‘Who can who be?’ asked Lady Courtney gently, as yet unaware that this was to affect her so nearly.
‘Charles has most definitely gone away to be married, for he left me this letter.’
And she held out a sheet of paper to Bassett.
Bassett read the letter with interest.
‘You are right, but he gives no indication as to whom he is to marry. Have you no idea, Evelyn?’
‘No—no,’ she glanced at me, ‘not now.’
And she lowered her eyes, possibly ashamed for jumping to conclusions.
Then I found Bassett looking at me, his voice hardened from tones of solicitude with which he had addressed Evelyn, when speaking to me.
‘Have you any idea, Louella, as to whom Charles’ wife is to be?’
I realised I could not lie. There was no point. The couple would be safely away, and as it was obvious I was involved, it would be better to get it over with immediately.
‘Yes, I have.’
The room buzzed with exclamations.
‘Then would you be good enough to tell us what you know?’ Bassett boomed.
I sat very erect in my chair as I made the startling statement.
‘Charles has eloped with Georgiana.’
‘What?’ Lady Courtney gave a little scream and promptly fainted.
Sir Hugh seemed stunned, hardly to have taken the news in. Bassett, Millicent and Evelyn were all too astonished to move, so I sprang to assist Lady Courtney.
‘Bassett,’ I commanded, ‘ please ring the bell for Mary.’
He did so in a daze. I knew that any moment their anger would burst forth with me as the recipient, but Lady Courtney’s swoon was far more important.
Bassett helped me then to carry his mother to the sofa and eventually she recovered. But I was sure the swoon was genuine for she was really distressed and looked pale and ill. I felt a moment’s pity for the woman, for it must be a shock for any mother to hear such news.
‘Oh Bassett what are we to do?’ she held out her hand to her son, seeking his reassurance and strength.
‘The shame of it, the shame of it upon the Courtneys. How could the girl do it? How presumptuous of Dr Corby to foist his attentions upon an impressionable young girl like Georgiana.’
And she fanned herself vigorously.
Evelyn continued to dab her eyes and sniff. I was sure that she had merely transferred her dislike from me to Georgiana, for now she had indeed ‘lost’ her brother. I could not feel any pity for the selfish, moody young woman. I could only wish that Charles would find the happiness he so deserved with Georgiana.
I turned to look at Bassett. What was he thinking about the affair, I wondered, he had said little yet.
The expression I saw on his face startled me. He was looking directly at me and the smile on his face showed clearly that he was not seriously perturbed at the elopement of his young sister.
‘Bassett,’ I said hesitantly, ‘ you are not angry?’
‘No—not angry,’ and he added softly, ‘only relieved.’
Before I could ask what he meant, he had turned away to give further comfort to Evelyn, who was very much in need of it.
Relieved? I was puzzled. Why? Was it because Bassett was thankful now that Georgiana was not to marry Cedric Rothbone? My brow wrinkled with perplexity. But he had refused pointedly to take steps to prevent it as I had begged him. Surely, if he had thought it against Georgiana’s interests he would have opposed the marriage plans? And undoubtedly the sway Bassett wielded would have been sufficient to quash the marriage. This was the only thing I could think of, for I was sure his relief was nothing to do with me, and the fact that I was not marrying Charles.
I bent to help Lady Courtney, who was still suffering from shock and mortification.
But my help was rebuffed.
‘Is this another of your schemes, Louella Lloyd, to discredit the Courtney name further?’
‘I did not make them fall in love.’
‘Love? Pah, what do you know of love?’
I felt that now the others in the room were listening, for Lady Courtney’s hysteria had attracted their attention. There was silence in the room as they awaited my answer.
‘Very little, I fear, from my own point of view, but if you had seen them together, Lady Courtney, you could not deny the love between them. Surely you would not deny Georgiana such happiness?’
‘It is not for you to tell me what I should or should not do. But for you, I believe my daughter would have made a good and suitable marriage to Cedric Rothbone.’
‘Now, mother,’ Bassett’s tone was indulgent. ‘ It is not fair to blame Louella.’
He turned to me.
‘Mother must blame someone and since the guilty pair are out of reach, you seem to be the nearest,’ and I imagined I heard him mutter beneath his breath, ‘as always.’
I was grateful for Bassett’s defence of me, and for once I warmed to him. Perhaps there was a spark of feeling for his inferiors somewhere beneath that aloof air.
‘Bassett, I must explain …’
‘Not now, Louella, later. Tell me later.’
And he turned back to his mother.
‘Come now, mother. I think you should rest. This has obviously upset you.’
And he helped her up and put his arm about her gently.
‘Bassett, oh Bassett, what have I done to deserve such erring children?’
And with renewed vigour she wagged her forefinger in Bassett’s face.
‘You’re no better, Bassett Courtney, than your disobedient sister—insisting on marrying that—that—’
Words failed her and she could find no adjective insulting enough to apply to me.
As Lord Rothbone and his son went for an early morning ride and breakfasted later than the rest of us, they had missed hearing the news. The unpleasant task of breaking it to them fell upon Bassett. I did not envy him, for I deduced that Lord Rothbone’s cold eyes and thin lips were a sign of violent temper if thwarted.
Later, Bassett told me of his interview with father and son in his study.
‘I thought for a moment, Louella, he would strike me,’ he said speaking of Lord Rothbone, ‘he was so angry, he turned purple. But Cedric merely smiled and shrugged. I doubt very much whether he had any deep feeling for Georgiana at all.’
I felt his dark eyes upon me and hesitatingly, I met his gaze.
‘I must admit you were right, Louella,’ he said softly. ‘ Cedric would never have made her happy. I regret I did not move to stop their marriage.’
I smiled, ready to forgive him now that Georgiana’s happiness was secure.
‘You cannot be expected to understand the desires of a woman’s heart.’
‘And your own, little Louella?’ His tone dropped so deep and soft that I scarcely heard. I was disconcerted. I answered hastily, afraid somehow of being trapped.
‘Mine?’ My voice was slightly shrill with nervousness. ‘My heart is not captured, I am thankful, for it seems it can bring unhappiness as easily as happiness.’
Bassett’s tender tone and gentle look disappeared.
Whatever answer he had looked for, I had not given it. He changed the subject and the moment when we might have found some sort of mutual understanding was lost. I acknowledged the fault to be mine.
My prickly pride would get in the way and spoil things.
Had Bassett been trying to find out whether I was heartbroken at the loss of Charles to Georgiana? And if so, what was his motive?
‘I fear we shall have trouble this winter, Louella,’ Bassett was saying, ‘and since by that time you will be my wife, it will necessarily involve you. So I think you should be warned.’
He had turned away from me and gone to stand before the window to gaze at the long slope down to the rippling river flowing serenely on its way to join the ocean.
‘How do you mean?’
‘Do you remember, when we were taking that ride together, the first one, the day Millice
nt arrived, I spoke about droughts and floods?’
‘Yes, I remember.’
‘It seems that the fears then voiced by the old men in the village are becoming more widespread. The weather prophets are foretelling a very severe winter with heavy snowfalls.’
Bassett turned sharply and looked at me.
‘Which means that the melting snow will probably cause the river to flood.’
‘Oh Bassett, how dreadful. Whatever will the villagers do, their homes will be flooded?’
Bassett crossed the room and stood before me again. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked down into my upturned face.
‘Louella, you are good for me. Remember that, whatever anyone else may say.’
At such a compliment, I blushed and let my eyes drop. I felt Bassett’s lips brush my hair in a tender kiss.
I was startled. I had expected no such display of emotion from the master of Courtney Hall.
But as he turned swiftly away and resumed his earnest conversation on his plans for the victims of the flood, should it occur, the moment was forgotten and afterwards I wondered if I had dreamt it all.
‘The occupants of any house threatened by the flood would have to come up to Courtney Hall, of course, for being on higher ground it is most unlikely that we shall be affected at all.’
‘We could turn the ballroom into a sort of dormitory for the men, and most of the women and children could probably be accommodated in the bedrooms. There are a vast number in the north and south wings unused.’
‘That’s a good idea, Louella, I had not, I must admit, got as far as thinking about actual places for their sleeping quarters.’
He paused and his tone hardened.
‘We shall no doubt meet with opposition from my mother. She feels it lowers the authority and position of the master of Courtney to give shelter to his workers.’
I remained silent, though I think Bassett expected an answer. I did not wish to embark upon making derogatory remarks about his mother.
‘But she will have to be told,’ he said firmly, and I smiled inwardly at his tone, knowing that she would, indeed, be told.
The matter of the flood was not spoken of for some time after this conversation had taken place, for the summer days of late August were so bright and peaceful that the world seemed as if it would never snow or rain again. It was difficult to think of winter weather and rushing water, when strolling by the lazy river under cloudless skies.
Preparations were well under way for our wedding, and came the day when the dressmaker from London, specially hired by Bassett, arrived with samples of material and patterns for my choice of gown.
I had to choose it alone and no one else, except the maid who was to help me dress on my wedding morning, was to see it, but the dressmaker and myself.
A suite of apartments had been set at his disposal, for he had not only to make my wedding finery and a whole trousseau of clothes for me, as Bassett had ordered, but other members of the household, the bridegroom included, demanded a new set of clothes.
I had never seen such material or such beautiful patterns. I was lost. I turned to the little man at my side.
‘Mr Lewisson, I am overwhelmed. I have never seen such grandeur. I really don’t know what to choose. Please help me.’
He was a kindly little man with a slight foreign accent. He was unassuming, but reassuring. I felt he knew I was unused to the position in which I found myself, and he was sympathetic.
His long, delicate fingers, used to stitching fine garments with endless patience, guided the flying pencil over sheet after sheet of paper, designing, suggesting, guiding my choice of wedding dress and fine gowns.
‘Might I suggest, madam,’ he murmured, ‘that for your wedding gown you should wear a unique gown, one which we will design together, you and I. An exquisite gown.’
The dress he drew seemed so complicated to me that I could not really imagine how it would look. It was all pleats and trains and drapes. The other gowns were more simple, amongst them being a high-necked, long-sleeved, tight fitting day dress in pale blue; two afternoon dresses with plain skirts and over dresses cut in princess style draped in all manner of directions, and decorated with ribbons and lace; a summer dress in lemon; a high-necked dress with a printed flower pattern. There were three evening gowns of different colours and materials, my favourite being in emerald green, low neckline and embroidered with sequins.
‘How can I thank you, Mr Lewisson?’ I said, gratefully when we had finished. ‘ The garments you have chosen and designed are lovely, but I fear I cannot do justice to them.’
‘You are too modest, madam, your gentle beauty will be richly enhanced by these clothes. You will not displease your groom, I guarantee.’
I coloured slightly, for the poor man was naturally under the impression that my sole intention was to please Bassett. Perhaps, in some measure, he was right for I certainly had no wish to displease him—I was too frightened of his wrath. But I was not, as a young bride should be, anxious, to the exclusion of all else, to captivate my bridegroom completely.
I knew I had not the power to do so, had I wished.
The days flew by and the house became alive with activity in preparation for the great day. There were over a hundred guests to be invited for what was to be one of the biggest weddings in the country.
Lady Courtney, over-ruled by her wilful son in the choice of his bride, had won her own way in having a grand wedding, and because I had no family to give me the wedding, it fell to the Courtneys, who, thwarted in their right to give Georgiana a grand wedding, revelled in their son’s marriage plans.
Bassett, I noticed, kept out of all the arrangements and left them entirely to his mother. And she, in her element, was a great deal easier to get along with from my point of view. But each time she remembered exactly who it was that Bassett was marrying, obviously it spoilt her complete enjoyment of the proceedings.
But, I must admit, in fairness, she was a little kindlier disposed towards me.
I could not help feeling that this came about because Millicent had left Courtney Hall for a short while.
Her long stay had come to an end, and she had returned home on the pretext of completing her own preparations for the wedding. But she intended, she made it clear, to resume her stay at the Hall shortly before the day of the wedding. But I believed that with her vicious tongue removed from pouring tirades against me into Lady Courtney’s ear, and with the latter gleefully occupied in being the pivot of the arrangements, I was less hated than previously.
Sir Hugh, bewildered as I with all the preparations, confided to me that he was ‘as pleased as punch’ that Georgiana had escaped the clutches of that ‘simpering whippet Cedric.’
‘I don’t know how Emily could have chosen the boy for her, really I don’t. Why, Victoria, Emily seems to have no idea of what is best for her children. Indeed she doesn’t.’
And he sighed sadly.
By this time, I had grown used to his calling me Victoria. I no longer worried about it, though at times I was still curious to know why he did.
The wedding date was set for the nineteenth of September and as the day neared, the weeks seemed to fly past even more quickly.
On the afternoon of the fifteenth, Lady Courtney and I were seated in the drawing-room, discussing final plans for the day—at least, Lady Courtney was instructing me in the proper manner in which to conduct myself amongst the important guests who were to be present.
‘Although you are the most important person in the gathering,’ she paused and I thought that she was probably reflecting upon the undesirability of my person being the central character. However, she continued.
‘It is not expected of you to carry out onerous duties on such an occasion. Your main task will be to appear shy, happy and polite to all your guests. Wedding day nerves are indulged by all, even Lords and Ladies, though you are not expected to weep, to blush excessively, or to show your nervousness by any outward sign.’
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At this point, her conversation was interrupted by the sound of the arrival of a carriage.
Lady Courtney rose.
‘Now who can this be arriving at such an hour?’
I rose from my seat when Lady Courtney did so, but did not follow her to the window. However, when I heard her gasp of surprise, I moved a little nearer to try and see who had arrived.
Lady Courtney turned from the window, her face white, her eyes wide and startled.
‘Fetch Bassett—I’ll find Sir Hugh,’ she added as an afterthought. ‘It’s Georgiana—dared to come home.’
I flew from the room. I would have liked to have gone straight to welcome the couple, but I knew Lady Courtney needed Bassett’s help. She was not sure what reception to give her wayward daughter. Perhaps she had not thought that Georgiana and Charles would ever appear at Courtney Hall again. Certainly by the look on her face, she had not prepared herself for such an event.
I knocked on Bassett’s study door.
‘Come in.’
I opened the door and entered noiselessly.
Bassett was working at his desk, bending over a sheaf of papers. His mouth was set in a hard line, his fingers tapping the desk with impatience. Something in what he was reading was disturbing him. I was sorry for Georgiana and prayed she had not caught her
brother in a bad temper.
Bassett looked up and some of the hardness left his face.
I smiled, uncertainly, and saw his face relax even more.
‘What is it, Louella?’ he asked, not unkindly.
‘Georgiana and Charles have returned.’
Bassett frowned. Fear stabbed at my heart. Surely he would not
turn them away?
‘Does Lady Courtney know of their arrival?’
‘Yes.’
‘And what did she say?’
‘She—she sent me to find you.’
Bassett merely grunted and rose.
‘Come, then, Louella, we shall meet the runaway pair. And since you and I are betrothed, you shall take my arm.’ And he crooked his arm, and offered it to me.
I wondered what game he was playing. Shyly, I put my hand on his arm and we left the study and went to the front door where Lady Courtney and Sir Hugh were already waiting. The door had not been opened and I knew Georgiana and Charles were waiting fearfully on the driveway.
Pride of the Courtneys Page 10