“Don’t worry. Leave everything to me. It will not be as bad as you fear.”
She thought that it was so like him to be aware of what she was feeling.
As his fingers tightened for a moment on her hand, she felt a very strange feeling move through her like a flash of lightning.
She could hardly believe that it was happening.
At the same time she knew that it was because the Earl was now so close to her and was touching her.
It was at that moment that she realised for the first time that she was in love with him.
It seemed to her as if thrills streaked through her body.
‘I love him – I love him!’ she thought. ‘But I never realised it until now.’
She thought about it as they drove on and knew now that she had loved him when every night she had thanked God that he was protecting her.
She had loved him when they had danced together and had been very excited to have his arm around her waist.
‘Of course I love him.’ she told herself. ‘How could I not when he is so magnificent and at the very same time so understanding, kind and thoughtful?’
The Earl took his hand from hers and they drove on.
She was telling herself that, when all this was over, he would then go back to London and forget about her.
He would be with women like Heloise Brook, who was so beautiful and sophisticated, to amuse and entertain him.
‘What have I to look forward to in the future?’ Lupita thought to herself miserably.
She told herself severely that she had to be sensible and rational.
If he ever loved someone, it would be, as she had forecast herself, somebody important, perhaps even a Princess.
Nevertheless whatever happened from now, she told herself, she would still have these glorious and magical moments with him.
At least they would be something to remember in the years ahead.
Now they were moving through familiar countryside and she wanted to point out to the Earl how beautiful it was. There were fields yellow with buttercups and hedgerows thick with honeysuckle.
Then she told herself that this was her world to love and enjoy.
His was very different.
“You are very silent, Lupita,” the Earl commented unexpectedly. “I thought by now you would be telling me when we were on your estate and showing me the first glimpse of your home.”
“I want to do that,” Lupita replied, “and we are nearly there.”
“When we get home,” Jerry said, “you must come and see Morning Star. He is a very big horse and I can ride him. In a year or so I am going to have an even bigger one.”
“I am sure you will,” the Earl said, “and, if you ride as well as your father, everybody will be very proud of you.”
Jerry put his arms round Bracken.
“When I am grown up,” he said, “I am going to have hundreds of horses and hundreds of dogs all my own!”
“Well, I hope your horses win every race that you enter them in,” the Earl grinned.
“I hope so too,” Jerry replied.
The Earl turned to his grandmother.
“You are not feeling too tired, Grandmama?”
“I am looking forward more than I can say to seeing Wood Hall,” she answered. “I often wondered if it was. as beautiful as Lupita’s mother. I felt that somehow it must be a frame for her beauty.”
“I do hope you will not be disappointed,” Lupita smiled.
“I am sure I shall not be,” the Dowager Countess said firmly.
A few minutes later Lupita was able to point out to the Earl the boundary of the Wood Hall Estate.
Because the fields were well cultivated, the hedges clipped and the view so inspiring, she felt extremely proud of all that Jerry owned.
At last they came to the small village near Wood Hall Park and Lupita felt that the Earl would appreciate the gardens filled with flowers.
They turned in at the lodge gates and, as they moved down the drive, the house came into view.
It did indeed look very beautiful with the afternoon sun shining on the windows.
It was a Tudor mansion and the bricks over the centuries had become a warm pink. There was a gabled roof and the back of the house was protected by trees of all kinds.
It was the Dowager Countess who spoke first,
“It is very lovely,” she enthused. “Just as I thought it would be.”
“Thank you,” Lupita said.
“Now that Papa is dead, it is my house,” Jerry piped up solemnly.
“You must take good care of it,” the Dowager Countess observed, “and see that it always looks as beautiful and impressive as it does today.”
The carriage stopped at the front door and as it did so Lupita was hoping that they would not be disillusioned by what they saw inside.
The Earl climbed out of the carriage and helped first his grandmother and then Lupita to alight.
As he was doing so, the front door opened and Briggs, the old butler, stood looking at them in astonishment.
Then, as he saw Lupita, he hurried down the steps towards them.
“Your Ladyship!” he exclaimed. “I was not expecting you.”
“We have come home, Briggs,” Lupita told him, “and have brought some guests with us.”
Before Briggs could say anything, she asked in a low voice,
“Where is Mr. Rufus?”
“He’s not here at the moment, my Lady,” Briggs replied. Then dropping his voice, he added, “he’s gone to find a locksmith in the town, who’ll open the safe for him.”
The Earl heard what he said and without speaking continued to help his grandmother up the steps and into the hall.
When the Dowager Countess saw the ancient panelling on the walls and its Medieval fireplace and the oak staircase with its carved banisters, she gave a cry of delight.
“It is just as I had imagined it would be,” she sighed.
“I’ll now lay tea in the drawing room, my Lady,” Briggs said to Lupita. “It’ll take me a minute or so.”
“Thank you, Briggs,” Lupita said, “and ask your wife to take her Ladyship’s lady’s maid to the best bedroom.”
Briggs nodded as if that was what he had already decided was correct.
They then went across the hall and the Dowager Countess was already exclaiming at the beauty of the drawing room with its large diamond-paned windows and tapestry chairs.
The Earl, however, turned and said in a low voice to Lupita,
“Shall I go and see what has been put on the billiard table?”
“Yes, please do,” she answered.
As he was about to leave the room, she gave a little exclamation of horror.
“Papa’s collection of – snuffboxes has gone from here,” she cried, “and also the Sèvres china.”
The Earl did not reply, he merely said to Briggs who was just about to go upstairs,
“Show me the way to the billiard room.”
He thought that the man looked at him indecisively.
“Of course, her Ladyship has not told you the names of her guests,” he said. “We are the Dowager Countess and I am the Earl of Ardwick. As I knew her Ladyship’s father, I am now acting as her Guardian.”
“That’s good news, my Lord, very good news,” Briggs beamed. “There be things goin’ on here as would make his Lordship turn in his grave!”
“So I understand,” the Earl responded, “so please take me to the billiard room.”
Briggs took him down a long corridor and opened the door at the far end of it.
One glance told the Earl that Mr. Matthews had indeed not exaggerated Rufus Lang’s intentions.
The huge table was covered with what Lupita had referred to as the special treasures of the house.
There was the Sèvres china and snuffboxes that must have come from the drawing room and there were gold carved mirrors and various other ancient and valuable objets d’art.
The Earl look
ed at the collections for a few minutes before he enquired,
“Have you other help in the house?”
“Yes, my Lord,” Briggs replied. “There be two young men as acts as footmen, but as her Ladyship wasn’t here, I have let them go to the village where they comes from to see their families.”
“As soon as they come back, have everything on this table put back in its rightful place,” the Earl ordered. “In the meantime now that I have seen what has been collected here, I want you to lock the door and give me the key.”
Briggs did as he was told and, as the Earl took the key and put it in his pocket, he asked,
“Has anything been sold yet?”
“No, my Lord,” Briggs replied. “Mr. Rufus were waitin’ to get the safe opened before he sent for the men from London to see the silver and the jewellery as belonged to her ladyship’s mother.”
“I heard about that from Mr. Matthews,” the Earl said. “I must compliment you on your quick-wittedness in keeping the key from him. It was extremely intelligent of you and so her Ladyship will be very grateful when I tell her all you have done for her at a difficult time.”
“Mr. Rufus tried shooting off the lock, my Lord, but it wouldn’t budge and that’s why he’s gone into the town for the locksmith.”
“You can tell him that it will not be necessary,” the Earl said, “and so I wish to see Mr. Rufus as soon as he comes back to the house.”
“Very good, my Lord.”
Briggs was clearly delighted at having someone in authority and he smiled as he hurried to the kitchen to order tea.
He unlocked the safe and took out the beautiful Georgian silver tea service that Lupita’s mother had always used.
When the Earl went back to the drawing room, Lupita looked at him enquiringly.
“Nothing has been sold, so don’t worry,” he said to her quietly, “and now that we are here everything will be restored to its rightful place in the house.”
Lupita looked at him, but could not find words to tell him how grateful she was.
He thought that no woman had ever looked at him with such an expression of veneration.
It made him feel almost as if he was a God, who had descended from Mount Olympus.
Jerry then came running into the drawing room with Bracken at his heels.
“We are home! We are home!” he cried as if he had suddenly become aware of the fact, “and I want to show you Morning Star.”
“I think we just have time to do so before Briggs brings in the tea,” Lupita smiled.
She looked enquiringly at the Earl as she spoke, feeling that because he had now taken charge, she must ask his permission before they did anything.
“You must come too,” he said, “and I will be very interested to see your father’s horses.”
“I am longing to show you the stables,” Lupita said. “My father designed them himself, and, while the house is very old, the stables are rally quite new.”
“Then I must certainly see them,” the Earl agreed.
It was only a very short distance to walk round to the back of the house and through an archway to the cobbled yard of the stables.
Jerry ran ahead to find his beloved Morning Star.
As they went, Lupita explained to the Earl how her father had used the old buildings, enlarged them and fitted them out inside in a very modern and up to date manner.
The Earl, who had made many renovations in his own stables, was very impressed.
The stalls were larger than was usual and a new type of manger had been fitted into each one.
The horses’ names were printed outside their doors with a history of their breeding.
On the wall of the passage opposite the stalls were hung the animals’ bridles and saddles.
They had been hung there so that it was easy to lift them down and clean them.
“Papa felt that each horse should get used to one particular saddle,” Lupita explained, “and think of it as his own, just as we would prefer our own clothes.”
“That is an excellent idea and one I will certainly copy,” the Earl replied.
She went on to show him many other special innovations introduced by her father.
There was the way the water was supplied, which made the mucking out of the stables easier and she was delighted to see that the Earl was suitably impressed.
When they reached Morning Star’s stall, she allowed Jerry to show him to the Earl.
Morning Star was, as the Earl recognised at once, a very fine and well-trained animal and exactly right for a small boy to ride.
He thought that, if he had a son, he would like him to be as enthusiastic and thrilled by having his own horse as Jerry was.
There was not enough time to see all the horses since Lupita thought that they should go back and have tea with the Dowager Countess in the drawing room.
She was also afraid that her Cousin Rufus might suddenly turn up and then make trouble before the Earl was actually there.
As they were leaving the stables, Lupita thought that Jerry would be reluctant to leave Morning Star.
But he patted him and said,
“I will come back and say ‘goodnight’ to you.”
As they started to walk back to the house, Lupita was aware that the Earl was looking at the lake.
She did not say anything, but she was sure that he was remembering what she had told him about Rufus damaging the boat so it would sink with Jerry on board.
As they entered the drawing room, it was to find that Briggs had already laid the table for tea.
The silver teapot, kettle and sugar bowl were standing on a lovely silver tray and a young footman was putting cakes and sandwiches on the table beside them.
“I must say I am looking forward to a cup of tea,” the Dowager Countess said. “Then I am going to lie down before dinner.”
She put up her hand to prevent her grandson from saying anything and went on,
“Do not suggest that I don’t come down again, because I have every intention of doing so to see what I am sure is a very beautiful dining room and also to enjoy the company of you both.”
“We look forward to entertaining you, Grandmama,” the Earl replied, “and I can assure you that we want you to be with us.”
“That is a compliment which I appreciate,” the Dowager Countess smiled.
She enjoyed her tea and Jerry tasted all the cakes, sandwiches and buns that were on the table.
Lupita, however, could not help listening for the sound of footsteps in the hall.
She was wondering how soon it would be before Cousin Rufus would return.
But there was no sign of him and, as soon as the tea was finished, the Dowager Countess went upstairs.
Lupita went with her to escort her up to her room to find that Mrs. Briggs had put the Dowager Countess in Lupita’s mother’s room.
It was undoubtedly the prettiest bedroom in the house and Lupita knew that the Dowager Countess’s expression of delight was sincere.
Her lady’s maid was waiting for her, having unpacked everything she needed.
Lupita told the lady’s maid to ask for anything that she might require and then went to her own room.
She remembered now how frightened she had been the last time she had left it.
And what had occurred since then in London had now seemed to be all part of a dream.
Could she really have been such a success so that people admired her and she had even received a proposal of marriage?
It was difficult now to believe that it was all true.
Having tidied herself, she wanted to go downstairs again to be with the Earl.
It was, as she reached the top of the stairs, that she heard a carriage drawing up outside.
A moment later Rufus Lang walked in through the front door.
Lupita did not make a sound or move, but he looked up and saw her.
For a moment he just stared at her.
Then he shouted out angrily,
> “So you are back! What the devil do you mean by running off like that?”
Lupita did not answer, but the sound of his voice alerted the Earl for he came out of the drawing room.
“Good evening, Lang,” he said. “I think we have met before. As you see, I have brought Lady Lupita and her brother home and my grandmother, the Dowager Countess, is also with us.”
Rufus Lang made no pretence at not recognising the Earl.
“I cannot imagine, Ardwick, how you have become so involved in all this,” he remarked.
“If you will come into the drawing room, I will tell you how it concerns me,” the Earl replied.
Lupita thought that it would be a mistake for her to join them.
But Rufus Lang looked up at her and said,
“As you are responsible for this intrusion, you had better come too and explain what has been happening.”
Lupita drew in her breath.
She came down the stairs aware that Rufus Lang was waiting for her and did not intend to be alone in the drawing room with the Earl.
The Earl had already walked back into the room and, when Lupita and her cousin came in, he was standing with his back to the mantelpiece.
As Briggs closed the door behind them, Rufus Lang began,
“I don’t wish to seem rude, but I just cannot quite understand why you in your busy life should be concerned with my young cousins.”
“I have appointed myself as Guardian to these two young people,” the Earl explained in a lofty tone, “for the simple reason that I think they are both in need of protection.”
“I don’t know what you mean by that!” Rufus Lang retorted.
There was an ugly note in his voice and Lupita was aware that he was looking somewhat threateningly at the Earl.
“Then let me start by telling you,” the Earl said, “that I have given orders for everything that you have had put on the billiard table to be returned to its proper place in the house.”
Rufus Lang was losing his temper rapidly.
“Curse you for interfering!” he asserted angrily. “You are not related to my family and, if anyone should have the position of Guardian, it should be me.”
“A Guardian who is prepared to rob the young innocents he is supposed to be guarding?” the Earl asked him sharply.
There was a moment’s silence.
Beyond the Stars Page 9