by Dilly Court
‘That’s true, but apparently this was a summons he could not ignore. He left for Transvaal almost immediately.’
‘I don’t understand why he didn’t let me know. I’ve been imagining all manner of things that might have prevented him from returning to London.’
Sir Eugene gave her a searching look. ‘Is there an understanding between yourself and Hector? If there is he kept it very quiet.’
‘No, sir. Not at all.’
‘I’m glad for your sake, Angel. You must understand that families like ours do things quite differently from those lower down the social scale.’
‘What are you trying to tell me?’
‘I promised Hector that my solicitor would take the case from Galloway, who is now languishing in prison, and will be there for some time to come. I have offered to repay the mortgage on condition that it would be my dowry for Blanche.’ He held up his hand as Angel opened her mouth to protest. ‘I want my daughter close by so that I can be sure she is happy and well cared for.’
‘Did Hector agree to this?’ Angel demanded, keeping a tight rein on her emotions. She understood Hector’s desire to keep Grantley at all costs, but to sacrifice his future happiness seemed too high a price to pay.
‘He said he needed time to think about it, but I told him that Percy Montgomerie is a frequent visitor here and it’s obvious that he has feelings for Blanche.’
‘Maybe Blanche returns my brother’s affection, sir. Perhaps you ought to find out how she feels?’
‘My daughter will do as she is told, and I’m hoping that Montgomerie might turn his attention to Susannah. It would make Eloise very happy to have such a wealthy son-in-law.’
‘It sounds as though you are selling the girls off to the highest bidder,’ Angel said angrily.
Sir Eugene gazed at her dispassionately. ‘I don’t wish to sound unkind, Angel, and I like you well enough, but someone with a background like yours could not be expected to understand the need for keeping up tradition, and the importance of lineage.’
‘My mother came from a respectable family, and my father was a Montgomerie. My pedigree, even if I wasn’t aware of it until recently, is as good as yours or any member of the Devane family – and you’re right – I don’t understand how anyone could coerce their child into an arranged marriage. A similar contract, forced upon my mother, ended in tragedy.’ Angel rose to her feet and was about to walk out of the room when Sir Eugene called her back.
‘Wait a minute.’
She came to a halt, turning slowly to face him. ‘Well?’
‘You may tell Rupert that he’s welcome here, but for her own sake I think it best if his wife remains with you, at least until the child is born.’
‘For her own sake?’ Angel could hardly bear to repeat the words.
‘You know very well what I mean. Do you really think that the girl would find it easy or even bearable to live here, knowing that my wife would find her an embarrassment? The girl, if I remember rightly, speaks like a common person and doesn’t know how to behave in society.’
‘And that is your last word, Sir Eugene?’
‘It is. Give Rupert that message and the rest is up to him. You will stay here tonight, of course.’
‘Russell insisted on waiting with the chaise. I think it best if I return to Grantley. Thank you, Sir Eugene, I can find my own way out.’
At Angel’s request the flustered maidservant scurried off to fetch Angel’s mantle and bonnet. James stood to attention, staring straight ahead and Angel knew that she had offended his sense of propriety, but that was of little importance compared to the shocking news that Hector might be prepared to marry Blanche in return for a handsome dowry. She would never have believed it of him, but he must have been desperate if he had agreed to consider such an arrangement. Neither he nor Blanche deserved to be trapped in a loveless union in order to keep their parents happy, and if Percy really had fallen in love with Sir Eugene’s only daughter that would mean another heart would be broken. Angel hurried down the steps, wrapping her damp muffler around her neck, and she climbed into the chaise before Russell had a chance to get down and assist her.
‘Drive on,’ she said sharply. ‘I’ll spend the night at Grantley.’
‘You’d be more than welcome to stay in the cottage with me and Mrs Russell,’ he said gruffly. ‘I know it’s not what you’re used to, but the house is locked up.’
‘Thank you, Russell. I appreciate the offer but I want to make sure that everything is as it should be, and tomorrow I’ll need the carriage to take me to London.’
Russell unlocked the door leading into the entrance hall at Grantley. He struck a match and lit the oil lamp kept for welcoming guests when they arrived after dark. ‘Are you sure you want to stay here on your own, Miss Angel?’
‘If there are ghosts in Grantley they’re friendly ones,’ Angel said, smiling. ‘I’ve never felt afraid in this house.’
‘We aren’t supposed to be here.’ Russell glanced round anxiously as if expecting to be arrested for trespass at any moment.
‘Don’t worry about that,’ Angel said confidently. ‘I have a plan, and tomorrow, weather permitting, I’m going to London, but I’ll be back later with Dolly and the others. What’s more, I’m going to send telegrams to the boys to come home for Christmas. We aren’t beaten yet, Russell.’
‘Tell you what, miss. I’ll fetch the dogs. They’ll keep you company tonight.’
‘Thank you, that’s very thoughtful of you.’ Angel went round lighting candles while she waited for Russell to return with Thor and Juno. The house smelled damp and musty and it was bitterly cold, but Angel was determined to see the night through. It was more a gesture of defiance than anything else, and a way of claiming back the property that belonged to the Devane family, but there were ghosts of her own to conquer and they were not associated with long-dead ancestors. Galloway’s attack on her person was still very real to her, and the rank odour of sweat and stale alcohol that had hung round him in a miasma still tainted the air. Galloway was safely incarcerated in prison, but she needed to free herself from the memory of that night, and the horrors he had threatened to inflict on her.
Her happy childhood had ended when Galloway had separated her from Aunt Cordelia. She could only imagine what her aunt’s life must have been like when she went to live with Galloway’s sister. Perhaps that had led to her early demise? She would never know, but the memory of the workhouse was still fresh in her mind. The fears and privations of existing on the savage streets of Seven Dials were forever carved on her heart, and yet that had not been enough for the man who had driven her mother to suicide. Galloway had known her true identity all along, but he had kept the knowledge to himself, depriving her of the love of a brother and sister, and now the people she had come to love might lose everything. Galloway had had a hand in that, too. The man was evil and Angel needed this long cold night to fight the demons that he had created.
She turned with a start as the door opened and Russell let the two elderly greyhounds loose. She kneeled down and put her arms around them as they licked her face and nuzzled her hands. ‘I’ll be fine now, Russell. With two such stalwart bodyguards I’ll be quite safe until morning.’
‘If you change your mind you can still come to the cottage, miss. It’s stopped snowing, so with a bit of luck I’ll be able to take you to London tomorrow. You’d best lock up after me, miss. I’ve seen off prowlers several times since the house has been empty. Word gets round.’ He let himself out and Angel locked and bolted the main entrance.
‘Come along, dogs. We’ll go to the kitchen and I’ll light a fire. We don’t want to freeze to death, do we?’
Thor and Juno looked up at her, wagging their tails.
It was only when she had succeeded in getting a fire going in the range that Angel realised she had not eaten since enjoying a slice of cake in the Russells’ kitchen, and she was very hungry. She filled the kettle from the pump in the scullery and set it to heat
on the hob. There was a spoonful of tea left in the caddy, but a search of the cupboards proved fruitless. Cook and Lil had been thorough when they packed the contents of the larder, but just when she thought she would have to go hungry for the rest of the night, Angel discovered a bag containing enough oats to make a bowl of porridge.
A full stomach and the warmth of the fire gave Angel the courage she needed to check the rest of the house, and the company of Thor and Juno made her even bolder. With the lamp clutched in her hand she went from room to room. The furniture lay hidden beneath holland covers glowing eerily in the cold light of the moon, but the only sound was that of her own breathing and the pitter-patter of the dogs’ paws on the polished wooden floor. Occasionally the scrabble of rodents behind the skirting boards made her stop and hold the lamp higher, but otherwise the downstairs rooms slumbered in total silence. She found nothing untoward upstairs and, having explored the attics, she returned to the comparative warmth of the kitchen, but this time she was armed with blankets and a pillow. She made herself comfortable in the rocking chair by the fire and laid a blanket on the flagstone floor for the dogs. Exhausted after the physical and emotional turmoil, she fell asleep.
Angel was awakened by the sound of someone tapping on the kitchen window. She opened her eyes, and for a moment she could not understand why she had been sleeping in a chair by the kitchen range, but the sight of Russell standing outside in the snow brought her back to the present with all its attendant problems. She got up hastily and went to open the back door. Thor and Juno rushed outside as fast as their arthritic limbs would take them, and Russell stepped into the scullery, pausing to stamp the snow off his boots before he followed her into the kitchen.
‘You’re all right then, miss?’
She smiled. ‘A bit stiff from sleeping in a chair, but otherwise I’m perfectly well.’
‘My Prissy has cooked sausages for breakfast and she’s frying eggs as I speak. She would be honoured if you’d share our meal.’ He glanced at the sticky saucepan that Angel had left in the sink. ‘We was both worried that you didn’t have no supper.’
‘I made some porridge and I had tea without milk, but I would love to share your breakfast. I’m starving!’
‘Then I suggest you put your coat on and come with me. I just need to harness the horse, and we can leave for the city as soon as you’re ready.’
Angel hesitated, frowning. ‘We have another carriage horse, don’t we?’
‘Yes, miss.’
‘Hector taught me to handle the reins when I was a child. I’ll take the chaise and you can bring the barouche. I intend to bring everyone here when I return later today.’
‘You’re moving back to Grantley, miss? I thought we’d lost it for ever.’
‘We’ll be living here unlawfully to begin with, but I think I can change that and I’m prepared to risk it. The only question is, can I persuade the others that I’m doing the right thing?’
Chapter Twenty-Two
‘You’re going to sell this house?’ Baines’s voice rose to a shout. ‘The colonel would turn in his grave, miss.’ He leaned against the kitchen wall, folding his arms across his chest in an uncompromising manner that left Angel in no doubt as to his opinion.
‘Sir Adolphus left it to me, Baines,’ she said patiently. ‘He must have known that Grantley was in a perilous position, but he obviously thought he would survive long enough to pay off his debts. The sad fact is that the estate’s future is hanging in the balance.’
‘But this is your house.’ Lil pulled up a chair and sat down, scowling ominously. ‘You’ll have nothing if you sell up and give the money to the Devane family.’
‘Would you be the new owner of Grantley?’ Cook asked. ‘If that’s so, then I say go ahead.’
Angel shook her head. ‘I don’t know about the legal side of things. I just feel I must do something. Hector has had to return to South Africa and someone needs to take his side.’
‘Maybe he should have sorted matters before he went,’ Lil said gloomily. ‘What are the other two Devane boys doing to help? Nothing, that’s what. They’re spoiled brats, if you ask me. What do you say, Eudora?’
Cook shrugged. ‘It’s not for me to criticise my betters, but if they were my sons I’d send them out to work.’ She pushed back her chair and stood up. ‘I’d better see to the soup or we’ll be left with bread and scrape for our midday meal.’ She waddled over to the range, snatched up a wooden spoon and began stirring the contents of the pan as if she were beating it to death.
‘Put the young fellows in the army,’ Baines muttered. ‘That would make men of them.’
Angel could see that she was getting nowhere. She turned to Dolly, who had been sitting quietly at the table, listening to the argument. ‘What do you think? I told you what Sir Eugene said, so this decision will affect you and Rupert.’
‘I want what’s best for my husband, of course,’ Dolly said seriously, ‘but I think I am the best person to nurse him back to health. I say we should move back to Grantley, even if it means that I have to take on my old duties.’
‘There’s no chance of that,’ Angel said, nodding. ‘I want everyone to agree, or my plan won’t work. I suggest that we reclaim the house and estate. If we give up now we’re allowing Galloway to get the better of us, and the mysterious people who want to bury Grantley under bricks and mortar will have won.’
Lil leaned forward, fixing Angel with a hard stare. ‘You’ve got a brother and sister living in London, and they’re filthy rich. If it was me I think I’d have a word with them before I gave up what’s legally mine.’
‘You’ve given me an idea,’ Angel said slowly. The thought of asking Percy for money was abhorrent, but he was a businessman and he might be able to help in other ways. She stood up. ‘Pack what you need and Russell will take you to Grantley. I have an errand to do before I follow on.’
Lil leaped to her feet. ‘I hope you’re not intending to drive round town unaccompanied.’
‘I can handle the reins as well as any man, Lil.’
‘The colonel wouldn’t approve, miss,’ Baines said firmly. ‘It’s not proper for a young lady to be seen driving unaccompanied. I’ll get me hat and greatcoat and I’ll bring the chaise round from the livery stable.’ He stomped out of the kitchen.
‘He may be a grumpy old devil, but he’s got the right idea,’ Lil said, sniffing. ‘Don’t refuse his help, Angel. I know you and your independent spirit, but he needs to feel useful.’
‘Lil Heavitree, don’t tell me you’re going soft in your old age.’ Angel smiled as she plucked her reticule from the table. ‘I’m ready to go into battle for Grantley. I’m going to find a solution that will make everyone happy, and that’s a promise.’
Angel pretended not to notice the curious stares of the pedestrians, but she realised that they must present an odd sight seated side by side in the chaise. Baines had donned his old uniform, which was greenish with age and a couple of sizes too small. With his mop of greying sandy hair sticking out at all angles beneath his cap, and his mutton-chop whiskers that merged with his drooping moustache, he looked oddly out of place, but he knew how to handle the reins and, despite her proud boast, Angel had no experience of driving in the mad mêlée of cabs, carriages, handcarts and costermongers’ barrows, let alone the seemingly suicidal pedestrians who hurled themselves across the street in a desperate, and occasionally unsuccessful, attempt to reach the other side.
Angel was glad to reach the Montgomeries’ mansion in one piece and she instructed Baines to walk the horse, but as she waited on the doorstep it struck her that she would have had a wasted journey if Percy was not at home. The door opened and to her relief the footman asked her wait in the vestibule. He returned quickly and led her to a reception room on the ground floor. Minutes later she was joined by Percy, who greeted her with genuine warmth.
‘Angel, you’ve been on my mind a great deal recently, and I’m so sorry we’ve neglected you.’
‘
Not at all. I’m just as remiss.’ Angel hesitated, eyeing him warily. ‘Percy, I haven’t time to waste on small talk so I’ll come straight to the point. I need your advice.’
‘Sit down and tell me what’s troubling you. I’ll do anything I can to help.’
Angel perched on the edge of the damask-covered sofa. ‘I expect you’ve heard about Galloway.’
‘Yes, and I was shocked when Blanche told me what had happened.’ Percy’s lips curved in a tender smile. ‘She’s a wonderful girl.’
‘Sir Eugene led me to believe that you have feelings for Blanche, which is in part why I’m here today.’
‘What’s the matter? Has something happened that I don’t know about? I saw her only a few days ago and that’s when she told me about Galloway. That man deserves to hang for what he did to my stepmother and the way he treated you.’
‘Discovering that I have a family of my own has turned everything upside down, but in a good way, of course. You were always kind to me, Percy.’
A dull flush coloured his cheeks and he looked away. ‘I was attracted to you from the first, Angel. I admit that freely, and now I realise it was because we’re related.’
‘I felt the same, and now I know you’re my brother it makes sense.’
‘I admired your spirit and your courage when you were facing problems that were not of your making. You did your best to keep Grantley from financial ruin, and I respect that. I’m only sorry I’ve been so little help to you lately, but I’ve had business matters to deal with.’
‘You can help me, Percy, but I have something to tell you first and you’re not going to like it.’
‘What is it? There should be no secrets between us, Angel. We’re family.’
‘Sir Eugene told me that he sees Hector as his future son-in-law. He’s thinking of paying off the mortgage on Grantley in place of a dowry.’
Percy’s smile faded. ‘This is the first I’ve heard of it. Blanche and I have an understanding, which is partly why I’ve neglected you, and I’m truly sorry for that. Blanche has no interest in Hector. I can say that categorically.’
