The Adultress (34 page)

She was all contrition. “Dear papa, is it your old leg again? I’m sorry. You ought to have had another cushion in the carriage.”

“I’m all right, my dear,” he said, “but as your mama says, let us go to our rooms first and then we’ll explore the house together later.”

“It is exciting,” said Lottie. “And mama, it is all yours.” She spread out her arms as though to embrace the house. “It must be wonderful to have a house like this … all to yourself.”

“It’s ours,” I said firmly. “Come on. Here’s Mrs. Jethro.”

The largest bedroom in the house had been prepared for us. Here Eversleigh wives and husbands had slept through the ages. It was the room in which the actor calling himself Lord Eversleigh had lived.

Jean-Louis sat down on the brocade-covered bed. I went to him and put my arm about him. I was wondering afresh whether we should have come back to the scene of my infidelity. It was into a room in this house that Gerard had climbed to be with me. The memories which I had sought to suppress for so many years had come flooding back more vividly.

I put my arm tighter round Jean-Louis and held him close to me.

“I do love you so much, Jean-Louis,” I said. “I am going to take such care of you.”

He turned to look at me. I could have believed in that moment that he understood exactly why I felt this emotion.

It was pleasant to renew my acquaintance with the Forsters. Isabel came over the day we arrived at Eversleigh. She was delighted that we were going to be neighbors and she wanted to know if there was anything she could do.

I told her that we were all rather bewildered at the moment. It had been such an upheaval. She must meet Jean-Louis and my daughter.

This she was delighted to do. Jean-Louis had already seen a little of the estate and he was of the opinion that we should need a manager. Derek said he would do all he could to help. The few farms in his possession were easily manageable and until we had settled in he might be of use to us.

The visit of the Forsters seemed to cheer Jean-Louis. I think before they came he was seeing the management of Eversleigh as a task too formidable for his strength. The journey had, of course, exhausted him. I knew it; but I never liked to refer to his weakness, which usually depressed him a little.

Lottie could not be found. She was in the paddock, they thought, exercising her pony—a favorite pastime of hers. She loved horses and in particular her own pony, which would soon have to be replaced by a small horse, I supposed.

Naturally the Forsters talked of the activities which had been going on at Eversleigh and which had shocked the neighborhood. It would, I knew, be talked of for years to come.

“We always guessed that something extraordinary was going on,” said Isabel. “That housekeeper …”

“Well.” I said, “that was not such an extraordinary situation. She was my uncle’s mistress in the first place and that was how her ambitions started.”

“Yes, but it was that manager,” said Derek. “He was the real organizer of the plot. He was a good manager, too. I’ve often said how lucky Lord Eversleigh was to have got hold of such a man.”

“Well, I suppose it began in a simple way. Jessie was to get what she could … and then she had hopes of the house. … That must have been Amos Carew’s idea. It was too ambitious and it was really what made Uncle Carl decide he must make his will … and then after the will was signed they decided to get what they could. Unfortunately for them my uncle died too soon for their schemes to be as rewarding as they had hoped.”

“If it wasn’t for the fact that his living was so advantageous to them they might be suspected of murder.”

“I’m glad it wasn’t that.” I said. “Although it might have been. It was what was intended for me.”

“That young relation of yours—he’s a bright young man.”

“Yes … yes …”

“I wish we’d met him. He sounds so interesting.”

“You probably will one day,” said Jean-Louis.

“Oh …” I began almost protestingly.

“You can’t believe Dickon won’t be paying us a visit, can you?” said Jean-Louis. “He talked of nothing but Eversleigh for weeks after he came home from here.”

“He has Clavering now to claim his attention.”

“Ah yes.” Jean-Louis agreed wistfully. I said to Isabel and Derek: “We’re boring you with our family affairs.”

“Not at all. It’s all so interesting and it is so wonderful that you have come back.”

“You still enjoy living at Enderby?”

“Oh, I think we’ve routed the ghosts.”

“It must be pleasant not to have them around.”

“I think I miss them a little,” said Derek. “We’ve cut down so much of the foliage which darkened the place. My brother said it was positively unhealthy to have so many things growing close to the house and shutting out the sun.”

“Your brother?” I said. “Is that … the doctor?”

“Yes, Charles. He’s settling in very well now. He’s happy, I think, living here. It’s very convenient for his hospital.”

“Where is that, then?”

“It’s near the coast, about a mile or so from here. He’s able to get to it every other day. His practice doesn’t occupy him all that much. The hospital is his great delight.”

“It must mean a lot of hard work for him.”

“He thrives on it.”

“What is it … for the elderly?” asked Jean-Louis.

“Quite the contrary … for the very young. Mothers … and babies. It’s really a maternity hospital.”

“Such matters are his speciality,” said Isabel. “He’s a very good man.”

“Don’t let him hear you say that, Isabel,” said Derek.

“Well, I say it when he can’t hear it,” she said. She turned to us. “He has done a great deal of good work. He has saved many a life … mothers and children.”

“It seems very noble,” I said.

“He says it is his work. He could of course live quite comfortably … without working.”

Derek smiled apologetically to us. “Isabel is a firm supporter of my brother,” he said. “He … Charles … inherited a great deal of money. It gave him an opportunity to set up his hospital.”

Just at that moment Lottie came running in. She was flushed and excited and stopped short when she saw that we had visitors.

“This is our daughter,” I said. “Lottie, come and meet our guests.”

I was proud of her for I could see they were deeply impressed by her beauty. She smiled, and when Lottie smiled she was completely enchanting. I thought I could see Gerard in that smile. It could not fail to charm everyone as he had charmed me.

She was bubbling over with excitement and when she had curtsied and the introduction was over she could not wait to burst out: “I’ve been exploring.”

“And what did you find?” asked Jean-Louis.

“There are two houses … not very far away … close to each other … or fairly close.”

“I’ll warrant one of those was Enderby,” said Derek, and he described it.

Lottie nodded. “But it was in the other one that I found the baby. Oh, mama, it was the dearest little baby. It was lying in a sort of cradle in the garden … and I couldn’t help going through the gate to look at it!”

“Oh, Lottie, have you been trespassing?”

“Yes, but it didn’t matter. There was a nurse and a lady.”

“It must have been Grasslands,” said Isabel.

“There were two big lawns in front of the house.”

“Grasslands, certainly.”

“Well, I played with the baby. It liked me. It’s a little boy … named Richard.”

“That is the Mather’s baby,” said Isabel. “It must be about six months old … perhaps not so much.”

I couldn’t stop myself saying: “Evalina … !”

“Yes.” said Isabel. “Evalina Stirling. She married Andrew Mather, you know. They say the new baby is the apple of his eye.”

“She was a very kind lady,” said Lottie. “She says that I’m to call whenever I want to. She said she was ever so pleased that we’d come to Eversleigh. She said she knew you. mama.”

“Yes,” I said slowly. “I did meet her.”

I felt rather uneasy. I kept remembering that occasion when I had seen her with Dickon in the barn; and I could recall exactly the steely look in her eyes and the words which had implied that she knew what had happened between myself and Gerard.

I was very occupied during the next few days and was glad of the help I received from Mrs. Jethro and Isabel. I was relieved that Jethro had dismissed those servants who had been brought in by Jessie Stirling, for he said, you never knew how mixed up in it all they were. He thought that some of them were not sorry to go after what had happened. He knew one or two girls in the village who would be suitable and if I approved they could have a trial. Isabel’s servants were helpful. They had friends whom they could recommend and in a very short time we had the place staffed and I was able to feel that it was becoming my own.

There were problems, of course. Lottie would have to have a governess. At Clavering she had taken lessons at the vicarage, but both Jean-Louis and I agreed that she should have her own governess now that she was growing up. Getting the house in order was a trifling matter compared with running the estate. Criminal though he was, Amos Carew had been an excellent manager and although he was dishonest, he had got the best out of the estate.

“What we need,” I said to Jean-Louis, “is a first-class manager. Someone like James Fenton.”

“We shall be extremely lucky if we get anyone as good as James,” said Jean-Louis.

“I wonder how he likes farming with his cousin?” I mused.

“Well, he was the sort of man who would strike out on his own one day, I daresay,” said Jean-Louis.

“We must look round for someone to manage the estate,” I insisted.

“I’ll be all right for a while,” Jean-Louis replied.

It was sad. Before his accident he would have been equal to the task of looking after an estate the size of Eversleigh. I knew now though that we could not wait too long before finding the right man. After the experience of Amos Carew we should have to be careful. I think I should always be suspicious of everyone after having known him. Sometimes I woke up out of a nightmare when I was looking into a masked face which I believed to be Dickon’s. I would always awake with a terrible start and have to convince myself that it was all a dream; and in any case my would-be murderer had not been Dickon. He had been my savior.

I was in discussion with Mrs. Jethro one afternoon when one of the servants came to tell me that I had a visitor.

I was so certain that it was Isabel that I did not ask who it was.

“She’s in the winter parlor, madam,” said the servant.

I hurried down and opened the door, smiling. I stood absolutely still. The woman who rose from the chair was not Isabel. I felt a tingle of fear run through me. It was Evalina.

She came forward smiling.

“I thought I’d better be neighborly,” she said.

I stammered: “It was good of you to call.”

“Well, we live close now, don’t we? You mistress of Eversleigh Court and me of Grasslands.”

I nodded. “Would you care for some refreshment?”

“Oh no. I’m getting so fat. I’m a little too fond of the good things of life. Aren’t we all?”

“I suppose so. Do sit down.”

She did so. I sat too. I felt my heart beating uncomfortably.

“It seems a long time,” she said. “But it’s not all that time, is it?”

“I hear you have a little boy.”

“My Richard.” She looked straight at me smiling. “What a blessing! Nothing like little ones, is there? My poor Andrew … he’s overcome with joy. You can imagine. He never thought for a moment there’d be a child. Well, life’s full of surprises, isn’t it?”

“I am sure he is delighted.”

“Just as your dear husband was when you told him you were expecting, I daresay. These men … they do like little ones, don’t they? … particularly when they’ve given up all hope.”

“I am sure the little boy has brought great happiness to you both.”

“Yes … just like your little girl. I say, what a little beauty, eh? Wait till she’s a bit older! She’ll have them all buzzing round her, won’t she? Little bit of honey, that’s what she is … and you can’t keep bees off honey. I told Andrew what a little pet she was. Nice laughing ways … Frenchified, I said to Andrew.”

She was bailing me. Why had she come here like this? I was beginning to wish I was back at Clavering.

But I was not going lo let her intimidate me with her innuendos.

I said: “How is your mother?”

“Oh … I never hear a word from her now. … She’ll be off somewhere. Shouldn’t be surprised if she’s gone abroad. It wasn’t her fault, you know. It was Amos. He always made her do what he wanted. There’s some men like that. You and me … we’re lucky. We’ve got our two dear little children. It was funny the way they took to each other. My little Richard just laughed up at her and wouldn’t stop looking. He don’t do that to everyone, I can tell you. It was as though they knew they were two of a kind.”

“Two of a kind?”

“Yes, my little Richard and your little Lottie. A sort of fellow feeling. Funny how these children are.”

She was looking at me insolently. I was thinking: Dickon was here. They were together. … Was she telling me something? Did she mean that she and I were of a kind?

Her eyes were sparkling.

She said slowly: “I shall never forget the first time we met. You came to Eversleigh … and there was that man over at Enderby, that French gentleman. He was a charmer, wasn’t he?” She laughed. “Well, he went off, didn’t he? Very different they are at Enderby now. The Forsters … not the sort you’d expect to find in a house like that. The doctor’s a fine gentleman. Have you met him? You’d like him.” She laughed. “Different from the French gentleman. … A bit on the gloomy side … but a change is nice, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked suddenly.

“Oh, nothing. Just rambling on. I do, Andrew tells me. He likes it … he laughs at me. He’s a very grateful man. Well, who wouldn’t be, presented with a son at his time of life? Just what he’d always wanted and never thought he could get.”

She started to laugh.

I stood up. I said: “I know you’ll forgive me. As we have only just come there is so much to do.”

She rose drawing on her gloves. She was very properly dressed for the call.