On the afternoon before that of the ship’s early morning arrival, Charlotte was discussing with Benson which flowers she needed to grace the house when John joined them. He looked a happy man. The expected advent of the heir and his bride had injected him with zestful anticipation. Not for him a sense of being usurped from his position. He welcomed the return of the man who owned all he had been lovingly managing for the past three years. John was more than content to work in harness with Vere once more. He had been saying so from the day Charlotte had broken the news to him; had spent the weeks since then making ready to present to the returning heir and his bride, in perfect order, Knightshill and its many productive acres. But John had worked his way up from estate-hand to bailiff. He had not grown up in this house and presided over it by right of birth until now. Therein lay the difference, Charlotte told herself as she nodded straight-faced in response to his smiling greeting.
‘You look very pleased with yourself,’ Charlotte accused.
‘With good cause,’ he replied vigorously. ‘Belinda foaled half an hour ago. Couldn’t have timed it better, could she? Two little beauties, both strong and perfectly formed. What a bonus for Mr Ashleigh! And the little lad will be so charmed with them he’ll maybe not feel so strange in his new home.’ He gave her a shrewd look. ‘I came over to suggest you bring Miss Kate to see them when you finally reach a decision about the flowers.’
‘I have reached a decision.’ she retorted briskly, still wondering if those blooms she had selected would look right against the furnishings presently decking Margaret’s former suite.
‘Shall I ask Winters to send a message to the nursery?’ John asked. ‘Or is the child at her lessons?’
Charlotte glanced at the watch pinned to her bodice. ‘Mr Maddox will depart at three. I’ll bring Kate to the stables then.’
‘That’s only fifteen minutes away. Winters could ask Nanny to bring Miss Kate down when she’s ready … and if you’re finished here, there are several things I’d like to discuss with you in the meantime.’
‘Very well.’ Charlotte took another look at the flowers, telling herself there would be time tomorrow to change her mind. Vere and Kitty could not possibly arrive before late afternoon. She strolled beside John’s sturdy figure lost in these domestic thoughts until he brought her from them with a gentle question.
‘What’s worrying you now?’
She looked up at him. ‘Whatever do you mean?’
‘Well, it’s clear you’ve taken no notice of all I said to you two or three weeks ago. It was sensible advice but you’ve not heeded it.’
‘Oh?’
He stopped on the flagstones from which slight haze rose as sunshine dried them after a noon downpour. ‘You’ve been working in the house as if the world is about to end.’
Charlotte felt her colour rising as she turned to face him. ‘What nonsense!’
‘The servants are confused and anxious. They’ve never seen you so upset and they are dreading the arrival of the new Mrs Ashleigh.’
Charlotte could not believe what she was hearing. ‘They have spoken to you about their feelings?’
‘To Winters. He confided in me because there have been several serious quarrels below stairs. In all his years at Knightshill there has only been one other instance of discord among the domestic staff. He was starting his first year in his present position when Mrs Ashleigh left you all to go with her new husband to America. The problem then was understandable because they all admired your mother and couldn’t understand why she went away. This time, their behaviour is prompted by loyalty to you.’ He sighed. ‘Your agitation suggests that Mr Ashleigh’s wife is not welcome here. They resent their new mistress before she has arrived.’
‘They are employed to look after this house and do as they are bid,’ she cried heatedly, shaken by John’s statement. ‘How dare they presume to resent the wife of a member of the family!’
John remained calm. ‘They sense that you do and loyalty to you does the rest. And I have to add that I would share their feelings if I was not sure Mr Ashleigh could never choose a lady who would not be welcome at Knightshill. My loyalty would lead me to defend you against any person who hurt you or made you unhappy, believe me, but I think I must have greater faith than you in your brother.’
Unable to respond to this challenge, and strangely moved by his declaration of championship, Charlotte turned and walked on, her limp intensified by inner turmoil. John came up beside her to continue his theme.
‘You’ll always be an Ashleigh. Knightshill will be your home for as long as you wish it to be. Nothing and no one can ever take that away from you.’ When she made no answer he put a hand on her arm to halt her again. ‘Things are going to change, that’s certain. But you can make it change for better or for worse. It’s in your hands. If you start off seeing Mrs Ashleigh as an enemy, someone out to take everything away from you, chances are you’ll make her into one. If you take my advice and offer her help and friendship you’ll like as not have yourself a new sister in no time. Which is it you want?’
Charlotte drew away and walked on, but he called after her. ‘Think, lass, if you turn your back to her you’ll turn it to your brother, too. Don’t be foolish enough to do that.’
She swung round in a passion inspired by his soft tone and the familiar term ‘lass’, which undermined her stance. ‘You’re employed by my brother to manage the estate, that’s all. It is not part of your job to tittle-tattle with the household servants on the subject of the Ashleigh family. I am surprised that you could do so, or that you could ever imagine you have the right to speak to me as you just have.’
His ruddy face paled somewhat and he stiffened. ‘I spoke to you as the friend I thought you had been since Mr Ashleigh went away. I must beg your pardon, Miss Charlotte. I see that I was wrong.’
Charlotte watched in dismay as he strode away along the path shimmering with growing heat after rain. He had been a friend, a pleasant companion, a stalwart helper. He had made the past two years bearable; no, more, he had made them very enjoyable. At a time of change and uncertainty she had alienated the man who had done so much for her. However, Vere was coming tomorrow. The family would again occupy her time. John would revert to his correct role as bailiff to the Ashleighs.
11
NED TOOK THE large carriage down to Dunstan St Mary to meet the train from Southampton. Winters chivvied his staff to perform their last-minute tasks before lining up in the lofty hall to greet the voyagers and be presented to their new mistress. Knightshill looked magnificent on a day of gentle sunshine and skittish breezes. Floors and wall panelling had been polished to a rich shine, chandeliers had all been washed so that they sparkled in shafts of sunlight. The great canvases of past wars, which hung in the long galleries, seemed brighter and more dramatic after careful cleaning. Porcelain glowed with delicate pastels and gold, mirrors gave out a dazzle of reflections. Huge arrangements of flowers filled the house with colour and perfume. The renowned Great Window let in the late afternoon brilliance to wash over the curving staircase and gleaming banisters.
Charlotte saw all this with a lump in her throat, as she made her way down from her rooms. Had her home ever looked more beautiful and welcoming? How could Margaret have abandoned all this for love of a man she had known for only a few weeks? How could Val bear to follow a profession which would send him anywhere in the world but here? How could Vere ever have believed all this was not enough? Charlotte loved her home passionately. The lump in her throat thickened as she prepared to hand Knightshill over to a stranger whose former way of life would surely never allow her to appreciate her good fortune.
Kate, of course, noticed nothing different as she walked beside her aunt. She was more intent on the prospect of having three more people to talk to. Having broken the speech hiatus she now chattered almost non-stop, as she always had before being uprooted to travel the world with Laurence Nicolardi. The girl looked excited, her normally solemn face screwing up into
a succession of vital expressions as she asked yet again about Simon.
‘Will he be afraid of the foals, Aunt Lottie? Has he ever seen horses before? Do you think I’ll understand what he says? Will he be black like the heathens Father went to Africa to save — the ones who killed him? Simon won’t try to hurt us, will he?’
‘Do be quiet, Kate,’ Charlotte told her wearily. ‘We have discussed all this several times over and you know quite well that he will be very much like Tim. You must not flood him with questions the moment he arrives, or expect him to be your friend instantly. He will feel very nervous, I expect. And shy. Try to recall how you felt on first arriving in all those new countries with Mama and your stepfather. Simon is certain to feel the same.
As they neared the foot of the stairs, Kate asked, ‘Will he stop speaking like I did?’
‘I wish you would stop now,’ Charlotte told her. ‘They will be here at any moment and I need to go over in my mind all the arrangements I have made in case I have overlooked something.’
‘You haven’t,’ Kate pronounced sagely. ‘We’ve been over all that several times, too, and you ticked off everything on the list as it was done. It’s too late to try to change any of it now, Aunt Lottie. Nanny said to Louise thank heaven, because she was sick and tired of people being unable to make up their minds.’
Charlotte heard this piece of servants’ gossip repeated in Kate’s conversational tones and remained silent. It was too late. She had done her very best for Vere. If his homecoming was not all he hoped for, the fault would not be hers. Whatever Kitty might be used to, Charlotte was certain Vere would want to present his home to her in its very best guise. Cook was preparing a superb dinner comprising all Vere’s favourite dishes, which would be served in the main dining-room. Charlotte had decided on this plan to ensure Sir Gilliard joined them.
Clunes had informed her that her grandfather would not be formally greeting Mr and Mrs Ashleigh on their arrival, so she had resorted to luring the bear from his den by making dinner a very formal affair. Sir Gilliard would never refuse to preside over a meal set in the room hung with portraits of ancestors he revered. Having brought together the owner of Knightshill and the new mistress of it, Charlotte would bow out. Kitty Ashleigh must confront her father-in-law with the help of her devoted husband.
Charlotte and Kate waited in the hall beside a window giving a clear view of the driveway as it crossed what used to be a moat, before sweeping round to the front door. Kate looked neat and demure in a new dress of pale-blue moiré with beige piping and sash. Her light-brown hair had been twisted into ringlets by Nanny and kept in place by a blue band. She carried in her hand a small posy of fragrant cream roses to present to her new aunt with a speech of welcome. In the other hand was the photograph of Val. Neither Nanny nor Charlotte had been able to persuade Kate to leave the showing of the picture until a later moment.
Charlotte wore an afternoon gown in rich amber, with a necklet of gold and topaz, which had looked very becoming when she bought it. Paler than usual today, she was slightly disappointed with her appearance, although no one could deny she looked very stylish. She carried no posy, but had rehearsed polite words of welcome for her brother’s mature new wife. She prayed they would not stick in her throat when she and Kitty came face to face.
The carriage swung into view and Winters opened the main doors with precise, unhurried movements. The footmen waiting outside sprang to attention. Charlotte took Kate’s hand and led her forward, but when she reached the broad step outside the door, she saw with astonishment that the carriage had halted beyond the moat. Vere was standing beside it with a woman and a small boy to show them with gestures the extent of their new home. A large tawny dog ran around them with excited barks until the boy clapped his hands to silence it. Charlotte was nonplussed, then even more so when the three began walking towards the house in animated conversation, forsaking the carriage.
Winters betrayed no emotion as he stood like a dignified statue at the head of a row of similar statues waiting to be presented to the new lady of the house. Charlotte felt anger well up. The greeting ceremony had been planned to the minutest detail. How dared they ruin it? Before she could stop Kate, the girl suddenly ran forward to meet the arrivals. Half-way across the moat she reached them and was swung high in the air by Vere before being enveloped in a bear-like hug. From her uncle’s arms Kate thrust her posy at the tall woman beside him, before wriggling free to concentrate all her attention on the dog which had recommenced its exciting barking.
The group moved forward again, laughing and chattering as Kate held out the photograph of Val for each one to see. Then Vere looked up, saw Charlotte rooted to her spot by the entrance to her home, and waved energetically. She found she could raise neither of her arms to wave back to the brother who had been as close as a twin throughout their childhood. The carriage moved at a slow pace to follow the four now walking across the broad driveway to the door. Charlotte could see the smile on Vere’s face, and the lively expression on Kate’s as she ran around with the dog. Simon walked close beside his mother, but his head swivelled constantly to watch Kate and the animal. Charlotte could see little of Kitty’s face beneath a large blue hat smothered with gauze roses of the same deep cream shade as the travelling coat she wore, but the extreme elegance of her appearance made nonsense of the notion that Vere had married an unsophisticated dowd. The woman beside him did not look in the least out of place here.
As they neared the house, Vere hurried forward to take Charlotte in a robust embrace. ‘Lottie, it’s so good to see you.’ He appeared not to notice her restraint as he held her at arm’s length. ‘You look younger. Kate has done that. And she’s speaking again! How has that come about? Oh, we have so much to tell each other and all the time in the world to do so. It’s splendid to come home. I left on a bitter winter day which blunted memories of how beautiful Knightshill is.’ He smiled with happiness as he drew his wife forward. ‘Perhaps Kitty is responsible for making me see it through a rosy glass.’
Brown eyes regarded Charlotte with shrewdness as Kitty smiled and offered her hand. ‘I feel I already know you from Vere’s description of the happy years he spent here before going off to war. We thought you might have come to the station to meet us, but it was very understanding and perceptive of you to allow Vere the pleasure of showing us Knightshill as we approached. Such an impressive sight, but daunting for a woman used to living in a small hotel in the heart of nowhere. I am so glad you are here to befriend me.’ She indicated her son, a sturdy red-haired boy with large apprehensive eyes. ‘The past few weeks have been very overwhelming for Simon. Please excuse his initial shyness.’ When the child bowed and said ‘How do you do’ in mechanical tones, Kitty laughed. ‘He rehearsed that phrase so often on the voyage it sounds dreadfully formal. I hope he will soon call you Aunt Lottie, as Kate does. She’s a delightful girl. You have performed a miracle with her speech, I suspect. How fortunate the family is to have you.’
Charlotte felt numbed by the astonishing vivacity of her brother, and by this assured woman whose expressive face, shining titian hair and cultured tones removed the last trace of suspicion that she would be unfit to take over as mistress of Knightshill. Her own rehearsed speech was all her suspended thoughts could now produce.
‘I am delighted to welcome you to your new home and hope you will be happy here. If anything is not entirely to your liking it can be changed immediately.’
Kate glanced up from stroking the dog and pulled a face at Kitty. ‘Aunt Lottie has been practising that for a long time, too. She sounds as funny as Simon did.’
Vere laughed as he ruffled Kate’s hair. ‘Now you have your voice back you use it too often’. He glanced from Charlotte to Kitty. ‘Let’s go inside and face the formalities, shall we.’
Before Charlotte’s bemused eyes, Vere swept the unsuspecting Kitty up in his arms and walked through to the hall with her followed by two children and a frisky dog. Charlotte brought up the rear in a daze,
hardly able to believe what her brother was doing.
‘Vere, put me down!’ cried the laughing Kitty, her voice echoing in the vaulted hall.
He did so, steadying her as he gazed down with eyes of a man deeply in love. ‘Welcome to Knightshill, my darling,’ he said softly. ‘We’ll fill this house with laughter and happiness.’ He took her hand to his lips while she returned his ardent look, oblivious of the row of servants watching with fascination this extraordinary scene in a mansion renowned for its strict military atmosphere.
When Vere led his bride across to Winters, the statue became animated. Contrary to Charlotte’s expectations, the ageing manservant made a fulsome speech in reply to Kitty’s hope that he was pleased with the addition to the household of a small family.
‘Indeed I am, madam. In the old days the house was a most lively place, and now it will be again. You may be assured of my loyalty and devoted service.’ His eyes swivelled to look at Vere. ‘It’s a great pleasure to have you at Knightshill once more, sir. The domestic staff wish to join me in offering felicitations on your marriage.’
The servants were presented to Kitty one by one. Kate followed the small entourage, dragging Simon by the hand to announce in airy tones to her silent, overawed companion the names of each footman and maid. Charlotte could only stand at a distance watching her sister-in-law assume her new role as if born to it. Vere and Kitty had somehow turned a formality into a relaxed joyous affair. Instead of subdued hostility from domestics who had been bickering for the past two weeks, there was smiling response to friendly words from the Ashleigh heir and his wife. Vere had always been well liked by the servants. His impulsive, unconventional act of carrying Kitty over the threshold had clearly delighted them, and their future mistress was welcomed unreservedly because of it.
A Distant Hero Page 28