A Heaven on Earth Page 2

  Aurora smoothed down her green skirts and took a final look in the mirror before swishing down the staircase to take her place at the dinner table.

  The dining room was panelled in dark shining oak that reflected the light from the candles burning brightly all the way along the ancient refectory table.

  It was a very long table for just three people.

  Lord Hartnell, frail and white-haired, made his way with tottering steps to its head and Lady Hartnell, looking resplendent in her purple dress now augmented by a purple feather in her hair, marched to sit opposite him at the other end.

  Aurora was sitting halfway between them – in the middle of one of the long sides of the table – and had to turn her head from side to side as they spoke to her.

  “It’s so good to have you home at last, my dear,” intoned her father, his voice sounding thin and reedy as he smiled at Aurora.

  “Yes, indeed,” agreed Lady Hartnell with a frown. “Treginnis, you may serve the soup.”

  Treginnis started to make his way slowly about the table, pouring a little soup into each of their bowls.

  When they had all been served and Aurora had seen her father taste the soup, she picked up her own spoon, but just as she would put it to her lips, Lady Hartnell spoke,

  “Such an unusual dress, Aurora. I cannot help but think it rather an unwise choice for so young a girl.”

  Aurora attempted to explain to her that the dress had come from one of the very best dressmakers in Paris and Madame Perrier, the Headmistress, had suggested that the style was the very latest and most suitable for her.

  “And the colour! Awful! Reminds me of pea soup. If one must have colour, let it be bright.”

  Lady Hartnell raised her own spoon to her mouth.

  “Madame Perrier told me that this exact shade of green would go very well with auburn hair,” added Aurora.

  She was about to explain Madame Perrier’s opinion that bright shades were too strong for young girls to wear.

  But Lady Hartnell had dropped her spoon into her bowl with a crash and gone bright red in the face.

  “Treginnis!” she roared. “This soup is cold!”

  The butler flustered around collecting the plates to return them and the soup tureen to the kitchen.

  Aurora felt sorry for him. He looked much older than the last time she had seen him and his black coat was too tight for him and straining at the buttons.

  ‘How mean of my stepmother not to buy him a new coat,’ thought Aurora, ‘he has been with the family for as long as I can remember and he has always served us well.’

  Lady Hartnell seemed a bit calmer now that she had made a fuss and she turned to Aurora with a frosty smile.

  “I am sure, my dear, that you will have made more suitable choices for the other dresses you bought in Paris?”

  Aurora felt her face redden and she hoped it did not show in the candlelight.

  The green dress had been most expensive and had taken nearly all her clothes allowance, but Madame Perrier had advised her that it was more elegant to have one really good dress than several cheaper and less stylish outfits.

  Lady Hartnell raised one long arm and stroked the purple sleeve of her dress.

  “I, of course, have an excellent arrangement with my dressmaker,” she boasted. “By making a judicious and economical choice of fabric, I was able to have two dresses made for the price of one, this lovely heliotrope silk and also the crimson, which you like so much, Henry.”

  She raised her eyebrows and gazed down the table at Lord Hartnell, who was looking longingly at the empty plate in front of him.

  Aurora was relieved, as it seemed that Lady Hartnell had now stopped paying so much attention to her.

  When she did find out that Aurora had spent most of her allowance on one dress, there was going to be trouble.

  Treginnis entered again with the soup tureen.

  “Cook has reheated the soup, my Lady,” he said in a low voice.

  “Oh, no, I don’t think so. The time has passed for soup, Treginnis. Let’s have the fish course. Immediately!”

  The old butler hesitated, balancing the heavy tureen and then turned and headed back to the kitchen.

  ‘Just how can she be so unkind?’ mused Aurora. ‘Treginnis is only doing what she has asked him to and she hasn’t even said a word of thanks to him.’

  Aurora’s father was clearly feeling the same way, as he looked up and smiled at the old butler.

  “Thanks very much, Treginnis, the fish course will be most welcome. I really am very hungry tonight.”

  ‘Poor Papa,’ thought Aurora. ‘He wants everyone to be happy and that’s not easy to achieve, especially with someone like Lady Hartnell.’

  Lord Hartnell turned his smile on his daughter.

  “I do hope you have managed to find some lovely dresses in Paris, my dear, as you may find yourself in need of them in the coming days.”

  “Why, Papa?”

  Aurora suddenly felt a little thrill of anticipation.

  “We have a new neighbour. We must ask him for dinner one night so he can make your acquaintance.”

  Aurora’s heart gave a jump and she looked at the empty place on the other side of the polished oak table.

  She could picture a tall handsome man sitting there gazing expectantly into her eyes.

  “Oh, that’s brought the roses to your cheeks. You must find it very dull here with just the two of us.”

  “Oh, no Papa, of course not,” cried Aurora, but she could not keep the excitement from her voice.

  The kitchen door swung open again and Treginnis entered bearing a whole salmon on a large plate, which he carried over to Lady Hartnell.

  “Then who is it, Papa?” whispered Aurora, as her stepmother carved the fish. “Who is our new neighbour?”

  “There is a newcomer at Elton Manor,” he replied in a whisper as well. “Lord Moreton!”

  Aurora wanted to jump up from the table and run around the room like a child, but, of course, being a young woman now she had to stay quietly in her seat.

  She looked at her father with glowing eyes, longing to ask him all about Lord Moreton – if he was young and good-looking as she imagined him to be.

  “I suppose this is edible,” Lady Hartnell was saying in a loud voice, as she attacked a piece of salmon with her silver fork. “You may serve his Lordship, Treginnis.”

  It was agony for Aurora to wait as her father and stepmother slowly ate, but she had been well brought up at the French Finishing School and so knew better than to speak before she was spoken to.

  “Have you told her, Henry?” asked Lady Hartnell at last, removing a bone from between her teeth. “I thought I heard you muttering away just then.”

  “I have, my dear, and I must say she responded just as I would have hoped.”

  “Any young girl would be delighted, I am sure, to hear that such a wealthy and eligible bachelor has moved into the neighbourhood. Do finish your salmon, Aurora, we are ready for the next course.”

  Aurora could hardly eat even a morsel as she was so bursting with questions about Lord Moreton.

  It seemed an extraordinary coincidence that she had been wishing for someone to come into her life, and there he was, about to appear, and perhaps become that special one she really longed for.

  “Well, Aurora,” suggested her Papa. “What would you say if I were to invite our new neighbour to dine with us on Boxing Day?”

  Aurora stammered as she tried to find her words.

  “That would – would be – most – ”

  Lord Hartnell laughed, shaking his grey head.

  “Oh, Aurora, I am happy for you. I have a feeling things here at home are not going to be so dull after all.”

  Treginnis was bringing in the meat course with the aid of a young kitchen maid.

  Under cover of the bustle of serving and tasting at Lady Hartnell’s end of the table, Aurora was able to speak privately to her father.

  “Papa, Papa, t
ell me. What is Lord Moreton like?”

  “Now then, Aurora. You know what they say about curiosity. It killed the cat,” he chuckled to himself.

  “Papa!”

  Aurora reached out to catch her father’s hand, but he was too far away from her at the head of the table.

  “He is a most delightful fellow. Most charming. I know you are going to like him very much.”

  “Yes,” breathed Aurora. “I think I am.”

  “And perhaps more importantly, dear Aurora, he is a very wealthy man. Charm is all very well, but even the most delightful improves with the addition of great riches!”

  He nodded gravely and gave her a serious look.

  “Of course, Papa,”

  Aurora closed her eyes for a moment.

  The excitement was too much to bear.

  It seemed that not only was Lord Moreton handsome and polite and charming, but he was also rich and would surely never, never be angry if Aurora spent all her clothes allowance on one lovely dress.

  “What are you thinking about, my dear?”

  “It seems just too good to be true.”

  “Yes, yes, exactly,” muttered Lord Hartnell with a smile, as Treginnis served him with beef and vegetables.

  “What secrets are you sharing down at that end of the table?” growled Lady Hartnell with a roguish gleam in her eye, as she raised her wine glass to her lips.

  Aurora had noticed many times that her stepmother became so much more cheerful after a couple of glasses of wine, although if she had too many glasses, it could have the opposite effect.

  “The charming Lord Moreton, of course!” replied Aurora’s Papa, raising his glass to his wife.

  “Our charming Lord Moreton, if I might call him that,” laughed Lady Hartnell and emptied her glass.

  “What does she mean, Papa?” asked Aurora.

  “Why, Aurora. My dearest Charlotte,” he smiled at his wife, “is just looking ahead to the happy day when you and Lord Moreton are joined together in Holy Matrimony!”

  “But I haven’t even met him!” exclaimed Aurora, feeling somewhat coy that her stepmother had noticed how excited she was and how eager to meet this wonderful man.

  “No, but I must tell you that Lord Moreton is now the owner of the Elton Manor estate, which adjoins our own lands and I need hardly add that if you were to be married to him – why, our two estates would be united as one.”

  Her father and stepmother raised their glasses for another toast, laughing and winking at each other.

  “Just think, my lovely daughter, how lucky you are – and how happy you will make me.”

  Aurora now could not touch a mouthful of the food in front of her.

  Suddenly her life was about to change.

  She was soon to meet this handsome wealthy man who would love her and marry her, and she would have a beautiful house all of her own at Elton Manor, but still be close to home and to her dear Papa.

  After dinner Aurora made her way up to her room.

  Her head was spinning and her heart was pounding.

  “Oh, Phyllis,” she cried, as her maid helped her out of the green silk frock. “I am so excited, I am not going to be able to sleep a wink.”

  “I know it’s Christmas Eve, miss, but you ain’t six years old no more, Miss Aurora. You’ll need your rest or you’ll be too tired for all them festivities.”

  “But listen to this, Phyllis – ”

  She then told her all about Lord Moreton and her father’s plans for her marriage.

  Phyllis was listening quietly as she turned down the bedcovers and laid out Aurora’s nightgown.

  “Well, Miss Aurora,” she commented, when Aurora had finished. “I would have you remember there’s many a slip twixt cup and the lip!”

  As Aurora lay in her bed gazing at the moonlight shining brightly through the chintz curtains, she wondered what Phyllis could have meant.

  Lord Moreton was coming to Hadleigh Hall the day after tomorrow and the moment she saw him she just knew that her life would change forever.

  She would be happy – Papa would be happy – what could possibly go wrong?

  CHAPTER TWO

  Aurora awoke on Boxing Day to a cold white light streaming in through her bedroom window and to hear the parlour maid rattling in the fireplace as she raked over the ashes and laid a new fire.

  “It be a cold one, Miss Aurora,” Phyllis remarked, as she placed a jug of hot water on the washstand.

  Aurora threw off her covers and sat up to look out of the window.

  Fog lay over all the lawns and gardens of Hadleigh Hall and everything bore a coating of crisp white frost.

  “How is Papa this morning?” she asked Phyllis.

  Her father had retired early to his bed on Christmas Day, saying that he felt tired and unwell after too much festivity, although in her opinion the day had in fact been very quiet.

  Just herself, her Papa and her stepmother opening presents and eating mountains of delicious Christmas fare.

  “He’s still sleepin’, miss, and your stepmother says he will not be down for breakfast.”

  “I shall go and see him later. Do you think that I might have breakfast in my room today?”

  The thought of the long empty dining room on such a chilly morning was not a welcoming one.

  “I was just going to suggest that very same thing,” said Phyllis. “I should make the most of that water while it’s still hot,” and she disappeared off to the kitchen.

  Aurora tucked herself under the covers once again and leaned back against the soft feather pillows to look at her presents that were piled up on the table by the bed.

  She had never had so many Christmas presents.

  She reached out to fondle a pair of white-buttoned kid gloves, a pair of green dancing pumps and a pale blue silk dress.

  The blue dress was not quite what she would have chosen for herself, it was more her stepmother’s taste.

  And she knew the colour was not very flattering to her complexion and auburn hair, but the silk it was made from was lovely and it was by far the finest dress she had ever been given.

  Her Papa had given her a present of a beautiful pair of green earrings that suited her perfectly and she felt very happy as she turned them to catch the light.

  She knew that he would have given a lot of thought to choosing them and that she would love them.

  As soon as she had finished breakfast, she dressed herself warmly and putting on her thickest cloak, set out to take a walk around the shrubbery.

  The branches of the trees looked magical with their sparkling decorations of frost, and, as she walked, the sun broke through and the fog began to lift, just as if the winter weather was in sympathy with her own joyful feelings.

  ‘Tonight I am going to meet Lord Moreton,’ she told herself again, ‘and if I like him, we will be engaged.’

  She wondered what Lord Moreton would look like, if he would be fair or dark and she hoped he would be tall and handsome and interesting to talk to.

  But of course he would be, if her dear Papa thought that he might be a suitable match for her!

  She wished for a moment that she was still at her Finishing School and could tell all her friends that she was about to be engaged, as this was the dearest hope and the favourite subject of conversation with the girls.

  She could have wandered through the shrubbery all morning happily dreaming about Lord Moreton.

  But the winter sun was now beginning to melt the glittering frost crystals and Aurora knew that it was time to return to The Hall and see if her Papa was awake and able to speak to her.

  Lord Hartnell was sitting in a chair by the fire in his bedroom wrapped in a long velvet robe.

  He was looking pale and tired and Aurora thought he seemed much older than when she had gone to France.

  “Thank you, dear Papa, for the beautiful earrings. I do so love them,” she said, touching her father’s cold hand.

  “I am so glad you like them,” he s
miled, “and there is a special reason for them as you will discover later.”

  Aurora longed to ask him what he meant, but the white-haired old man waved her away gently.

  “Off you go, my dear. I am very tired and I need to recover myself before tonight.”

  “Papa. Is all well with you? Is there anything I can do for you?”

  “All is very well. I am so proud of you, my dearest daughter, and I have a distinct feeling that I am about to become even more so. But now I must ask you to leave me and I will see you at dinner.”

  Aurora left but she could not escape a slight feeling of anxiety about her father. He looked ill and fragile and she could never remember him staying in his room like this for so long.

  ‘If I was my stepmother,’ she thought to herself, ‘I would want to be with him, especially when he is not well. I would keep him company and try to lift his spirits to make him feel better. Surely that is why people get married, to console each other and look after each other?

  ‘But Lady Hartnell has her own way of doing things and Papa seems to love her for all her forthrightness and lack of sympathy, so perhaps he is happily married after all?’

  Aurora knew that the part she had to play was that of a dutiful, obedient and loving daughter.

  ‘I must do my best to make him proud of me.’

  She went to her room to go through her things with Phyllis so that all was ready for the evening.

  *

  Hadleigh Hall was ablaze with bright candles as the servants bustled around the dining room preparing the table for the evening’s festivities.

  Aurora was amazed to see whole bunches of grapes apparently growing from huge vases on the table and every other kind of fruit arranged in big silver dishes.

  There were white flowers and bunches of greenery everywhere and she thought that she had never seen the dining room at Hadleigh Hall looking so resplendent.

  If only she could wear her green dress!

  She would look just perfect seated at the green-and-white table, but Lady Hartnell had come into her room that afternoon and found the dress laid out on the bed ready for Aurora to wear – and she had tossed it onto the floor.

  “Ungrateful girl!” she had hissed. “What are you thinking of? Where is the Christmas gift from your father and myself? Surely that is more suitable for you to wear than this French frippery!”