Beyond the Stars Read online

  Lupita laughed again before she ran across the room to obey his orders.

  Only as she reached the door did she look back to say,

  “Thank you – thank you. You have waved a magical wand and now – like Cinderella – I really believe that I am – going to – the ball.”

  “I promise you that is what you are doing,” the Earl replied.

  As Lupita disappeared, he told himself that he had been very astute.

  He had an answer for the gossips and also he would, he sincerely hoped, annoy Heloise.

  She always disliked any form of competition.

  He had the feeling that with Lupita wearing the jewelled dress that had cost him so much money, Heloise would be most definitely put in the shade.

  CHAPTER THREE

  As soon as Lupita had gone upstairs the Earl went into action.

  He had been noted when he was in the Army for his considerable powers of organisation and discipline

  He was aware that this talent was something that he needed especially at this moment.

  First of all he had sent for his housekeeper, Mrs. Fielding, who had been working at the house since he was a boy and he told her exactly what he wanted as regards Lupita.

  Then he said,

  “See that the small boy, his Lordship, is properly looked after and that the housemaids or the footmen play with him and keep him amused.”

  “I’ll do that, my Lord,” the housekeeper answered.

  “The one thing he must not do is to disturb his sister. Do you understand?”

  “I’ll do me best, my Lord,” the housekeeper promised.

  The Earl then sat down and wrote a letter to the Duchess of Devonshire.

  As it happened, she was his Godmother and was very fond of him.

  As the Duchess of Manchester she had been an enchanting beauty and the Marquis of Hartington, who afterwards became the Duke of Devonshire, was her lover for many years before they could be married.

  Now she had grown old and rather fat, but she had a charm that was always irresistible.

  She was also very fond of good-looking men, especially her Godson,

  The Earl knew that she would be greatly intrigued by his letter and she would certainly allow him to do what he planned. He sent the letter off by a groom to Devonshire House and then wrote another to be taken to the Egyptian Embassy.

  By this time it was getting late and he knew that it would soon be time for him to change for dinner.

  The cook had, of course, been alerted that his Lordship was dining in and the Earl had ordered dinner much later than usual.

  The guests had been invited to arrive at Devonshire House at ten-thirty.

  But the Earl was well aware that huge dinner parties like the Duchess of Marlborough’s, which were being given before the ball, would take far longer than the dinner he was sharing with his grandmother and Lupita.

  To make it far easier for both of them, he told the housekeeper, that Lupita was to wear an ordinary gown at dinner.

  He wanted her to change into her fancy dress afterwards just before they left the house.

  “Of course,” he said, “have her hair done and I think she will need some jewellery from the safe.”

  He had assumed that, while Heloise had sent him back the gown she was to impersonate Cleopatra in, she would have kept the expensive pearl earrings he had bought for her as well.

  Having made enquiries he learnt that this was true and it made him even angrier than he was already.

  He had been unfailingly successful all his life and in everything he undertook and he still could hardly credit that Heloise had deceived him into thinking that she really loved him.

  Now she was going to do her best to humiliate him in front of all his friends.

  Those who knew the Earl well would have been warned that he was in a fighting mood.

  The look in his eyes and the hardness of his lips showed that he was now fighting a new battle that he was absolutely determined to win.

  It was something he had invariably achieved in the past and it had earned him a medal for gallantry that he was extremely proud of.

  That he had survived several dangerous Campaigns that had killed his brother Officers was entirely due to his intelligence and to his exceptional powers of leadership.

  Now he knew that he was fighting a battle for his pride and his self-respect.

  It was another Campaign that he must win.

  *

  When Lupita came down the stairs to dinner, she was in a simple white gown that she had worn at home when she dined alone with her father.

  She had packed in a hurry to get away from her home as fast as she possibly could and had thrown in anything that came to hand.

  She had known only too well at the time that it would be disastrous if Cousin Rufus had realised that they were leaving.

  All she could think of was that she must take Jerry away from the house and to safety.

  She had made up her mind that they would be far safer if they were lost in London rather than anywhere else.

  Now when she went into Jerry’s room to say ‘goodnight’ to him before she went down to dinner, she found that he was sitting up in his bed.

  He was playing with some toys that the housekeeper had found for him in the attics.

  “Look what I have, Lupita,” he enthused when she appeared.

  “A train, a Teddy bear and a golliwog,” Lupita exclaimed. “You are a lucky boy.”

  “And there will be more toys for me tomorrow,” Jerry grinned with satisfaction.

  Mrs. Fielding, who was with him, explained,

  “We put all his Lordship’s toys up in the attics, my Lady, and I promised your brother I’d bring some more down and put them in the boudoir, which his Lordship says you’re to have as your sittin’ room.”

  “That is wonderful!” Lupita cried. “How kind his Lordship is to think of it.”

  She put her arms round Jerry and said,

  “Goodnight darling. Go to sleep soon because you have had a long day and you must be feeling very tired.”

  “Bracken says he likes it here,” Jerry answered. “There’s quite a big garden, Lupita, and he had an enormous supper.”

  “As I expect you did too,” Lupita laughed.

  She kissed her brother lovingly and, when she left the room, he was once again playing with his toys.

  She sent up a little prayer to God of thankfulness.

  How different it would have been if they had stayed alone in some dreary small hotel.

  What was more, now that she thought of it, they might have made a fuss about taking in Jerry’s dog.

  ‘We have – been lucky – so very lucky,’ she told herself as she walked downstairs.

  The Earl put himself out at dinner to be amusing, both to his grandmother and to Lupita.

  He told them stories of when he was around the same age as Jerry and, because Lupita was interested, he talked about his racehorses and their training.

  The food was delicious and every course was perfectly cooked.

  Time seemed to slip by so quickly that Lupita could hardly believe it when the Earl said,

  “Now you must go and get dressed. I want to leave in about half-an-hour.”

  “I am sure I shall – not be ready,” Lupita exclaimed.

  “I am coming to your room in ten minutes,” the Earl said, “to make sure that you are and that you are dressed exactly as I want you to be.”

  She gave a little cry of horror and ran from the dining room and straight up the stairs.

  Mrs. Fielding was waiting with the seamstress who, Lupita learned, lived in the house.

  When they were helping her into the dress, she thought that it was the most exciting and elaborate costume that she could have ever imagined.

  It was too long, however, and also too big in the waist.

  The seamstress was taking the waist in when the Earl knocked on the door and came in.

  He saw at a glance that Lupi
ta was going to look exactly as he wanted her to.

  He had remembered, because he was very well read, that Cleopatra was not of Egyptian blood but Macedonian.

  She was in direct descent from the Macedonian, Ptolemy Soter, founder of the dynasty which had ruled Egypt for nearly three hundred years since the death of Alexander the Great.

  According to the history books, her skin was ‘as white as milk, her eyes as blue as the Aegean and her hair was burnished gold.’

  It had then occurred to him that he could stage a more striking and dramatic entrance for Lupita if he came, not as Mark Antony, but as Julius Caesar.

  Julius Caesar had arrived in Egypt in pursuit of his defeated rival, Pompey the Great and had a love affair with Cleopatra seven years before Mark Antony even met her.

  He had therefore told the Duchess in his letter that he was coming as Julius Caesar.

  “I shall be accompanied,” he wrote, “by a new ‘Cleopatra’, who is the daughter of the late Earl of Langwood.”

  He had the idea that the Duchess and the late Earl had been friends many years ago.

  And he was quite sure that he was right in thinking that Lupita’s father had been a great admirer of the beautiful Duchess of Manchester as she was then.

  As the Earl now came into the bedroom, Lupita looked at him apprehensively.

  He was dressed not as Heloise had intended as the dashing Mark Antony but as Julius Caesar.

  The costume was the same, but on his head the Earl wore a laurel wreath, characteristic of Julius Caesar as a victorious General.

  He had also added a touch of white powder to his dark hair.

  He was, however, not so much concerned with his own looks as with Lupita’s.

  When she met Julius Caesar, Cleopatra was not yet twenty-one years old. She was young and untouched by any man, and had the beauty and purity of a young girl.

  Heloise had chosen the gown to make herself look seductive and, as she had said, ‘as if it expressed all the legends and magic of Egypt’.

  However, to the Earl’s satisfaction, it looked entirely different on Lupita.

  He prided himself on knowing how to make a woman look her most beautiful.

  It was just as he prided himself on being able to decorate his houses more strikingly and in better taste than anyone else could.

  He was well aware that, apart from the enveloping headdress that was portrayed in every portrait of Cleopatra, Heloise had intended to wear her long red hair flowing down over her shoulders.

  It might not be entirely historically correct, but it would most certainly have become her.

  The Earl had instead instructed Mrs. Fielding that Lupita’s hair was to be arranged close to her head and must hardly show at all.

  What was then displayed was her long neck, which made her look young and vulnerable.

  The dress, with its jewelled breastplates, was festooned all over the bodice with semi-precious jewels.

  Below the waist it flowed out in loose panels of chiffon that floated as she moved.

  One glance told the Earl that they were too long and so he ordered the seamstress to cut them so that they just touched the floor.

  He also realised that while the dress fitted closely, it did not accentuate the curves of Lupita’s body as it would have done on Heloise.

  But it contrived, as the headdress did, to make her seem very young and breathtakingly beautiful.

  On his instructions the seamstress added a frill of chiffon over the shoulders.

  As she was doing so, the Earl’s secretary came in carrying a tray.

  On it were displayed some of the Ardwick jewels that his mother had worn on important occasions and, when not in use, they were kept in a closely guarded safe near the kitchen.

  The Earl picked up from the tray a necklace consisting of two rows of perfect Oriental pearls that had just a touch of pink in them.

  They had always been admired when his mother had worn them and, as he then fastened them round Lupita’s neck, she gave a little gasp.

  He put a broad diamond bracelet round each of her wrists and next the Earl chose two magnificent diamond earrings that sparkled like stars in her ears.

  The Earl was thinking how often Heloise had hinted that she longed to wear the Ardwick jewels. But he had not agreed to her doing so until they were officially engaged.

  For one thing the most outstanding of the jewels were easily recognisable to the Social world.

  Secondly he had vowed to himself that no one would wear the Ardwick jewels except the woman he married.

  Now he cast this resolution aside.

  Tonight he was quite determined that Lupita should totally eclipse Heloise and he hoped to teach her a lesson that she would never forget.

  He stood back to take a long look at Lupita.

  “I have – never seen – anything so lovely.” Lupita said in an awed voice as she looked at the diamond bracelets on her wrists.

  The Earl was certain that was what people would be saying about her.

  However, he left it to Mrs. Fielding and the housemaids to exclaim over and over again how marvellous and enchanting her Ladyship looked.

  He glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece.

  “I think we should leave,” he said, “but first you must show yourself to my grandmother. She is waiting downstairs specially to see you.”

  “But of course!” Lupita cried excitedly.

  She did not wait for the Earl, but ran out of the room.

  The Earl smiled at Mrs. Fielding.

  “You have done a splendid job,” he praised her.

  “It wasn’t difficult, my Lord,” Mrs. Fielding replied. “Her Ladyship’s the most beautiful young lady I’ve ever seen and so sweet it’s a real pleasure to do anythin’ for her.”

  The Earl followed Lupita.

  He found her in the drawing room twirling round and round in front of his grandmother to show her how the chiffon panels swung out.

  She wore sandals on her feet and they were sparkling with jewels as well.

  Although they were a trifle too big, she knew that she would be able to dance in them.

  The Dowager Countess looked up at her grandson and remarked,

  “If you don’t look much more distinguished than anyone else in the ballroom, I shall be exceedingly disappointed!”

  “I have a feeling, Grandmama,” the Earl replied, “that you will be proud of both of us. I do wish you were coming with us.”

  “As I told the Duchess,” the Dowager Countess said, “I am too old for balls.”

  The Earl thought that in fact she was indeed wise.

  She had attended a dinner party last night and had had luncheon today at Buckingham Palace with the Queen.

  However, as he kissed her goodnight, he said again,

  “I wish you were coming too, Grandmama, but we will tell you all about it tomorrow and not miss out a single detail.”

  “That is what I shall be waiting to hear,” the Dowager Countess replied, “and bless you both. You look absolutely marvellous.”

  It was what the Earl thought himself.

  Lupita, when she looked in the mirror, could hardly believe that the glittering image she saw was not really the reincarnation of Cleopatra.

  The Earl’s finest carriage was waiting for them outside the front door.

  The butler put a cape of Russian sable over Lupita’s shoulders.

  And then the horses started off.

  As they did so, Lupita slipped her hand into the Earl’s.

  “I am so excited!” she said. “I am half-afraid the carriage will break down or something will prevent us at the last moment from reaching the ball.”

  She spoke just like an excited child.

  The Earl knew that there was nothing flirtatious in the way she had slipped her hand into his. It was done in the same way as she would have impulsively taken the hand of her brother or her father.

  “Now listen to me very carefully,” he said, “because I am g
oing to tell you what we will do when we arrive at Devonshire House.”

  *

  The Earl had deliberately waited until he thought that most of the guests, including the Marlborough House party, would have arrived at Devonshire House.

  He was therefore not at all surprised when they entered the hall to see only a short queue of guests mounting the staircase to be greeted warmly by the Duke and Duchess.

  The famous Blue Hungarian band was playing as he and Lupita moved slowly upwards.

  There was a Master of Ceremonies dressed in Elizabethan costume to ask their names and which characters they represented.

  Then, when they had reached the top of the staircase, in a stentorian voice he announced them to the Duke and Duchess,

  “The Earl of Ardwick and Lady Lupita Lang, representing the most noble Gaius Julius Caesar, Dictator of Rome, and Her Majesty Queen Cleopatra of Egypt.”

  The Duchess of Devonshire’s eyes were twinkling as she said to Lupita,

  “I am delighted to meet you, Lady Lupita. Your father, as I expect you know, was an old and dear friend of mine.”

  Lupita curtseyed as she said,

  “Thank you very – very much, Your Grace for allowing me to come to your – wonderful ball.”

  The Earl then led her towards the ballroom, which was massed with orchids, lilies and many other exotic plants.

  They had been brought, the Earl was aware, from the Conservatory at Chatsworth, the Duke’s great country house in Derbyshire.

  Footmen in eighteenth century Livery were handing round glasses of champagne.

  Having reached the door, the Earl did not take Lupita into the ballroom. Instead he drew her along a side passage and into an empty sitting room.

  He went to the open door and he thought it unlikely that the Marlborough House party, after a very formal dinner, would arrive before at least another half-hour.

  A footman then came hurrying up to him.

  “’Her Grace asked I to tell you, my Lord, that she’s just bein’ carried into the ballroom.”

  “Thank you,” the Earl replied.

  He had learned that the Duchess of Devonshire was representing Zenobia, the Queen of Palmyra.

  She had arranged, after having received her guests, to be carried into the ballroom in a palanquin on the shoulders of six bearers.