Letitia Or The Convalescent Heart
Page 33
Later that evening Letty spoke to her aunt on the vexed subject of what should – or could – be done in the light of the Countess’s confession in the oubliette. Aspasia was horrified but also warmly appreciative of the way her niece had handled the matter.
She said, “It sounds as though you may have managed to convince her to desist from such exceedingly clumsy attempts to cure Frederick and, in any event, from what Dr Stone has said, I do not think she will be in any fit state to be creeping about putting poisonous drops into his tea for some time, if ever again. I will tell him though because it is as well that he should know what has been going on.”
The Earl’s reaction was much as Aspasia expected. He was, he said, glad that an explanation for his frequent indispositions while at the Castle had been found, and relieved that they would almost certainly now cease.
He said, “I believe we must give her the benefit of the doubt so far as my father is concerned; she has always been a woman who holds firmly to her own opinions even in the face of strong evidence to the contrary, so that I suppose I should not be surprised that she believed what she was doing was for his benefit In any event, even if she did hasten his end, he is at peace now and I can see no purpose in trying to punish her at this stage of her life. I promise I shall be more careful in future!”
“I hope you will,” she said. “I shall never let her pour you another cup of tea as long as she lives.”
He laughed. “She could always put it in something else, but I do not think she will try again. Oddly enough, I think it was Letty’s care of her in the oubliette which has made her feel herself to be of value for the first time in her life, without having to rely upon her looks or resort to acid humour. I believe she thought my father married her for her money and that I disliked her – which I own I have, until now.”
“Archie has always been attached to her, has he not?”
“I am sure he is, but she does her best to make even him dislike her,” he said.
Letty was carried downstairs to eat dinner with the rest of the family. Lady Stonegate did not appear, but it was decided that everyone would pay her a visit shortly after.
They found the old lady propped up in bed and wrapped in a number of fetching silk shawls. She was a trifle sleepy, being still under the influence of a large quantity of laudanum, but she managed to entertain her guests for a short period before her eyelids drooped and they took their leave.
“Let no one complain that there is nothing going on in the country,” she said. “I have never had such an exciting time in my life. Why, it makes the metropolis seem positively dull. We have been living in the very midst of a drama whereas, in London, one must go to the theatre for such a thing.”
“Indeed,” the Earl agreed, smiling. “I am glad you enjoyed it, Mama.”
“Well, I did not - altogether - at the time but in retrospect I can see that it was enthralling. I believe,” she added archly, “that congratulations are in order for both my sons.”
“Yes, Mama, I have never been so happy in my life,” Archie said at once, putting his arm around Letty, who had been carried into the North Tower and now reclined gracefully upon a chaise longue.
“And Frederick is to marry a woman of his own age,” the Countess went on, managing, in spite of her new gentleness and apparent pleasure at the prospect of acquiring as daughters-in-law the two women she had done her best to drive away, to administer the merest pinprick into her stepson and Aspasia.
“I will try to make him happy,” Aspasia said, amused.