“I see. I certainly do not intend to do any of those things. I have altogether broken with Lady Vanston, as I said before, and I am determined that Mama will be consigned to the North Tower or installed elsewhere.”
“You cannot lock her in!” Aspasia exclaimed, horrified.
“No, but I can make her a gift of a charming little house somewhere not too far away if she will not consent to remain in her own quarters – but not too close either; the North Tower is perhaps too near.”
“Can you? Or will you be able to do so only once you have married Letty and have access to the fortune of which I knew nothing until today, but which your mother seems certain she will bring with her?”
He smiled. “My stepmother married my father in the belief that he was exceedingly well off. She soon discovered this was by no means the case and was, so far as I understand, infuriated; she felt she had been deceived, although I do not believe it would have been easy for a man such as my father – well known to most people – to pull the wool over her eyes in such a manner. She brought with her a sizeable dowry which she proceeded to spend on Stonegate; that is why it is so excessively luxurious. My father spent the money and ran up the debts but it was in response to her demands and perhaps to his perception of having disappointed her by not having much himself. The London house, in which she was far less interested and has hardly ever visited, is positively shabby by comparison. As a consequence of her fortune having been squandered on furnishings, what you might call the bones of the Castle have not been well maintained. She is, as you have no doubt noticed, a woman who likes to have her own way – and have it she did with my father. Her dislike of me is due, I surmise, to the fact that I am not he and refuse to give in to her whims; she is also irritated by the fact that I stand between Archibald and the Earldom.
“I have told you all this so that you will have some idea where the Meridews stand financially. We are not rich, but we are not paupers either and I mean to increase the profit from the land now that I intend to spend more time here.”
“I see. Forgive me for questioning you so minutely, my lord.” She was still not entirely convinced by his explanation, which struck her as disingenuous.
“It is perfectly understandable; I appreciate you are here to look after Letitia’s interests and my reasons for making my offer are undoubtedly germane.”
“Yes,” she agreed. She cast a quick look at the other two, both of whom appeared to be fast asleep, the Countess with her mouth open and a small dribble making its way down her chin, Letty with that youthful innocence and flushed cheek that is peculiar to the very young and cannot – surely – be assumed.
“I should think it unlikely that he would disburse much – if anything – if she chose to marry Lord Archibald instead,” she pointed out. “He is buying the title, not the man.”
He nodded. “Since you have been so blunt with me, Mrs Ripley, I hope you will not object if I am equally direct with you?”
She nodded, wondering what was coming.
“You said earlier that since your husband disappeared you have survived on a small competence left to you by your grandmother. I presume your father cut you off when you eloped?”
“My father was already dead. It was my brother – Letty’s father – who cut me off. Now I realise that Mr Ripley may have hoped that I would come with a generous portion; I am afraid that at the time I was naïve enough to believe he loved me. I wonder whether his disappointment over the money may have coloured his opinion of me.”
“It sounds as though he took a gamble and lost but I do not suppose he would have thought it worthwhile if he had not found the cards attractive, so to speak.”
She smiled. “But they always are, are they not, until you turn them over and see that you have nothing above a nine?”
He laughed softly but said, “Tell me about Mr Ripley: what sort of a man was he, did he lay claim to any family and how did you meet him?”
Aspasia retailed the story of how in fact it had been her mother who had, as it were, picked him up in the haberdashers’, how handsome she had thought him and how flattered she had been that a gawky sixteen-year-old could steal a march on her beautiful and flirtatious mother.
“In truth, I am surprised that my brother consented to take Letty back after she ran away; of course, by the time he found out about my flight, I was already married and it was too late for him to do aught but disinherit me.”
“Perhaps he would not have done if I had not interfered, galloped off like a hero and brought her back before the end of the day! He could hardly refuse to take her when I thrust her into his arms!”
“What would you have done if he had?” she asked curiously.
“I do not know; at the time it never occurred to me that I was not doing the right thing. It seems to me now, with hindsight, that my action in rescuing her was a grave mistake which has done no one any good.”
“You thought you were returning her to the bosom of a loving family?”
“Yes; and I thought she would soon forget Archibald and eventually, when she was old enough to be presented, make a good marriage and live happily ever after. It was partly because I thought her excessively young to be making such far-reaching promises - and to give her a chance to forget him - that I bought my brother a commission, but it was mainly because I thought it would give him something else to think about. I cannot tell you how dreadfully cut up he was by my interference, how he swore I had ruined his life, that he would never love another and so on – and on - until I thought I might strangle him. Buying him a commission seemed the only solution. Our father was still alive then, although he was not well. We discussed the matter and it was in fact he who paid for it although it was I who arranged it.”
“I see – and what was her ladyship’s attitude at the time?”
“She was furious – swore that both Papa and I wanted to kill Archibald and promised never to forgive either of us, especially if anything happened to him. She never has forgiven me.”
“She did not seem to know about Letty,” Aspasia said.
“No, she never knew her name; I think, although he spent most of his time before he went to Europe weeping and gnashing his teeth, Archibald managed to withhold it from her. She knew there had been an unsuitable female of some sort but did not know the true story – did not know that there had been an aborted elopement. I think she probably thought he had become involved with a light-skirt.”
“One might have expected her to be grateful to you for rescuing him from such an entanglement as that,” Aspasia suggested.
“One might – if one were not well acquainted with her,” the Earl replied with a humorous little twist of his lips. “She railed against the dreadful female and she railed against me for upsetting her son. I don’t think she even knew that I had been obliged to knock him down to wrest Letitia from his grasp. In any event, the Castle echoed with their sobs and moans, Papa took to his bed and died just before Bussaco, so that Archibald did not know of his death until he returned home. With both of them apparently dead, I found myself trying to comfort Mama as best I could.”
“It must have been abominable,” Aspasia said with feeling.
“It was; I can perfectly understand Letitia’s desire to escape from her stepmother – I would I could escape from mine.”
“I see; well, my lord, I have no wish to add to your burdens or to the volume of criticism which you seem to have endured for many years, but it is not so bad for you because Stonegate is your property; you are its lord and there is nothing to prevent you from sending her ladyship away.”
“Nothing but my conscience! I feel sorry for her and hesitate to banish her at this stage of her life when she is growing old and frail.”
“She doesn’t look very frail to me,” Aspasia said unsympathetically. “She does not seem to find it difficult to walk and, although you say she prefers to eat nursery food, she made a good luncheon and a good dinner last night. If she pretends to be weak, I daresay
it is only in order to elicit sympathy and prevent you from sending her away.”
“Her frailty is more in her mind than her body,” he said. “She was always a difficult woman – demanding and volatile – but of late she has become quite excessively disagreeable, snapping at everyone for something or another with which she disagrees and then a moment later snapping at them for the opposite reason. She has never liked me but she was used to dote upon Archibald and yet she shows very little sympathy for him now, indeed she almost recoils from him, which I know distresses him. That is why he left and went to his own house – and why he is reluctant to return.”
Aspasia thought that his lordship’s sympathy did him credit, but it remained her opinion that, if her ladyship was so demanding, she would very likely not be happy anywhere and it seemed to her ridiculous that both the Meridew men should be rendered miserable by her presence. She must have conveyed this sentiment by her expression for, when his lordship spoke again, it was to defend the old woman again.
“You must not think that I mind her sharp tongue for myself – I have grown accustomed to it – but I do mind for Archibald, for whom it is new. That is why I did not demur when he insisted on moving out: either I must send her away or he must go and, although he is not at all well, he is young and has another house; she does not. There is no dower house at Stonegate; it has been usual for the dowager to live in the North Tower whence she can easily join the rest of the family when everyone wishes it but can keep to her own quarters when she wants to be quiet.”
“When everyone wishes it,” she murmured provocatively.
He smiled but did not reply because the carriage went over a slight declivity in the road which woke the sleepers, who reacted in such a similar fashion that Aspasia and the Earl found their eyes meeting in a moment of humorous understanding.
Chapter 20
The Countess groaned, coughed and, becoming aware of the dribble, sat up with an angry flush and wiped it away with a small lace handkerchief.
“Can he not look where he is going?” she exclaimed. “If he continues to drive in such a fashion I would not be surprised if we were to be tipped out! Pray speak to him, Frederick!”
Letty sat up more gracefully, yawned like a kitten and rubbed her eyes childishly.
“Where are we?”
“Nearly home,” his lordship told her.
“Home?” she asked crossly. “You mean Stonegate? It’s not my home!”
“I hope it will be,” the Earl replied, his eyes meeting Aspasia’s again.
“Well, perhaps; I don’t like my home either,” she acknowledged.
“Did you like Amberstone?” Aspasia asked.
“No, it’s horrid: dirty, dark and dreadfully lowering,” she responded before adding thoughtfully, clearly picturing a much improved abode in her mind’s eye, “although I think it could be quite pretty if an effort were to be made to clean it up and redecorate.”
“I’m sure Archibald would be grateful if you were to take its refurbishment in hand,” the Earl suggested gently, still looking at Aspasia.
“Well, it’s nothing to do with me!” Letty snapped. “I should think he’d be insulted to have me telling him what to do.”
“On the contrary, I should imagine he would be delighted to have you take such an interest in his affairs,” Stonegate responded.
“It’s a hideous house,” the Countess interrupted, not willing to let an opportunity for an insult to pass even if its intended recipient was absent. “It’s my opinion it ought to be pulled down before it falls around his ears.”
“A pity Archibald isn’t able to have the benefit of your judgment, Mama,” the Earl said. “He might set its demolition in train at once.”
“Oh, he knows I don’t care for it. I can’t think why his father left it to him because it’s practically in ruins and he didn’t leave enough money for it to be set to rights. I suppose it was your influence, Frederick. I must say I think it iniquitous that he didn’t and that you haven’t made up for it. How can he be expected to live in such a pigsty?”
“Oh, I hope he won’t knock it down!” Letty exclaimed, looking quite upset. “It is the most romantic house!”
There was a pregnant pause while Aspasia and the Earl tried not to meet each other’s eyes, failed and were obliged to cover their mouths with their handkerchiefs, and the Countess stared, open-mouthed, at the girl.
“You are a most contrary female,” she observed when she had recovered slightly. “A moment ago you pronounced it ‘horrid’.”
“Well, yes, but the most romantic houses are horrid until someone has paid proper attention to them. All it needs is a coat of paint, several layers of polish and – I think, I really do think – some new curtains.”
“Do you think romantic persons also seem horrid at first?” the Earl asked curiously.
“Very likely; it’s about transformation, you see.”
“Of course,” the Earl murmured, fascinated, while Aspasia said at the precise same moment, “Beauty and the Beast.”
Letty jumped as though stung and seemed suddenly to come to a realisation of what she had said, what she had implied and what her aunt and her betrothed had concluded.
“But it doesn’t in the least apply to Archie,” she said, “because I fell in love with him as soon as I laid eyes upon him.”
“Yes,” Aspasia said, now openly teasing, “but don’t forget that the Beast had been a handsome young man until the wicked witch cast a spell upon him. It so happened that you first saw him before that happened. All you have to do now is break the spell.”
“Pray don’t be idiotic, Aunt!” Letty exclaimed, frowning. “I don’t fear Archie or – or find him repugnant – I am simply indifferent. And, in any event, his ugliness cannot possibly have been caused by a spell; it was the work of a sword!”
“You are a mean, shallow girl,” the Countess said. “And you are a liar too because you were repulsed when you first saw him. I was watching you.”
Letty flushed a deep, uncomfortable red at this accusation but rallied to reply, “Just at first perhaps; who would not? His face is truly horrifying – I should think it would frighten children. But I got over that and found that I didn’t even feel sorry for him so I know I don’t care any more.”
“I think you’ve explained yourself quite enough,” Aspasia said severely. “If you go on in such a selfish vein you will give your betrothed a disgust of you. Lord Archibald acquired his injuries fighting bravely for our country and you should not only extend your sympathy to him but also admire his actions – and thank God that men are brave enough to go to war.”
This speech did nothing to reconcile Letty either to her former love or to his mother, but it did make her a little more wary of her aunt who had, until this moment, shown her nothing but kindness and sympathy.
“I apologise,” she said unexpectedly. “Of course he has been brave – and I admire that tremendously – but I cannot pretend that I love him just because he has shown courage on the battlefield!”
“No, of course you cannot,” Stonegate said gently. “It is just that your realisation that you no longer loved him came at the same moment as you saw the alteration in his appearance. I admire your honesty – pray do not think for a moment that I would have you any other way – but it might have been more tactful not to have admitted straight away that your sentiments had changed.”
“Would you have had me deceive him?” she cried, flushing again, this time with anger.
“No, no, not at all,” the Earl murmured, clearly wishing he had not spoken and beginning to look around for support. He encountered it in Aspasia who, once again, met his eyes for a long moment during which a great deal was communicated on both sides.
“I am persuaded you could not help your immediate recoil,” she said, “but I just wonder if you could not, somewhere in your heart, have considered how he might feel and done something to try to alleviate the blow. His lordship did not mean that you should have pre
tended you still held romantic feelings towards him, but a little more sympathy would not have gone amiss!”
“Of course I am sorry for him,” Letty responded. “But – well, it is a horrid shock for me too! After all, I have loved him for six years and now I find I do not!”
“Yes, but do you not think that realisation must be worse for him than for you?” her aunt asked, beginning to wonder what beat in her niece’s breast which others called a heart.
“Yes, I daresay it is,” she replied, frowning in an effort to apply her mind as her aunt had advised. “But I cannot know what he is feeling, can I? Not really, truly – I can only tell what I am feeling.”
Aspasia blinked, startled by this surprisingly perceptive observation, and once again her eyes went to the Earl and encountered a similar reaction.
Before either of them could think of a suitable reply, however, the Countess declared, “You are the most selfish girl I ever met!”
“Well, perhaps I am!” Letty said. “But I cannot help it although I can see that you all hate me!”
“We do not,” Aspasia said hastily before anyone else could say anything unhelpful. “We – at least I – hold you in strong affection. The thing is, my dear, you are very young and very inexperienced; you have led an excessively sheltered life and in truth you have not received that sympathy and understanding as a girl which might have helped you to extend it towards others. I am persuaded you will learn to enter into other people’s feelings as you grow older. I believe such a – a feat of the imagination may come more naturally to some than to others but there is no reason why you cannot learn. It is merely a question of trying to conceive what it would be like to be Archie!”
“But he is a man! How can I?” Letty cried.
“I do not think that men are so very different from us,” Aspasia said gently.
Letty stared at her, clearly bewildered, and Aspasia, thinking that being a chaperone seemed to require a great deal more of her than she had anticipated, closed her own mouth, leaned forward and patted her niece’s hand.
Letitia Or The Convalescent Heart Page 17