The advent of a male Ashleigh with an attractive, friendly wife, a small boy and a dog the size of a newborn calf had suddenly breathed life and light-heartedness into a mansion sombre for too long. The initial resentment Charlotte had known faded as she watched the transformation and slowly became caught up in the happy mood. The first Ashleigh had come home. The rest would surely follow.
Vere and Kitty joined Charlotte at the foot of the stairs. ‘I’ve put you in Margaret’s suite,’ she told her brother. ‘You must go wherever you wish, of course, but I thought the rooms most suitable until you have had time to settle in. They are near the nursery which you will find convenient,’ she added to Kitty, as she turned to mount the stairs. ‘I’ll arrange for some tea to be brought to you. You’ll be glad of it after your journey.’
‘We shall,’ Vere agreed, glancing from left to right as if seeing familiar things for the first time. ‘It will set us up in readiness for the summons to Grandfather’s rooms.’ Charlotte’s heartbeat increased. ‘I think … I believe he plans to meet you at dinner. It’ll be in the main dining-room tonight.’
Vere stopped, Kitty beside him. ‘Good God, four at that immense table! Whatever is he thinking of?’
‘It was my decision, Vere.’
‘Whatever are you thinking of?’
He sounded angry. Charlotte defended herself. ‘It’s the only way to handle the situation.’ She turned to Kitty. ‘He’s an old man with a great deal of pride. He has led a distinguished career, and we all benefited from his admirable qualities as we grew up. He has been our pillar of strength, the head of our parentless family. We all owe him a great deal.’ She hesitated. ‘But he set standards none of us has managed to reach. You met Val in Kimberley so must know what that situation has done to Grandfather’s hopes.’
‘And Kitty knows what a terrible disappointment I have always been to him,’ put in Vere, still angry. ‘She is also aware of what Margaret did. You are the only Ashleigh who meets with his approval.’
‘Hardly … but that’s why I’ve ordered Winters to serve dinner formally. Grandfather insists on presiding at table there. He’s liable to forever avoid a meeting with you, otherwise.’
‘Oh, will he?’ Vere said forcefully. ‘I’ll not let him get away with this. I hadn’t expected him to be waiting in the hall for us, but I have no intention of introducing my wife to him over a glass of sherry with servants standing by … and I also have no intention of eating dinner at a mammoth table beneath the painted eyes of ancestors whose disapproval of me matches his.’ He moved on briskly towards the rooms Charlotte had prepared. ‘Tell Winters to serve dinner in the family dining-room where we can be comfortable and relaxed. Time enough for that military picture gallery when the aunts and cousins descend en masse, and scarlet jackets abound!’ Reaching the suite he flung open the door to allow inside Kitty, two children and a dog, saying to Charlotte standing on the opposite side of the threshold, ‘He had best face the inevitable and come to terms with it. As soon as we’ve had tea and changed from our travelling clothes I’ll take Kitty along to confront him.’ He gave a sudden smile, saying in softer tones, ‘Bless you, Lottie, but my days of military service taught me a few lessons in tactics. Attack when the enemy is least expecting it.’
Charlotte felt obliged to say quietly, ‘He’s not the enemy, Vere. You’ve been very high handed over this, in his eyes. Give him time to get used to the notion.’
‘Delay would be fatal. He would never come round. For once the old warhorse has to see things my way.’
She moved nearer to avoid any chance of being overheard by those already inside the room. ‘Go to him alone. I’m afraid he has the very worse conception of … of a female reared in a diamond settlement. He will not mince words.’
Vere shook his head. ‘No matter what his opinion might be on any subject, he is a gentleman and behaves like one in the presence of ladies. He would speak his mind to me and I to him, making the situation far worse. Whereas Kitty will have him eating from her hand in no time.’ He paused to look at her quizzically. ‘You doubt it?’
‘You know your wife. I do not,’ she said.
‘You soon will. I am determined to make a good life for her and for Simon here, Lottie, and I’m relying on you to help me.’
Remembering his departure for the Mediterranean with its suggestion that he could not wait to be rid of her clinging affection, Charlotte said somewhat dryly, ‘I think you are very well able to manage all you require without any help from me.’
*
Vere remained angry and determined while Kitty went with Charlotte, the children and Kimber to the nursery where Kate and Simon would have tea. Kitty returned alone, her colour heightened. Vere chuckled. ‘You’ve encountered Nanny, I see.’
She made a rueful face. ‘The honours are hers for the moment. I am too new to change her rigid views, but give me time.’
Vere took her in his arms. ‘My darling, she feels threatened by you. She has reigned in the nursery for many years. Philip Daulton overruled Margaret and encouraged Nanny to lessen their mother’s influence over Kate and Tim. I imagine Lottie has not interfered with Nanny’s régime because she is not Kate’s mother.’
‘But I am Simon’s,’ Kitty said firmly. ‘He will not easily settle here and being submitted to nursery regimentation will add to his distress.’
‘Then I’ll speak to Nanny.’
‘No, Vere, I will speak to her. Domestic matters are to be my responsibility. We agreed on that. But I shall not be too hasty.’ She moved from his embrace. ‘I believe Charlotte also feels threatened by me.’
Vere was uncomprehending. ‘Whyever should she be?’
‘Because, my dear, I am your wife with every right to give orders to Winters and all those servants I have just met. Once I choose to do so it will deprive your sister of her position here. In her place I would feel resentful of any woman you married. She covered her feelings well, but I’m certain she’s far from delighted over our marriage.’
‘No, you’re wrong,’ he asserted as Louise entered with a maid carrying a tray containing tea and small cakes. ‘We have been too close for her not to share in my happiness.’
Kitty sat in a blue velvet chair to smile her thanks at the servants. When they departed she began to pour tea, saying, ‘It’s because you have been close that she is afraid. Much as I love you, I have to say that you are as unfamiliar as other men with the complexities of a woman’s life and needs. Charlotte has been the home-maker for you all as well as sharing with you a very special bond. Naturally, she sees me as a thief set to rob her of both those roles. Without them she will have nothing.’
Vere gazed in astonishment as he took from her a cup of tea. ‘What nonsense! She will always be my sister.’
‘Not if I alienate her. You clearly still don’t understand, so I must act alone. Once I become her friend everything will be ready for the final move.’
‘My dearest girl, you’re speaking in riddles,’ Vere protested. ‘The final move?’
‘To find her a husband. No, don’t look at me that way. I know something of loneliness and my heart goes out to her. She is extremely attractive and eligible. It’s quite ridiculous to wilt into spinsterish old age because of a slight limp. Why you have all allowed her this foolish pose I cannot understand.’
‘It was none of our doing,’ cried Vere in protest. ‘There were beaux galore at one time. Lottie discouraged every one.’
Kitty smiled across at him. ‘Then we must find some more. Knowing that I shall inevitably take over her role as home-maker, and that I have already come between her and the brother who substituted for a husband — oh, yes, Vere, from what you have told me about her I’m certain that is so — she will be seeking a purpose in life and therefore be more susceptible to the prospect of marriage.’
‘You continue to surprise me,’ he said with a wag of his head. ‘I fell in love with a living cameo; a woman of elegance, wit, culture and compassion. I fell in love wi
th a beautiful creature who came eagerly into my arms and gave me such delight I will never surrender it. It now appears that this wonderful person is also a diplomat of the first order.’
Kitty laughed. ‘I hope continually to surprise you, darling. That is the spice of life. As for being a diplomat, I suspect that I shall need all such skills during this meeting with Sir Gilliard.’
Vere’s light-heartedness vanished. ‘I mean to stand no nonsense from him, you know. He is still owner of Knightshill and the head of the Ashleigh family, but he must concede that his time is running out. He has never wanted me as his heir, and I used not to welcome the responsibility, but fate played her hand and we must both accept it. You are the perfect wife for me and, together, we’ll serve the family and Knightshill with loving dedication. No man should ask more of his successor. I shall tell him so.’
‘But he’ll have no proof of that assertion, Vere. It is all in the future. You must see this from his point of view, if you can. You are an unsatisfactory heir and have chosen a wife from a different background — a widow with another man’s child, to boot. A double blow for a man yearning for a heroic successor in a scarlet jacket with a blue-blooded wife ready to give him son after son.’
‘Ha! His Khartoum “hero” would have been a far greater disappointment as an heir,’ Vere said explosively.
‘So only you and I know. He does not.’
‘Val could truly be the hero in a scarlet jacket, but he cannot do it as an Ashleigh.’
Kitty smiled. ‘The poor lad is terrified of females at the moment, so no blue-blooded wife either. Sir Gilliard will have to make do with you … and with me. He knows that, Vere, but a man with enormous pride will not easily surrender. We must move very carefully with your grandfather as well as with your sister.’
‘Dammit, this is my home as much as theirs,’ Vere declared getting to his feet angrily.
‘No, dearest, one is shortly to relinquish it and everything he has held dear, the other is about to be relegated to a small aspect of it. Knightshill is indisputably all yours. That’s why you must be generous now.’
After a moment or two’s consideration of the face which had become so dear to him, Vere relaxed and smiled. ‘They little realize how fortunate it is for them that I became indisputably all yours rather than Annabel Bourneville’s. That’s what I want to make known to them.’
Kitty rose. ‘They’re both intelligent enough to deduce that for themselves, if they are not set against me by heavy-handedness.’ She came up to him in concern. ‘Vere, I ran away from you to my brother because of this situation. I am a perfect wife for a military artist roaming South Africa, but not for the heir of a large estate of a noble family. They are entitled to feel as they do.’
‘They are not, Kitty. Grandfather produced just one son before his wife ran off with her lover, and he spent the greater part of the succeeding forty years following the drum. Knightshill means little to him save as a pictorial mausoleum for scarlet-coated ancestors. As for Charlotte, if she had married any one of her hopeful suitors she would now be happily settled in her husband’s home surrounded by her children. Knightshill is all she has. That’s why she values it. Of the three I am the one who has loved and tended these acres over a period of years. I shall be the first Ashleigh for generations to permanently live in and manage Knightshill. When I choose the woman to be at my side throughout, there is nobody entitled to question my action.’ His fierce kiss prevented further words on the subject and they went to their dressing-rooms to change their clothes for the task ahead.
A few minutes before setting out to cross to the opposite wing, Vere rang for his valet, Stoner, and sent him to advise Clunes to ensure that Sir Gilliard was prepared for their visit. He would have finished tea and be resting before dressing for dinner in the uniform he wore on every possible occasion. Vere was still angry at the thought of taking Kitty down to eat in the formidable atmosphere of the main dining-room, which would have been a daunting experience designed to show disdain. It seemed a decision uncharacteristic for Charlotte, yet he supposed she had not known how else to deal with Sir Gilliard’s attitude. Kitty said he must tread softly, yet for a man of peaceful nature Vere grew swiftly heated on any subject concerning his wife. He doubted his ability to do as she suggested.
Kitty emerged from her dressing-room to surprise Vere once more. Instead of one of the very stylish gowns bought in Durban, she had chosen the dark-green high-necked dress she had been wearing when he had first seen her, framed like a cameo. She looked elegant, of course, but not a woman of wealth and position; she was Kitty Munroe, innkeeper of Vrymanskop. He fell in love with her anew as he saw how clever she was. If, as Charlotte had whispered, Grandfather imagined that a woman reared in a diamond settlement would tastelessly flaunt her new wealth, he would be confounded when introduced to a demure, cultured daughter-in-law whose radiance denied any suggestion of cunning or avarice.
Vere went to her. ‘Have I ever said how much I adore you?’
‘Frequently,’ she teased, loving him with her eyes. ‘Will you continue to do so when you are disowned, and thrown out with the advice never to darken these doors again?’
‘You did that on two occasions,’ he reminded her. ‘I’m as determined now as I was then. I offer you my arm, Mrs Ashleigh. Together we shall face the onslaught.’
Clunes was agitated, for once robbed of tactful words, as he stood at the door to the inner sanctum of the man he had served for almost fifty years. ‘Welcome home, Mr Ashleigh; Madam. Sir, it’s not a good time,’ he mumbled trying not to meet Vere’s eyes. ‘The General’s resting. Not been himself, he hasn’t. It would be as well not to disturb him.’
‘Quite possibly,’ Vere agreed, ‘but I wouldn’t dream of being discourteous enough to return after more than a year’s absence without seeing my grandfather at the first opportunity. If he has been unwell, there is all the more reason for me to do so to express my concern.’
Taking Kitty’s arm once more, he reached for the handle and ushered her through the open door into a room filled with heavy antique furniture set upon a rich red and blue carpet. Sir Gilliard was in a chair beside the fire, dressed in dark trousers and a mulberry velvet smoking-jacket. A book lay open on his lap. He was not reading it, but was instead gazing at the late afternoon sky through a window on the far side of the room. Vere was taken aback. The old man looked frailer than he had expected. Perhaps he really had been unwell. Inborn respect for this man who had been the figurehead of the Ashleigh family over so many years softened Vere’s approach.
‘Hallo, sir. Clunes says you are feeling tired, so I’ll make my visit brief.’ Sir Gilliard continued to stare at the window. ‘It’s good to see you again.’ Still no response. ‘Our arrival was rather later than we expected, but I could not delay my greetings until we met at the dinner table.’
‘I have nothing to say to you, sir.’ It was cold, disdainful and remote.
Vere’s initial compassion vanished. ‘Then I trust you will at least consent to speak to my wife now that I have brought her to meet you.’
A frown furrowed the brow above bushy white eyebrows as Sir Gilliard’s head turned slowly. When he saw that Vere had indeed brought a woman to his sanctum, he eased himself from the chair with some difficulty but remained before the flames with his inimitable forbidding stance.
‘Has that infernal savage country deprived you of good manners along with your sense of duty?’
‘South Africa took away any pretensions I may have possessed,’ Vere said in clipped tones. ‘You frequently reminded me of my duty to marry. You cannot accuse me of neglecting that duty now that I have had the good manners to present my wife to you at the first opportunity after our arrival. I do so with great pride, sir.’
Kitty moved forward to be met with the barest semblance of a bow from a man whose breeding dictated acknowledgement only of the coolest nature. Vere’s anger rose, but Kitty took the situation into her hands before he could speak.
> ‘You make it abundantly clear that you don’t approve of me, sir. I have some appreciation of that. You had hopes of a daughter-in-law with impeccable credentials and have instead a woman disowned by her grandparents, who has led a somewhat chequered life in the colonies. I assure you I tried every means I knew to prevent this marriage but,’ she smiled up at Vere, ‘your grandson has inherited your single-minded determination. Only when every avenue of escape had been blocked did I agree to accept his offer of lifelong happiness.’ She paused to allow Sir Gilliard a response. When one was not given, she said, ‘You remain sceptical? Running a hotel requires a great deal of diplomacy and teaches one to recognize true worth in a man. Vere has it in abundance. He also possesses physical courage, compassion, artistic talent … ’
‘And a very large fortune,’ put in the old man bitterly.
‘You cast me as a fortune-hunter?’ Kitty countered swiftly. ‘If I were I would long ago have secured my future with one of many men who dug enormous wealth from the ground in Kimberley. Diamond millionaires are reckless and forever seeking the means of increasing their riches by travelling the world. What an exciting and profitable life I could have led rather than bury myself here for the rest of my days.’
Sir Gilliard’s lip curled. ‘So we understand each other! I have already spoken to Parkington-Price about an annulment. He sees little difficulty. Name your terms, madam.’
Vere moved forward in a fury as he recognized what his grandfather was suggesting, but Kitty caught his arm, saying coolly, ‘An annulment, sir? I have a son to consider.’
‘He can never inherit,’ snapped Sir Gilliard.
‘I agree,’ said Kitty, still mistress of herself. ‘But if the child I am presently carrying is a boy, he will. You surely do not wish your heir’s son to become a bastard.’
The news was a shock to the old man, and hardly less so to Vere, being alternately angered and amazed by this interchange. While both men stood lost for words, Kitty said to Vere, ‘I think we should allow Sir Gilliard to rest for a while. If we are to eat in the grand dining-room he will wish to feel robust enough to recount to me the histories of your noble ancestors whose portraits line the walls.’
A Distant Hero Page 29