I explained that we hadn’t known of her whereabouts but that Dorcas had promised Mrs. Battle to make inquiries and report back to her on how Gillian was doing. Seeing that Ariel was dying to spill the beans or whatever else she had up her sleeve, I told her about our upcoming visit to Lady Loverly and suggested we wait to compare notes until we saw how that went.
“Goodness! If I’d known I’d have washed my face twice before leaving school. You’ll have to take me with you!” It was more a demand than a request. “It would be too cruel not to let me be in on this; besides, it should be harder for her ladyship to turn you away if you have an impressionable child in tow!”
“Has a point there!” Dorcas clapped me on the shoulder as we all stepped inside. Chippy’s house was a replica of the Middletons’—understandably so, given that the properties were semidetached. Also, the furnishings were similar: pleasantly old-fashioned without too much fuss. This stair carpet was moss green rather than russet, and the linen-and-white striped wallpaper different from the amber paint. Fewer paintings hung on the walls, but they invoked the mood of a home created from well-loved pieces passed down from previous generations along with newer ones tastefully chosen. Ms. Chips had done a great job with the Chaplain’s House, but this one had the feel of being lived in and known like an old friend.
“Matron’s upstairs,” Ariel informed us, in the voice of a parlormaid who took her duties extremely seriously. “She said she wanted to look for something for Ms. Chips to wear for the funeral. She’s been up there quite a while, but it wouldn’t do to rush the selection, would it? I’m sure we will all want to look our very best. When our time comes.”
“Don’t like to call her down to tell her we’re taking Ariel. Could be having a bit of a weep.” Dorcas herself sounded choked with tears as she groped for my hand. “What say we wait for her in the sitting room?”
We did, and found it a place of comfortably worn sofas and chairs, nestling up to lamp tables with plenty of room to hold teacups or magazines. Unlike the Middletons’ counterpart, there was no grand piano, but a number of well-lined bookcases topped with framed photographs made up for this lack. I had the pleasant feeling that Ms. Chips would walk in and offer us cups of tea. In any case, we were about to sit down when Matron walked into the room.
Dorcas and I began explaining between us that we’d decided on taking a drive, and—
“And Mrs. Battle will have asked you to make a detour, Ms. Critchley, and inquire after Gillian.” Matron began fussing with sofa cushions that had looked perfectly fine to me. “I am not allowing myself to feel hurt that she has chosen to be with them in what is my hour of need, not hers. She was never taught by Marilyn, nor did she ever show the slightest interest in sports, to my knowledge.”
“She’s quite good at table tennis,” Ariel offered.
“And that’s supposed to make her a soulmate of dear Marilyn?” Matron sat down on the sofa, her hand stroking the material at her side—rather, I found myself thinking, as I would have stroked my cat, Tobias. “Really, it was too bad of Mrs. Battle to give in to Gillian, but as you will understand I have enough else on my mind. I’ll need to arrange with Mrs. Mossop to come out and give the furniture here a good polish, so the place will look its very best when people come back after the service. That would have been important to Marilyn, and who’s to think of her feelings if I don’t?”
“Had a lot of good friends …” Dorcas began staunchly but, perhaps noting the glint in Matron’s eyes and realizing this was not what she wanted to hear, her voice petered out.
My offer to take Ariel with us went down well, but we were not hustled on our way; we were urged with a surprising enthusiasm to stay and have tea and cake—a chocolate one that Matron said she had brought with her. It would have been unkind to refuse. Also, as we sat watching her bustle about with plates and cups, I realized she was enjoying playing hostess in her friend’s house. It was hers now, of course, but she hadn’t discovered that until this very afternoon, when Mrs. Battle in her dazed state had let the information slip. Matron could hardly be blamed if in the midst of her grief she was pleased at last to have a home of her own … just as Mr. Middleton was bound to rejoice, however sorrowfully, in the knowledge that St. Roberta’s could now provide scholarships for gifted students … such as Gillian.
15
With Ariel seated behind us, Dorcas drove cautiously in the direction of the Hall, which she had visited this spring on a staff outing. It was by now nearly eight o’clock and, though not yet dark, the night was thickened with cloud. Was the good weather of the past few days on the way out? Were we in for sighing winds and weeping rain?
“Friendship is so important,” Ariel said suddenly. “You can tell a friend things you wouldn’t even bring up with your own family. I’m talking about the really special ones, Ellie.”
“Anything you want to tell me?”
“No, but I could … so why isn’t Gillian confiding in Carolyn? That’s the question I’ve been asking myself. What can be so bad that she has to keep it all to herself?”
“If she did take the Loverly Cup, she would have to anticipate that her ladyship’s goddaughter would take a pretty dim view.”
“I’m not so sure. Carolyn has always struck me as unusually understanding. Anything you want to tell me, Ellie?”
“I’m wondering if we turned the wrong way at that fork in the road back there. This lane’s awfully bumpy, Dorcas.”
“Remember thinking that the last time.”
“Ellie!” Ariel leaned forward to grab the back of my seat.
“Later.”
We turned onto a gravel drive, and from the pleased—if faintly surprised—look on Dorcas’s face I was reasonably confident we had arrived at the Hall. With rain now coming down, there wasn’t much to be seen beyond ivy-clad walls set with latticed windows and a massive door that sprang open as we mounted the broad semicircle of steps.
“Come inside out of the wet,” urged a cheerful voice, as we entered a dimly lit hall, chilly with stone and heavy in timber, to be further greeted by a girl with corkscrew curls and a mischievous face.
“I’m Luanne Wyles. Usually Mrs. Brown gets the door, but she went up to bed the minute Lady Loverly finished her dinner. The poor old duck has been looking poorly all day. She gets the most terrible headaches, so I don’t in the least mind taking over for her. Let her have her rest, I said to myself. I didn’t go up even when Mr. Aiden arrived, though I know how Mrs. Brown always likes to see him. Awfully kind to her as well as his grandmother, he is. But who wouldn’t love her ladyship, is what I say! Working here’s the treat of my life after St. Roberta’s.”
“I hope Lady Loverly won’t mind seeing us. I’m Ellie Haskell, and—”
“’Course not. She’s a love, her ladyship is! As for Mr. Aiden, he’s a proper dreamboat!”
Luanne was leading us across a heavily wainscoted hall hung with enough armory and ancestral portraits to establish at a glance that visitors should count themselves lucky not to be charged ten pounds for the privilege of breathing the rather musty air. I could sense that Dorcas was fiercely awed and Ariel was fighting off a fit of the giggles.
“Won’t Mrs. Frenton have won the pools if he asks her to marry him?” Luanne went on. “It’s just so romantic, isn’t it? The two of them being so gorgeous, and him inheriting his grandfather’s title but being all modern and choosing not to use it, just like he’s made his own way in the world, even though Mrs. Brown told me Lady Loverly wanted to help finance his business so he could set up in a better area than Tingwell. Well, enough of my mouth. I just can’t get used to working here. It’s like being in one of them lovely old-fashioned plays my mum likes to watch on the telly.” She turned to stare at Ariel. “You look nice with that grin of yours, so it can’t have rubbed off—being around Miss High and Mighty, that is.”
She guided us to a door, opened it without knocking in the trusted-employee manner, and departed with a regretful wave.
“Myself in my glory days!” The speaker rose from her chair and followed my glance. “A healthy attitude to the human body has always seemed to me to be important. Wilma Johnson once told me that there has always been too much sex in this world for her liking.”
Ariel stood with her tongue in her cheek while Dorcas blushed a fiery red.
“I do apologize for our intrusion,” I began, only to be silenced by a majestic wave of the hand.
“No need for all that. I know who you are—you’re the woman Mrs. Battle brought in to recover the Hester Bateman cup. I’ve been expecting you to show up ever since Aiden told me about snarling at poor, meek Gillian. As if that child didn’t have enough to contend with, being Wilma Johnson’s great-niece.”
Lady Loverly sat down and signaled to us to do likewise.
“And you”—addressing Dorcas—“are the new games mistress. Thought you looked a decent sort last time I saw you. But whether you are worthy to fill Marilyn Chips’s shoes waits to be seen. What a loss! One can only hope she finds the happiness she deserves in the great beyond.”
Her ladyship was a large woman with even more teeth than I remembered and a sagging face that gave her, particularly at that moment, the look of a mournful bloodhound. She directed her gaze at Ariel.
“Why have you brought this child with you? Not that she isn’t welcome—I like children, always have done—but there is a time and a place!”
Ariel beamed at her. “I’m Ellie’s cousin, and I’m afraid I foisted myself on her and Ms. Critchley.”
“No matter. As responsible adults wishing a serious talk with me they shouldn’t have allowed themselves to be foisted on. Why don’t you go and browse in the library? You’ll find it across the hall if you open enough doors.”
“Would it be all right if I went and talked to Luanne instead?”
“You’ll be lucky to get a word in! That girl’s mouth never lacks for fresh air, but I’ve always liked strong personalities. Off you go, then.”
I was rather surprised that Ariel hadn’t balked at being banished from what she would expect to be a fascinating conversation; but I kept my focus on her ladyship, who clearly had a lot in common with her young maid.
“I’ve always been of the opinion that Wilma Johnson’s was not a fulfilling marriage. Neither was mine idyllic.” Lady Loverly’s bloodhound face sagged even deeper. She had a growly voice. “One always hopes not to be blinded by affection, but then how many relationships would we have if we ferreted too deeply?” She shook herself as if coming out of a thicket and smiled at Dorcas, who was looking desperate.
I gave the conversation a nudge. “Luanne said your grandson is here.”
“One of his surprise visits. You could have knocked me down with a feather when I saw him standing in the hall.”
“Talking about me, fair heart?” The door opened and Aiden Loverly glided into our midst, looking more reprehensively handsome than I remembered.
“As always, you are at the center of everyone’s thoughts,” his grandmother informed him affectionately. “Do say hello nicely to my guests—Miss Critchley and Mrs …”
“Haskell.” I hoped my smile was short and to the point.
“We all met, didn’t we, outside Clive Middleton’s on Sunday? You didn’t appreciate my treatment of Carolyn’s friend Gilly.” He prowled languidly around a sofa.
“Beastly scare you gave her,” Dorcas fired back.
“Yes, and believe it or not I regret it.” For once there was no hint of flippancy or sarcasm in his voice.
“Aiden, dear boy, they are here to talk about the Loverly Cup. Poor Mrs. Battle was so distressed—and of course it is upsetting, although I have another very similar one I’d be happy to present as a replacement … . Anyway, she brought these two ladies in as private detectives.” Dorcas endeavored to protest, but her ladyship plowed on. “I got this information from Mrs. Battle this afternoon when I went to the school to share her sorrow over dear Marilyn Chips.”
“I intended to scare the life out of Gillian.”
“Aiden!” Lady Loverly expostulated.
“Darling Granny.” He bent down and kissed her cheek before ensconcing himself in a chair across from hers. “I did rather come at her on my bike, but only to put the wind up her because I’d decided she’d taken that brooch of yours. But on second thought, I may have been misled.”
“I should hope so. Such nonsense, suspecting that child.” Her ladyship shook her head. “Really, Aiden, I love you enormously, but you can be the limit.”
“I hate the idea of anyone taking advantage of your kindness.” He brushed back his long fair hair in an elegant gesture, but he no longer appeared to me to be posturing. I wondered what Dorcas was thinking of him. I wasn’t ready to like the man, but I suspected he was truly fond of his grandmother.
“My boy, as we have seen today, life is too full of real tragedy to get worked up over the small stuff. And as I told you yesterday on the phone, I found the brooch pinned on my purple frock. The one you always say makes me look like an emperor in drag.”
“I will make a point of seeing Gillian and apologizing to her.”
“Overdue.” Dorcas looked him squarely in the eye.
“He’s a wonderful grandson.” Lady Loverly’s voice sank to a ruminating growl. “Notwithstanding he has a nasty temper when he feels himself justified. His father—my son and only child—was so easygoing. His death and that of his dear wife came as a terrible blow. Those small airplanes are never as safe as people want to believe. Aiden was still in his teens and not entirely pleased about having to come and live with an old woman.”
“Thank you, Granny, for the defense, but I don’t think these ladies want to hear it. They have me pegged as a heartless rogue. Thank God I have finally found a woman who can separate the substance from the shadow.”
The lovely Mrs. Frenton? “You said you were misled about Gillian’s stealing the brooch?” My breath caught in my throat as I awaited his answer. It was a long moment coming.
“By Carolyn.”
“Go on, please.” I was struck by the lack of surprise on Dorcas’s face.
“She phoned while the hunt for the brooch was on. I mentioned it, and she said Gillian must have taken it—that she’d just that week discovered Gillian had been chucked out of her last school for stealing.”
“She wasn’t just repeating what other girls had said?”
“No, she stated it as a fact. She said she was dreadfully upset, felt thoroughly taken in, and was convinced from the way Gillian was behaving that she had also stolen the Loverly Cup.”
“Why do you now think she may not have been telling the truth?”
Aiden gave me one of his cynical smiles. “Because I’ve a nose for phonies—in antiques and in people. It didn’t take much time spent around Carolyn to realize that her gentle manner hides a viciously ruthless streak, which explains why she has never kept her friends for long. Last year there was a girl named Elizabeth Anderson she used to bring here on visits.”
“Nice red-haired girl.” Her ladyship nodded her shaggy head
.
“Who got the role Carolyn wanted in the school play. When it came to the missing brooch, I admit to letting my emotions prevail, especially since I’d seen Gillian coming out of Grandmother’s bedroom on the weekend before last with an embarrassed look on her face.”
“I sent her up to get my watch. She may have been taken aback by that portrait of me as a young woman in the bath. The artist was sparing with the bubbles.” Her ladyship chuckled deeply. “And she is clearly a girl from a traditional sort of family.”
Dorcas sat uncomfortably silent.
“I phoned Carolyn after my near run-in with Gillian and said I intended on having a word with the Battle-ax about accepting a girl into the school with a propensity for stealing. She immediately said she’d been misinformed, but I knew she was lying. I could hear it in her voice.”
“When Carolyn first came to St. Roberta’s it seemed such a blessing.” Lady Loverly sighed gustily, showing most of her teeth. “I hadn’t seen her since she was little, and being short on family I welcomed her coming to stay, sometimes with a friend on weekends or at half term. It seemed to bring this old house back to life. Even Mrs. Brown took on renewed energy, baking special treats. But I soon saw what Aiden has described, the concealed nastiness. Before Gillian and Elizabeth there were other friends who came and went.”
“Ariel—the girl we brought with us—is clearly being reeled in as the replacement.”
I looked from the grandmother to the grandson.
“About the Loverly Cup.” I described where I had found it and said I had also found what I was sure was Gillian’s chain and cat charm nearby on the floor. “I then discovered that I’d left a compact mirror on the table under the clock and returned it to my handbag. When I took it out today while having lunch with Carolyn and Ariel, Carolyn commented that it was Marie Chantal. I was surprised she would know that unless she’d had a chance to look at the signature on the back—when she was in the Chaplain’s House planting evidence against Gillian. But she told me, your ladyship, that you have a Marie Chantal compact mirror also.”
Goodbye, Ms. Chips Page 24
