Joan Smith (13 page)

“With friends like that, she don’t need enemies.”

“Let us go on with the decorating.”

He moved the ladder to the doorway that led into the hall, then climbed up, and Jane handed him a bough, which he fastened onto the hook above the door.

“Is this one crooked?” he asked, jabbing at it. “It’s lopsided. One side is heavier than the other.”

“I’ll have to step back. It’s easier to tell from a distance.” She moved back a few paces. “Yes, it tilts to the left.”

Not liking to climb any higher than necessary, Pel only went halfway up the ladder, and worked with his arms stretched high over his head.

“Stay there and tell me when I’ve got it. I’ll have to climb higher and see if I can wedge the bough to hold it straight.”

He climbed cautiously, grasping the protruding top of the doorframe to steady him as the ladder was inclined to wobble without Jane to steady it. It slipped on the oaken floor and went sliding out from beneath him, landing on the floor with a loud clatter. He managed to hold on to the top of the doorjamb for a minute, but the sharp edge bit into his fingers, and he soon had to let go. The door was eight feet high. It was not a dangerous drop, but he landed on the ladder with the fir bough sitting on his head.

Jane hurried forward to help him. “Did you hurt yourself?”

He pulled the branches apart and peered through the bough. “I’ve given my knee a wrench. I fear I may have busted it.”

Nicholas and Aurelia came running from the saloon to see what had caused the racket. “Good lord, Pel! Are you all right?” Nick asked, helping him up.

Pel yanked the branch from his head and tossed it aside. He put his weight cautiously on his twisted knee and winced, took a step and winced again, but was soon standing without too much pain.

“It ain’t broken at least. Daresay I can do without a sawbones poking at me, but you will have to let someone else climb that ladder. I ain’t tackling it again. Never did like heights. Told you so. There are only two more boughs to hang.”

When Jane began brushing off Pel’s jacket and straightening his cravat in a wifely way, Nick felt a pronounced fit of pique.

“The footmen can finish the job,” Aurelia said.

“Hanging the festive boughs has always been done by the family,” Nick reminded her.

“Tradition,” Pel said, giving the bough a kick.

“I shall hang the boughs,” Nick said, rescuing the fallen one from Pel’s wrath.

“You might fall and hurt yourself,” Aurelia objected. “You wouldn’t be able to stand up with me
at our ball.”

“I daresay Willie would be happy to take his place,” Pel said, with a sly look at Aurelia.

Aurelia’s head turned sharply to the hallway, where she had spoken with Willie. She cast a questioning look at Pel, then seized her lower lip between her teeth and looked nervous, realizing she had been overheard.

“Let me help you into the saloon, Mr. Vickers,” she said, and gave him her arm to limp along to the grate, where she batted her long eyelashes at him and talked away his suspicions.

“Willie has been like an uncle to me, you must know,” she said. “We are on familiar terms. He runs quite tame at the Huddlestons’. We are preparing a little surprise for Nick tomorrow. That is why I wanted a private word with him. There is nothing else between us.”

Pel was not often privy to a pretty lady’s confidences. He realized, when she gazed soulfully at him with her lustrous eyes, that he had judged her severely, and said, “You must not think I held you to blame. Willie ought to know better than to be having clandestine meetings, but—”

“It was not like that, Mr. Vickers. May I call you Pelham?”

“I don’t see why not. Everyone does. Or Pel.”

“I just happened to spot Willie, and wanted a word with him. That’s all. I hope you won’t mention it to Nick.”

“Why the deuce should I? I don’t want to spoil the surprise. What is it, by the by?”

“I have bought a new carpet for the saloon, and some pretty lamps, and a lovely vase. The room is so shabby.”

“Good Lord!” Pel said on a strangled gasp. “That will certainly surprise him.”

“I’m sure he will be pleased. They are in very good taste. Willie helped me pick them out.”

“I’m not sure that was wise, Miss— Aurelia. A bit previous, if you see my meaning. Lizzie won’t care for it.”

“But Nick is making changes in running the farm. Why should I not improve the house?”

“Because Goderich has gone crazy, and can’t run the farm. Lizzie is still sane. The things you bought—a wedding gift from your papa, are they?” he asked, trying to make sense of it.

“In a way. I am having the bills sent to Papa. He would not want me to be living in such a shabby old house.”

“I wouldn’t mention about the shabby house. Just be sure you tell Lizzie the things are a wedding gift from your papa.”

“But I want them installed before the wedding. In fact, before my family arrives.”

“I could do with a glass of wine. A large glass,” Pel said. He couldn’t think on a clear head. He would consult with Jane on this touchy matter. It was beginning to look as if Willie was up to one of his clever tricks, stirring up trouble for the innocent young bride. Lizzie would hit the roof if Miss Aurelia began rearranging the house while she was still its mistress. A dashed insult really.

In the ballroom, Jane held the ladder while Nick hung the few remaining boughs.

“You will be happy to hear I have apologized to Aurelia,” he said. “Tomorrow morning I shall take the day off and take her to call on a few of our worthy neighbors. I have not been paying enough attention to her. In my eagerness to take hold of the reins of Clareview, I have left her too much to her own devices.”

“I am glad to hear you are coming to your senses,” Jane said. If Aurelia had turned to Willie to ease her boredom, then Nick’s company should bring the little flirtation to an end.

“And in the afternoon the Huddlestons arrive, so that should keep her happy.”

Jane thought it an odd thing to say, that Aurelia should prefer any company to her fiancé’s. “She is very close to her sister Marie, I believe. She speaks of her a great deal.”

“They are bosom bows. Mrs. Townsend does not interest herself in social matters. It is Marie who is in charge of that. She has been her young sister’s mentor since Aurelia went to stay with her in London.”

“Do you know the Huddlestons well?”

“Fairly well. Horace hasn’t much to say for himself, but Marie is a lively lady. No nonsense about her. It was she who suggested Aurelia should accompany me home for Christmas.”

“I see.”

It occurred to Jane that the no-nonsense Marie might have engineered the engagement, as well as the visit. A wealthy cit, eager to make her way in society
...
Was it possible Aurelia was not in love with Nick? No, it could not be that. She had seemed quite simply infatuated with her fiancé when they first arrived at Clareview.

When the last bough was hung, Nick sat on top of the ladder and looked around the room with quiet satisfaction. Aurelia had been very understanding when he apologized for not going to Brighton with her. She was
a
sweet, biddable girl. It was only a last-minute jitters that troubled him about this marriage. No one had held a gun to his head. He loved Aurelia. She would soon settle into country ways and make an excellent wife.

“She really is very pretty, is she not?” he said.

“The prince had the right word for her. You and she will have wonderful children.”

“Yes, if they get her looks and my—” He came to an abrupt halt.

“Your tact? Your modesty? Your sensitivity?” she asked, with a laughing look. “You have not been behaving very well, Nick.”

“I know it. I thought things would be different when I got home. More peaceful, or ... I don’t know. Perhaps it is just Uncle’s condition that keeps reminding me of death. I wanted to forget all about death.”

“Did you see very much of it?” she asked.

“Enough to last several lifetimes. It was seeing the youngsters blown to bits that was the hardest to take. And the courage, the bravery of them!”

Jane got him, by a few leading questions, to tell her a little of his experiences. She could hardly believe the stories he told, yet the agony on his face when he spoke of these horrors was proof that he had witnessed them, and was forever changed by the experience.

“I shouldn’t be talking to you of these matters. They aren’t fit tales for a lady. I just wanted to come home and
‘cultiver mon jardin,’
as Voltaire said. Yet I feel somewhat relieved for having shared it with you.”

“I would like to hear more sometime, but I fear only in small doses.”

He realized that he had never discussed these matters with Aurelia, nor had she been curious enough to ask. He had not spoken of them to anyone. They sat in his heart like a dark secret, forever a part of his memory. Why had he unburdened himself to Jane? Perhaps because she was the only one who cared enough to ask.

They went to the saloon, where they were soon joined by Lizzie and Willie for tea.

“I notice your silver teapot is dented, Aunt Lizzie,” Aurelia said.

“Yes, tradition has it that it occurred when a servant spilled tea on Marlborough—in Queen Anne’s day, you know. Marlborough, in a fit of temper, swatted the pot out of the servant’s hand.”

“Could the dent not be removed? Marie knows a silversmith in London who does that sort of work.”

Lizzie blinked in astonishment. “Oh, my dear! I would not have the dent removed for worlds. This tea service is famous.”

“Was it the spilt tea that ruined the carpet?” Aurelia asked, staring at a stain on the old Persian carpet.

“Actually, Goderich did that. It is a wine stain. It might be removed, I daresay. He got totally disguised when he learned Prinny had married Mrs. Fitzherbert. He was rather fond of Marie himself.”

Aurelia gave a commiserating smile for the lady’s ignorance. “You must be mistaken, Aunt Lizzie. The prince is married to Princess Caroline.”

“This was an earlier wedding. Quite irregular. It is the style to deny it ever occurred, I believe.”

Aurelia felt this sort of talk was bordering on the seditious, and changed the subject. She would ask the Huddlestons for a new tea service for a wedding gift. She was not going to serve tea from an old dented pot just because some hotheaded neighbor had lost his temper.

Before retiring, Nick and Aurelia took Lizzie to view the decorations in the ballroom. Willie tagged along. Pelham stayed behind with Jane.

“About Willie and Aurelia,” he said. “I spoke to her. All a hum. They were talking about a surprise she is arranging for Nick. She’s refurnishing Lizzie’s saloon. The goods are to arrive tomorrow.”

“Without consulting Lady Elizabeth?” Jane asked, staring in disbelief.

“Or Nick. I see a spot of trouble rearing its head.”

“Oh dear! We cannot let this happen. Nick will be furious.”

“I believe I’ve come up with something. Letting on the stuff is a wedding present from Townsend. Do you think it will fadge? I fear it will have to. No time to cancel the orders. The goods are to arrive tomorrow morning.”

“You are a genius, Pel!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I have been in a spot of trouble from time to time. A fellow learns how to lie, or give the truth a twist or two at least. Willie will want watching.”

“You think he is behind this?” Her knowing look told Pel she required no explanation as to why Willie should involve himself.

“I shouldn’t be surprised. He has caught the scent of gold, and the aroma that Aurelia and Nick don’t suit so well as they ought.”

“You feel that, too?” He gave her a sharp look. “What
...
what I meant to say was, do you feel that way?”

“You were right the first time. I feel that way, too. We must be on our toes to keep this match from falling apart.”

Jane was disappointed at his conclusion. She soon learned the reason for Pel’s concern. “The girl is madly in love with Nick,” he said. “She will soon catch on to how to please him. Meanwhile, we shall give her a little prod when she goes amiss. The least we can do for Nick. I know you want him to be happy as much as I do.”

“Oh yes, certainly.”

“Then it is settled. You keep an eye on her, and I shall watch out for Willie. Is it a bargain?” he asked, stretching out his hand.

“A bargain,” she said, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake.

They neither of them looked forward to the morrow with much pleasure.

In the morning Nicholas took Aurelia, wearing her new bonnet, to call on some of his neighbors. The purchases from Brighton arrived during her absence. Jane and Pelham were prepared for a patch of stormy weather when Lizzie saw the roll of carpet coming in, but it was no such a thing. The wily Willie had had a word with her.

“Her papa gave her a couple of thousand to buy some gewgaws for her trousseau,” he had explained over breakfast. “Rather than fritter away the money on bonnets and gowns, I suggested she invest in a few good pieces for Clareview. I know you are fond of Meissen, Aunt Lizzie. I think you will like the lamps I directed her to. They will brighten up a corner of your saloon. The carpet is also nice. If, at some future date, you decide to remove to the Dower House, you can take the spare carpet and lamps that the new ones replace.”

“You are up to all the rigs, Willie!” Lizzie said, laughing in approval. “If she has any more blunt to squander, let her buy a new silver tea service, and I shall take the dented Queen Anne set to the Dower House.”

“If you don’t, she will have the dent removed,” Willie replied, in the same jovial spirit.

“She really is incorrigible, but Nick don’t seem to mind, so why should we?”

It was not Willie’s intention to gain total approval of the match. He said, “Why indeed? The only difficulty I foresee is that she doesn’t care for the country. A pity. She will end up luring Nick off to London.”

Lizzie looked sharp at this.
“We
can’t have that! Why, Nick has spoken of nothing but how happy he
is
to be home. And really, you know, Fogarty has not been able to keep things up as he ought, what with Goderich forever pestering him about the donkeys.”