In the normal course of things nothing would have taken him to Harrogate, but he wanted to try out his new curricle and even though it was such a bad time of year for travelling, he had a yen to see something of the rest of England. He might as well go north. And, in that case, he would make a detour to visit Pemberley. Mr Darcy was another person who had been kind to him, and they had always got on very well. So he wrote to him. He didn’t wait for a reply, since if the family were away from Pemberley or it was inconvenient, he could always put up at an inn before continuing to Harrogate.
And so, well wrapped up in his new caped coat, he set off for the north.
He enjoyed every moment of the journey. The weather was cold but fine, and he could afford to stay at the best inns. His elegant equipage, his fashionable clothes and the respectable groom he had taken into his employ won him excellent service wherever he stayed.
He reached Pemberley in the greying light of a winter’s afternoon. The sun was sinking in a red glow on the horizon as he turned in through the gates and went up the drive, passing across a bridge that arched over a wide stream.
Two girls, bundled up against the cold, were running about on the far side of the bridge, one playing with a hoop and the other having a tug-of-war with a pug dog. The soberly-clad young woman with them must be their governess. She looked to be enjoying their freaks as much as they were, judging by the lively smile on her face. As his curricle drew nearer, and she called out to one of them, “Letty, keep clear of the drive, for here comes a carriage.”
He liked her voice. The quality of a woman’s voice was something he always noticed.
He reined in the horses and came to a halt. He leaned down to greet the girl who had coming running towards him and stood looking up at him with bright dark eyes. She said, “You must be Mr Aconbury—” she pronounced the name with care—“Papa told us you were coming.”
“Yes, I am Mr Aconbury, and who are you?”
“I am Miss Camilla Darcy.” She gestured towards to the other girl who was hanging back. “That is my older sister, Miss Darcy, and that is Miss Beckford over there.” While she eyed the horses with approval, he bowed to Theodosia. Then he asked Camilla, “Would you like to ride in the curricle with me up to the house?”
She thought for a moment and then nodded her head. “If Miss Beckford says I may.”
“Yes, Camilla, only do not get in Mr Aconbury’s way.”
He jumped down, and lifted her into the seat in the curricle. His groom, who had gone to the horses’ heads, let go of them as Justin gathered up the reins and ran round to climb up on to the rear of the curricle.
“And you?” Justin said to Letty.
She hung her head and then shook it, backing away from the horses, who were getting restive. Miss Beckford held out a hand to her. “We will walk back to the house together, Letty.”
Camilla settled herself comfortably beside Justin. “Letty is afraid of carriages, she always thinks they’re going to fall over and everybody is going to be killed. But I don’t think you’ll turn this one over between here and the front door, will you?”
“I hope not.”
Chapter Five
That evening, Theodosia took the children downstairs to the drawing room after dinner. Her eyes took in the beauty and elegance of the apartment; Octavius Hyde had told her that Pemberley was a fine house, but she had not been quite prepared for the grandeur of her new surroundings.
Octavius and Lady Sarah greeted Theodosia with kind politeness and then Elizabeth said, “Allow me to introduce Mr Aconbury.”
He smiled at her and held out his hand, saying, “We already met, as I was coming up the drive.”
Since that encounter, Theodosia had learned something about Mr Aconbury from the gossipy maid who looked after the schoolroom.
“He’s the late Mr Darcy’s godson, who’s been out in the East, all among the elephants and the tigers.”
The East! Images of oriental splendour danced in Theodosia’s head. Turbaned rajahs; bejewelled ladies; sultry evenings with spices lingering in the air. Sinister cults and strange religions; harems and hookah pipes: what subjects for an eager pen.
But Mr Aconbury had no such tales to recount. The mention of elephants and tigers had caused great interest and amusement to Letty and Camilla, who now asked him to tell them about some of his adventures and he embarked upon an amusing story about a snake and a monkey, which set both girls giggling.
Theodosia was happy to see on what good terms the girls were with their papa, who had seemed to her when she first met him to be a slightly alarming man, very handsome and tall but with an aloof air to him. Now he seemed quite different, affable and relaxed as he joined in the girls’ games, teased them, and was evidently pleased when Camilla recited, with good accuracy and in an excellent accent, a short poem in French that she had been set to learn that morning.
Lady Sarah said to Mrs Darcy, “Perhaps we may ask Miss Beckford to entertain us with some music. From what Octavius says, she has a great love of music and I should like to hear her play.
The pianoforte was opened and Theodosia, always happy to be playing, sat down at the instrument. She played a lively sonata by Field and then she accompanied Lady Sarah in a ballad. After that it was time, Mrs Darcy said, for the girls to be taken upstairs.
Protests; squeals as their papa tickled them and then Theodosia bore them off.
Once they were tucked up in bed, she went to her own chamber, duties done, happy to settle down with a novel. The Pemberley library had an extensive collection and she was looking forward to reading The Spectre of the Henge. But for a while the book lay unopened on her lap as she reflected upon the events of her first day at Pemberley.
Her thoughts turned to Mr Aconbury. He was a well-looking, well-bred young man, she decided, with a air about him that she had often seen in young naval officers. Many of these by the time they were barely into their twenties had already seen much of the world and of war. It gave them a certain toughness and authority, and Mr Aconbury, although his manners were polished, shared something of those attributes.
Chapter Six
When the ladies had retired, Mr Darcy took Octavius and Justin into the library to drink a final glass of wine. They sat around the fire, and Mr Darcy said, “I fear I shall not be able to offer you much sport. I was speaking to a farmer today who warned me that the weather will soon change and he predicts we shall soon be in for some severe and stormy weather.”
He got up to put another log on the fire. “Elizabeth and I have to thank you, Octavius, for suggesting Miss Beckford to us. It is early days, but she seems to be a most excellent young woman, and anyone who can control Camilla earns my respect.”
Justin said to Octavius, “It is your doing that she comes here, is it?”
Octavius recounted Miss Beckford’s story, and Justin felt a stab of sympathy. He knew all too well what it was like to have a mother who did not care for one’s company, or didn’t even care what became of one.
“And what a pleasure to hear her play; her performance is indeed superior. I am fond of music and missed it while I was in India.”
“Are there no pianos in India?” Mr Darcy said.
“There are pianos, but the climate is not kind to them. Termites eat away at them, and the damp during the monsoon season does them no good. And it isn’t easy to keep them properly tuned.”
Mr Darcy said, “I hope you will not mind me asking, as an old friend, what your plans are? You said in your letter that you had given up your position with the East India Company.”
Justin said with a wry smile, “I gave it up some while ago, although I did not tell my parents that at the time. I shall not go back to the subcontinent, I plan to settle in England, where I intend to find some occupation to suit me. I have an active kind of mind and temperament and like to keep busy.”
Octavius said, “I am with you on that, a man must have some purpose to his life. I would not give up my profession even if I took a
dozen good prizes and could buy an abbey.”
“For the moment, I have time to take my leisure and look about me. I can tell you that I am simply glad to be here in England.”
Octavius said, “That’s what you think now, but give it a few weeks of winter weather and you’ll be wishing yourself back in the tropics among those elephants and tigers Camilla and Letty were teasing you about.” He stretched out his legs towards the fire. “Find yourself a wife, Aconbury, that’s what will make you a happy man. If being a nabob means you’re as rich as I think it does, there will be plenty of young ladies delighted to make your acquaintance.”
“And even one who may like you for yourself,” said Mr Darcy dryly.
Chapter Seven
The farmer’s gloomy prognostications proved to be correct. The wind set to blow from the north, and although it didn’t snow, an unpleasant, steady sleet fell from leaden skies, and the weather generally made conditions outside so disagreeable that any outdoor exercise for Theodosia’s charges was out of the question.
Theodosia suggested that the girls should take her on a tour of the house. Mrs Darcy’s permission was sought and given and Theodosia was led up and down staircases, along passages and into the picture gallery, where she would have liked to linger longer than Camilla would allow, as people were more interesting to her than fine rooms and tapestries.
They went through the State Apartments. “Aren’t they dreary?” Camilla said. “I think they are quite horrid, with all those heavy hangings and dark red walls and so on.”
“I don’t like the way one room leads through into another,” Letty said. “There is no privacy, who could care for that? The king came once, in my grandfather’s day, but why shouldn’t kings and queens and so on want to have doors to their bedchambers like ordinary people?”
There was a long gallery at the top of the house, where they could play skittles, and they had their daily hours of lessons and music practice, but the girls soon grew fractious from lack of exercise.
One afternoon, when the girls had been squabbling despite Theodosia’s best efforts to keep them occupied, Lady Sarah came to the rescue. “I know, why do not we make a sortie into the costume room.”
Theodosia looked enquiringly at her, and Lady Sarah went on, “The Darcy family have always been fond of theatricals, and so over time they have accumulated a great number of costumes that they have used in their various plays and charades and so on. And they have clothes from the last century, which were put away rather than being altered or disposed of. It is a veritable treasure trove of delights, and if Mrs Darcy gives her permission, the girls will be enchanted to while away an hour or so in there.”
Camilla jumped up and down. “Oh, yes, Miss Beckford, let us do that, please do. I love that room and all the clothes in it. I’m sure Mama will let us go there.”
Elizabeth was perfectly happy for them to do so. Sarah found her at her writing desk, attending to her correspondence. As she came in, the quill spluttered and a drop of ink flew on to the sheet of paper in front of her. “Bother,” said Elizabeth. She opened the drawer of the desk and rummaged in it for a knife to mend her pen. “The costume room? Of course, Sarah, what an excellent notion, although I warn you it will be chilly in there. Mrs Harbottle has the keys; ask her to open the room for you.”
The housekeeper was summoned, and she in her turn ordered two footmen to accompany them, one with branches of candles and the other with a basket of logs. “If we light a fire at once, that will help to take the worst of the cold from the room.”
So the little procession of Lady Sarah, Miss Beckford and the two girls followed the servants in a stately progress up to the second floor, where Mrs Harbottle unlocked the apartment and stepped. It was cold in there, but soon even Letty, who had begun by complaining that her nose was cold, forgot about the temperature in the excitement of the footman bringing the boxes down from the shelves and Mrs Harbottle unlocking and opening the clothes presses and cupboards.
There were gowns and gentlemen’s clothing of all kinds and shapes and sizes, and a complete set of the strangest-looking costumes, which Theodosia recognized as being those of carnival characters from Venice. There were long coats and short coats and frock coats; mediaeval robes, and ladies gowns with hoops and panniers, the height of fashion from a previous time. A shelf held hats of all kinds, from velvet caps and pointed headdresses to Tudor hoods and dashing Cavalier hats complete with curling feathers. Camilla opened a big box full of masks, and she pranced about the room wearing a cat one, complete with a fine set of whiskers. Other boxes contained sashes and scarves, buckles for shoes and an astonishing amount of paste jewellery.
Camilla and Letty dived into a heap of smaller garments and Camilla pulled out a yellow silk dress with an embroidered bodice. She held it up against herself and said ruefully, “I wore this one two Christmases ago, but I have quite grown out of it. It is a shame because it is so pretty.
They were still happily searching through the cupboards and boxes and exclaiming at what they unearthed—Miss Beckford wondered for what production a devil’s outfit was necessary—when the door opened and Justin Aconbury and Octavius walked in.
Octavius said to his wife, “Elizabeth told us that you were all up here. Good heavens, what is this? Are you planning to open a shop?” His eyes fell on strings of fake pearls spilling out of a box and bent over to pick up a golden crown, ornamented with huge glass stones representing rubies and emeralds. “What an Aladdin’s cave of treasures.”
Justin was charmed by the picture that the ladies and the girls presented. Camilla had put on a blue Tudor gown, Lady Sarah had swathed herself from head to foot in an extraordinary shawl spangled with gold and silver stars, while Miss Beckford, laughing, placed a glittering tiara upon Letty’s head.
Lady Sarah was telling Octavius about the roles that she had played in some of the theatricals that had taken place when she was at Pemberley. Justin could not help feel the poignancy and merriment of these memories and, looking at the flushed and happy girls, felt all the contrast with the cold grandeur of his own upbringing.
Chapter Eight
Octavius plucked a dramatic cloak from a cupboard and swung it about himself. He placed a sinister black hat upon his head, picked up a long wooden sword, twirled an imaginary moustache and strutted about the room, swishing his sword to and fro and growling threats at Camilla who shrieked with laughter and sprang away.
He paused beside Miss Beckford who was laughing as heartily as the rest of them at his antics and said, “You come from a dramatic family, Miss Beckford. I remember well Captain Beckford telling me about it. And indeed, when I was serving as a midshipman with him on the Tarantula, and the fleet was blockading Toulon, we put on a play. He was the one who thought of it and directed all.”
“A play, at sea?” Aconbury said. “What misapprehensions I have been suffering from, thinking of you naval men as constantly braving the waves and hunting down the enemy. However could you be putting on plays? Or was it when you were ashore?”
“No, indeed. As Miss Beckford will confirm, for she knows all about the ways of the navy, it is quite the custom of the service to put on plays and suchlike entertainments when at sea. That is, when conditions and duties permit. When we are on blockade you know, life takes on a very regular pattern. All we do is stand to and stand off, or as you might say, sail backwards and forwards. That goes on day after day after day, sometimes for months on end. With no action likely, and unless the weather turns foul, there is not much for anyone to do and life can become excessively tedious. There may be some visiting between the ships if the Captain of the Fleet permits it, and so ships’ crews pass the time with entertainments and performances of various kinds and send out invitations to men from other ships to come aboard and watch. Some ships have a strong musical tradition and their choirs might present a full oratorio or some such thing. However, dramatic productions are the most popular.”
Camilla looked at the sleet blow
ing against the window and gave a dramatic shiver. “I am glad I am not at sea on a day like this.”
“So am I cried Letty, “for I am sure I would be sick and I would certainly be afraid of the ship sinking and drowning everyone.”
“Do not fill me with fears, for heaven’s sake,” said Lady Sarah. “Remember. if you please, that while Octavius is presently here with us, in a few weeks he will be back at his duties and battling the elements at sea.”
“What kind of plays did you put on?” Justin asked.
“On the occasion I was speaking on, when I served on the Tarantula, we performed a play called The Castle of Wolfenstein.” He stopped abruptly and stared at Miss Beckford. “Of course. You will be more than familiar with it, for I believe you wrote it? Yes, I am right, am I not? He told us so. It was a gothic tale. Do you remember it, Miss Beckford?”
Justin saw Theodosia’s expressive eyes light up with pleasure as she said, “Oh, indeed I do, although I had quite forgotten it. I cannot really claim authorship for I took it from a story that had been translated from the German. It was the most preposterous tale, with lost heirs and abductions and all that kind of thing. I adapted the story into dramatic form to be performed one Christmas. My father recalled the piece when he was casting around for a play to put on and asked me to send it out to him.”
Octavius said, “Being one of the midshipman, with my voice not yet broken, I was obliged to play one of the young ladies. The actor I envied was the first lieutenant, who played the villain. What was his name?”
Miss Beckford said, “Oswald.”
Lady Sarah said, “Oswald is an excellent name for a villain; one expects nothing good of an Oswald.”
Mr Darcy Requests the Pleasure Page 22
