‘Mother, I think it’s time we had a chat.’
‘Well past time, if you ask me. I was just telling Charlotte that you procrastinate far too much, Dominic.’
‘There’s something I need to say.’
Lottie waited. He’d persuaded Amanda to sell, he’d bought the place himself, he’d bought a new horse, forgiven Billy…
‘We’re getting married.’
‘Who is?’ This was just too confusing.
‘Amanda and I, of course.’ Dom had surprised even himself when, during the wedding speeches, between smoked salmon canapés and mini toad-in-the-holes, he’d asked Amanda to marry him. And to hell with the consequences. And when she’d burst into tears and jumped on him, he’d been even more shocked by his desire to drag her upstairs and rip her clothes off. But he hadn’t. Just the passing thought of what he had to say to his mother had deflated more than his ego.
‘See, that wasn’t too painful was it?’ Elizabeth, sitting regally on the only chair, with her audience around her, waved her glass imperiously at a passing waiter.
There was a combined intake of air and Lottie fought the urge to giggle. ‘Should we have a celebration now, or shall we arrange a nice engagement party for you? I’m sure Amanda could do that, she’s quite a capable girl from what I’ve seen.’
‘You knew.’ Dominic was slightly annoyed. He’d spent weeks deliberating over whether he could do this. Sleepless nights would have been an exaggeration, as Dom’s structured life didn’t allow for them. But tortured days he had had. And he was now more than a slightly bit miffed that there was no reaction. He’d been expecting it; worked himself up for it.
‘Well of course I knew, Dominic. A mother knows her children.’
‘I didn’t know.’ Everybody ignored Lottie. ‘So when I saw you at the yard that day, you were up to something.’
Amanda went from a ghostly worried white to crimson in a record time. ‘I just went for a chat.’
Dom took Amanda’s hand protectively, as though to ward off the questions.
‘But why was it such a big secret, oh, I see…’ Lottie bit her bottom lip. It all made sense now, the fact that Amanda had turned a blind eye to Marcus’s flings, the talk of them splitting up and then trying to devise an arrangement that worked, the fact that Amanda had absolutely no interest in any men in Tippermere, or Kitterly Heath, despite Sam’s best efforts (which were pretty incredible) at matchmaking. ‘You, him, you were…’ Lottie put her hand over her mouth to stop herself finishing the sentence.
‘And Dominic thought I would disapprove, didn’t you dear?’
‘Mother, I know how much this place means to you, and I promised to stay and look after it, and I know you didn’t entirely approve when Amanda and Marcus moved into Folly Lake Manor.’
‘Well he was rather nouveau riche, rather, what do you young people call it, blingy? Sorry dear, but it’s true.’
‘I know.’ Amanda gave a weak smile, but seemed encouraged.
‘And he did do some abominable things to that beautiful house. But I have never said I don’t approve of young Amanda here.’
‘I didn’t want to upset you, I’ve always tried to put this place first, above what I want.’
‘You are so old-fashioned sometimes, Dominic. Duty is such a dated concept.’ She patted his arm. ‘You’re a good boy, you always were.’
‘How long have you suspected?’ He looked resigned. Facing up to his mother had been difficult. He was master of his horses, but people were a different matter. And he hadn’t wanted to cause more upset, not again.
‘Suspected?’ A smile played across her lips. ‘I’ve known for a long time. Why else would a young married woman who is terrified of horses be sneaking around the stable yard?’
‘She doesn’t hate horses.’ Lottie felt compelled to support her friend as she finally realised why the quaking Amanda had forced herself up onto a horse. It hadn’t been a desire to get close to Tom. ‘Do you?’
‘I’m not that keen, actually, but I am trying. Merlin is very sweet.’ Amanda looked straight at Elizabeth, and suddenly saw a very human old lady, not the matriarchal, forbidding figure that Dom had portrayed. ‘I’ve rather cornered Dominic, I’m afraid.’
‘That’s a woman’s job, dear.’
‘A few months before Marcus died we had a massive row. I’d said I was leaving him if he carried on his womanising and he made it quite clear a woman couldn’t make demands. I was totally pathetic and had run out—’
‘You’ve never been pathetic; you were upset and scared.’
Lottie had never seen her uncle looking like he cared that much, except maybe when his favourite horse had been suffering from a very bad bout of colic.
‘And I bumped into Dominic out riding. I begged him to go back with me. And he did.’
That meeting was, he was sure, imprinted on his mind forever. In one short afternoon the impossible had happened; he’d fallen totally, inescapably in love. He should have called someone else, not got involved, but he hadn’t been able to help himself. He’d got involved.
Marcus had been calm when they’d returned to the house, no threat to anyone. He’d deflated, his anger gone and never to return, back to the conciliatory and affable figure Amanda had married. But the damage had been done. The bond between Dom and Amanda formed. And each time Marcus was away, Amanda had made her way to Tipping House.
‘Just before Marcus died I made the decision to leave him.’ Amanda glanced up at Dom. ‘Dominic had never made me any promises, and I knew he couldn’t. I understood he had responsibilities here and he really thought I should stick it out, but I couldn’t. I had to do it for myself. I didn’t want to live a lie.’
‘I just wanted you to be happy, safe. Sometimes we can’t just do what we want.’ Dom’s voice was soft, but Lottie saw how his hand had tightened around Amanda’s.
‘That day when you and I bumped into each other,’ Amanda looked at Lottie, ‘I’d come to a decision. When Marcus died I didn’t know what to do really, I didn’t feel like I fitted in here, but I had fallen for Dom. And then I decided that if I really was going to make a life and do things for myself, then I had to try it. I came over to tell Dominic that I understood if he couldn’t get involved with me, but I was going to stay and try and make a life for myself here. I told him it wasn’t open to debate,’ Amanda had been quite proud of just how determined she’d been. ‘And he did offer,’ she gave Lottie a sideways look, ‘to help me out if I needed it at Folly Lake Manor. But the renovation was my idea, because I knew that I really did want to stay.’ She looked up at Dominic. ‘Seeing Tom there and hearing about how it used to be, made me see what it could be like for you and me.’ Lottie felt her jaw drop, then snap shut again as Elizabeth’s dry tone cut in.
‘That boy has his useful side.’
‘I couldn’t pretend I don’t love you, Dominic. And I want to be a part of this place, share our lives properly. And if I have to wait ten years for you to be able to do that then that’s fine, but I’m not going to play the victim.’
‘I don’t want you to play the victim; I never wanted that.’ Dom spoke softly. ‘I just want to keep my promise.’
‘There’s no promise to keep, Dominic.’
‘Mother, I saw how devastated you were after the accident, and I wasn’t going to have you think I would abandon this place. We were just going to keep it quiet until the future was settled here.’
Dom, who had been battling with his conscience for a long time, finally felt the pressure start to lift. At first the relationship had been a secret because it was wrong, Amanda was married, however unhappily. But as time went by, and after Marcus died, he had swung between hope and a complete disbelief that anyone as lovely as Amanda would want to hang around. She’d get bored of him, hate the country life, get tired of waiting for him to fulfil his obligations. He’d tried to be logical, accept that they knew very different lives, accept that the best solution would be for her to move on, go back to t
he type of life she loved. Not an Aga, welly or horse in sight.
So to come clean, make the relationship public, would have been foolhardy, it would have upset his mother, left the future undecided. And all for what? Within a month, a year, she would have moved on.
Except she hadn’t. And in the yard, that day Lottie had bumped into her, she’d declared that she didn’t want to return to city life. She’d told him that she knew he had obligations, but she wasn’t going to let him push her away. Make decisions for her.
‘Silly boy. I love this place, Dominic, it’s a responsibility I’ve always happily carried, but it was never supposed to be a burden on you.’
He grimaced. ‘But the inheritance conditions…’
‘Nonsense, it’s always possible to find a way round these things. You take it too seriously. I’ve always just wanted you to be happy.’
The hint of a smile chased across his aristocratic features. ‘And so why did you encourage every man in Tippermere to land on Amanda’s doorstep?’
‘I wanted to make you jealous.’ She smiled, winked at Amanda. ‘Your father was always a jealous man, it was one of his best features. A man can only be jealous if he cares. I thought the best way to settle this was to make you jealous and root you out. And if you didn’t do anything, then I’d know it was just a silly infatuation that would die out.’
‘Mother! You had the press invade the village, stirred up Billy and damned-near caused him to shoot England’s number-one goalkeeper just to make me jealous.’
‘Well it worked, didn’t it?’
Dominic put his head in his hands. ‘Wouldn’t it have been easier to just talk to me?’
‘That would have been interfering, and anyway this was more fun. Life can be boring for an old lady.’
‘Poor Uncle Dom.’ Lottie giggled, then realised she was hopping from foot to foot trying to say something, but there hadn’t been a break in the conversation. ‘So you really weren’t trying to sell the equestrian centre?’
Dom groaned. ‘No, in my cack-handed way I thought I might be able to help.’
‘But,’ Lottie crashed down from her sudden high point as it sunk in, ‘if you two are really getting married, then you won’t need the Manor. You’ll sell up because you’ve got Tipping House.’
Amanda smiled. ‘Oh, we will need it. I love it there now, and I really will learn to ride so I can share it with Dominic. I want to share everything.’ She gazed up at him and he gazed back, and Lottie wondered if this was all a dream.
‘No.’ Lottie felt weak. ‘You don’t understand Amanda, Uncle Dominic belongs here.’ That old word duty leapt into her mind.
‘Have you not been listening to a word, dear?’ Elizabeth shook her head. ‘He was trying to postpone leaving here out of a sense of duty, but—’
‘But he lives here. It will all be his one day.’
‘No, it won’t.’ Dominic smiled, then tucked Amanda’s hand through his arm. ‘But I will be around for quite some time yet. I think we should circulate now that’s over, don’t you darling? I need a stiff brandy. I will leave the explanations to you, Mother.’
Chapter 27
‘What are you lot up to? Wondered where you’d all got to. Guess who I just saw heading into the rhododendrons?’ Rory, who had a bottle of Chablis in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other, topped up Lottie’s glass with a flourish, and looked expectantly from Lottie to Elizabeth. ‘Never say I don’t bring you presents, darling. Go on, who do you think?’
‘Not Dad.’ Please, thought Lottie, not Dad.
‘Pip and Mick. Bet you can’t beat that, eh?’
Elizabeth nodded, as though she’d expected it all along, which was one of her annoying traits; the ability to be unimpressed and unsurprised whatever happened.
‘Oh.’ Lottie hardly paused long enough for it to sink in. ‘Well, guess who Dom’s going to marry?’ She had one of her own, which she decided was much more outrageous.
‘Amanda.’
‘Bugger, how did you know that?’
‘She just told me.’ Rory grinned. ‘Dom was opening champagne and spraying everyone, seemed a bit odd for him.’ He took a swig of beer. ‘So that’s what the riding lessons were about, is it? It must be love.’
‘I do believe you could be right.’ To an outsider Elizabeth’s tone could have seemed dry, but Lottie knew her, it was the closest she was going to get to a display of affection.
An alarming thought suddenly occurred to Lottie. ‘Why did he say this place wouldn’t be his? You haven’t disowned him have you?’ What if his engagement to Amanda meant he had to give up Tipping House, that he’d chosen love over money? Romantic thoughts started to fill her head until Elizabeth firmly dashed them.
‘Disown him for shilly-shallying with that woman? Nonsense.’
‘But—’
‘Tipping House never was going to be passed down to Dominic, my dear.’
‘What?’
‘Well, seeing as you’re both here, now is as good a time as any to explain, I suppose. The Stanthorpes never liked to stick to the normal order of things,’ she smiled, ‘Tipping House is never passed to a male heir, it is inherited by the eldest female. However long you have to wait for one,’ her tone was dry now. ‘My ancestors were very forward-thinking, and quite sensible when you come to think of it. Women do tend to outlive men, so it seems a jolly good plan.’ She waited for it to sink in, watching the puzzled look on Lottie’s face be replaced by comprehension, and then doubt. ‘If the eldest child is a boy, then naturally they act as guardian until the time is right. Dominic, it appears, has taken his duties very seriously.’
‘But he, who…’
‘Alexandra should have inherited all this.’ Elizabeth put a hand over Lottie’s, ‘but as she’s gone, you are the next in line. If I die before you are ready, then your Uncle Dominic has promised to look after the estate. He feels partly responsible.’ Elizabeth had always known that, deep down, Dominic had felt partly to blame for his sister’s death, that it was that fact that was the largest obstacle between him and William. Both blamed themselves. Neither had seen clearly. The burden had weighed heavy on Dominic, and his solution had been to wrap himself in a cloak of duty and obligation. But, Elizabeth suspected, it was his chat with Billy that had given him the glimmer of hope that Amanda had opened out into a chink. The timing had been impeccable.
‘But he, why couldn’t he and Amanda…’ Lottie was confused.
‘I think the poor man believed that Amanda would never be happy here, that she wanted a very different life. He was torn between staying here and following her. He always was a stickler for doing the right thing. But,’ her voice regained its normal brusque edge, ‘she appears to be staying, and as I have no intention of expiring any day soon then I don’t see the problem. So dear, I’d say your father will be there for quite some time. Right, enough for one night. I’m an old lady, even if I’m not on my deathbed. Don’t stay up too late, now will you?’ She picked up a fresh gin and tonic and leant forward to kiss Lottie on the cheek, the hint of Chanel wrapping around Lottie’s confused senses. ‘Oh, you do have to marry to inherit, you know.’ And, with what looked like a sly wink in Rory’s direction, she was off in a surprisingly sprightly fashion. Leaving Lottie feeling like she was the one who should actually be going to bed, not her gran.
***
‘Does that mean you’re going to be stinking rich?’ Rory, an arm around Lottie’s shoulder, and a bottle in his spare hand, took a deep breath of fresh air as the pair of them wobbled off the driveway and onto the lawn.
She giggled. ‘No, incredibly poor. Have you never heard of death duties and dry rot? Good innit?’
‘I think you’re going to have to start talking properly, darling.’
‘Oh, it won’t be for ages yet, so I can practise. Do you think Pip minds that Elizabeth was using her just so that she could make Uncle Dom do something? I mean, she knew all along that the place wasn’t going to be sold off and demolished,
didn’t she?’
‘No, she doesn’t.’ Pip, in her usual manner, had arrived unnoticed. ‘Mind that is. She knew all along that Elizabeth was up to something, manipulating circumstances.’ She grinned. ‘Besides, I’d rather be on her side than the opposition’s.’ Pip had always admired Elizabeth, and the more she found out about her the more she liked the old lady. Without Elizabeth, this place just wouldn’t be the same.
‘Where’ve you been?’ Lottie was staring at her.
‘Nowhere.’ The grin broadened.
‘You’ve got leaves in your hair.’ Lottie gave her the once-over and remembered what Rory had said, a comment that had somehow got lost in the revelations.
Mick plucked the greenery out of Pip’s normally immaculate blonde bob. ‘I’ve been educating her about country ways, it’s important.’
‘Very important.’ Pip tried to keep a straight face. ‘Is it true about Amanda then?’
‘It is.’
‘That’ll be one hell of an engagement bash. I could really get some press coverage on that one. You know, tortured Lord…’
‘He’s not a Lord.’
‘Whatever. Love-struck widow finding happiness again after heartbreak.’
‘You never were one to let facts get in the way of a good story, were you treasure?’ Mick, Lottie noticed, had a very possessive hand on Pip’s waist and seemed quite mellow. Less threatening.
‘Devastated male model who’d sought sanctuary in the countryside being passed over once again.’ Pip was in full flow.
‘Do you think he minds, Tom, you know, about Folly Lake Manor?’
Pip put her headline manufacturing on hold. ‘Not from the look of him, not even you could call him sad, look.’ They all followed the direction of her gaze, back towards the stone balustrade that surrounded the terrace at the back of the imposing Tipping House. The crowds had spilled out, to get some air, and the elegant trio stood, model-perfect, glasses in hand. Dom, Amanda and an animated Tom, who, relieved of the task that Elizabeth had set him, felt as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. In fact, Lottie decided, he looked happier than she’d ever seen him.
The Little Shop of Afternoon Delights Page 128
