The Second Lady Southvale (18 page)

The butler was still waiting, and she nodded at him. ‘That will be all, Richardson. I shall not be sending a reply.’

‘Madam.’ He bowed and began to withdraw, but then paused, clearing his throat a little deferentially. ‘Begging your
pardon, madam …’

‘Yes?’

‘I wish to say how very sorry I am that you will be leaving us.’

‘Thank you very much, Richardson.’

‘Madam.’ He bowed again and then moved away in the direction of the kitchens.

Rosalind began to go up the staircase, but as she did so, Katherine hurried down excitedly. She seemed to be almost bursting to say something, and her peach-and-white-striped gown fluttered.

‘Oh, there you are at last, Rosalind. I seem to have been
waiting
an age for you to come back. Wherever have you been?’ She halted, looking in astonishment at Rosalind’s damp cloak and rainswept hair.

‘I’ve been in the park,’ replied Rosalind.

‘In this weather? Oh, no matter, for I have something very important to tell you.’

‘And I have something important to tell you,’ Rosalind said quietly. ‘Celia is in London; I’ve just spoken to her.’

Katherine stared at her. ‘She’s actually here?’

‘Yes. I saw her from my bedroom window just after you’d gone to look for the letter, and I followed her across the park to the icehouse, where we’d both coincidentally decided to shelter from the worst of the storm. She intends to come here at seven this evening, whether I am still here or not. She’s so very confident, Katherine, and I believe she could lie her way out of any situation.’

Katherine recovered a little from the shock of learning that Celia was so near, and she suddenly seized Rosalind’s hands reassuringly. ‘She can’t lie her way out of everything, and I promise you that she’s about to be undone.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘The Portuguese letter was from Dom Rodrigo de Freire. Annie recognized his writing. There were other letters, you see, written before Celia left that last time for Falmouth, and
they prove that she was being unfaithful to Philip. There’s real proof, Rosalind, so you and Philip may not have to part, after all!’

‘Do you really mean it?’ whispered Rosalind, hardly daring to hope.

Katherine didn’t reply immediately, for her great-aunt’s maid hurried down past them, vanishing in the direction of the kitchen. ‘We can’t talk here, let’s go to your room. Annie’s there and can help you with your clothes while we talk. But, yes, I do mean it, I mean every word.’ Taking Rosalind’s hand, she ushered her up the staircase.

Annie hurried anxiously forward the moment they entered the pagoda room. ‘Oh, Miss Carberry, I’d have said something about the letters if I’d realized, but you said his lordship didn’t love you anymore, so I didn’t think the letters would serve any purpose for you. I didn’t know she was still alive, truly I didn’t, for the letters don’t say anything about going to Portugal, just about meeting in Falmouth. You do believe me, don’t you?’

The maid was almost in tears, and Rosalind put a reassuring hand on her arm. ‘Yes, of course I believe you, Annie.’

‘I thought that his lordship was still in love with her and that he wanted her back again. I’d have said about the letters straightaway if I’d known he loved you and wanted you to be his wife.’

Katherine went to sit down by the fire. ‘You help Miss Carberry with her wet things, Annie, and I’ll explain what’s happened since I found the letter in the library.’

‘Yes, Miss Katherine.’ The maid began to remove Rosalind’s cloak and then unhook the gown.

Katherine looked at Rosalind. ‘I brought the letter back here to show you, but you’d vanished. Annie was here, however, and happened to see me reading it. To my utter astonishment, she said that the writing belonged to Dom Rodrigo de Freire, even though it purports to be from a Dom João Something-or-other. It’s very distinctive writing, look.’ She took the now crumpled letter from her sleeve and held it out to Rosalind.

The writing sloped noticeably and the loops were so long that they touched the lines above and below. It was very clear and legible, except for the signature, which was quite obviously a disguised scrawl.

Katherine watched her. ‘You can see why Annie recognized it, can’t you?’

‘Yes, but I don’t know how she knew it was from him.’

‘Ah, well, let Annie explain that.’

The maid helped Rosalind to put on a dry wrap and then led her to the dressing table to begin unpinning her wet hair. ‘It was like this, Miss Carberry, Lady Southvale was always a very
difficult
mistress, never satisfied or pleased with anything I did, and as I’ve told you before, she liked to threaten me with dismissal without a reference. What I didn’t tell you is that on the day she left for Falmouth that last time, she really did dismiss me. I think now that she must have thought I’d found out about her affair with Dom Rodrigo and wanted me safely out of the way. I hadn’t found out, though; in fact, I didn’t know anything about it at all. Anyway, that last morning she told me that she no longer required my services, and that when she left, she expected me to immediately remove myself from Greys, which is where the family was in residence at the time. No one thought anything of her leaving without me, for she seldom took me on her visits to Ireland. I think now it was because she often met her lovers on the way.’

Rosalind looked quickly at her. ‘Do go on, Annie.’

‘And so I decided not to say anything to anyone about having been dismissed. Lady Southvale hadn’t had time to tell anyone, because she was already very late leaving on account of the carriage needing a last-minute repair, so I knew that I’d be safe from discovery until she returned. She was due to be away for two months or more, and that meant two months’ money for Mam. You do understand, don’t you, madam?’

Rosalind nodded. ‘Yes, Annie, I understand.’

‘Well, only a few days after she’d left for Falmouth, his
lordship
suddenly decided to have Greys redecorated throughout, starting with her ladyship’s rooms. He, Miss Katherine, and Lady Eleanor removed here to Southvale House, and most of the servants were to follow a few days later, when the
redecorating
was under way. I happened to be in her ladyship’s
dressing-room
when the workmen had to move a very large wardrobe in order to paper the wall behind it. There was a little hiding place there, with a bundle of letters tied up with red ribbon. I took it without the men even seeing, and went to my own room to see what the letters were.’

Annie blushed a little. ‘I know I shouldn’t have read them, Miss Carberry, but I’m afraid I did. They began from when her ladyship had been in Brighton a few months earlier, and the last one was dated only a few days before she left. They were quite clearly the letters of a lover, and there was no mistaking that she’d been committing adultery with him. They didn’t say about running away to Portugal together, though, just that they’d spend time together in Falmouth. I decided that I could use the letters to make her ladyship give me the reference I needed to find another position, and so I hid them, ready for when she came back. I meant to tell her I’d give them to his lordship unless she wrote out properly for me.’

Annie lowered her eyes ashamedly. ‘It would have been blackmail if I’d done it, I know that, but I was desperate for myself and for my family. Anyway, as it happened, I didn’t have to use them, because news reached London shortly afterward
that she’d been lost in the shipwreck, and I didn’t think any more about the letters. I haven’t said any of this to anyone until today, Miss Carberry, for I knew that I shouldn’t really be here anymore. Lady Southvale dismissed me, and Lord Southvale doesn’t know she did.’

Katherine smiled sympathetically at her. ‘Don’t worry, Annie, for both Miss Carberry and I can quite understand the awful dilemma you were in.’

‘But she’s coming back now, Miss Katherine,’ said the maid.

‘And if the letters are still safe where you hid them, they’re going to be used against her. If it doesn’t work, you may be sure that both I and my great-aunt will gladly give you the reference you need.’

‘Thank you, Miss Katherine, but I hope they do work, for I’d like it more than anything if Miss Carberry became Lady Southvale.’ Annie smiled shyly at Rosalind. ‘I know you have a maid of your own, madam, and that when she’s better, she’ll come to you again, but I’ll always be more than willing to attend you.’

‘Thank you, Annie, I’m very flattered, but I fear we’re all counting our chickens. We haven’t recovered the letters yet, and we don’t know what Lord Southvale’s reaction to them will be.’

Katherine looked at Rosalind. ‘But we do know that he still loves you, and I’m sure that if the letters give him any just cause to set Celia aside, he will do so.’

Rosalind smiled a little, but still didn’t dare hope too much. She caught Annie’s eyes in the mirror. ‘Where did you hide the letters? Are they really safe?’

‘Oh, they’re safe, madam, for I put them somewhere no one ever goes now. I hid them behind a loose board above the door of the little tree house by the lake at Greys.’

Katherine suddenly rose to her feet, her face changing. ‘Oh Annie, I just didn’t think when you told me earlier,’ she said in utter dismay.

Annie lowered the comb she held. ‘Think about what, Miss Katherine?’

‘About the tree house.’ Katherine’s eyes fled to Rosalind. ‘Philip was there a few days ago, I don’t know exactly when, and was horrified to see how dilapidated it had become. He’s ordered it to be completely repaired, taken apart if necessary, and the workmen are starting today! I heard him telling Richardson only this morning after breakfast, and it slipped my mind completely until now. We have to go there immediately if we’re to save the letters. It may be too late already!’

Rosalind was appalled. ‘Oh, no …’

‘I’ll have Richardson order the carriage now,’ declared Katherine firmly, but as she moved toward the door, there was a knock and the butler himself came in to tell her that her
great-aunt
wished her to read to her.

Katherine was in a quandary, turning helplessly to Rosalind. ‘What shall I do? I know my great-aunt welcomes Celia’s return as little as I do, but I don’t want to raise her hopes too much over the letters.’

‘Stay here and read to her, Katherine,’ Rosalind said quickly. ‘I’ll go to Greys with Annie.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Quite sure.’

Katherine looked at Richardson, who was still waiting in the doorway. ‘Have the traveling carriage brought around and tell the coachman he’ll be driving to Greys.’

‘Yes, Miss Katherine.’

‘And tell him it’s urgent, so he’s not to dawdle all the way.’

‘Yes, Miss Katherine.’ He bowed and quickly withdrew.

Katherine smiled ruefully at Rosalind. ‘I wish I was coming with you, but I really don’t want to upset my great-aunt any more than she is already. It would be dreadful if I told her all about the letters and then nothing came of it.’

‘It’s best if you just go and read to her, and then, hopefully, we can tell her some good news later,’ replied Rosalind.

Katherine came to give her an encouraging hug. ‘You’re going to be my sister-in-law, after all, Rosalind, I just know it!
You and Philip are perfect for each other, and you’ll make him far happier than Celia ever did.’ Then she hurried away in the direction of her great-aunt’s room.

As the door closed behind her, Annie hurried to the wardrobe to select something suitable for the journey to Greys. She took down the apricot wool gown and a gray velvet pelisse that Rosalind hadn’t worn since arriving in England. With them she brought a gray velvet jockey bonnet, around the crown of which she quickly tied a long apricot gauze scarf that would hang down almost to Rosalind’s hem at the back.

Her hair had been brushed and was now almost dry, so the maid quickly pinned it into a simple knot, and a few minutes later both maid and mistress were ready and waiting only for the arrival of the carriage.

Annie waited in a room overlooking the courtyard, and the moment she saw the vehicle appear, she hurried in to tell Rosalind.

They both left the pagoda room and walked quickly to the head of the staircase. Rosalind glanced uneasily at the maid. ‘What if we’re too late? What if the workmen have already begun their tasks? If they are going to practically take the tree house to pieces …’

‘Don’t think about it, Miss Carberry, just tell yourself that we are going to find Lady Southvale’s letters where I hid them at Greys, and that they’ll make it possible for you to marry his lordship, after all.’

As they reached the landing by the drawing-room, Rosalind suddenly froze, for Gerald Beaufort was standing waiting at the foot of the staircase. She’d forgotten his intention to call on her again. But why hadn’t Richardson announced him? Then another thought struck her: how much of her conversation with Annie had he overheard?

He gave no sign of having overheard anything, but gave a brief, rather tentative smile as he looked up the staircase toward her. ‘Good morning, Miss Carberry.’

‘Sir.’

‘I trust the presence of the traveling carriage doesn’t signify your imminent departure for Falmouth?’

‘No, sir, it doesn’t.’ The question reassured her, for it meant that he couldn’t have heard anything.

‘I’m glad, for I have much I wish to say to you.’

She looked coolly at him. ‘You can’t have anything to say that I would wish to hear, sir,’ she said, going on down toward him.

‘Did you receive my note?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then, after what happened in the park earlier, you must know why I wish to speak to you.’

‘All I know is that I think you are a wretch of the first order, sir, in every way as odious as your sister, and I have no wish to speak to you at all. If your sole purpose in coming here is to attempt to reason with me, you’re wasting your time.’

He barred her way, just as he had the evening before. ‘I need to speak to you, Rosalind.’

Her green eyes were haughty. ‘Don’t presume, sir, for I still do not give you leave to address me familiarly.’

His glance moved briefly to Annie and then back to Rosalind. ‘At least hear me out in private. Is it so much to ask?’

‘Under the circumstances, yes, it is. You knew your sister was still alive; indeed, she’s been staying beneath your very roof, and yet you let me go on thinking—’

‘Celia didn’t want anyone to know about her return until she’d been able to see Philip, and she specifically asked me to say nothing to anyone. I gave her my promise, and now beg you to understand my predicament.’

‘I understand well enough, sir. I understand that you’ve behaved very basely and forwardly toward me, and that as a consequence I dislike you intensely. I don’t wish to have anything more to do with you, sir, and I most certainly don’t regard you as anything remotely approaching a friend.’

‘But I could be so much more than just a friend to you, for
it’s possible for me to save you from the humiliation and
scandal
of having to return to Washington. I can offer you marriage, and my name.’

She stared at him, unable to believe her ears. ‘You can’t
possibly
be serious,’ she breathed incredulously.

‘Never more serious in my life.’

‘Your audacity amazes me, sir, and I promise you that the thought of marrying you fills me with revulsion. I prefer to take my chance with Washington gossip than sully my family and honor by turning to a toad like you.’

The mask of friendliness slipped away from his hazel eyes, and his lips became thin with anger. ‘I would advise you not to speak to me like that, madam,’ he said softly.

‘Ah, the real Gerald Beaufort appears once more! I’m amazed you managed to dissemble for so long.’

‘You’ll soon be very sorry for spurning my advances, Miss Carberry.’

‘Are you threatening me?’

‘I promise you that I’ll exact full revenge for this, madam. In the end you’ll wish you’d never come to London.’

‘Please go,’ she said, a little frightened by the controlled force she’d unleashed in him.

A slight movement to her right behind her suddenly caught her eye, and he turned with a quick, jovial smile. ‘Ah, Richardson, just the man!’

The butler came slowly forward, his eyes moving uneasily from Gerald to Rosalind, and then back to Rosalind again. ‘I didn’t know you’d called, Mr Beaufort.’