The Lords & Ladies Box Set

by Fenella J Miller

  If there is no letter waiting for me then I shall know you want none of me. I shall follow my brother to India and you have my word as a gentleman I shall not live in Kesgrave Abbey whilst you or your sister are still in residence at the vicarage.

  I remain yours in love and expectation,

  Richard Tennent.

  If only Papa had given her the letter as he should have, if only she had read it straight away then there would still have been time to send a reply. Now it was too late. Richard, for he had become that in her heart, would have departed for India thinking she had rejected him.

  She had never felt such pain, even when Mama had died she had not felt quite so devastated, but then her mother had always been a rather distant figure in her life, Aggie and Papa had supplied the love and affection she and Eugenie needed.

  A sob escaped through her clenched teeth and she rocked in misery, the letter from her beloved crushed against her heart.

  'Emma, my love, whatever's wrong?'

  Too overcome to answer she held out the mangled letter and her sister removed the paper from her fingers. Then a soft cloth was placed in her fingers and obediently she mopped her eyes and blew her nose loudly.

  'It might not be too late, you should write immediately. Lord Denver will have left Papa a forwarding address at the very least. Your missive can be sent on if necessary, you can be certain he will return immediately when he realises what has happened.'

  'You're right. I am giving way to despair and not thinking things through.' Her sister's sensible solution had begun to calm her and she was able to think rationally once more. Of course she should send a letter after Richard; he loved her as she loved him and would come back as soon as he received the news.

  'I shall write immediately, if we send a footman he can give it directly to the mail coach. It should be in Kesgrave by tomorrow morning.' She swallowed. Today was the Sabbath day and no letters would be delivered until Monday.

  Her letter was sealed and Eugenie ran downstairs to find Foster, they had decided he would be the best person to deal with the emergency. Emma still had on her outdoor coat and walking boots but she didn't feel like trekking across the park any more.

  'Jane, I shall remain here after all.' She sat down on the window seat and let her abigail remove her boots, something she normally did for herself. Then she held out each arm passively whilst her pelisse was removed.

  There was the sound of voices approaching rapidly along with the corridor outside and before she could retreat into the privacy of her bedchamber the door burst open and a lady, who could only be her grandmother, erupted into the parlour.

  'Oh my dear, the letter, I do apologise, how stupid of me! I said to dear James, did I not, my love? How could I be so dunderheaded as to forget it? What must you think of us abandoning you without a word? Come here, my love, and let me embrace you.' Lady Masterson held out her arms and when Emma remained rooted to the spot she ran forward and grasped her warmly. 'I cannot tell you how much I have been longing for this moment. Although we now have another granddaughter, you and Eugenie are the daughters of my firstborn and so especially dear to us, are they not, Sir James?'

  Emma was drowning under a deluge of words, hardly able to understand what was being said. How could her grandmother know about the letter? It was too much and she felt a strange light-headedness and the chatter faded mercifully into darkness.

  'Here, Emma, sip this lemonade, it is cool and will restore you.'

  She was in her bedroom, stretched out on the comforter, with Eugenie and Jane hovering anxiously at her side. Of her loquacious grandmother there was no sign for which she was heartily thankful. 'I have never fainted in my life before; but it was too much - having them arrive so suddenly when I was feeling so distracted.'

  'Poor, Emma, I don't blame you for having a fit of the vapours. For a tiny woman our revered grandparent produces a deal of noise. But it was not your letter she was referring to, it seems she wrote a note to us explaining where they'd gone and then took it with her by mistake.' Eugenie removed the cup from her lips and laughed. 'She is very talkative, but so kind. She was devastated when you fainted and when Grandfather took her away, she was in floods of tears and blaming herself.'

  'I shall go and speak to her right away. They must think me a poor specimen after my performance.' She swung her feet to the floor and was relieved to find no residual dizziness. 'Shall you come with me, Eugenie? Oh, did you manage to send my letter before our grandparents arrived?'

  'Yes and yes. Here, let me help you with your hair, you look like a fiery Medusa at the moment.'

  Jonathan was once more on duty outside the door; Foster had been shocked that one of his young ladies had been obliged to run through the house with an urgent message. In future, Eugenie explained to Emma as they strolled arm in arm behind him, he was to wait outside the door just in case he was needed.

  They were conducted to the main drawing room, a room they had not used before. It had seemed presumptuous to sit there in the absence of their host and hostess. Emma thought the room overdone, her grandmother had adopted the Egyptian style and everywhere the furniture legs had the appearance of clawed feet and there was an over-abundance of gilt work. However, the chamber was warm and welcoming, as were her relatives.

  This time it was Sir James who took the lead; her grandmother was sitting subdued and sad upon a chair. Emma curtsied to her grandfather and then hurried over to drop to her knees beside Lady Masterson.

  'I am so sorry our first meeting ended in disarray. I have been so looking forward to it, but I had just received such distressing news and became confused.'

  Lady Masterson took her hands and squeezed them fondly. 'It is I that owe you an apology. I rattle on so and forget that others find it disagreeable. I shall try and be quieter whilst you are both with us.'

  'You must do no such thing, Grandmamma, this is your home and you must behave exactly as you always do, it is I who must become more agreeable.' Smiling she rose gracefully and took the seat adjacent. 'I should like to tell you both what happened, but before I do that please tell me about my new cousin. Is Aunt Marianne in good health?'

  'Indeed they are, my dear girl. And the little baby, so sweet, so adorable….' A faint cough from Sir James made her pause. 'They are coming to visit for the Christmas season and I can tell you that your Uncle Patrick is beside himself in his eagerness to meet you both. Do you know we had no idea of your existence until your father contacted us earlier this year with the belated sad tidings of our dear Lydia's demise?'

  Her grandfather, as tall and thin as her grandmother was small and round, folded his length on to an opposite armchair, crossed his legs at the ankle and beamed at her. 'Much as we loved our daughter, she was more like her grandfather than either of us.' He stopped. 'More of this later, now I should like to hear what distressed you, my dear?'

  Emma quickly told them the whole sorry story, making sure that Eugenie appeared an innocent party, and they were instantly sympathetic. Sir James surged to his feet.

  'And the name of your young man is Richard Tennent, now Lord Denver?'

  'It is. He was a major with the Duke of Wellington, but I have no idea which regiment he was in.'

  'Lord Denver? Let me think. Yes, I remember now, his uncle was also an investor in the shipping line that I am involved with. It will be with them that Denver will travel. I shall send word immediately to their head office in London and make sure he's waylaid before he sails. You're lucky, my dear, there are storms in the Channel at the moment and no ships are sailing so it is unlikely that Denver will have embarked for India.'

  Emma couldn't believe it. Her emotions were in turmoil – she was normally such an even tempered young woman and now she felt herself buffeted by events and was having difficulty understanding if she was elated or dejected.

  'Go at once, send your letter post-haste, Sir James. I shall not have my darling girl so unhappy whilst we can do something to help.'

  He strode fr
om the room leaving the three ladies together to catch up on each other's lives and hear more about the new cousin, to be called Emma Eugenie. It seemed her family was overjoyed to find they had more members to add to it. Her grandmother also explained that Sir James senior, happily defunct, had demanded instant obedience from all his family, including his son.

  Although he had been given his baronetcy for services to the Crown, which meant he had lent them money at an attractive rate, he had believed his granddaughter was good enough to marry into the true aristocracy and had threatened to disown Sir James if he gave his permission for the marriage of his daughter to their Papa.

  'He had no choice, my dears, Lydia was determined to go her own way and waited until she was one and twenty and then left here and we never spoke to her again. Your father was a curate at the church in the next parish before he received the living he has now in Kesgrave, but they vanished without telling us where they had gone.'

  'Grandmamma, it is in the past. We are here now and have no intention of being strangers to you ever again. When we return in the New Year it will be in the firm expectation of being invited to visit again in the spring.'

  'Return in the New Year? I hope you do not intend to leave before next summer, Emma my dear. We are planning to give you a season in Town, indeed I have already booked the orchestra for your ball to be held in April. I never had the chance to launch my daughter into society and fully intend to do for you that which I could never do for her.'

  'A season? Emma, do you hear that? We shall go to balls and soirees, routs and parties and meet new people and see new things.'

  At the mention of so much frivolity Emma's heart sunk. 'Forgive me, Grandmamma, but I cannot leave Papa alone to go gallivanting around in London. Eugenie must stay, she loves to dance and party, but I prefer a quiet life and would hate it.' She expected a barrage of persuasion but Lady Masterson smiled lovingly at her.

  'You shall do exactly as you wish, my love. I know just how you feel, Sir James is dreading it too, but is prepared to endure it for my sake. Family parties were quite different, I'm sure you will enjoy the festivities I have planned for you here.'

  The rest of the day passed in happy conversation and when Emma retired to her room, pleading a headache after her upset earlier, she left Eugenie happily exchanging ideas and schemes with her grandmother.

  Her head was reeling; she needed peace and quiet, to be on her own for a while. She had so much to think about, not least that Sir James had settled 10,000 guineas on each of them, to be theirs without restriction on their marriage or on attaining five and twenty. She would be that age on her next name day, March the first.

  Jane was nowhere to be seen, her apartment was blessedly quiet. Even her footman had gone about other business believing her in the drawing-room with her grandparents. Sir James had set things in motion and assured her that no expense would be spared in fetching Richard to her side. She smiled when she imagined his reaction to being summoned to Singleton Manor. He wouldn't have had her letter and as far as she knew he was unaware Sir James Masterson was a relative of hers.

  Well, there was nothing she could do about it now. If he came in high dudgeon then she could soon smooth his ruffled feathers and make all well between them. She settled back on the window seat and let her imagination run free. They could be married in Kesgrave Church by her father, in the spring would be lovely when the daffodils were in full bloom.

  *

  In the vicarage all was not well. 'Are you telling me, sir, that you neglected to hand my urgent letter to your daughter until she left on Wednesday?' Richard could scarcely contain his fury, he was not used to having his instructions ignored. When he had written the letter he had supposed Emma would read it the same day and write him a reply, or ignore him, and he would know exactly how he stood.

  'I beg your pardon, Lord Denver, but what with one thing and another and my pastoral duties, it quite slipped my mind. If you had told me the contents at the time then this misunderstanding would not have taken place.'

  He felt his anger drain away. Mr Meadows was quite correct, in fact he should never have written such a letter without first speaking to him about his intentions. He smiled and held out his hand. 'I apologise for my outburst. I have no right to speak to you in that way. In fact, as I'm hoping you will become my father-in-law very soon, it was a remarkably stupid thing to do.'

  The older man laughed at his discomfiture. 'Forget it, my dear boy. You have my blessing, and although Emma did not reply I believe, in fact I'm certain, that she returns your feelings. I cannot understand why she hasn't written to you, I do hope nothing untoward has happened on the journey?'

  Richard stared at him. 'You do not even know if they arrived safely in Richmond?'

  Mr Meadows shook his head. 'Don't look so anxious, bad news always travels fast. If they had met with a mishap I would certainly have heard about it. No, for some reason Emma has not written to us, but I'm sure it is not because either she or Eugenie have met with a disaster.'

  'I shall ride there directly. If I travel post I could be there first thing tomorrow morning.' He frowned – tomorrow was Sunday; it would not do to arrive unannounced on the Sabbath.

  'My daughter will not be going anywhere, my boy, so I should take your time. Travel in your own carriage in comfort, overnight in Colchester and Romford, arrive rested and relaxed on Monday, not in a

  pelter tomorrow. Or why not leave it until Monday, there's no hurry after all?'

  'Excellent advice; In fact I think I shall find myself lodgings in the vicinity and send word to Sir James and Lady Masterson before arriving on their doorstep unannounced. As you have so sensibly pointed out, sir, it makes little difference if I arrive in one day or five, as long as I do arrive.'

  *

  So it was that whilst he was driving to Richmond, Emma's letter was flying to Kesgrave and Sir James had organised for a dozen or more of his employees to begin searching the docks for him. As far as he was concerned he was riding to claim the woman he loved, believing there was no urgency, whilst Emma as the days passed, became more agitated, believing that he'd already left the country and was lost to her.

  Chapter Ten

  Monday the skies were clear and although a trifle chilly the morning was perfect for Eugenie and Emma to begin their riding lessons. They had each received a riding habit as a welcome-gift from their grandparents; they had been bought ready-made but fortunately needed little alteration.

  'The military style is the height of fashion, Emma, and this will be the first time we've ever dressed in matching outfits. This deep blue is perfect for both of us, but I believe the cap is better suited to your oval face than it is to mine.'

  'We both look splendid. Roberts is to take our lesson, Grandpapa has promised not to come and watch until we are more confident. I'm surprised he didn't question our choice of mounts as I know that Firebrand is totally unsuitable for a novice, especially a female one.'

  After gathering up her gloves and whip she was ready to leave. She prayed the huge chestnut was as eager to carry her she as she was to ride him; there was a long way to fall if he decided he didn't like her on board.

  The lesson went better than she could have expected, neither of them had recourse to leading lanes and they were both able to walk, trot and canter safely by the end of the two hours.

  'I'm stiff and sore after so long in the saddle,' Eugenie complained as they retraced their steps to their apartment. 'I don't remember riding being so uncomfortable.'

  'As neither of us has done so for over ten years and then never off the leading rein, I don't think we have anything to compare it with. Mary promised we should have a hot bath when we returned, as you are so stiff, you may go first. I shall write again to Papa, I have yet to tell him how delightful our grandparents have turned out to be, or the real reason they did not contact us until five years ago.'

  'I should think Lord Denver might have received your letter today if he was still in Kesgrave, so he mi
ght arrive tomorrow or the next day.'

  'I'm trying not to think about it, Eugenie, so please don't keep reminding me of what might be as it is quite possible he has already sailed for India. Grandpapa said yesterday that he would go to London himself if we hear nothing tomorrow.'

  The next two days were spent with riding lessons in the morning, and morning calls in the afternoon. Emma found it strange that in society the morning ran from midday until four o'clock, she understood it to be because most hostesses didn't rise until late morning as they had been attending parties until the small hours.

  They had met most of the local gentry and already her sister had two gentlemen callers. It could be as if Mr Tennent had never existed. She resigned herself to the thought of it being a long winter, with her sister falling in and out of love with every new beau that called bringing posies and dreadful poems for her delectation.

  Thursday came and went with still no word from Kesgrave or London about the whereabouts of her missing suitor. Sir James returned with nothing good to report; as far as he could ascertain no one of the name of Tennent or Denver had left for India in the last month.

  'Could this mean Lord Denver was deliberately misleading me about sending his brother abroad?' She asked her grandfather on the following Friday morning as they sat together eating breakfast.

  'It could be, perhaps the villain has just returned to Oxford and is carrying on his philandering. I shall send word there to see if he has appeared at his lodgings.' He shook his head sadly. 'However, my dear girl, I fear it will be a wild goose chase. The two of them have gone to ground somewhere, and all we can do is wait and see if Denver reappears.'

  'Are you coming out with me this morning, Grandpapa? I cannot wait to take Firebrand for a proper excursion; we're both becoming bored with cantering around the indoor school and the paddock.'

  'I'm sorry, my dear, but I have to meet my agent this morning. I promise I shall come out with you tomorrow.'