The Housemaid's Scandalous Secret (25 page)

‘I am sorry for your situation, Lisette.’

Lisette smiled and embraced her friend. ‘You are very kind. Be happy, Faith, and don’t wait too long before you marry your Sandy.’

‘I won’t. Now you’d better go. John is waiting to take you to Buxton in the carriage.’

On arriving in Buxton, Lisette boarded the coach for the first stage of her journey. She intended travelling to Oxford to see Mr Sowerby and then on to London where she would book a passage on the first available ship bound for India. Clinging to a lifeline, she felt her life, which had slipped precariously since she had left Ross’s bed, right itself for a moment in the emptiness of her heart which held all her love for Ross Montague.

* * *

Ross arrived back hardly half an hour before sunset. His happiness shattered the moment Araminta told him what had transpired. Entirely unprepared for the announcement, incapable of any kind of rational thought, what he felt at that moment was raw, red-hot anger. The possibility that Lisette might leave at once had never occurred to him. Araminta saw the colour drain from his face and a white line show about his mouth.

‘What time did she leave?’

‘Midmorning. I’m sorry, Ross. There was nothing I could do. You know what Aunt Wilhelmina’s like. She draws blood. Why must she be so savage?’

‘That’s Aunt Wilhelmina. She’s never more righteous than when she’s in the wrong.’

‘But she isn’t, is she? At least not to her way of thinking. She saw Lisette as an obstacle that had to be removed and was adamant that she should go immediately.’

‘It wasn’t Aunt Wilhelmina’s business to take Lisette to task.’

‘She likes to hold all the reins. But Lisette had already decided to leave before that.’

Ross stared at his sister with eyes that were almost black with anger. ‘Leave? Why in God’s name did no one think to tell me?’

‘I wanted to, but Lisette was adamant that you should not be told.’

‘How did she seem when she left?’

‘Upset—although she tried not to show it,’ Araminta said quietly, remembering how she had wanted to go to Lisette and clasp her hands and bring comfort to her in some way, for her eyes had looked so deeply sad, entirely lost.

‘You say she intends to return to India?’

‘That’s what she told me.’

‘She cannot afford it. She does not have the means.’

‘Apparently her father left her a legacy—his lawyer wrote to her informing her of the fact. She no longer has any need to work for a living. Ross, what do you propose to do?’

‘Go after her,’ he said tersely. ‘It’s too late to do anything today.’

Araminta looked at him steadily. ‘It’s true, isn’t it? You and Lisette... You’ve fallen in love with her, haven’t you?’

Ross smiled bitterly. ‘Is that such a bad thing, Araminta? Or are you of the same opinion as Aunt Wilhelmina and consider her too far down the scale of things to marry the nephew of the Duke of Rothermere?’

‘I’m not sure that sort of thing matters much to me. I have your happiness at heart, you know that, and if you and Lisette love each other, then I am content.’

‘I would love her however, whatever, whenever, dear sister.’

‘As much as that.’

‘More than that.’

‘Then find her. Antony and I are to leave for Cambridgeshire the day after tomorrow. You no longer have to worry about me. Go after Lisette, find her and marry her and take her back to India. It’s what you both want.’

* * *

With the knowledge that Ross was to leave Castonbury the following morning, it was a subdued family that met in the drawing room before dinner, with only the duke absent. Seated next to her husband on one of the four huge blue damask sofas that matched the walls, Araminta, who was already missing Lisette and dreading the moment when she would have to bid farewell to her beloved brother, was noticeably quiet. It was inevitable that the dismissal of her maid was raised, and by Ross, who was furious that his aunt had taken it upon herself to dismiss a member of his household’s staff.

‘I’m sorry I did not get to speak to Miss Napier, Ross,’ Kate said, seated next to Phaedra. ‘I would have liked to meet her.’

‘I’m sure you would, Katherine,’ Mrs Landes-Fraser remarked, ‘and no doubt you would have made her your bosom friend, which would have been ridiculous—laughingly so—and given her ideas way above her station.’

‘In other words, Kate,’ Phaedra chipped in, ‘Aunt Wilhelmina is reminding you that ladies of our social position are allowed to visit the deserving poor, to take broth and blankets to the old and infirm who would be obligingly grateful, but not become friends with them.’

‘Precisely,’ her aunt uttered coldly, taking a sip of her dry sherry.

‘There’s more to charity work than feeding them broth, Aunt Wilhelmina,’ Kate said. She gave Ross a conspiratorial glance, noting that his jaw was clenched tight, his chin jutting and ominous as he struggled to remain calm. He bore little resemblance to the laughing, gentle man she remembered before he’d become a soldier and gone to India. Today, he was an aloof, icy stranger who was regarding Aunt Wilhelmina with glacial eyes and every word he spoke had a bite to it. ‘Did you meet Miss Napier before she became Araminta’s maid, Ross?’

‘We met in India. I saved her from drowning in a flooded river.’

‘How very romantic,’ Phaedra commented.

Ross omitted to mention that at the time he’d believed her to be a native girl and that he’d failed to recognise her when he’d encountered her in England.

Mrs Landes-Fraser sniffed disdainfully and tossed her head, the feathers in her purple turban swaying precariously. ‘An encounter she has clearly taken advantage of—a schemer if ever there was one.’

Fury ignited in Ross’s eyes and he had to struggle to subdue his temper. ‘A schemer—’ he retorted, then he bit back the rest of his words, clenching his jaw so tightly a muscle jerked in the side of his cheek. ‘You’re wrong about her. She’s not hard enough or brittle enough or ambitious enough to be accused of scheming. Lisette is without guile or greed. She is a rare jewel and I am going to marry her.’

‘Then you will be making a grave mistake,’ Mrs Landes-Fraser said in glacial tones. ‘In suitability she will be on a par with the maids in the kitchen.’

Ross’s eyes darkened with anger. ‘Say no more. Lisette will never be on a par in any way with the kitchen maids. She is the daughter of an academic, a highly intelligent man and a gentleman. My decision to marry her does not stem from a flash in the pan.’

‘Your ideas are quite unorthodox and I can see it’s no use arguing.’

‘No, it is not.’

‘Then I am most disappointed in you and I cannot pretend otherwise. I cannot imagine what Crispin will have to say.’

‘I don’t think Father will have much to say on the matter,’ Giles remarked, his expression grave. ‘At this present time his mind is taken up with other things—namely Alicia and his grandson. Having the child brought to Castonbury is his one thought and concern.’

Kate gave him a sharp look. ‘And is it true that Father intends to offer Alicia money in the hope that she will go away so he can raise the young boy himself?’ she asked.

‘So it would seem.’

‘That is quite atrocious and I, for one, will not stand for it. I cannot understand this irrational hostility he has for a woman he has never met—a woman whom I hope will speak for herself.’

‘Having met her I am sure she will,’ Ross remarked. ‘If my opinion of her is correct, she will not be parted from her child.’

‘I sincerely hope not and Father is quite mad to suggest such a thing.’

‘He has shown irrational tendencies of late, which, when all is considered, is understandable. I assure you I shall do all in my power to dissuade him from this action. I have written to Alicia inviting her here,’ Giles informed them. ‘You will be able to judge for yourselves when she arrives.’

‘Then I suppose all we can do is wait for her to turn up,’ Mrs Landes-Fraser said stiffly. ‘I don’t expect you will be here to welcome her, Ross.’

‘I shall be leaving tomorrow. I am content that Araminta is in good hands and that you, Giles, have things at Castonbury under control. As for Alicia—I shall write to you. I shall be most interested to hear how things turn out. As far as Lisette is concerned, I think I have made my intentions clear, Aunt Wilhelmina,’ Ross said. ‘I have thought deeply on it and I will not welcome any interference in my personal life. If anyone feels the need to try to dissuade me from forming any kind of alliance with her, then I will not listen. The matter should be left to me and Lisette—and fate.’

‘And Miss Napier...what does she say?’ she enquired.

‘I have yet to find that out.’

‘But the girl will be halfway to London by now.’

‘She is returning to India. If I fail to meet up with her on the road, then I shall do so in London.’

Epilogue

W
ith money of her own Lisette had purchased
some dresses that made her look less like a servant and more like a young lady
of substance.

She stood at the rails as the ship got under way and she
watched London slip away. She did not come up on deck again until they had
reached the English Channel. It was much the same as the ship she had sailed on
from India with a mixture of ordinary citizens and soldiers, but now the
soldiers on board were returning from leave to take up their duties with their
regiments.

The swaying deck beneath the creaking and flapping of canvas
was a patchwork of shadows and vivid orange-coloured light from the oil lamps. A
burst of laughter added itself to the noises of the night and Lisette turned to
see a group of men who had imbibed too much liquor over dinner and were in high
spirits. Smiling softly she turned away, drawing the shawl tighter about her
shoulders when the cool wind blew off the water. The sun had set and the moon
had risen, hanging pale and large above the shining levels of the Channel like
some enchanted Chinese lantern.

There were footsteps and someone stopped behind her. She
turned. It was Ross.

Lisette stared at him, feeling her heart give a joyful leap.
Her mouth was dry and her eyes were burning. She couldn’t believe that he was
standing there—handsome, dark and authoritative in his scarlet and gold
regimentals. His face was inscrutable, and after a long moment, with a groan he
pulled her roughly towards him, wrapping his arms around her, and with a raw
ache in his voice, he said, ‘You little fool. You adorable, beautiful little
fool. Did you really think you could escape me—that I would let you go?’

Lisette was startled. She had expected cold rage, for him to
chastise her for leaving him, not this. Never had she known a man so perplexing.
‘Ross! I think I must be dreaming and any minute I will wake up and find you
aren’t here.’

‘I assure you I am flesh and blood. If you love me, Lisette, at
least say you are glad to see me.’

The dryness was going out of her eyes, the moisture was filling
them. On a whisper she said, ‘I am glad to see you.’

‘Just glad?’

She swallowed before she could utter the words,
More than glad.

When the tears welled in her eyes, his arms went about her once
more, and with his mouth on hers he kissed her with heart-rending tenderness,
all the love that had been accumulating over the months he had known her
contained in that kiss.

Lisette swayed a little, for she felt the dizzying, heady aura
of his masculinity, his vigour, the strong pull which she now knew quite
positively was his love for her, wrap itself about her. While she had vainly set
herself against the carnal forces Ross inspired in her, something deeper,
something dangerously enduring, had been weaving its spell to bind them
inexorably together.

Raising his head Ross looked down at her upturned face. ‘I love
you, Lisette. I think I loved you the first time I saw you—I remember you were
wearing a pink, star-spangled sari.’

Catching her breath, Lisette raised her brows in amazement,
silently questioning, hoping.

‘When Araminta told me you had left Castonbury I went dead
inside. You see, I had come to realise just how much you mean to me. I have
never had any real feeling of love for anyone. I’ve had the experience of many
women, but that wasn’t love. Since I first set eyes on you, you had an effect on
me and I wanted you and needed you more than I imagined I would ever want or
need anyone in my life. You have caught me in the tenderest trap of all.’ On a
sigh with a whimsical smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, he admitted the
truth of it. ‘What we have transcends all else. You are a rare being, Lisette
Napier. We’ll never be separated again, my love. Do you hear me? Never.’

‘Thank you for saying that,’ Lisette whispered, an aching lump
beginning to swell in her throat. Lowering her eyes she raised his hand and
solemnly placed her lips against his fingers. ‘I love you, Ross. I love you as
much as it is possible for a woman to love a man. I have loved you for so long,
ever since you jumped into the river and saved my life, and when you kissed me
as I held on to you, it sealed what I felt for you in my heart.’ Raising her
eyes, she looked at him, and the gentle yielding and the love in their melting
amber depths defeated him. ‘Does that make you happy, Ross, to know I loved you
from the start?’

‘Happy? Bless you, my darling,’ he murmured hoarsely. ‘I don’t
deserve you.’

‘Yes, you do. How did you know...?’

‘Where to find you?’ She nodded. ‘I heard what happened and
that you’d had to face the wrath of Aunt Wilhelmina, for which I am deeply
sorry. Araminta told me you had left for London.’

‘I didn’t go to London. I went to Oxford to see my father’s
lawyer. My father left me a legacy—more than I could ever have expected, which
was why I decided to go back to India. I—I haven’t decided what I will do when I
get there....’

‘That’s not for you to worry about. Marry me, Lisette. Marry me
today—now. Be my wife.’ As she made to pull away from him, he held her tight.
‘What is it?’

From within the circle of his arms, she stared up at him in
wonder. ‘Marry you?’

Ross probed for an answer. ‘Do you understand, Lisette?’

‘Of course,’ she breathed. ‘You want to marry me, you
said.’

‘Isn’t that in the order of things when two people love each
other?’

‘And...you do love me?’

‘More than anything. I’m sorry, Lisette. I should have made my
intentions clear. If I had, perhaps you wouldn’t have left Castonbury without
seeing me.’

‘Yes, you should. But it wouldn’t have made any difference.
Your family would never accept me and I wouldn’t expect them to.’

‘I have told you before, Lisette, that I make my own rules. Do
you really think the difference in our backgrounds would make any difference to
the way I feel about you? That sort of thing is not important to me. Come, my
love, why are we playing this game? The past is past for both of us. There is
only the future.’

The thought of being his wife filled Lisette with many
contradictory emotions—shock, fear and a burgeoning excitement she didn’t dare
consider at the present moment.

‘I’ve had a lot of time to think on the journey down here and
then waiting to see which ship you’d book your passage on. Araminta told me what
you intended doing. I was disappointed that you didn’t tell me about your legacy
and that you meant to go back to India.’

‘I’m sorry, I knew you could never commit... Your family, Ross?
How do you think they’ll respond if I become your wife?’

‘I can’t let them govern my life. My life is my own and I must
live it how I wish. But if it makes you feel better, we have the blessing of
Araminta, Giles, Phaedra and Kate. Aunt Wilhelmina will no doubt never speak to
me again—but it can be borne, since she is not really a blood relation of mine.
You know she is my cousins’ aunt, not my own. My uncle, the duke, has his head
filled with dastardly plans of receiving his grandson at Castonbury, of
separating the mother from the child. There is no room in his life for anything
else at this present time.’

Lisette stared at him in disbelief, unable to understand the
duke’s cruelty. ‘He intends to remove the child from his mother?’ Ross nodded.
‘But...that is a wicked, cruel thing to do. He must be completely heartless. I
hope your cousin’s widow refuses to comply with his wishes.’

‘My uncle is a powerful man, Lisette. He will have his way,
although he has let the whole thing go to his head before it’s even been
settled.’

‘Then I pray your family will make him see how wrong it would
be. I have so much to learn about you, Ross. I’ll never be able to live up to
your position.’

He took her face tenderly between his hands and looked into her
eyes, as if the only peace he could know would come from locking gazes with her.
‘That’s a trivial thing, of no importance to me. I’d like to gamble all I’ve got
on the fact that I’ll be the envy of every man who meets you. Now, ours is going
to be the shortest courtship on record so I want your answer now. Lisette, will
you marry me—now, here on the ship? The captain is prepared to officiate this
very minute and Blackstock to bear witness if you accept. Yes or no?’

Looking at him now she no longer had any doubts. This man would
always see her and know her, whatever she was doing, whatever she was
wearing—his look had nothing to do with status or the concerns of the world. It
was as simple as that.

‘Yes,’ she whispered, and the ship and the world seemed to tilt
beneath her as he caught her up in his arms.

* * *

Ross led Lisette to the captain’s cabin where the captain, Will
Blackstock, his face split from ear to ear by a wide grin, and a first mate were
assembled. Lisette was astounded that Ross had already planned this. The time
had come upon her in such a rush that she wasn’t at all sure she was mentally
prepared for the nuptials.

Ross smiled into her eyes and, reaching out to take her hand,
pulled her against him. The unease that Lisette had felt a moment before
dissipated as her husband-to-be slid an arm around her waist and pressed his
lips against the hair above her temples. Her eyes were as brilliant as the
champagne they would drink afterwards. They glowed with some emotion which
seemed to be a mixture of satisfaction, hope, excitement and something else
known only to them.

‘Are we really going to be married?’ she asked wistfully.

‘Don’t you doubt it.’ Ross smiled gently.

The captain, a grey-haired, middle-aged man with kindly eyes,
stepped near.

‘You are Miss Lisette Napier?’ he queried with a friendly
smile.

‘I am, sir.’

‘And you are entering into this marriage of your own free will,
without coercion of any sort?’

The question was unexpected, and she glanced up at Ross in some
surprise. He squeezed her hand reassuringly. ‘Did you agree of your own free
will to marry me?’

Though Ross asked the question, it was to Captain Cookson that
she looked and answered in soft tones. ‘Yes, sir. Yes, I did.’

With a satisfied smile, Ross took her hand and held it tightly,
and facing Captain Cookson, they spoke the words that bound them together, the
words reverberating through Lisette’s heart. Lisette could feel her eyes misting
as she repeated her own vows, and she lowered her gaze to the strong, lean hands
that held hers in a gentle grasp.

* * *

After celebratory toasts and much ribald banter, Ross took
Lisette off to their cabin. Inside there was peace and semi-darkness. Only one
candle was lit on this nuptial night.

Lisette came to her husband in pale beauty, her face pale and
ethereal, her luminous eyes penetrating the very depths of his being. She paused
to stand before him, wide-eyed, trembling. Her breath was fragrant from
champagne and the freshness of her youth.

A great tenderness welled up in Ross and caught his throat. His
hand moved out and gently touched her cheek. She reached up and grasped his
hand. Moved by an impulse, he half turned her and lifted her in his arms. Her
arms went around his neck. She shook visibly, laying her head on his
shoulder.

‘We are both going home,’ Ross said. ‘Whatever happens when I
rejoin my regiment, I shall see that we are together always. Are you happy, my
love?’

Looking up at him her trembling ceased. ‘I have never been
happier in my life.’

He undressed her and caressed her and laid her down. His gaze
moved over her body, taking in its beauty. The soft breasts, the small waist and
slender hips and thighs did not move him to lust as it had before, but to a kind
of awed ecstasy. Instead of the urge to take her quickly, he felt the need to be
gentle and tender, to caress with body, mind and spirit. Every part of them drew
the other as if filling a vacuum, thrilling, vibrating. He loved her until they
were both sated and she closed her eyes and snuggled into his arms and
slept.

She was his wife, to have and to hold as long as they both
would live.

When Lisette awoke during the night with her husband’s arms
about her, she knew a sense of protectiveness and belonging such as she had
never dreamed possible. She seemed to be merging with him into the womb of
timelessness, in which there seemed to be no bodies but a single entity.

* * *

For Lisette the most surprising thing about sighting India at
last was how familiar everything seemed. The gently waving palms against the
lines of white sand and the splendid vivid blue sea—it was exactly as she
remembered. On the shore she saw the native porters and coolies, naked except
for a brief loincloth, baskets of spices and salt fish and wicker panniers full
of oranges and limes, and the familiar smells of garlic, coriander and hot oil
were wafted on the breeze. It was like finding herself back in a well-loved,
well-remembered dream.

Standing by the ship’s rails she looked at the beautiful
clipper ships, the sturdy merchantmen anchored alongside. The water rippled deep
gold in the sun, turning slowly with the sky to a lovely blue. She sighed and
there was no sadness in that sigh, only sheer pleasure and satisfaction. When
someone came to stand beside her she turned expectantly, her eyes gleaming in
anticipation.

Ross smiled lovingly down at her. She wore a gown of apple
green and silver grey. She looked lovely and elegant, her thick black hair
neatly netted beneath her bonnet.

‘Ready?’ he asked.

Tucking her hand through the crook of his arm, she smiled up at
him. ‘I am now.’

They both took a deep breath and prepared to leave the
ship.

Lisette knew she had come home.

* * * * *