Circle of Pearls

by Rosalind Laker

  12

  Anne could tell she was about to receive visitors by the footsteps approaching her bedchamber. She was fully dressed and lay propped against cushions on a day-bed in her comfortable room, a good fire blazing in the fireplace. She had never been robust, but she was not ailing unduly during this pregnancy and her original fears of not surviving another childbirth had gone. It suited her that everyone wanted her to rest, because it meant she was able to catch up on her sleep, the lack of which was caused through still longer nocturnal embroidery sessions.

  Her maternal instincts had always been strong and she longed for the baby she would hold in her arms. Had someone reminded her that Makepeace was the father she would have been caught off guard, because she had chosen to think of the forthcoming child as Robert’s. She had succeeded in withdrawing her mind from anything that upset her and had reached a point where she could shut herself away with whatever she wanted to believe was true. She had even perfected a way of not quite looking at Makepeace’s face at table or about the house, and at night she slipped into her void completely while he persisted in his fetish of wanting her to gaze on him. She supposed her lowered lashes and the shadows cast by the single candle-flame hid from him the fact that her inner self was never there.

  The door opened and Makepeace entered, unaware that the ends of her lashes drooped to make a mist of his face. ‘Anne, my dear.’ He rarely spoke without the familiar endearment, even when he was angry. ‘You are in for a little surprise. The eminent Mr Wren is here and — er — your daughter is back.’

  She thought she must collapse with joy. ‘Let them come in!’ she cried.

  Then Julia was in the room and rushing to her. ‘Mama! How are you?’

  ‘I’m well, dearest child! Don’t think otherwise. I’m just being a little lazy, that’s all. Oh, how glad I am to have you home again.’

  Then Christopher joined the happy reunion, taking the hand that Anne outstretched to draw him close. Makepeace watched from the other side of the room, knowing himself to be forgotten, shut out from this charmed circle. Never once had Anne looked rapturously at him as she did now at the two arrivals. Not for him the spontaneous outburst of delight or expressed gladness for his presence. He was tortured by jealousy. It seemed to scorch the back of his eyes. His obsessive love for her gave him no peace, and although he had done everything he could think of to concentrate her affections solely towards himself, he had failed. There was one weapon left and he would use it. All along he had hoped it was something she would do by her own wish, showing that her Cavalier husband was forgotten and at last he was first with her, but that had not happened. Now he would make it happen.

  When Julia went to see Katherine she observed a great change in her. No doubt it had been so gradual that it had not been as marked to Anne and Mary as it was to her. Her grandmother was still alert, but it was as if she had shrunk and was far more frail in appearance, her eyes deep-sunken and her movements feeble. Yet her greeting had its usual blend of pith and love.

  ‘You’ve come home then? I suppose you thought I missed you.’

  ‘Why should I imagine that?’ Julia’s eyes twinkled as she settled herself on the footstool. At least Makepeace had never changed anything in this room and it was still the sanctuary of the Pallisters.

  ‘Christopher came to see me before he left. Have you come to your senses over him?’

  Julia’s cheeks hollowed and she answered soberly. ‘At the present time he is in love with his scientific work and whatever he feels for me takes second place. If ever he should look at me in such a way that I know I’ve won over everything else, I’ll be his.’

  ‘What if that should never happen?’

  Julia did not flinch. ‘Somehow I’ll survive as you did when you lost Ned in another way.’

  Later that day Julia asked Mary why her letter had emphasized Anne’s need of her return instead of Katherine’s. ‘I can see that my grandmother has entered the last lap of her life and I’m thankful to be here with her again.’

  ‘It isn’t your mother’s physical health that worries me. She is up each day and attends every mealtime. In between, Makepeace insists that she rest and fusses that she has a footstool, enough fresh air and much more. In that respect he means well, but I fear that without realizing it he is steadily driving her out of her mind.’

  Julia stared at her in disbelief. ‘That can’t be true. She was perfectly all right when I saw her and we had a long talk together.’

  ‘Did she do most of the talking or did you?’

  ‘I suppose I did and Christopher talked as much before he left.’

  ‘That’s it. She listens more than she ever speaks now, and if it’s something she doesn’t want to hear or see her eyes go quite blank.’

  ‘That can happen to anyone losing concentration or becoming bored.’

  ‘It’s far more than that. Makepeace rules her completely and she is too gentle and sensitive to retaliate in any way.’

  ‘Mama is incapable of hatred. Go on.’

  ‘After you went to Bletchingdon she spoke often about you, wondering what you were doing and so forth, and I saw how Makepeace resented it. When she was excited over getting a letter from you he had a face as long as a fiddle. It’s as if he can’t bear to share anything she says or does with anyone else. Gradually he began to impose tighter restrictions on her. There was much more I could have told Michael when he was here, but I did not want him to go back to France with extra worries when there was nothing he could do about them.’

  ‘What restrictions did Makepeace impose?’

  ‘He began by not letting her go shopping unless he was with her and never allowed her to call on anyone she had known before his coming to Sotherleigh. She is permitted to visit Mistress Katherine only once a day for a quarter of an hour and not a minute over, which makes her watch the clock most of the time she is there. I no longer dine in the Great Hall and I believe I was banished after Anne talked more to me than to him during meals there. Now they have all their meals alone together unless there is company of his choice for her and that is usually dreary. About three months ago a certain sea-captain spent the day here, a man called Crowhurst, who was big and jovial.’

  ‘Mama mentioned him in a letter to me. He acts as a courier sometimes with papers connected with a business interest Makepeace has in America.’

  ‘According to Sarah, who heard it through the servants’ grapevine and then told me, Anne enjoyed his visit far too much for Makepeace’s liking. The sea-captain made the mistake of flirting with her and paying her compliments. It was all harmless and Anne was her usual dignified self the whole time, but after he had gone Makepeace gave vent. I heard him shouting at her in the east wing. You know how the Long Gallery can echo sound. The next day it was as if he had shocked her into a trance. For twenty-four hours she did not seem to see or hear anything.’

  Julia anguished over what she had been told. ‘Nobody has ever raised a voice to my mother, not even Grandmother, who has shouted at me often enough in the past. Trouble always confused and upset Mama, but never once have I seen her succumb to such a state as you have described.’

  That evening at supper Julia observed her mother closely. All was not well, although perhaps this was what Makepeace wanted. Anne had become utterly docile and subdued. Gone was the spark that had given such charm to her sweet nature. It was no wonder that she wandered about at night, which Mary said Michael had discovered. Her state of stress beneath that outward calm could only be guessed at. Julia felt doubly thankful to be home, able to give Katherine more company and to do whatever she could for her mother.

  Anne was already in bed when Makepeace, who had been reading late in the Queen’s Parlour, came into her room. The fact that he was still fully dressed showed that he would be sleeping in the master bedroom that night, for he was always in his nightshirt when he intended to stay. She sighed inwardly with relief. It meant she could get to her embroidery with less risk. Yet whether or not he s
hared her bed at night he never failed to give her a good night kiss. As he approached the bed she sat up in readiness, her mind ready to slam the door on his wet lips. But he took up her hand from the coverlet instead.

  ‘Come my dear. I think it’s high time now that you shared the master bedchamber with me. I’ll take this room when you are nearer your time. After the confinement I shall return to you in the great bed.’

  Her eyes regarded him with horror, ‘I can’t sleep with you in Robert’s bed!’

  He did not intend to lose his temper. That had happened only once with her and he had regretted it ever since. All she had done throughout his tirade was to speak once, saying that Captain Crowhurst had intended no harm. He had known it and yet still had been unable to stem his jealousy. There was every reason to suppose that in seeking to atone afterwards he had made her pregnant. As for the present matter, he had been lax in not putting his foot down earlier, but no second husband wanted the ghost of the first to share a marriage bed. For that reason he had let her take another bedchamber for herself where he could go to her. That had been his mistake.

  ‘It is my bed in my house and you, my dear wife, are going to move into the great bedchamber with me.’

  She tugged against the pull of his hand clasping hers. ‘No! I can’t! I won’t betray Robert!’ He had his arm about her and was drawing her inexorably from her bed. The pressure of the bands about her brain was becoming more than she could bear. ‘His baby is in my womb! You shall not touch me!’

  In her panic she was not quite coherent or else he would have realized the extent to which he had lost her. ‘Calm yourself. You will be fulfilling a duty long left undone. The past will stop haunting you once and for all.’

  She was screaming inside, but aversion to him was smothering all sound. Suddenly she recalled a time when she had been willing to kneel to him, had it been necessary, to implore that she and those dependent on her should not have to leave Sotherleigh. As he levered her free of the bed she dropped to her knees and clawed at his velvet jacket.

  ‘No! Let me stay here! I beg you!’

  He reached down, put his hands under her armpits and hauled her upright, but the strength seemed to have gone from her legs, for as he held her suspended her feet hung down and her toes dragged. Murmuring endearments to her, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her, her head lolling against his shoulder, away through the intervening parlour to the master bedroom. Her mind had escaped into its void before he was through the door.

  *

  After breakfast next morning Julia had a short, sharp interview with Makepeace in the library from which he conducted the business of the estate and other matters. The marriage settlement, signed by Adam and himself, was on the table before him. She realized she had given Adam little thought over the past weeks, except to recall his kiss occasionally, and it startled her to be brought face to face again with this betrothment that she had long since dismissed as something she would escape somehow.

  ‘As you know, your future has been agreed,’ Makepeace said bluntly. ‘You can consider yourself fortunate that Mr Warrender is willing to take you without a dowry, although he did ask for an acre of land where his boundary and mine meet and I’m letting him have it.’

  She knew that acre. It jutted awkwardly into a Warrender field. They might as well have bartered a cow or two for her. ‘I have always intended that a man should marry me for my worth and not what I brought with me.’

  Makepeace looked at her suspiciously, but made no comment. ‘No date for the marriage is set yet and Mr Warrender will wish to discuss it with you and your mother, although naturally the ultimate decision will be his. He knows I have no objection to a wedding date in the near future. That concludes all I have to say to you now.’

  On her way to her mother’s room, Julia thought how far she had advanced in keeping control of herself under enormous provocation. She found Anne dressed and lying on the day-bed just as she had been the previous day. A dullness cleared from Anne’s eyes as she looked into her daughter’s face.

  ‘You’re really here, Julia. I thought I might have dreamed it.’

  ‘No, I’m here to stay, Mother. Why not come down to the Queen’s Parlour? You can have a chair by the window and I’ll find some embroidery for you.’

  Anne shook her head wearily. ‘I’ve been stitching for hours. That’s why I’m tired and need to sleep.’

  Julia smiled. ‘Indeed you have been dreaming, Mama. But never mind. Rest now. I’ll come back to see you later.’ As she made to move away, her mother reached out to catch her sleeve.

  ‘Michael brought me a length of Lyonnaise silk garlanded with flowers, a little like Elizabeth’s gown that your grandmother possesses.’ Anne’s face worked with distress. ‘I had to hide it away.’

  ‘I know,’ Julia said compassionately. Then she stayed quietly beside her mother until she slept.

  Julia had left the east wing when a servant informed her that Adam had come to see her and was waiting in the hall. An unbidden flare of excitement rose up from the pit of her stomach. When she reached the flower screen she looked down at him through an aperture in the foliage. He must have heard the whisper of her skirts, for he turned his face up to her at once.

  ‘How are you, Julia? I’ve come to ask you to go riding with me.’

  She breathed a soft laugh. ‘You’ve wasted no time in getting here. I only arrived home yesterday. Who told you?’

  ‘Mr Walker promised to keep me informed. I’ve just gained his permission for you to dine al fresco with me.’

  Her face grew taut. He and Makepeace were conniving together over everything! But at least he was being honest about it, even though he would know that anything remotely connected with her stepfather was anathema to her. ‘Have you forgotten that the first day of spring isn’t for three weeks yet?’

  ‘I like winter picnics best. There are no wasps or flies. In any case it’s very mild today and unlikely to rain.’

  She hesitated no longer, ‘I’ll fetch my cloak.’

  ‘Julia!’

  ‘Yes?’ She turned back to the screen.

  ‘No chaperone today. I’ve gained permission for that too.’ She was glad he could not see her bite her lip on a grin. There was nobody to accompany them in any case, Mary being with Katherine and Phoebe having contracted a cold on the journey from Bletchingdon. Probably Makepeace thought to get her compromised into a quick marriage, but Adam should never get her by those means. It was lucky that neither her mother nor her grandmother knew of the liberty she had been deviously granted.

  He came to the foot of the Grand Staircase as she descended. ‘Let’s ride to the Downs,’ she requested, pulling the hood of her scarlet cloak up over her head and tying the strings, ‘it’s so long since I was last there.’ She went ahead of him out of the house and he caught up with her to go down the stone steps with her.

  ‘I’ve brought your betrothal present with me.’

  She stopped to look at him in mild exasperation, ‘I’m not accepting a ring or anything else from you, Adam. I thought I made that clear between us at Bletchingdon.’

  ‘Not as I understood it. In any case, it’s not time for a ring yet. I’m not forcing one on your finger, although I don’t doubt Makepeace would hold your wrist for me. No, it’s something else today. If what I’ve chosen for you isn’t to your liking, I shouldn’t expect you to accept it.’ He looked away from her to signal with a nod to the waiting groom, who passed it to a second groom out of sight. Then that man appeared, leading Adam’s black horse and a bay she recognized instantly.

  ‘Charlie!’ She flew to her horse and it tossed its head, its nostrils flaring as she clapped its neck and smoothed its soft nose, talking affectionately. ‘You’ve not forgotten me! To think that once it seemed I should never see you again.’

  A groom handed her some roughly cut sugar pieces and she held them out on her palm to the horse. When all were taken she went nimbly up the steps of the mounting block and se
ttled herself in Charlie’s side-saddle. Adam, who had mounted during the reunion, came riding up to her.

  ‘By what name did you call that horse?’ he questioned incredulously.

  She eyed him with merry defiance. ‘You’ve been keeping a royally named bay in your stables, Adam. You couldn’t have expected me to call him Cromwell.’

  ‘I understood from Makepeace that he was called Starlight.’

  ‘That’s right.’ She laughed. ‘Charlie-Starlight. I once had a pony with that second name and Charlie was for the King, although Makepeace never knew about that! If you had known the truth, would it have made any difference?’

  His eyes were amused and he shook his head. ‘You know what Shakespeare said about a rose smelling as sweet. You never fail to surprise me, Julia. Shall we go?’

  She thought to herself that he had done his fair share of surprising her. He had kindness in him, but he was also extremely astute, which meant she must always be on her guard. If proof was needed it showed in the way he had selected the one betrothal gift he believed she would find impossible to refuse. As they rode side by side down the drive in the direction of the gates she broke the news to him that she was sure he would not want to hear.

  ‘Naturally I can’t keep Charlie.’

  ‘Why not? When Makepeace delayed me from leaving on the night of your Royalist sing-song to offer to sell me your horse, I only purchased it with the intention of returning it to you one day. From what he said I could tell you were attached to it. Now that you and I are betrothed he raised no objection when I told him a few weeks ago that I intended it should be yours again whenever you came home.’ He grinned widely. ‘I dare say he would have stipulated a change of name if he had known.’

  ‘But don’t you see? You said Charlie was a betrothal gift, which makes it impossible for me to accept him. I’d buy him back if I could, but I can’t at the present time.’