‘You don’t think Ed will marry Addison?’
That made him think. ‘Dunno. I think she might marry him,’ he said at last. ‘If she sets up here, I’ll have to set up somewhere else with Mrs B.’
‘She’s already married,’ Kate told him.
‘You must be feeling better – you’re getting cheeky.’
In the drawing room, Addison was standing before the fireplace with a glass of champagne in her hand, looking magnificent in a clinging, draped white dress that ended just above the knee and was slit up the side to show her toned, brown thigh. Her super-shiny hair was in a great, loose chignon, and something sparkled in her ears – could they be real diamonds? Kate somehow couldn’t imagine her wearing fakes. She seemed to suck all the light in the room into herself, like a black hole, so that you didn’t see anything else – or if you did, it was only to notice how dull it was by contrast.
She was talking when they came in, but stopped abruptly to look at Kate with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
‘Ah, there you are,’ she said. ‘I thought you’d be eating upstairs.’ In the servants’ quarters, Kate translated for herself. ‘How are you feeling?’
It was not a tender enquiry. It sounded almost brusque. ‘Fine, except for the foot, and a few bruises and sore muscles,’ she said.
‘You were very lucky, you know,’ Addison said severely. ‘Someone could have been badly hurt. And what if one of the horses had broken a leg? You really shouldn’t have ridden at all if you weren’t up to it.’
‘I was all right until you swerved across me,’ Kate said, managing at the last moment to control the tone of her voice, though the words slipped out.
Addison’s nostrils flared. ‘I beg your pardon,’ she said icily. ‘It was you who impeded me. I was taking the correct line. You rode too far to the right and cut up my horse.’
Ed intervened hastily. ‘No post-mortems,’ he said firmly. ‘It was an accident, it’s over and done with, and that’s the end of it.’
Kate didn’t feel it was the end of it by any means, but Jack, who was in the process of putting her carefully down, pinched her hard in warning and she swallowed what she had been about to say. She wouldn’t embarrass Ed by quarrelling with his guest in his drawing room.
‘Have some champagne,’ Jack said, sealing her silence.
She accepted the glass and sipped. ‘Are we celebrating?’ she asked, to restart the conversation.
Addison gave her a pitying smile. ‘You don’t have to wait for a celebration to drink champagne. What a curious idea. We had it because we fancied it, didn’t we, darling?’ she said to Ed.
‘Well, I’m all for it,’ Jack said. ‘Cheers. Did you find out any more about that man, Ed?’
Before he could answer, Addison intervened. ‘Oh, no parochial business tonight. Let’s just enjoy ourselves. Where is Camilla, by the way?’
‘Out on a date,’ Jack said.
Addison looked pleased. ‘It’s about time she started looking around for another husband. Your father’s been gone a long time. She has to think about her future now. She needs a home of her own.’
‘This is her home,’ Ed said, rather woodenly.
‘Well, perhaps it is just now,’ Addison said, throwing him a fascin-ating smile, ‘but who knows what the future will bring?’
Ed didn’t bite, but Kate knew exactly what Addison meant.
They were called into the dining room, taking their glasses with them. Mrs B served them with a martyred air. The food didn’t seem very different to Kate, except that there was a salad course, American-style; and with the lamb chops, instead of Mrs B’s crisp sauté potatoes Addison had a dish of some kind of messy cereal stuff that looked a bit like the linseed mash you give horses after hunting.
Addison only picked at the food, but her jaw got plenty of exercise all the same. She talked. She talked about what she’d done in London, the deal she had had to go up to supervise, its global importance and how no-one else could have secured it. She talked about finance and politics, the new governor of the Bank of England and who she would have chosen instead, and the important financial post in the EU she had been offered and turned down. She talked about cars and the Maserati Grancabrio she was thinking of buying. She talked about property prices and property taxes, and finally, looking around disparagingly at the dining room, she talked about The Hall.
‘I don’t know how you could have lived like this all these years,’ she said. ‘The place is practically a ruin.’
‘I don’t really notice it,’ Ed said.
‘No, I suppose men don’t,’ she said with a brittle laugh, ‘but you’ll see the difference it makes to everything in your life when your surroundings match your lifestyle and your aspirations.’
‘I’m not sure I have aspirations,’ Ed said.
‘Darling, of course you do. And I’ve looked around this place with a critical eye and, frankly, I can’t see it.’
‘Can’t see what?’ Jack asked through a mouthful of claret. He seemed to be enjoying his brother’s apparent discomfort. Kate ate quietly and watched, feeling uneasily that a storm was approaching, though she wasn’t sure from which direction.
‘Can’t see how this house can be made viable,’ Addison answered. ‘I do see, darling,’ she added to Ed, ‘how you’d want a country place – and it can be a valuable tool. People love to be invited on country weekends, and it’s a good way to get important people together in the one place – and put them in a good mood. But Bursford’s too far from London. And from the airport. The journey takes far too long, the trains are impossible, and if you’re driving you can’t work. Global business moves fast these days, my sweet. People need to feel in touch, more accessible.’
‘Who are all these people?’ Jack asked in a slightly ribald fashion.
‘Our contacts. Our circle,’ Addison said impatiently.
‘What about friends?’ Ed said quietly.
‘Of course, once we’re set up, we can afford to have friends as well,’ she said graciously, ‘but they’ll have the same concerns. And we’ll see much more of them in London anyway. Now, I’ve been thinking, and I’m not sure at this stage it makes sense to buy a country place, not until we know where we’re going to be based. It would make more sense to rent one as we need it.’
‘I already have a country place,’ Ed said.
‘But I’ve explained to you, it would take too much investment to make it even tolerable.’
‘I like it as it is,’ Ed said stubbornly.
‘Darling, I know you have a sentimental attachment to the house, but even you must see it’s a horrible mess, a dump. And, frankly, I don’t envisage spending all that much time down here. Now, there are some nice places along the M40 corridor, with good transport links. We should be looking there. Have you any idea what this place would go for?’
‘What about me?’ Jack put in, pouting, but with a covert wink at Kate. ‘What about Camilla and Jocasta? Are we all going to live with you?
Addison’s nostrils flared again. ‘If necessary, a small house can be found for you. We shall be spending most of our time in London.’
‘I’m not selling this house,’ Ed said quietly. ‘You don’t seem to understand, Addison, that it’s my responsibility to keep the estate together.’
She waved a hand. ‘Oh, I know you have a thing about that, darling, but you have a manager, or whatever he’s called, that horrid little man I see about the place. It’s his job to run the estate, not yours. Any executive decisions that have to be referred to you can be done remotely. That’s what email is for.’
‘I’ve put the coffee in the drawing room.’ Mrs B spoke from the doorway. Kate wondered how long she had been standing there.
Addison got up at once, and so the men had to stand too, and they all followed her into the other room. She looked round it with distaste. Sylvester was comfortably ensconced in an armchair, paws tucked under and eyes half-closed, but as soon as Addison appeared he was wide awake, jumped from
the chair and scooted out of the door as if scalded. Ralph was lying on the sofa chewing something, and was too busy to notice in time that he had been spotted. ‘Those damned animals are on the furniture again,’ Addison said angrily, turning to Ed. ‘I’ve asked you to keep them off. The way you let them run riot around this house is simply disgusting. It’s insanitary to allow animals into your living space.’
‘Ralph, off,’ Ed said. Ralph looked at him to judge how serious he was, and climbed down in leisurely fashion, depositing the rag he was chewing at Ed’s feet.
‘What is that thing?’ Jack asked.
Ed picked it up and unravelled it. It was a bright red pair of skimpy lacy knickers, now irrevocably soaked in dog saliva and the worse for teeth.
Addison was suddenly almost as scarlet as the underwear. ‘That’s mine!’ she cried. ‘Who gave my panties to that filthy dog? Is this your idea of a joke?’ she demanded of Jack.
He held up his hands. ‘Not guilty.’ He was laughing.
She whirled on Kate. ‘Then it’s you! I know how you feel about me. You’re eaten up with jealousy – and you’re mad about these flea-ridden dogs.’
‘Kate’s been tied to the bed and the sofa since Monday,’ Ed said. ‘She can hardly walk.’
‘She could walk enough for that if she wanted,’ Addison said venomously.
That was true. ‘But I didn’t,’ Kate said. ‘Maybe he’s been in your room.’
‘I always leave the door shut. Someone must have deliberately opened it.’ Her panties were still dangling from Ed’s fingers. ‘Oh, give me that!’ she cried, exasperated, and snatched them away. Ralph grinned, seeing a game starting up, and jumped up at them, his teeth snapping closed several inches from Addison’s hand.
She shrieked. ‘He tried to bite me!’ She backed away, holding the panties high over her head, and Ralph danced after her, jumping up in glee. ‘Get him off !’
‘He thinks you’re playing,’ Ed said. ‘Stop waving those things about and he’ll stop.’
But she was too agitated to heed him. ‘Get him off me! Get him off !’ she kept shrieking. Jack, laughing fit to bust, grabbed hold of Ralph’s collar and pulled him away.
Addison, breathing hard, glared at Ed. ‘Will you have the kindness to shut that animal out of this room?’ she hissed. ‘You ought to have it put down. It’s dangerous. It tried to bite me.’
‘I’ll take him,’ Jack said, towing Ralph towards the door. But as he reached it, Chewy pranced in, with what was only too obviously an expensive high-heeled shoe in his mouth. It was black patent, with a six inch heel, and a shiny red sole.
Addison goggled. ‘My Laboutins!’ she cried in a voice of genuine bereavement.
Ed stepped forward, efficiently removed the shoe from Chewy’s mouth, and examined it. ‘Hole right through it, I’m afraid,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Sorry?’ Addison took it from him, and recovered her breath. ‘Do you know what they cost?’ she moaned.
‘I’ll buy you a new pair,’ Ed promised.
Addison was not placated. ‘This is beyond enduring! Someone has deliberately let those foul dogs into my room to root about in my things. It’s a deliberate ploy to humiliate me.’
‘Oh, come on,’ Ed said, ‘it’s nothing of the sort. You probably didn’t pull the door closed hard enough. Those latches are old, and they sometimes don’t catch.’
‘That’s true,’ Kate said. ‘You have to really tug my door before it will sneck. It’s always coming open.’
Addison whirled on her. ‘Don’t you dare speak to me! I know what’s going on here. Ever since you arrived with your mealy-mouthed, butter-wouldn’t-melt, country-girl act, it’s been one thing after another. You’re trying to get your claws into Edward, but it won’t work, I promise you that! With your stupid freckles and your horrible hair – do you think any man would look twice at a pathetic slob like you? You don’t seem to realize he just feels sorry for you. Where’s your pride? For God’s sake, buy yourself a hairbrush and do something about your face!’
‘Addison,’ Ed said warningly.
She turned on him. ‘Don’t you dare take her side! You’re an idiot, you don’t seem to realize what she’s doing, trying to drive a wedge between us. Look at her! What rational man would want – that – instead of me? There isn’t even a choice!’
‘Then you’ve nothing to worry about, have you?’ he said quietly.
She glared at him, trying to read his face, trying to work out what his words meant. Kate knew that, because she was doing the same thing. The wounded Laboutin was still in Addison’s hand, and, growing bored with the talk, Chewy stood up and put his nose up to sniff it, wondering if he could have another go. Addison pulled her hand sharply back, and kicked Chewy hard in the ribs.
He yipped and backed away, ears down and soulful eyes rolling in hurt. There was a sense of the room holding its breath.
‘Do not,’ Ed said in a quiet that was menacing, ‘kick my dog. Do not ever kick a dog in my house.’
‘Your house?’ Addison cried. She sounded angry, but her eyes looked close to tears. ‘I start to wonder who really is in charge here! Shut those dogs up, and get her out of here, or—’
‘Or what?’ Ed asked, exquisitely polite.
Addison’s eyes narrowed. ‘Or I leave. Right now.’ Ed said nothing. ‘I mean it. Which is it to be?’
Kate held her breath. Jack held his breath. The world seemed not to dare to breathe for the moment.
Then Ed said, ‘I can’t ask Kate to leave in her present condition. And I won’t. As for the dogs—’
‘I see.’ Addison’s breath came out in a long hiss. ‘I’m not going to stand around and be insulted. You’ll be sorry for this tomorrow. But it will be too late. Don’t think I’ll take you back, because I won’t. I won’t have to do with a man who doesn’t know how to treat the best thing that’s ever come into his life. I don’t know what I ever saw in you! There are men out there fighting over me, you know!’ She whirled on her heel and stormed out.
Ed stood where he was, his head a little bowed, staring down, it seemed, at Ralph, who stared up at him hopefully and swished his tail against the carpet to indicate he was ready for anything that might be required of him. Then he said, without addressing anyone in particular, ‘I’m sorry you had to witness that,’ and left the room, with Ralph and Chewy at his heels.
In the silence that followed, Kate did not want to meet Jack’s eyes. She was afraid he would say something flippant, and she was too upset, both because of the row, and because of what it must have done to Ed, to bear that.
But in the end he said quietly, ‘Poor bugger. He does choose badly. First Flavia, then ten years of nothing, then Addison. Why can’t he fall for a nice, normal girl?’
‘Will he be all right?’ Kate asked in a small voice.
Jack shrugged. ‘As all right as he ever is. Look, if she’s going now, we don’t want to run into her on her way out. I’ll carry you up to your room by the backstairs. Unless,’ he said thoughtfully, ‘you want to stay for another drink?’
‘I don’t think I want to talk any more,’ she said. ‘I’d like to go to bed.’
‘Very wise,’ said Jack. ‘There’s probably been enough talk tonight.’
Twenty-Three
Kate slept heavily, and woke to the sound of rain, pattering on leaves and gurgling in the gutter that ran above her window. The patch of sky outside looked grey and chilly, and the trees were bending in a brisk breeze. She was warm, however, with Chewy, Ralph and Jacob all curled up on her bed; Sylvester, she saw, was neatly couched down on top of the clothes she had discarded last night and thrown on to the chair. His paws were folded under like the bluff bows on a barge, and from this angle his mouth looked as if it was smiling.
The rain suited her mood. After the emotions of yesterday, she felt worn out, and there was a curious stillness inside her, as if she had no capacity to feel anything more. Her time here was coming to an end, she knew that. As soon
as she could put weight on her foot, she would have to leave – back to Little’s, yes, but more than that: back to London. She had been involved for a little space with an upheaval in this family she had come to care for, but she didn’t belong with them. She wouldn’t hang around until they were forced, ever so politely, to point that out. She would keep her dignity and take her leave.
She drifted back into a doze, until Mrs B knocked and came in with a tray. ‘I thought you’d prefer to have breakfast in bed and take your time about getting up,’ she said. She set the tray down, straightened up, and said with some triumph, ‘She’s gone.’
‘She has?’ Kate queried.
‘Miss Bruckmeyer. Went last night apparently. Ed didn’t say much, but I gather she’s not expected back.’ She looked at Kate to see how she felt about that, but Kate didn’t feel it was right for her to express anything either way. Mrs B sniffed and supplied her own epitaph. ‘She didn’t fit in with our ways,’ she pronounced. ‘Too much of a town person, to my mind. I’m not sorry to see her go.’
‘I expect Ed is, though.’
Mrs B looked sceptical. ‘I don’t believe he was that fond of her. Anyway, she wasn’t good enough for him, that I do know.’
Kate’s eyes slowly widened as revelation came to her. ‘It was you!’ she said.
Mrs B stiffened. ‘I beg your pardon?’
‘You let the dogs into her room.’
‘What an idea! As if I would. I expect she didn’t shut her door properly.’
But there was a gleam of satisfaction in her eye. Kate found herself wondering about the lost ten years and all the women Jack said had thrown themselves at Ed. Had Mrs B had a hand in seeing them all off – setting brisk, judicious action in the scales against Ed’s diffidence?
But perhaps she hadn’t needed to. Anyone who married Ed would be marrying the Blackmore Estate, the farms, the family, and the animals as well. They would have to love him very much to take all that on. It would be enough to daunt the casual enquirer.
Mrs B was taking her departure, but paused to look back at Kate with what seemed, to Kate’s startled glance, like approval. ‘You take your time getting up,’ she said kindly. ‘Nothing to hurry for. And I’ll tell you something else – Madam didn’t come home last night.’
Kate's Progress Page 29