Portrait of Jonathan (7 page)

She came, unwillingly. Lord Rowan could see, to stand before him and submit to his scrutiny. She had lowered her eyes now and was looking at the floor, afraid to meet his gaze.

He cupped her chin with his strong fingers.

‘Don't be afraid, my dear,' he said softly.

She raised her eyes slowly to look into his blue, clear and honest eyes, which were at one and the same time stern but kind. He smiled down at her and Lavinia felt the warmth of his regard. She smiled back tremulously and in that moment there was created a bond of affection and mutual trust, nothing would or could ever break.

All in that moment, Lavinia knew she had found someone she could depend upon, someone who would care for her and care about her. Lord Rowan too realised that here was a child so unlike her parentage that it was as if they did not exist but that she was his own daughter—his and Mélanie's child.

‘Sit down here beside me, my dear, and tell me about yourself—we have many years to catch up on, have we not?'

‘Yes,' she said shyly.

‘Well,' Lord Rowan said, though not unkindly, ‘I'm waiting.'

‘There's n-not much to tell. I haven't any of the usual accomplishments—all the money was spent on a tutor for Roderick. Papa considers it unnecessary for a girl to be educated—though I can read and write legibly,' she added, anxious not to disgrace herself immediately in his eyes. ‘And l-love sketching, though I do it in secret. Papa and Mama do not approve and Roderick laughs at my efforts. You—you w-won't tell them, will you?' Her brown eyes were pleading.

‘No—no—I won't tell them.' There was a strange catch in Lord Rowan's voice. Even though Lavinia had said all this without a trace of self-pity for she had merely stated the situation as it was, she little realised how pitiful it sounded to her listeners.

‘I know a lot of places in London. Giles took me driving—and the docks and the clippers and even the new steamship—Jonathan t-took me.'

‘Well, now, it seems that your education during the past week or so in the hands of these two fine young men has improved,' Lord Rowan teased, and Lavinia blushed. ‘But I am going to suggest taking you away from them.'

The look of misery which came to Lavinia's face could not help but wring the hearts of all in the room.

‘You mean—I m-must go home?' she whispered.

‘Home with me, I mean, back to Warwickshire.' ‘To “Avonridge”,' her face brightened a little, ‘for a holiday?'

‘No,' Lord Rowan touched her hair gently. ‘No, not for a holiday—for good. I want you to make your home with me, if you would like to do that.'

‘Like it—like …' But she could not go on for tears of happiness choked her.

‘There, there,' he soothed, putting his arms about her. ‘Are you so averse to the idea?'

‘Oh no, no,' she cried fiercely, throwing her thin arms about his neck and holding on to him so tightly as if she would never let go. ‘It's the most wonderful thing that could ever happen.'

Her words ended in an emotional squeak, so overcome was she by her good fortune, and everyone in the room laughed, though kindly thus relieving much of the drama of the moment. Lavinia, through her tears, laughed too and burled her head against her grandfather's shoulder, smiling happily to herself.

So it was settled between them, her parents being considered a secondary problem. In fact, Lord Rowan paid a swift and unexpected visit to his son's dwelling, putting forward the proposition and extracting agreement from the spluttering Gervase and the nervous Sarah, and leaving before they had time to retract their consent.

Lavinia seemed perfectly happy to make the break with her parents and brother without even seeing them again and this, to Lord Rowan and the four members of the Eldon family, whilst pitiful, served to emphasise the misery she must have suffered under her parents'roof. No doubt the last act of their misuse of her—using her as a pawn in a tactical game with Lord Myron—had severed any bonds between Lavinia and her parents.

A few days later, Lavinia left ‘ Eldon House' with Lord Rowan to journey to her new home in Warwickshire, her only belongings being the clothes given to her by Lady Melmoth and a few sketches. Although Lavinia already loved Lord Rowan dearly, she could not help but regret leaving ‘Eldon House'—the kindly Lord and Lady Melmoth, the gay Giles and, of course, Jonathan, whom least of all she wished to leave. She was heartened by the fact that Lady Melmoth pressed her to come and stay with them again any time she felt so inclined, and also to hear Lord Rowan giving open invitation to the Eldons to visit ‘Avonridge'.

The journey was long but of infinite interest to the girl and Lord Rowan was amused by her obvious delight in the countryside and all the sights and sounds which were so unfamiliar to a city-dweller.

They made the journey leisurely enjoying frequent stops and an overnight stay at about the half-way stage.

‘Oh, the trees and fields!' Lavinia was ecstatic in her praise, and lost much of her shyness in her enthusiasm. The days were cold, but bright, and the countryside was peaceful and welcoming to the child from the smoke and dirt of the city.

At last the carriage turned off the road through wrought-iron gates which were opened by a man who rushed out from a small cottage near the main gates. He touched his cap respectfully to the occupants of the carriage. Lavinia saw two small girls staring at them from the cottage windows—it was a tiny cottage, whitewashed, the windows painted black with a thatched roof. On up the lane through magnificent parkland. Deer raised their heads questioningly.

‘Oh Grandfather—is all this yours?'

‘Yes, my dear. Do you think you can be happy here?'

‘It's wonderful—wonderful.'

‘There's the house—see through the trees.'

As they neared the house itself, Lavinia saw that it was rather severe-looking but nevertheless charming. It was square from the front, but the centre section was set back a little, the front entrance being exactly in the centre. Swiftly she counted the windows—there seemed to be so many—twenty, and then there were eight tiny dormer windows jutting out of the roof.

Round the main door ivy grew softening the harsh lines of the building. The drive curved in a semi-circle before the house, but the smooth lawns were divided by paths and trees. Neatly trimmed hedges bordered the driveway.

The interior of the house, Lavinia found, as Lord Rowan led her inside, was even more luxurious than the Eldons' town house. She felt a little overwhelmed by the ornate, painted ceilings, the panelled doors and wide, sweeping staircase. She was unaccustomed to grandeur of this standard.

Lavinia gazed around her and at last she glanced up at Lord Rowan to find him watching her.

‘Welcome home, my child,' he said softly, and she read the tender affection in his eyes. ‘This house has been lacking something ever since your grandmother died. Now, with you here, I can see what it was. It will be a home once more from now on.'

Lavinia blushed at the compliment. She was unused to such demonstrations of affection—indeed she was unused to being loved and she found it strangely moving to be welcomed into these beautiful surroundings and to realise that at last she belonged somewhere and to someone.

If only Jonathan were here, her happiness would be complete. Be thankful, she reminded herself sharply, for your present good fortune.

‘Here's Mrs Matthews, my housekeeper, to welcome us,' Lord Rowan was saying.

A buxom, middle-aged woman appeared in the hall. The smile on her rosy face was wide and cheerful. She wore a plain black dress, with a white lace collar, but her welcome belied the severity of her dress. She bobbed a curtsy.

‘Good afternoon, your Lordship, you're a little earlier than we expected. Did you have a pleasant journey, sir?'

‘Yes, thank you, Mrs Matthews. This is my grand-daughter about whom I told you, Mrs Matthews. Have you prepared a room for her as I requested?'

‘Yes, sir. Everything's ready.'

‘Go with Mrs Matthews, Lavinia.'

As Lavinia stepped forward towards the stairs, she heard her grandfather say in undertones to his housekeeper, ‘Treat her kindly, Mrs Matthews. She has had an unfortunate time.'

‘Yes, sir, of course. Poor lamb!' The woman clucked sympathetically. She turned and came after Lavinia who was ascending the staircase uncertainly.

‘Now, you come with me, my dear. I expect you're quite worn out with all that travelling. You've got a lovely room at the front of the house, not far from his Lordship's room, overlooking the park.'

The woman chattered on in kindly tones, until Lavinia could not help but feel welcome.

As she reached the last curve of the staircase which would take her out of sight of the main hall, she glanced down to see her grandfather watching her, a slight frown on his face. As her eyes met his, he smiled swiftly and turned to enter a room to the left of the hall. She felt a sudden fear. Although he seemed pleased to have her here, was she in some way causing him to frown worriedly?

Lavinia promised herself solemnly that she would devote herself entirely to obeying her grandfather's every command, and in so doing she would attempt with every day to repay the debt of gratitude she owed him.

Perhaps, if she concentrated hard enough on other people and other things, she would not find Jonathan so much in her thoughts.

The days and weeks passed, winter gave way to early spring, and Lavinia grew more contented with each passing hour. She enjoyed wandering through the vast number of rooms at ‘Avonridge'. The long drawing-room had windows down one side, the huge marble fireplace being on the opposite wall. The furniture—chosen with her grandmother's influence Lavinia imagined—was in the French style, the chairs and small side tables with graceful lines and gently curving legs, and the chairs upholstered in rich brocade or tapestries which, she learnt later, her grandmother had worked. Various portraits lined the walls—ancestors, she presumed. The one immediately above the fireplace intrigued her. The gentle face held some resemblance to herself, Lavinia could see, but the woman in the portrait. Lady Rowan, was beautiful and elegant and the girl who stared up at it with soulful brown eyes envied the face on the canvas.

Lavinia's favourite room was the library: its high ceiling with pictures painted on it: the walls lined with books and the comfortable couch where she would curl up with a book and lose herself among its pages forgetting for a time the world of reality.

Lavinia was happier at ‘Avonridge' than she had ever been in her life and only one thing was missing to complete her happiness, but at the beginning of May even that was to be remedied, it seemed, for least for an all-too-short weekend.

The Eldon family were coming to stay at ‘Avonridge'.

Lavinia's joy at the thought of seeing Jonathan once more was, however, tinged with fear and dread. She felt so gauche and awkward with him. How she wished she could see him but not be seen by him—but such a thought was ridiculous.

The time since she had come to ‘Avonridge' had been the happiest she had ever known. In the company of her grandfather, she had blossomed into a normal, healthy young girl—still very shy, still lacking self-confidence, but her new-found happiness was reflected in her gentle smile and even her brown eyes had lost some of their sadness. Lord Rowan found that Lavinia—though her education had been sadly neglected as she herself had told him—had, nevertheless, a lively and active mind and under his guidance her general education improved rapidly. He himself gave her lessons each morning, and during the afternoon they drove or walked or occasionally rode, though the latter could be considered ‘lessons' at first, for Lavinia knew not even the rudiments of horsemanship. However, Lord Rowan found her a willing and able pupil, though, unknown to him, her eagerness stemmed from her desire to become a person more worthy of Jonathan's notice. Whilst she could never seriously think that he could fall in love with her, still there was the unquenchable wish within her to become the sort of woman he would not be ashamed to accompany. Always in her mind's eye floated the picture of the beautiful Lady Anthea Thorwald whom Giles said Jonathan had once loved.

During Lavinia's moments of solitude, when Lord Rowan was engaged in business, she would return to her favourite pastime of sketching. Her grandfather knew of this interest, but she had never, even yet, dared to show him her efforts. Lavinia herself, considered them of little importance or interest to anyone else, though she gained much pleasure from the execution of her little pictures. She kept her work in a green folder, but she never felt the need to hide the folder as she had done in her parents' house, safe in the knowledge that her grandfather respected her need and wish for privacy in this respect. He would not, she knew, look upon her work unless she herself desired him to do so.

Increasingly often, she found herself sketching Jonathan. She drew his face from all angles—so well had she absorbed every expression of the face she loved. Occasionally she drew Giles, Lady Melmoth, Lord Melmoth and her grandfather.

Never did she recall the faces of her parents or brother on paper.

Only the faces of people she loved had she committed to memory so perfectly as to be able to reproduce them from memory: and the face her pencil sketched the most was Jonathan's.

On the day the Eldons were expected, Lord Rowan said at breakfast.

‘No lessons today, my dear. I have some business to attend to before Melmoth arrives. Amuse yourself but don't stray far from the house.'

‘No, Grandfather. What time will I … will they be here?'

‘Late afternoon, I should think, in good time for dinner.'

The day was sunny and warm for early May. The garden was peaceful, save for the twittering and singing of birds. Lavinia was seated on a white-painted garden seat near a pool in the centre of which was a fountain springing from an urn held by a white marble figure—a woman of ancient times carrying the urn on her shoulder.