“No!” Elaine exclaimed. “Father, you will not.”
He looked at her pleadingly, but then sighed and shook his head. “No, I suppose I must not, not when you call me ‘father’ in that tone of voice at any rate. I warn you, Captain, the girl is a harridan.”
Lord Derring spoke then. “Well, we surely must celebrate this marvelous discovery in some way. It is James’ and my childhood’s dearest adventure come true. Miss Howard, you are to be congratulated on your cleverness.”
“It was Hastings, who thought it might be a heart. It would never have been found without her.”
“Then you are both to be congratulated,” the Captain interjected, smiling warmly at Mary. “Carney, perhaps some tea would be in order?”
They put the heart into the drawer in the table beside Mr. Howard’s wing back chair and ordered tea, begging Mrs. Fraidy to send up as well a selection cakes or scones, whatever she could come by in a hurry. And finally, seated around the small parlor, partaking of a handsome tea, they began to discuss what was to be done next.
“It is a pity that it is so ugly,” Anne said. “One would prefer for one’s family treasure to be an object of beauty that could be displayed with pride and affection.”
“I suppose that is why our ancestors had it painted into their portraits, for indeed, it didn’t look nearly so vulgar when worked discretely into the background of a painting,” Captain Howard said.
“Well that is a custom better left in the past,” Mr. Howard said. “There’s a fortune tied up in this thing, and it is my opinion that we must make haste to liberate it.”
“It seems a pity to do so,” Elaine said a little sadly. “It was to prevent just such a thing that our Great-Great Grandfather Edward Lambert Howard first concealed it. I feel as if we are betraying him in some way. I am sure he wanted it to be passed down through the years as a reminder of our family history.”
“Nonsense!” her father replied. “What do we care for what one self-conceited ancestor thought all those many years ago. You may be sure that other ancestors had quite different notions. Well, we know they did, for it was from another self-conceited ancestor that he first concealed it. And we know for a certainty that the original Howard to own the thing, Kathryn Howard, lost no time at all in disposing of it. As for that young page who escaped with the talisman and his life, well he surely would have valued it more for its potential to restore Lynnfield than as a clumsy memento of a very uncomfortable time in his life. Remember Lynnfield has been in our family for several centuries longer than this piece of trumpery.”
“I suppose it is true that if our forbears had wanted to prevent the talisman from ever leaving the family, they could have entailed it,” The Captain said.
Elaine smiled. “Perhaps, knowing the Howard weaknesses, they knew it would do no good in any case. Someone would be bound to sell it eventually, or gamble it away, and if it had been entailed, that person would have merely substituted a heart decorated with colored paste.”
A silence fell abruptly upon the group. Mr. Howard fumbled at the drawer and pulled out the talisman heart, and the Captain rose to inspect it more closely. They took turns hefting its weight, and then the Captain took a butter knife from the tea tray and scratched on it with one of the protruding diamonds. He smiled and displayed the mark on the flat blade of the knife to the others.
Mr. Howard gave a sigh of relief that was echoed around the room. “This is no paste bauble. Really, Elaine, you should have more consideration. I believe my poor heart fairly leapt to my throat.”
He turned to the Captain, “I do hope you’ve no objection, Captain, to the notion of parting with this great ugly thing in order to relieve Lynnfield of its mortgages?”
“No, I’ve no objection, although I can’t help but appreciate the irony of fulfilling our poor ‘self-conceited’ ancestor’s worst expectations and proving him right to have hidden it so carefully all those years ago. Still, the alternative, which would leave Lynnfield mortgaged, is even less appealing. I believe we must part with it, if it can truly be done with honor.”
“You’re a downy one that’s for sure. Well, I know pound dealing is what you like best, so I’ll say right out that I won’t ask you to trust a trickster like me on that, but will refer you to Mr. Thompson, who has all the legalities down right and tight. The thing will bring in a good deal more money than we’ll need for the mortgages. Have you thought on what you’ll want to do with the rest once I’m gone?”
“Well, if it is not included in the entail, then the heart belongs not to me, but entirely to you, sir. It is for you, and your daughters, to decide how to dispose of the proceeds.”
“Well that is what I think as well, but Elaine has it in her mind that, as it is a family treasure, we must decide this together, and I know full well when it is useless to argue a thing with her.”
The Captain looked at Elaine, “As do I. I take it this is a question of honor?”
She blushed a little and nodded.
The Captain thought for a moment. “I think we ought to carry out a few improvements to the house and lands – nothing you would object to, sir, but just to repair what needs repairing. And I suppose in time I’d like to fill the stables and kennels once more and bring the staff up to full strength so that so much of the work does not fall onto Roberts and the good Mrs. Fraidy.”
He hesitated, and then added, “I’ve a notion, too, that we ought to spend some of it right away on two things, sir, if you wouldn’t object. The first item would be to give a finder’s fee to the person whose special knowledge and insight led us to this discovery, Miss Mary Hastings. I would like very much to give her a sum that would be sufficient to provide her with a small but reliable income for the rest of her life.”
“I can’t argue with that, for it’s fair enough, and if it were not, I’d still have to agree, for I’m certain that if I objected neither of my daughters would speak with me again,” Mr. Howard snorted. Mary, who had been standing quietly beside Elaine, nodded gravely and thanked both men for their generosity.
Mr. Howard looked at his heir warily. “Well, out with it, man. What’s your second expenditure?”
“It seems that I have a young cousin who is about to embark upon her Season, and I would very much like to assure myself that she is dowered with a portion suitable to the consequence of a daughter of Mr. Lambert Howard of Lynnfield.”
“You would, would you?” chuckled Mr. Howard. “Well you won’t find any objections from me on that account either.”
“Cousin! I am so glad you are going to be my very own brother-in-law!” Anne shrieked in a most unladylike manner and threw herself upon him, knocking his glasses askew.
Elaine felt all the pleasure of the moment ebb from her. She spoke sharply into a suddenly hushed room. “You quite mistake yourself, Anne. He will be no such thing!”
She turned then and, grabbing Mary Hastings by the hand, fled the room. She said nothing until they had reached the safety of her bedroom and then she spoke quietly. “Does he think he will buy me with his generosity? Does he not know yet I can neither be bought nor sold?”
“You do not believe that your cousin might simply have wished to be generous without hoping for a reward?”
“Well let us hope so, for he will certainly not receive one from me. I do not choose to ally myself with a deceiver.” And she would say no more on that subject, but instead congratulated her friend on her new income.
“What will you do, Mary, now that you are a woman of independent means?”
“I hope to live with my best friend in a small house near Bath. What more could I hope for?”
“You are a handsome woman. Perhaps you’ll marry.”
“And hand off my income to a husband who would drink it up and fritter it away? Do you think I’d be so foolish after living all these years at your side, listening to you?”
“But Mary, surely you won’t want to stay on as my maid.”
“Then I’ll stay as yo
ur friend, and who’s to stop me from dressing your hair and ironing your gowns if I choose? I’m an independent woman now and can do what I want. For that matter, if you’re planning to send me away, then I’ll go tell this upstart heir of yours that I don’t want his generosity, no more than you would yourself.”
“Mary, as if I would! You will always have a home with me, whatever happens, and well you know that. Indeed, I don’t know how I could bear to lose you.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: In which in a Black Fog Descends Upon them.
“Whatever have you done to offend the lady now?” Lord Derring asked his friend that evening when they had gone up to dress for dinner. “I thought you had it all made up between the two of you.”
“No, she’ll not have me. She could never be sure of me. I have no hope of winning her and won’t insult her honor by asking. To her, I am still and always a deceiver.”
“Oh come now. Her sense of humor alone should get you past that. You must press her now, while the excitement of this discovery is still so strong. She’ll not resist you long.”
“I don’t think so.”
“But the lady loves you, I am certain of it. Really, James, can you not practice a little romance? You must show her your passion, press your case, sweep the lady off her feet, abduct her if necessary. Ladies like that sort of thing.”
“Not this one. And if it is true that she, unaccountably, does love me, she’ll not have me nevertheless. Indeed I think she would forgive me faster if she loved me not.”
“No. How could that be?”
“If she didn’t love me, it wouldn’t matter so much that I’m a liar. She could marry me then, if such was her desire, without fear of being hurt by a second betrayal. Yet it seems to me that this lady in any case does not much wish to be married, and since she trusts me not, I believe she will remain unwed.”
“With a fortune at stake? Never!”
“Think what you will,” James said simply. “Even if she did decide to marry, which she will not, she’d never consider me. Indeed, she’d sooner marry the likes of you than she would me.” And he left the room quietly, leaving his friend behind with a great deal to ponder, for if James was not even going to attempt to win the heiress, well then the field was clear for him to press his own suit.
The next day was a busy one for Elaine, it being the day before the Christmas Eve festivities. A team of girls had come in from the village and cleaned and polished the Great Hall until the woodwork gleamed. The floor shone like gold as the light streamed in through the tall sparkling clean windows. Though Mrs. Fraidy still barred her from the kitchen, she was needed for consultations on the setting up and decorating of the long dining tables and for the strategic placement of tinsel and mistletoe in doorways and window nooks.
Lord Derring found her there and begged her to accompany him to the Blue Drawing room. “For you’ve been doing nothing but work since the day I first laid eyes upon you, and I’d like to spirit you away to some quiet corner where you can rest and be admired for your beauty.”
“Are you wishing to flirt with me, My Lord? I assure you I am no lady of leisure, content to be admired for something which I had no hand in creating.”
“No? It is no wonder to me that you are not, for it seems to me that no one has ever given you the opportunity to be admired, so needful they are of your industry.”
“Industry suits me best, Lord Derring. Mine is an energetic personality.”
“It is that very energy which most enchants me, my dear.”
“Oh, are you enchanted? I have marked no signs of it, Sir.”
“I assure you that I have held myself back only because I thought you interested in another. Your outspoken denial yesterday has led me to believe there is yet hope for me to win your heart.”
“Believe me, my lord, you have no occasion for hope.”
“And yet I persist. Come, Miss Howard, you will not have my friend; will I not do instead? My family is good, and Challon is a beautiful place. Your position in Society would be assured. And indeed, I quite worship you, my dear.”
“Again, my lord, I must tell you that it will not do.”
“But it would do very well indeed. You know that you must marry before the year is out. It is true that you may meet a more eligible match during the coming Season, but after all how much does one really know about someone encountered only at balls or theatre parties? But if you take me you cannot be disappointed, for you will have a husband about whom you already know both the best and the worst.”
Once more Elaine’s sense of the ridiculous betrayed her. She laughed outright. “A novel proposal indeed, My Lord!”
“Just so!” His eyes were shining with amusement. “And it is all the better for that, for I cannot believe you will receive another like it in Town. Would it be so very bad to spend a lifetime laughing at my absurdities?”
“Indeed, you almost tempt me. Such a ridiculous proposition must be given a moment’s due consideration before it is rejected, but rejected it shall be nonetheless.”
“Oh my dear! Can I not persuade you?”
The mirth left her eyes then. “You will not find me so persuadable as my Cousin, sir.” And she walked away from him with a firm step and made her way back to the Great Hall.
Christmas Eve day dawned bright and sunny. Mrs. Fraidy allowed Elaine back into the kitchen to help supervise the final preparations for the great meal. As was customary, the gentry crowded into the Great Hall where long tables had been set up and decorated with boughs of holly tied together with red ribbon. It was an informal affair, with children in attendance, all on their best behavior. Food was served and eaten in great quantities, conversation was lively, carols were sung, elders were attended to with the greatest respect for their comfort, and children were cajoled and chastened and praised according to their parents’ usual custom.
Anne and Elaine greeted everyone by name and made sure the Captain was introduced around to every guest. Mr. Howard came in on Carney’s arm, chatted for a short while with the Vicar and the Squire, flirted with their wives, and then wandered over to join a discussion on the prospects for next year’s crops that his heir had entered into with three neighboring farmers. He stayed with the Captain for a while, making sure all noticed the good will between them. It was the least he could do, he thought, after plunging the lad into such a sticky situation, to make certain that the neighborhood knew without a doubt that the young man had his full confidence. And indeed for the first time since Giles had died, he felt completely at peace when he considered the future of Lynnfield. All would be truly well and he could die a happy man if only his stubborn daughter would relent and marry the Captain. But he had promised no more schemes, and in fact could think of no way to force her into changing her mind, so with a slight shrug, he retired to the Green Parlor and settled into the wing chair. It was good to have this one last Christmas at Lynnfield and to acknowledge the people who had known him all his life and forgiven him so much.
The December chill deepened that night into a cold frost with a light sprinkling of powdery snow for Christmas Day. For the Howards, Christmas morning was traditionally a quiet time for recuperation from the festivities of the day before. A few simple gifts were exchanged, an embroidered handkerchief, a poem written to commemorate the discovery of the loyal heart, a jar of brambleberry jelly (of which Anne was particularly fond), a stocking cap with ear flaps to keep out the cold. The talisman heart was set up on the fireplace mantle in the Green Parlor so that they could all see it as they gathered around Mr. Howard. This heart had appeared in the family portraits, a sign commemorating not the Tudor king’s motto as they had always supposed, but rather the triumphant escape of their ancestor, the page boy James Danforth Howard, from the royal household, bearing with him the Queen’s ugly treasure. Now they saw the heart as embodying the great changes that they knew were to transform their lives once again in the coming year.
It had been decided that the Captain and Lord Derring woul
d terminate their visit early in the week following Christmas, both having business calling them elsewhere, the Captain taking responsibility for bringing the talisman to Mr. Thompson, along with letters from Mr. Howard instructing him on the liquidation of mortgages and the establishment of an annuity for Mary and a handsome marriage portion for Anne, and Lord Derring feeling obliged to make a NewYear’s Day visit to his Mama and sisters in London, since he had missed spending Christmas Day with them.
Sunday was Boxing Day and they went to church together in another family show of solidarity with the heir, before returning home to serve out rum cake and spiced ale to the cottagers.
Monday morning a dark grey fog covered the frosted landscape, but since it was his last day at Lynnfield, the Captain decided to ride out with Chudleigh for a final tour of the estate, with plans to lunch at the Inn of the Green Oak in Dunnswood before setting off to inspect a culvert that had been reported to them as having collapsed during the last rain, making the entry into a field at the far eastern end of the property treacherous if not quite impossible.
Lord Derring and the batman Tibley busied themselves with preparations for the two friends’ departure the following morning. Mr. Howard took a much needed rest, failing to show up in the Green Parlor until mid-afternoon. Anne took up her sewing once more, and after a few hours with her, Elaine retired to the Library to write a brief history of the discovery of the talisman to send to Mr. Thompson along with copies they had made of the various letters and sketches that had played such an important part in their researches. She made a copy of her history for the family, too, so that a full record would stay with other books and papers in the library documenting the Howard family history
That accomplished, she gathered her school books together, wrapped her coat around her and walked with Libby down to the Dower House for the afternoon’s lessons. The class was smaller than usual, which Elaine attributed partly to a kind of post-holiday lethargy that often set in after a break in their routine and partly to the fog which had thickened considerably, so that it was quite difficult to find one’s way even across the most familiar terrain.
An Unmarried Lady Page 17