“If ever there is anything I can do for you,” she had said, “You have only to name it. Nothing will be too much trouble. Nothing in the world.”
Rupert Ingleby was very displeased at the new addition to the household. He only accepted the arrangement when it became clear that Martina had inherited a comfortable sum of money and insisted on paying her own way.
Even then Harriet knew that he was always watching the money her friend spent, as if it came from his pocket rather than hers.
When she was old enough to leave school to be a debutante, she recognised that he resented so much money being spent on the ball which her mother gave when she ‘came out’, even though Martina was sharing the expense, as it was her debut too.
“He puts up with it because he is hoping I will get married and be off his hands,” she confided to Martina.
“And you probably will,” Martina said warmly. “You are the prettiest of us all.”
The coming out ball was a triumph for both the two young ladies. Gentlemen clamoured to dance with Harriet. Martina also had her success, quieter than Harriet’s, but very real.
She was attractive but without Harriet’s delicate prettiness. What drew men to her was not her looks but an indefinable ‘something’ in her nature and in the quality of her mind. She was not quite like other girls, although few people could have said why.
Sir Hugh Faversham had been at her feet almost from the first moment, but she did not boast about it, not wishing to make fun of a good man, as she was indeed very fond of him, even if she could not fall in love with him.
She pitied Harriet with all her heart and as she had told Sir Hugh, remained with her for her sake, although she could have returned home to her own little house. She would have enjoyed the independence but would not abandon her friend.
Three weeks after the ball Harriet received her first proposal of marriage. He was a boring man who had insisted on dancing with her on several occasions.
She had danced with him only because she was sorry for him. Although wealthy, he always seemed alone. At parties she had noticed that people fled from him because he was such a bore.
Amused, she told her mother about his proposal and her instant refusal.
Then to her surprise her stepfather intervened,
“Now you take my advice and get married as soon as you can. Men want their wives to be young and unspoilt. If you want to be happy the sooner you are walking up the aisle the better.”
He had been furious when she had turned down this proposal and several others. Increasingly she was sure that he would seize any chance to be rid of her.
But she wanted to marry a man that she loved and who loved her. And so she found the courage to stand out against her stepfather, no matter how unpleasant he made himself.
But these struggles always upset her for Harriet’s nature was gentle. Martina, who was far more combative, would have managed better.
Now as the sun rose and her maid arrived with hot water, ready for her to start the day, Harriet thought again about the ball last night, and wondered wearily how long she would be condemned to share a house with this unpleasant man.
‘If only my true love would appear,’ she dreamt. ‘Then I could marry him and escape. But until he does, I shall just have to put up with it.’
There was no sign of Martina in the breakfast room, but Harriet knew that she sometimes avoided eating with Ingleby.
He was there now, looking as though he was suffering from a hangover. He glanced up at she appeared.
“Your mother is feeling poorly,” he told her.
“Then I will go to her at once.”
Harriet sped upstairs and went quietly into her mother’s room. Mrs. Ingleby was lying in bed, looking pale. Harriet, sitting down near the bed, took her hand.
“You must not be ill,” she urged. “The house is empty and miserable when you are not downstairs. We miss you more than I can say.”
“That is very kind, darling, but I mean to stay in bed for a while. Then your stepfather is going to take me to the sea. He wants us to go to Brighton where he says there is a very good hotel and the sea air will, I am sure, make me feel better than I feel at the moment.”
“I cannot bear you to be ill, Mama.”
Kissing her mother she left her to rest and returned to the breakfast room.
“I think Mama is feeling better,” she announced. “But perhaps she ought to go to the sea as the doctor has suggested.”
“It was I who suggested that idea,” her stepfather remarked sharply, “and now I have something to say to you.”
*
Martina had also spent the first part of the day musing over the events of the night before.
As she had predicted, they had been forced to accompany Rupert Ingleby home at the end of the evening.
Mr. Muncaster was also in the carriage, which led to them being very squashed, especially Harriet, who was so unfortunate as to have to sit beside him.
When they reached home Muncaster had come in, and Ingleby had pressed Harriet to stay downstairs and entertain him, but she had refused and fled upstairs.
It had taken Martina a long time to calm her down. She had not left Harriet’s room until she was safely asleep.
She had slipped downstairs early that morning and taken a cup of coffee in the breakfast room, making sure to leave quickly before her host arrived. It might not be a very polite action to take, but she could not help herself.
Rupert Ingleby drinking too much at the ball the night before was one thing. Rupert Ingleby suffering the ill effects the next morning was too much to be endured. He could suffer his hangover without her she decided.
Now Martina was sitting at an elegant little desk in her room, writing a letter. With her spectacles on her nose she looked very studious and severe. Just like a blue-stocking, in fact. Sir Hugh would not have approved!
Suddenly there was the sound of footsteps in the hall outside and the next moment Harriet burst into the room.
Martina looked up in alarm as her friend was clearly very upset. Harriet slammed the door and threw herself hysterically onto the sofa.
“You will hardly believe what has happened,” she cried. “I can hardly believe it myself, yet it is true.”
She spoke so violently that Martina removed her spectacles, rose from the writing-desk and sat down beside her on the sofa.
“Now what has upset you, darling?” she asked her friend. “You know we both agreed it was a mistake to pay too much attention to your stepfather. I think he only means half of the nasty things he says.”
“I have every good reason to be upset,” Harriet answered passionately. “In fact, I can hardly find the breath to tell you what he has now suggested. I think he must be mad. I hate him! I hate him!”
Moving even closer to Harriet, Martina said,
“Come along, darling, tell me all about it. I expect we can find an answer to anything he suggests. We have always prided ourselves that our two brains are considerably better than anyone else’s, especially your stepfather’s.”
There was silence.
Then Harriet said in a voice which did not sound like her own,
“He has discovered a really clever way to be rid of me.”
“To be – ?”
“The only thing I can do is to run away or kill myself!”
Martina stared at her. Then she said,
“Oh, come along, Harriet, you are exaggerating what your stepfather has said. Anyway as we have often agreed, his ‘bark is worse than his bite’.”
“If we thought that, we were wrong,” Harriet replied. “He has found a way of ridding himself of me which is so terrifying I can hardly bear to tell you what it is.”
Suddenly she burst out,
“Oh, Martina, you must help me. Save me I beg you.”
“But save you from what?” Martina questioned.
“He has found a husband for me – a horrible, vile, repulsive creature. I would rather die than
marry him.”
“But who is this man?”
“You saw him last night. Brendan Muncaster!”
“That revolting – him?” Martina exclaimed in alarm. “Surely not?”
“He told my stepfather last night that he wanted to marry me.”
“And even Mr. Ingleby would wish to be connected with such a man? Surely not.”
“He wouldn’t have to see him. Mr. Muncaster’s factories are in the North. He would take me back there and I would have to live in the wilds of Yorkshire and never see London again.”
“And he fell in love with you last night?”
“Love has nothing to do with it,” Harriet responded bitterly. “He wants to marry a lady so that he can impress his friends. He knows he will never be accepted as a gentleman in London despite all his money.
“Mr. Ingleby claims that it’s a good match because he is so rich, but I would be cut off from everything I have always known, married to a creature who disgusts me!”
“I cannot believe that your stepfather could be so cruel. I know he is an unpleasant man but – ”
“He will do anything to be rid of me, so that I cost him no more money.”
“Surely you only have to refuse?” Martina said. “No one can make you marry a man you have only met once, whom you obviously dislike.”
“Of course I don’t wish to marry him,” Harriet replied. “I don’t want him to touch me and certainly not to kiss me. And the idea of having his children makes me feel sick. Oh, Martina, what can I do?”
“You must refuse,” Martina told her friend.
“But Step-Papa has already said yes,” Harriet exclaimed. “Somehow he will force me, perhaps when I am unconscious, up the aisle and this man will take me away with him.”
She was half out of her mind with despair.
Martina stretched out her hand.
“Now listen, my dear,” she said. “We have to find a way of refusing this man. Your mother – ”
“She cannot save me. She is too frail and ill. How can she contend with him?”
“Yes, of course, that could be disastrous when she is so weak,” Martina agreed.
“It’s no use,” Harriet wept, “I have no hope.”
“Now that I will not believe,” Martina said robustly. “There is always something that can be done if one is strong-minded.”
“But I am not strong-minded,” Harriet groaned in despair.
“However I am,” Martina said firmly. “And I will not allow this marriage to happen.”
“Oh, Martina, how strong and brave you sound! Do you really think you can do something?”
“I am quite certain of it. You can rely on me absolutely. You will not have to marry this man and together we will defeat your stepfather.”
“How?” asked Harriet, awed by her friend’s confidence.
“I am thinking of a great idea.”
“Oh, yes. What great idea?”
“I don’t know, I have not thought of it yet. But when I have, it will be the greatest idea to save you that anybody could possibly imagine.”
“Will you please think of it soon?” Harriet urged anxiously.
“Not if you keep interrupting my thoughts.”
“I am sorry.”
There was a silence.
Then Martina said slowly,
“Yes, I have thought up an idea. I know exactly the way to deal with this problem. It may sound a rather strange notion to you, but it will succeed because it is so unexpected that nobody will believe it.
“What I have in mind is something that you may not like, but at least it is better than being forced into this terrible marriage.”
Harriet drew in her breath,
“I will kill myself rather than let that happen.”
“Then listen,” Martina said. “This is what we have to do – ”
*
Later that day Martina slipped out to the stables and ordered a pony harnessed to the dogcart so that she could drive herself cross country.
As she drove away she was aware of Ingleby watching her from behind the lace curtains.
Even without seeing his face she knew it would bear an expression of ill-will. There was no love lost between them. He knew she was Harriet’s friend and would be campaigning against his plan.
‘But you don’t know exactly what I am going to do to thwart you,’ she thought angrily.
In an hour she had crossed the countryside to Faversham Park and entered the great gate that led to an elegant avenue of poplars.
The beautiful mansion at the end of the drive looked like an ancient family seat, but Sir Hugh’s grandfather had been the first of their family to own it. It was the fruits of trade, which Martina found as amusing as Sir Hugh.
As she drove up a groom came hurrying out to take the pony’s head. Already the front door was being pulled open by an impressive-looking butler.
“Good morning, Miss Lawson,” he greeted her. “Sir Hugh did not inform me that he was expecting you.”
“Sir Hugh does not know I am coming to see him,” Martina answered. “Is he in residence?”
“As it happens,” the butler said, “he came in a quarter-of-an-hour ago. You will find him in the smoking room. Shall I announce you?”
“Thank you, but I will find my own way,” she said, hurrying down the passage, almost running, until she reached the smoking room.
She opened the door and stood for a moment looking at the figure seated at the desk, busy writing letters.
How good and kind he was, she thought. Such a safe, reliable friend. Who else could she have turned to in such an emergency?
Suddenly Sir Hugh looked up. Immediately he gave an exclamation of joy and jumped to his feet.
“Martina!” he exclaimed. “How lovely to see you. I did not know that you were coming here today.”
“I didn’t know myself until an hour ago,” Martina answered. “But I need help, my dear friend, and there is nobody I can trust as I trust you.”
He took the hand which she held out to him and pressed his lips against it.
“You know that there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” he began. “You have only to command me, so do come and sit down on the sofa and tell me what is worrying you. But first, shall I send for some refreshments?”
“No, thank you. I have a great deal to tell you and I cannot think about anything else until I have done so. I need help desperately and you are the only one I could turn to.”
She spoke so seriously that Sir Hugh looked at her in surprise.
Then he asked,
“What has happened? Tell me quickly. I hate you to be worried or upset.”
“I am very frightened.”
Sir Hugh looked at her in astonishment.
“What is frightening you?” he asked. “If it is a man I will knock his head off, if that is what you would want me to do.”
“I want you to do much more than that.”
Martina paused for a moment before she continued,
“Allow me to start at the beginning and then you will understand how difficult this situation has become.”
She moved a little nearer to him as she spoke and slipped her hand into his.
His fingers tightened.
Slowly Martina started her story,
“Do you remember that appalling creature we met at the ball last night?”
“You mean the noisy character with the red whiskers and even redder face that Rupert Ingleby introduced?”
“Yes. None of us could imagine what he was thinking about to be trying to introduce such a monster into polite Society.
“But now everything is clear. The vulgarian is very rich and Mr. Ingleby is trying to force Harriet to marry him.”
“Good grief! You cannot be serious!”
“I only wish I was not. But Harriet tells me everything and this morning she described Mr. Ingleby’s disgraceful plans. Mr. Muncaster disgusts her, but all her stepfather can think about is being rid of her
.
“I have promised to help her and I have come to you to beg you, if necessary on my knees,” Martina cried, “to help her too.”
Sir Hugh looked surprised but he did not interrupt as Martina resumed,
“She is already threatening to take her own life if I cannot save her.”
“Are you really telling me the truth?” he asked. “Surely she has relatives and friends to prevent this happening.”
“She has no one except me, as her mother is very ill. That is why I have come to you.”
“But what can I do?” Sir Hugh wanted to know. “How can I prevent this marriage from taking place? I have no authority in the matter.”
After an awkward moment Martina said,
“I have thought of an idea, but I am afraid to tell you what it is.”
“Afraid?” Sir Hugh exclaimed. “That does not sound like you.”
“Nevertheless it’s true,” Martina replied. “I cannot think of any other way that I can save Harriet from a fate worse than death.”
“I understand that part,” Sir Hugh said, “so tell me what it is.”
Martina drew in her breath before saying,
“You may feel that I am asking too much ? ”
“My dear girl, you are beginning to scare me. What can possibly be so terrible that you cannot tell me?”
“It is so difficult to suggest such an incredible idea – ”
“Well, I am now expecting the worst and I can only hope it is not as bad as I fear.”
“I think it may seem even worse,” Martina admitted. “But it is the only way we can save Harriet.”
“Very well. What is it?”
There was a moment’s pause before Martina said in a low voice,
“I want you to marry Harriet.”
CHAPTER THREE
“What?” he screamed in thunderstruck accents. “Martina have you taken leave of your senses?”
“I warned you it was difficult – ”
“Difficult! My dear girl, I think you must have gone completely mad.”
“If you would only – ”
“I know I said I would do anything for you, but that most emphatically does not include marrying another woman. What on earth would we say to each other? Or are you proposing to come and live with us as well? Shall the three of us enjoy a cosy little ménage a trois by the fireside in the evening?”
Journey to Happiness Page 3
