Alecia wondered what Lord Kiniston really felt for Lady Lillian and if, although he had said that he had no intention of marrying her, he would prefer to remain unmarried and enjoy himself with the women he had described as ‘flowers’ to be thrown away when they withered.
There did not seem very much that was withered about Lady Lillian, but if he had ever seen her in the same sort of rage as she had shown that morning to Alecia, she was certain that he would decide he would be wise to dispense with her.
‘Besides,’ Alecia argued to herself, ‘how can any woman be so two-faced as to declare that she loves one man, yet flirt outrageously with and accept presents from another?’
It made her feel very young and lost.
Lord Kiniston had said that he would look after her and there was nothing to be frightened about, but she knew that she was frightened of Lady Lillian.
She was frightened by Lord Kiniston himself and by the large number of people who kept coming and going in the château.
She had a sudden longing to be back at home where, even though she felt lonely, there were the horses to ride and the quietness and solitude of the woods.
There she could feel that life was pulsating through everything, bringing strange music to her heart.
It was a feeling of happiness that was different from what she felt when people were chattering and laughing all around her.
It struck her that what would be most wonderful would be to find a man with whom she could share her feelings for the country and the animals that had always meant so much to her.
Then suddenly, almost like a blow, she could see Lord Kiniston’s face in front of her.
Because of what she was thinking made her cry out at the absurdity of it, she put her hands up to her face and forced herself to repudiate everything that her heart was telling her.
*
A long time later, it seemed to Alecia, she heard the voice of Mrs. Belton talking animatedly in the salon and realised that the ladies had come back from their shopping expedition.
“What I am really longing for,” Mrs. Belton said, “is a cup of tea. I cannot understand why the French always seem to prefer coffee when I can think of nothing more reviving than tea.”
“I agree with you,” another lady said in English.
It was the sort of thing Alecia had heard them say before and, thinking it absurd to sit outside, listening to what they were saying, she decided to go in and join them.
She rose, realising as she did so that she had not read one page of the book that had been lying in her lap. She had instead been thinking thoughts that she wanted to forget, but was quite certain that it would be impossible to do so.
Carrying her book and the cushion she had been sitting on, she went in through the open windows and Mrs. Belton gave a cry of delight at seeing her.
“Oh, there you are, Lady Charis! I do wish you had come with us! We have found the most exciting things and so cheap they were really almost given away.”
“I think the French are thankful to have anything to sell after a War in which ‘that monster’, as the Duc called him,” another of the ladies said, “sacrificed everything to the making of guns and ammunition.”
“That is true,” Mrs. Belton agreed. “At the same time we might as well benefit by what we can buy at such reasonable prices and the shopkeepers seemed extremely pleased to see us.”
“I wonder what the French really feel about us?” another Englishwoman asked.
Mrs. Belton laughed.
“I think it would be a mistake to probe too deeply. As far as I am concerned, as long as they are polite and no longer wish to kill my husband, I am quite content to enjoy myself in France and I am looking forward to the chance of visiting Paris.”
“So am I!” both the other women present exclaimed.
Then the talk was only of the gaieties that were taking place in Paris every night and they were all envious that they could not participate in them.
“I suppose you know,” Mrs. Belton said with the air of somebody who has information that no one else has, “that the Duke is planning a great ball in June before he leaves for England.”
There was a cry of excitement as both the other ladies said,
“No, we were not told about it.”
“He is giving it in honour of the Royal Princes in his mansion in the Champs Élysées.”
“How exciting!” one of the ladies exclaimed. “Will we all be able to go?”
“My husband thinks that we will be invited,” Mrs. Belton replied. “You know how His Grace always wants ‘his boys’, as he calls them, to enjoy the same things as he does.”
“Why did you not tell us before?” one of the ladies grumbled. “You know we will all have to find new gowns.”
“Yes, that is true,” Mrs. Belton agreed, “but whatever we do, Lady Charis will be the belle of the ball and there is no use our trying to compete with her.”
She smiled kindly as she spoke to Alecia, who looked embarrassed.
Then, as the door opened for the servants to bring in tea, Mrs. Belton said in a conspiratorial tone,
“But not a word to anyone! The ball is a secret until the Great Man tells us about it himself.”
“Yes, of course, we will be very discreet.”
As they went up to dress for dinner, Alecia thought that it was very unlikely that she would be present at the ball in Paris, since by that time Charis’s Wedding would have taken place.
She supposed that she would hear from her that the charade was over and she could resume being herself and go back to England.
Then, as she was lying in her bath, she knew that she did not want to go back to England as urgently as she had in the first moments of her arrival and again this afternoon.
What she wanted was to stay a little longer with Lord Kiniston, to listen to him talking and to enjoy – for it would be very stupid of her not to – the strange but exciting life here that was different from anything she had ever known before.
‘I am very very lucky,’ she told herself. ‘What other girl would have such a chance after living so quietly and inconspicuously at Little Langley with no one to talk to except for Papa, who does not listen, and old Bessie, whose mind is always on food?’
She was glad to think that when she did return, her father would be well fed for a long time on the money that Charis had given them.
Then inevitably her mind went to the delicious dishes she was enjoying in the château cooked by a French chef, who Lord Kiniston had said casually at luncheon was, in his opinion, better than the one employed by the Duke of Wellington.
“You will certainly have to make sure,” Willy said, “that Alfonse excels himself tonight, so that you make the Great Man envious.”
“The trouble is,” Lord Kiniston replied, “that, as Mrs. Patterson is coming with him, I feel that his mind will not be on the food!”
Everyone laughed at that and Willy said,
“I should not be too sure. After all his admiration for Mrs. Patterson only shows his good taste and the French manage to make food an art rather than a necessity.”
They all laughed again and Alecia thought that, before she left she must try to learn the recipes of some of the French dishes, so that now they could afford the more expensive ingredients, she could make them for her father.
When Alecia had finished her bath, Sarah helped her into one of the pretty gowns Charis had given her that she had not worn before.
The pale pink of a musk rose, it was decorated round the hem and sleeves with tiny roses and the ribbons, which crossed over her breasts and hung down her back, were of silver.
“You do look pretty, my Lady, you do, really!” Sarah exclaimed. “And I’ve persuaded them gardeners, though it was difficult to make ‘em understand, to give me some roses to put in your hair.”
“That was kind of you, Sarah,” Alecia said. “Are you learning to speak French?”
“A word or two, my Lady, but from what I hears, al
l them Frenchies want to talk about is what they calls ‘l’amour’!”
Alecia laughed.
“I should listen to their compliments, Sarah. It will be something to remember when you go back home, for Englishmen don’t say half such nice things!”
“That’s true, my Lady,” Sarah agreed, “though my English boyfriend manages all right when I pushes him!”
That was true of all Englishmen, Alecia thought.
She went down the stairs thinking of the effusive compliments that the Duc de St. Brière paid in language that seemed to her not really sincere.
She knew that it was not the way she would want the man she was in love with to speak to her.
As she entered the salon, she realised that because the Duke of Wellington was coming to dinner all the women present were wearing their best gowns and Lady Lillian was glittering like a Christmas tree in a dress covered in sequins.
She was also wearing an exquisite emerald necklace while round her wrists were matching bracelets and she wore a small tiara of the same stones in her dark hair.
She really looked spectacular.
At the same time, Alecia thought, rather like the witch in a Fairytale who was intent on ensnaring the Knight who had come to slay the dragon.
Then she rebuked herself for being uncharitable.
The expression she saw in Lady Lillian’s eyes, however, told her that the older woman positively loathed her.
Her animosity seemed to vibrate from her so strongly that instinctively Alecia went to the other side of the room to avoid her.
Soon the Duke of Wellington arrived and on meeting him Alecia was aware that he had indeed an aura of magic and leadership about him.
She had always imagined that a great man would have it and she felt it vibrate from him in an unmistakable manner.
She knew that even if she had been blind and the Duke had come into the room, she would have been aware that it was him.
She was introduced to him by Lord Kiniston and the Duke said,
“Now that I see you, Lady Charis, I can understand how so many young men have been bowled over by your beauty. But you have taken my most indispensable General from me.”
“I have no intention of doing that, my Lord,” Alecia managed to reply.
“Until you came into his life,” the Duke said, “I believed him to be wholeheartedly a soldier. Now I am suspicious about which direction he will be looking and I have a feeling it will be yours.”
He spoke in a clipped but slightly humorous manner that did not make a compliment seem embarrassing or make Alecia feel shy.
Instead she smiled and replied,
“I can still hardly believe that I am privileged enough to meet Your Grace.”
“This, I hope, is the first of many meetings,” the Duke answered gallantly.
As he turned away to speak to somebody else, Alecia sensed that Lord Kiniston was pleased by the way she had behaved.
She had an impulse to slip her hand into his and say that she had been afraid she might let him down and that the Great Man might ask why he should want to marry her.
Then she told herself that the person who would really be most horrified if he knew the truth was the Duke of Wellington.
In her sudden feeling of fear she was not aware that Lord Kiniston was watching the expression in her eyes, and he said to her in a quiet voice that no one else could hear,
“What is worrying you? I want you to enjoy yourself, Charis. This is a very special evening.”
“Yes, I know,” Alecia replied, “and it is – very exciting to meet the Duke.”
“Then don’t look so worried about it! I can assure you that he is a great admirer of yours.”
Alecia managed to smile back at him.
Then other guests began to arrive and by the time everybody was introduced and had had a glass of champagne, dinner was announced.
Because Lady Lillian was still acting as hostess, the Duke was seated on her right and Alecia was on his other side.
It was very clear from the start that Lady Lillian had no intention of allowing Alecia to speak to the Duke if she could help it and she monopolised him with an expertise that came from years of enchanting men with her beauty and her wit.
Alecia gave up the struggle to talk to the Duke as she would have liked to do and contented herself with chatting to Willy, who was on her other side.
This meant that she could also watch Lord Kiniston where he was seated at the head of the table next to the attractive Mrs. Patterson.
Both her sisters were also dining at the château that night and Alecia could understand why they were called ‘The Three Graces’. Certainly it was obvious that both the Duke and Colonel Felton-Hervey found them irresistible.
When the ladies left the gentlemen to their port, Alecia had the feeling that Lady Lillian was going to be offensive to her, so to avoid coming into contact with her she hurried up the stairs to her bedroom.
She thought that perhaps she was being oversensitive.
At the same time she knew it would be embarrassing if Lady Lillian decided to show off to the Caton sisters and to the other guests her animosity for Lord Kiniston’s fiancée.
Mrs. Patterson had already given her her good wishes and so had Louisa, who was engaged to Colonel Felton-Hervey.
Elizabeth, on the other hand, had been cold and distant and it suddenly occurred to Alecia that perhaps she had wanted to many Lord Kiniston and was annoyed that he had chosen a different bride.
It was only an idea, but she thought that it would be uncomfortable for her to talk to the ladies in the salon until the gentlemen joined them.
Having therefore gone up to her bedroom and tidied her hair and put just a suspicion of powder on her small nose as Charis had directed her to do, she went to the window and drew back the curtain to gaze out.
The garden was full of shadows and, although it was growing dark, there were just the remains of a crimson and gold sunset vanishing behind the tall poplar trees.
It was very beautiful and Alecia knew that instead of chattering downstairs she would much prefer to walk in the garden with perhaps one person beside her to enjoy the beauty of the night.
As she stood at the window, she saw a movement towards the far end of the château and wondered what it could be.
Then she saw two men approaching what she knew was the conservatory and remembered how she had seen them the previous day and thought that they must be stoking the boilers.
She supposed they were doing the same thing now and then thought it strange that they should still be on duty at this time of the night, although doubtless the French worked different hours from the British.
The men disappeared and then another man appeared out of the shadows moving in the same direction.
He was wearing a dark cloak and he looked different from the two previous men, who were obviously workmen.
He walked hurriedly and there was something about him that seemed to Alecia vaguely familiar.
Then she thought, although of course it must be impossible, that he had the same figure and was the same height as the Duc.
She told herself that perhaps all Frenchmen looked very much alike and the Duc by this time would be well on his way to Paris to see his sick mother.
The man in the cloak disappeared under the conservatory, she supposed, like the workmen.
A few minutes later, after she had looked up at the sky and searched for the first evening star twinkling in the encroaching night, she was aware that the men she had seen were leaving.
The man in the cloak appeared first.
Now he was moving very much more quickly than when she had first seen him.
In fact he appeared to be running and there was something almost furtive about his behaviour.
The two workmen were not in such a hurry, but Alecia realised that their arms were empty whereas before they had been carrying something heavy.
‘I hope it is not too hot in the conservatory, she thoug
ht, for it is a warm night and, if the Duke and Lord Kiniston are to receive their presentations there, they may feel it obligatory to make short speeches of thanks, even though the Duc is not there.
Then she realised that she must go downstairs because they had lingered over dinner and it would soon be the time appointed by the Duc for them to be in the conservatory.
In fact when she came downstairs the men appeared in the passage that led from the dining room and were entering the salon.
They were received by Lady Lillian, who said,
“Before you sit down, gentlemen, I have a little surprise in the conservatory for His Grace and for our charming host.
“A surprise!” Lord Kiniston exclaimed. “What is it?”
“You will see when you get there,” Lady Lillian replied, “and I promised that we would be in the conservatory on the stroke of a quarter to ten.”
“It sounds intriguing,” the Duke said, “and of course, Lady Lillian, we must not disrupt your plans!”
As Alecia joined them, she realised that Lord Kiniston was frowning as if he did not like to be confronted with surprises in what was, to all intents and purposes, his own house.
It was some distance to the conservatory at the other end of the house and she found herself walking beside him and Willy, while the Duke and Lady Lillian led the way and the rest of the party followed.
When they reached the conservatory, for a moment Alecia could not see that it looked very different from the way it had the day before.
Then she realised that it had been lit by candles put discreetly behind the flowers at the far end of it, to which they had to walk right across the conservatory to reach three objects covered by cloths.
One was of gold, one of silver, and the third was smaller and green, which told Alecia that that covered the present for Lady Lillian.
Then, as she looked, thinking that after all the conservatory did not seem very hot, for which she was thankful, she remembered what she had heard one of the men say to the other as they left the conservatory the day before,
“All we need now is le cosmetique!” he had remarked.
Suddenly she remembered, as if strangely prompted by some Fate, that the word cosmetique could include powder in its meaning and that conceivably it might be criminals’ slang for gunpowder.
Love Casts Out Fear Page 11