“I’ll be countin’ the days until you comes back and you can be sure, my Lady, I’ll let you know the moment the Master gives up the idea of your marryin’ the Duke. But take care. If you’re in any trouble with the Marquis, come back and we’ll find somewhere else for you to hide.”
“I know you will and thank you, darling Betty.”
They crept down the back staircase and out through the door that led into the Square.
There was no one about, but it was not as dark as it had been and the first glimmer of light was just appearing over the roofs of the houses.
They walked quickly to the Agency to find that the road was deserted and everyone was still asleep.
“Now you stay quietly inside till the carriage comes for you,” Betty said. “It’s not likely you’ll be disturbed at this time of the mornin’, but as you know you can lock the door on the inside.”
Eleta hugged Betty as she said goodbye to her and kissed her on both cheeks.
“You have been wonderful, wonderful,” she said. “I will write to you, but I must disguise my writing in case any of the staff recognise it and tell Step-papa.”
Betty nodded and Eleta went on,
“You can be quite certain he will be suspicious of everyone, especially of you, as you have always meant so much to me.”
“I’ve thought of that,” Betty said.
She opened her rather ugly handbag and pulled out a piece of paper.
“Here’s the address of my sister-in-law, my Lady, and if you write to me there, she’ll forward the letter on.”
“How clever of you,” Eleta exclaimed. “I did not think of that and, if I do write to you, it would not be surprising if your sister-in-law writes to you whenever she feels like it.”
“That’s what I want you to do. I’ll tell her to put it in another envelope so that the Master won’t be curious as to why I’m hearin’ from Hertfordshire.”
Eleta gave a cry of delight and kissed Betty again.
It would have been dark inside Mrs. Hill’s house if there had not been a glass panel above the door and the dawn was just beginning to percolate through it.
Eleta sat on the stairs. It was not very comfortable, but at least she was resting her legs.
Then, as she was alone in the quiet of what was at the moment an empty house, she began to pray.
She prayed for God to help her and for her mother to be near her and she also prayed that where she was going would not be as difficult or as frightening as Betty feared it would be.
The sun was coming through the top of the door and lighting the stairs when Eleta’s wristwatch told her that it was now six o’clock.
It was then that she turned the key in the lock and opened the door. Even as she did so, she saw a carriage approaching drawn by two horses.
When they were pulled in exactly outside the door, she opened it still further.
There was a footman on the box beside the driver and, as he came across the pavement, she saw that he was a comparatively young man with a smile on his lips.
“Be you the new Governess?” he enquired.
“I am,” Eleta said, “and let me thank you for being so punctual.”
“We was afraid we’d have difficulty findin’ this place,” he replied, “as we ain’t been here before.”
“My luggage is inside and thank you for coming.”
“You may not thank me when you gets there,” the footman muttered.
Eleta knew without being told what he meant and she thought it would be a mistake to be too chatty. So she waited until the footman brought out her luggage and then she locked the door and put the key through the letter-box.
The footman loaded her luggage at the back of the carriage and then came round to open the door for her and she climbed inside.
It was very comfortable and well-upholstered and Eleta put her jewel-case down beside her, as the footman came to the door carrying her hat-box.
“Do you mind havin’ this with you?” he asked. “It won’t go into the hole at the back and I don’t fancy havin’ me legs on it all the way down.”
“It will be quite all right on the small seat,” Eleta said. “Or if you think it might fall, put it on the floor.”
“If you asks me that’s more sensible,” the footman replied. “Do you want a rug over your knees, miss?”
“Thank you,” Eleta said. “Now I am comfortable and I hope I will go to sleep.”
“I could do with a wee bit of shut-eye meself,” the footman said, “but there won’t be no time for that.”
He grinned as he closed the door and climbed up on the front seat and then they drove off.
The man was, she thought, somewhat cheeky for a footman and then she remembered she was no longer Lady Eleta Renton but just a Governess – someone he would say ‘miss’ to when he thought about it, but was more likely to forget it.
‘Now that I am below stairs,’ Eleta reflected, ‘I will doubtless learn so much I did not know before.’
Yet, as she thought it over, she decided that she was not quite below stairs like the rest of the staff.
As one Governess had said to her years ago, her position was between Heaven and Hell!
She laughed at the time, but now she told herself it was no laughing matter and she would have to be careful to keep her dignity, while at the same time to be friendly and at ease with the other staff.
At least her stepfather would not expect her to be in such a position and she reckoned that he would first try to find her amongst her friends.
This would be much more difficult than it sounded because her friends of the last three years lived abroad and he would undoubtedly first ask her friends in France.
If he was at a loss as to where else she was likely to be, he only had to look at her letters to her mother.
The last batch of letters had been from Africa, but he would hardly expect her to travel all that way alone and before that there were letters she had written from Spain and Portugal.
‘If Step-papa has to write to all those people,’ Eleta thought, ‘it will certainly take him a good long time. And he will be embarrassed at having to say he has lost me.’
She almost laughed at that idea, knowing it was something her stepfather would never admit.
But he would have to make some excuse for being anxious to get in touch with her immediately.
She had locked her bedroom door before she left, slipping the key back into the room by pushing it under the door and onto the carpet inside.
They would either have to break down the door to get in or find another key that fitted it.
She could imagine all too clearly her stepfather’s fury and anger when he found her room empty and only a few clothes left in the wardrobe.
He would know then that she had gone away and there would be no one in the house to inform him when she left or where she went.
Eleta knew that she could trust Betty.
She would be surprised, astonished and appear very worried because she was not there, all of which would be of no help to her stepfather, who would be frantic in his efforts to find her.
‘It will never enter his head for a moment,’ Eleta thought, ‘that I would go to an Agency and find a situation for which I was being paid.’
Seeing how rich she was, that would never occur to him, any more than he had expected her to run away.
If he had thought of it, she was certain he would have locked her in her bedroom and at night put a guard on the door without her being aware of it.
‘I think I am safe, I am almost sure I am,’ she told herself. ‘But I must not take any chances. It is essential, if the Marquis entertains his friends, they do not see me.’
Then she told herself that was not as dangerous as it might be.
She had not been in England since her mother had died and she had deliberately stayed away, as she could not bear to go back to the house without her. Above all she had no wish to be with her stepfather.
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��How could I have imagined for a moment that he would try to marry me to a man I have never seen,’ she asked herself, ‘who is old and prepared to sell his title to the highest bidder.’
She shuddered because the very idea shocked her.
The carriage continued gathering speed as it went out of London and it was then that Eleta began to think of the future rather than the past.
‘Why,’ she asked herself, ‘does this child have such a dislike of her Governesses? Why do they say she is so impossible and un-teachable that they leave almost as soon as they arrive?’
Because she had learnt to reason things out at the Convent, she had been successful at all her lessons.
Not only had she used her brain, but her perception, her imagination and what she liked to call her Third Eye and now she applied them all to what was waiting ahead for her.
This passed the time far more quickly than anything else she could have done.
It was twelve o’clock before the carriage turned in at some large and majestic gold-topped gates and drove up a long drive with ancient oaks on either side.
They made Eleta think of her own country house in Northamptonshire.
When she had her first glimpse of the Marquis’s house, she thought it was, without exception, the finest and most attractive house she had ever seen.
It was certainly extremely impressive and she was to learn later that it was considered the greatest success of the Adam Brothers.
They passed over a bridge into a huge courtyard with the sun shining on at least a hundred windows.
Eleta had seen many great houses when she had been abroad, especially the beautiful châteaux in France.
None, however, could equal the magnificence of Teringford Court, which excelled them all.
As they drew up at the front door, it flashed through her mind that, however short her stay might be, she must fully explore this magnificent and wonderful house before she left.
CHAPTER FOUR
An elderly butler bowed to Eleta.
“Good morning,” she began somewhat shyly. “I am Miss Lawson, the new Governess.”
He looked at her in surprise and she realised that he was thinking she was far too young, but he then said,
“If you’ll come this way, miss, I’ll take you to his Lordship’s secretary, Mr. Clarke, who I know will want to see you.”
There were two footmen in very smart livery in the hall and the butler led Eleta under the carved staircase and along a passage that she was sure ended in the kitchens.
Half way there, however, he stopped at a door and opening it he announced in an almost stentorian tone,
“Miss Lawson, the new Governess, sir.”
Mr. Clarke, an elderly man, was looking a bit tired.
He rose from his desk and held out his hand.
“I was informed that you would be arriving today, Miss Lawson,” he said, “but I did not expect you so soon.”
“They were kind enough in London,” Eleta replied, “to allow me to leave early.”
“Will you sit down?” Mr. Clarke asked.
He indicated a chair in front of his desk and she sat down on it, sitting stiffly upright.
“I expect you have been told,” he said, as he seated himself, “that we have a difficult problem here.”
“Yes, Mrs. Hill told me about it and I hope that I will be more successful than the other Governesses.”
“I hope so too. It is very bad for a child to have women popping in and out, but you must forgive me if I say that you look almost too young for such a position.”
Eleta opened her handbag and handed him the two references she had shown to Mrs. Hill.
He took them from her and read them slowly and then he commented,
“These are certainly complimentary and I can only hope, Miss Lawson, that you will not give up too quickly. I think that the Governesses who preceded you left because they would not give it a fair chance.”
“I will certainly do my best.”
“I can only wish you the very best of luck,” Mr. Clarke said. “And thank you for giving us at least a try.”
Eleta realised that he was trying to be friendly and she smiled at him before she added,
“If my problems are too heavy for me, I will come and ask you how I can solve them. I have always thought a man is better at that than any woman.”
Mr. Clarke laughed.
“I hope you are right and I certainly have a lot of problems to solve here as his Lordship is away so often.”
Eleta felt in that case the Marquis was neglecting not only his estate but also his child.
She rose to her feet, saying,
“Will you be taking me up to meet my new pupil?”
Mr. Clarke shook his head.
“No, the housekeeper will do that. You will find that Mrs. Shepherd will show you round and of course will give you anything you require.”
He touched the bell on his desk.
Immediately the door opened and an elderly woman in the traditional black of a housekeeper entered the room.
“Good morning, Mrs. Shepherd,” Mr. Clarke said to her. “Allow me to introduce Miss Lawson, who has very kindly come as Governess to Lady Priscilla.”
“That sounds a very long name for a very young girl,” Eleta remarked.
“Her father used to call her ‘Pepe’,” Mr. Clarke answered, “but he is more formal now she is older.”
Eleta did not reply, but, having shaken hands with Mrs. Shepherd, she said,
“As I have been travelling since very early this morning, you will understand I would like to go upstairs and take off my hat and cape.”
“Of course Miss Lawson,” the housekeeper agreed. “Your bedroom is in the nursery.”
Eleta raised her eyebrows.
“So Lady Priscilla is still in the nursery,” she asked, “even though she is old enough to have a Governess?”
The housekeeper looked surprised.
“We never thought of moving her, but if she wishes to have a larger room on a lower floor, there’s no reason why she shouldn’t, if that’s what she wants.”
“No one mentioned this to me,” Mr. Clarke said as though they thought it might be his fault.
“Of course not, but it’s something we must think about in the future.”
Mrs. Shepherd gave a quick glance at Eleta, which told her quite clearly that she thought that she would not be staying long.
Eleta turned to Mr. Clarke,
“Thank you very much for being so kind and I hope I will not bother you too much.”
“Of course, of course,” Mr. Clarke replied quickly.
Mrs. Shepherd went the door and Eleta followed.
“I’m afraid that it’s quite a long way upstairs,” she said. “As you’ve just arrived, I think you should use the front stairs which I’ve always been told are very majestic.”
“I should be delighted. As you can imagine, I am very impressed with this beautiful house.”
“Everybody is. I only hope, Miss Lawson, that you stay here long enough to see all the treasures we have in practically every room.”
They went up to the first floor and then climbed again to the second and Mrs. Shepherd stopped outside a white painted door.
Eleta was sure it was the nursery and suggested,
“I think, Mrs. Shepherd, after all I have heard of the difficulties that lie ahead, I would like to go in alone.”
“You don’t want me to introduce you to her?” Mrs. Shepherd asked in astonishment.
Eleta shook her head.
“If you don’t think it rude of me, I would rather introduce myself.”
“Well then, that’s something new at any rate, but of course, Miss Lawson, you have your own way of doing things and we must respect them.”
“Thank you, thank you very much, Mrs. Shepherd, and I expect if I am also to be sleeping in the nursery that my luggage will be brought up later.”
She knew as she spoke from the expression o
n Mrs. Shepherd’s face that she had not thought of a Governess being anywhere but in the nursery.
“I’ll be in my room, which anyone’ll show you to if you want me,” Mrs. Shepherd said loftily.
Eleta then waited for Mrs. Shepherd to walk down the stairs and only when she had nearly reached the first floor did she open the door of the nursery and walk in.
The small occupant of it was sitting on the floor with a doll on her lap and a whole pile of tin soldiers and other small toys were scattered on the floor beside her.
She looked up when Eleta walked in, then sprang to her feet and stood at the window with her back to her.
Eleta closed the door behind her and, when she was halfway across the room, the child then turned and said,
“Go away! I am not doing any lessons! I hate – ”
Before she could say any more, Eleta interrupted,
“Hush! Hush!”
She put her fingers to her lips and the child stared at her and she said again,
“Hush! Hush!”
Then, walking across the room, Eleta opened the door nearest the window.
She was right in thinking that it was the child’s bedroom. It was a pretty room and well furnished.
Eleta looked in and then again she put her fingers to her lips before she said in a low whisper,
“We will not be heard in here. I have something to ask you.”
Lady Priscilla was staring at her in amazement and, as she hesitated, Eleta whispered,
“They might be listening at the door.”
She went to the bedroom, saying again quietly,
“Please come in.”
Slowly and as if she could hardly believe what was happening, Lady Priscilla followed her and, when she was inside, Eleta breathed,
“Shut the door.”
The child obeyed her and Eleta sat down on the bed and, pulling off her hat, she threw it behind her. She then loosened her cape and let it fall down around her.
Then she said again in a whisper,
“I want your help.”
Lady Priscilla, from just inside the door, asked,
“My help?”
“Hush! I want to ask you something very secret.”
Almost as if she was mesmerised by the way Eleta was behaving, Lady Priscilla moved towards the bed.
103. She Wanted Love Page 6
