Beyond the Stars Read online

  There was a slight pause before the Earl told her,

  “My plans have been changed and I shall be dining here, Grandmama.”

  The Dowager Countess did not ask him any more questions and merely walked towards the stairs. Where her lady’s maid was waiting to help her up to her room.

  As she went, the Earl was thinking quickly.

  He was certain that Heloise would not miss the dinner party, which was being given by the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough in their splendid Georgian mansion in Mayfair.

  Instead of going there with him as arranged, she would be going with the Duke.

  That, he thought, was a further humiliation which he had no intention of suffering.

  He was still undecided as to whether or not he would go to the ball or stay at home.

  Either way he knew that it would cause a great deal of gossip, which would certainly not be to his advantage.

  He was suddenly aware that Lupita’s luggage had been taken in the carriage round to the side door.

  The gown box that the footman had handed in was still lying in the hall.

  It was then at that moment that he suddenly had an idea.

  He walked into the room where he knew that Lupita would be waiting for him.

  She was standing by the window to watch her brother go into the garden with his dog.

  The sun was shining on her hair.

  And without thinking she had pulled off her hat when she was alone in the room just as she would have done at home in the country.

  Her hair was, the Earl thought, different from anything he had seen on another woman. It was fair, but so pale that it seemed in the sunlight to be almost turned to silver.

  And yet it appeared to glitter as if it had a life of its own.

  She turned to look at him as he came into the room.

  He was aware at that moment that she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life.

  She was not spectacular like Heloise.

  But she had, with her fair hair and her blue eyes, a spiritual beauty that was something seldom if ever seen in the Social world.

  As the Earl walked towards her, he thought that she might have just stepped out from a storybook.

  Or rather from a Medieval painting depicting an angel or even the Madonna herself.

  The Earl reached her and said quietly,

  “Now that we are alone we can talk. So will you tell me what you meant when you said in the carriage that someone is trying to kill your brother?”

  Lupita looked away from him as if she was shy and he was aware that her profile was completely perfect.

  She had a small straight nose and features that might have been sculpted by an ancient Greek on Mount Olympus

  She was obviously thinking and after a moment’s pause the Earl said,

  “Please tell me the truth, the whole truth, and I will try to help you as best I can.”

  She glanced at him quickly before she replied,

  “I-I must not – impose on your – kindness – but I am frightened and I just don’t – know what to do my Lord.”

  “Then tell me what is frightening you,” the Earl suggested. “I promise you that I am very good at solving conundrums, however difficult they may appear to be.”

  “I am sure that is – true,” Lupita said, “but you may think that I am – imagining all this.”

  “Let me be the judge of that,” the Earl responded.

  Because she was irresolute, he took her by the arm and led her to a sofa where they sat down.

  “Now, begin at the beginning,” he prompted. “When your father died, what happened?”

  “It all – happened quite suddenly and – naturally I was extremely upset and because the weather was so bad – only a few of our relations came to the – Funeral Service. But they all wrote to me saying – how s-sorry they were.”

  “And you did not think of suggesting that you and your brother might live with any one of them?”

  “I had no wish to leave home and I have to look after the estate, which now, of course, is Jerry’s.”

  “Your father had no other children?” the Earl queried.

  “I-I had a brother who was born two years after I was ‒ but he died when he was only eight.”

  The Earl thought that this must have been a severe blow to Lupita’s father and he could understand that he would desperately want to have another son.

  As if she followed his thoughts, Lupita said, “Papa adored Jerry and, although he was so – young, he was already teaching him how he must look after the people we employ, carry on with the improvements to the estate that he was – making and, of course, keep up his racing stable.”

  “So that is what you have been trying to do,” the Earl commented. “But surely you must have someone to chaperone you?”

  Lupita smiled.

  “We have Jerry’s Governess with us, who is a very sweet woman. She taught me before I went to school. At the moment she has had to go to look after one of her sisters who is ill but she is ‒ coming back at the end of the month.”

  “And so you were alone,” the Earl said as if he was trying to form a picture in his mind of the situation that she found herself in.

  “We were – alone,” Lupita said, “until our – cousin Rufus Lang – appeared.”

  “And who is he?” the Earl asked.

  “He is the son of Papa’s younger brother – and he has always – lived in London.”

  “I think I have heard of him,” the Earl remarked. “I believe he is a member of White’s Club.”

  “He is very smart and goes – so he tells me – to all the very best parties and so knows – everybody of – importance and influence.”

  There was a pause and the Earl said,

  “Do go on.”

  “You will – understand,” Lupita continued hesitatingly, “that – if Jerry had not been born Rufus would – have come into the title.”

  The Earl raised his eyebrows.

  “Surely you are not suggesting that it is Rufus who is attempting to kill your brother?”

  “I knew – you would – not believe me,” Lupita murmured, “but two or three – things happened and that is why I – came away with Jerry.”

  “Tell me about them,” the Earl encouraged her.

  He spoke in a way that he knew most women found beguiling.

  Lupita looked up at him.

  He thought that her large blue eyes, pleading with him to understand, were very moving.

  “The first thing that– upset me,” she said in a very low voice, “happened – a week ago.”

  “Tell me what happened?” the Earl asked her.

  “My father always insisted that we were – never to go up on – the tower of the house – because it was just so dangerous. The roof is very old – and some of the crenelations are – crumbling.”

  “I suppose Jerry disobeyed your father’s orders,” the Earl suggested.

  “I missed him when he should have been playing in the sitting room with his dog and I wondered where he was.”

  Lupita looked up at the Earl again to see that he was listening before she went on,

  “I-I could not find him – until I saw that the door up to the tower was open – and I heard voices.”

  “So you went up to find out what was going on.”

  She nodded.

  “Just as I – reached the top – I heard Cousin Rufus say to Jerry,

  ‘“Lean over a little bit further and see if you can see right down to the ground below us. There may be a rabbit hiding there.’”

  “Was there likely to be a rabbit?” the Earl asked.

  “No – of course not – rabbits never come so near ‒ to the house,” Lupita answered.

  “And I suppose Jerry was obeying him,” the Earl observed.

  “He was just about to do so when Rufus saw me. He had been bending towards Jerry and I was almost certain that his hand was stretching out – as if to push him.”

&n
bsp; “Do you really think that he would have pushed the little boy over?” the Earl asked.

  “I could not believe it myself,” Lupita answered, “but I thought ‒ Rufus looked as if he was frustrated when I appeared.”

  “What did you do about it?” the Earl asked.

  “I said to Jerry, ‘come away from there at once, Jerry. You know Papa never allowed us to come up here’.”

  “What did Jerry say to that?” the Earl prompted.

  “He said, ‘Cousin Rufus wanted to see the roof, but then I did warn him to be very very careful’.”

  Lupita gave a deep sigh before she went on,

  “I said, ‘what you are doing is very dangerous. Come down at once’.’”

  “So you took Jerry to safety. What did your cousin say?”

  “It was later that evening when he said, ‘I am sorry if I made a mistake by going up on the roof, but I was particularly anxious to see the view, which your father always told me was very fine, from the top of the house’.”

  “But you did not believe him?”

  “Of course not,” Lupita answered. “Papa had always said that no one must ever go up onto the roof. After that I took the – key away and hid it in my room.”

  “That was sensible of you,” the Earl agreed. “Then what else happened?”

  “You – will not – believe me,” Lupita replied, “but ever since I was very small I have somehow been able to – read people’s thoughts. After that, whenever I saw Cousin Rufus – looking at Jerry – I knew he was thinking that if – only he was not here, the estate would be his and he would be the – Earl of Langwood.”

  There was a little sob in Lupita’s voice as she spoke the last words.

  Then, as if she was afraid of losing her self-control, she went on quickly,

  “But – something – else happened that – made me – run away.”

  “What was that?” the Earl asked.

  “Yesterday, when I came back to the house from riding with Jerry, there was no sign of Cousin Rufus.”

  “He did not ride with you?” the Earl asked.

  “No. Although I – suggested it, he said he wanted to – stay behind.”

  “Then when you returned he was not in the house?”

  “I did not – know where he was – but when I went up to my room to change I – looked out of the window.”

  “And what did you see?” the Earl enquired.

  “We have a lake in front of the house, my Lord, which is very deep and has shifting sand at the bottom of it, which is why Jerry and I have never – learned to – swim.”

  “What did you see on the lake?” the Earl coaxed her.

  “We have a rowing boat, which is seldom used now that Papa is dead. He used to take us in it and we would row down the stream and then back up it again.”

  The Earl thought that this sounded harmless enough, but he waited and after a moment Lupita continued,

  “To my surprise – from my bedroom window – I could see Cousin Rufus – standing in the boat where it was – tied up and then bending – down.”

  “What was he doing?” the Earl asked.

  “I was not – sure,” Lupita answered, “but I thought it was – very strange – so when he came back to the house – I waited until dinnertime and then I asked him,

  “‘Can you swim, Cousin Rufus?’

  And he replied,

  “Extremely well, as it happens. My Governess, Miss Graham, was interested and he told her how he had won a champions’ prize in Switzerland and had also competed in swimming races in Germany.”

  “So you thought that he was looking at the boat just so that he could use it while he was swimming,” the Earl said. “How does that have anything to do with your brother?”

  “As I was – suspicious,” Lupita answered him, “I got up very early this – morning before even the servants were – awake and went down to – look at the boat. Something kept – telling me that it was what I – should do and I had been – unable to sleep because I was feeling – so worried.”

  “What did you find?” the Earl asked.

  “I found that there was a hole in the boat that had been – plugged with what Papa once told me was a kind of – black sugar that dissolves if it is very long – in the water.”

  The Earl was suddenly still.

  “I don’t believe it!”

  “It is – true and as I am sure you will know – when the sugar – finally dissolves, the boat would – fill with water and s-sink.”

  “So you think your cousin was going to suggest taking Jerry out rowing on the lake and then when the boat started to sink he would swim to safety, whilst your brother would be drowned!”

  Because it all seemed so extraordinary, the Earl was working it out for himself.

  “I expect – I would have been – asked to go too,” Lupita added.

  The Earl did not speak and after a moment she said,

  “Please believe – me. I know it – sounds incredible – but every nerve in – my body tells me that Jerry is – in danger!”

  The Earl put out his hand and laid it over hers.

  “I do believe you,” he said. “Now tell me how you managed to get away.”

  “I woke Jerry as soon as I was back in the house and told the servants to order our fastest carriage, which is drawn by two horses.”

  Lupita paused for breath before she went on,

  “I-I packed a few things and the servants carried the trunk – into the yard so that we would not be – seen by Cousin Rufus, if he was – awake, and leaving by the – front door.”

  “But he did not see you?” the Earl asked.

  “He does not get up early for breakfast because he drinks so much wine at night,” Lupita explained, “and I knew that ‒ by the time he was called we must be – far away from him.”

  “And how far did you go?” the Earl enquired. “We drove in our own carriage until the horses were too tired to go any further. Then I took a Post chaise at a Posting inn and, when we reached London, I hired a Hackney carriage in which we had ‒ that accident.”

  “This is the most extraordinary story I have ever heard!” the Earl exclaimed. “But you did the right thing and I can only commend you, Lady Lupita, for being extremely intelligent and brave in the way you are trying to protect your young brother.”

  “Then you – really believe – me, my Lord?” she asked.

  He saw the relief come into her face like a radiance.

  He thought that it made her even lovelier than she was already.

  “What do you intend to do now?” he asked. “You can hardly run away from your cousin for ever.”

  “I-I shall be – all right as soon as I can find some relatives who will come and stay with us. Perhaps they will be – strong enough to make Cousin Rufus be – aware that he is not – welcome.”

  “Now that you have told me your troubles,” the Earl said, “I have an idea to put to you that I think will be of advantage to us both.”

  “You know I would be – very happy to do – something for you when – you have been so – kind to us,” Lupita said.

  “What I am going to suggest,” the Earl answered slowly, “is that tonight you attend with me a ball being given by the Duchess of Devonshire.”

  He saw the astonishment in Lupita’s face.

  “I have – read in the – newspapers about the ball that is being given ‒ in honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee,” Lupita said, “but – how could I possibly go to it?”

  “Very easily,” the Earl replied, “because I have a gown for you and you will come as my partner.”

  “I-I cannot – believe it!” Lupita exclaimed. “But I don’t – understand how – that will – help you.”

  “It will help me,” the Earl replied, “as the partner who I was going with is now unable to do so.”

  He chose his words carefully, having no intention of telling Lupita the truth.

  “So you would – like me to accompany �
� you instead?” she asked. “But – suppose I do not look right and you are – ashamed of me?”

  The Earl smiled.

  “That is very unlikely. I assure you, you will look very lovely in a gown that I know will fit you.”

  He thought as he spoke that the fancy dress, which he knew was a confection of jewels and floating panels of chiffon, would fit almost anyone.

  Lupita clasped her hands together.

  “I have – never been to – a ball. When I was eighteen – at the end of last year – Papa was going to bring me to London but then he – died.”

  She drew a deep breath before she added,

  “To go to – the Devonshire House Fancy Dress Ball of all balls! I cannot – believe it!”

  “Nevertheless that is just what we will do,” the Earl said. “Now I suggest that, like my grandmother, you go and rest before dinner so that you will not be too tired to dance with me when we reach the ballroom.”

  Lupita laughed and it was a very pretty sound.

  “How could I be – tired when I am – going to a ball? I am sure I shall – wake up to find this is all a – dream!”

  “You will wake up and find yourself at Devonshire House, dancing with me,” the Earl assured her. “Perhaps I should mention that you will be dressed as Cleopatra and, as I expect you know, she was very beautiful.”

  “Oh, I do hope I don’t – disappoint you.”

  Lupita spoke sincerely.

  The Earl was aware that no other woman of his acquaintance, including Heloise, would ever believe that they could be a disappointment to him with their looks.

  “I am quite sure you will grace Devonshire House,” he said confidently. “In fact we both will!”

  Lupita laughed as if he had said something funny.

  Then she jumped up from the sofa.

  “I will go to lie down,” she said, “because I could not bear to be sleepy and miss one moment of being at the most important ball of the whole Diamond Jubilee celebrations.”

  “I see you have been reading the Society columns in the newspapers very carefully,” the Earl smiled.

  “I read about the Jubilee celebrations because they – sounded so exciting but I never – thought for a – minute that I – should ever have – a part in them.”

  “Now you are going to play a very important part,” the Earl said, “so go upstairs, close your eyes and do not dare to wake up until I send my housekeeper to call you.”