'

'In a matter of weeks, more like. He made it clear that he has not joined the Army simply to strut about in a fine uniform. He is going to the war as soon as he can get there. And, as he has influence, they will not keep him here for long.'

'Then, child, you must work fast, or you will lose him. Let him seduce you at the first opportunity. Then he'll feel in honour bound to become engaged to you. If fortune favours us, we might even rush the marriage through before he leaves for Portugal.'

'Do you think me such a fool that I have not thought of that?' Jemima's voice was angry. 'But my chances of doing so are slender. As soon as he has his uniforms he is leaving London for Canterbury to start his initial training.'

Lady Luggala wrung her hands. 'Oh, my! Oh, my! Just to think that after all we may lose him. I've thought so much on it. Yourself a Countess, and all his riches. His mansion in Berkeley Square and White Knights Park with its thousands of acres. His mother, too, is worth a mint of money. Two husbands have left her fortunes, and her father yet another. Charles is her only child and she dotes on him. When she dies, he will be one of the wealthiest men in the three Kingdoms.'

'Stop!' Jemima snapped. 'I know it all. But for months you have been counting your chickens before the eggs were even warm from the hen's bottom. Charles likes me, finds me amusing and good company. I've given him cause, too, to know that I'd be all that he could wish for in bed. But he has never yet even got as far as hinting that one day he might ask my hand in marriage.'

'Yet recently he has shown his preference for your company over that of all other young women. The frequency with which he escorts Susan Brook counts for nothing. They were brought up together, and the attentions he pays her are no more than those to be expected from an affectionate brother.'

'You are right in that I credited myself with a good lead in the St. Ermins stakes and, given another London season, might have been first past the post. But now all is altered. How in a week or so can I possibly secure him? Unless . . . yes, I have it. You must seek the help of the Irish witch.'

'Alas!' Lady Luggala sadly shook her head. 'She lacks the means to help us. Had all gone well on New Year's Eve we would have had him in our power. We laid a pretty plot. She fixed the draw so that he should be my partner. In my nun's robe I had concealed a small pair of scissors with intent, when we had had a frolic, to snip off a small tuft of his pubic hair. I should have told him that it was my custom to secure such a souvenir from every man who enjoyed me; so he would not have objected. With that in our possession and a tuft from your own bush we could have cast a spell that would have made him crazy to have you; and, naturally, your price would have been marriage.

'But, as I told you afterwards, all was brought to ruin. And by Charles himself, through that fool Hawksbury having brought young Susan there without telling her what to expect, and making certain that she would prove an eager witness to our ritual. Since the little prude objected, and Charles looks on her as a sister, one can hardly blame him for carrying her off. That he should have acted as he did proved disastrous. We were lucky to have saved Bast, and that the men got the fire under control as quickly as they did.'

Jemima was silent for a moment, then she said, ‘I appreciate your good intentions on my behalf, but take it hard that you have always refused to have me made an initiate of the club. That Susan, although she proved unwilling, should have been put forward rankles with me still more, for she is only seventeen, whereas I am twenty.'

‘I had my reasons for refusing you. And why complain ? Ever since I chanced upon you being straddled by that stable boy in Ireland, you have never lacked for lovers.'

'True. But what lovers! To protect my reputation I never dare let a man of quality have me, lest he talk. I am compelled to make do with that bean-pole of a music master once a week, who would never dare tell of it lest he was prosecuted for slander and found himself in the stocks. How infinitely more enjoyable I'd find it to participate in these luxurious orgies you have told me of.'

'That I understand, although I blame myself now for having spoken to you so freely on these matters. Had I in fact been your mother, I would never have done so. But the major interests in both our lives are the same—to free our dear Ireland from the tyranny of the hated English and to enjoy to the full our amorous encounters. There is no-one else I could trust to be my confidante and I'm sure that you, as well as myself, have greatly enjoyed discussing our experiences.'

'I have indeed,' Jemima agreed more warmly. 'Since that day when I was little over fifteen and you caught me being tumbled by young Conan, you have taught me much. Had it not been for your prompt dosing of me with ergot of rye, I'd have had a child by him and, on the few occasions since when over-eagerness has led me to be careless, you have got me out of trouble. But, knowing my love of variety in licentious pleasures, I still cannot understand why you refuse to have me initiated into the Hell Fire Club.'

'It is not I who refuse, but your mother.'

Jemima's blue eyes opened wide.

Lady Luggala gave a gasp of dismay. 'There! Oh, Satan help me! By throwing me into a tizzy about Charles going off to the war and our losing him, you've led me into disclosing that she is not dead, as I'd given you to understand.'

Springing up from the chaise-longue, Jemima cried, 'Who is she? Who is she? I insist that you tell me.'

'No, child! No! That I cannot do. I am sworn to secrecy.'

"Tis too late!' Jemima flared. To me it is a secret no longer. Who could have refused your request that I should be initiated into the Hell Fire Club? Only one person. The Irish witch. It is she who is my mother.'

Tears had filled the older woman's eyes. Stifling a sob she murmured, 'How can I deny it! But long since we agreed that we would always keep it from you lest you inadvertently gave it away, and so spoiled your chances of an advantageous marriage by everyone believing you to be the daughter of myself and an Irish baronet.'