Free Lady Ellingham and the Theft of the Stansfield Necklace: A Regency Romance by Miriam Rochester Page B

met
Emily Entwhistle in Bath, only she did not look like she does now.  She had
long brown curls down her back, very much like your own hair Lady Ellingham,
only a different colour.  She was not wearing those ridiculous spectacles that
she appears to have adopted these last few weeks in London, and she appeared
very different.  I must admit to my own chagrin, I was a fool and fell for the lady. 
We spent many weeks together in Bath and I lavished her with many gifts.  She
could not have been more charming and I foolishly thought I was in love.
    To continue, Lady
Ashwood of Bath was to hold a ball for her 25 th Wedding Anniversary. 
In view of the occasion, I lent Emily the Stansfield Sapphire and Diamond
necklace to wear for the evening with the intent of putting it back in the safe
after the ball. She was delighted with my gesture, excessively so when I look
back.  Anyway, half way through the evening, I went to procure her a glass of
lemonade but when I returned I could not find her anywhere.  I searched for an
hour.  Neither she nor her uncle could be found and I discovered later from a
witness that the two of them were seen entering a carriage shortly after
9.30pm.  Emily in short had disappeared from the face of the earth.  She
obviously realised the value of the necklace she was wearing and decided to abscond
with it.
    She said she lived in
Northumberland so I travelled there to try to find her and retrieve the
necklace but no one had heard of the Entwhistle family.  After many
investigations I found out that a woman vaguely answering her description had
been travelling around the fashionable resorts attaching herself to wealthy
men, enjoying their favours and when she had obtained as much as she could from
them in the way of expensive gifts and money she would disappear. The
descriptions of the Lady were similar but varied in subtle ways; she is obviously
a master of disguise.  Adrian Entwhistle the gentleman she travels with is not
her uncle but her husband. That is how they make their living.  She obviously
realised the value of the piece, the necklace was like no other.  Emily knew
she would have to return it to me after the ball.  The pair of them obviously
decided it was worth it to disappear sooner than they had planned. The value of
the Stansfield necklace was probably worth more than they could appropriate in a
whole seasons deception.
    At the beginning of the
little season, I was at home at my countryseat near Harrogate.  I got a letter
from my friend Giles Kavanagh advising me that he had seen a Lady in London
wearing a necklace remarkably like the Stansfield Sapphire and Diamond piece
and that I should come to London immediately to investigate.  I did not for one
moment expect it would be Emily who Giles had seen, for I had expected that the
pair would have sold the necklace and be long gone.
    I spotted Emily at Lady
Colchester’s ball only she looked so different.  If it were not for the fact
that she was wearing the necklace, I would have walked straight past her. I
approached her and asked her to dance.  Her eyes filled with dismay when she
saw me but I gave her no choice and she reluctantly accepted my hand for a
waltz.  That is when I took Emily into the garden and demanded the necklace
back.  I did not wish to embarrass either Emily or myself in the middle of the
dance floor, which she well deserved so took her out into the garden where we
could be private.
    The necklace was her
undoing.  She did not realise how famous it was and that at some point it would
be recognised.  I was in luck; she was obviously so taken with the piece and she
decided to keep it for herself instead of selling it.  I retrieved my property
and I have to say that the Lady was not too pleased.
    I told her that if she
did not remove herself from London immediately I would report her to the magistrate. 
Something I did not want to do, as I had no desire to see her hang in Newgate
prison, no matter what she