‘Would you mind showing me round your gardens, Rosemary?’ Ellen Wilshaw asked.
‘I’d like to see them too,’ her brother said.
‘We’ll make our escape now, shall we?’ She threw them a mischievous smile, ‘while the – ahem – older guests take coffee in the lounge.’ Harry Braebourne glared but Rosie had made her point. She smiled and escorted the Wilshaw twins outside.
‘Did you design and plant the shrubbery on the drive up to Langton Tower?’ Trevor asked. ‘My parents think it’s impressive.’
‘The curve of the drive lends itself to an impressive layout but the island in the middle of the forecourt with the fountain and flower beds were Paul’s idea. I’m pleased you like it. My father thought it was an improvement.’ She sighed.
‘I expect you miss him,’ Ellen Wilshaw said with genuine sympathy. ‘My father says you had grown very close since you came home from boarding school.’
Rosie enjoyed the company of the Wilshaws. They seemed interested in her business.
‘Father keeps telling us we must be prepared to earn our own living,’ Ellen said. ‘Trevor is going to do a course in estate management at a college down south but Mother thinks girls should find a suitable husband and settle down to married life.’ She pulled a face.
‘Tell me about it!’ Rosie sighed. ‘But my mother built up the hotel from a near ruin so she shouldn’t object to me wanting to be independent. She admits she misses my father’s support, though, so she thinks she should choose a “suitable” husband for me.’
‘I reckon you’ll do your own choosing when you’re ready,’ Trevor said with a grin. ‘I like a girl with spirit.’
When they had gone Rosie went to her own cottage instead of returning to the luncheon party. She felt dejected and tired after her sleepless night. She was feeling guilty about behaving badly to her mother and Harry Braebourne too.
Restlessly she spent time tidying and dusting. She was making herself a cup of tea when she heard a car coming up the back drive.
‘Looks like you’ve had some good news,’ she said, opening the door wide as Tania bounced out of her car. ‘I’m in need of cheering up.’
‘Like that is it?’ Tania smiled in sympathy. ‘Well I do have got some good news.’ She told Rosie about Pam’s proposed visit from Australia. ‘So we’ve no time to lose. Easter Monday is four weeks tomorrow and Struan and I are going to see the Reverend Carmichael tomorrow evening to try and fix the date and time. It may have to be a morning wedding and then a luncheon. Mother thinks I should ask Avril’s and Pam’s wee girls to be flower girls. You will promise to be my bridesmaid, won’t you Rosie?’
‘I’m flattered to be asked.’ Rosie moved over to the settee and hugged her. ‘You and Struan deserve to be happy. I’m pleased things are working out for you, in spite of Mrs Ritchie. It will be wonderful for everyone if Struan’s sister can handle her, with a bit of help from the doctor.’
‘Oh yes,’ Tania agreed. ‘Struan makes light of it but I know his mother’s imaginary illnesses do affect him. He’s afraid she might be ill sometime and nobody will take any notice. She spoils his joy. We’re not having a big wedding though. Sam has agreed to be best man and Alex will be one of the ushers.’
‘Sam?’ Rosie’s face paled a little. ‘I er…I’m not sure I should be bridesmaid, Tania.’
‘Oh but you must, Rosie. The wedding will be well into April so Sam can look forward to you being there too by then.’
‘What difference does it make?’
‘He’ll have kept his promise by then.’
‘What promise? Did he make a promise to Lidia?’ Rosie sniffed. ‘Not that I’m interested.’
‘Oh Rosie, Sam loves you, and I don’t mean the affection we all shared as children. He told us. He loves you as a man loves the woman he wants to marry. He has been so miserable.’
‘I-I don’t…I c-can’t….He’s never said anything to me. We haven’t spoken for three weeks.’
‘Of course you haven’t!’ Tania clapped a hand to her forehead. ‘I’m so wrapped up in my own plans I haven’t told you about the promise he made to your mother.’
‘He made a promise to my mother? What sort of promise? Why?’
‘It’s driving him crazy not being able to explain to you.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, Tania.’
‘Didn’t your mother tell you she’d been to Martinwold to talk to Sam? She told him he was keeping you from mixing with your own class and meeting young men who could give you a decent lifestyle. She said he was being selfish in keeping you to himself so she appealed to his conscience, or his better nature, or something. She didn’t want him to see you again, ever. He couldn’t agree to that, but she begged him to stay away from you for three months to give you an opportunity to meet other young men.’
Rosie groaned aloud. ‘The Brabournes,’ she muttered.
‘Sam said three months was like a lifetime but she made him feel guilty enough to compromise. He promised not to see you, or contact you, for a month – that’s another week yet.’
‘I-I can’t believe this!’ Rosie’s face was pale now and her blue eyes looked huge, smudged with violet circles from lack of sleep.
‘Oh Rosie,’ Tania hugged her. ‘All parents want the best for their children and we Carafords have always been way out of the Palmer-Farr league. Grandfather Oliphant was your parents’ gardener. My father and brothers are working farmers.’
‘How can you say that, Tania? You are all like family to me. It was your mother – not mine – who nursed me until I was well after Sam found me half dead in the loft. Daddy said you were true friends and worth more than gold.’
‘Mmm, but that was your father, Rosie. Your mother convinced Sam he was denying you the freedom to mix with young men of your own class. She said if you persisted in seeing each other you would risk losing your inheritance. Sam told her he didn’t care whether you had an inheritance or not, but she said he would be selfish if he deprived you of a better life than he could give you.’
‘I can’t believe this!’ Rosie stood up, her blue eyes blazing now. ‘How dare my mother go to Martinwold. How dare she interfere with my friends? Sam could never make such a promise if he did love me.’
‘It’s because he loves you,’ Tania said. ‘Your mother convinced him he was taking advantage because you’re young and innocent. Sam’s afraid she may be right and you will be attracted to someone else. He’s like a bear with a sore head, but it is what your mother hoped for, isn’t it?’
‘I should have guessed,’ Rosie said, pacing around the kitchen. ‘No wonder she’s been organizing every free moment of my time and throwing me into the company of Harry Braebourne and his brother. I’m going to tell her exactly what I think of her.’
‘No! No, don’t do that, Rosie.’ Tania pulled her back down onto the settee. ‘You’re not supposed to know why Sam hasn’t been to see you. He made a promise. But I didn’t. I think it’s so unfair when he can’t explain.’
‘Mother wants to cause trouble between us.’
‘Yes, but let Sam keep his promise, Rosie, then she can’t accuse him of breaking his word, or cast it up at him later. Let her think she’s won. It’s only one more week. Please?’
‘Maybe you’re right,’ Rosie said, but her lips were tight and her small jaw jutted with determination. Tania guessed Catherine Palmer-Farr might get more than she bargained for with her devious dealings. ‘To think I was feeling guilty about being rude to Mother and her guests!’ Rosie said and gave Tania an account of the luncheon.
‘Rosie, can I come up to see you?’ Sam had seized the earliest opportunity to telephone.
‘In the middle of the day? This is April fool’s day! Are you…?’
‘Yes. No – I can’t wait a minute longer. I need to explain why I haven’t—’
‘Tania told me, Sam. I can’t believe you would make such a stupid promise if you love me.’
‘Oh God, I do love
you, Rosie. More than life itself. If anything this month apart has made me realize that more than ever. Please, Rosie, I have to see you.’
‘All right. Come by the back drive. We’ll have lunch at my cottage and talk then.’
‘I need more than talk, Rosie,’ Sam said. Rosie smiled at the phone. She wanted to be cross with him for allowing her mother to manipulate him, for making her so miserable for four whole weeks, but the sky seemed bluer, the grass greener and the birdsong more glorious. She sang as she went to find Paul.
‘Sam is coming up to see me, Paul, so I may not be around for a while this afternoon.’
‘That’s OK by me,’ Paul said and grinned. ‘You look like a different girl.’
‘I feel like I’m walking on air,’ Rosie said, spreading her arms to embrace the world.
It was late afternoon before Sam and Rosie emerged from the cottage and only then because Sam had to get back to do the milking at Martinwold. Rosie’s cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright; her mouth tingled from being so well kissed, but that didn’t stop Sam snatching another as they walked together to his car.
‘You will come to Martinwold, Rosie?’
‘Of course I will, as soon as we finish work tomorrow. Oh Sam, I can’t tell you how miserable I’ve been. Don’t ever, ever, let anyone come between us again.’
‘I won’t, my darling. I hope your mother keeps her promise, now that I’ve kept my side of the bargain.’
‘Her promise?’ Rosie asked.
‘She promised not to object if we were still together and wanted to get engaged in six months’ time.’
‘Oh Sam, that’s wonderful. At least I think it is,’ she added. Sam pulled her into his arms again. ‘So do I. I may not be rich but I’m earning a proper wage now and saving up. I long for us to be together, Rosie, all the time.’
‘Oh Sam, so do I, and I know we shall manage fine.’
Paul glimpsed them through the trees, locked in each other’s arms. He smiled and crept away.
The next three weeks passed in a flurry of wedding arrangements; choosing dresses, making arrangements and keeping appointments. Three days before the wedding Struan’s sister, Pam, arrived with her two children.
‘If the Carafords are such good friends of yours,’ Catherine said, ‘why didn’t they book the wedding reception here, at Langton Tower?’
‘I shouldn’t think you need to ask that, Mother,’ Rosie replied. ‘If you ever try to interfere in my life again, or try to sacrifice my happiness for your own snobbish ambitions, I shall never forgive you and you can forget you ever had a daughter.’
‘Rosemary Lavender! You can’t mean that. I only wanted what was best for you.’
‘No, Mother, you wanted what you thought was best. You don’t know me at all if you think I would ever have married a man like Harry Braebourne, even if Sam didn’t love me. So do you promise you’ll never try to come between us again? Do you?’
‘Yes,’ Catherine sighed, ‘yes I promise. You’re all I have now. I don’t want to lose you Rosemary Lav—sorry, Rosemary.’
‘That’s better!’ Rosie said. ‘You’ll never know how much I hated my name.’
Tania and Euan glowed with happiness as they walked down the aisle as man and wife. Later even Mrs Ritchie seemed pleasant and relaxed as she chatted to Steven at the top table. As soon as the formalities were over Sam moved from Struan’s side to pull up a chair beside Rosie.
‘You look so lovely in your blue dress,’ he said in a low voice. ‘I wish I could carry you off and be married too.’ Mr Ritchie overheard him and chuckled.
‘I agree Rosemary looks very pretty,’ he said. ‘I’m sure you both want to go and chat to your friends now.’ Sam needed no urging to get Rosie away from the top table where they were in full view of everyone.
‘We’ll go for a stroll in the hotel gardens until you need to help Tania change.’ Mr Ritchie watched them go then turned to Megan.
‘It looks as though you will be having another wedding in the family before long,’ he said with a smile.
‘I think they’re very much in love,’ Megan agreed as her gaze followed them. ‘Rosie has been like part of my family for years. We all love her. I’m so happy to see her smile and the sparkle in her eyes again. The trouble is,’ she said, ‘Sam isn’t in the same class. He can’t afford to give her the lifestyle Mrs Palmer-Farr thinks she ought to have.’
‘Class? Bah! There’s no such thing since the war. I respect Mrs Palmer-Farr for what she has done with Langton Tower, but love and loyalty are beyond price. I doubt if Rosemary would change Sam for the wealthiest young man in the county – or the country, for that matter.’
‘I agree money is not everything,’ Megan said with a smile. ‘We were young and we didn’t have much money when we married but I wouldn’t change anything. We’ve enjoyed building our life together.’
In a secluded part of the hotel grounds Sam drew Rosemary into his arms and kissed her.
‘I wish it was us. I wouldn’t care about a honeymoon so long as I knew you were my wife, Rosie.’
‘I love you so much, Sam.’ She snuggled against him, oblivious of her headdress as she lifted her face to be kissed.
‘I shall never be able to give you the lifestyle you deserve. I can’t blame your mother for wanting someone better for you, my darling. I want to give you the moon.’
‘I don’t want the moon, or anything else – only you, Samuel Caraford.’ Rosie ran her hands over his chest and then down his thighs. He was surprised. She had been so tentative and shy about caressing him, even though her own responses were everything he could desire. He groaned and seized her hands, holding them close to his chest.
‘We have to be sensible, Rosie. If I didn’t love you so much I’d take everything you have to offer, even if it did lead to a shotgun wedding….’ He smiled against the soft curve of her cheek, then found her mouth. They were quiet for a long time but Sam knew he had to call a halt. ‘I want to love and cherish you, Rosie, and give you everything your heart desires.’
‘Oh Sam, my heart desires you, to be with you, all the time. I want to cook your favourite meals and wash your clothes and – and love you.’
‘It’s what I want more than anything else in the world, too, but I have to be able to give you a home and look after you. I want to be able to keep my own wife, not ask for anybody’s charity.’
‘Especially my mother’s?’ Rosie teased. ‘I wouldn’t want that either, but between us we have all we need. I’m a good gardener remember, and I can cook.’
‘I have a big enough garden to feed a multitude,’ Sam laughed.
‘Seriously, Sam, with everything we can produce I shall be the thriftiest of wives.’
‘You’ll be the best wife ever, sweetheart, but—’
‘I shall be twenty-one at the end of May.’ She looked up at him, her blue eyes dancing. ‘How about fixing our wedding date for my twenty-first birthday?’ she asked.
‘What! That’s only six weeks away, Rosie. Your mother will have me hung, drawn and quartered.’
‘We could be married in a register office.’
‘You’d do that? But no…’ Samuel’s voice was firm. ‘So long as I know you love me, as I love you, I want to tell the world, including your mother. We’ll tell her together. After all, you’re all she has, my darling, and now we know how much we love each other we can afford to be reasonable.’
‘How reasonable?’ Rosie’s hands moved over his body in tantalizing circles.
‘You’re blackmailing me,’ he whispered as her fingers became more insistent. ‘So how long, Sam? August? September? We can’t wait longer than that – can we?’
‘No! I can’t anyway.’ He clutched her hands in his. ‘You’re a witch,’ he whispered ‘and I love you to distraction. We’ll tell your mother at the weekend.’
‘And you’ll stand firm whatever she says?’ She sighed. ‘I do wish Daddy had been here. He would have made her understand.’
�
��Yes, I know, sweetheart,’ Sam said. ‘In the circumstances we have reason for a quiet wedding but I’d like it to be in church, especially after today, seeing Tania and Struan so happy with all their friends around them. You deserve that too, my darling.’
‘Yes, I’d like that,’ Rosie nodded. ‘I could ask your grandfather to give me away. Papa Oliphant is the only grandparent I’ve ever had, even if he is really yours.’
‘He’ll belong to both of us once we’re married.’
‘Mmm, once we’re married. I can’t wait,’ Rosie said, her eyes sparkling.
‘I do love you, Rosie,’ Sam said. ‘I think I always have. We were meant to be together.’
Copyright
© Gwen Kirkwood 2012
First published in Great Britain 2012
This edition 2012
ISBN978 0 7198 0809 8 (epub)
ISBN978 0 7198 0810 4 (mobi)
ISBN978 0 7198 0811 1 (pdf)
ISBN978 0 7090 9630 6 (print)
Robert Hale Limited
Clerkenwell House
Clerkenwell Green
London EC1R 0HT
www.halebooks.com
The right of Gwen Kirkwood to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
Another Home, Another Love Page 20
