Sunshine Over Bluebell Castle

by Sarah Bennett

  Helena inclined her head like a queen bestowing her favour on a minion. ‘I’d be delighted, Connie, simply delighted. Once we know what the girls are wearing, we can coordinate accordingly.’

  ‘Well, I’m wearing green,’ Iggy declared, unable to resist the temptation to turn on the spot, sending the skirt of her gown twirling. She simply adored the dress and she would not say otherwise as much as she might enjoy throwing something back in her mother’s face.

  It suddenly occurred to her that the most important person wasn’t present. ‘Umm, unless Lucie doesn’t want me to, of course.’

  ‘Doesn’t want you to what?’ Lucie appeared from the opposite dressing room, clutching the front of a strapless ivory dress studded with twinkling aurora borealis crystals to her chest, the boutique manager in her wake, still trying to fasten the hooks of the bodice together. The bride-to-be stopped dead. ‘Oh my goodness, look at you!’

  ‘Look at you!’ Iggy echoed, gaze roaming over the acres of net skirts flowing from the bottom of the fitted, crystal-encrusted bodice. ‘I love that dress!’

  Lucie cast a dubious stare down the gaping front of her gown. ‘Do you think so? I’m not exactly filling it out in all the right places.’

  Helena was on her feet in an instant. ‘Lift your arms out of the way, dear, and let Lorraine finish fastening it up.’ With efficient hands, she replaced Lucie’s hold on the dress, tugging it here, twisting it a little there whilst the boutique owner fiddled with the tiny hooks at the back. ‘There, that’s a lot better.’ Helena stepped back, then forwards again to pinch a bit of excess material in the bodice tight. ‘A couple of tucks on either side, and it will fit you just fine.’ She looked past Lucie to the boutique owner. ‘Can we do the adjustments without ruining the line of the bodice?’

  Lorraine moved to Lucie’s other side, taking her own pinch of material. ‘If we put them under the arms, they wouldn’t show,’ she mused.

  Lucie caught Iggy’s gaze and rolled her eyes. Returning a sympathetic smile, Iggy said. ‘It’s your job to stand still and get talked about, you might as well get used to it!’

  Lucie giggled, then turned her attention towards Constance. ‘What do you think, Mum?’

  Constance studied her daughter for a long minute, before looking at the two women still tugging and fussing at the top of her dress. ‘You look stunning, darling, but don’t forget you have to wear it all day. It doesn’t matter what I think, or what anyone else thinks, for that matter.’ She cast a significant glance at Helena who’d quietened to listen to her, much to Iggy’s amazement. ‘If you feel anything less than a hundred per cent confident in it, then I think you should try something else.’

  Lucie glanced down. ‘I do feel a little bit exposed,’ she admitted. ‘But I love all the sparkle, and-’ she gathered handfuls of the tulle net skirt ‘-I absolutely love this.’

  ‘Hold on a moment, I might have the answer.’ Lorraine disappeared down the stairs leading to the main showroom floor below, heels clacking on the wooden treads.

  While the manager was away, Iggy took the opportunity to return to her dressing room and remove her dress. Much as she loved it, she didn’t want to risk spoiling it. Returning a few minutes later in her jeans and T-shirt, she took a seat beside Constance. ‘Where’s Mother?’

  ‘Helping Lucie with her hooks.’ She nodded towards the closed curtains on the other dressing room, face pensive.

  ‘Are you okay?’

  Blinking away the distant look in her eyes, Constance smiled. ‘What? Oh, yes, I’m fine, just hoping I didn’t put my foot in it.’

  ‘About Lucie’s dress?’ When Constance nodded, Iggy continued. ‘You know Lucie better than anyone and you could obviously tell that although we were all raving about it, there was something not quite right.’ She patted Constance’s hand. ‘Mother’s got a hide thicker than a rhino’s so don’t worry about offending her.’

  Constance tried and failed to give her a disapproving look, and Iggy wondered if perhaps she wasn’t falling for Helena’s flannel as much as it might seem. Perhaps Lancelot had confided in her about what lay at the heart of his dislike for Helena, Iggy thought as she settled back on the bench. ‘It will take as long as it takes. We’ve got nothing else to do all day other than find Lucie the dress that’s perfect for her-even if it means trying on everything in the shop.’

  Lorraine’s heels clacked on the stairs once more and she appeared with a huge confection of beads and gauzy net hooked over both arms. ‘Sorry I took so long but it wasn’t hanging where I thought it was.’ Reaching up, she hooked the hanger of the dress on a high hook beside Lucie’s dressing room. She fiddled and fussed with it before at last stepping back and giving Iggy a good look at it.

  The crystal-encrusted bodice was indeed similar to the dress Lucie had tried on, and it had the same kind of voluminous skirt, though this one had a sheer layer of organza covering the tulle, with an inch-wide band of crystals hemming the base of it. What made it stand out from the other dress was that rather than being strapless, this one had an upper panel of sheer organza connected to the bodice and full sleeves of the same material. Iggy didn’t think she’d seen anything more beautiful in all her life.

  ‘Are you ready for me in there?’ Lorraine asked before peeking inside the curtain. ‘Don’t worry about all those hooks, I’ll sort it out later. Now, shall we swap places?’

  Iggy was relieved when Helena took the hint and retreated from the dressing room and came to sit beside her. Constance leaned across to the table beside her and handed them both a glass of champagne. They sipped in nervous silence as whispers and rustles of material came from behind the curtain. It seemed to be taking an awful long time, which Iggy decided was either a really good sign, or a really bad one.

  ‘Umm, Mrs Kennington, can we borrow you for a minute?’ Lorraine called. Iggy held out her hand to take Constance’s glass as she rose and hurried over to the dressing room.

  More whispers, followed by ‘Oh, darling, don’t cry.’ Iggy’s heart sank until she heard a giggle from Lucie.

  The curtain swept back and Iggy suddenly understood why not only Lucie, but her mum and Lorraine all had tears in their eyes. Looking like something out of a fairy tale, Lucie walked out of the dressing room and turned in a slow circle before them. Choked by the beautiful picture she made, Iggy couldn’t do anything other than bite her lip and smile enthusiastically when Lucie’s eyes met hers.

  ‘It’s the one, isn’t it?’ Lucie glanced around at them all.

  ‘When it makes everyone cry, I know I’ve found a winner,’ Lorraine agreed, then laughed. ‘Goodness, look at the state of us all.’ Bustling over to the banquette, the manager reached for a box of tissues on one of the side tables and handed it around to everyone.

  Still clutching two glasses, Iggy gave her a helpless look which Constance caught. She hurried over with a smile. ‘Let me take that back from you.’ Constance took a sip then dabbed at her eyes once more with her tissue. ‘Goodness me, what a day.’

  ‘Someone help me out of this so I can have a drink, for goodness sake!’ Lucie’s plaintive cry set them all laughing and Lorraine ushered her back into the dressing room.

  *

  ‘It’s all going very well, isn’t it?’ Lucie nudged the stack of boxes beside her which contained shoes, a sparkling tiara and a cloud-like veil. The dress itself required a couple of minor alterations and would be ready for collection in a couple of weeks. Constance and Helena were downstairs browsing through the racks of mother-of-the-bridge outfits Lorraine also stocked, giving the two of them a chance to sit and relax after the excitement of the morning.

  Iggy glanced down at the box beside her containing her green dress and the matching bolero carefully folded into acid-free tissue paper and couldn’t resist smiling. ‘It’s proving to be a much better day than I thought it was going to be when I woke up this morning, that’s for sure.’

  Lucie wrinkled her nose. ‘We saw the papers. I wasn’t sure if I s
hould say anything, but I just wanted to make sure everything is all right with you and Will.’

  ‘I think so.’ When Lucie raised an eyebrow, she shrugged. ‘He had a more than plausible explanation for the photo so it sounds like it’s just another lot of baseless muck-raking like that stupid Where’s Willy article.’

  ‘But …?’

  Iggy flashed a sidelong glance at her friend, wishing like hell they hadn’t made the sensible decision to switch to Buck’s Fizz which was a good three-quarters orange juice. ‘He told me he loves me.’

  Lucie laughed. ‘Not the best of timing!’

  ‘Indeed,’ Iggy agreed, wryly, before the weight of Will’s words settled heavily upon her once more. ‘I kind of wish he hadn’t said it at all, though.’

  ‘Oh, dear.’ Lucie winced. ‘You don’t feel the same way?’

  Iggy sighed. ‘I think I do.’ And that was the crux of the problem.

  She’d been quite happy to ignore that part of her that had started to get over-excited about how well things were going between the two of them. The part that had caught her off guard once or twice with daydreams about her own wedding. Will was sexy and funny, and oh so easy to be with, and she’d been happy with that, flights of romantic fancy be damned.

  A summer of fun, that’s what they’d agreed to, but then he’d gone and broken the rules. The worst part was, she didn’t know why. Had he said it just to placate her? To try and convince her there’d been nothing going on between him and Phillipa Cornwall? Not that it was Iggy’s business who he’d been involved with before they’d met, but when she’d first seen the headline and those photos, there was no denying the idea he might mess around with a married woman had unsettled her.

  There was also still that little seed of doubt that perhaps there was some truth to the scandal and he’d only come to Derbyshire in the first place in order to escape scrutiny. ‘I’m worried he’s using the project at the castle as an excuse to hide out,’ she admitted to Lucie.

  Her friend huffed out a breath. ‘I’m not exactly one to judge him for that, now, am I?’

  ‘Sorry.’ It was Iggy’s turn to wince. It had completely slipped her mind that Lucie had applied for the conservator’s position at the castle precisely because she’d been trying to run away from a scandal at her previous employer. Things had been resolved, eventually, and Lucie’s name had been cleared, but it had nearly had serious implications for the discovery of the lost Viggliorento painting.

  Lucie waved her off. ‘I’m only teasing.’ Half-turning on the bench, she propped her elbow on the back of the seat, rested her temple against her fist and stared at Iggy. ‘Do you honestly think that Will is the kind of guy who’d screw up somebody else’s marriage?’

  It certainly didn’t sound like the man Iggy had come to know these past weeks, but who could tell anything about anyone in such a short space of time. ‘No.’ Not liking the doubt she could hear in her own voice, she repeated herself in a firmer tone. ‘No. Will’s not like that.’

  ‘I agree.’ Lucie reached for her with her free hand. ‘And what does it matter what brought him to Bluebell Castle in the first place, only that he’s here now and he makes you happy.’

  ‘You’re right. I know you’re right; I’m just feeling a bit off balance.’

  Lucie grinned. ‘It’s not every day that a super-hot man tells you he’s in love with you, you’re allowed to have a little wobble.’

  *

  By the time they returned to the castle, they were all laden down with boxes and bags. Both Constance and Helena had found outfits they liked, and after a trip to a nearby department store they’d found shoes, fascinators and handbags to match. The excited barking of the dogs notified the men of the castle to their arrival, and Tristan and Arthur hurried over to relieve them of their burdens. A laughing Lucie had refused to surrender her boxes to Arthur, even after he’d promised not to peek inside. With an imperious finger, she’d sent him back to his office and with Tristan’s help, they’d secured all Lucie’s accessories in the wardrobe in her mother’s bedroom.

  Leaving Constance and Lucie to put their things away, Iggy sent Tristan to stow her purchases in her room and escorted her mother around the corner. She took charge of Helena’s bags whilst she opened her bedroom door then they paused on the threshold facing each other. ‘Thank you for finding my dress for me.’

  Helena smiled. ‘It was the least I could do.’ She reached out and for a moment Iggy thought she was going to brush her cheek, but instead Helena’s fingers tugged at a lock of her hair. ‘Next we’ll have to do something about your hair,’ she said, her lips pursing in disapproval. ‘It’s in shocking condition, and probably full of split ends. And you’ll need to stop messing around in the garden before the wedding, or your nails will never recover in time.’

  Twitching her hair free, Iggy folded her arms across her chest knowing it was a defensive gesture, but damn it, she was tired of the constant barrage of criticism. ‘My hair’s fine as it is, and I’m not messing about, I’m doing my best to contribute to this family’s future which is more than can be said of you when you were in my position.’

  ‘But I wasn’t in your position, was I, darling?’ Helena’s voice was acid now. ‘I was the Lady of the house. That’s never been your job, and it definitely won’t be once Arthur and Lucie are married. Ludworth is never going to be yours, and it’s time to stop pretending otherwise.’

  The truth of it struck Iggy like a slap in the face and she reared back a step. Quick as a flash, Helena followed her, her voice lowering to a concerned hush. ‘Let me smarten your appearance, darling. Who knows, you might even attract the attention of one of your brother’s friends at the wedding.’

  Shaking with a combination of hurt and fury, Iggy clenched her fists. ‘The idea I’d change myself just to catch a man is disgusting. I’m not like you, all surface and no substance! I’ll have you know that Will likes me just the way I am!’

  She knew she’d made an error the moment Helena’s brows twitched up in astonishment. ‘Will? You and Will Talbot?’ Her tone made it clear such a thing had never occurred to her.

  ‘Yes, me and Will Talbot. We’ve been seeing each other for several weeks.’

  Helena’s lip curled into nothing so friendly as a smile. ‘Well, lucky you. I suppose a man like that would need some amusement whilst he’s away from home.’ She arched a brow once more. ‘Oh dear, you didn’t think it was more than that, did you, darling? Haven’t you seen today’s papers?’

  ‘He’s not like that!’ Iggy snapped. ‘You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. God, I wish Arthur and Lucie could see this side of you, they’d have you out of this house in a minute.’

  ‘You never were good at handling the truth, Igraine,’ Helena said before turning back towards her bedroom. ‘I think I’ll have a lie down before dinner.’ Pausing at the threshold, she glanced back over her shoulder. ‘Don’t let your jealousy get the better of you. It’s not Arthur’s fault he inherited the title over you, any more than it’s his fault that you aren’t as close to me as he is.’

  Jealousy? She honestly thought Iggy was jealous of her so-called relationship with Arthur? The woman had a bloody nerve. Before she could respond, she heard footsteps behind her, and Iggy turned to find Will standing a few feet from her, deep lines furrowed across his forehead.

  He looked exhausted, and all she wanted to do was go to him, to comfort him and offer whatever support he would take from her.

  ‘Well, here he is, the inconstant gardener.’ Helena let out a titter. ‘I always knew the Cornwalls were too good to be true. Nobody’s marriage can be that happy.’

  Will spun on his heel and walked off, but not before Iggy had caught the look of hurt on his face. Furious, she rounded on her mother. ‘What on earth did you go and say that for? I already told you that nothing happened between him and Phillipa.’

  Helena’s brows rose. ‘Oh, come on, darling, don’t tell me you’re that naïve.’ When
Iggy didn’t answer, she shook her head and sighed. ‘Apparently you are. Well, I just hope you’re right, but remember that old adage. With a man as good looking as that, there’s very rarely smoke without fire.’

  Iggy stepped back because if she didn’t put some space between them, she feared she might slap the knowing smile right off her mother’s face. ‘Not another word, Mother, or I won’t wait for Arthur to see you for what you really are, I’ll throw you out of the house myself.’

  Chapter 17

  Humiliation and anger surging through his veins, Will stomped back to his bedroom. After a hellish day spent holed up in Arthur’s office, using the landline to consult with his agent and dodging WhatsApp messages from members of the press who’d managed to trace his mobile number from somewhere, all he’d wanted to do was find Igraine and hold her. At least the terrible mobile phone signal had prevented any of them from actually calling him.

  Arthur and Tristan had been polite and sympathetic at his plight, both offering to do whatever they could to help out. Tristan had spent the day supervising the groundworkers and had assured Will on his return that the contractors would be discreet about his whereabouts. They recognised the kudos their reputation could gain from being involved in a prestige project like the water gardens and had sent their assurances via Tristan that their loyalty lay with Will. He could only cross his fingers and hope that was the case.

  Picking up a cushion from one of the chairs, he tossed at the wall in frustration. He had no choice other than to try and ride it out; he had no power to do anything else.

  The bedroom door flew open and Igraine threw herself into his arms. ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for what she said.’

  As the familiar weight and shape of her body settled against his, Will felt some of his tension seep away. ‘It’s okay,’ he said, kissing her hair. ‘She’s only saying what everyone else is probably thinking.’

  ‘She doesn’t know you.’ Tipping up her head, she pressed a kiss to his chin. ‘I was chatting to Lucie earlier, and she didn’t think for one moment there was any truth to it.