A Question of Inheritance (6 page)

Georgia instantly said, ‘I wouldn’t, I’d have been a Cavalier.’

Scene 5

‘So much to see,’ Gus said. He’d lingered by a huge canvas by one of the Carracci brothers, which he at once identified as a scene from Ovid’s
Metamorphoses
. ‘It’s an interesting interpretation. That Bacchus there . . .’

Babs called him to order. ‘You’ve got the rest of your life to gaze at all the pictures, Pops, and it’s cold here. Have we nearly finished, Freya?’

‘No, but as you say, plenty of time for you all to explore. I’ll just show you the ballroom and then we’ll go out to the hothouse.’

‘Ballroom?’ Hugo said. ‘You never told me there was a ballroom.’

Freya was hunting through the keys on her ring for the one that opened the ornate door in front of them. ‘It hasn’t been used since before the war.’ She pushed open the door.

‘Like Sleeping Beauty,’ Polly said, breaking the silence.

Motes of dust danced in the light that came through the windows as Freya pulled back the shutters. The wrapped chandeliers suspended eerily from their decorative roses, the chairs covered with sheets and cobwebs suspended from the ornate plaster of the cornices did indeed make the room look as though it had slept for a hundred years.

Freya knew the life it once had, of glamorous frocks and men in formal evening clothes. Those from her own memory, and, in her imagination, the silks and velvets and muslins, the gorgeous waistcoats and the tight breeches of an earlier era.

Hugo went over to one corner, his footsteps sounding on the smooth wooden floor. He stood for a moment in front of a large, shrouded piece of furniture and then lifted the dust cover.

‘A piano,’ Gus said, going over to join him.

‘No,’ Hugo said. ‘It’s a harpsichord.’ His fingers strayed to the keys and he played a chord. The plangent sound rang through the room. ‘Out of tune. They need tuning all the time.’ He lifted the lid and peered inside. ‘It looks as though it’s in good condition, though. It’s a Kirkman.’

Freya had never seen that look on Hugo’s face. His habitual wry, alert, amused look had gone, replaced by the haunted expression of a man looking into some distant place. Into the past, Freya guessed.

‘You know about harpsichords?’ Gus said.

‘I used to play,’ Hugo said. He lowered the lid and flung the cover back in place.

Georgia was regarding him with disapproval. ‘You never told me that.’

‘I haven’t touched a keyboard for years. Shall we move on, Freya?’

It was as though he’d put up a big ‘Keep Off ’ sign, and even Georgia didn’t ask any more questions. On the other side of the door, Freya paused and worked the key off the ring. As the others moved on, she handed it to Hugo. ‘Gus won’t mind if you come back in here. While we’re still at the Castle.’

Scene 6

They piled on coats and scarves to go outside. Babs had retreated into her rather morose self, while Polly clung to her father’s arm. They walked through the stable yard, where Last Hurrah looked inquisitively out from his half-door.

Polly said, ‘Whose horse is that?’

Freya said, ‘He’s mine.’ She turned to Gus. ‘I hope you won’t mind if I stable him here until I make other arrangements.’

Ben, who had come to the castle first as groom and then chauffeur and stayed on as general factotum during the years when Lord Selchester was missing, touched his forehead as Freya introduced him. ‘Ben, this is the new Lord Selchester. Ben’s been here for ever, Gus. He knows the Castle inside out.’

Ben said, ‘That horse won’t like going from here, Miss Freya.’

Freya said, ‘I dare say he won’t, Ben, but he’ll get used to it.’ She said to Gus, ‘Ben’s the one who’ll miss Last Hurrah. Your father and Hermione both hunted and so back in the days when Ben first came here, there was a full stable. Now I’ll just want to show you the hothouse, and then we’ll go back indoors.’

Babs said, ‘Hothouse?’

‘It’s a big glasshouse, for plants. It’s more than a hundred years old. It was built by Paxton, who did the ones at Kew Gardens.’

‘Can I skip the plants?’ Babs said. ‘I think I’d rather head back inside and burn my feet against a fire.’

‘If it’s a hothouse, it’ll be warm,’ Polly said.

‘Says you. I expect it was hot for a week or so in the last century and they haven’t turned the heating on since then.’ She gave the exquisite iron-framed building a contemptuous look, shivered ostentatiously as she tightened her coat around her and slouched off.

Gus was full of admiration and he stood, impervious to the cold, staring up at the arched roof. ‘It seems in remarkably good condition. Given what you’ve all been through in this country.’

‘My uncle was proud of it and of its history. Various Selchester horticulturalists and their gardeners have grown rare specimens here,’ Freya said, opening the door and letting out a welcome gust of warm air. ‘No one was allowed in here during the war; my uncle insisted it wasn’t to be used when the Castle was requisitioned. As soon as he got possession again, he made sure the structure and the glass was in good repair.’ She looked around. ‘It’s a bit forlorn now. I remember when I was a child, Aunt Hermione grew all kinds of wonderful exotic fruits. And flowers for the house, all year round. It was a subtropical paradise in here. We children loved it. But now it’s mostly used to house tender plants through the winter.’

Gus said, with real enthusiasm, ‘I see no reason why we shouldn’t grow more in here. How is it heated? Is it all electrical?’ He bent down to look at a nearby socket. ‘This all looks rather ancient.’

Ben, who’d followed them into the hothouse, said, ‘Yes, my lord, all the wiring needs replacing. His lordship, his late lordship, I should say, was going to have it done, but it wasn’t so easy after the war.’

Polly said, ‘Pops will be at those electrics, you wait and see.’

‘If you’re interested in the wiring here, talk to Mr Jonquil, at the estate office,’ Freya said. ‘He’ll have plans of all the circuits and so on.’

Gus said, ‘I’d like to see those. Worn wiring is dangerous; this needs attending to before there’s an accident.’

Scene 7

Freya had turned her cousins over to Mrs Partridge and taken Last Hurrah out for some exercise. So she wasn’t at the Castle when her aunt, Lady Priscilla Veryan, rode into the stable yard on her big hunter. She dismounted and handed the reins to Ben, who looked appreciatively at the big bay and ran the stirrups up the leathers.

‘Will you be long, my lady? I’ll put him in a loose box.’

Lady Priscilla found Gus in the Great Hall. He was standing beneath the head of a huge stag, looking without enthusiasm into its mournful glassy eyes. She regarded him for a moment and then said, ‘You must be Augustine.’

He swung round, surprised. ‘Why, yes. I’m sorry . . .’

‘No need to look at me like that. I’m your aunt, Priscilla Veryan.’ She held out a hand and looked at him appraisingly. ‘Yes, you have a look of my brother about you. Welcome to Selchester. I know you met my husband in London; I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.’

Mrs Partridge, clutching a feather duster, emerged from the shadows. Lady Priscilla pounced. ‘Ah, there you are, Mrs Partridge. We’ll have tea in the library. And tell Lord Selchester’s daughters to join us. Come along. My husband called you Gus, do you prefer that? I dare say Augustine wouldn’t do in America.’

She made it sound as though America were some outpost of the Empire. Gus knew better than to resist this force of nature and silently followed his aunt towards the library.

She went over to the window, looked out, and said, ‘We’ll have snow within the next week,’ and then turned her attention back to her nephew. ‘So, how do you like the Castle? This must have come as a shock to you. Good thing that the Earldom isn’t going to die out after all. Although you’ve only got the two girls, not a boy.’

Gus wondered if he should apologise for the lack of an heir, but he pulled himself together and said, ‘Yes. Quite unexpected. And the Castle is extraordinary. I never in my wildest dreams imagined I’d ever live in such a place.’

Lady Priscilla eyed him appraisingly. ‘Dreams, or nightmares? Is the old part of the Castle getting to you? You Americans are so modern in your outlook. Still, you’ll have to get used to it. Freya doesn’t mind roughing it in her tower, but nobody can pretend that the Castle is comfortable. At least you don’t have a wife to complain and make matters worse. You lost your wife. In the war, was it?’

‘During the war, yes, but her demise was nothing to do with the hostilities. She suffered from TB.’

Lady Priscilla pursed her lips. ‘I hope your girls haven’t inherited a tubercular tendency.’

‘They are perfectly healthy.’ He wasn’t sure how to take this new relative. He was finding relatives as a whole quite difficult to get used to. It wasn’t just the hovering presence of his dead father; it was all the rest of them. He’d liked Sir Archibald, Lady Priscilla’s husband. But hadn’t he said that they had three daughters and four sons? A large family, and more to add to his list of new cousins.

Lady Priscilla changed the subject. ‘How do you get on with Sonia? She’s behaving very badly. You don’t want to stand any nonsense from her.’

Gus wasn’t going to express his opinion of Lady Sonia to her aunt, so he just said, ‘I had the pleasure of meeting Sonia when I was in London. I guess her nose has been put out of joint and I appreciate she stands to lose a considerable inheritance. But I understand she is a wealthy woman in her own right. I’m not depriving her of her livelihood.’

Lady Priscilla said, ‘Sonia married an extremely rich man entirely for his money, and by good fortune was widowed soon afterwards. It would have been a disastrous marriage had he survived the war. She’s certainly not short of money and, as you’ll be aware, she also inherited quite a sum from your father. Although not the whole lot, which is what she had expected.’

Scene 8

Freya got back from her ride and headed for the kitchen, where she found Mrs Partridge arranging cups and a large silver teapot on a tray.

‘Lady Priscilla is here.’

Freya said, ‘I know. I saw Jupiter in the stables. Where is she?’

‘She carried his lordship off to the library. She’s asked for tea, and I’m to find their young ladyships and send them to the library.’

Freya said with a grin, ‘Give me the tray. I’ll take it in. I imagine Gus will be shaking in his boots by now.’

She carried the tray to the library, put it down on a table and went over to kiss her aunt. ‘I see you’ve made Gus’s acquaintance.’

‘We were just talking about Sonia.’

‘Are you? I haven’t told you, Gus, but it seems that Sonia is coming here for Christmas. She said that you’d invited her to come to the Castle whenever she liked.’

From the fleeting expression that crossed his face, Freya knew her cousin was regretting the offer made to Sonia. But he said courteously, ‘She is my half-sister. That’s a close relationship, even if we’re scarcely acquainted, and I’d like her to feel that she may come back to her family home whenever she wants.’

Freya said, ‘When she wants is apparently Christmas, and she’s bringing two other people with her.’

She poured the tea and handed a cup to Lady Priscilla, who looked annoyed.

‘It’s all very well for Sonia to accept an invitation but she shouldn’t spring her friends on Gus like this. Who are these people she’s bringing?’

‘One of them is a Mr Rupert Dauntsey. Sonia says she’s engaged to him.’

‘Engaged? Nonsense. There’s been no announcement, the family knows nothing about it.’

Freya said, ‘I merely repeat what she told me. She called him her “fiancé”.’ Seeing the expression on her aunt’s face, she added, ‘It was a tease.’

Lady Priscilla said tartly, ‘I hope so. Sonia is never vulgar except when she wants to be. I suppose she means she’s sleeping with this man. Sonia isn’t about to marry anyone. Although,’ and a thoughtful look came over her face, ‘I did hear that Rupert recently inherited quite a fortune from his great-uncle. An estate and a lot of money. Maybe Sonia does intend to marry him.’

Gus said, ‘What’s wrong with “fiancé”?’

That earned him a withering look from Lady Priscilla. ‘You’ll learn. Who else is she foisting on Gus?’

‘Oliver Seynton. He works for Morville’s, the auctioneers. Sonia brought him down here before – when she thought she was going to inherit the Castle. To do a final inventory once Selchester’s death was confirmed.’ She turned to Gus. ‘It seems that Mr Seynton has written to you already; he wants to discuss something to do with the pictures here.’

Lady Priscilla said, ‘You could do worse, Gus, they know their job at Morville’s. You’ll have to sell quite a lot of things, although I dare say you can offset some of the death duties by giving a few of the more valuable pictures to the nation. But Verekers will be advising you on that.’

Vereker, Vereker, Vereker and Farquhar had been the Fitzwarin solicitors for several generations. And still, in Freya’s opinion, behaved as though they were advising the fifteenth Earl, back in the last century. How Gus would cope with them was anyone’s guess.

‘Well, I dare say I should talk to this Mr Seynton,’ Gus said cautiously. ‘But maybe the Christmas season isn’t the best time.’

‘There’ll be a purpose to Sonia inviting him now, you may be sure,’ Freya said. ‘And he’ll be going back to London on Christmas Eve.’

Lady Priscilla dismissed Oliver Seynton with a wave of her hand and brushed a crumb from her breeches. ‘So, Gus, do you plan to live here? Or are you going to finish that Fellowship at Oxford and return to America? It’s a mistake with an estate like this to leave it in the hands of the stewards and land agents. It’s never satisfactory and not good for the tenants, but it’s your decision.’

Gus said, ‘It’s a decision I’ve already taken. I reckon that since I’ve inherited the title, the seat in the House of Lords, the Castle and all the rest of it, I should make my home in England.’

Lady Priscilla said, ‘What do your daughters think about that?’

‘My younger daughter will need to go to school here, and that’ll accustom her to being English. I’m not sure about my other daughter, Barbara. She’s just come back from a few months in Paris and—’