A Mother's Secret (16 page)

Belinda choked on a mouthful of hot tea. She put the cup back on its saucer, wiping her eyes on a scrap of cotton and lace that served as a handkerchief. ‘I’m sorry, the tea was hotter than I expected.’

‘Did I say something to upset you, my dear?’ Mrs Masters eyed her anxiously. ‘My husband is always telling me off for being thoughtless.’

‘No, not at all,’ Belinda lied. ‘I’m happily married and I have nothing to complain about. Geoffrey is a kind man and a good husband.’

‘Of course,’ Mrs Master said hastily. ‘Forgive a silly old woman’s tactlessness, Belinda. Now tell me about the child who came with you today. What a beautiful little thing she is, but obviously of mixed blood. They are often the loveliest of creatures as I’m sure you are aware, and she is no exception.’

Having explained that Cassy was merely her protégée and that she was putting her through school in order to give her a better chance in life, Belinda was relieved when the Colonel reappeared, inviting them to go out onto the parade ground and see Oliver putting one of the horses through its paces.

Mahdu and Cassy joined them as they stood in the sunshine, sheltering in the shade of a parasol kindly loaned by Mrs Masters. Oliver appeared to be enjoying himself hugely as he rode the great black animal with complete confidence and expertise. The Colonel was obviously impressed by Oliver’s display of horsemanship, and he took Belinda aside to tell her that there would be nothing to prevent Sir Geoffrey purchasing a commission for his son. Ensign Davenport would be accepted into the 13th Hussars without delay. If the rumours were true, it would not be long before the battalion was deployed to India. In his opinion, the boy would see active service before the year was out.

Belinda did not know whether to be pleased or anxious when she heard this from the man in authority. She was determined to quiz her husband as soon as he returned home, and put the case to him that perhaps he ought to think again before sending his only child to war. She said nothing of this to Oliver when he rejoined them, and she gave him an encouraging smile as the Colonel drew him aside for a private conversation. It seemed that the interview had gone extremely well but Belinda was still a little anxious as she crossed the parade ground to her carriage. Oliver was still engaged with the Colonel, but Mahdu and Cassy were walking just a few paces behind her. The groom was holding the carriage door open and Belinda was about to climb into the carriage when she heard her daughter let out a shriek. Pausing with one foot on the step, she turned her head in time to see Cassy tearing across the parade ground, shouting and waving her hands above her head.

Chapter Ten

‘Bailey,’ Cassy shrieked, flinging herself at the young trooper standing stiffly to attention at the end of the line of soldiers on the parade ground. ‘Bailey, I can’t believe it’s you.’ His face flushed beneath his healthy tan, but he neither moved nor looked down at her. She tugged at his arm. ‘Bailey. It’s me, Cassy.’

Still he did not move. The soldier standing next to him stifled a chuckle, but his face froze as the sergeant major bore down on them with an angry roar. ‘What’s going on here?’ He stormed up to Cassy, dragging her away. ‘What d’you think you’re doing, miss? You can’t interfere with her majesty’s soldiers when they’re on duty. Clear off.’

‘But he’s my friend,’ Cassy protested, casting an anxious glance at Bailey. She struggled with tears as he ignored her, staring straight ahead as if she did not exist. ‘What’s the matter, Bailey? Why won’t you speak to me?’

‘Go away, miss. Or do I have to carry you off?’ The sergeant major breathed heavily down her neck, exuding the odour of stale beer and onions.

‘Bailey, help me,’ Cassy cried as she was lifted bodily and tucked beneath the sergeant’s arm as he marched purposefully across the parade ground. She could not see where she was going, just the ground moving dizzily beneath her, until the sergeant came to a halt, stamping his feet and jolting her so that her head bobbed up and down like a cork floating on water.

‘It’s all right, Sergeant. Put her down. This child is known to me.’

She recognised the Colonel’s voice and found herself staring at his shiny black leather boots, but with a sudden swift movement she was set on her feet and the world righted itself. ‘Please, sir,’ she said desperately. ‘The soldier over there is my best friend, Bailey. I thought I’d lost him forever.’

‘Young lady, you can’t disrupt army routine on a whim.’ Colonel Masters frowned at her so that his eyebrows met over the bridge of his nose.

‘Don’t scold her, dear,’ Mrs Masters said, tucking her hand in the crook of his arm. ‘She’s just a child. Surely you could bend the rules a little, just this once?’

Cassy held her breath, crossing her fingers behind her back as she waited for the Colonel’s response, but Belinda and Mahdu arrived at that moment, flushed and panting.

‘I am so sorry, Colonel,’ Belinda said breathlessly. ‘Please forgive her. She knows nothing of military life.’

‘Five minutes,’ Colonel Masters said, addressing the sergeant major. ‘The trooper may have five minutes with the child, as a special dispensation.’ He turned to Oliver, who had been openly enjoying the scene, but a steely look from the Colonel wiped the smile off his face. ‘Make yourself useful, Davenport.’

Oliver snapped to attention. ‘Colonel, sir?’

‘Take the young lady to her friend. Allow them five minutes together.’

Oliver held his hand out to Cassy. ‘Come on then, brat. It seems the British army is prepared to mark time especially for you.’

Cassy needed no second bidding, and she trotted along at Oliver’s side. ‘Do you really want to be a soldier?’

‘I think it might do,’ he said casually. ‘Splendid horses and good company might be the very thing for me.’ He stopped as Bailey, at a command from the sergeant, broke ranks and walked stiffly towards them. ‘There you are, brat. You’ve got five minutes so make it quick and let the poor chap get back into line without making him a laughing stock.’ Oliver paused, eyeing Bailey up and down. ‘So you’re Bailey.’

‘I am.’ Bailey returned the stare with a suspicious glint in his grey eyes. ‘Who are you?’

‘You’d best get used to calling me sir,’ Oliver said stiffly. ‘I’ll soon be Ensign Davenport, your superior officer, so show some respect when you address me, trooper.’

Cassy waited her turn with a sigh of resignation. Why, she wondered, did men have to be so silly? They were sizing each other up like bare-knuckle fighters about to launch into a fight. If she had been at home in Cripplegate she would have known how to handle this situation, but here in the toffs’ world she knew she must try to behave with decorum. She longed to throw her arms around Bailey and hug him, but she managed to curb her instincts and suppress her desire to whoop for joy at the mere sight of him. She stared at the two young men, who were facing each other with overt animosity. They were of a similar height and both fair-haired, although Oliver had green eyes and his face was rounded and youthful, whereas Bailey’s eyes were as blue as the skies above them, and his suntanned skin was drawn taut over high cheekbones. Years of privation as a child had made him look older than his eighteen years. Even so, she thought, given different circumstances they might have been taken for brothers. She drew away from Oliver and slipped her hand into Bailey’s. ‘Go away, Ollie,’ she said boldly. ‘I want to talk to my friend. It don’t matter to me whether you’re above him or he’s below you.’

Oliver shrugged his shoulders and grinned. ‘If you say so, brat.’ He strolled off with a swagger in his step.

‘He’s going to be trouble,’ Bailey observed, shaking his head, but his frown dissipated into a grin as he looked down at Cassy. ‘I can’t believe you’re here, nipper. I thought I’d lost you forever.’

‘Not me, Bailey. I was determined to find you one way or another, but I never expected to see you here, even though I hoped you might be.’

‘I ain’t sure that makes sense,’ he said, chuckling. ‘But how did you come to be with the toffs, Cassy? I’ve been worried sick about you. I tried to tell them that I needed to make sure you were all right but it was no use. They wouldn’t listen to me.’

‘I don’t remember much about it,’ Cassy admitted wistfully. ‘It was raining and I was wet and cold, and then all of a sudden a carriage pulled up and it was my ma. She’d come to take me to a big house up West with servants and a mad old lady who took me on as a maid, but I broke things and was going to be sent away when Ma’s mistress turned up. She’s like an angel, the loveliest lady you ever saw, and she had tears in her eyes when she saw me. That’s her over there.’ Cassy pointed to Belinda who was still talking to Mrs Masters although the Colonel was no longer there. ‘She’s called Lady Davenport and she lives in another big house. She sent me to school, but that’s another story. Anyway, I’m on holiday and staying with her and Ma, although I mustn’t call her Ma, since it’s a secret that must be kept from Sir Geoffrey and the other servants.’

Bailey pushed his shako to the back of his head. ‘Blimey, Cass. What a tale. So you’re going to be a young lady, then?’

‘I dunno about that, but I think I might work in a shop up West when I leave school, or maybe I’ll be a lady’s maid like Ma. I ain’t decided yet. They’re teaching me manners and how to talk proper, I mean properly. And, Bailey, you must never eat off your knife. I learnt that much. It makes people stare at you, but I suppose you know that now.’

Bailey wrapped his arms around her and held her so tightly that the buttons on his tunic stuck into her flesh, but she did not complain. He smelt the same, only cleaner if she were to be honest. He was still her dear Bailey, and she felt safe in his arms.

‘Time’s up,’ Oliver called out from a few paces away. ‘Put her down, trooper.’

‘I’ll put him down in a moment,’ Bailey muttered into Cassy’s hair. ‘Officer or no, I ain’t taking orders from a kid younger than me.’

Cassy clutched his arm, peering anxiously up into his face. ‘Don’t do nothing stupid, will you? And he ain’t that bad, Bailey. He’s just a boy and he’s scared stiff really. Promise me you’ll look out for him when he joins the regiment.’

Bailey pulled a face, but then he seemed to relent and he tweaked Cassy’s nose. ‘All right, nipper. If you say so, I’ll keep me eye on the toff.’

‘I got to go,’ Cassy said, eyeing the sergeant major warily as he strode towards them. ‘But at least I know where to find you now.’

‘And where will you be?’ Bailey asked anxiously. ‘Where do I find you, Cass?’

‘I’m staying in South Audley Street at the moment, but then I go back to Miss North’s Academy for Young Ladies, Highbury Hill.’

‘At least I know where you’ll be for the foreseeable future,’ Bailey said, backing away. ‘They’re sending me to the Riding Establishment in Maidstone tomorrow for more training, but we’ll be together one day, Cass. That’s a promise.’ He froze to attention at a barked command from the sergeant major, and then marched briskly back into line.

‘Come on, brat,’ Oliver said, taking her by the hand. ‘Let’s go home. I’m starving. All this soldiering has given me an appetite for luncheon.’

The mahogany dining table was set with three places and the array of silver cutlery and crystal glasses left Cassy both dazzled and confused. Oliver had taken his seat opposite her and when faced with a bowlful of soup she sent him a mute plea for help. Smiling, he demonstrated which spoon she should use, but intimidated by the poker-faced butler and the uniformed parlour maid who hovered at his side, Cassy struggled to remember the hints on table manners that Mahdu had given her before entering the room. She glanced anxiously at her hostess, but Lady Davenport seemed distracted and barely touched the cream of asparagus soup or the remove of poached turbot in tarragon sauce. Oliver on the other hand was filled with enthusiasm for his new profession and kept up a steady stream of conversation that required little input from his stepmother apart from the occasional nod of her head.

Cassy was too excited to eat much of the food no matter how tempting. Finding Bailey was like a miracle and even though he was leaving London for Kent the following day, she revelled in the fact that she had seen him again and that he knew where to find her when he was granted leave. The thought of returning to Miss North’s establishment held no terrors for her now that she could cling to the hope of one day being reunited with Bailey. Despite the gap in their ages, they were closer than most brothers and sisters and she knew he would not let her down. They would set up home together and never again be parted. She jumped as she realised that Lady Davenport was speaking to her.

‘Cassy, stop daydreaming and listen to me.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Cassy murmured guiltily. ‘What did you say, ma’am?’

Belinda cleared her throat nervously. ‘I was hoping that you would be able to stay here with me, but it seems that it won’t be possible.’ She shot a warning look at Oliver as he opened his mouth to speak. ‘Let me finish, Ollie. As I said, it isn’t possible for you to stay in South Audley Street, my dear. But I’m sure that Mrs Fulford-Browne will be only too delighted to have you as a guest for the remainder of your holiday.’

‘Stepmother dearest, you’re forgetting that she’s married that Italian chap,’ Oliver said, winking at Cassy. ‘Old Fulford-Browne must be spinning in his grave.’

Belinda’s lips twitched but she shook her finger at him. ‘Don’t be naughty, Oliver.’

‘But I want to stay with you and Mahdu,’ Cassy protested, ignoring Oliver’s untimely interruption. ‘Have I done something wrong, missis? I’ve tried to be good and do as I was told.’

Belinda’s smile faded and she reached out to lay her hand on Cassy’s arm. ‘No, Cassy, darling. It’s not your fault. If anything it is mine. I should have thought . . .’ She hesitated, biting her lip. ‘I ought to have arranged matters differently.’

‘What’s up anyway?’ Oliver demanded, wiping his lips on a table napkin. ‘Why can’t the brat stay here? Is Pater being difficult again?’

‘Your father is a good man, and I won’t have a word said against him. He has a very important position to uphold and I’m afraid I might have compromised him in some way, although I don’t quite understand how.’

‘Poppycock, Stepmother,’ Oliver said angrily. ‘You’re a saint if ever there was one and the old man is a stiff-necked old tyrant.’ He rose to his feet, pushing his chair back abruptly. ‘What possible harm can it do to give one small girl a place to stay for a fortnight, I’d like to know?’

‘I didn’t think you cared what happened to Cassy,’ Belinda said sharply. ‘As I recall you thought she was nothing but a nuisance just yesterday.’

‘That was before I knew I was going to be an officer in the 13th Hussars,’ Oliver said grandly. ‘I’m a man now, Belle. I can stand up to Papa and I won’t allow him to bully you or Cassy.’

‘Oh, Ollie. You are so sweet, but your papa doesn’t bully me or anyone else for that matter. However, we must respect his wishes.’ Belinda turned to Cassy. ‘You will be well looked after by my sister-in-law, and you’ll be treated as a guest this time, not a servant. Mahdu and I will call every day to take you out for luncheon or tea, or perhaps to the Zoological Gardens or some other place of interest. What do you say to that?’

Cassy hesitated for a moment. She could see that the lovely lady was in earnest, although she did not understand why such a beautiful and rich person cared tuppence for a servant’s offspring. It was obvious that she thought a lot of Ma, and perhaps that was why she was so concerned about the fate of one small girl. Whatever the reason for her benefactor’s kindness, Cassy could not help wondering why there was a hint of sadness in Lady Davenport’s beautiful blue eyes that never quite went away, even when she laughed.

‘Well, Cassy?’ Belinda said gently. ‘What do you think of our plan?’

‘I like it well enough, ma’am.’ Cassy bowed her head. She did not want to return to Duke Street where the servants had plagued her, but it seemed she had little choice in the matter.

‘There’s no need to look so down in the mouth, brat,’ Oliver said cheerfully. ‘Aunt Flo is always good for a laugh.’