Apple Blossom Bride

by Marina Oliver

  He made enquiries about Eve's father, but no one he spoke to had even heard of the man. As he appeared to have been in Spain all the time, perhaps that was to be expected, but Justin fretted he had no news to give Eve. He hoped to be back in London in time, if necessary, to help her if her father were intransigent and blaming her for all that James had done.

  Finally, his work was finished and he set off back to London. Perhaps Sir Bernard and his family had already gone back to Herefordshire. He would make time soon to visit them, for their friendship during the past few months had been most enjoyable.

  *

  The Montgomeries were planning to leave at the end of April. Eve, not knowing whether she would ever come to London again, still asked if she might leave her new clothes safely in Albemarle Street, from where, if a miracle happened, she might retrieve them.

  She was helping Caroline collect together the books they had borrowed from the circulating library, and which must be returned, when Thompson came in looking far from happy.

  'Miss Eve, there is a fellow wanting to speak with you.'

  Caroline looked at him, puzzled. 'A fellow? Who is it, Thompson? Did he say?'

  'He says he is the Reverend Sir Frederick Ripon, madam, but he is so wild looking, and dressed in an army uniform that doesn't fit him, I hesitated to bring him up.'

  Eve went white and sat down suddenly. 'It must be Papa!'

  'Bring him up, Thompson,' Caroline said.

  The man he ushered into the room was barely recognisable as the upright, sturdy Rector they had last seen. He was thin and stooped, his face was gaunt and pale, and his hair ill-brushed and whiter than they remembered, hanging down almost to his shoulders. But his eyes still glittered with fury and he raised a trembling arm to point at Eve.

  'What is that gown you are wearing? It's indecent! You are no better than a Jezebel. And where is my son?'

  Caroline looked startled, but she had known the Rector of old, and knew his opinion of fashionable dress. She went towards him, keeping her voice gentle.

  'Sir Frederick, do come and sit by the fire. You look so cold, and you are shivering. As for your son, we none of us know where he is.'

  He ignored her hand, held out to him. 'I am well enough, Lady Montgomery, to insist that my daughter informs me what has become of my son. I went to ask the Earl of Newark, only to be told at the War Office he is in France. His servants in Grosvenor Square would tell me nothing, except that my son was with him no longer. I had not even known James had been with him. So where is he?'

  He gave in to Caroline's invitation and almost collapsed into a chair. Thompson, without being asked, had brought brandy, and poured out a glass which Caroline handed to him.

  'Drink this, sir, and you will feel better.'

  He drank, and almost choked. When he could speak again he pointed to Eve. 'You must know where your wretched brother is hiding. Tell me!'

  Eve shook her head. 'Papa, I do not know. That is the truth, I swear, I cannot tell you.'

  'If I discover you are telling me untruths, my girl, I'll whip you from here all the way back to Herefordshire!'

  Caroline took a deep breath. 'Not while I am here, Sir Frederick! Good charitable Christian attitudes you are demonstrating.'

  'You are not concerned in this, my lady, except that you have encouraged my daughter into lewd gowns and given her false notions of behaviour. I will deal with my own in my own way.'

  'Well,' Eve burst out, 'to begin with you can try and be polite to Caroline, who has cared for me while you have been chasing your fury all over Spain! She has shown Christian behaviour, kindness and charity, and when she tells you we don't know where James is, she tells the truth.'

  'Chasing my fury? Is that what you believe? Well, you are wrong, Miss! I was captured by some rogues who stole all my money and clothes, and kept me for many weeks bound and naked in some cave in the mountains! I nearly perished from cold, and was given only rough bread and some greasy, fatty stew to eat.'

  The two ladies could not conceal their horror.

  'My dear sir!'

  'Oh Papa! How did you escape?'

  He drank more brandy, which seemed to calm him. 'They let me go when the British army came near. Pushed me out onto the mountainside, and they ran off. That is why you see me wearing these filthy, verminous clothes. And the Captain who found me would not believe me, who I am, or what had happened. He gave me these clothes, which I suspect had belonged to a dead man, and sent me, under guard, to his headquarters, where fortunately there was someone with better sense who believed me. They had been trying to capture these brigands for months. They arranged for me to come back to England with some of the soldiers.'

  'Poor Papa! But you are back in England. You will soon be better, with rest and good food.'

  'I am going back to Herefordshire tomorrow and you are coming with me. You'll swear on the Bible you don't know where your brother is.'

  Caroline shook her head. 'We leave in two days, Sir Frederick, and I suggest you stay here and travel with us.'

  'I'll not trespass on your charity.'

  'No hotel will permit you to stay as you are.'

  'Then I'll sleep in the Park.'

  'That is foolish talk. Can you not accept help when it is offered? And how will you travel to Herefordshire? Did the army give you money as well as transport back to England?'

  He looked as though he would refuse, but Eve took his hand in hers and the gesture appeared to startle him. Caroline went on.

  'Here you can rest for a day, and I'm sure we can supply you with some decent clothes. You can begin to get better.'

  *

  The Rector kept to his room for most of the following day, but Sir Bernard's valet reported he had accepted a bath, and was eating all that was sent up to him. When Thompson went to ask if he would join the family for dinner, he agreed, and came down to the drawing room garbed in Sir Bernard's pantaloons, a frilled shirt, a cravat the valet had tied for him, and a coat of blue superfine. Even his shoes belonged to his host, though they were rather large and had to be stuffed.

  His face looked less gaunt, his hair was clean and neatly brushed and had been cut short. The clothes were too big for him, but did not look ridiculous. He nodded to Caroline, and greeted Sir Bernard with a faint smile. Eve he ignored.

  'I trust you are feeling better, sir,' Sir Bernard said. 'Will you have some sherry?'

  Eve could have sworn he shuddered. 'Not that Spanish drink! Have you any Madeira?' he asked, and took the glass Sir Bernard handed him. 'I must thank you for your help,' he said, 'and apologise if I was ungracious yesterday. I did not realise how disreputable I looked until I saw my reflection in a mirror. And if you are still prepared to accept my company I will be most grateful to you for carrying me back to Herefordshire. If there is not room in the carriage, I can ride with the coachman. Or with the servants, if they travel in another carriage.'

  'Nonsense, my dear sir. The carriage is large enough for the four of us. The servants will be following on the next day, after they have closed up the house, and we will be pleased to have you.'

  Eve was speechless with amazement. Never before had she seen her father so complaisant. His thanks, to be sure, were a trifle grudging, but he was abasing himself in a manner unprecedented in her experience. Would it continue, or would his natural aggressiveness resurface?

  'None of you know where my son is?' he asked after they had been called to the dining room.

  Eve glanced at Sir Bernard. It would be far better if he were to be the one to convey the news, which she knew would be unwelcome to her father.

  'None of us. The Earl, as you may have expected, took his brother to a new tutor when you were – unable to continue with the lessons. I believe James is now with him, but I do not know who he is or where he lives. And John was sent to Rachel's.'

  'The Earl was being somewhat officious! And why should John be sent away from home?'

  That was more like her father, Eve thought. Was the
more peaceful time already over?

  Sir Bernard shook his head. 'No, sir. You have not heard what state James was in when he arrived in London. He was at the end of his tether, having been robbed of his money and his greatcoat, and had his arm broken. It was only with great fortitude, of which we are all very proud, that he walked to London. He was exhausted, cold, hungry, and desperately disappointed not to have managed to join the army.'

  'He should never have run away.'

  'Agreed, but when a lad is so keen as he was to join the army and help fight a monster that he is prepared to join as a volunteer, we might praise his patriotism. However, Justin seems to have turned his mind back to University. We will see how another few years affects his ambitions.'

  'He was seriously ill for some time,' Caroline said. 'Sir Peter Sankey, who has married Amelia, took him in and looked after him, employing the best medical attention. Then it was more convenient for him to be with Justin, the Earl. He has made two good friends there.'

  'I wondered where Amelia was. I thought she might be staying with relatives, though with Eve still with you, it seemed strange.'

  'Amelia is now married. We were going to take Eve to stay with Rachel when we went back home. It has been delightful, having her with us.' She smiled. 'It was intended to be just for the Little Season, but Sir Bernard's health made it necessary for us to stay here for several months. A few more days, sir, and you would have missed us.'

  The Rector nodded. 'And I would have been forced to appeal for help to Lambeth. But have you heard any news from home?'

  Sir Bernard sighed. 'Not good news, I suppose. Your curate, Mr North, came here to inform us he was leaving England to become a missionary in Africa.'

  Eve thought her father's new mildness would be ended. He grew red in the face, then took a deep breath and gritted his teeth together.

  'So who is caring for my parishioners?'

  'We don't know. Possibly the Bishop will have sent a temporary curate. Mr North had informed him of his intention.'

  And if he himself had not deserted his post, Eve was tempted to say, none of it would have been necessary.

  The Rector sighed. 'I must make it my first task to see the Bishop. He will no doubt be angry with me.'

  They could find nothing to say to that, for it was only too true. Caroline began to talk of the first night on the journey home when they would again stay in Oxford, asking the Rector about his old college, and whether there were people still there he might wish to visit.

  'We travel by easy stages,' she said, 'so delaying our departure for an hour or two would not matter, especially as the days are drawing out.'

  If only, Eve thought, they could delay it for days or weeks. All too soon she would be back at the Rectory, and she very much doubted her father's present mood of mild acceptance would last.

  *

  CHAPTER 12

  Justin arrived back in London the day after Sir Bernard and his companions left. At Grosvenor Square he found a long letter from Caroline telling him about the Rector's return, the state he was in, and why. His instinct was to follow them immediately, but he had to wait for some days to clear up his work at the War Office, and explain to his superiors why he was resigning his commission and leaving the army. It all took time. He ought also, he reluctantly decided, to visit David Shore so that he could give a report to the Rector of James's progress.

  From David's he could travel cross-country. The roads, after the dreadful winter, would be in a bad state, so he would send Clement to Herefordshire, where he had a permanent invitation to stay with the Montgomeries, in the chaise with his clothes, and himself ride. Robert could take care of things in London, and in the unlikely event of anything important occurring, which he could not deal with, either send an express to Herefordshire, or as a last resort travel there himself.

  'All invitations to be refused,' he told Robert the day before he set out. 'I do not anticipate being back in London for some weeks, but I will write to you when my plans are settled.'

  News came of the triumphal entry into Paris. Wellington, made a Duke the day before, was there to watch the Allied parade before the restored Louis XVIII. But Wellington was the one they wanted to see. Justin wondered what they would make of him. He was an unassuming figure, slight, slim, and with only the hooked nose to distinguish him. He recalled that Wellington had never been directly opposed by Bonaparte, their battles had always seemed to take place at the opposite sides of the continent. While Wellington was in Portugal or Spain, Napoleon was in Russia or Germany.

  But that was enough. Matters could now proceed without his being involved, either as a soldier or at the War Office. It was time for him to look to his personal affairs.

  He set off in the middle of May. After the unusual warmth of April May had become colder again, but the countryside had sprung to life. Trees had thrown out their leaves, and the roadsides and meadows were full of spring flowers. The fruit trees were laden with blossom, and he wondered whether Eve's cider apples were blooming. Had she reached home yet? Or had she, as had been the plan before her father arrived, gone to be with her sister? For her sake he hoped she would be able to escape from what he suspected would be her father's wrath when he knew that his time in Spain had been quite unnecessary.

  Caroline had said how subdued the Rector had been, but Justin did not expect such a choleric man would remain that way for long, unless his captivity by the Spanish bandits had changed him for ever. Perhaps his release, and return to England, had sobered him for a while, but when he was back in his own home, in charge of his parish once more, would it last? For the sake of his children Justin hoped it would, but he put no dependence on it.

  Stephen and James greeted him enthusiastically, and David reported on their progress.

  'They had much to catch up with,' he said privately to Justin after dinner, when the boys had been sent off to complete some work he had set them. 'The Rector's syllabus was limited. They might have passed the examinations, but now I am sure they will. They are both very intelligent. Do you think the Rector will permit James to remain with me?'

  'I think I can persuade him. I'm riding to Herefordshire when I leave you, to stay with the Montgomeries, and after that, we will see. I need to visit my own estates, but this business was more urgent.'

  He set off early the following morning, hoping the journey would take only two days, and did not halt for the night until he was far on the way. He would be with Bernard and Caroline late the following morning.

  *

  Eve's father was still surprisingly mild-tempered when they reached home. She had wondered, when they left Sir Bernard and Caroline, whether his aggressive nature would resurface, especially when he met whoever the Bishop had sent to look after the parish, but she need not have worried. The man they found there was one of the older Canons from the Cathedral, and a long-time friend of the Rector.

  'Of course I understand why you felt you had to follow your son,' the Canon said as they sat down for dinner. 'If I had sons I would have felt the same. He would have ruined his life if he had managed to become embroiled with the army, and had to fight in battles. Oh dear, why do people feel the need to do battle?'

  'Well, as it happened, he didn't join, but I am being prevented from knowing where he is by some upstart Earl.'

  'What do you mean?'

  'This man, the Earl of Newark, has had the impertinence to send James to another tutor, and will not tell me where he is.'

  'But he had no tutor here, Papa,' Eve said. 'And since the Earl has persuaded him that he ought to go to Oxford, he has to keep up with his studies. He had missed too much.'

  'He should not have run away.'

  'Of course not.'

  'Everyone runs away! James leaves, you jump at the chance of dissipation in London, that wretched curate I had, who has no conscience, deserts his post, John has gone, and even Susannah has left and gone to stay with her sister.'

  'He had to send John somewhere when he left,' Eve sa
id, 'and Aunt Susannah must have felt useless when none of us were here.'

  'Oh, you will excuse everyone. But I must ride to Hereford and see the Bishop tomorrow. You may take over the running of the house.'

  'Yes, Papa.'

  She saw the two clerics off the following morning, the Canon in the small gig he had brought from Hereford, her father riding. Eve watched them go, then saddled the pony and went to visit Farmer Blunt.

  'So you're back,' the farmer said. 'To stay this time, or do you go to London again?'

  'No, I don't think so,' Eve said, and sighed. 'But now I am home I can make arrangements for the extra cider.'

  'Has your father agreed?'

  'I haven't asked him. And this time he will not stop me. I'll use all the cider apples I can harvest, and if you will mill them for me, we can profit by selling them to an agent in Hereford. But I cannot pick them all, or bring them to you.'

  'Don't worry about that, lass. My men can come over with the big cart whenever the apples are ready, and do the picking. Just let me know. I'll come over to look at the orchard one day soon, and can we mark the trees? One or two of my men are not sure which are the cider apple trees.'

  'Of course. Thank you.'

  'And we share the profit equally?'

  'But you'll do most of the work.'

  'You provide the apples.'

  She laughed. 'As you wish, and I am very grateful.'

  If she ever went to London again, she was thinking as she rode home, she would have some money of her own to spend on gowns. Would she ever go? Perhaps Rachel would invite her again, but with a new baby, would Rachel wish to go to London? She surely would not want to take the baby there. The Montgomeries might not go so often, if Sir Bernard's illness became worse, and now there was no Amelia to whom she would be a companion. Then she smiled. Of course, Amelia would be living in London in Berkeley Square for some months of the year, and would almost certainly invite her to visit. Amelia would make it her mission to find Eve a husband. Eve grimaced. She didn't want a husband, but that would be the only way to escape from her father. Whether her situation would be better or worse depended on the husband, and she didn't think she would find the right one. Or, she amended, the right one for her would not be likely to want a dowerless female. She tried to look on the bright side. She might find a use for the money she expected to make from selling the cider.