“You must forgive me, Lord Hargrove, I am feeling quite overwhelmed. I need to talk to my sister and begin to sort out what we shall do next.”
He stood. “Of course, I quite understand. And when the funeral or memorial service arrangements are made, I would greatly appreciate it if you would inform me. I know, I and a number of my colleagues, will wish to attend.”
Anna stood and took his hand. “You have been so kind, Lord Hargrove.”
He opened his case, took out several documents and handed them to her. “These are the documents you will need. And now, I shall show myself out. I am staying at the village inn until tomorrow morning if you wish to contact me before I go back to London.”
“Your Lordship,” Anna said, “I will walk with you to the door. Do you have a carriage?”
“I do.”
Lord Hargrove followed Anna to the drawing room door and as they left the drawing room Anna could see Warrick escorting Mr. Christopher inside.
Christopher looked up and greeted Anna. “What a lovely morning. Good day, Miss Anna. Is Dorothy in her chambers?”
Anna raised her finger, indicating for him to wait a moment. She escorted Lord Hargrove to his carriage and then returned to greet Christopher. She looked ashen and harrowed.
“Miss Anna, what is it? Has something happened?” he asked.
“Dorothy cannot see you right now. But might I ask you a great favor?”
“Of course. Just name it.”
“I very much need to speak to either Maria or Harry. It is most urgent. Could you please return to the Manor and ask one or both of them to come over? I cannot tell you why just now. But it is truly on an important matter.”
Christopher took a deep breath and wrung his hands. “I will go right now. Is there anything I can do for you before I leave?”
“Thank you, no.”
Christopher rode as fast as he could back to Creassey Manor. He left his horse in a groom’s hand and burst into the house and went directly to Harry’s study, but he was not there.
He returned to the front hall and called out, “Daniels? Maria? Anybody?”
Daniels appeared wearing an apron and without his coat. “Excuse me, sir. I was polishing silver. How can I help?”
“I need to find Harry or Miss Maria immediately. Do you know where either of them is?”
“I believe Miss Maria went into the village and I believe His Lordship is in the field with the vet.”
“Thank you. Thank you,” Christopher said. He ran out, retrieved his horse from the groom, and rode off to find Harry.
He spotted his friend in the pen with the vet and the quarantined cattle. He drew up his horse and he called out, “Harry, a moment please?”
Harry went over to the fence. “Yes, Christopher, what is it? You seem excited.”
“I have just come from Miss Anna. She wishes to see you urgently. She did not say why, but I suspect there has been some sort of horrible mishap. Can you go to her now?”
Harry cast a glance at the vet. “Can you stay with Doctor Carson until he is finished? I will go right now.”
“Yes, I can stay.”
As Harry mounted his horse, he asked. “Do you have any idea what might be wrong?”
“All I can think is that perhaps Dorothy has become ill again. But the way Anna looked, I suspect it might be more serious than that.”
Harry gave a grim nod and rode off.
Anna was sitting on the edge of Dorothy’s bed with her hand on her sister’s back. Dorothy was face down—her face buried in a pillow, crying.
“My dear sister, try and calm yourself. I know you are grieving, but there is a great deal we need to discuss.”
“How can I?” she wailed. “Father is gone—forever.”
“Yes, I know, but we are living. and we need to make arrangements.”
“You do that. I cannot.”
“Please, Dorothy, do not put the whole burden on me. We need to make these decisions together. And there is something else that is very important I need to tell you. You left before Lord Hargrove told me the rest of the news.”
Dorothy turned her head to look at Anna, and expected even worse bad news. “What?”
“Father was very wealthy, and he has left us very handsomely off—financially.”
That caught Dorothy’s attention and she sat up and faced Anna.
“How handsome?” she asked wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands.
“There is one hundred thousand pounds in insurance and a large number of shares in the East India Company. I do not know the value of those yet.”
Dorothy gasped. “Then we shall have a great deal of money to bring to a marriage.”
“Yes, I expect so,” Anna said with the first smile she had given in some time.
“I cannot wait to tell Christopher,” Dorothy said getting off the bed and going to her dressing table to examine her red eyes.
“Mr. Christopher was here earlier but you were indisposed, so I sent him to fetch Maria or Harry. I very much need their advice.”
“You sent him away?”
“This is not the moment for a romantic tryst, Dorothy.”
“But he is only to be here a few more days. I want to see him,” she said a little angrily.
“Dear sister, we have more important issues right now. We need to arrange some sort of a service for father, we need to inform the staff, we must contact the family solicitor, we must acquire mourning clothing… there is so much to do.”
Dorothy turned to Anna, horrified. “Mourning? We must wear black?”
“You know we must.”
Dorothy started crying again. “I shall look like a widow.”
“It need only be for six months or so.”
At that moment there was a knock at the door and Warrick entered.
“His Lordship, the Earl of Creassey is here to see you.”
Anna was relieved. “Oh, thank you. Tell him we shall be right down.” She turned to her sister. “You are coming with me, yes?”
Dorothy turned back to her mirror. “No. I look a fright.”
“But what if Christopher is with him?”
“Let me just compose myself and I will be right down.”
Chapter 16
Harry was in the drawing room, pacing, when Anna entered. As soon as he saw her he rushed over and took her hands.
“Dearest friend, please, tell me what has happened. Christopher did not know. Is it Dorothy? Is she ill?”
Anna shook her head, but it was clear she was tearing up.
“No. It is Father. He has perished at sea on his way home from India. We are orphans now, Harry.”
Harry was stunned but recovered and threw his arms around her in an embrace. He was stunned, but he felt a great outpouring of sadness and affection for Anna. He wanted to hold and protect her. But she was not a child and he pulled back to see how he might help.
“Dearest, dearest friend how did you find out?” he asked.
Anna explained Lord Hargrove’s visit and the extent of his news—including the inheritance. Just as she was finishing her story, Dorothy came into the drawing room wearing a black shawl over a grey dress.
“This was the best I could do for now,” she said, referring to her clothes.”
“That is fine, my dear. I have not had an opportunity to change yet.”
“Did Christopher come back with you?” Dorothy asked Harry.
“No, Dorothy, I asked him to stay with the vet.”
“Vet?” Anna asked. “Do you have sick animals?”
Harry told her about the hoof and mouth scare.
“Is he coming later?” Dorothy continued.
“I have no idea. Do you want him too?”
“Most certainly. We have a lot to discuss now that my circumstances have changed. And he is leaving so soon, and I want to spend every moment I can with him.”
“Then the two of you are serious about each other?”
“Yes, Harry, we are,”
Dorothy said with a shy smile.
“Then I shall tell him you wish to see him this afternoon.”
“Thank you. Now, you must excuse me. Anna, I shall be in my rooms if you need to go over any more details with me.” She turned and left.
Harry turned back to Anna. “Come sit with me. Let me know how I can help you. I do not want you to be without all the support I can give you at this difficult time.”
But as he took her hand to lead her to the sofa, he was filled with a strong urge. He turned Anna toward him, grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her toward him. He reached up, took her face in his hands, leaned toward her and kissed her passionately. He realized what he had done and pulled away, aghast at his audacity.
“Oh, Anna,” he said. “I am so very sorry. I do not know what came over me. Emotions are running rampant through me and I felt this burning urge to kiss you. I… I… I know it was inappropriate, but my dear friend, I cannot help but feel your pain and wanted to… somehow… take it all away.”
Anna’s face was not angry but was surprisingly serene. “Harry… I know you meant no harm. And I thank you, even. I too am both numb and agitated at the same time. When all of this happened, I knew that only you and Maria could comfort me. However, as much as I love our dear Maria, I am glad it was you who came to me… us.”
Harry was still flustered. He ran both of his hands through his hair, and with a stricken look on his face, he turned from her to pace again.
“I should not have kissed you. I am sorry.”
“But I am not,” she said so softly she was not certain he had heard her correctly.
“You are not?” he asked turning to her.
“It surprised me but did not displease me.”
“Then you…?” he started to ask, but she interrupted him.
“I was at that moment thinking of all the people I needed to inform about father’s passing. Percy had just come to mind.”
That statement jolted Harry and he realized—of course, that would be her first thought.
“But first I need to make some arrangements with the parish church. There must be some sort of service. Will you help me with that?”
“Whatever I can do to help, just ask.”
At that moment Warrick came in, his face a mask of pain. “Miss Anna, your sister just told me the terrible news. I am completely devastated. What can I do?”
“The staff needs to be informed. Can you do that, or do you think that is something I should do?”
“I can do that, if you wish. But if, at some point, you could meet with them, it would mean a great deal. I know they will want to express their personal condolences.”
“Yes.”
“I know this is going to be a difficult time, so please let us know how we can best serve you.”
“I will. Perhaps you might send for my dressmaker, Mrs. Thompson. Both Dorothy and I will need appropriate mourning clothing.”
“I will send for her and I shall make certain that black armbands are made for the staff.”
“Thank you, Warrick.”
After he left, she turned back to Harry, looked at him and shook her head. “I am in a daze. Please tell me what to do.” She went over and put her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. He then embraced her, his heart fluttering, and once again, passion rose within him. However, he did not act upon that passion but held her in his arms with tenderness.
“I know Maria will want to see you,” he said withdrawing from her. “I will tell her as soon as I can find her. But first I shall go to the church and speak to the vicar.” He then had a disturbing thought. “I assume there are no remains?” Anna nodded. “Then when would you like to have a service?”
“We have a number of people we need to notify. Many do not live close by. I think it should be at least two or three weeks from now.”
“I will speak with the vicar and let you know what he can arrange. I expect he will want to come and visit you, and you can settle the details at that time.”
Anna went over to Harry and put her arms around him again. “Thank you, dearest friend. I do not know what I would have done without you.”
He let her hold him before he said, “I did not know your father all that well. He was away in India so often and for so long. But I know you and Dorothy loved him greatly. I know you will miss him. But always know that Maria and I will be here for you whenever you need us. After all, we are family.”
Anna looked up at Harry and gave him a wan but sweet smile.
“Yes, we know that.”
As Harry rode back toward the Manor, he could not free himself from his feelings of passion for Anna. This was no time for such feelings, he reminded himself, but there seemed to be no escape. And what continued to unsettle his mind was that Anna had been responsive to him and did not seem to mind that he had kissed her. Might there be any chance that she had feelings for him? But as much as he needed to dwell on his immediate tasks at hand, he could not get his feelings for her out of his mind.
He rode first to the quarantine pen, but both the vet and Christopher were already gone. He did stop to inspect the quarantined animals and he could tell there was improvement, so the treatment must be working.
His next thought was for Maria. He must find her.
After stabling his horse and reentering the house, he asked Daniels if he knew where Miss Maria was.
“I believe she is overseeing the laundry,” Daniels said. “Shall I tell her you want to see her?”
“Yes, please, I shall be in my study.”
“Very good, Milord.”
His next assignment was to find Christopher. But it was Christopher who found him. Harry headed toward the study to wait for Maria when Christopher came out of the study and grabbed hold of Harry’s shoulders. He looked greatly upset and he asked, “How is she? Is Dorothy ill?”
Harry had to smile at Christopher’s obvious concern. “Dorothy is not ill. But there has been a family disaster.”
Just at that moment, Maria was approaching. She heard what Harry had said and came rushing over. “What, Harry?” she asked, taking his arm a little too tightly.
They were standing in the hallway and Harry suggested. “Let us go to the study and I will explain.
“I’ll have some of that too,” Maria said to Harry. He had just poured Christopher and himself some whiskey after telling them of the tragedy but not of the inheritance.
“You drink this?” he asked his sister, surprised.
“Oh, come… do not be such a prude.”
“Very well,” he said and served them all with a glass.
“The sisters—how will they survive without their father? Do they have any income?” Christopher asked.
Harry hesitated. He was not certain he should reveal news about the inheritance.
Then Maria asked, “They have the estate at least. Might they be able to do something with that? Although I would hate to think of them having to sell.”
Harry finally decided to tell them about the inheritance and the insurance policy to ease their concerns.
“I must go see Dorothy right now,” Christopher said, “My darling must be in such turmoil.”
“Finish your drink. No… Wait until after lunch. Give her some time to adjust to the reality of what has just happened.”
“I will go with you,” Maria said. “I know they are going to need a lot of support and I want to help, however I can.”
There was a knock at the door and Daniels announced, “Mr. Percy to see you, Milord.”
“Oh…” Harry said. He was uncertain what to say to his friend. Anna had not instructed him if he should tell others or not. But if there was to be a service then, certainly, it would soon be public knowledge. But as Anna had special feelings for Percy, perhaps she would want to tell him herself. Finally, he decided to tell him. “Send him in.”
“Harry, are you…” Percy said bursting into the room. He saw that his friend was not alone. “Am I interrupting somethi
ng?” Then he saw Maria. “Hello, dearest,” he said with a smile.
“As a matter of fact…” Harry went over and put his hand on Percy’s shoulder. “There is something you should know.” He turned to the others. “If you will excuse us.” He led Percy out to the terrace and they walked for a moment before Harry said, “My friend, I have some disturbing news.”
The Scandalous Saga of the White Lady: A Historical Regency Romance Novel Page 11