Beneath the Dover Sky

by Murray Pura

  One other thing, Cornelia, before I forget. Dover Sky is about to become something of a hive. First, we have Lady Caroline Scarborough planning to move here for a while. She had a falling out with her father over something. What, I can’t even begin to imagine. She asked if she could room here temporarily. Mum, Dad, and I were quick to say yes. We love her and want to do anything we can to help. Lord Scarborough made it clear to Dad that while he remained at an impasse with his daughter, he was grateful we had opened our door to her.

  Then, as soon as Matthew found out Charles was going to be living at Dover Sky, he wanted to come and live here too. No amount of cajoling from his grandparents or his Aunt Victoria could convince him otherwise. After all, it brings him closer to Owen in Dover as well as to Emma’s boys in London. So he’s leaving Ashton Park. Poor Ramsay! Vic’s older boy will feel quite left out stuck up there at the Lancashire estate all by himself, I’m sure. Perhaps we can convince Victoria to let him board here at Dover Sky with the others.

  For whatever reason, Michael and Libby want to lodge at Dover Sky this coming winter after they arrive. Mother and Father are a bit put out by this, but Libby is quite settled on the matter. She says in her letters that she feels it would be Beneath the Dover Sky 149 best for her and Michael, but she doesn’t explain why. What’s up there, I wonder. All things will be made clear in due time.

  Until then, first things first. Caroline and Charles arrive in the morning, and I want to be up early and be ready for them. Terry is dining with us in the evening so it will be a full day. Things will probably never be the same at Dover Sky, Cornelia.

  “I love July. It really is my favorite month.”

  Catherine glanced at Caroline as they walked to the swan pond in the sunset. “It suits you.”

  “Thank you. Not much has suited me lately, so I’m glad summer does.” She bent over and picked a yellow dandelion that was vivid against her blue cotton dress. “I know they’re a weed, but the scent is wonderful.” As they walked she continued to hold it under her nose. “I enjoyed meeting your Leftenant Commander Fordyce. He’s a nice man.”

  “Yes, that he is.”

  “Do you see him often?”

  “No. He doesn’t get away from the Hood all that much. And, as you noticed, he has to head back to port while the night’s still young.”

  “Charles loves uniforms just as we ladies do.”

  Catherine laughed as she played with the string of pearls at her neck. “Terry’s quite a friend of the family.”

  “I see that. Do you mind my asking if the two of you have future plans?”

  “Plans?” Catherine stopped and pointed at a large white swan that had just unfolded its wings. “Isn’t it spectacular?”

  “What a beauty!” Caroline said as she pulled several pins out of her hair. They continued on their walk as she pushed the hairpins back in. “I don’t want to intrude, so forgive me if you think I’m being too forward.”

  “Not really. Terry and I haven’t talked much about it.”

  “I suppose you’re wondering what my being here is all about—my leaving Mum and Dad and coming to live with you?”

  “Yes, I was wondering but didn’t want to ask. I knew you’d share when you were ready.”

  “It has to do with men. Well, one man in particular. That’s why I was asking about your future plans. I hope they are going along better than mine.”

  They’d reached the benches by the pond. The water and reflections were emerald and scarlet in the last burst of sunlight. Catherine had a paper bag of bread crumbs, and she tossed them a few at a time into the water. Swans and ducks arrowed towards her from all directions.

  “To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t mind being married again.” Catherine handed the bag to Caroline and said, “Have a go.” She wiped her hands on her white summer dress. “There are two men who fascinate me right now. One the family would embrace if we were to wed. The other—well, a marriage to him could cause some problems.”

  Caroline finished tossing out the big pieces and then upended the bag into the pond. Bills snapped and water splashed. “That’s how it is with me. Papa threatened to cut me off. I don’t care really.”

  “What upsets your parents about him?”

  “They just don’t like him. He has a history with the family.” She smiled at several ducklings who had fought their way in to grab up some soggy morsels. “I hope you’ll let him visit me here at Dover Sky.”

  “He’s not Jack the Ripper surely? Of course he can call.”

  “I should tell you who he is first. Then you can give me your answer.” She tossed the dandelion into the pond. The birds stormed it. One swan took the dandelion up in its bill and quickly spat it out.

  “If you wish. I’m certain it won’t affect anything.”

  “No?” Caroline turned her blue eyes on Catherine. “The man is Tanner Buchanan.”

  “Buchanan? The man who—who took advantage of you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Kipp rescued you from him.”

  “Sir Kipp of the Round Table and his mighty deeds.” Caroline picked another dandelion and plucked its yellow flower to bits as she stared at the birds. “Now you understand why my parents have problems with him and me. And why the Danforths might.”

  Catherine looked at the ground. “Yes, quite.”

  Two days later Ben Whitecross landed at Dover Sky with Kipp’s son, Matthew, and his luggage. Matthew immediately ran off with Charles, who was waiting at the edge of the airstrip. Ben saw to the plane and eventually made his way to the manor where coffee and Danishes were waiting. Sitting back in his chair in the parlor, he immediately drank off half his cup of coffee. “Ah, splendid! Thank you, Holly. So where are Matt and Charles?”

  “At the pond with Harrison,” Holly replied as she patted Ben on the knee. “How was he on the flight down?”

  “Fine. I told Vic he’d be a flier, but she isn’t keen on any of the children getting into it. The planes are getting too sleek and fast for her.”

  “I’ll bet you can’t wait for Michael to show up,” chimed in Catherine.

  “I can’t. He’s been gone forever it seems. And with Kipp out of the picture, I’ve had to take on two new pilots to handle the work. None too soon because we’ll have our first monoplanes delivered in ’27. Business is booming all right, and I need help to keep up.”

  Holly poured tea into her cup. Her black hair was loose and hung past her shoulders. “What news do you have of Kipp?”

  “There was a letter just the other day for Matthew. Kipp can’t go into detail, of course, but there’s no doubt he’s in the thick of the fighting in Morocco. The problem is the letters are always months old.”

  Caroline sipped from her teacup and glanced through the lace-curtained window.

  “I don’t understand how the French got into it,” Catherine said as she leaned forward and clasped both hands in her lap. “The papers always said it was Spain and the Berbers who were mixing it up.”

  “The Berbers made the mistake of attacking a chain of French forts they felt were on their side of the mountains back in April of 1925. They killed over 1000 French troops. So France sided with Spain and sent in almost 300,000 men, including Kipp’s unit in the Legion. So he’s been fighting for over a year in the Rif, the mountain region the Berbers claim is theirs.”

  “Poor Mum. She has both Kipp and Robbie to worry about. And you too, Ben, with all your wild air racing.”

  “I’ve always wanted to be a Methodist missionary and go to Africa. Perhaps she’ll be pleased with that.”

  “You’re joking.”

  “I have, really. There’s a bit of Jeremy Sweet in me, along with a dash of jungle pilot.”

  “I doubt that will calm Mother’s nerves very much.”

  “If it’s any consolation, I think the fighting is coming to an end in Morocco. The Berbers will lay down their arms. Some guerrilla warfare is bound to continue though because not all the Berbers will surrender. Kipp
will have to keep his head down.”

  Holly frowned. “I can’t see Kipp crawling along the desert with a rifle, can you? Don’t you think the French would have him in the air?”

  Ben bit into a Danish. “The Legion doesn’t have an air force, but who knows? These are good. Did Norah bake them?”

  “A new girl actually,” replied Catherine.

  “Amazing. You’re running quite a little show down here now, aren’t you?” He smiled at Caroline. “You’re looking well, my lady.”

  She turned her eyes from the window. “Thank you. It’s good of your family to take me in.”

  “I’m sure you’ll bless us as much as we bless you.” Ben finished his coffee and stood up. “Have to be on my way. I need to stop in at our air base by London before I scoot back to Lancashire.”

  Catherine got to her feet and hugged him. “Tell Mum and Dad I miss them. I’m sorry they won’t be dropping down to Dover this summer.”

  “They thought it best to stay with Vic and me this year. But they’ll be here for a visit once Libby and Michael show up, you can count on that.”

  “How are Lady Grace and Sir Arthur?”

  “They’re holding their own. Sir Arthur falls asleep at the dinner table now, but he always has something exceptional to say once he wakes up. And Lady Grace hums hymns to herself and wanders about the rooms speaking with the dukes and duchesses who lived at Ashton Park centuries ago. Actually, it’s your father’s dogs I’m worried about. They’re both failing.”

  “Oh no! That would kill Dad to lose them.”

  “I hope they’ll live out the year, but I think not. Vic is trying to persuade him to pick up of a couple of puppies, but he won’t hear of it.” Ben kissed Holly on the cheek. “Cheers!” He took Caroline by the hand. “I hope you have a wonderful time here, Lady Caroline, and that everything falls into place for you. I can tell you that at every family devotional at Ashton Park Lord Preston prays for you and your parents.”

  “Thank you, Ben. Tell Lord and Lady Preston how very much I appreciate their hospitality. I will ring them up myself in a few days.”

  Just over an hour after Ben took off in his SPAD S.XX for London, a black Rolls Royce Silver Ghost pulled up in front of the manor. Skitt met the car in the drive and opened the door. Tanner Buchanan, Member of Parliament, stepped out. His chauffeur got out and grabbed two large suitcases from the boot before following the two men into the manor.

  Harrison tucked a cricket bat under his arm and led the way down the slope in the last of the evening light. “Every summer we lose one or two, Lord Tanner. We find the feathers where they pluck ’em and that’s it, except a boot print now and then.”

  Buchanan strode beside him, silver-topped walking stick in one hand. “If you’ve been trying to catch them at night and been unsuccessful why not hide out during the day?”

  “Nowhere to hide. Unless I used a drinking straw and crawled under the water. Never fear, we’ll catch ’em one day. Eventually they’ll slip up.” Harrison cleared his throat. “You’re welcome to the manor and no mistake, Lord Buchanan. You can stay the weekend, if you like. But it’ll have to be the first and last for you. If ever Lord Edward dropped in and found you here, I expect there’d be a brawl.”

  “We’re both gentlemen, Mr. Harrison. Gentlemen don’t brawl.”

  “They have disagreements.”

  “Something like that.”

  “Well, whatever you wish to call it, I think you’ll agree with me your presence here is a bit of a sticky wicket for the Danforth family.”

  “I most certainly agree with that, yes. I despise your employers, so I can understand how my visit to their Dover Sky estate could be viewed as an impertinence.”

  Harrison stopped walking. “They were your employers once. They treated you well enough.”

  Buchanan’s eyes hardened into a cold gray color. “Until I was accused of taking advantage of Lady Caroline. Did anyone stop to ask if she might have been the one who approached me?”

  “What d’ya mean?”

  “Did anyone ever wonder who had seduced who?”

  “Is that what you’re saying? That she led you astray? A strapping big bloke like you?”

  Buchanan grimaced as if he’d swallowed hot tea too quickly. “Strapping or not, her Medusa charms laid me low. And no one asked for my point of view, did they?”

  “Medusa charms? Is that how you see her? A woman with a hundred snakes writhing on her head who turned men to stone?”

  “I do see her that way, Harrison. Didn’t she seduce your Lord Kipp as well?”

  “What nonsense is this!”

  “Didn’t Caroline entice him into an…um…shall I say an indiscretion while his wife was dying? That’s the word going the rounds.”

  “It’s a lie!” Harrison’s face was bloodred. “Not another word on those lines or lord or no lord, I’ll lay you flat.”

  “Will you?” Buchanan smiled slowly. “I’d like to see you try.”

  Harrison stopped, laid down his cricket bat, and turned to face Lord Buchanan. “Why do you talk this way about Lady Caroline when I’ve heard you have every intention of marrying her? And isn’t that why you’ve come to Dover Sky? To call on her?”

  “Why, it’s a marriage of convenience, Harrison. I’m hoping my wicked little Medusa will destroy Lord Kipp for his great insult against her. And she allows me closer access to the Danforths.”

  “That’s despicable.”

  “I despise Kipp Danforth for striking me during a dispute in France. I despise the Danforths for sacking me without permitting me to speak a word in my defense. I despise Edward simply for being a Danforth and being in the wrong political party. So Lady Caroline and I shall get back at you all. I will destroy both father and son in the House of Commons and make them look the proper fools they are. And my wicked little Medusa shall destroy Lord Kipp. She’ll turn him to stone.”

  “You are a madman. He doesn’t care for her anymore.”

  “Ah, but he does, he does. She’s convinced of it. And equally convinced the day will dawn when he gets over his grief at his wife’s death—such a pity, so beautiful a woman—and his guilt at betraying her by seeking solace in Caroline’s arms and kisses—”

  “Lord Buchanan! I swear by all that’s holy you’d better quit now!”

  Buchanan grinned but his eyes remained hard and flat. “He’ll come to her again. He’ll plead with her to hold him, to love him. She’ll toy with him a while, get him well into her lair. Then she’ll have at him and make sure all of England knows it—the newspapers, the aristocracy, the king, the church, members of Parliament, everyone. The scandal will break the Danforth clan, absolutely break it.”

  Tanner laughed harshly as he imagined it. “The Conservative Party will be done with them, the Church of England will be done with them, Buckingham Palace and the nobles will be done with them. There will be photographs of the seduction, as many as anyone could like. And to top it all off, Lady Caroline will claim rape. Why, it will ruin Lord Preston’s business contracts as well…and I hope bankrupt the airline. The Danforths will become paupers, swilling gin by the Liverpool docks and begging for bread in East London. How I’ll gloat!”

  Buchanan expected the punch Harrison threw and easily blocked it with his hand. The second one he stopped with his arm. Then he struck Harrison in the stomach and hit him with his walking stick. Tanner lifted Harrison’s chin off the grass with the toe of his boot and tapped Harrison’s head none too softly with the silver top of his cane. “You’re lucky I’m not going to report your impertinence to your employers, Harrison. Next time I won’t go so easy on you, old man.

  “I don’t mind telling you all of it. Who are you going to go to? How are you going to stop me? I’ll make my speeches in the House and tear Lord Preston and Lord Edward to pieces. Caroline will marry me and wait in her room for Kipp to come back from his war in the Rif and look for her. Be a mother to my son, he’ll plead. Be a wife for my manor. She’ll laugh a
nd turn her Medusa head on him and that, old man, will be that. Finis, as the late Christelle Danforth might have said, God rest her soul.”

  Harrison grit his teeth. “You’re mad.”

  “Not at all. It’s merely politics, Mr. Harrison. Politics and pleasure.” He turned and walked back toward the manor as the sun disappeared.

  “Cathy? Are you up?”

  “I’m just brushing out my hair. What is it?”

  Holly stepped inside Catherine’s bedroom and closed the door, leaning her back against it. She was in a maroon dressing gown. “My husband came up from the pond this morning with a huge bruise on his stomach, a cut on his face, and a lump on his head. His knuckles are bruised too. He said it was poachers, but they got away. I don’t believe him.”

  Catherine put down her brush. “That’s terrible! Is he going to be all right?”

  “Physically he’ll be sore a few days and probably just shake it off. But behind his eyes I see something more. I don’t know what’s going on, but I am certain Lord Buchanan is part of it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I know Buchanan went down to the pond last night with Harrison. I think they had words that led to blows exchanged. Harrison won’t budge on his story, so I thought I’d engage Tanner Buchanan in conversation to see if I can discern the truth. He’s a brute, but I’m a sly wildcat who might just get the better of him.”

  “Holly—”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t bring a scandal down on Dover Sky. But my intuition tells me he might try.”

  “How can you be so sure it wasn’t poachers?”

  “Because I went down there this morning. There were no boot prints in the muck at the edge of the pond or in the bushes. There were no signs of the fight Harrison claimed took place on the shore. No tracks leading away, no feathers, no dead swans. And no missing birds either. I counted to make sure. But a ways up from the pond there was some blood on the grass. And a handkerchief Harrison always carries in the pocket of his corduroy jacket was on the ground, also bloodstained. He used it to wipe the cut above his right eye, he says. And the welt on his face is narrow—just about the width of a walking stick.”