They Found their Way to Heaven Page 4

  Violet’s eyes gleamed at this hint of conspiracy. She bent forward to be a little nearer to Elvina.

  “What name?” she asked.

  “I have told him that I am Mrs. Winters.”

  “But you’re not?”

  “I am not.”

  “Then what is your real name?” Violet whispered.

  “If I told you that there would be no point in giving a false one,” she replied.

  “What are you hiding from?” she asked.

  Elvina took a shuddering breath.

  “From the man I love,” she said simply.

  “Tell me all about it,” Violet gasped.

  “When my father died he left me a lot of money. I expect if I told you his name, your brother would have heard of him.”

  “But what happened?” Violet quizzed her in an agony of anticipation.

  “I visited London to attend my cousin’s wedding, but I came home early to be with the man I loved. Nobody saw me arrive and that was how I overheard this man talking to my companion, telling her that he loved her.”

  “Her? Not you?”

  “Not me. But he was planning to marry me for my money. He actually said that. But then he said again that he loved her as he had never loved anyone else.”

  Elvina’s voice faltered on the last words.

  Aghast, Violet exclaimed, “You heard him say that!”

  “Yes, I heard it all,” Elvina replied.

  “Has he told you that he loved you?”

  “In a roundabout way. And I had only just realised how much I loved him. I travelled home, full of excitement, longing to see him.”

  “Did he actually ask you to marry him?”

  “No, but he hinted at it and I was sure that I wanted to say yes.

  “I promised my mother before she died that unless I fell in love with both my heart and my soul, I would not marry anyone. She had been so happy with my father that she was afraid lest I should not know the same happiness. I was so sure that I had found it.”

  Elvina’s voice seemed to break and after a moment Violet said,

  “I am so sorry for you. It must have been a terrible shock.”

  “I didn’t have the slightest idea that he found my companion attractive in that sort of way. He was always very polite to her, but it seems that this was there between them all the time.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I knew that I couldn’t stay at home waiting for him to ask me to marry him for my money. I had to leave at once, before they knew that I had heard them.”

  “But why did you have to run away?”

  “Because I couldn’t face him lying to me,” Elvina answered, “and saying that he loved me when all the time he loved another woman. I thought that would be degrading and horrible and I could not bear it.”

  “But why couldn’t you take your revenge on them?” Violet wanted to know. “You could have stormed in and berated them for betraying you. Then you could have dismissed your companion and ordered the man never to darken your doors again.”

  “That is what you would have done, is it?” Elvina asked with a faint smile.

  “Of course. If any man betrayed me I would make him suffer for it,” Violet declared melodramatically.

  “One day you may discover that it isn’t as simple as that. If you love someone you don’t want to hurt him, whatever he has done. And it was hardly my companion’s fault that she fell in love.”

  “You mean you don’t hate them?” Violet asked.

  Elvina shook her head and for a moment her eyes became misty.

  “No,” she whispered. “I don’t hate them.”

  “But how did you manage to come here?”

  “When I was in London I heard someone saying that your brother, the Duke, was desperately trying to find a governess for you since you did not wish to go to school.”

  Violet chuckled suddenly.

  “You mean since I was such a little horror, don’t you?”

  “They may have said something like that,” Elvina told her cautiously and Violet chuckled again.

  But then she grew serious suddenly, as though something had occurred to her.

  “Didn’t you do anything about him?” she asked. “Write him a letter so full of scorn that it burned the page, maybe?”

  “I left him a cheque for two thousand pounds,” Elvina admitted.

  “You rewarded him for – ?”

  “I thought it might prevent him trying to find me, but perhaps I miscalculated and he will feel more obliged to offer for me now.”

  “Miscalculated?” Violet exclaimed wildly. “You have windmills in your head, that’s why you are in such a mess. Goodness, what a muddle!”

  “I suppose I am always in a muddle in one way or another,” Elvina replied. “But now I am begging you, on my knees if necessary, to let me stay here and hide.”

  “Of course,” Violet said slowly. “You will be much safer here. I will tell David that I have given in, but very reluctantly.”

  “You must certainly be reluctant,” Elvina agreed. “Otherwise he might suspect that I am not a real governess and then he will find somebody else.”

  “Oh, no, I don’t want anyone but you,” Violet said quickly.

  “We will have to make it look convincing,” Elvina added, “but that won’t be hard. After all, we will enjoy ourselves talking about things which are really interesting.

  “We’ll go riding, so that we can’t be overheard and the horses certainly won’t tell your brother we talked in English rather than in French, or did not say enough about the Holy Lands.”

  The girl laughed as if she could not help it.

  “Are you really saying,” she asked, “that we will have pretend lessons?”

  “Yes and no. In a sense they will be real lessons. You can gain all sorts of knowledge by admiring the flowers in the garden, by counting the stars in the sky and by whispering under the moon.”

  “That’s the most sensible thing I have ever heard. Of course one learns many things, although they may not be in the school books.”

  “I will certainly be learning something from you,” Elvina said, “and hopefully you will be learning something from me.

  “Knowledge comes in many ways. Sometimes you listen to spoken words, sometimes you can see it in the sky and sometimes you hear it in the wind.

  “Perhaps it is clearest when one is praying and, in some extraordinary way, God manages to help you. Just as He sent me here to you when I was desperate.”

  Violet stared at her, amazed. Then she said,

  “You are different from anyone I have ever met. Everything you say is fascinating. We will teach each other. Fancy that!”

  She gave a sudden crow of laughter.

  “How astonished David will be to see me accept you without a fuss. Oh, I do like this plan.”

  “I was so sure you would reject me that I told the cab driver to wait, just in case I had to return with him. Goodness! He must still be there. I should go and tell him I am staying.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Violet offered.

  Together they hurried out of the room, down the long passages and into the hall. The doorman saw them coming and pulled the front door open for them.

  Later he confided to the butler,

  “When I saw the way the two young ladies were running, I thought it was the usual and Lady Violet was throwing the new governess out. But blow me, if they didn’t have the cab unloaded.”

  He was not the only one amazed. The Duke, appearing on the scene a moment later was astonished by the sight that met his eyes.

  “Violet, I have been looking everywhere for you. have a new governess for you, and I want you to promise me that you will be very polite and – where are the footmen carrying those cases?”

  “Upstairs, brother dear. I have ordered them to be put in the room next to mine. Then Mrs. Winters can keep a really strict eye on me.”

  The Duke regarded her cautiously.

  �
�What – are you saying?”

  “I am saying that since you are determined to force a governess on me to crush my spirit – ”

  “Violet, my dear girl – ”

  But Violet was well into the part now and was not going to be sidetracked.

  “I have no choice but to submit to your tyrannical demands,” she declaimed, her voice on the verge of a sob.

  “My what?”

  “I have yielded. I will be a dutiful sister, however much it goes against the grain. I say no more.”

  “I went to look for you,” the Duke said, “meaning to bring you down to meet Mrs. Winters. Evidently the two of you have already met.”

  “Mrs. Winters and I have introduced ourselves,” Violet confirmed with lofty dignity.

  “And had a useful discussion?”

  “Lady Violet and I have discussed many subjects,” Elvina remarked, with a firm look at Violet who had moved behind her brother and looked as though her mirth was threatening to overcome her.

  Elvina added,

  “I believe we now understand each other.”

  “And do you think you can keep her in order?”

  “I didn’t exactly say that,” Elvina observed wryly.

  “Well, you and I will discuss terms later.”

  “It’s only for a month,” Violet said, belatedly remembering her lines. “If it doesn’t work out, I will send her away.”

  “You most certainly will not!” her harassed brother growled.

  “I will, I will!”

  “That’s quite enough!” Elvina intervened sternly. “I think we should go upstairs now.”

  She inclined her head towards the Duke.

  “Your Grace may safely leave the problem to me.”

  “Thank you,” he said with relief.

  Elvina followed Violet up to the corridor where her room was situated. The room next door was already being prepared by a flurry of maids.

  “We will go next door to my room, until yours is ready,” Violet suggested, leading the way.

  As soon as Violet’s door was closed behind them Elvina exclaimed,

  “You little wretch. What do you think you are doing?”

  “Having fun,” Violet gurgled. “Did you see my brother’s face?”

  “Yes, I did, and the poor man does not know what to think.”

  “Oh, goody! I’m going to enjoy this.”

  “Don’t go too far or you will arouse his suspicions,” Elvina said firmly.

  Then inspiration came to her and she added,

  “Speak the speech, I pray you – trippingly on the tongue.”

  “What’s that?” Violet asked, frowning.

  “That is Hamlet’s advice to the players. He gives a whole list of instructions about good acting. I would have thought an actress would have known that.”

  Now she had really caught Violet’s attention. The girl became very still.

  “How did you know that I am an actress.”

  “Your brother told me.”

  “You mean he said I had this outrageous idea, quite unworthy of a Ducal family – ”

  “He may have said something of the kind, I didn’t listen very closely. I am far more interested in your views.”

  “But David won’t let me be an actress.”

  “What has it to do with your brother? An actress is made in here.” Elvina pointed to her heart. “If you are an actress in your heart, all the brothers in the world cannot change that.”

  Violet beamed.

  “Yes, of course,” she agreed ecstatically.

  “Have you read the advice to the players?”

  Violet shrugged.

  “I may have done once at school.”

  “You should read it again. You will find several useful pointers for when you start your career.”

  “You mean as an actress?”

  “Why not?” Elvina asked crossing her fingers and praying that Heaven would forgive her.

  “But David won’t let me and he is my guardian.”

  “Well you are not always going to be underage, are you? Once you turn twenty-one you can do as you please.”

  “But that’s years away.”

  “It will give you time to practise different parts. You need experience of life as well as experience on the stage.”

  “David expects me to make a suitable marriage.”

  “I am sure he would never actually force you. So you will be courted by young men, who will worship you. You will treat them with lofty disdain, secure in the knowledge that inwardly you belong to your art.”

  “Oh, yes,” Violet breathed. “That’s what I will do.”

  There was a knock at the door. Opening it, Elvina saw a footman, who handed her a note.

  “From His Grace, madam,” he said, bowing.

  The note was brief and to the point.

  ‘Mrs. Winters, I would be obliged if you and Violet would dine with me this evening. Please try to ensure that Violet looks like a lady and not a tomboy.

  Castleforde

  “Ahah!” Violet exclaimed, peering over Elvina’s shoulder. She addressed the footman. “How like him to write like that! Please inform His Grace that Mrs. Winters and Lady Violet will be pleased to join him.”

  “Yes, my Lady.”

  The footman bowed himself away.

  “I have had an idea,” Elvina said. “It is something which will amuse you and will certainly surprise your brother.”

  “Do tell me,” Violet begged.

  “Amongst my clothes, I have a very smart dress which I bought in Paris,” Elvina said. “I suggest you put it on for dinner and I’ll do your hair fashionably. I expect you have plenty of jewellery of your own and you will appear for dinner as the perfect debutante in waiting.”

  Violet stared at her.

  “If I do that my brother will faint with surprise,” she said.

  “Splendid. It will do him good to receive a shock.”

  “He will think he’s dreaming. I have never dressed up since I came home from my last school. Whenever I have taken a meal with my brother I have usually had an argument with him during the first course, then we don’t speak for the rest of the meal.”

  “I guessed it was something like that,” smiled Elvina.

  “Let us see if your room is ready,” Violet suggested.

  Since Elvina’s room adjoined Violet’s it offered the same level of luxury. It was beautifully furnished containing a large, four-poster bed with a canopy and rich brocade curtains.

  She walked to the window and saw that the sun was sinking in the sky, casting a golden glow over the view of the park. She had come to a special and beautiful place and she realised that in many ways she was fortunate.

  If only she could ignore the ache in her heart that said it should all have been so different.

  But when she turned back into the room she was smiling. Nobody must guess at her secret grief.

  “Let me show you the dress I want you to wear,” she proposed brightly.

  She went to the wardrobe as she spoke and took out a dress made of chiffon decorated with flowers. The flowers were picked out in diamante so that the dress glittered as it moved.

  Violet stared at it in astonishment.

  “Oh, it is so beautiful,” she said. “I cannot wait to wear it. What will you wear?”

  “I will show you later. First I need to wash off the dust from my journey.”

  Maids came in dragging a hip bath, which they filled with hot water. Elvina soaked long and luxuriously until it was time to climb out and dress.

  Now she was glad that she had fled her home with the luggage she had brought from London, otherwise she would not have brought anything suitable for dining with the Duke.

  The evening dress she chose was demure, but even so, it was lower in the bosom than would normally be considered suitable for a governess.

  Violet came in with her maid, who helped Elvina put the chiffon dress on her and then started on her hair.

  U
nder Elvina’s instructions she lifted Violet’s fair hair onto the top of her head, where Elvina placed some artificial flowers. They too were covered with diamante so that Violet looked as if she was wearing a tiara.

  “You look lovely,” Elvina enthused. “I cannot wait to see your brother’s face.”

  “I think he will be very surprised, as I have often refused to dress up for dinner,” Violet admitted. “Sometimes I haven’t even changed, which has annoyed him, because he always changes for dinner.”

  She sighed before adding,

  “He sits at the top of the table where our father used to sit. Just like a patriarch.”

  “And the poor man is too young to be a patriarch.”

  “Poor man?” Violet echoed. “David isn’t a poor man. He is a tyrant.”

  “I do not think it can have been very easy for him, inheriting his title so young. You might spare a little sympathy for him.”

  She stood back and regarded Violet.

  “Now, you look perfect. Let me go down first and prepare your entrance.”

  She walked downstairs quickly and the butler guided her to the dining room.

  “Don’t announce me,” she whispered. “I will just slip in.”

  She entered so quietly that the Duke did not at first notice her. He was standing by the French windows, looking out into the grounds.

  He was elegantly dressed in white tie and tails, just as though the Queen was coming to dine. There was no doubt that this was a great aristocrat who maintained formal standards, even in the privacy of his own home.

  Elvina advanced into the room at the same moment that the Duke turned and saw her. She saw the surprise in his eyes as her elegant attire.

  This was not what was expected of a governess and she briefly wondered if he thought she was being presumptuous. But then he smiled.

  “Mrs. Winters. Is Violet with you or has she run away?”

  “All is well, I promise you, Your Grace. Violet will be down in a moment. I do not know why you should expect the worst.”

  “Probably because the worst has happened so often.”

  “But perhaps you make it happen by expecting it,” she suggested gently.

  “I am not sure that I understand that.”