They went to the coffin maker first, where Joshua helped her down and they went inside.
"My Lord," the proprietor greeted them with a bow. "Is all well?"
Silly question; they would not be here if it were. Joshua swallowed hard before replying.
"My father," he said, "the Earl of Summerville has tragically passed away during the night."
The scuffling from outside told them they had been overheard. Seeing them enter this establishment, the people naturally all drew close to eavesdrop and by the time they went outside to visit the priest, everyone in the village was there to meet them, to hold their hands, to weep. Some of the older women hugged Joshua, they all took Susannah’s hand.
She recalled that first day when they went to visit the tenants and she thought how horrified her father would be to see this. Susannah was the Countess of Summerville now and such familiarity was unseemly, but she enjoyed it, she was proud of it, and she would be sure that the friendship of his underlings was one tradition of His Lordship's they would maintain.
Alex returned from his visit to the tenants with red rimmed eyes. Estelle could imagine the scene, women hugging him, men hugging him, younger women holding his hands. She ordered refreshments for him when he got back and made him sit down before the fire.
Her Ladyship had retreated to another bedchamber, with Lucy in attendance, and her daughter did not see her again that day.
"One of the tenants, Connie," Alex was saying, "said she remembered the last time she heard the message that Father was dead, heard it from Mother. Do you know anything about that?"
Joshua was shaking his head. It was news to him and to his wife.
"It was when she thought he had been executed," Estelle's voice came from the doorway.
“Executed?” Joshua repeated.
Both men turned to look at her with puzzled frowns.
"He was condemned for treason, for helping the Protestants," she said. "Mother went to see him in the Tower the day before it was to take place and in the morning, she had no reason to suppose it had not been carried out."
"But he escaped?" Alex asked.
"The Queen died," Estelle replied. "It was Queen Mary and Elizabeth pardoned all her sister's enemies. That is how he escaped. Otherwise none of us would ever have been born and the only son he would have to inherit would have been Simon Carlisle."
***
The funeral was extravagant and brought hundreds of people to line the route of the coffin as it made its way from the house to the village church, where a Protestant burial service was performed.
Estelle walked with her mother and the female servants at the back of the procession as the coffin was pulled through the estate by two strong horses and out into the streets toward the village church. Walking slowly beside the hearse was Thomas, leading her father's huge black stallion, Magic. He had loved that horse, had bred him from Ebony, his former mount, and it seemed only fitting that he should have a place beside his master on this day.
She kept telling herself that her father was inside. She could not believe it, that he was inside that box, cold and lifeless, and she would never see him again.
Susannah wondered about Lady Summerville insisting on the Catholic ritual of masses being said for her husband’s soul, but she could hardly give him a Catholic funeral; it was outlawed and would have led to them all being arrested. What she did not know was that the Catholic priest from the Masons house waited to perform a Latin service in the crypt of the old church, where the Summerville vault waited to receive him.
Joshua and Alex were the only two Summervilles to observe the burial, along with Thomas and Mr Mason, whose priest said the funeral mass. Susannah would never have known had Joshua not told her, with a concerned expression as though wondering if she would disapprove of this as well.
"You told me the church had been deconsecrated," she commented.
He studied her thoughtfully for a moment before replying.
"I lied."
"Why?"
"Because I did not know you then, I did not love you then. I had no way of knowing if you were likely to reveal our family secret. I did not trust you."
"And now you do?"
"Yes, now I do. Now you have as much to lose as I do."
"That is not the reason I would hold my tongue," she told him, offended. "I would keep your secrets because you are my husband and because I love you."
He smiled then and bent to kiss her.
"So your father has had two funeral services."
"My mother told me that she had two marriage services," he replied. "Apparently my father was not happy with the Protestant, English one and said he could not feel married without a Latin mass."
"I had no idea your father was Catholic," she said. "He kept that very much to himself."
"I believe his religion and hers have caused a lot of bitterness between them in the past. He would not have wanted to make a display of it, for her sake, and for ours."
Susannah found it very strange, being the one to make the domestic decisions while Joshua's mother was still here, still the one the servants automatically wanted to go to. She did not seem to have the energy to even give them their instructions for the day.
"You must ask my son's wife," Susannah overheard her telling one of the servants. "She is the Countess now."
She said it with a catch in her voice that brought tears to her eyes. Susannah invited the older female servants to sit with them after the funeral. She knew it was what Lady Summerville would have done, what she did when Lady Rachel died, and she was surprised to find that their presence caused her no discomfort. Perhaps she was becoming a Summerville after all.
***
Losing the Earl was a dreadful time for the whole family, but Bethany, now the Dowager Countess of Summerville, was causing them all a lot of concern. She refused to go out, she refused to eat, she just sat watching the flames for hours on end.
Once the body had been removed, and the bedchamber cleaned, she insisted on returning to her own bed, despite the pleas of both her sons.
"Mother, take another chamber," Joshua begged her. "It will not be good for you to go back there."
"It is our place," she insisted, "our private place. I can feel him there."
"It is not good for you," Alex repeated.
"He is there," she said. "I know he is there; I can feel him in the night, lying beside me. I can feel his arms around me, I can feel his lips on mine. What will happen if I do not sleep with him? He will think I do not want him and he will leave."
While this sort of talk was worrying, somehow Estelle could imagine that he would be there, waiting for her.
"I wish she would move to another chamber," Joshua said, and not for the first time. "It is affecting her mind, being in there. She really believes my father is there, waiting for her each night, just as he was when he lived."
"Perhaps he is," Susannah commented thoughtfully.
"What?"
"Think about it, Joshua," she said. "We none of us know if the spirit lives on, not for certain, and if it does, where else would his be but here with his wife? They were inseparable in life; if his spirit does live on, it is not about to go anywhere without her."
Only a month after the funeral, Charlotte gave birth to a son who was named Richard, for his grandfather. Susannah was not happy about that; she wanted that name for her own baby, should it prove to be a son. Now she would have to choose another.
It was only a few weeks after the funeral that Susannah was forced to retreat to her bedchamber with the midwife. The pains had begun at dawn and they seemed to be much worse than they had been with her daughter, Joanna.
It was too early; she had no time to send for her mother and when she did, the message came back from her father that Lady Kennington could not come, that she was ill. That only gave Susannah something more to worry about. Elizabeth was rarely ill.
Lady Summerville sat beside her, despite her own grief, and despite wanting v
ery much to simply stay in her chamber where she now spent most of her time.
Joshua's mother had taken to talking about her husband as though he were still alive, and that was also of great concern.
"Richard will understand," she said. "He will know you need me. He will wait for me."
Susannah made no reply. She felt embarrassed and had no idea what to say, but her present state was excuse enough to ignore her.
The pains became so severe that she lost consciousness for a little while and when she woke Her Ladyship was whispering through the half open door to her son, the midwife was shaking her head worriedly.
Susannah had no idea how long she was unconscious, but the midwife's expression frightened her. She put her hand down and ran it over her stomach; it was flat. There was no sound of a baby, and through blurred vision she saw Joshua entering the room and coming to sit on the bed beside her, taking her hand and kissing her cheek. His mother had gone.
He said nothing until the midwife finished her ministrations and left them alone, then he climbed onto the bed beside her and took her into his arms.
"I am so sorry, my love," he whispered tenderly. "The child did not survive. He was dead before he drew breath."
She could only stare at him, shocked. At last she found her voice.
"He? It was a son?"
"Yes. We will have him baptised, give him a name. I thought he could share a place in the tomb with my father, if you are in agreement."
Irrationally she felt it was because Charlotte had stolen the name she wanted. She did not voice the illogical notion; she knew full well it was not a sane thought.
"Name him what you want," she said miserably. "What does it matter?"
***
As the summer approached, Lady Summerville was still a worry. She would not eat with the rest of the family, insisting on staying in her chamber, where the servants took her meals and brought them out again. She was growing paler and thinner by the day and nobody quite knew what to do for the best.
Susannah and Joshua were gradually learning to live with the loss of their baby son and they were anxious to try for another. They still shared a tender love, but there had been no sign of a conception as yet. Susannah felt she needed a son; Joshua needed a son to inherit. She would never tell anyone in this eccentric family, and she did not think that any one of them would understand, but she did not want the title to eventually pass to the child of Charlotte. Lord Summerville may have said she was fathered by his cousin, but she was still a bastard, her mother was still a servant. It just did not seem right to her.
She wanted to visit her mother; she needed her wise words on this situation, needed her playful smile and common sense. She also needed to assure herself that she had recovered from her recent illness. She had no idea what had been wrong with her; her father did not say, but he did say she was rapidly recovering.
She did not see as much of Joshua since his father died, as the estate was now his to care for and he intended to care for it as well as it always had been. As he turned to go, Susannah reached up to take his hand
"You will hurry back, please," she said softly, kissing his fingers. "We have a lot of love to make."
He smiled, kissed her hungrily, then left. The next time she saw him, four male servants were carrying him home on a makeshift stretcher.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Estelle could hardly bear the heavy and mournful atmosphere in Summerville Hall. Her father had gone and now Joshua’s baby son; she needed something happy to lift her mood. She rode to Summerville House, which used to be Winterton House, in the hope that Alex might have some cheer for her. He never cared so much about things, never let events bother him, never thought it was ever worth brooding on what could not be changed.
She had not seen the house since it had been renovated and it certainly looked a lot better, but approaching it she half expected Simon to open the door, to welcome her with that radiant smile, so much like their father's.
"Estelle," Charlotte greeted her with a warm smile. "Have you come to see the baby?"
"Yes," she lied, "and Alex if he is here."
"Come in," she said, stepping back. "Alex will be so pleased to see you."
He greeted her as he always had and she could almost believe none of the tragedies of the past few months had ever happened.
"Estelle," he welcomed her with a fond embrace. "How lovely to see you. How is Mother? Joshua tells me she insists on still using the same bedchamber. He is very concerned about her."
"We all are," she said. "She believes our father is there, in that chamber, waiting for her each night."
"Oh, no," he said worriedly.
"Who knows? Perhaps he is."
"What on earth are you talking about?" Alex demanded.
"She told me once that she and my father separated for a long time, that they never expected to be together again. When they were, they made a vow to each other never to be apart again. Who knows but that he might have taken that vow with him into another life?"
Alex exchanged a glance with his wife, then narrowed his eyes at his sister.
"It does not sound like a very healthy way to get over him," he said.
"I do not think she wants to get over him. She just wants to be with him and if she can take comfort from the belief that his ghost survives behind that locked door, who are we to deprive her of that comfort?"
"You may be right," he agreed at last. "Perhaps I will talk to Joshua about it, see if he agrees. When you think about it, the idea of one of them without the other is just so unreal I cannot see her surviving for long without him."
“That is a sobering thought.”
“It is the end of an era, nothing to be done about it.”
"I knew you would say something like that." She turned to Charlotte. "You were always a good friend," she said. "I wish we could return to that time, when we were children, when nothing mattered but enjoying ourselves. When we had no knowledge of my father's beautiful mistress, nor of his illegitimate son."
"I do not think I would want that," she answered. "I have the best of the bargain now. I have a wonderful husband and a wonderful baby son. I am sorry for Joshua and his wife, but I am glad it was not me."
“Poor Susannah. She so wanted a son.”
“She wants to be sure it is her son who inherits the title, not mine.”
“No, Charlotte.”
"Do not try to soothe me," she said. "She does not think I am a suitable wife for the son of an earl. She has great difficulty in being civil to me, in treating me as an equal. I do not blame her; it is not how she was raised. Do not expect us to ever be close sisters."
When a messenger came from the main house from Susannah, Estelle was watching from the window. She recognised the manservant who brought it, so she knew where it had come from, and she wondered why Susannah did not come herself. Perhaps it was from her mother.
She went downstairs to find Alex in his wife's arms, a worried frown across his handsome features, and she felt heavy with dread. She was sure her mother was dead, gone to be with her one love.
Charlotte turned to her as she reached the bottom stair.
"It is Joshua," she said mournfully. "He was found near the tenants' cottages. They have brought him home but he has not regained consciousness."
She could only stare at her; it was so unreal. Joshua? Her beloved older brother to whom she had always been close.
"What happened?" She asked.
"It seems his horse threw him. He was likely spooked by something. The horse came home without him and a search was started straight away, but he must have been instantly knocked out." Charlotte stopped talking for a moment and held on tighter to Alex. "I am so sorry, Estelle. You had best go with Alex to the house."
***
Alex and his sister went straight to the east wing when they arrived. They had taken Joshua to a spare chamber and his mother was inside with him, but there was no sign of Susannah. Alex stayed with him and his
mother while Estelle went to find his wife.
The door was unlocked and she went inside. She was lying on her bed sobbing quietly and Estelle watched her for a moment or two, not sure whether to interrupt.
"Susannah," she called softly, "it is Estelle. May I come in? If you would rather be alone, please say so."
She stopped sobbing and sat up, then she nodded.
"I thought you might like some company," Estelle told her as she sat on the bed and took her hand.
Susannah did not speak, just held on to her hand until she climbed onto the bed beside her and took her in her arms.
"I love him, you know," she said at last. "Even though the marriage was so formal, I do love him so much."
"He loves you too; never lose sight of that."
"We argued though," she said and Estelle wanted to tell her to hush. She did not think it right that she tell her what they argued about. Her father would never approve of that. "We argued about Charlotte."
Now Estelle’s curiosity overcame her father's teaching.
"Charlotte? Why?"
"I did not think she should be marrying into this family," she replied in a sheepish tone as though confessing. "We always ended up quarrelling about it. She is the bastard daughter of a servant, and now her son may one day be the Earl of Summerville if I cannot give my husband a healthy son. What if he does not recover?"
She had a point that had not occurred to Estelle. Not about Charlotte; whatever her roots she was her brother's wife. She could not accept that her brother might not recover, but if he did not, then Alex had a son, a son called Richard. It seemed that things had come full circle.
"You must not think like that," she assured Susannah. "That is in God's hands."
"Perhaps God is angry with me. I could not accept that Charlotte was as good as me, as good as you or my husband. Joshua would get so angry with me about it and now it seems that God agrees with him."
What could she say to that?
HOLY POISON: Boxed Set: The Complete Series 1-6 Page 102
