by Sandra Heath
“Ah, there you are, Lauren, I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she said, coming over to her. “Wherever have you been? We haven’t had a chance to talk much since we arrived here, and I feel I’ve been neglecting you.”
“You haven’t been neglecting me any more than I have you,” Lauren replied, looking at her a little anxiously. “Are you feeling well, Hester? You seem decidedly pale.”
Hester gave a rather self-conscious smile. “I’ve felt better.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. It started last night after dinner. I was perfectly well, and then suddenly I felt decidedly queasy, but it passed off again and I dismissed it. But then the queasiness returned briefly this morning, and now it’s come over me again. I was just about to go and lie down for a while. And before you say it, no, I do not think it is anything to do with that wretched red grouse!”
“I didn’t say a word.”
“No, but you thought it.”
“Well, Hester, you have to admit that it is rather a coincidence,” Lauren pointed out.
“It’s two days since I ate at the Crown & Thistle.”
“Sir Sydney Dodd wasn’t taken ill straightaway.”
Hester signed. “I still don’t think there is a connection. I’ve simply contracted a bad humor, and it will soon pass.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Hester eyed her. “Enough of my indisposition. Let’s talk about you instead, Coz. I’ve been hearing all manner of intriguing things about your activities. I’m told, for instance, that you and Rory went for a ride this morning.”
“Well, it wasn’t quite like that, but we did come back together from our respective excursions.”
Hester was disappointed. “So he didn’t invite you to join him?”
“Not then, no.”
“But he has since?” Hester’s eyes widened hopefully.
“Yes, he’s just brought me back from seeing the ruins on Holy Island.”
Hester’s lips parted. “You went alone with him?” she breathed.
“Yes.”
“There! I knew it! He’s smitten with you, isn’t he, and if I’m not mistaken, you’re smitten with him as well. I can see it in your eyes, and in that telltale blush on your cheeks! What have you been up to, Lauren Maitland?”
“Hush,” Lauren said quickly, for it seemed that Hester’s voice echoed rather alarmingly around the courtyard.
Hester spoke in a whisper. “I trust you mean to tell me, for I shall burst if you don’t!”
“Very well, I’ll tell you, but not here.”
“Come into the garden and we’ll take some lemonade together.”
“I thought you were feeling unwell.”
“There is no better remedy than the prospect of a titillating gossip.”
“It isn’t that titillating,” Lauren replied as Hester linked her arm and virtually propelled her into the garden, where the other ladies were like butterflies among the flowers. Their summer gowns ranged across the colors of the rainbow, from the most daring of reds to the softest of violets, and the light chatter of their conversation drifted on the warm air. Lauren looked quickly along the lake shore, and was just in time to see Jamie striding angrily away from Rory, who lingered for a moment by the boat and then followed. It was clear that Jamie wasn’t the least pleased to discover that the Ashworth fortune was wise to him and that he was therefore bound to stay out of reach. He’d have to find another means to settle his debts.
Mary was in the gardens, wearing a particularly becoming shade of apricot. She was seated in an arbor with Isabel and Emma, and was doing her best to appear lighthearted and carefree. They were all laughing at something Emma was reading aloud from a rather lurid gothic novel she’d brought with her from London. Isabel glanced across as Lauren and Hester made their way down toward the well, which offered the only reasonably secluded part of the gardens. Her blue eyes became veiled and anticipatory, and a sleek smile played momentarily upon her lips before she returned her attention to Emma’s reading.
Reaching the well, Hester made herself comfortable on the seat, and then beckoned to one of the maids serving the lemonade. She waited impatiently until Lauren had been supplied with a glass, and then urged her to begin.
“Oh, do tell, before I burst!”
Lauren hesitated before commencing. “You must promise me you won’t breathe a word of this, not yet, anyway.”
“Of course.”
“I mean it, Hester. Not even to Alex.”
“If that is your wish.”
“It is.” Lauren drew a long breath, and her eyes began to shine with irrepressible happiness. “Hester, Rory and I love each other.”
Hester’s jaw dropped, and she nearly spilled her lemonade. “I…I beg your pardon?” she said weakly.
“We declared our love on Holy Island, and sealed it with many more than just one kiss.”
Hester’s green eyes threatened to pop out of her head, then she gave Lauren a rather cross look. “This is a jest, is it not? Wagers are the order of the day, and you have something resting upon whether or not I will swallow such a tall tale!”
“It isn’t a jest, and there isn’t a wager. I’m telling you the truth, Hester. Indeed, it is so much the truth that I confess I would have surrendered all had he wished it. My proper upbringing did not count for anything in the way I felt, I promise you.”
Hester stared at her, and then drained her glass of lemonade before fixing her cousin with a determined gaze. “I want every detail, and if you leave anything out I will beat you with your parasol!”
“I don’t know about every detail, but I will tell you most of it.” Lauren related what had happened, commencing with what she’d overheard before dinner the night before, and ending with the return to the jetty, when Rory had immediately taken Jamie aside. “And there you have it,” she finished. “I’d just come up from the lake when you saw me in the courtyard, and as we were coming to sit here, I saw Rory and Jamie leave. Jamie appeared to be somewhat—er—dismayed.”
“I’ll warrant he was!” Hester then gave an incredulous laugh. “So I was right all along about Rory’s feelings for you. Oh, what a stir there will be when this gets out! Lord Glenvane, who was cruelly treated by his wife, now takes another of her countrywomen to his heart. And my American cousin, who lost her first love six years ago in the war with Britain, now falls head over heels for a British aristocrat. It will rattle the teacups for weeks!”
“You make it sound like a scandal,” Lauren said, a little put out.
Hester put a quick hand on her arm. “Oh, please don’t think that, for it wasn’t my intention. I was only pointing out that it is a very intriguing situation, as I think even you must admit.”
“Yes, I suppose it is,” Lauren conceded.
Hester gave another laugh. “I can’t believe all this has been going on. To think that I was conscience-stricken about neglecting you, but all the time you’ve been so busy that you haven’t had time to even think about me!”
‘There is an element of truth in that,” Lauren admitted ruefully, for Hester hadn’t crossed her mind very much over the past few hours. Suddenly her attention was drawn once more to Mary, Isabel, and Emma, on the terrace above. Seeing Mary striving to appear happy on her eighteenth birthday was really quite sad. Rory’s sister was sweet and charming, and Fitz was gallant and good-humored. They belonged together, not kept apart by his hollow marriage to a faithless wife.
Lauren looked at Hester. “Actually, if you want a proper scandal, then I think you need look no further than Lady Fitzsimmons,” she said, deciding that the time was right to confer about Mary’s secret situation.
“What do you mean?” Hester asked curiously.
“I wasn’t going to say anything, and in a moment I’ll tell you why I’ve changed my mind, but first I must explain about certain things I’ve discovered.” She informed a deeply shocked Hester all about the goings-on at the Crown & Thistle, and the be
droom tryst before breakfast that very morning.
Hester gaped. “There…there isn’t any mistake?” she asked then.
“None at all. You and Alex were right about her that day in Bond Street. She isn’t to be trusted at all, and as for Jamie—”
“They are both monstrous! How could they do it to poor Fitz?”
“Keep your voice down,” Lauren urged, glancing around for fear that her cousin’s indignation would attract attention.
“I don’t know how I’m going to be civil to either of them.”
“You’ll manage somehow, I’m sure.”
“But my loyalty is to Fitz,” Hester protested.
“Exactly.”
Hester looked enquiringly. “What do you mean?”
Lauren took another deep breath. “There is still more to all this.”
“More?” Hester squeaked. “Good heavens, I shall soon require the sal volatile.”
‘This is the last thing, I promise. It concerns Fitz and Lady Mary.”
Hester blinked. “You aren’t going to tell me that they are also engaged upon an affair?”
Lauren smiled, and looked up toward the trio seated in the arbor on the next terrace. “Not exactly, but I believe Lady Mary is in love with him, and I am beginning to suspect that in spite of himself, Fitz returns the feeling.”
“You seem very certain,” Hester replied, watching Mary.
“I am, I suppose.” Lauren explained her observations since first seeing Mary and Fitz in the music room. “And earlier today, when Rory and I were setting off for Holy Island, they returned to the castle in truly high spirits. I can’t believe that Fitz, who is a man of the world, isn’t aware of the effect he has upon Mary, and since he is obviously honorable, I can only believe that he is unable to help himself from spending so much time with her.”
“And therefore, he returns her love?”
“It seems probable. Don’t you agree?”
Hester thought for a moment and then nodded. “Yes, knowing Fitz as I do, I think I have to.”
“Hester, now that I’m so happy myself, I want them to be happy too.”
“Noble sentiments, Coz, but hard to put into practice. There is the small matter of Emma. She is Fitz’s wife, and even though you and I may think he is in love with Mary, we might be wrong.”
“Possibly, but I don’t think so, and that’s why I decided to tell you. I think Fitz returns Mary’s love, and if that is so, then they deserve to be together. Emma certainly doesn’t deserve any consideration.”
“I agree with you there.”
Lauren sighed. “I don’t know what we can do about anything, but at least if we put our minds to the problem…”
“We’ll both keep a sharp eye open. At the moment, that’s all we can do.”
“Yes.”
Hester raised a wry eyebrow at her. “Now, are you quite sure that you’ve told me everything? You haven’t any more salacious tidbits to lay before me?”
“None at all.”
“I’m relieved to hear it. You’re a very dark horse, Cousin Lauren, a very dark horse indeed.”
“It’s just that I’ve happened to be in the right place at the right time, or the wrong place at the wrong time, depending upon your point of view.” Lauren looked anxiously at her. “Please don’t say anything to Alex about Lady Mary and Fitz, for as you’ve pointed out, I might be entirely wrong about the whole thing.”
“My lips are sealed about this entire conversation.”
“Thank you.”
Hester suddenly put a warning hand on her wrist. “I fear we are about to receive a visitation—two cats and a kitten from the next terrace.”
Lauren’s heart sank but she managed a bright enough smile as Isabel, Mary, and Emma descended the garden steps and then came toward them.
Isabel was almost effusively friendly, her skirts rustling prettily as she sat next to Lauren. “My dear Miss Maitland, I have a great favor to ask of you.”
“A favor?”
“Yes. It concerns your locket. You see, I’ve been telling Mary how much like her mother’s it is, and I was wondering if you would be so kind as to show it to her now?”
Lauren didn’t want to do any such thing, but reluctantly she held the locket up while it was still around her neck, but that didn’t suit Isabel. “Oh, no, she can’t see it properly like that. May I?” Without really waiting for permission, she reached around Lauren’s neck to unfasten the chain and take the locket to show the others. But as she turned with the locket in her hand, suddenly it slipped through her fingers, and fell between the wide squares of the grille over the well. It vanished from view, and after a second or so they all distinctly heard the distant splash as it fell into the water far below.
Isabel was instantly distraught. “Oh, no! How clumsy of me!” she cried, leaping to her feet and staring at the well. Tears filled her magnificent eyes and her lips quivered before she hid her face in her hands. Emma rushed to comfort her, as did Mary, who was torn equally between reassuring her and telling Lauren how dreadfully sorry she was about the loss of the locket. Hester put a gentle arm around Lauren’s shoulder and said nothing.
Isabel’s distraction was a thing to see. No one could have been more upset and remorseful, and no one could have drawn more attention to the mishap. She sobbed and begged Lauren’s forgiveness, and made a great deal of unnecessary noise about the loss of the locket, which inevitably brought many other ladies to the scene to see what had happened.
Lauren did her best to make little of the incident, but it wasn’t an easy task when the guilty party was at such pains to keep the matter on the boil. It was several minutes before Mary and Emma were able to persuade a still-weeping Isabel to come into the castle to lie down for a while.
As the other ladies drifted away again, Hester glanced down into the darkness of the well. “Oh, Lauren, your lovely locket.”
“As it happens, I wouldn’t have worn it again anyway. Not now.”
Hester smiled at her. “No, I suppose it wouldn’t be entirely suitable, would it? All the same…”
“It wasn’t an accident.”
“No, she did it quite deliberately. Odious creature. She’s obviously beside herself with jealousy over Rory.”
Lauren watched as Isabel was ushered, still weeping, into the castle. “I have a horrid feeling that she has more than this in store for me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know yet, but she’s made her animosity plain enough to me in private.”
Hester shivered suddenly. “The breeze has picked up a little, and I haven’t got my shawl,” she said.
Lauren glanced up at the sky. “Rory said the weather was going to change.”
“Actually, it may not be the weather at all, for I’ve begun to feel a little unwell again.”
Lauren was anxious for her. “Perhaps a doctor should be sent for?”
“No, I don’t want to make a fuss. I’ll just lie down for a while, and forgo the delights of Madam Santini’s concert. Did you know about that, by the way?”
“Yes, Rory told me.”
“I’m sure I won’t be missed from the proceedings, and if I have a good rest, I’ll be all right again in time for the ball.”
“Yes, but—”
“No, Lauren, I really don’t want to see a doctor.” Hester got up and glanced down into the well again. “I hope you’re wrong, and that Isabel isn’t plotting something.”
“I hope so too, but I fear I’m only too right,” Lauren murmured as she got up and began to make her way with Hester up toward the castle.
Chapter 14
True to her word, Hester took to her bed on returning to her room, and Lauren immediately sent for someone to bring Alex from the billiard room, where Fitz had eventually been defeated by Sir Guthrie, although as it turned out the match had been much closer than expected.
Hester’s indisposition put all thoughts of billiards and wagers from Alex’s mind, for he was g
reatly concerned that the Crown & Thistle’s red grouse was at last doing its worst. The unfortunate Sir Sydney Dodd was still confined to his bed feeling very unwell indeed, and Alex had visions of the same unpleasant fate befalling Hester. Sir Sydney had a fixed loathing of doctors and all things medical, and simply would not be budged on the matter of sending for the doctor from Dumbarton. Hester, on the other hand, was simply convinced that such a course was totally unnecessary, as she insisted she was only a little under the weather. Faced with such intransigence, Alex allied himself with Lauren in an attempt to persuade his wife to see the doctor, but nothing would move her. In the end Hester became a little cross with both of them, and so they left her alone and made their reluctant way to the music room and Madame Santini’s recital.
In spite of his anxiety over Hester, Alex was keen to hear the famous soprano, but Lauren wasn’t interested in the least. Too much had happened today for her to find such a recital to her taste. The likes of Madame Santini were never soothing, and the thought of all those high notes was really quite wearing. Her lack of interest in the entertainment became even more pronounced when on arriving in the music room she heard Tam making Rory’s excuses to the imposing Italian diva.
“His lordship craves your indulgence, madam, but something very urgent has required his attention, and—”
She waved him away impatiently. A very large, florid lady, she was clad in clinging pink satin, and when she drew in a huge breath and nodded to the waiting pianist, she rather resembled a plump rosebud bursting into full bloom. “I sing now,” she announced imperiously, as if the presence of the Earl of Glenvane was of no consequence whatsoever—which it probably wasn’t.
Tam withdrew prudently, just as the first trilling notes of a lied by the Austrian composer Herr Schubert rang out over the assembled audience. Lauren also decided upon retreat, and Alex hardly noticed as she followed the steward discreetly from the room. It soon turned out that she and Rory were not alone in crying off the musical interlude, for Mary hadn’t attended either, as Lauren discovered when she reached the top of the staircase and paused to watch the continuing preparations in the hall below.