“We will have some breakfast first, if you please, and while we are alone, I have something to say to you.”
“Yes?” Violet asked demurely.
“Behave yourself. Last night you made some very pointed remarks and it will not do. You promised you would keep my secret.”
“But it’s not my fault,” Violet protested. “How can anyone believe in you as a governess? You don’t look as if you need to earn your own living, and you have such wonderful clothes they could only belong to someone who could afford to buy them.”
Elvina held up her hands.
“Hush! Hush!” she exclaimed. “You must not say that. You may think it, but do not say it in front of your brother.”
“You are making me more curious as to who you really are,” Violet ventured. “You are so clever. Just think of everything you have managed to do since you arrived. My brother thinks you are marvellous, the servants are impressed and the music room is being opened for us.”
“And you,” Elvina interrupted, “are going to be exactly what your brother wants you to be. So count your blessings and not mine.”
Violet laughed.
“I think it is impossible to separate them,” she said. “I was just lying in bed and thinking how exciting it is to have you here and how different I feel this morning from other mornings.”
They breakfasted alone and ate quickly, eager to go to the stables.
Violet’s mount was a white mare with a gentle expression. Elvina admired her beauty but for herself she preferred a more spirited animal.
When she had studied every animal in the stables, Elvina said,
“I like the grey stallion. He looks powerful.”
“You would like to ride Joby?” Violet asked, giving her a sidelong glance.
“I should like it above everything.”
Violet went in search of a groom and came back with a young man, instructing him to bring a lady’s saddle for the stallion. It took him a few minutes to do so, as Joby was skittish and disinclined to obey.
At last Elvina was able to mount him, hopping nimbly across his back before he could object. Through her firm hold on the reins, she let him know that he would be wasting his time giving her trouble and he seemed to understand.
Together Violet and Elvina rode out into the paddock, starting to gallop as soon as they were in the field beyond.
Then they gave the horses their heads. On and on they galloped, with Elvina having to rein Joby in to prevent him racing too far ahead of Violet’s mare.
When eventually they slowed to a halt, Elvina looked around and realised that they had come several miles.
“Violet,” Elvina asked sternly, “who normally rides this stallion?”
“Well – nobody,” Violet said awkwardly. “Nobody except the groom, that is. And David, of course. He has only just bought him, and – ”
“What have you done to me, you wretched girl?” Elvina groaned. “Are you trying to have me sent away?”
“But I was sure you were good enough to ride him. David is so superior about women riders. But perhaps we had better not tell him.”
“That will be quite unnecessary,” Elvina said, pointing into the distance with her whip.
Violet followed the direction and gasped at the sight of her brother galloping towards them on a fine black steed. Even from a distance they could see his scowl and had no doubt what had annoyed him.
“Hallo, David,” Violet called brightly.
He ignored her.
“Mrs. Winters,” he said curtly, “will you please tell me what you are doing on the back of a horse I have strictly forbidden anyone but an experienced groom to ride?
“David, please it was my – ”
“Be silent!” he commanded Violet. “In fact I need no explanation. I will not tolerate insubordination. Mrs. Winters, please pack your things and leave my premises at once.”
Elvina’s temper flared.
“I will not!” she snapped. “I never heard of anything so unjust in all my life. I had no idea of your prohibition.”
“My decision is made. Please leave.”
“You can’t do that,” Violet cried. “It was all my fault.”
“My dear girl, what’s one governess, more or less. You send them away pretty fast yourself. Now I am sending this one away.”
“But Mrs. Winters is different,” Violet pleaded. “I want to keep her, I really do.”
“In that case you had better treat her a bit better than you have this morning,” the Duke cautioned her calmly.
Elvina gave him a wry smile. She had detected a gleam in his eye a moment earlier. In fact, she could almost have sworn that he winked at her. Whether he did or not, she had guessed he was up to something.
“Wh-what?” Violet stammered.
“You know better than to allow Mrs. Winters to ride that horse,” he told her. “I don’t know what you were playing at – a joke at my expense, perhaps.”
“Well, Mrs. Winters can ride as well as any man.”
“But you didn’t know that. You say you value her, but you took a risk you had no right to take. I thought I would teach you a lesson about the consequences.”
“You never meant a word of it,” Violet cried. “I think you are horrid.”
“We both are. Mrs. Winters, my apologies. I accept that none of this was your fault. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
“I will give it my earnest consideration,” she replied gravely.
Elvina was slightly irked by his cool assumption that a few words would win his forgiveness.
He shot her a shrewd look.
“You are still offended with me. Well, perhaps I have deserved it. Allow me to compliment you on your riding. You held Joby as no other woman and few men could have done.”
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
“Of course, galloping with Violet is easy. Could you gallop against me, riding this brute? No, no, forget I said that. It wasn’t fair.”
There was only one possible answer and Elvina gave it, digging her heel into Joby’s side and streaming away before he had finished speaking.
The Duke had just time to shout, “stay here” to his sister and then he was after Elvina, striving to close the lead she had already gained.
Elvina heard him gaining ground behind her and urged Joby on faster and faster. He was a powerful steed, but not quite as fast as the Duke’s great black stallion.
Suddenly filled with exhilaration, Elvina gave Joby his head. Inch by inch she began to draw away, but the Duke closed the gap again.
She could hear him. Then, turning her head a little, she glanced over her shoulder and saw his face, tense with effort.
Elvina laughed. In the joy of riding a fine horse to the limit everything else was forgotten.
Then his expression changed to one full of horror. She heard his hoarse cry of “look out!”
Too late she swung her head round to the front. The wall that she should have seen had come upon her suddenly. Joby had seen it and gathered himself for the jump.
Elvina leaned forward, trying to adjust her position at the last minute, but the jump was unusually high and Joby was already starting to soar.
Unable to centre herself in the saddle in time, Elvina slipped sideways as the wall glided beneath her and the next moment she was falling into the unknown.
CHAPTER FIVE
The world spun violently around Elvina. Trees and ground seemed to merge into one blurred whole. From somewhere she heard a terrified cry of “no!” before she crashed into something solid and darkness descended.
She opened her eyes to find that the world was still going round although less fiercely. She was lying on the ground being held up by a strong pair of arms.
Looking up she saw the Duke’s lean face gazing down at her with an expression of horror in his dark eyes.
“Mrs. Winters,” he whispered. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes,” she murmured.
Sh
e tried to move, but immediately his arms tightened.
“Keep still,” he said. “Help is on its way. Luckily Violet ignored my order to remain where she was. She followed at a distance, saw what happened and galloped off for help.”
Elvina managed a faint smile.
“I wonder what she’ll bring back.”
“I see you already know her well, madam. Yes, she is quite capable of returning with her maid and a piece of sticking plaster, but I hope she will find a doctor for you.”
“I don’t – need a doctor. I have taken falls before.”
“Not like this. You landed on stones.”
“Is that why I ache all over?”
“I should think more than very likely,” he said with careful restraint. “Also, your head is bleeding.”
“You must be very angry with me,” she muttered vaguely.
“I ought to be for such an act of madness. What were you thinking of, apart from getting the better of me?”
“I think that must have been it,” she admitted, managing a smile.
“Mrs. Winters, you are quite outrageous,” the Duke said. But he spoke gently.
The next moment they heard the welcome sound of a horse and the Duke called out,
“Over here.”
It was the doctor in his pony and trap.
“I met Lady Violet on the road,” he said, “and she sent me here. She also charged me to tell you that she has ridden back to the house to despatch a carriage to convey Mrs. Winters in comfort.”
“Excellent,” the Duke said. “She has shown more good sense than I would have expected of her.”
“Tell her so,” Elvina murmured. Unthinkingly she clasped his hand in hers. “You must tell her so.”
He looked startled, but did not withdraw his hand.
“I will,” he agreed.
“No bones broken,” the doctor said at last. “You are very lucky not to have broken them all on these stones.”
“Is it safe to lift her?” the Duke asked.
“Quite safe.”
Within a few minutes the carriage had arrived. The Duke helped Elvina gently to her feet and lifted her in. Tying their horses to the rear, they began the slow journey back to the house.
For all that journey the Duke held Elvina steady, with one arm about her and her head on his shoulder.
She could have cried out with mortification that her display of daring had ended in this way. But at the same time, she became aware of a feeling of safety and contentment, even though she ached all over.
Having arranged for the carriage, Violet had gone into the house to alert the housekeeper. Now she came out onto the top step to witness their approach and dash back inside, crying, “they’re here! They’re here!”
Then they had stopped and the Duke was lifting her out in his strong arms, carrying her into the house and up the stairs to her room.
There the women took over, undressing her, putting her to bed and waiting with her while the doctor looked at her more closely before cleaning and dressing the cut on her forehead.
“You are going to be covered in bruises,” he informed her. “But it will be no worse than that. You need plenty of rest, so stay in bed.”
He repeated all this to the Duke in the corridor outside.
“But you will call again tomorrow?” the Duke enquired.
“If that is what Your Grace wishes, although there is really no need – ”
“That is what I wish,” he replied firmly.
“Very well, Your Grace. I have administered a sleeping draught to Mrs. Winters and left another for the maid to give her later tonight.”
“My sister will attend to her. I will see you tomorrow, doctor.”
The doctor inclined his head and departed. The Duke looked up to find Violet staring at him in amazement.
Before he could say anything she gave a little chuckle and darted back into Elvina’s bedroom.
*
For two days Elvina stayed in bed, mostly sleeping.
Then one morning she awoke feeling well and strong. As the doctor had predicted, she was covered in bruises, but she had been bruised before and could cope.
The Duke and Violet seemed to feel that she was made of glass and must be protected. After the first two days they allowed her to get up, but only as far as to come downstairs to a sunny room where French windows opened onto the gardens.
“I don’t deserve all this care,” she told the Duke. “To cause so much trouble on my first day – ”
“But the fault was mine,” he interrupted her. “You forget that I dared you. That was a shocking thing to do and had you been killed your death would have been on my conscience. It is I who should ask for your forgiveness.”
“Then I give it gladly,” she replied. “Riding Joby was an experience that I would not have missed for the world, except for the last part. And even that would not have happened if he and I had known each other better, or if I had known your land. Next time it will be different.”
“Next time will never happen,” he intervened hastily. “I will find you a gentle mare to ride.”
“Thank you,” she responded in a lifeless voice.
In truth the Duke was rather shocked at himself. Mrs. Winters, however admirable, was a servant. From birth he had been accustomed to regard servants as a different kind of creature, living on the other side of a barrier which could never be crossed. It was not intentional arrogance, simply what a man of his class had been reared to consider normal.
He was a good Master, even a kind and considerate one. He paid generous wages and employed more servants than he needed so that none should be over-worked.
Yet with all his kindness, he had always regarded his employees as a separate breed. They were like children to him. It was his duty to care for them, but the idea of treating them as equals had never entered his mind.
To a man who thought in this way the idea of issuing a challenge to a servant and a female servant at that was simply unthinkable. Yet he had found himself doing so, driven on by something about Mrs. Winters that was different, not only from others who worked for him, but from other women.
Already he knew it was essential to keep her at the castle for Violet’s sake, yet he had taken an insane risk with her safety. And he could not quite understand what had made him behave in a manner so unlike himself.
Over the next few days he began to drop in on her as she reclined on the sofa in the sunny room where she was now resting.
In fact, her vigour was fast returning and only a direct command from the Duke prevented her from heading for the stables.
Violet spent almost all her time with Elvina and the Duke told himself that, as Violet’s brother and guardian, he must know what was being taught. It therefore became his duty to spend time with the two of them in the sunny room, listening in fascination and occasionally laughing.
They were strange lessons, he thought, unlike any he had ever heard before – almost like two young women gossiping. And yet he was wise enough to notice that Violet enjoyed being with her governess almost more than any other occupation. And that could only be good, he reasoned.
Once he found them reading Hamlet together.
“However did you persuade her to sit still for Shakespeare?” he demanded when Violet had left the room for a moment.
“But of course she wants to read Shakespeare?” Elvina replied with an air of surprise. “It is essential for a future actress.”
“But I have already informed you that a girl in Violet’s position – ”
Then he saw Elvina regarding him with her head on one side, a knowing smile on her lovely mouth and he relaxed.
“Of course,” he said. “You are being clever, as I should have known that you would be.”
“Hamlet’s advice to the players was very useful,” she told him. “But of course, Lady Violet could not read that advice on its own. It was necessary for her to understand Hamlet’s state of mind and why he put on the play – ”
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“For which she had to read the rest of the play,” he finished.
“Of course. And from there we will proceed to other works by Shakespeare,” Elvina said. “Although I am much tempted to make her read The Duchess of Malfi. I think she would enjoy it.”
“I haven’t read it, madam, but from the way you are looking at me I fear the worst!”
“It is about a young woman whose life is made a misery by a tyrannical brother,” Elvina said demurely. “She will appreciate that story!”
There was a silence and then the Duke burst out laughing. But suddenly he stopped and a confused look came over his face.
“You must teach her whatever you wish,” he said abruptly. “I trust you completely.”
He hurried out of the room, leaving Elvina staring after him puzzled.
She did not know that he had shocked himself by laughing so freely with her. Worse, his eyes had sought hers, seeking in them the warmth of shared humour.
It had made him flee.
But he returned later that day, entering quietly while Elvina was talking to Violet. He seated himself without interrupting them and listened.
Elvina was not teaching facts, but advising on behaviour. And Violet he was fascinated to observe was listening intently.
“But I am sure you are clever enough to make people not only admire you, but love you because you are you,” Elvina was saying.
There was silence for a moment as Violet considered this idea before asking,
“Do you mean that? Do you really think people might – might like me?”
“Of course they will like you,” Elvina replied. “Just as I think you are charming and delightful and very amusing.”
“Amusing?” the Duke asked with a slight frown.
Absorbed in each other, neither of them had noticed him. Now they smiled and Violet pulled out a chair for him to join them.
“I was just telling Lady Violet,” Elvina said, “that she is going to be a great success.”
She took Violet’s hand.
“And the most important thing is to be sure that people admire you and love you because you are sweet and nice to them.”
“It isn’t always easy to be sweet and nice,” Violet commented darkly.
They Found their Way to Heaven Page 6
