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December, and very probably not walking weather, perhaps it’s more likely that he spoke to Almina in the Music Room, or the Drawing Room. Naturally, she said yes.
    Unusually, the engagement was not announced in
The Times
, but Lord Carnarvon did make Almina a present of some magnificent pearls. They had been in the family for generations; there is a splendid painting by Van Dyck of Anne Sophia, the 1st Countess, wearing them lightly strung around her neck.
    The marriage settlement was discussed further by the respective parties’ lawyers and, on returning to town, the Earl paid a call on Sir Alfred.
    Lord Burghclere, Carnarvon’s brother-in-law, wrote to his wife Winifred to reassure her on the subject of her brother’s marriage. ‘Porchy had to see A. Rothschild and it is practically settled about Almina. I am really glad … P is not the sort of person to marry merely for money … he likes the girl and that being so the rest will follow. You will hear from him yourself no doubt and from the others so I will not enlarge on the topic but I think youmay ease your mind on the subject and hope for the very best.’
    With everything resolved to his satisfaction, Lord Carnarvon promptly chartered a steam yacht and took off for South America with his great friend Prince Victor Duleep Singh.
    Marie and Almina came on a second visit to Highclere, in her fiancé’s absence, to get to know her prospective family and home better. They made the acquaintance of Winifred, the Earl’s elder sister, and Aubrey, his younger half-brother. They had already met Elsie, the Dowager Countess, who had been extremely kind to them both, and who was equally charming on this occasion. Plans began to be made for the wedding, and Almina was fizzy with excitement. Elsie invited Almina to call on her in town, although notably, Marie Wombwell, while most welcome in the country, was still not to be received in London.
    Almina now spent a large proportion of her time in London with Elsie at the Carnarvon town house at 13 Berkeley Square and was apparently every bit as excited as an eighteen-year-old engaged to be married could be. Lord Burghclere, writing to his wife again, said, ‘I have seen Elsie, who is very good and a dear about Porch – and A. who seems to live there. I do not think [she] can keep it secret any time – she was literally bursting with it … she seems to be head over ears in love and says why can’t we be married and go on the yachting cruise together?’
    But Almina was not merely excited. She was, unsurprisingly, almost needy in her clinginess and enthusiasm. After a lifetime spent living half in shadows, between worlds, she was clearly relishing the prospect of being more secure, notjust socially, but emotionally. Marie and Almina seem to have been extremely close; the fact that Marie was a frequent visitor to Highclere all her life reflects the continued strength of the relationship. But, despite the relative tolerance afforded by her parents’ domestic situation, the anxiety and frustration produced by her mother’s
demi-mondaine
status and the antics of Marie’s late husband, Frederick Wombwell, must have been considerable. Certainly it was obvious enough for Lord Burghclere to comment on. In the same letter he wrote, ‘The poor little thing seems desperate … (as I told Elsie) for a decent family as well as a husband.’ He added, rather sweetly, ‘I hope Porch will get on with A 1/50th as much as we do.’
    The settlement had been drawn up by the couple’s wedding day, but it was not executed until one month later, safely after the happy event had taken place. The three parties were Alfred de Rothschild, Almina Wombwell – now the Countess of Carnarvon – and the 5th Earl. Carnarvon may have been struck by Almina’s many lovely qualities and have already developed a fondness for her, but he had also sensed his opportunity to drive a bargain. The Earls of Carnarvon had married heiresses before, thereby