Eugenie and the Earl

by Marina Oliver

  'If I have some money from Beechcotes,' Eugenie said cautiously. 'I don't wish to spend what my uncle gave me on frivolities.'

  'Gowns are not frivolities,' Arabella said, laughing. 'Well, you must buy some things, but if you don't wish to spend your money I will buy what you need. Jerome gives me an enormous sum as pin money, and even I cannot spend it all. After breakfast we will go and invade Mrs Johnston's domain. She's my sewing woman.'

  'Does my uncle go to London often?'

  Arabella sighed. 'Too often! He has to be there when Parliament is sitting, and he is relied on a great deal by some of the Ministers, especially now Wellington is in Spain and perhaps this endless war will soon be over. But enough of dismal things. If you have finished we'll go and see Mrs Johnston.'

  The sewing room was on the topmost floor at the end of the wing next to the ruins. Arabella shivered as she led the way there.

  'I hate it, but Johnny says it's quiet, and as the nursery and schoolroom are at the opposite end of the house, she is right. Here we are.'

  The room was spacious, with a big window at the far end, by which a plump woman sat plying her needle. She jumped up to welcome Arabella, and smiled at Eugenie.

  'Have you come to see Miss Caroline's new gown?' she asked. 'It's all but finished, just the hem to do.'

  'That wasn't why I came, but Johnny, it looks lovely!'

  Mrs Johnston smiled and held out the pretty sprigged muslin gown, red strawberries on a white background.

  'The child says she would eat strawberries all day if you or her governess permitted it,' she said, laughing. 'This is for her birthday, she'll be eight in September.'

  'And make herself ill! Isn't it pretty, Eugenie? But Johnny, this is my husband's niece, and we are to make her a complete wardrobe for the Little Season. She has just escaped from France, and has only the clothes on her back.'

  'And the many you have given me,' Eugenie said. She dragged her attention back from the shelves that ran along one side of the room. They were full of fabrics. 'I've never seen so much except in a shop,' she exclaimed.

  There were rolls of muslin in every shade, sprigged as well as plain, and sarsnet, linen, wool, and cambric. There were boxes and drawers full of lace and ribbons and other trimmings, enough, Eugenie thought, to stock a linen draper's.

  Arabella laughed. 'The only thing we don't have is fur. Johnny makes all the gowns for the children and the maidservants, look at this cambric we use for the maids' uniforms, and shirts for the men. She would make their breeches too, but Jerome says they would be horrified at the notion, so a tailor in Winchester makes them. He permits her to make jackets and waistcoats.'

  'It must keep you very busy. Do you really have time to make gowns for me too?'

  'If I need to young Jenny will help. She's neat and quick with the plain sewing, though I need to do the cutting and fitting. But you won't need any stays, Miss Eugenie, you're thin enough. Will you stay now and I'll take measurements?'

  'Yes, do that,' Arabella said, 'then I'll take you round the house, and look, this rain has stopped, so perhaps later we can explore the gardens. Can you find your way back to my boudoir? Where I was when you came. It's in the opposite wing to your room, right at the end, but I'll leave the door ajar for you, and perhaps you'll hear my piano. I try to play every morning.'

  Eugenie was left with Mrs Johnston, who soon asked her to call her Johnny. They considered various fabrics, and Johnny insisted she choose several.

  'To start with,' she said. 'Your aunt will want you to be well-dressed when you go to London.'

  Her aunt? Eugenie smiled. Yes, she supposed Arabella was her aunt, as she was married to her uncle, but she was only ten years older, and so lively she seemed more like Eugenie's age rather than the mother of four young children. She didn't think she could ever address her as aunt, and Arabella had expressly forbidden it..

  *

  By the time Mrs Johnston had measured Eugenie, and she had chosen some fabrics, far more than she thought appropriate, but urged on by Mrs Johnston, who said her mistress would expect it, the sun was shining. She found her way to the sitting room where Arabella was playing on her pianoforte, and they went out into the gardens.

  In front of the house, between it and the surrounding belt of trees, were sweeping lawns, There was a discreet fence half way, and beyond it deer grazed.

  'We don't permit them too close to the house,' Arabella explained. 'They are quite tame, but they frighten the children if they come too close, and Caroline and Sophie like to play out here with their balls, and when they are old enough no doubt Celia and Amanda will too. Behind the house there are the gardens.'

  They soon went to see these, and Eugenie exclaimed in delight at the profusion of blossoms.

  'It's the best time of year,' Arabella explained. 'I especially love the roses, but there are plenty for me to pick and put in the rooms we use, and if we have guests, in the big drawing room too, which we only use for parties.'

  Beyond the formal gardens were walled vegetable and fruit gardens. 'This is where Caroline gorges herself on strawberries. I have to stop her before she makes herself ill. The main orchard is further on, but very little of the fruit is ready yet, though we do have a succession of apple trees. My father was very knowledgeable about apples, and gave me some trees so that we might have at least a few apples all the year round. I cannot understand how some people do not enjoy them! Even little Amanda likes them when they are pulped.'

  'I suppose she likes the sweetness.'

  'Yes. She's a greedy little baby.'

  'Is that the back of the castle?' Eugenie asked, indicating some broken walls that appeared to be enclosing a courtyard.

  Arabella grimaced. 'Yes. I suppose I ought to show it to you.'

  'Why don't you like it?'

  'Oh, I suppose it's silly, but when I first came here, before I married Jerome, I slept in the green room, where you are, and I was certain the castle was haunted. There were such odd noises! Jerome insisted it was just the wind, blowing open doors and moving floorboards, for even then some of the floors were unsafe. I think it may have been George, when he was at home from Eton, for he was trying to frighten me away. He didn't want his father to marry again.'

  'He'd have been about twelve, I suppose?'

  'A little older, and you'd have thought past the age when nasty little boys play tricks on people!'

  'He didn't frighten you away?'

  'No. It was partly, too, that I had just read that horrid creepy book, The Castle of Otranto, with all those murders, and there was the name Jerome in it. I was madly in love with my Jerome, you see, even though he was twenty years older than I. And I worked out that if I were mistress here I would be able to sleep at the other end of the house.' She giggled. 'It worked. We were married a few months later, and I don't think George has ever forgiven us.'

  'Was he so fond of his mother? Children often resent a new step-mother.'

  'He never knew her. She died a few months after he was born. But I suspect George thought I would be sterner than his father was. Because he lost his mother I believe the servants, as well as Jerome, rather spoilt him. It was only when Jerome discovered his horrendous debts that he began to act sternly with George. And naturally George blames me for that.'

  'That's unfair.'

  'Of course, but he also resents the girls, I suspect because he thinks his father loves them more than he does him. It's not true. He does love them, but despite all he has done Jerome loves George too. Look, we can get through the wall here, and explore the dreaded castle. I'll go first.'

  *

  Eugenie was fascinated to see the broken walls which has once enclosed the inner courtyard of the castle, surrounding the keep. The outer walls had long been gone, Arabella told her, along with all the wooden sheds that had housed the stables and kitchens.

  'And all those other things like blacksmiths and bakers and people who made swords and things,' Arabella added. 'Look, half the keep has gone, and t
he new house is joined on to where it used to be. Let's go in.'

  There was a big opening, and Arabella explained this had once been the undercroft where they stored things. 'The real entrance was on the next floor, by way of an outside staircase. That is on the same level as our ground floor, since the new house was built with kitchens in a basement, but those outside steps were wooden and had vanished. A new entrance staircase of stone was made from inside the undercroft. I think it is because there are no windows here, just that doorway, and it's so dark until we get up to the next storey, that I feel it's all ghostly!'

  'You said only some rooms could be used?'

  'Yes, those on the next floor. About a hundred years ago someone converted what had been the main hall of the castle into several small rooms, and they used them as extra bedrooms when the main house was full.' She shivered. 'Jerome's great-grandfather, I think it was, used to hold huge parties, and there were not enough bedrooms in the main house for everyone. They had to stay as we are too far from Winchester or any other town for people to travel. I believe there were some on the floor above, too. That's on the same level as our bedrooms.'

  They went up the flight of stone steps and Eugenie saw that most of the doors on that level had been removed from the small rooms.

  'I'm told George's mother said this used to be the castle's main hall, and she wanted to take down all these partitions, and make this a new ballroom, but Jerome refused. He said there was a perfectly adequate ballroom already. And he would have had to make an entrance through the library which is on the far side, and it would have ruined that room.'

  'So the only way between the two parts is the door on the next floor.' Through the door next to her bedroom, 'Let's go and see that. Where are the steps?'

  'In that far corner.' Arabella shivered. 'Do you really want to? Some of the floor is not safe, and the way up to it is the old spiral staircase in the corner tower.'

  Without telling her why she was anxious to see the door, Eugenie could not persist. The castle was open, so she could come back another day by herself, to satisfy her curiosity.

  'You're shivering. We ought to go back.'

  'It's cold inside these old walls, but it's not just the cold. You'll think me an idiot, but I really do feel this place is haunted.'

  'Not in the daytime, surely,' Eugenie said, laughing. 'Ghosts only walk at night. Come on then, we'll go back to the house.'

  They spent the next couple of days pleasantly. Eugenie was frequently needed to try on the gowns Mrs Johnston was making for her, and they often played with the little girls. The weather remained fine and Eugenie explored more of the grounds, and the ruins, but she refused Arabella's offer of a horse to go riding. It would not be very enjoyable accompanied only by a groom, and Arabella said she did not ride much in the country. She'd once had a fall when she'd been on her own, and had to walk miles back home. It was not something she wished to repeat. She would drive Eugenie to the nearest village though, in her own curricle.

  The days passed, and they did not greatly wonder that the Duke was delayed. Arabella said it was normal, if there were people to see or meetings with Ministers or Army generals, for Jerome to have to remain longer than he had expected.

  'He went to India with Wellington in ninety-six, and spent three years there. He knows him well, so they often want to ask him what he thinks Wellington will do. As if anyone could know! The man's a genius, and always surprises us as well as the enemy.'

  Eugenie laughed. 'Did you ever meet him?'

  'Not before he went to India, I was still in the schoolroom. But I did meet him once when he was back in England. He seemed such a mild, gentle man, but he has a way with him that makes the most recalcitrant fellow obey him. I'm sure that now he is in charge in the Peninsula we will soon see the last of Napoleon.'

  *

  Arabella was interested in hearing about Switzerland, and Eugenie's life there.

  'Was your Mama very ill?'

  'Not at first. The air was fresh, and cold in the winter, but not damp and rainy as in England. It seemed to suit her, and we were hopeful. But then the war started again, and I think she became depressed, for she wanted to return to England. After that she went into a decline, and nothing we could do or say helped. I was much alone with her, for Papa had to work as we received no money from England. Later I took some jobs too, and we hired a girl to sit with her, but by then we knew she could not live for much longer.'

  'Did she have any family, here in England?'

  'No. Her parents were dead, and she had no living sisters or brothers. The only aunt, I believe, was a recluse in Northumberland who had disapproved of her marrying a younger son, so they had never even corresponded. I suppose she might still be alive, but I don't mean to ask.'

  'So you are all alone, for close family,' Arabella said. 'Jerome has lost his only brother, and he had no sisters. Just a few cousins, one who will be his heir if George dies and I have no sons. You have lost everyone, and my parents are very old. While I have a sister, Serena and I are unfortunately not on good terms.'

  'But I now have you and my uncle.'

  'Yes, and four cousins as well as George! We are very pleased to have you with us, and hope you will stay for a long visit.'

  'I'm so grateful for your welcome.'

  Arabella was silent for a few moments. 'I have never been abroad,' she sighed. 'Perhaps when that monster is defeated we can go to Paris. But you have seen it.'

  'Not a great deal, I was kept too busy working to have leisure to explore.'

  'And the countryside. I believe there are many cathedrals and castles.'

  'Some of the country is pretty,' Eugenia admitted, 'but I saw some ruined castles and houses that had once, I think, belonged to the aristos, as people called them.'

  'What was it like, working in taverns? Was it hard work?'

  'Yes, it was. The tankards of beer were heavy, and they jeered at me because I could carry only one in each hand.'

  'Tell me about how you escaped? It must have been a relief not to have to walk the rest of the way.'

  Eugenie was only too happy to describe how Hugues had rescued her from the Paris thugs, and led her to the boat which brought her to England.

  Arabella looked at her and smiled. 'I believe, Eugenie, you are in love with your handsome hero!'

  Eugenie blushed and denied it. 'Just grateful,' she insisted, but Arabella smiled and shook her head.

  *

  The ladies were eating a light luncheon ten days after the Duke had left for London when he walked into the dining room. Arabella squeaked in surprise, and jumped up to greet him.

  'Jerome! You are a stranger! You haven't driven all the way from London this morning, have you?'

  'No, my dear, I spent the night with Tom Antrobus near Farnborough. The old fellow is getting weaker, I was told, and wanted to see me. I fear it will be the last time. But how have you been employing yourselves?'

  'Having gowns made for Eugenie. But come and eat something. If you have been on the road you must be hungry.'

  He sat down but would take no more than a slice of ham and a peach. 'How are the girls? Has Caroline left us any strawberries?'

  'Just a few! Now Sophie has begun to like them too, and between them they have stripped the plants.'

  'I can see I will have to expand the beds for next year. Eugenie, will you give me a day to write some letters, and we will set off for Beechcotes the day afterwards?'

  'Of course. I am grateful that you mean to come with me, but I've been away for ten years, there is no haste.'

  He soon left to go to his study, and while Arabella went to play with the children, as she normally did during the hour after luncheon, Eugenie went to the study. She had decided she must interrupt him. She had to tell him about George in the old part of the castle, and his use of the key to come through into the new house.

  She knocked on the door. She hadn't liked to disturb him so soon after he reached home, but she might not have another
opportunity of speaking to him without Arabella's knowledge before they left for Beechcotes, near Bath. It would be up to him whether he told Arabella, but with her fear of the old building, Eugenie didn't want to disturb her unnecessarily.

  'Come in.'

  He sounded curt, even angry. Was he annoyed at the interruption? She took a deep breath and opened the door. Her uncle was standing in front of his desk which was near the window. She remembered it from her previous time in the room. It was a large affair on two pedestals, with a centre drawer that at the moment was open. The Duke was staring into it and frowning. He glanced up at Eugenie, and smiled, but it was a bleak smile.

  'Come in, my dear. How can I help you?'

  'Are you busy?' she asked. 'I can wait.'

  He shook his head. 'Not busy. Puzzled. Where is George?'

  'George? He went to stay with his aunt, in the New Forest.'

  'I see. He was afraid, I suppose.'

  'Afraid? Because of the door?'

  'Door? What door? But my dear, I am keeping you standing. Come and sit down.' He ushered her to a chair beside the fireplace and sat in another opposite her. 'Which door are you talking about?'

  Eugenie sat down and arranged her skirts. It suddenly seemed difficult to speak. It felt like a betrayal of George, like some child sneaking about a sibling or a friend. Then she took a deep breath and began. It had to be done.

  'The one outside my bedroom, that leads through to the castle ruins. It was the first night after you left. I was sitting by my window, and heard noises from the castle. Then I saw a man run across from it to the trees. A short while afterwards I heard the door opening, the one you said was always locked, and I opened my door and saw George come through. He didn't see me watching him, but I heard him lock the door, and afterwards I checked. It was locked. I wondered if he had another key, but you had said there was only the one you kept.'