‘We’ll install more of these in due course,’ said Charles. ‘I got the first one. A coming-home present after the war, of sorts. That kind of alteration takes time in a great place like this, though.’
‘It must do. Expensive, too, I imagine.’
‘You haven’t told me if it’s too hot.’
‘It’s lovely and warm.’
‘Then what’s stopping you? Jump in.’
‘I wish I’d brought my toothbrush down,’ she said shyly.
‘I have an unused one in the cabinet. Use it, by all means.’
It felt wildly indecent to be brushing her teeth in front of a man – in a way, strangely more so than the physical act of coupling. She thought she must be breaking all kinds of rules, but Charles had no qualms, sitting sipping his coffee while she scrubbed.
‘You haven’t smoked a cigarette this morning,’ she noted, rinsing the brush and putting it away.
‘Don’t remind me,’ he said, teeth gritted.
‘Why not?’
‘I don’t have any. I need to get to the village as soon as I’ve had breakfast. Before I’ve had breakfast.’
‘Oh, dear. You’re on edge.’
‘I’d be a lot worse if it weren’t for you. I find that waking up with a beautiful girl in my bed rather dulls the pain of tobacco withdrawal.’
She laughed, blushing. ‘Warm water is said to have analgesic properties too,’ she said. ‘Why don’t you get into the bath?’
‘Only if you’ll get in with me.’
‘Oh! Well. All right then.’ Sharing a bath couldn’t be any more indecent than sharing a bed, surely.
She watched Charles drop his robe and lower himself into the water until he lay submerged to his chest, his face already sheened with steam.
‘Well?’ He blew a strand of hair from his eyes and treated Edie to his most seductive smile. ‘Aren’t you joining me?’
There was a peaceful quality to lying in the hot water in Charles’s arms that made Edie wish they could stay there, careless of wrinkling skin and the ever-cooling temperature, for as long as possible.
Charles, however, was in a rush to find his next cigarette, so he kept proceedings brisk, scrubbing Edie all over and lathering up her hair before rinsing it clean.
He dressed quickly, telling her that he was going to the shop for cigarettes.
‘If they get back before me, hold fire, won’t you? Wait for me before you say anything to the – I mean, your mother.’
Securing her consent, he kissed her brow and ushered her out of his room.
***
From her window she watched him drive away, insouciant in white linen and a striped blazer, although his face was shadowed and thoughtful.
Was she really going to tell Lady Deverell her story today?
If so, the time was coming very close indeed. Almost as soon as Charles’s vehicle disappeared into the cover of the long wooded drive, Lord Deverell’s Rolls Royce emerged.
They were back.
Chapter Eleven
Edie stepped away from the window and hurried to don her uniform, expecting that Lady Deverell would call for her as soon as she was back in her rooms. Quite some time passed, though, before the knock at the door came, and in the interim she could hear a lot of raised voices in the corridors and rooms on the floor below.
Charles was back from the tobacconists and he stood lounging against the wall outside Lady Deverell’s bedchamber, smoking moodily, when Edie came down.
‘Just to warn you,’ he said in a low voice, checking that they were not observed. ‘There’s a most fearful row. Pa’s still in London.’
‘What?’ Edie gripped the doorknob tightly, terrified that her story might have come out already, without her, unlikely as this was. ‘Why?’
‘She’ll tell you herself, no doubt. I think we’d better postpone any further revelations for the time being.’
‘Come in then, if you’re coming.’ Lady Deverell’s voice from the other side of the door was querulous.
Edie nodded at Charles and left him outside in his cloud of smoke.
‘Edie,’ she said, looking her up and down dispassionately. ‘Unpack my cases, would you?’
Edie was surprised and a little disquieted to see that Lady Deverell was smoking as well, something she had never before seen her do. She stood at the window, using a long, varnished cigarette holder.
‘I hope you had a pleasant trip,’ ventured Edie, opening the case and sorting through the crumpled contents.
An expostulation that could have been disgust or irritation was her only reply.
‘Did you buy any new gowns?’
‘Never mind new gowns,’ she said. ‘We’re going to have to cancel this damn weekend party. I’ll have to write and put everyone off. I only hope it’s not too late.’
‘What? Oh, but that was your whole reason for going to London, wasn’t it? To buy new clothes for the weekend.’
Lady Deverell crossed to her bedside table and stubbed out the cigarette in a pretty china ashtray.
‘We can’t very well host a party when the host isn’t here, can we?’
‘Lord Deverell …?’
‘Still in London. And there he’ll stay until he finds that perishing girl.’
‘Perishing girl?’
‘Mary, of course. Silly bitch has run off and nobody knows where to find her.’
Edie paused in the act of unravelling a ball of bunched-up stockings and stared at her mistress and mother.
‘Mary has run away?’
‘That’s what I said, isn’t it?’
‘You must be terribly worried.’
‘If you have nothing more helpful to say than that, perhaps it is best you hold your tongue.’
Charles was right. It was not a day for further upset. It was with some relief that Edie determined to postpone her unburdening. She offered silent thanks to Mary, at the same time hoping fervently that the girl was somewhere safe and well.
She was desperate to get away and ask Ted exactly what had gone on, Lady Deverell having reverted to monosyllables and terse commands after her initial explanation. Once the mistress was seated at her writing desk in preparation for composing many dreary letters to invited guests, Edie was free to make her investigations.
***
She found Ted in the garage, buffing the Rolls with an oily cloth.
He looked up as she came in.
‘Aye aye,’ he said. ‘Look what the wind’s blown in.’
‘Lady Deverell’s busy writing letters. She’s released me for an hour or so. Ted, what happened in London?’
‘I’m sure you’ve heard. Lady Mary’s gone AWOL.’
‘But why? Doesn’t anyone have any idea where she is?’
He stopped his buffing for a moment and stood, shirtsleeves rolled up to the elbow, passing his rag from one hand to the other.
‘She was in Bond Street with Lady D, getting fitted for frocks. Lady D goes into the back room to try something on. When she comes out, Mary ain’t there. And that’s all I know.’
‘Were you in the car, waiting outside for them? Did you see anything?’
‘I was parked up round the corner, and no, I didn’t see a thing.’
‘What if she was kidnapped? Have they called the police?’
‘She weren’t kidnapped,’ said Ted with a shake of his head and a smile. ‘They’d been rowing non-stop all the way up to town and they were still at it when I drove them to Bond Street. Mary wanted to stay and go to some party her friends were throwing. His Lordship said no dice.’
‘Then I suppose she may be with those friends?’
‘His Lordship’s up there looking for her. I expect you’re right. It’s nothing to worry about, leastways. That’s my estimation.’
‘Not everyone is as sanguine as you.’
‘As what-guine?’
‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘Just between you, me and that garage door,’ said Ted, lowering his voice an
d moving closer to her. ‘I think it might all be up between His Lordship and our Ruby Redford too.’
Edie sucked in a breath. ‘Really?’
‘Fierce row, they had, over whether he should have allowed Lady Mary to stay in London or not. Lady D took Mary’s side; he was having none of it. I didn’t hear all that was said but I picked up a few choice words. Let’s see what happens when he gets back.’
‘Oh dear,’ said Edie, meaning it. If the edifice of the Deverell marriage was already crumbling, could she be the one to strike its death blow?
‘Perhaps she’ll go back to the stage and you can be her dresser, eh?’ he said with a wink. ‘It’s a glamorous life, I’ve heard. Though I don’t suppose you can beat being a lord’s little bit of crumpet for glamour.’ The smile was gone and his expression was stony, the rag bundled up tight in his fist.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, my dear, that there’s a lot of talk about you below stairs. A lot of talk. Some reckon your bed wasn’t slept in last night.’
‘Some can keep their disgusting opinions to themselves,’ shot back Edie, trembling all over. ‘And while they’re at it, they can keep their beaks out of other people’s business.’
‘So it’s true, then? You and Charlie boy?’
She made to storm out of the garage but Ted caught her by the wrist and held her back.
‘Never mind,’ he said quietly, once she had worn herself out with struggling. ‘It don’t signify, not any more.’
‘The village dance is off,’ she said.
‘Yes. Yes, I daresay it is. Go on, then. His bed’ll be getting cold.’
‘Don’t you dare go spreading scurrilous gossip through the kitchens. Don’t you dare.’
He stopped her again, grabbing her shoulder as firmly as he had taken her wrist.
‘Scurrilous gossip,’ he repeated. ‘You do have a nice turn of phrase, Edie. I’ve always thought so. Just out of interest, who the bleeding hell are you?’
‘You know who I am.’
‘No. I don’t, because you haven’t told me. Tell me now, while you still can.’
‘While I still can?’
‘Times are changing for Deverell Hall, love. You can see that. Who knows if and when we’ll meet again?’
‘Stop it. You’re frightening me. Tell me what you mean.’
He half-laughed and released her shoulder.
‘Sorry. Take no notice of me. I’m a bit rattled by what’s gone on, that’s all. And I’m disappointed in you, falling for that plummy-voiced bastard, if you’ll pardon my French. I don’t know why. I shouldn’t be surprised, should I? You’re pretty, and he can seduce anything that moves. It was always going to happen. But I did think for a moment there …’
‘Ted,’ she said gently, putting her hand on his. ‘Nothing is as it seems. Nothing is what you think it is.’
‘Well,’ he said after a pause during which he stroked her fingers. ‘You’re right there, girl. You ain’t far wrong. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got to get on. Back to London to ferry His Lordship up and down the City Road and in and out the Eagle.’
‘That’s the way the money goes,’ said Edie absently.
‘Pop goes the weasel,’ they both chorused, then they laughed, the tension between them dissolving for that one sweet moment.
‘Take care, eh?’ he said, patting her hand. ‘Don’t get caught out like Susie.’
Edie did not have the strength to deny it any more.
‘I won’t,’ she said. ‘I promise. Drive safely, won’t you?’
‘Don’t I always?’
***
She left the garage, pondering on the conversation. It was well-known, it seemed, that she and Charles had an … attachment. The very thought of their being linked in people’s minds made her both fearful and delighted. She felt ridiculously lucky and privileged. He had said that he loved her. Either she loved him or he had cast a very potent spell on her. He had made her reckless, caused her to forget her caution and drop her customary defences. Now she would pay the price for it. But what was the price?
Without quite knowing how she had gotten there, Edie found herself walking on the shores of the lake. The sun was high in the sky again and the grasses dry and scratchy. Edie took off her shoes and walked in her stocking feet around the water’s edge, thinking constantly of Charles and Lady Deverell and how on earth it could all work out for the best.
So preoccupied was she that she did not hear the crackling and rustling behind her. She was aware of nothing but her own thoughts until, in a heady rush, she was caught around the waist, pinned to the trunk of a weeping willow and kissed until her breath ran out.
‘Charles,’ she protested, trying to fill her lungs with air again. ‘Are you trying to frighten me out of my wits?’
‘I saw you go into Kempe’s garage,’ he said, in a low, dangerous voice. ‘What did you want with him?’
‘You are so jealous,’ she exclaimed.
‘Of course I am. I’m jealous of that grass you walk upon. I’m jealous of that pair of shoes in your hand. I’m jealous of everything and everybody that gets closer to you than I do.’
‘Nothing is closer to me than you at this moment,’ she pointed out.
‘Your clothes are. I want to take them off you.’
‘Charles, we are in the open air.’ But his words thrilled her and she pictured herself, thighs wrapped around his hips, being taken against the tree.
‘I know,’ he said. ‘Warm, isn’t it?’ He pressed himself into her.
‘A bit too warm,’ she replied with a nervous laugh.
‘Especially in those black-and-whites of yours. So neat and sweet, crying out to be rumpled and messed up.’
‘You’re insatiable.’
‘I know. But let’s stick to the matter at hand, just for the moment. What were you doing with Kempe?’
‘I wanted to ask him about what happened in London, that’s all.’
‘What did he say?’
‘Nothing much. Mary was with Lady Deverell in an outfitters in Bond Street and she disappeared while nobody was looking. She might be with friends who were throwing a party. Are you worried about her?’
‘Mary? No. She’s no trembling ingénue. She can take care of herself. She wants to take care of herself, if only pa would let her. I expect she’ll write to me in a day or so, tell us we’re all fussing about nothing.’
‘What about her reputation, though?’
‘Oh, her reputation.’ Charles smiled and shook his head. ‘It really rather depends what’s she’s doing up there, doesn’t it?’
‘She could be with a man.’
‘Like you are, you mean?’
‘I don’t mean to censure her. But I know how important reputation is, to people of your class and station. If Mary loses hers …’
‘Mary’s got a decent enough head on her shoulders. Besides, there’s no reason why anyone should know.’
‘I don’t suppose Lady Deverell is giving people the real reason for the cancellation of this weekend party.’
‘No, she’s pretending to be ill.’
‘You’ve spoken to her?’
‘Briefly.’ He looked away.
Edie was surprised by the sharpness of the pang in her chest. She should not be afraid that he and Lady Deverell would recommence their affair. It wasn’t at all likely now. But she still held that fear deep in her heart.
‘How is she?’
‘Put out, mainly. And raging against pa. Why am I talking about her when I have this highly ravishable maid up against a willow tree?’
All discussion melted into the sultry air as Charles fastened his lips upon Edie’s and kissed away the speculation.
She let herself be carried beyond her workaday concerns and into the magical world of erotic sensation. The heat made her tight dress cling uncomfortably and there was bark scratching and tickling her, but it all seemed secondary to what was being done to her. Charles kissed her with hungry p
assion, his tongue searching inside her mouth. He pushed one of his knees between her legs and moved it up and down inside her thighs. Her petticoat chafed at the sticky, damp flesh until she longed for it to be gone.
Her most intimate parts felt heavy and overused, but they could not seem to stop themselves bursting into eager bloom, begging for more of what they had already thoroughly taken.
Charles removed one of his hands from her pinioned wrists and used it to raise her skirt, then her petticoat. He bunched them behind her and stroked her hip through her drawers before finding the elasticated top and slipping his palm inside.
She tried to gasp, to exclaim, but he had her deep in the kiss and there was no way she could break it. All she could do was keep her eyes shut and revel in the exquisite danger of having her lover’s hand inside her underwear while she stood in broad sunlight.
His fingers soon located the heat of her parted lower lips and he pushed them inside, to rub gently and slowly at her fattened bud.
She twisted against him, tiny mewls caught up in her throat. He kept her words stoppered up with his sealed lips on hers, scouring her with his tongue.
Once his fingers were slick with her juices, he pushed them inside her. She raised her leg to grant him deeper access and he took full advantage of it, spearing her and grinding his hips against hers at the same time, so that she felt the bulge of his erection.
‘Got to have you,’ he panted, breaking off.
In a moment, his trousers were down and so were her drawers. Their groins mashed together and she held on tight while he lifted her up, cradling her bottom in his hands, and placed her astride him.
‘We can’t,’ she whispered. ‘We mustn’t.’
‘We can,’ he said, with an urgent thrust. ‘We will.’
Edie clung to his neck and let him grind her to a sweaty pulp against the tree. It shed its bark continuously as they rutted, but she was aware of nothing but their primitive connection and her need to be taken by him, regardless of where or when or how. She forgot to care if they were seen or what any consequences might be.
And when it was done and she streamed with her own perspiration and his seed, only then did she remember another important concern.
‘Oh, no,’ she said, staring at him while he mopped his brow and leant on the trunk for support.
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