Too Precious to Lose Read online

  Too Precious to Lose

  “We must act out our parts,” said the Marquis, “and be careful not to forget them.”

  Norina looked up at him in amazement, then realized he was about to kiss her.

  His lips had almost touched hers when she cried,

  “Non! Non!”

  She was breathing quickly and was not certain what she should do.

  Then the Marquis said quietly, “I thought you had agreed to play the part I have assigned to you.”

  “But – we were only – pretending!” Norina managed to gasp –

  Author’s Note

  The discovery of the South of France as a resort for the British and which made it eventually the playground of Europe in the spring began at Cannes.

  It was also said if Cannes was the creation of Lord Brougham, then Nice was the discovery of Smallett, the author of ‘Humphrey Clinker’ who found that there was no English colony there in 1763 and no English comforts.

  But when he had written about it in his travels, the great humourist brought it to the notice of the sightseers and invalids thought that the mild weather of the Mediterranean would do them good.

  That was the beginning and then gradually, year by year, Royal personages like the Duke of York spent the winter there.

  A few years later his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, stayed a few months at a villa on the other side of the Paglione.

  The Royal Dukes having led the way, English aristocrats began to make their own discoveries along the coast.

  Beautiful villas enclosing their own little Eden of semi-tropical vegetation began to appear on the hills and numberless paths led into lovely dells bright with wild flowers.

  Beyond Villefranche, the beautiful village of Beaulieu, situated in one of the most sheltered rocks in the Riviera, drew visitors like a magnet.

  The Marquis of Salisbury built a large pink villa up above it with magnificent views of the Mediterranean and today it is difficult to find a place that has not been built on.

  But the villa I describe at Cap d’Estel was actually built at the beginning of the century as a private house.

  It has a small ‘Cap’ of its own with the road high above it and it is on the sea-side of the railway.

  It has a charm and a mystique all its own and although it is now a hotel, what I describe in this novel could easily have happened in the villa in the past.

  Nowadays it is more fashionable to go to the South of France in the summer, when there are sunbathers and sea-bathers on every rock.

  But they cannot spoil the beauty and charm it had at the end of the century.

  Then the wealthy aristocrats from all countries, including Russia, flocked either to Monte Carlo, Nice or Cannes for the sun, and, of course, the irresistible excitement of gambling.

  Chapter one

  1896

  Norina turned round when she heard a knock on the door.

  “Come in,” she said.

  The door opened and a footman appeared carrying a tray.

  He did not say anything, but thumped it down on the table and walked out of the room.

  She gave a little sigh. Her mother would never have allowed anyone to be served in such a manner or by so surly a servant.

  Her stepmother chose footmen by their appearance and had filled the house with servants Norina had never seen before. They were obviously not impressed that she was Lord Sedgewyn’s daughter.

  It would have been unheard of in the past for her to eat in her bedroom instead of one of the other rooms downstairs, even if she had not been allowed into the dining room.

  It was her stepmother who, whenever she could, barred her now from attending the dinner parties frequently given at the house.

  Norina knew it was because of her appearance.

  ‘There is nothing I can do about it,’ she said to herself when she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

  It was because she was so lovely that from the moment her stepmother set eyes on her, she hated her. It was with a ferociousness that vibrated, Norina thought, across a room.

  She was even conscious of it behind locked doors.

  When her mother had died two years before, her father had been distraught.

  Lord Sedgewyn had adored his wife. She was a sweet, gentle, loving person who wanted everybody around her to be happy.

  At sixteen it was very difficult for Norina to know what to do about her father or how to comfort him.

  They lived in the country and he therefore went off by himself on long rides – only to return more despondent and depressed than he had been when he left.

  Finally, as if he could bear the house no longer without his wife, he decided he would go to London.

  He actually also had an appointment with his Solicitors to discuss the money his wife had left and he told Norina that he would be back in two days.

  To her surprise, the two days had lengthened into two months and she had become very worried about him when finally he reappeared.

  He certainly seemed more cheerful than he had been before.

  At the same time she knew that he shuddered every time he passed his wife’s bedroom.

  But it was less than a week before he said he had once more to go to London.

  She realised later that because she was so young, she had never anticipated for one moment that her father would marry again.

  But, five months after her mother’s funeral, he told her that he had asked a very attractive woman to take her mother’s place.

  Norina could hardly believe what she was hearing. Yet, because her father seemed happier or rather less miserable, she said as little as possible.

  She hoped that he would find some happiness with his new wife.

  Violet Meredith, for that was her name, had been married before.

  Her husband, Norina gathered, had left her very little money. She had appealed to her father in a bewildered fashion to help her understand her finances.

  When Lord Sedgewyn’s six months of mourning was over, he married Violet Meredith.

  It was then Norina realised for the first time that a disaster had happened to her.

  Her father was married very quietly.

  He went on a honeymoon with his new wife and then brought her down to Sedgewyn Hall to meet her stepdaughter.

  Norina thought it would be impossible for her ever to forget the expression she saw in her stepmother’s eyes, nor to misunderstand the vibrations of loathing that came towards her.

  The new Lady Sedgewyn was, however, too clever to be anything but charming. She told her husband how delightful she found his daughter.

  “What a pretty child!” she said in a cooing voice, “but, of course, dearest, how could you, being so handsome, have a child who was not in a small way a mirror of yourself?”

  It was obvious to Norina that her father was delighted at the compliments his new wife paid him and that he was obsessed by her.

  She was perceptive enough to realise that what he felt for Violet was not the love he had given her mother.

  She attracted him physically. She made him feel strong and masculine by her flattery and the caressing manner in which she always spoke to him.

  “How can you be so wonderful!” she would exclaim twenty times a day.

  She never spoke to Norina without saying,

  “Of course, as your clever and brilliant father said – ” or “are you not a lucky girl to have such a splendid and understanding father! I only wish mine had been the same.”

  Norina realised that this was a clever act as she always made herself out to have had a sad, deprived and often cruel life until Lord Sedgewyn rescued her.

  She soon learnt to doubt the truth of everything that Violet said. She
was therefore quite certain that this was all put on.

  What, however, was not was Violet’s determination to isolate Norina as much as possible from her father.

  She suggested she should be sent to a Finishing School, but Lord Sedgewyn would not hear of it.

  “I don’t approve of these schools where they teach girls a lot of new-fangled ideas and I want Norina with me,” he said over and over again.

  Because he was adamant, Violet gave in.

  She arranged, however, that Norina had so many Governesses, Tutors and extra lessons of every sort that there was very little time for her to be with her father.

  Actually, in a way, Norina thought that she benefitted by this. Her education was far more comprehensive than any other girl of her age was likely to have.

  It was the tradition among the Nobility that, while the sons went to Eton, then on to Oxford or Cambridge, the daughters were taught at home – usually by a Governess who often knew little more than they themselves knew.

  Violet determined that Norina should always be occupied and therefore not an encumbrance to her.

  She hardly had a moment to herself except when she was riding.

  Fortunately, Violet was not a skilful horsewoman and the only opportunity Norina had to be alone with her father was to ride with him before breakfast.

  It was then that he talked to her as he had in the old days when her mother was alive and she knew, although he did not admit it in actual words that he still yearned for the woman he had loved so devotedly.

  They had spent some months in the country when Violet had the clever idea that she wished to go to London.

  She persuaded Lord Sedgewyn that he should open his house in Park Street. It had been closed for several years for the simple reason that he preferred the country and so did his first wife.

  Norina was left at Sedgewyn Hall with Tutors and music teachers coming every day to give her lessons and she also had an attendant Governess.

  She had, too, a French teacher and an Italian one, a dancing master and a retired Professor who taught her literature.

  Of all her lessons, Norina enjoyed the literature lessons most.

  The Professor was a very intelligent man and she found him not only an expert in English Literature but also that of a great number of other countries and he had visited the majority of these at one time or another.

  She was in a way happy even though she missed her father. She also found it difficult to adjust to her life without her mother.

  A dozen times a day she found herself wishing that she had asked her advice on one thing or another. She wanted too to tell her anything that she found exciting.

  It was actually her Governess who brought her education to an end.

  Lord Sedgewyn came down to the country to discuss the estate with his manager and also, to Norina’s delight, to be with her.

  It was then that Miss Graham, who had been with her since before her mother died, said to Lord Sedgewyn,

  “I would like to speak to you, my Lord, about Norina.”

  He smiled.

  “You are not going to tell me, Miss Graham, that she has done something reprehensible or that she is not showing the promise that you expected of her?”

  “On the contrary, my Lord,” Miss Graham said, “I think I should tell you that Norina is now too old and too clever to require a Governess.”

  Lord Sedgewyn just stared at her while Miss Graham went on,

  “I have enjoyed being with her and, in fact, she is the most brilliant pupil I have ever had or ever imagined having, but quite frankly, it is time she grew up.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Lord Sedgewyn asked in a puzzled tone.

  “Norina is eighteen years and seven months old, but mentally very much in advance of any girl of her age.”

  Miss Graham lowered her voice before she added softly,

  “I think if Norina’s mother was alive, she would want her to appear in London as a debutante and meet young people of her own age rather than spend her time with ‘old fogies’ like me and her other instructors.”

  Lord Sedgewyn looked at Miss Graham in consternation.

  “I see I have been very remiss,” he said. “I had actually forgotten that Norina is growing up, and you are quite right, Miss Graham. She must come to London for the Season.”

  “I hoped that that was what your Lordship would say,” Miss Graham answered.

  Lord Sedgewyn had been very generous to her and she announced that she was going to take a long holiday before she considered taking another post.

  When she left, all the other Tutors were dismissed and Lord Sedgewyn said firmly that Norina was to come to London.

  At first she was excited by the idea, but when she arrived at the house in Park Street, she realised how furious her stepmother was at what had happened.

  She had not seen her father and Violet together for a long time, therefore she had not realised how completely his life had altered.

  The house in London had been redecorated from top to toe and very extravagantly.

  There was a mass of servants Norina had never seen before and her stepmother entertained every day and every evening.

  It was obvious, however, that Violet was determined to exclude Norina from any entertainment that took place in the house.

  Lord Sedgewyn had arranged that his sister should present her at Court. She was married to the Earl of Winterton and, through her aunt, Norina was invited to a number of balls at which there were other debutantes like herself.

  She could not help feeling rather old compared to the other girls and so she did not enjoy the parties as much as she had expected to do and she also realised that her stepmother begrudged every penny that was spent on her clothes.

  It did not take Norina long to become suspicious.

  She was finally convinced that Violet was not only spending her father’s money in an extremely extravagant manner, but also squeezing out of him every penny she could.

  Violet expostulated angrily about what was being spent on Norina, who then learnt that the money with which she had been so prodigal had mostly belonged to the first Lady Sedgewyn.

  She came to Norina’s bedroom, where she was reading and one look at her face told Norina that something was wrong.

  She had not been given a sitting room, but a fairly large bedroom. There were two armchairs and a table where she could have her meals if she did not go down to the dining room.

  Violet crossed the room and, sitting down in one of the armchairs, she began,

  “I want to talk to you, Norina.”

  “What about?” Norina asked.

  “I have learnt from your father,” Violet said in a hard voice, “that your mother was a wealthy woman. Is that true?”

  Norina hesitated for a moment.

  She wanted to say that she had no wish to discuss her mother or her affairs with Violet and then she thought that it would be a mistake to be rude.

  “If that is what Papa told you,” she replied, “then, of course, it is true.”

  “Are you telling me that when your father dies the money he has use of now will be yours?”

  Norina had read her mother’s will and she knew that this was so.

  She hesitated before she responded,

  “I am not quite certain what the arrangements are, but I am sure Papa will tell you if you ask him.”

  “Your father has told me, though in a somewhat garbled fashion,” Violet said. “I just wanted it confirmed.”

  “Then there is really nothing I can say,” Norina answered.

  “I thought when I married your father,” Violet snarled angrily, “that he was a very wealthy man.”

  “We have always been able to have anything we wanted, Step-mama,” Norina said, “but perhaps you want different things from those Papa enjoyed before he married you.”

  “What I want,” Violet replied, “is to make sure that I am not left penniless, as I was by my first husband, and I consider it rig
ht that your father should, when he dies, settle on me everything he possesses.”

  She looked at Norina in a hostile way before she added,

  “But apparently at least three-quarters of what I thought he possessed belongs to you!”

  Norina stiffened before she said,

  “Papa is not yet fifty. I cannot imagine, Step-mama, why you should be worried about what happens when he dies.”

  “That is the kind of idiotic remark a young girl would make!” Violet replied. “But when you are older you will realise that you have to look after yourself and make sure that you are not left desolate, having given somebody the best years of your life!”

  She snapped the words at Norina. Then she left the room, slamming the door behind her.

  Norina sighed and thought that it was very much what she expected.

  From the very first moment she had felt that Violet’s protestations of love for her father were merely a way of getting what she wanted.

  ‘Why, oh, why,’ she asked herself, ‘did Papa marry anyone who was so very different from Mama?’

  There was no answer to this and she began to think that it might be wise if she suggested going back to the country.

  At the same time she knew that her father wanted her to meet the people to whom her aunt introduced her.

  *

  The first two months of the Season passed quickly.

  Norina then began to think that they might all go back to the country.

  At least she would then be able to ride with her father early in the morning, as she had before.

  ‘I must suggest this to him,’ she told herself, ‘without Step-mama realising the idea comes from me.’

  She was, however, finding it very difficult to be alone with her father as somehow Violet always prevented it.

  What was more, Norina realised to her consternation that in the evening he was drinking a great deal more than he had ever done before.

  She was quite sure, although she could not prove it, that this was part of Violet’s doing.

  When dinner was over, she knew it would be difficult to have a coherent conversation with him. She would often hear him stumbling along the passage when he went up to bed.

  She knew how horrified her mother would have been and she began to pray that somehow she could rescue him from Violet’s clutches.