A Heaven on Earth Page 7

The Earl seemed to appreciate that she was feeling confused and he did not insist that she reply immediately.

  “I shall send for you,” he called, as his black horse tossed its head, “as soon as the snow has melted.”

  Aurora watched his shadowy outline merge into the falling snow and her heart felt warm with joy.

  She had not said anything she should not and had made no promise that she could not keep and yet she was sure that she would see the Earl again.

  Phyllis plucked at her sleeve.

  “Miss Aurora,” she exploded hoarsely, “I’m frozen to the bone. And I’m not sure I like being called ‘fierce’!”

  “Oh, Phyllis,” Aurora replied, as she urged Cherry on. “I am sure the Earl did not mean anything nasty. He simply knows that you always take very good care of me.”

  “That’s as may be,” huffed Phyllis. “Askin’ you to meet with him in secret – with all this snow on the ground. Your tracks would be as plain as pikestaff!”

  Aurora was wondering what Phyllis meant.

  If she was worried about their tracks being seen in the snow, was she actually thinking about the possibility of a secret meeting with the Earl?

  But before she had time to ask her what was on her mind, the Governess cart reached the gravel circle in front of Hadleigh Hall and they were home at last.

  *

  The next morning after breakfast, Aurora took the emerald necklace, wrapped it up in a silk handkerchief and tucking the bundle into the waistband of her dress, knocked lightly at the door of her father’s bedroom and heard his faint voice instructing her to enter.

  The room was pleasantly warm from a huge fire in the grate and was filled with a wonderful clean white light reflected up from the snow on the lawns outside.

  Her Papa, wearing a heavy silk dressing gown with a fur collar, seemed very pleased to see her and told her to sit comfortably by the fire as he rang the bell for the maid to bring her a cup of hot chocolate.

  “I am so sorry, my dear and most lovely daughter, that I was indisposed yesterday morning, as I was of course hoping to speak to you about your talk with Lord Moreton. I am delighted that you were pleased with the necklace.”

  His obvious pleasure in her company and the fact that he was pleased that she had accepted the necklace from Lord Moreton made it very difficult for Aurora to tell him her real feelings, but she knew that she had to do it and the sooner the better.

  “Papa,” she started, struggling to keep her voice from trembling. “The necklace is beautiful and I could not help but think that you must have helped Lord Moreton to choose it.”

  He laughed and his eyes twinkled with pleasure.

  “How observant of you, Aurora. Yes, indeed, my good friend Lord Moreton asked me for my advice in the matter and I was most happy to assist him.”

  Her heart was sinking further with each minute that passed, but she had to continue,

  “Papa, I should not have accepted the necklace – it was very wrong of me – ”

  “My dear,” he interrupted. “In other circumstances perhaps it would not have been prudent to receive such a gift. But as you are going to marry this man – ”

  “I have not said so – yet,” stammered Aurora. “I – have not replied – to his proposal.”

  “But you will, of course, my dear,” said her father, the smile on his face looking a little less joyful.

  “No, Papa, no!”

  Aurora forced the words out.

  “I cannot!”

  She waited for her father to frown and to be angry with her, but he merely looked puzzled and a little sad.

  “I just don’t understand. This man, Lord Moreton, is a dear friend of both your stepmother and myself and is a perfect match for you.”

  Aurora felt a wave of despair pass over her.

  How could her father not see that she did not like Lord Moreton?

  That his looks and his lisping voice and everything he said were utterly repugnant to her.

  How could he not have noticed this, when they had dined on Boxing Day?

  Lord Hartnell continued,

  “He is rich, he speaks French – at least a little – and he has a French chef. He lives close by, a circumstance which gives no little pleasure to me, as it means that I will then be able to see you almost every day and he loves you deeply and will look after your every need.”

  “I am so very sorry, Papa, but I cannot marry him,” Aurora cried desperately. “I should never have taken the necklace and I beg you, Papa, please to take it from me and to give it back to him with my most sincere apologies.”

  She pulled the little bundle from her waistband and held it out to her father.

  He took it from her most reluctantly, unfolded the silk handkerchief, pulled out the necklace and held it up to the window.

  The vivid green fire that burned in the heart of the stones seemed especially beautiful in the clear white snow light that poured through the window.

  Aurora felt so sad that such loveliness should be the cause of so much unhappiness.

  “I simply cannot comprehend the reasons for your behaviour,” he sighed wearily, “but I must trust that your feelings are sincere and you are telling me the truth when you say that you cannot marry this man.”

  He sighed again and looked even sadder.

  “Just for a moment then, when you were speaking, you took on the same look of your dear mother, who was the most honest and trustworthy of women.”

  Aurora longed to run and put her arms around him, but she did not know if it was the right moment.

  And so she stayed where she was sitting in the chair by the fire, hoping with all her heart that her father would do as she asked.

  He sighed even more deeply.

  “To bring such bad news and such pain to a friend is something I will find most difficult, but it must be done and I will undertake to do it.”

  Aurora could hold back no longer and jumped up to hug him, but he did not respond to her affection and made no attempt to return her embrace.

  “I am most disappointed in you, Aurora. And now I ask you to leave me alone. I must gather my energies for this most unpleasant task you have given me.”

  “Papa, I am so sorry, please believe me. And thank you, thank you so much – ”

  But Lord Hartnell was not listening and waved his hand to dismiss her.

  There was nothing more that Aurora could say and she felt tears welling up in her eyes, so she made a quick curtsy to her father and hurried out of the room.

  As she ran down the stairs, she saw that the servants were sweeping the hall and had left the front door open.

  Holding back the sobs that were building up inside her, Aurora ran through the door.

  She made her way across the dry powdery snow to the long terrace that looked out over the Park and stopped there for a moment, where no one could see her, to let her tears flow freely.

  ‘If only Mama was here,’ she thought, ‘and I could ask her advice. What would she say to me? Surely she would understand how I feel.’

  The sun came out suddenly through a small gap in the clouds and lit up all the little ice crystals that lay on top of the snow, so that the Park looked as if it was covered in tiny diamonds.

  Aurora caught her breath with delight at the beauty of the scene in front of her and felt her tears drying on her face in the fresh breeze.

  It was as if her Mama was standing right beside her and showing her the richness and abundance of the world.

  Aurora seemed to hear a voice whispering to her,

  ‘Just look, my dear, there are other precious things in the world besides emeralds – ’

  ‘All will be well,’ Aurora told herself and turned back to The Hall.

  As she entered, she saw her stepmother standing at the bottom of the stairs, as if she was waiting for someone.

  Aurora’s heart skipped a beat as she saw that her face was like a thundercloud.

  She realised that her stepmother must have been to
her father’s room and heard that the engagement was off.

  Lady Hartnell did not say a word to Aurora.

  She was simply glaring at her menacingly as if she was too contemptible even to speak to.

  And then she turned aside to give an order to one of the footmen on duty.

  Aurora slipped past the two of them, still expecting at any moment to be scolded, but her stepmother remained in icy silence.

  It was with great relief that Aurora ran up the stairs and gained the safety of her bedroom.

  As she stood by the fire to catch her breath, she saw a horseman in a big black cloak setting off down the drive, his horse’s hoofs leaving deep prints in the soft snow.

  ‘Who can that be?’ she wondered. ‘It looks like one of the coachmen on an errand, but why is he going out on a day like this? The errand must be a very important one.’

  She sat on a chair by the window and forgetting the unusual sight of the horse and rider setting off through the snow, found herself suddenly happier.

  Her interview with her father had gone well and he had promised to return the necklace, so now Lord Moreton could not hold her to the engagement.

  Her worries were over.

  And so, as she picked up her embroidery, she found herself smiling at the delightful thought that now there was nothing to stop her seeing the Earl of Linford again.

  *

  The sun was falling lower in the sky and turning the expanse of snow in the Park to a rosy pink.

  Phyllis brought in a tray of tea and toast and asked Aurora what she would like to wear for dinner.

  “Why, Phyllis, I don’t want to go down for dinner tonight at all. I should much rather stay quietly here in my room.”

  Phyllis frowned.

  “I thinks they’ll be expectin’ a guest tonight, Miss Aurora, and they will be wantin’ you to join them.”

  Aurora sighed.

  The thought of having to sit through the meal under Lady Hartnell’s cold stare was not a pleasant one, and she was not sure of how her father would be after the difficult conversation of a few hours earlier.

  She glanced out of the window and there was just enough light still for her to see two horsemen approaching The Hall and her heart leaped with anticipation.

  “Phyllis, look over here,” she whispered. “Someone is coming. Do you think it could be the Earl?”

  Phyllis peered out of the window.

  “No indeed,” she replied with a snort. “It’s Thomas, the coachman and someone else who be short and fat and most unlike the Earl.”

  Aurora looked again and saw that Phyllis was right about Thomas.

  She second person she could not recognise, although she noticed that he was bouncing around in the saddle as his horse trotted through the snow and did not seem to be a very good rider.

  “Maybe that is the guest, Phyllis, although I cannot think why he would wish to visit us on a day like this.”

  “It’s curious, miss. Anyone with sense would stay by their own fireside with deep snow on the ground.”

  They looked at each other for a moment and then Aurora told Phyllis about her stepmother speaking to the footman earlier that day and the rider she had seen setting out on an errand.

  Phyllis shook her head.

  “Somethin’s up, Miss Aurora!”

  “I think so too.”

  She remembered the conversation she had overhead between her stepmother and Lord Moreton on Boxing Day.

  Could it be that Lady Hartnell had sent Thomas to fetch him?

  “Phyllis,” she said quickly, “I am not feeling at all well. I have a bad headache and I shall stay in my room tonight, please tell my father and stepmother and apologise to them for me.”

  Phyllis nodded and hurried away.

  Aurora drew the curtains and hid herself under the bedcovers, straining her ears to try and catch the sound of voices from downstairs.

  All was quiet and still until after a while, she heard the sharp tapping sound of her stepmother’s heels on the landing outside and the bedroom door abruptly opened.

  “She is very poorly, my Lady,” she heard Phyllis’s voice whispering. “She should be left to rest quietly.”

  Aurora could then hear the rustle of Lady Hartnell’s skirts as she approached the bed and smelt the heavy scent she always liked to wear in the evening.

  She closed her eyes tightly turning her face to the pillow, as she felt the bedcovers lifted from her shoulders.

  “Why, you have gone to lie down with your clothes on!” came her stepmother’s rasping voice. “You must be very ill indeed if you could not take the time to undress.”

  Aurora kept her eyes closed and tried not to blink, as she heard Phyllis say,

  “Yes, my Lady, she is blind with her headache and had to lie down right away – look, see how pale she be.”

  Aurora held her breath, waiting for Lady Hartnell to shake her and pull her out of the bed and onto her feet, but nothing happened.

  She felt the soft covers fall back over her shoulders again and then heard her stepmother’s heels tapping as she walked away.

  “Poor child,” said Lady Hartnell her voice suddenly soft. “I shall send my maid with the remedy that I always take for the migraine. And, of course, she must not come down to dinner. I will inform Lord Hartnell.”

  She rustled over to the door still speaking,

  “Our guest will no doubt be very disappointed, but what can we do? I shall leave the young lady in your very capable hands, Phyllis.”

  With that she was gone closing the door behind her.

  Aurora opened one eye carefully to make sure that her stepmother had really left the room and then sat up.

  “Well, I thought she would have dragged me from the bed, but she seems to believe that I am really ill.”

  “I don’t know,” remarked Phyllis. “She’s a sly one for sure and it’s hard to read what she’s a-thinkin’.”

  “At least I am to be spared having to dine with Lord Moreton! For it is he who has just arrived, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, Miss Aurora. He be sittin’ in front of the fire with your Papa.”

  She gave a deep sigh of relief, as she pictured Papa breaking the news to Lord Moreton and then returning the necklace to him.

  “All is well, Phyllis!” she said, and explained what she had agreed with her father that morning.

  Phyllis looked relieved to hear the news.

  “Just as well then you’re not goin’ to be downstairs tonight. For I’m sure that gentleman will not be pleased with what your father has to tell him.”

  The boom of the gong announcing dinner sounded.

  And now that she knew her stepmother and father together with Lord Moreton would be safely seated at the table, she slipped out of bed to sit on the sofa.

  She and Phyllis sat beside the fire for a long time, talking through the events of the last few days until Phyllis confessed that she was feeling hungry.

  “Oh, I am so sorry, Phyllis, you must go down right away. Cook and the others will be eating in the kitchen and I had quite forgotten that you should be with them.”

  “I don’t like to leave you, Miss Aurora – ”

  “I shall be alright and perhaps you will be able to smuggle a little bread and cheese upstairs for me, since I have missed dinner.”

  Phyllis said that she would see what she could do and departed for the kitchen, leaving Aurora on the sofa.

  She sat watching the fire die down, leaving dark red embers in the grate.

  It was so peaceful in her room with just a couple of candles burning.

  Sometime later she yawned as she realised it must be getting late and time that she should be thinking about sleeping, although she was beginning to feel quite hungry.

  She was just about to get up from the sofa and go to bed when she heard a faint noise on the landing outside.

  “Phyllis?” she called out, “I hope that you got some bread and cheese for me.”

  There was no repl
y.

  The candles had been burning for several hours and one of them guttered and went out.

  Aurora stood up and went over to the door to meet Phyllis, her stomach rumbling loudly in anticipation of the food she brought.

  She opened the door onto the dark landing and a strong smell of port and cigars hit her nose.

  “Phyllis?” she called out again, puzzled as to why her maid had been drinking and smoking.

  Suddenly someone seized her arm in a harsh grip, bruising her soft flesh.

  Aurora struggled to free herself and heard a thick lisping voice whispering in her ear,

  “My sweetheart!”

  It was Lord Moreton.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “No!” Aurora cried, struggling to free herself from Lord Moreton’s tight hold on her arm.

  “Ah! Why do you hide yourself away like this?”

  He slurred, his lisp more pronounced than ever and he lunged forward through the door, so that his face came close to hers as she caught the smell of wine on his breath.

  “How could you cause me such unendurable pain?” he whinnied. “You are such teasing capricious creatures – you women! You know only too well that to deny us is to increase our ardour for you!”

  Lord Moreton’s grip on her wrist tightened sharply and Aurora bit her lip from the pain.

  He seemed to be extremely short of breath and was puffing and panting as he loomed over her.

  “My angel, you know that you are mine,” he hissed, “mine for now and forever.”

  He leaned forward as if about to kiss her, but then suddenly swayed backwards again.

  ‘He must be extremely drunk,’ Aurora decided, ‘he can hardly stand up.’

  She stopped trying to free her arm from his grip and leaned into him, as if she also was trying to snatch a kiss.

  “My lovely one,” he howled. “I knew that I should come to you and that then you would see sense.”

  The faint light of the candle in her bedroom showed her that he was smiling broadly as he dropped her wrist and reached out with both arms to pull her body against his.

  Aurora jumped backwards dodging out of his grasp and Lord Moreton swayed heavily in the doorway. As he struggled to keep his balance, she seized a cushion from the sofa and hurled it at him.