Susan had a complicated role to play during the festivities. She had known the truth about Charles before any of the rest of them, but she could not show that she knew, since she had learned it in bed with John Bellasis. And so she had to gasp and cheer and clap her hands in amazed delight, all the while knowing that Anne, seated across the table from her, was fully aware that Susan was pretending. But things would be easier from now on. They would not discuss the revelations of Susan’s past, nor the true origins of the child she carried, nor anything else that endangered the happiness of the younger Trenchard couple. If Susan strayed again, if she made Oliver unhappy, then things might be different, but Susan would not stray. She had gone to the cliff edge once, and she did not intend to do so again. Her mother-in-law would not betray her, and she would not betray Oliver. She could make it work, and she would.
As for Peregrine Brockenhurst, the news had entirely remade him. He did not fully understand why Caroline had kept him in the dark when she’d first discovered this young man was Edmund’s son, but he didn’t care. He saw his wife through the eyes of reverence. He was in awe at her grasp of how the world worked, at her capacity to control and command. Now his life had a point again, managing the estates had a point again, and his family had a future once more. He could almost feel the energy come surging back through his body. He was eager—a sensation so strange that he had difficulty identifying it when it first began to manifest itself once more. He did feel a slight twinge of pity for John, who had banked everything on the card of his inheritance only to turn it over and find it was a joker. He would consult Charles and see what could be done. In fact, Charles would know what to do about everything. Of that he was quite confident. Yes. He would leave it up to Charles.
The evening was over and the party made its way down into the hall. There was some idea that James’s carriage might take Charles and Mrs. Pope back to Holborn, but Charles wouldn’t hear of it. He’d find a hansom cab easily enough, he said, and that would be more than sufficient. As they reached the bottom of the great staircase, Maria lingered near him, and when they were exchanging good-byes Caroline Brockenhurst spoke. “If he really means to travel home in a cab, then why not go outside with him, my dear, to look for one?”
The others were rather startled that this suggestion should come from one to whom appearances were all, but Maria stepped forward and took Charles’s arm before his grandmother could change her mind. As they left the building, Lady Templemore aimed a slightly questioning look at her hostess, but Caroline was unrepentant. “Oh, I don’t think anything too terrible will come of it,” she said.
To which Anne replied, “Nothing terrible will come of it at all.”
And that was more than enough to suggest to the assembled company the alliances and differences that were to determine the way the family would manage itself over the coming decades.
Out on the pavement, the lovers scanned the square, waiting for an empty vehicle. Maria broke the silence. “Can I put my hand in your pocket? I’m so cold. I shouldn’t have come out without a wrap.” And of course he stripped off his coat and wrapped her in it, and soon her hand, entwined with his, was warm inside the pocket.
“Does this mean I can come to India with you?” she asked.
He thought for a moment. “If you want. We can make it our wedding journey, if your mother won’t object.”
“If she tries to object, she’ll have to deal with me.”
He laughed. “You must think me very stupid. That I suspected nothing.”
But Maria wouldn’t have that. “Certainly not. To the pure in mind all things are pure. You have no taste for intrigue, so you wouldn’t have suspected it in others.”
He shook his head. “Mr. Trenchard’s interest was perhaps explicable. He was a friend to my father, or so I thought; maybe I can be forgiven for accepting his help without questioning it. But Lady Brockenhurst? A countess suddenly feels the urge to invest in the business of a young man she hardly knows? Wasn’t that a clue for someone less blind than I?” He sighed at his own inadequacy.
“Nonsense,” said Maria. “All the world knows it is better to be gullible than suspicious.” And with that she tilted her face up toward his, and he had the great pleasure of planting a kiss on her lips. They did not know it then, but he would love her with the same passion until he died. Which is quite enough to make a happy ending.
Later that night, Anne was seated at her dressing table while Mrs. Frant was brushing out her hair. James and Oliver were still downstairs in the library, enjoying a glass of brandy, and Charles had returned to Holborn with Mrs. Pope. Before they parted, the plan was made for them to move into Brockenhurst House as soon as they chose, and so this part of their story was almost settled. Anne did not entirely envy Mrs. Pope’s probable future as a sort of unpaid companion to the Countess, but at least her life would not be lonely.
“I think we should start looking for a new lady’s maid,” Anne said. Mrs. Frant had been a lady’s maid in the past and she knew what she was doing, but it was too much work for one person to combine the two roles, as they both knew.
“I’ll make inquiries in the morning, ma’am. Leave it to me.” Mrs. Frant had no intention of leaving it to Mrs. Trenchard, who had selected that nasty, dishonest Miss Ellis when she was left to her own devices. Nobody like that would get past Mrs. Frant. “And may I make a suggestion, ma’am?”
“Please.”
“Might we confirm Billy in his post as butler? He’s a little young, I suppose, but he knows the house and Mr. Trenchard’s ways, and he’s certainly eager to be allowed to try.”
“If you think he could manage…” Anne was rather surprised that Mrs. Frant would want a man in his thirties in the position. “But wouldn’t it place more responsibility on your shoulders?”
“Don’t worry about that, ma’am.” Mrs. Frant was fully aware that by obtaining the position for Billy, he would be forever in her debt. If she controlled the butler and chose the lady’s maid, her life would be a good deal simpler. And that was what Mrs. Frant wanted. A simple life, with her own good self in control of it. “But of course, it’s entirely up to you, ma’am,” she added. And with that she placed the brush down on the dressing table. “Will that be all?”
“Yes,” said Anne. “Thank you. Good night.”
So the housekeeper closed the door behind her, leaving Anne to her thoughts. She would accept Mrs. Frant’s suggestions, in the hope that things would settle down. Then they could just get on with their lives.
It was late, and a slight drizzle had started to fall as John Bellasis made his way from the dirty backstreet restaurant to his dreary, cheap hotel. He had left his man, Roger, to unpack and arrange his rooms as well as he was able, but they were a sad substitute for his set at Albany, modest as it had been. He doubted Roger would stay for long. He was too far from his old friends and haunts, and for what? What would exile in Dieppe ever bring him? What was John doing there, for that matter? He couldn’t believe that he was safe. Just because they had not set anyone on him at once, as he had feared they might, did not mean they would let things rest forever. He must keep moving, that was the answer, and never stay too long in one place. But how was he to manage? What was he to live on? Idly, he found himself wondering what was the French for moneylender.
Then the drizzle turned to rain and he broke into a run.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Educated at Ampleforth and Magdalene College, Cambridge, Julian Fellowes is a multi-award-winning actor, writer, director, and producer. As creator, sole writer, and executive producer of the hit television series Downton Abbey, Fellowes has won three Emmy Awards.
Fellowes received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Gosford Park (2002). His work was also honored by the Writer’s Guild of America, the New York Film Critics’ Circle, and the National Society of Film Critics for Best Screenplay. Other writing credits for film include Piccadilly Jim (2004), Vanity Fair (2004), Young Victoria (2009), The Tour
ist (2010), Romeo & Juliet (2013), and the upcoming three-part drama Doctor Thorne for ITV. Fellowes also directed the award-winning films Separate Lies and From Time to Time. Fellowes wrote the books for the Tony-nominated stage production of Mary Poppins and School of Rock—The Musical, which opened on Broadway in December 2015 and is written and produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Fellowes has authored two novels: the international bestsellers Snobs (2005) and Past Imperfect (2008/2009).
Julian Fellowes became a life peer in 2011. He lives in Dorset and London with his wife, Emma.
EDITORIAL CONSULTANT: IMOGEN EDWARDS-JONES
An international bestselling author, columnist, and scriptwriter, Imogen Edwards-Jones is probably best known for the Babylon series of books, which sold over one million copies in the UK and went on to inspire the BBC1 hit TV series Hotel Babylon. She lives with her husband and two children in west London.
HISTORICAL CONSULTANT: LINDY WOODHEAD
Lindy Woodhead is the author of two acclaimed books, War Paint: Madame Helena Rubinstein and Miss Elizabeth Arden, Their Lives, Their Times, Their Rivalry (2003) and Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge (2007), which was adapted by Andrew Davies into the hugely successful Sunday night drama series Mr. Selfridge. Made by ITV Studios and coproduced with Masterpiece-PBS in the United States, Season One of Mr. Selfridge opened in January 2013 to an audience of 8.5 million. In June 2016, the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, will stage the world premiere of the musical based on War Paint. Married with two sons, Lindy divides her time between Oxfordshire and London and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
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CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
1 Dancing into Battle
2 A Chance Encounter
3 Family Ties
4 At Home in Belgrave Square
5 The Assignation
6 A Spy in Our Midst
7 A Man of Business
8 An Income for Life
9 The Past Is a Foreign Country
10 The Past Comes Back
11 Inheritance
About the Author
Newsletters
Copyright
Copyright
Copyright © The Orion Publishing Group Limited 2016
Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Cover design by The Orion Publishing Group
Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First ebook edition: July 2016
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JULIAN FELLOWES’S is an unregistered trademark of Julian Fellowes and is used by Grand Central Publishing under license.
BELGRAVIA is a registered trademark of The Orion Publishing Group Limited.
Imogen Edwards-Jones acted as an editorial consultant on the writing of Julian Fellowes’s Belgravia.
Lindy Woodhead acted as a historical consultant on the writing of Julian Fellowes’s Belgravia.
ISBN 978-1-4555-4119-5
E3-20160608-JV-PC
Julian Fellowes's Belgravia Page 41