by Lucy Gordon
‘Is greatly improved, I thank you. But I shan’t spoil your good work. Hanson, my tiger, will drive me until it’s quite better.’
‘I’m glad of it, My Lord.’
‘I’ll return at the end of the week,’ he said abruptly, and left her.
The day after his departure Caesar vanished from the stables. The head groom boasted of the good price he’d obtained for him, Kate allowed herself a moment of quiet satisfaction. Justin would never admit that he’d heeded her words, but she knew the truth.
The only person sorry to see the horse go was Tom. ‘I could have ridden him,’ he said wistfully.
Kate realized with dread that now Justin had gone Tom might slip away again. But help came in the unexpected form of Philip. Although Tom seemed so much older they were close in age, and Philip found solace in Tom’s company. They took long rides together, and Kate was content to let them go, glad to notice that Tom’s attitude to the younger boy had become protective.
A kind of peace settled on them, spoilt only by Millicent’s malign presence. She couldn’t dismiss Kate, but she tried to undermine her by countermanding her orders. Kate was unwilling to fight back, partly from pity for the servants caught in the crossfire, partly for fear of adding further bitterness to the house.
Then Millicent over-reached herself.
Sitting quietly in the rose arbour one day, Kate looked up to see Lady Thorpe bearing down on her, followed by two gardeners with shears. She went to stand in the entrance to the arbour.
`Kindly stand aside,’ Millicent demanded coldly. ‘I am taking charge of dear Amelia’s little garden to ensure that it is protected and kept properly.’
`That is something I do myself,’ Kate said firmly. ‘There is no need for you to trouble yourself, Lady Thorpe.’
Millicent’s eyes narrowed. ‘I told you to stand aside,’ she snapped.
‘I shall not stand aside, nor shall I allow you to interfere with what is perfect.’ She spoke past Millicent to the gardeners who were looking nervous. ‘You may take those shears away. There is no pruning needs doing here.’
She didn’t miss the way their eyes turned to Millicent, and her anger began to rise.
‘My fine lady,’ Millicent said in a soft, venomous voice. ‘That’s what you think you are, isn’t it? A fine lady. Aping your betters, jumping into a dead woman’s shoes, imagining that you could ever be Lady Farringdon.’
‘But I am Lady Farringdon,’ Kate said firmly. ‘By Amelia’s own wish.’
‘Common, vulgar little governess,’ Millicent spat, her voice rising with her temper. ‘A governess you were and a governess you’ll remain until the day Lord Farringdon annuls your so-called marriage and throws you out of the house. Now stand aside, and allow these men to get on with their work.’
‘They have no work in this place,’ Kate said. ‘Leave at once, both of you, and don’t come here again without my permission.’
‘Your permission,’ Millicent almost screamed. ‘Your permission! You jumped-up little adventuress, I’ll show you what your permission is worth. You two men, get to your work.’
‘Not if you value your employment,’ Kate said, finding the strength and courage to sound firm. She knew she had reached crisis point. The battle might seem trivial, but the promise she had made Amelia hung on it.
The gardeners looked unhappily back and forth between the faces of the two women, one red with spite, the other calm and determined. Then one of them made a movement as if to go.
‘Stay where you are!’ Millicent almost shouted.
‘I think they had better leave,’ came a voice from behind her.
Everyone turned sharply to see Justin. He was dressed for travelling, and dusty, as though he’d just arrived.
‘Be off with you,’ he instructed the gardeners. ‘Lady Farringdon’, he emphasized the words slightly, ‘will send for you later to receive her instructions.’
The words were spoken quietly, yet their message was unmistakable.
Millicent stood in fuming silence until the men were gone. She was scarlet with the humiliation of being overruled before servants, and her anger got the better of her common sense.
‘Do you know what you’re doing, Cousin?’ she broke out. ‘Encouraging this creature to give herself airs? I found her trying to wreck dear Amelia’s rose arbour..’
‘That is a lie,’ Kate said at once. ‘I love this place for sake, and I tend it carefully. It would break her heart if it were neglected.’
‘Fine words but they don’t fool me,’ Millicent raged. She whirled on Justin. ‘Lady Farringdon! She calls herself Lady Farringdon.’
Kate couldn’t bear to look at Justin. He had heard her assert herself, and would think the worst of her. But then she heard him say, in a lifeless voice, ‘She calls herself that because that is what she is.’
‘She’s a jumped-up governess and no more.’
‘She bears my name,’ Justin insisted, ‘and is therefore entitled to the same respect as myself. It was unwise of you to dispute with her, Cousin Millicent, although I naturally appreciate that you did so out of your concern for my family.’
The words were conciliatory, but the message was plain. Millicent looked as though she was about to break out again in loud bitterness. But then she thought better of it, turned on her heel and flounced off.
The other two became uneasy as soon as they were left alone together. He had defended her, yet they were awkward with each other.
At last Kate said, ‘Welcome home, sir. I’m sorry you were troubled with this scene.’
He brushed this aside. ‘Have you done as I asked and changed your apartments?’
‘No, I...’
‘Then you brought this on yourself. Are you surprised that people still regard you as the governess when you continue to live as the governess? If you are to be accepted as mistress of the house you must behave in accordance with your position.’
‘Move into Amelia’s rooms?’
He gazed into the distance. ‘They are no longer Amelia’s rooms,’ he said bleakly.
‘But they are,’ she said passionately. ‘They’ll always be hers. I’ll be nothing but an impostor, can’t you see that?’
‘Then be an impostor,’ he said harshly. ‘You promised to care for her children; for that you need the authority of Lady Farringdon, and you’ll never have it while you act like a servant.’
He checked himself, and when he spoke again it was more quietly.
‘Your modesty does you honour, ma’am, but it is best if you comply with my wishes.’
He strode away without another word. Throughout the brief exchange his unyielding manner hadn’t changed. Nor had he once looked her in the face.
Kate returned to the house to find maids already in a bustle. Justin had given instructions to the housekeeper, the steward and the butler, and in a few minutes had transformed Kate’s position.
She found herself ensconced in Amelia’s luxurious bedroom with its large, four-poster bed, hung with rich brocade curtains. How often had they sat together here, gossiping delightfully? She touched the pearl pendant that Amelia had given her two days before her death. It never left her, although she wore it beneath her dress. Now she pulled it out and looked at it. The last gift. The last token of affection.
‘My Lady...My Lady.’ Jane, Amelia’s maid, was holding something out to her. ‘If you please, My Lady...these are the keys to Her...Your Ladyship’s jewel boxes.’
There were six keys, two to open a specially secure cupboard, and four for the large boxes within. One by one Kate opened them and found herself regarding a king’s ransom. Here were the Farringdon family jewels; diamonds, rubies, emeralds, tiaras, diadems, aigrettes, brooches, necklaces, many going back hundreds of years.
Here, too, were the jewels Justin had showered on his beloved wife. They were different to the heirlooms, delicate confections of diamonds and pearls, lovely in their costly simplicity. The sight horrified Kate, and the sound of Justin’s voice in the corrido
r decided her.
‘My Lord.’ She went to the door. It seemed as though he flinched and had to force himself to follow her into Amelia’sapartment. She led him straight to the cupboard with its treasure.
‘I would like you to take these jewels back into your own possession,’ she said. ‘They do not...cannot belong to me.’ She caught his glance at the pendant about her neck and said quickly, ‘She gave this to me. She gave me many small gifts. Those I shall keep. But these have nothing to do with me.’
‘This cupboard was constructed especially for safety,’ he observed, very pale. ‘There’s nowhere else I can take them.’
‘Then I suggest they’re put in the bank as soon as possible. In the meantime, I should like you to take the keys.’ She was locking boxes as she spoke.
‘Very well, madam.’ He took the keys from her outstretched hand. ‘I hope you will be comfortable here. Please give any orders you wish.’ His eyes met hers. ‘I think the servants fully understand that you are the mistress of this house.’
‘Thank you.’ But he was gone before the words were out, moving like a man who must escape or go mad.
Two other maids had come quietly into the room. They had heard Justin’s words and would spread them all over the house, adding spice to the dramatic tale of the morning’s events already being spread by the gardeners. They told another story too, of how the new Lady Farringdon, far from seizing on her predecessor’s jewels, had refused to touch them. So now just let anyone try to say she was a grasping woman, out for what she could get. They knew otherwise.
Kate’s spirits were in too much turmoil for her to think of these things. She only knew that from that moment on there was a subtle difference in the treatment she received from the household. Suspicion was fading and being replaced by respect.
She would have found it harder to define precisely what had changed between her and Justin, but something in the air had eased. The need to be punctiliously polite, once such a barrier, had gone. They could not console each other; nor could they speak gently, for there was no sympathy between their minds.
But they could quarrel. And it was better than nothing.
Chapter Four
In the nursery, the baby slept in innocence of the storms about her. Kate was vigilant for any sign of illness, determined not to let her last connection with Amelia be snatched away by any of the ailments that ended the lives of so many young babies. But it seemed as though there was nothing to fear. The child was lustily healthy, bawling her requirements at a volume that made the nursemaids wince.
‘You’d never know she was a girl child,’ Sarah complained, uncovering her ears, ‘the noise she makes.’
‘Yes, isn’t it wonderful?’ Kate agreed. ‘I like to hear a baby making plenty of noise.’
‘Do you, ma’am?’ Sarah muttered. Then her hand flew to her mouth. ‘I mean, of course, Your Ladyship.’
‘It’s all right,’ Kate said, watching the child settle in the arms of the wetnurse and suckling vigorously. ‘I appreciate that I’m not the one who has to listen. But she was only hungry. She’s content now. Goodnight.’
It was sad, she thought, as she walked down to her new apartment, that this was a child to gladden any parent’s heart, when no parent was glad of her. She had hoped Justin would visit his baby daughter after his return, but apart from making a dutiful enquiry about her, he had shown no sign of interest.
She paused outside the door to his bedroom, wondering if he was inside, but suspecting not. He usually stayed down in the library until the early hours, drinking heavily in a vain attempt to find sleep. She was about to enter her own room when a deafening sound from downstairs made her stop, frozen with shock, clutching the door handle.
The sound had come from the library and it had sounded like a gunshot. Suppose...
It came again, definitely a gunshot. She forced her limbs to move down the stairs to where the hall was filling with alarmed servants.
‘His Lordship has his duelling pistols with him,’ the steward said in alarm. ‘I saw them when I took in a fresh decanter of brandy.’
‘Heaven help us, he’s killed himself,’ the housekeeper squealed.
Another thunderous crash from inside the library gave the lie to this assertion.
‘If a man wishes to kill himself he doesn’t need to fire several times to do it,’ Kate said.
She spoke more calmly than she felt, and made herself approach the library doors. It was a moment before she could bring herself to turn the handle and look inside. At first she could see nothing but smoke. It was like walking into hell and, as she started to choke, another blast shattered the air. She stumbled forward, gasping for breath, and saw Justin sprawled on the sofa, a pistol in each hand, one cocked to fire again. His eyes were wild and it needed no guns to tell her that he was in a dangerous mood, but he lowered his hand when he saw her.
‘Dammit what are you doing here?’ he shouted. ‘You could have been killed.’
She saw that several of the candles had been shot out. Wiping her streaming eyes, she threw open a window and leaned out into the cool night air until she could breathe again. When she turned back the worst of the smoke was fading.
‘Your household was alarmed,’ she managed to say. ‘I came to see if...’ she coughed again, ‘if all was well with you.’
Carefully he laid the pistols down and said in a weary voice, ‘Then go back and tell them that all is well with me.’
The housekeeper had ventured as far as the door, and now called to Kate.
‘The children have awoken, Your Ladyship.’
‘Then I’ll go to them. Shall I take these?’ Kate cautiously indicated the pistols.
‘No, damn you, get out!’ he snapped.
She suppressed the urge to run, walking steadily to the door until she could close it behind her. Then she clutched the wall and let out a long breath. Some of the servants were still there, regarding her uncertainly. She was about to disperse them when a voice from above demanded, ‘What is happening here?’
Millicent descended in the grandeur of a flowing brocade dressing-gown, her eyes sweeping coldly over the scene below. ‘I asked a question.’
‘His Lordship...’ the housekeeper began.
‘He’s using the candles of his chandelier for target practice,’ Kate said bluntly. ‘He does not wish to be disturbed.’
Millicent ignored her and headed for the library doors. Much as Kate would have enjoyed seeing her enemy walk into trouble she couldn’t take the risk, and seized her arm.
‘Don’t go in there,’ she begged. ‘It’s not safe.’
‘You would naturally be glad to see him left alone with the means of killing himself,’ Millicent said with withering contempt. ‘Do you fancy you would be his heir?’
‘Stop talking nonsense,’ Kate said, too agitated to be polite. ‘The worst thing you could do is try to take those pistols. For your own sake...and his...leave him alone.’
Without answering Millicent threw off her hand and opened the door. But she entered only half way before Justin’s maddened voice, in a bull roar of rage, bellowed, ‘I said get out!’ It was followed by the sound of something crashing against the wall. Millicent retreated fast and stood clutching her heart. Her eyes glittered as she surveyed the little audience and realized that the servants had witnessed her humiliation.
‘Your master has lost his mind,’ she gasped. ‘He must be protected, put under restraint. Summon the doctor at once.’
‘Stay where you are,’ Kate told the servants immediately. ‘Nothing could make the situation worse.’
Millicent drew in her breath sharply, but she no longer had the confidence to insist. So far Kate was the victor in their power struggle. Some day, somehow, she was sure Millicent would fight back, but she couldn’t think of that now. She waited until the other woman had swept off before saying quietly to Belham, ‘No word of this must get out, and no messenger must leave this house tonight.’
‘Your Ladys
hip may rely on me.’
She hurried up to the children to reassure them, and it was half an hour before she was free to return downstairs.
Listening at the library door she heard restless movement but no more shots. A couple of the maids were still in the hall outside, hovering nervously, and she realized they would do nothing until she gave them a lead.
‘Bring me some fresh coffee,’ she said. ‘Then you must all go to bed.’
When the coffee was ready she took it into the library herself, advancing and setting the tray on the low table near Justin.
‘I told you to go,’ he said wearily.
‘Yes, My Lord, but there are things to be said.’ She poured two cups and set one beside him, before sitting on the low stool where she could poke the fire.
‘You don’t have to tell me I acted like a damned fool.’ He threw his head back and lay looking up at the dark ceiling. ‘I apologize, I apologize.’
‘So you should, not to me, but to Lady Thorpe.’
His yell of laughter made her shiver. There was something desperate about it. ‘Good God, so it was her! I thought I imagined it.’
‘No, you didn’t imagine it. She tried to summon the doctor to have you put under restraint.’
‘The devil she did!’
‘Will you spare a thought for the rest of us if that should happen?’
He raised his head again and looked at her out of glinting eyes. ‘Do you think I’d let myself be put under restraint?’
‘No, I think you’d do something reckless and stupid,’ she said calmly. ‘In fact you’d probably kill somebody. What would happen to your children then?’
In the silence she felt him relax a little.
‘What a mistress of good sense you are, ma’am. Spoken like a governess.’
‘Of course.’
‘So I can expect the doctor at any moment?’
‘No, I ordered Belham to prevent any messenger leaving the house. He can be relied on for that, but it’ll be harder to stop Lady Thorpe spreading rumours.’
‘So what does your wisdom suggest?’
‘I think she should leave, taking Charmaine. This is no place for a young girl in any case, and there must be family members they can visit until it’s time for her come out. I imagine her debut must be delayed until the period of mourning is over.’
