The Castle of Love (7 page)

Her father had written to say that the epidemic in Edinburgh was still raging and now his friend the professor was ill. Jacina could not possibly write and worry him with her own selfish concerns.

Suddenly she felt that she was no longer alone. She took her hands away from her face and looked up.

Monsieur Fronard was leaning against the wall opposite, arms folded. His eyes regarded her narrowly.

"Something is ze matter?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. That is – yes. I – I am worried about my father, and I am – homesick. That is all."

"That is all?" Monsieur Fronard's tone was mocking. "Well, I think not. I think I know what is ze matter. How do you say it – your 'nose is out of place'."

Jacina rose trembling to her feet. "The phrase is 'out of joint'," she said as coldly as she could muster. "And now, if you will excuse me, I must go to my room."

As she tried to pass, Fronard caught at her arm and held her.

"Nothing will threaten zis marriage, you understand," he scowled. "Nothing."

Jacina twisted in his grip. "Take your hand off me! What makes you speak to me like this?"

Fronard leaned close to Jacina and hissed in her ear,

"I know what is in your heart. I am only warning you. Stay away from ze Earl. He is now only for Felice."

Jacina wrenched herself free.

"I care nothing for the Earl," she cried, and turned on her heels.

 Fronard's jeering laugh followed her. "You are lying, mademoiselle. You are lying!"

His words rang in her ears. How could he know 'what was in her heart' when she hardly knew herself? What did his warning mean? In what way could her friendship with the Earl threaten the marriage? Everyone knew that the Earl was enchanted with his fiancée.

If Jacina thought she was unhappy that day, it was as nothing to the way she began to feel over the next few days.

The Earl never alluded to her outburst in the library. He simply no longer requested that she come and read to him alone. When their paths crossed in the castle and she curtsied with a soft 'my Lord,' he merely bowed his head coldly and moved on.

She was stricken, but after a while she tried to convince herself that it was for the best. Once the Earl was married, the friendship would end anyway. She would return to her life in the village and all would be as it was before.

She tried to keep herself busy. She helped Nancy sort out the linen cupboards. She translated French recipes into English for cook. She visited poor and sick families on the estate and brought them provisions.

*

One afternoon, on her way to the cottage of a poor widow, she encountered Felice coming back along the path that led deep into the woods.

She was surprised. She knew that Felice disliked walking in the countryside. How then did she happen to be so far from the castle and on foot? She said nothing, however. She merely nodded 'hallo' and waited for Felice to let her pass.

Felice was wearing a blue cape. Her hair was dishevelled and her complexion heightened. She looked flustered to see Jacina. A nervous glance over her shoulder alerted Jacina to the possibility of a second party, but when Jacina looked there was no one.

 "I have been walking in ze woods," said Felice in an unnaturally loud voice. "Ze air is very fresh."

"Yes, it is," said Jacina quietly. She tried to move on but Felice let out a loud cry.

"Oh, la, la, my shoes!" she lamented noisily. "Look, look, they are ruined."

Jacina looked down at the shoes. They did not seem at all ruined. She had the strangest feeling that Felice was deliberately trying to hold her there, but for what purpose she could not guess.

"What have you in ze basket?" asked Felice next.

"Some game pie," said Jacina. "For a family on the estate. The mother is ill."

Felice stared, then gave a short laugh. "My, you are so good, just like – " Her voice trailed off.

"Just like who?" asked Jacina.

Felice shrugged nonchalantly. "Pffoufft! It does not matter. Personne."

Jacina wondered who she meant by 'nobody.' Perhaps it was Crispian, her first fiancé, who Felice used to think so 'good'.

Felice was now looking keenly back along the path as if to satisfy herself of something.

"Excuse me," said Jacina. "I must move on."

Felice turned to her quickly. "What? Oh, yes. You may go now." She leaned in close to Jacina. "But – you will not tell zat you saw me in the wood, hein? The Earl might think it was – curious."

Jacina regarded her coolly. "It is not my business to tell anyone what you – do," she replied.

 "Then we are friends!" said Felice. She smiled sweetly and stood aside.

As Jacina continued along the path with her basket, she wondered where Felice had been to look in such disarray.

Around a bend in the path lay a woodsman's deserted cottage. With a frown Jacina saw that the door was swinging open. She stepped up to the cottage and closed the door. It was no good letting the animals and chickens wander in.

*

Over the following days Jacina tried resolutely not to think of Felice or the Earl, but it was so hard when she was continually seeing them together. The evenings were the most difficult when she went in to dine, but at least she was not alone with the engaged couple. There were always other guests, invited so that Felice could become acquainted with the local gentry.

The guests were always excitable and garrulous. Jacina knew that the Earl only invited them for the sake of Felice and in deference to the wishes of his grandfather, who had planned such gatherings leading up to the wedding. She knew it was torture for the Earl to have his blindness on public display.

Nobody noticed Jacina.

Every evening she ate in silence and excused herself at the earliest opportunity.

Then one evening, just before dessert, Monsieur Fronard tapped his glass and the Earl rose to his feet.

The guests regarded him expectantly while Jacina lowered her head as if at an impending blow.

The Earl's strong voice carried all too clearly down the table. This was the announcement she had been dreading for days.

The date of the wedding was finally set!

*

Every day loaded carts drew up at the trade entrance of the castle. There were sacks of flour from the mill on the estate. There were bags of sugar and crates of eggs. There were boxes of late fruit and jars of sweetmeats.

Cook was in her element. Her arms were always covered to the elbow in flour. She was determined to make it the most glorious wedding breakfast in the history of the castle.

The haberdasher came with bolts of silk and muslin and satin. The shoemaker came with swatches of leather. The glove-maker came and the milliner.

The dressmaker came.

Jacina watched the hustle and bustle from her window. She fervently hoped that the Earl might now find happiness.

Sometimes she sought refuge with Sarah. When Sarah brought out the caddy to make the tea, Jacina looked sadly at its painted scenes of India.

The Earl had once again become as distant to her as a dream.

One afternoon Sarah's arthritis was playing up. She asked Jacina to make the tea. As Jacina reached the caddy down, a thin packet of letters that had been lodged behind it fell to the floor.

Sarah noticed. "Those are letters Miss Felice wrote to me when Master Crispian was alive," she commented.

As Jacina picked up the letters, she could not help but notice the dainty handwriting.

Sarah said no more about Felice. She hardly ever mentioned Felice now and she never chatted about the forthcoming wedding.

As the day drew near, Jacina wished more and more

that she could take herself back to her home in the village, but she knew it was not possible. The house was locked up. The housemaid had gone with Doctor Carlton to Edinburgh. Besides, Jacina always obeyed her father's wishes. No matter what, she must remain at the castle.

 She read and re-read letters from her father. He had written to say that though the Earl had invited him, he did not know whether he would be able to attend the wedding.

The afternoon before the wedding day Jacina was surprised by a knock at her bedroom door. It was Nancy.

"Miss Felice wants to see you, miss," she said. "In her room."

Jacina was too intrigued to refuse.

Felice had been given the room hung with yellow silk. When Jacina arrived dresses were strewn all over the carved oak bed. Hats and gloves lay about on chairs. Felice stood in front of a pier glass. The dressmaker fussed around her, arranging swathes of white satin in place. She was putting the final touches to her wedding dress.

"I want your opinion," said Felice. "What do you think of this dress?"

"It is – perfect," murmured Jacina, puzzled.

"Oh, I suppose it is alright, but really, ze workmanship is not as good as I could find in Paris or even London."

The dressmaker, mouth full of pins, flushed and tried to look as if she was not there.

Felice held something up for Jacina to see.

"And what about these? Do these diamonds look good with zis white satin?"

Jacina glanced at the necklace that had briefly lain around her own neck and then looked away.

"Ideal," she said.

Felice regarded her curiously, her head on one side.

"You would like zis necklace to be yours, no?" she asked softly.

 Jacina met her gaze in the glass.

"I am well aware that it can never be mine," she responded simply.

Felice threw back her head and laughed gaily. "Oh how I am enjoying zis!" she exclaimed.

Jacina was confused. "En-enjoying – what?" she asked.

"Everything!" cried Felice. "Everything is better now!" She wiped her eyes as if she had been crying with amusement and waved a hand at Jacina. "Why don't you go away now, back to your dull old books!"

Jacina was bewildered. Felice Delisle was playing with her as a cat plays with a mouse and she could not understand why.

Turning on her heels to leave, she found her way barred by the figure of Monsieur Fronard. He regarded her with a scowl.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I sent for her," said Felice airily.

"You sent for her?" repeated Fronard, raising his eyes to Felice where she stood by the pier glass.

"Mais oui. I get bored, you know, bored."

Fronard growled something that Jacina heard as "prenez guarde."

"Take care!"

Jacina had had enough. She pushed past Fronard and hurried back to her room, her spirits deeply disturbed.

What kind of creature was Felice Delisle? To have sent for Jacina and taunted her purely out of boredom! She had not seemed to consider it at all unseemly that Fronard should enter when she was being fitted for her wedding dress.

 What if the Earl found out?

With a chill Jacina found herself thinking the unthinkable.

Perhaps it suited Felice Delisle that the Earl of Ruven was blind!

*

That night Jacina could not sleep.

She tossed and turned in her bed. Whenever she closed her eyes she saw Felice Delisle holding up the diamond necklace. She heard that high-pitched laugh ringing through her .

Her heart was full of anguish. Was the Earl about to doom himself to an unhappy marriage? It might be so and yet there was nothing she could do to help him. He was in love with Felice Delisle, that was certain. No man could have been more solicitous of her happiness.

Jacina sat up. The room seemed so close and stuffy. She needed air, fresh air! Throwing aside the counterpane, she got out of bed and went to the window. She drew back the curtain. Moonlight poured into the room like a flood of silver. She opened the window catch and leaned out.

It had rained all day but now it had stopped. The air was cool and sweet. The moonlight touched the earth with filigree. The unutterably peaceful night seemed to beckon to the heart-sore Jacina. She dressed quickly, took up her cloak and left her room. She tiptoed through the corridors, not wishing to rouse anyone.

She had to take great care tugging at the front door. Once it was open, she hesitated and then found a stone to wedge the door, so it would not completely close behind her. She wanted to be able to return without having to summon one of the servants.

The woods on the other side of the moat seemed too dark to enter, despite the moonlight. She turned to the right and followed along under the castle walls. A thin ribbon of light across the grass made her look up. The lamp in the Earl's chamber was still burning.

 Sarah had remarked that recently the Earl seemed to sit up half the night.

Jacina pressed on and skirted the East tower. The moat was not so wide on this side of the castle. A wooden bridge led over it to a rose garden, a herb garden and an apple orchard. It also led to a pretty copse. A flagstone path ran through the trees to a clearing wherein stood a stone folly. The folly was in the shape of a small, round temple, open to the elements on all sides.

Jacina often came here alone to read when the weather was warm enough. It had become her secret place.

The path that led to the clearing twisted through the copse, sometimes almost doubling back upon itself. She stepped lightly along, her cloak pulled close.

She was right to have come out! The sharp night air seemed to clear her troubled mind. The tranquillity of the landscape soothed her heavy heart.

All was well until she drew near the clearing. Then, to her astonishment, she heard the sound of voices ahead. She was not alone! She hesitated and then crept closer. The dome of the folly came into view. A few steps nearer and she could see the clearing itself through the trees. It was bright under the moonlight and the two figures standing together in the folly were clearly outlined.

Monsieur Fronard and Felice Delisle!

Fronard had Felice's hands grasped in his. He spoke low and urgently. Felice shook her head and Fronard dropped her hands. He said something else and at this Felice threw back her head and gave a silvery laugh. Fronard put a finger under her chin and lifted her face to his.

 He leaned forward and kissed Felice Delisle full on the lips.