107. Soft, Sweet & Gentle Read online

  Vivien, a somewhat plain girl, was dressed in black too and she shook hands with Georgina without saying anything.

  Her brother, however, who must have been about eighteen, said rather uncomfortably,

  “I am sorry we were not present at the funeral.”

  “We did our best,” Lady Crawford explained, “but it was impossible to move until the wheel was repaired and you know what local people are like. They could not hurry if the sky was falling in!”

  Before Georgina could reply, she looked round the room and said,

  “Oh dear, I remember this room. Nothing changes and I always thought that The Castle was such an exciting romantic place.”

  As if she knew instinctively what Georgina would ask her, Lady Crawford went on,

  “Last time I came here was soon after you were born. Your father asked me and my husband to a dinner party.”

  She gave a laugh before she added,

  “He did not realise until we arrived here that we expected to stay the night. He was quite astonished when I told him that I had no intention of driving back such a long distance in the dark.”

  Georgina found her tongue and realised that there was a point to this story.

  Then she asked,

  “Would you like to stay tonight as you have come such a long way, Aunt Marjory?”

  “That is very kind of you, dear,” Lady Crawford replied. “We hoped that you would be generous enough to invite us. I have told my children all about The Castle and they are longing to explore it. I felt sure that you would be able to squeeze us in.”

  “There is no one else staying,” Georgina replied. “In fact because the weather has been so bad the majority of the family, who as you know live mostly in London or in the South, were not able to be at the funeral.”

  “Oh dear, I had hoped to see our relatives,” Lady Crawford said. “It’s so seldom we get together and your father has been very reluctant, I feel, to arrange much in the last five years or so.”

  She settled herself comfortably on the sofa, saying,

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I told your butler I was very thirsty and longing for something to drink.”

  As she spoke, the door opened and Dawson came in followed by a footman carrying a tray. They set it down on the table which stood near the window.

  Georgina, thinking that things had really been taken out of her hands, did not speak while her unexpected guests were given glasses of champagne.

  “This is so kind, so very very kind of you!” Lady Crawford gushed. “Of course we expected to find a large number of the family here who I really wanted to see.”

  Thinking she had already answered that question, Georgina asked,

  “I was wondering before you arrived who inherits the title now that Papa is dead.”

  Lady Crawford stared at her.

  “But, of course, I know. That actually is why I am here to talk to you about him.”

  “But who is he?” Georgina enquired. “It seems so strange, but it is something my father never told me.”

  Lady Crawford stared at her again.

  “That is odd, very odd. He must have known or perhaps he did not want you to know about Alister.”

  Georgina gazed at her.

  “Who are you talking about?” she asked.

  She was thinking as she spoke if she had ever heard of a relative of her father’s called Alister, but she was almost certain that he had never spoken of one.

  “You don’t know?” Lady Crawford asked. “That is extraordinary! Then I have a great deal to tell you.”

  Georgina waited still wondering who Alister could be and why she had not heard of him.

  After a large sip of the champagne, Lady Crawford went on,

  “I think perhaps we will leave this until later. At the moment I am so delighted that we can stay here with you. I know my dear children want to explore The Castle. I have told them so much about it. Is that right, dears?”

  She turned to the children rather affectedly as she spoke and the boy replied,

  “You have talked about it, Mama, all the way here and you will doubtless talk about it all the way back.”

  Lady Crawford gave a little cry.

  “Oh, you naughty boy! That is not the sort of thing you should say to me in front of our relative. Now, as you have lots of time before dinner, you and Vivien can go and explore the music room, which I remember particularly and I am sure it’s as beautiful as it was when I was your age.”

  Her two children realising that they were dismissed, rose to their feet holding their glasses of champagne in their hands.

  The boy, however, walked to the table and filled his glass to the top and then he said,

  “I am sure we will get lost if it is anything like you have been describing to us, Mama. So, if we don’t appear at dinner, you might send a footman to find us.”

  Lady Crawford laughed.

  “Go on you, impudent boy, and don’t forget to look at the library. I have told you it’s famous for its collection of books and I only hope that you will read some of them. It will do you good.”

  “Well, don’t finish all the champagne before we come back,” Edward remarked as he walked to the door.

  “Go on, you cheeky boy,” she replied. “Don’t hurry as I have much to say to dear Georgina.”

  Edward and Vivien left the room and as they closed the door Lady Crawford drank more of her champagne.

  Then she said,

  “I suppose, my dear Georgina, you know all about who will take your father’s place and who it is who now becomes the eleventh Earl of Langfield.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Georgina was trying to recall what she had heard about Alister, but for the moment her mind was completely blank.

  Then Lady Crawford went on,

  “Now let’s sit down, dear. I have so much to tell you and I want you to listen attentively to me.”

  Georgina smiled.

  “Yes, of course, Aunt Marjory. But you have not been here for many years.”

  “Yes, I know, dear, but I recognised that it would upset your father if I came to see him simply because I had three sons and he had none.”

  Georgina realised this was true and it embarrassed her too because she knew her father had so wanted a boy.

  Lady Crawford finished her champagne and then she burbled on,

  “Now listen because it is important that you should do so.”

  “I have been wondering,” Georgina mused, “when I last saw Alister Lang. Surely he is not a close cousin.”

  “I want to start at the beginning,” Lady Crawford told her. “As you know your father was the only son and his parents had one daughter, who was me.”

  Georgina knew all this and wondered why her aunt was making such a fuss about it.

  “The one thing our father drummed into us almost as soon as we were born,” Lady Crawford went on, “was that our name was one of the most ancient of all lineages in British history and it was so essential that the Langs should have plenty of sons to carry on the name into the future.”

  Georgina gave a sigh.

  She knew this and had heard it often, but towards the end of his life, she had been careful not to let her father talk about who would take his place when he died.

  In fact she had no idea that he would die so young or so unexpectedly and they had not discussed the Family Tree for at least three or four years.

  “It was when I heard your father was ill when you came back from Africa,” Lady Crawford continued, “that I realised he had paid very little attention to the Family Tree, which had always been so close to his heart.”

  “I had no idea that Papa was so bad or that he would die of that terrible disease,” Georgina replied.

  “I think it was lucky you did not catch it, but my husband and I are aware how dangerous these diseases can be in Africa. We were therefore apprehensive as to what would happen to my dear brother.”

  There was a distinct note of sincerity
in her voice that Georgina had felt was missing when she had talked of her brother before.

  She therefore listened more attentively to what her aunt was saying.

  “It was my husband who worked out, with quite some difficulty I may say, that the direct heir was, in fact, Alister, and we had not heard of him for some time.”

  “Why? Where is he?” Georgina enquired.

  “You may well ask. He disappeared some years earlier and had not kept in touch with any of the family.”

  “I am now trying to remember what I know about Alister. In fact I only met him once or twice when he was still a boy.”

  “That is very likely true,” Lady Crawford agreed. “I can quite understand your father having no wish to see him here taking the place of the son he never had.”

  “Oh, poor Papa, he was very sad that I was his only child,” Georgina sighed.

  “It was a disaster. It was when he learnt that your mother could not have any more children that he began to shut himself away from the family. He just spent his time with you.”

  Lady Crawford turned to look at Georgina as she spoke, who was aware that she was disapproving of her clothes and her whole appearance.

  However, as she knew that the family objected to her looking like a boy, she enquired quickly,

  “Tell me more about Alister, Aunt Marjory.”

  “He is now on his way home. After a great deal of trouble my husband and I found he was living in Japan.”

  “Japan!” Georgina exclaimed in amazement. “Why should he want to go there?”

  She thought that her cousin, if that was who Alister was, would have wanted to enjoy the amusements of Paris, Vienna and the other Cities of Europe or maybe he wanted to climb mountains as her father had done in his youth.

  “Alister went to Japan,” her aunt replied, speaking slowly and positively, “because the women there are very soft, sweet and gentle and obedient to their menfolk.”

  She saw surprise in Georgina’s eyes and went on,

  “Surely your father told you about him and what happened when he married.”

  “Perhaps Papa did do so,” Georgina answered, “but I cannot remember what he said.”

  “Well, I will make it very clear to you because that is why I am here. Alister married when he was very young. In point of fact he was only twenty-one. This was because a great deal of pressure was put on him to propose to the daughter of the Duke of Atherton.”

  She paused before continuing,

  “She was a very pretty girl and as both parents were so keen on the union they were, in my opinion, pushed into it almost before they knew what was happening.”

  Georgina was listening intently to her, as she was now sure that she had not been told about this before.

  “Alice came from a very ancient and very respected family. We were all very aware that it was unlikely your mother would be able to have another child.”

  Georgina thought she could hear it all happening and she was certain the family had made the two people concerned feel that they must marry each other. There was really no chance of them being able to refuse.

  “They were married at the Duke’s house in Kent,” Lady Crawford was saying. “All the family attended with the exception of your father and, of course, your mother who was not well enough to do so.”

  “Why did Papa not go?” Georgina asked.

  “I am sure, although he did not say so, he was well aware that Alister was his heir. But he was still hoping that by some miracle he would be able to have a son to take his place when he died.”

  Georgina could not help thinking that, if her mother had died sooner, there would have been a chance of her father marrying again.

  Although she was really nothing but an invalid, she had still been looking lovely but quite incapable of playing any part in anything.

  “We all thought that Alister was really in love with his wife, who was a very good-looking girl, except that she had a rather hard face and an abrupt way of talking.”

  “But he loved her?” Georgina enquired.

  “I think he did at first or perhaps when he actually proposed. But, once they were married, they disagreed on every subject. He found that she was very different from what he expected of his bride.”

  “You mean that she was aggressive?”

  “She was indeed aggressive and determined to have her own way whether right or wrong. We were actually told, secretly of course, that they quarrelled every day from dawn to dusk.”

  “I cannot understand why,” Georgina said.

  “The reason was quite simple. Alister’s wife was one of those modern, pushy and up to date women who consider themselves equal if not superior to men.”

  Georgina laughed.

  “I thought that they only existed in books or in the newspapers.”

  “They exist alright and, of course, a great number of men, with Alister amongst them, disapprove of Queen Victoria reigning alone instead of, after Prince Albert died, taking another Prince Consort to help her.”

  “And to share the throne,” Georgina remarked. “I can understand in a way why Her Majesty not only refused to marry but has not allowed the Prince of Wales to take any part in State Affairs.”

  “Alister considers it disgraceful and incidentally so does my husband,” Lady Crawford said. “In fact you will find that most men believe women should stay in their rightful place which naturally is the home.”

  “I have often thought when I heard about it that, as they have been badly treated for many years, it is obvious that, now with Queen Victoria’s example in front of them, they will want to rebel,” Georgina commented.

  Her aunt held up her hands in horror.

  “You must not talk like that! That is exactly why I have come here today to see you!”

  Georgina stared at her.

  “Are you saying that I should not be sorry for the women who are downtrodden and who have to obey a man whatever he tells them to do?” she questioned.

  “Of course that is how women should behave,” her aunt replied, “especially someone in your position.”

  She spoke in such a positive way that Georgina looked at her in surprise.

  “My position?” she queried.

  “Now listen first to what I have to tell you,” Lady Crawford went on. “I must finish my story. Alister found his wife intolerable and so he left her after they had been married for only a few months.”

  “He left her!” Georgina exclaimed.

  “He left her and went abroad. He travelled to all sorts of strange countries and made it clear that he had no intention of returning.”

  “I have never heard this before,” Georgina replied.

  “Of course because the Duke, her father, was so important, he made certain that it was not known outside the family. Alister’s wife said that he had gone abroad on a vital mission and the family backed her up because the last thing they wanted was a scandal.”

  “I can understand that,” Georgina mused. “But it must have been strange if he was away for a long time.”

  “He was abroad from the time he married until now when he is returning,” Lady Crawford informed her. “In fact he is now twenty-nine and has not been in England for eight years.”

  Georgina was intrigued.

  “What was he doing all the time? Surely his wife asked him to return.”

  “If she did, he ignored it. He was out of touch with the family for the simple reason that they had no idea of where he was and the world is a big place.”

  Georgina chuckled.

  “It’s the funniest story I have ever heard, all of this because he argued with her.”

  “She not only argued, but she was aggressive and insisted that she was right and that he was wrong.”

  “Perhaps he was,” Georgina retorted.

  Her aunt gave another cry of horror.

  “You must not think like that! You must realise now your father is dead that you have to obey, as we all do, the new Head of the
Family.”

  “And if I do not?” Georgina asked.

  “Then you will find it very difficult to live without money,” Lady Crawford replied.

  Georgina stared at her.

  “What do you mean – without money?”

  “I see your father must have kept you very ignorant of what occurs in all great families and especially in ours,” Lady Crawford said sharply.

  “Then explain to me what you mean!”

  “The Head of the Family, who for us is the reigning Earl, is responsible for looking after all his relations and giving each one of them what he can afford.”

  She took a deep breath as she went on,

  “Some of them of course, if they are women, have married into money and are therefore not so dependent on him as for instance I am.”

  Georgina stared at her.

  “I don’t understand!” she exclaimed.

  “Well, let me make it clear. My husband, although he has a very delightful house and a title, was the second son. Therefore he had very little to bless himself with.”

  She shook her head as she rambled on,

  “But we have a house that is large and comfortable and plenty of horses for our children who have all been educated at the best schools. This was entirely thanks to your father who, as Head of the Family, gave me a very generous allowance from the time I grew up.”

  Georgina was listening intently.

  “The same applies to a large number of the family who are entirely dependent on what they received from your father. They will now be dependent on Alister.”

  “I had no idea of this,” Georgina said. “We always seemed to have plenty of money.”

  “Of course you had plenty of money. Your father was a very rich man. Your mother also had a considerable amount of money which I understand she left in her will to your father knowing that he would provide for you.”

  “I knew that Mama’s father was rich and I always thought that what money she had she would leave to me,” Georgina replied in a small voice.

  “My husband discussed it all with your father’s Solicitor yesterday and discovered, as I think he expected, that your father obeyed the unwritten laws of those who are proud of their ancestry which was that the reigning Duke, Marquis or Baron are ‘Fathers’ of what the Scots would call ‘the Clan’. Each one of them has to rely on him for their existence.”