A Matter of Duty (17 page)

T
he road to Highclare led west out of Cowes, passing through mellow, rolling countryside from which the Solent could always be seen. The roadside was fringed with soft green ferns, and the hedgerows boasted valerian and fuchsia as well as wild roses and honey-suckle, and there were long low farmhouses and cottages built of gray stone. They nestled in leafy hollows, their windows peeping sleepily from beneath thatched roofs, and their gardens were filled with a riot of summer flowers, but especially with geraniums, which seemed to bloom more luxuriantly here than anywhere else Louisa had ever been.

The apricot scent of sun-drenched gorse filled the air from heathland as the chaise pulled up another gentle hill, and then they were descending again, and suddenly the Solent was hidden from view by a high stone wall over which hung the boughs of ancient oaks. There was a shallow river valley ahead, choked green with trees, but before they reached it, some great wrought-iron gates appeared on the right and the chaise swung toward them. The lodgekeeper was alert, swinging them open for the carriage to pass through. Recognizing Kit inside, he quickly doffed his hat. The carriage drove on, moving smartly along a fine avenue of the great oaks that seemed to proliferate all around.

The breeze rustled the leaves, and through the trees Louisa could see a small herd of deer bounding away, startled by the chaise. Suddenly the avenue ended and the drive emerged into an open park set on a southwest slope, and at the head of this park, against a background of trees, was Highclare itself. It was a beautiful red brick house with a Doric colonnade and stone facings, and it presided over a wide terrace reached by a double flight of steps from the end of the drive. The dormer windows of the third floor were housed in a fine hipped roof that boasted a promenade, and in the center of it there was an octagonal cupola containing a gazebo where supper parties could be held on fine summer evenings. The house commanded incomparable views over the island and the sea, and particularly over the park, which stretched westward for about half a mile, terminating at low cliffs above a rocky private beach. Out on the Solent, Louisa could see the little fishing fleet she’d noticed from the deck of the
Spindrift
, and on the mainland opposite lay the ancient town of Lymington, its houses very sharp and bright against the endless green of the New Forest.

The chaise drew to a halt at the foot of the terrace steps, and Kit alighted, pausing for a moment to look up at the house before turning to assist Louisa and then Pattie down. Then he drew Louisa a little aside.

‘I know we have differences, Louisa, but before we go into the house, can I beg you to set those differences aside for my grandfather’s sake? He’s old and frail, and it won’t do him any good to see us continually at odds.’

‘You wrong me considerably if you think I’d conduct myself poorly in front of him,’ she replied a little stiffly.

‘Do I? My short acquaintance with you has left me in no doubt that when the circumstances dictate, you will conduct yourself how you please. My grandfather means a great deal to me, and I want him to be content that ours is a happy marriage.’

‘How will you do that when you leave me behind while you go to Cowes? And how long will it be before servants’ tittle-tattle reaches him about our separate nights? I fail to see how, he will be convinced for long.’

‘You may leave all that to me, Louisa, for all I’m asking of you is some semblance of warmth in our dealings with each other when he’s present.’ He smiled a little cynically. ‘Perhaps you’ll find it easier if you can put it down to my reverence for double standards.’

‘I already had,’ she replied flatly.

‘No doubt. Well? Will you do as I ask?’

‘Will I be your perfect wife?’

‘Yes. To my perfect husband, of course.’

‘Of course. Very well, you have my promise.’

‘Thank you.’ Something seemed to suddenly catch his eye at an upper window of the house. Louisa had her back toward it and so didn’t see the earl watching them. Kit looked quickly at her. ‘You’ve given your word,’ he said softly, ‘so let us seal it with a kiss.’

Before she knew what was happening, he’d drawn her close, enfolding her in his arms in an embrace that to any onlooker must have appeared very loving and tender. He kissed her on the lips, taking his time, his mouth moving slowly over hers.

It was a practiced kiss, the art of a man who’d made love to many women and knew how to please and arouse. She knew this, and she didn’t want to surrender to her treacherous senses, but they were betraying her with each passing second. The fire was beginning to flare through her veins again, just as it had in the chapel, and she felt as if her body was melting with the heat. An enervating desire burned voluptuously within her, robbing her of the will to resist. She just wanted to surrender to him, to submit her soul and give herself up to the passion that he alone had ever stirred. But he was using her! The cold touch of reality made desire recoil, and with a huge effort she dragged her lips away from his.

He still held her close, his eyes very dark and blue as they looked into hers. It was so good to hold her, false as she was. She was made to be held and kissed, to be made love to. But he wasn’t the first to think this; Geoffrey Lawrence had thought it before him. Jealousy and resentment flooded through him once more, and he slowly released her. For the moment, however, all must seem well. He glanced up at the window again, but his grandfather had gone. He met her eyes. ‘A promise sealed with a kiss, Louisa,’ he said softly, offering her his arm.

They proceeded up to the terrace. Orange and lemon trees in large terracotta pots had been placed along the stone balustrade, and their dark-green, shiny leaves shivered in the breeze sweeping up from the Solent. The cries of sea gulls echoed from the beach, the sound suddenly drowned by the excited baying of two large liver-and-white pointers that bounded out of the main door of the house as the butler opened it. They loped delightedly toward Kit, and the butler tried in vain to call them back.

‘Hengist! Horsa!’

They ignored him, leaping up to try to lick Kit’s face. He paused to fuss them for a moment and then ordered them sternly to heel as he and Louisa once again proceeded toward the door, with Pattie now keeping a very wary distance because of the dogs.

The butler bowed. ‘Welcome home again, Master Kit,’ he said warmly, but then his smile became uncertain as he looked at Louisa. ‘Welcome to Highclare, my lady,’ he murmured respectfully.

She wondered how the news of Kit’s astonishing match had been received, but she smiled. ‘Thank you. I’m afraid I don’t know your name.’

‘Newton, my lady.’

‘Thank you, Newton.’

A moment later she’d crossed the threshold of Highclare for the first time. She found herself in a gracious gray-and-white entrance hall where a double white marble staircase rose immediately on either side of the door, leading up to a magnificent gallery landing on the floor above. The pedimented door of what she was to discover was the great parlor was directly opposite the main entrance, and on the floor above, in perfect symmetry, was the door of the dining chamber. Lesser doors opened off the hall and landing, but it was to these two principal portals that her eyes were immediately drawn.

The pointers’ paws pattered on the gleaming floor as they danced around Kit, still trying to win his attention. He removed his hat and gloves and handed them to the butler. ‘I take it from your greeting that news of my marriage has reached here.’

‘Indeed it has, Master Kit. One of the underfootmen was sent to Cowes yesterday to collect a delivery of the earl’s Stilton cheese from the Southampton packet, and the whole town was talking about it. May I be so bold as to offer you my sincere congratulations?’

‘Thank you.’

She smiled again. ‘Thank you, Newton.’ Inside, she wondered what the man was really thinking, for he undoubtedly knew from the gossip that until recently she’d only been a governess, and so he was probably finding it very difficult indeed to be completely respectful.

Kit glanced up the stairs. ‘When we arrived I noticed my grandfather in the gun-room window. Is he still there?’

‘Yes, sir.’

She lowered her glance. So that was the reason for the sudden kiss.

Kit turned to the butler once more. ‘I presume my grandfather has made arrangements for us?’

‘Indeed so, Master Kit. He gave orders that the adjoining Venetian suites were to be aired.’

‘Newton, will you have a cold luncheon prepared for us, it’s some time since we breakfasted.’

‘Certainly, Master Kit.’ The butler bowed and then hurried away in the direction of the kitchens, which, evidently lay beyond a door on the left hand side of the hall.

Kit turned to Louisa. ‘Shall we go up?’

She drew a long, nervous breath. ‘Yes.’

‘It will be all right, I promise you; my grandfather isn’t an ogre.’

‘Maybe not, but I still can’t help wondering how he’s taken the news about me.’

‘He’ll be happy for us.’ Suddenly he took her hand, drawing it to his lips and at the last moment turning it palm uppermost.

She was startled at the unexpected intimacy, instinctively going to snatch her hand away, but his fingers tightened and he looked quickly into her eyes. ‘Remember your promise, Louisa,’ he said, his voice was low and soft that only she could possibly hear. ‘Houses like this have ears, there are servants everywhere, and as you said yourself a moment ago, servants whisper.’

‘I know, it’s just that I wasn’t expecting you to—’

‘Show such apparent tenderness?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then you must expect it from now on, for in this house I am your perfect husband, remember?’ Slowly he released her hand.

They began to ascend the staircase, and her heartbeats quickened. In a moment or so she’d be meeting the Earl of Redway. Would he really be glad about his grandson’s marriage? Or would he, like the rest of society, really think of it as a misalliance?

The gun room lay on the western side of the house, its windows gazing out over the Solent toward Lymington. It had oak-paneled walls hung with a magnificent display of swords, cutlasses, sabers, rapiers, and fencing foils, as well as pistols, blunderbusses, muskets, carbines, flintlocks, and matchlocks. It reminded her poignantly of another such room, at Cherington Court, and a collection that had had to be dispersed to help settle Tom’s debts.

More weapons lay on a large oval table, having been removed from their places on the walls, and Kit’s grandfather was standing by the table, lovingly polishing a pistol with a soft cloth. He was a slightly built man of a little less than medium height, with stooping shoulders and thinning gray hair that he wore long and tied back with a black velvet ribbon. He evidently favored clothes that were comfortable rather than fashionable, for his coat was loose and had seen a number of summers, and his breeches were of an easy fit. He put the pistol down the moment they entered, his quick glance moving over Louisa. His eyes were as blue and piercing as Kit’s.

After a barely perceptible hesitation, he came toward them, smiling. ‘Kit, m’boy, I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you again, and under such auspicious circumstances. Congratulations, my dear fellow, congratulations.’ He seized Kit’s hand, pumping it up and down with a force surprising for one of such delicate appearance.

Kit turned to draw Louisa forward. ‘Grandfather, may I present my wife, Louisa.’

The earl looked at her. ‘Welcome to Highclare, my dear. I trust that you will find only happiness here.’ He came to kiss her on the cheek, and she was relieved to sense the genuine warmth in the gesture.

‘Thank you, sir.’

‘I confess I didn’t think this wretch of a boy was ever going to do his family duty, but in marrying you he’s more than done that, for he’s also managed to please me immensely. You’re very beautiful, my dear, and you’ll be an adornment to the family and to this house.’

She flushed a little, lowering her eyes, for how could he really be so pleased when all society was talking about her past?

He put a hand to her chin, making her look at him. ‘I mean every word, Louisa, for it doesn’t matter to me that recent years have been less than kind to you. I’m only concerned that you and Kit are happy, and from what I witnessed from the window when you arrived, I know that that is indeed so.’ He patted her hand. ‘I’m truly sorry about your brother, my dear. That insect Rowe should be hanged for his crimes, as I think most honorable men would agree, but for you the past must be the past, because from now on you’re going to know only joy.’

His kindness made her feel guilty, and she glanced at Kit.

The earl smiled again. ‘It occurs to me that your first day at Highclare should be marked in some way, and so I think I’ll have Newton make arrangements for us to dine on the roof this evening. It’s a particular treat I like to keep for very special occasions, and what could be more special than this?’ He glanced at Kit then. ‘By the way, it’s come to my notice that there’s to be a grand ball in a few days’ time. Did you know?’

‘Yes, we encountered Alistair Glenfarrick in Southampton.’

‘That mischievous popinjay? Well, there’s nothing that passes him by, so he’ll have told you all about it. It goes without saying that I won’t be attending, but I’m glad to think that Highclare will be represented by both a Lord
and
Lady Highclare.’

‘I’m afraid it won’t,’ said Kit quickly, ‘because Louisa and I have decided not to attend. Haven’t we dear?’ He glanced directly at her.

Until that moment she hadn’t really believed he would carry out his threat, but now she had to face the fact that he’d meant every word he said about keeping her away from anyone who mightly conceivably cause her to speak her mind.

‘Louisa?’ He was still looking at her.

She met his gaze unwillingly. ‘Yes, that is what we’ve decided.’

The earl didn’t seem unduly concerned. ‘Oh, well, I don’t suppose it’s all that vital. Besides, newlyweds are expected to spend all their time together on their own, are they not? And where better to do that than here at Highclare?’ He smiled at them both. ‘I can’t tell you how happy all this has made me, and now I offer no excuse for saying that I look forward to the next happy event, the announcement that I am to become a great-grandfather.’