A Sense of Purpose

by Soliman, Wendy

  ‘But makes all the difference, I do assure you.’ She turned her attention to Flora as they waited for the tea Miss Daily had asked the maid to bring. ‘Do you live locally, Miss Latimer?’ she asked.

  ‘No, ma’am. I am from Salisbury but I am engaged as companion to the Dowager Countess of Swindon.’

  ‘Ah, I see.’

  But it was clear that she did not, so Miranda explained how she came to be acquainted with Flora.

  ‘I am glad you are accepted by the earl’s family, my dear. You and Emma were always such friends. And now she is to be married. I read of the engagement in the newspaper and am very pleased that she has achieved her heart’s desire. I wonder when your turn will come.’

  ‘Oh, I am not thinking along those lines.’

  Flora suspected that every time she was in Charlie’s company, the possibility of matrimony filled her thoughts to the exclusion of almost everything else.

  As tea was served, Miranda told Daley something of her travels. ‘I have now seen for myself some of the far-flung places you told me about in my lessons. I am glad about that, at least. I had longed to visit them because you brought them alive for me with your vivid descriptions.’

  ‘Glad as I am to see you, my dear,’ Miss Daley said when they had exhausted the subject of her travels, and to which Flora could make little contribution, ‘I fancy you called with a specific purpose in mind.’

  ‘Well, yes. You see, I have always wondered why you left me so abruptly,’ Miranda said, dashing at an errant tear. ‘I cried for weeks when you were gone, but I wasn’t old enough to question your departure.’

  Miss Daley straightened her spine. ‘I certainly didn’t go through choice.’

  ‘Christina,’ Miranda breathed.

  ‘Yes. I was not taken in by her charm and her purported dedication to your father. I strongly suspect that I was the only person in the household who was not. She knew it and there was never the slightest possibility of her trusting me. I tried to hide my antipathy towards her, for fear of being removed from my position.’

  ‘You would not have been while Papa was alive to prevent it,’ Miranda said with alacrity.

  ‘I was aware of that, so it came as the most dreadful shock when he died so suddenly.’

  ‘Were you aware of more than a friendship between Christina and Philip Cooper prior to Mr Defoe’s death?’ Flora asked, putting aside her empty cup and reaching down to stroke the still slumbering cat.

  ‘I cannot say that I was,’ Miss Daley replied, taking a moment to consider. ‘To the best of my knowledge he only called at the house once, to keep an appointment with Mr Defoe, before that gentleman’s death, obviously.’

  ‘Do you know what it was about? The appointment, I mean?’ Flora asked.

  ‘Not for sure, but I expect he hoped to borrow money to revive his failing business. I heard talk of that business once he married Christina and moved into Ashton Lodge. I couldn’t avoid so doing. Mr Philip Cooper seldom spoke of much else. Reviving it was a passion of his. Mr Defoe was in the habit of helping deserving causes, but I suspect that he didn’t help Mr Cooper since he didn’t call again. He was however a frequent visitor after Mr Defoe’s death, which made me highly suspicious.’

  ‘It would have raised my suspicions, too,’ Flora agreed.

  ‘Christina passed him off as an old acquaintance but knew I wasn’t deceived, which is perhaps one of the reasons why she wanted me out of the way. There was no one else in the house of sufficiently senior status who would have dared to question the reason for his visits, you see.’

  ‘I didn’t know anything about that,’ Miranda said, shaking her head.

  ‘No, my dear, you did not. You were grieving and I ensured that you were protected from any unpleasantness as much as humanly possible.’ She smiled at Miranda. ‘It’s natural that you have questions, but I cannot help wondering why you are asking them now.’

  Miss Daley let out a most unladylike curse when Miranda explained about Matthew’s likely intentions.

  ‘I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised,’ she said after a slight pause. ‘I recall Philip calling shortly after Christina discovered that she hadn’t inherited. I managed to overhear a few snippets of their conversation. Neither of them were happy but I was left with the impression that they wouldn’t give up.’

  ‘Were you surprised when they married?’ Flora asked.

  ‘No, I cannot say that I was. The air about them seemed to crackle whenever they were in the same room together. There was definitely a connection between them that had no place in a recently widowed lady’s relationship with a single man.’ She sniffed. ‘I will not dignify him by referring to him as a gentleman, since he most assuredly is not one.’

  ‘They were in love?’ Flora asked.

  ‘Perhaps, but even love is no excuse for their behaviour.’ She lowered her voice, although there was no one there to overhear them other than the cat. ‘I know for a fact that they shared a bed not two months after the master’s death.’ Miranda gasped. ‘I wouldn’t have told you then, my dear, but you are old enough to understand these things now and see her for what she is, which is a scheming, manipulating hussy, albeit convincingly genuine-seeming.’ Miss Daley straightened an already rigidly upright spine. ‘I hesitate as a general rule to speak ill of anyone but in her case I am prepared to make an exception. Being so plausible, willing to bide her time and draw people in, you in particular, my dear,’ she said, smiling at Miranda, ‘makes her that much more determined to win in the end, no matter what she has to do to achieve that ambition.’

  ‘Because she adores Philip and doesn’t want to disappoint him,’ Flora mused.

  Miss Daley nodded. ‘That is what I firmly believe. Bear in mind that she seldom put on a show in front of the servants, seeming to forget that they are people with feelings and opinions, too.’ She shuddered. ‘She is a ruthless and determined woman. It broke my heart to leave you in her care, Miranda, but my hands were tied.’

  ‘I understand,’ Miranda said, touching Miss Daley’s arm.

  ‘How can you be so sure that Christina bedded Philip?’ Flora asked, frowning. ‘We know that they are meticulous. Would they have taken such a risk, even if they didn’t believe that servants have eyes and ears?’

  ‘It was my day off, early-evening when all the servants were below stairs preparing for dinner. I wasn’t supposed to be there but the friend I had intended to meet let me down. I had nothing else I needed to do so returned to the house. I saw Philip sneaking out of the master bedroom in stockinged feet and shirtsleeves.’ Her lips tightened into a grim line of disapproval. ‘There was only one conclusion I could draw from that.’

  ‘Did he see you?’ Flora asked.

  ‘I’m not sure. Most likely not, because I was not relieved of my duties until after they married.’ Miss Daley allowed a reflective pause. ‘But they must have sensed my disapproval. I don’t suppose I hid it very well.’

  ‘In your position, I would not have been able to either,’ Flora assured her. ‘Were you surprised when Mr Defoe was taken so violently ill?’

  ‘I was shocked. He caught influenza, as did a lot of people that winter, but he was the last person I imagined who would succumb to it. Those who died were mostly from poor homes. People who were undernourished in the first place, or old, or already weak from other ailments. Mr Defoe was none of those things.’

  ‘Who nursed him?’ Miranda asked slowly. ‘I wasn’t allowed anywhere near the sick room for fear that I would catch influenza, too.’

  ‘Only Christina,’ Miss Daley replied slowly. ‘I suggested hiring an experienced nurse but she wouldn’t hear of it and put on a convincing show of devotion.’ She shared a shrewd glance between Flora and Miranda. ‘You imagine, I suppose, that she helped him on his way.’

  ‘The thought had occurred to us both,’ Flora replied. ‘It’s a little convenient, don’t you think, that her perfectly healthy husband died shortly after Christina met a man whom she really loved?
’

  ‘I do indeed, Miss Latimer. The business has worried me ever since I left Ashton Lodge. I wondered if I should have spoken out at the time, but what proof did I have? Besides, my first priority was Miranda’s wellbeing. However, I had been thinking of contacting you when you returned, my dear, although I wasn’t sure if you would welcome me stirring up painful memories. That is why I am so very glad that you came to me. I was not aware that you were back, you see, and anyway I was unsure how things stood between you and the Coopers without me to protect your interests. If you had found contentment I had no desire to cause further anguish with unsubstantiated allegations.’ She turned and smiled directly at Miranda. ‘But now here you are, asking me all the questions that I myself would like answers to.’

  Miranda and Miss Daley briefly embraced. Flora looked away, feeling like an intruder.

  ‘Are you absolutely sure that Mr Defoe actually had influenza?’ Flora asked. ‘Could Christina and Philip not have used the wide outbreak as an excuse to do away with him?’

  ‘He definitely caught it. I saw him in its early stages. There’s no mistaking them. But after that, Christina isolated him and I didn’t see him again.’ She paused. ‘The maid who took up his trays and changed his bed linen remarked that he seemed to have food poisoning and couldn’t keep anything down. Cook was highly affronted.’

  Flora nodded, her suspicions confirmed. Arsenic poisoning was often confused with food poisoning.

  ‘Do you happen to recall the name of the doctor who attended Mr Defoe?’ she asked.

  ‘I do. It was Doctor Shotter.’

  ‘I remember him. An old gentleman with white whiskers who was hard of hearing,’ Miranda said. ‘He attended me once or twice when I was unwell.’

  ‘I expressed concern when he wasn’t called in immediately but Christina said it was merely influenza and that she would tend her husband herself. Shotter only came in at the very end, when it was too late for him to do anything.’

  ‘Did he express doubts about the cause of death?’ Flora asked.

  Miss Daley gave a wry smile. ‘Frankly, the man should have retired years before. He did nothing other than to confirm Mr Defoe’s death and accept Christina’s word for the fact that he’d died from complications following a bout of influenza.’

  Flora blew air through her lips. ‘Is he still alive?’

  ‘If he is, he’ll be senile by now. Besides, you’ll never get him to say that he was wrong. Men of his ilk set great stock by their professional opinions and seldom admit to making mistakes.’

  A man cut from her own father’s cloth, Flora thought.

  Satisfied that they had learned all that Miss Daley could tell them, the ladies gathered up their gloves and prepared to take their leave. Miranda and Miss Daley indulged in another fond embrace and Miranda promised to call again as soon as she could.

  ‘Take great care of her,’ Miss Daley said when Miranda briefly excused herself to use the facilities. ‘You and I both know that if Miranda doesn’t fall in with Philip’s plans…well—‘

  ‘Don’t distress yourself, Miss Daley. The earl and his brothers are determined to keep her safe. In fact, Charlie has been up to London today to visit Miranda’s solicitor. Hopefully, he will be able to cast more light on the situation, and you yourself have been an enormous help.’

  Miss Daley smiled. ‘Mr Charles Beranger. Miranda has been sweet on him since she turned twelve and he saved her from falling out of an apple tree that she and Emma had climbed.’ Her eyes twinkled. ‘Is there hope, do you suppose?’

  ‘Oh, I think there is every possibility that Miranda’s feelings are returned.’

  ‘Well, that would settle everything, wouldn’t it now?’ Miss Daley smiled with satisfaction. ‘I mean, if she and Charlie were to marry, then Charlie could and no doubt would evict all the Coopers from Ashton Lodge. That would make me very happy indeed.’

  ‘I don’t think Charlie knows his own mind quite yet, and even if he did, he is too gentlemanly to propose to Miranda when she has so many other matters occupying her mind.’

  ‘Well yes, I can quite see why a true gentleman would hesitate in such circumstances. But what of Miranda’s protection in the meantime?’

  ‘Ah, about that, I have a suggestion to make.’

  Miss Daley listened and nodded her agreement without hesitation. ‘That would work perfectly, if you are able to bring it about.’

  ‘Leave it to me.’

  Miranda rejoined them, embraced Miss Daley again and climbed into the carriage with Flora. Miss Daley watched them go and waved until they disappeared from view.

  ‘I am so pleased to have seen her, much as I didn’t care to hear what she had to tell us,’ Miranda said, settling into her seat. ‘How could I not have known?’

  ‘You were a child. You trusted Christina, which was her intention all along. Besides, you were grieving. I dare say she put on a good performance of grieving right along with you. Why should you have suspected anything?’

  The carriage bowled through the main street of Ashton Keynes, drawing attention from those idling their time away on a fine late spring afternoon. Miranda gasped when a gentleman swept his hat from his head and bowed towards the conveyance.

  ‘Botheration! That’s Matthew and he has seen us.’

  The coachman had been obliged to slow his team to walking pace through the busy street, enabling Matthew to saunter towards it.

  ‘Drive on as fast as you can!’ Flora urged, an edge to her voice.

  Their coachman responded by whipping his team into a fast trot, leaving Matthew scowling in their wake.

  ‘Don’t look so crestfallen, Miranda,’ Flora said, patting her friend’s hand as the carriage cleared the end of the street. ‘You have a legitimate reason for being with me, since I’m sure you can invent an errand concerning the wedding. Anyway, it is really none of his business how you occupy your time.’

  ‘Perfectly so.’ Miranda lifted her chin. ‘I am tired of feeling threatened by him.’

  ‘That’s the spirit!’

  They returned to Beranger Court without further incident. Miranda went in search of Emma and Mary. Flora checked on the countess. She was soundly and peacefully asleep, with Sandwell sitting guard over her. She slipped from the room again without disturbing her charge, divested herself of her outdoor garments, tidied her hair and went to report upon their outing to Luke.

  She found him and Paul in his library, drinking whisky, and withstood another robust greeting from Romulus.

  ‘I only saw you a few hours ago, you silly dog,’ she chided, tugging the animal’s ears affectionately. ‘Anyone would think it had been years.’

  Luke waved Flora to a seat beside the fire. He and Paul joined her there, listening as she repeated all that she and Miranda had learned from Miss Daley.

  ‘It’s as we supposed then,’ Luke said pensively. ‘The doctor sounds as though he will be no help at all. The lady was right about that much. Doctors seldom budge from their original diagnoses, especially if an embarrassing exhumation might ensue.’ He stretched his arms above his head and let out a long, frustrated breath. ‘Hopefully Charlie has had better fortune. He should be back soon.’

  ‘Well then, I shall go and make…’

  Flora broke off when Woodley entered the room and informed Luke that a gentleman had called to see him.

  ‘Does he have a name, Woodley?’ Luke asked impatiently, wondering about the odd look on his usually austere butler’s face.

  Woodley proffered a salver with a card upon it bearing no name but a symbol showing four crossed swords. ‘The gentleman said you would recognise this, my lord.’

  Luke clearly did, and Flora became concerned when all the colour drained from his face. He passed the card to Paul, who exchanged an astonished look with Luke and reacted in a similar fashion.

  ‘Show him in, Woodley.’ Luke motioned Flora back to her seat.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked softly, her voice loaded with concern. ‘Yo
u look, both of you, as though you have seen a ghost.’

  ‘I would prefer you to stay for the time being,’ Luke said in an uncertain tone she’d never heard him employ before. He was many things, but unsure of himself was not one of them. ‘I don’t believe in your supernatural powers, but if they exist then Paul and I have never been in greater need of them.’

  ‘Now I am really intrigued.’

  Neither man answered her. Luke and Paul glanced nervously towards the door, waiting in edgy silence for it to open.

  ‘If this is some sort of cheap trick…’ Luke muttered, murder in his eyes. Flora noticed him clenching his fists. ‘If someone is seeking to gain access to me by underhand means, I swear I will not be responsible for my actions.’

  It seemed like an eternity before a tall, ruggedly handsome figure with a bearing that implied privilege limped slowly through the door that Woodley opened. He leaned heavily on a stout stick, and every step appeared to cause him pain. Flora wondered why his appearance had caused Luke and Paul so much anguish. For her part, she sensed no evil intent about him, and Remus failed to send a gusty warning past her ear. That was enough to satisfy her.

  ‘It’s been a long time, gentlemen,’ said the stranger.

  ‘You’re dead!’ Paul and Luke replied in unison, staring with slack-jawed disbelief at their visitor.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Luke returned his jaw to its correct position, waiting for the shock that had made him feel dizzy to abate. An ominous silence filled the room as its occupants struggled to come to terms with this incredible development. Their dearest friend, whose loss neither Luke, Paul nor Alvin had ever entirely recovered from stood in front of them, as large as life. He leaned upon his stick, his glance swivelling between Luke and Paul and coming to rest upon Flora, who had half risen from her chair, a restraining hand on Rom’s collar, presumably because the dog would likely knock Archie from his unsteady feet otherwise.

  ‘Woodley,’ Luke said, recovering the power of speech and addressing his butler, who continued to hover in the open doorway. ‘Send someone with a message to Mr Watson. He is due to dine with us, but explain that he is required here now. Immediately. Ask that he comes into the library before he does anything else.’