They Found their Way to Heaven Page 8

  “Yes, Your Grace.”

  “Are they large stables?”

  “Your Grace?”

  The Duke sighed and gave up. There might be a chance to learn more of the mystery of Mrs. Winters, but this would not be it.

  “Does anyone know where Mrs. Winters is?” he enquired.

  “In the wood, Your Grace,” said Simpson, displaying a remarkable sharpness for a man who had been deaf a moment before.

  The Duke flung him a look and went off to the wood.

  He wondered how he would find her. Beneath the trees, perhaps. He imagined how pretty she would look, wandering in and out of shafts of sunlight.

  But when he came upon Elvina, he was taken completely by surprise. She was sitting on a fallen tree trunk, her face buried in her hands, weeping bitterly. An open letter lay at her feet.

  “Good Heavens, what is the matter?”

  He had moved to stand in front of her and his voice made her raise her head before she had the chance to control her emotions. He was shocked by the sight of tears pouring down her cheeks.

  For a moment the mask with which she shielded herself from the world was gone, leaving her utterly defenceless.

  “What is it?” he pleaded again. “For pity’s sake, tell me.”

  Her answer was to glance down at the letter by her feet and snatch it up, crushing it between her fingers before he could see it.

  “Why are you crying?” he demanded. “Tell me.”

  He sat down on the log beside her, putting his hands onto her shoulders.

  “You must tell me,” he urged her.

  “There – is nothing to tell,” she stammered.

  “I do not believe you.”

  He heard her gulp and immediately said,

  “Forgive me. I had no right to speak to you so.”

  “You have no right to question me either,” she gasped.

  A remarkable force seemed to stream from him, taking possession of her, so that she felt as if she had no choice but to confide in him.

  And she must not do so. Nobody must know how stupid she had been.

  “No, I have no right to question you,” he agreed. “Your private affairs are not my concern. I only thought that there might be some way I could help.”

  “Nobody can help me. I was very foolish – and there is no help for that.”

  “Somehow I cannot imagine you being foolish,” he pointed out gently. “You are such a strong woman, putting us all in order.”

  “Oh, no, I don’t – ”

  “Do not contradict me, Mrs. Winters,” he said, smiling. “I say that we are both in your debt, Violet and I. What will happen to us if you collapse?”

  “I will not collapse,” she asserted firmly.

  “But who is there to help you, as you have been helping us?”

  “I do not need any help. I had a moment’s weakness, but it has passed. Now I am myself again.”

  With his hands still on her shoulders he searched her face.

  “Yourself,” he repeated. “But who is ‘yourself?’ Who are you?”

  “I am your sister’s governess and no more.”

  “A governess who comes from another life, another world. You are a great deal more than a governess. Why do you weep alone and allow nobody to comfort you? Why do you hide from the world – from me?”

  He had not meant to ask the final question and her face showed him that she was startled. She seemed to be looking at him imploringly. For a moment he appeared to hover in space. His hands gripped her shoulders tighter.

  And then a bird flew overhead, its shadow touching their faces and the spell was broken.

  His breath left him slowly as the dream seemed to leave him. She too felt herself return to reality. Something had happened, but she did not know what. The world was different.

  “Forgive me,” he said slowly. “I had no right to intrude into your private affairs. Your feelings are your own. They do not concern me.”

  He said the last words with a kind of desperation, like a man who was trying to convince himself.

  “I am most grateful for your kindness,” Elvina responded in measured tones. “But I should be getting back to my pupil. I have left her alone too long.”

  “Yes, I believe your horses have arrived,” he said, taking his cue from her and trying to speak normally.

  Rising from the log he assisted her to stand and they walked back together.

  The way back took them through the stable yard, where Simpson was just parading Elvina’s animals to the wide-eyed admiration of the stable hands.

  The Duke stopped to regard the magnificent creatures with awe.

  “Jupiter and Mars,” Elvina told him proudly.

  “Spirited names,” the Duke commented. “Are they as spirited by nature?”

  “I would not have them any other way!”

  He walked around them, running his hands up and down their legs.

  “I am jealous,” he finally pronounced. “I have nothing so good in my stables.”

  He eyed her strangely.

  “The mystery deepens,” he murmured quietly.

  And walked away.

  Elvina followed him at a distance and rounded the corner of the house just as a very smart carriage was bowling up to the front door.

  It was drawn by two matching white horses and driven by a liveried coachman. On the door a grand coat of arms was emblazoned.

  In the back sat two elegantly dressed ladies, one middle-aged and one in her twenties. The face of the latter was petulant, but otherwise without character.

  Elvina entered the house by a side door and hurried up to the library, where she found Violet leaning out of the window. Violet whirled when she saw her enter.

  “Do you see who’s here?” she asked in horror.

  “I saw two ladies in a carriage. Who are they?”

  “Lady Gorleston, widow of the Earl of Gorleston and her daughter, Lady Alexandra. And I hate them both.”

  “Violet, you must not say that.”

  “Why not? It’s true, especially Lady Gorleston. She is a tiresome woman who never leaves David alone. She flatters him and makes up to him.”

  “I suppose everyone does, because he’s a Duke.”

  “It’s disgusting. He should not let her do it.”

  “How can he stop her? Besides, he must be so used to it, I doubt if he notices.”

  “I try to make up for it by being rude to her, but with him there I cannot be as rude as I want to be!”

  “You must not be rude to her at all,” Elvina advised. “The new Violet is charming, delightful and inspires everyone she meets.”

  Violet laughed.

  “Is that what you expect me to be?” she asked.

  “Of course. As your brother would say, you have a position to keep up.”

  “Do I have to be charming for that?” Violet asked, aghast.

  Elvina could not help laughing at Violet’s gloomy expression.

  “I hate Lady Gorleston,” she repeated. “She has been really nasty about me, not only to her friends and her family, but also to David.

  “I think she wants David to marry Alexandra. And then she would contrive to move in here as well. She is a widow with no other daughters. But I cannot think of anything more ghastly than if she was running the house, doing me down, and I am quite certain making David unhappy.”

  Elvina stared at her as the implications of this image struck home. If the Duke married someone who was not understanding and kind to Violet, she would revert and be as difficult and unpleasant as she had been when Elvina arrived.

  Almost as if Violet knew what Elvina was thinking, she said,

  “She will certainly be very jealous of you. I have heard the servants say that she is jealous of everyone in the County who is young and pretty.

  “She will get Alexandra to marry David so that she can come and rule the roost here.”

  “Is your brother attracted by Lady Alexandra?”

  “No, of cou
rse not,” Violet answered quickly. “But he has to marry and have an heir and it needs to be someone like her.”

  “Why?”

  “I mean it has to be a woman with a title. She is an Earl’s daughter. I suppose a Viscount’s daughter would do, but he couldn’t really go lower.”

  “And what about love?” Elvina demanded, horrified. “Is your brother so arrogant and lofty that he thinks love does not matter?”

  “I am sure he would rather choose a wife he loved, but he knows he cannot have everything.”

  “And his wife’s social position matters most, does it?”

  Violet stared at her.

  “Well, he thinks it does. He cannot just please himself.

  He has to do his duty to the family. I know that is what he would say.”

  “And what do you say?”

  Violet sighed ecstatically.

  “I want to be just like Romeo and Juliet.”

  “They ended up dead,” Elvina reminded her prosaically.

  “I just mean that I want to follow my heart wherever it leads. And, of course, I want David to do the same. Lady Gorleston must not have her way.”

  “Violet, you keep saying Lady Gorleston, but it’s her daughter he would be marrying. She may not want to.”

  “Not want to marry a Duke? Anyway, she will obey what her mother tells her.”

  “Then we have to save your brother and we have to save him very cleverly. If you simply attack her, as you have been doing, your brother may think he has to protect her.”

  Violet was listening intently as Elvina continued,

  “You must be very charming, so that she doesn’t look too good by contrast.”

  She was interrupted by the arrival of a footman.

  “His Grace’s compliments and he would like both Lady Violet and Mrs. Winters to join him for lunch, which will be in half an hour. Lady Gorleston and Lady Alexandra will be present.”

  “Are you quite sure that I am included?” Elvina wanted to know.

  “His Grace was very particular about that point, ma’am.”

  “Thank you. Please tell His Grace that we will be there punctually.”

  As soon as he left Elvina urged,

  “Hurry now. We must appear at our best.”

  She dressed Violet in a very pretty pink dress from her own wardrobe. Then she looked again through her clothes, wishing she had brought something plainer and more befitting a governess.

  But the best she could find was a dark blue gown that despite its simplicity was full of elegance.

  Violet was overjoyed to see her.

  “She will certainly be furious that you look so nice and so smart,” she commented, “and not at all like a governess.”

  “That’s just what I don’t want her to think,” Elvina contradicted her. “I will just try to fade into the background and not rouse the suspicions of ‘the danger’ who is sitting downstairs.”

  “You are quite right to call her ‘the danger’,” Violet agreed. “I only hope we have enough weapons on our side.”

  “We have you and make no mistake you look very, very pretty,” Elvina replied. “From what you have told me I am quite certain that will annoy her.”

  “It will infuriate her,” Violet said gleefully.

  “Now is the time to show your brother you are a very different person from the one you were before,” Elvina told her. “Remember, however nasty these ladies may be to you, you have to be delightful as a contrast to them.”

  “And you will help me, you promise,” Violet pleaded.

  “Of course I will,” Elvina said. “But I have to see them first and be quite certain they are as bad as you say. After that the battle will begin!”

  They walked down the stairs together.

  When they heard voices coming from the drawing room, Elvina’s eyes twinkled as she looked at Violet.

  “You look so lovely,” she told her. “Remember our plan of campaign.”

  Violet drew in her breath.

  “I am ready for anything,” she whispered.

  Elvina could not help laughing.

  As they walked in Elvina saw that the Duke was standing by the window.

  He was obviously pointing out something in the garden to the ladies who were standing beside him.

  One look at Lady Gorleston told Elvina that she was a danger not only to Violet but also to the Duke. She was the type of female whom Elvina had met quite often in London.

  Women who were anxious to make sure their daughters or perhaps their husbands were important because of the gain to themselves.

  She was, perhaps, in her late forties, with a hard face that must once have been beautiful before arrogance and selfishness soured it.

  Her daughter was a younger, more pallid version of herself. She looked weak and slightly foolish and equally ill-humoured.

  As the Duke had heard the door open when Violet and Elvina entered, he turned round towards them and a pleased smile came over his face as he saw Violet.

  The expressions of the two ladies froze.

  Aware of the impression she was creating, Violet moved forward and held out her hand to Lady Gorleston.

  “How lovely to see you,” she smiled. “I thought it must be you when I saw your smart carriage coming up the drive.”

  She spoke in such a friendly way that Lady Gorleston and the Duke were both surprised. Lady Alexandra looked confused.

  Almost as though he was aware of tension in the air, the Duke hurried to say,

  “Lady Gorleston, Lady Alexandra, you must meet Mrs. Winters who is a new addition to the castle. She has made such a change for the better in Violet’s life.”

  Lady Gorleston turned lofty eyes towards Elvina.

  “And Mrs. Winters is – ?”

  “I am Lady Violet’s governess.”

  She could almost have laughed at the surprise and fury in Lady Gorleston’s face. Clearly she was not used to sitting down to lunch with governesses. Nor was this very smart and fashionable woman standing in front of her how she expected a governess to look.

  Elvina had held out her hand, but Lady Gorleston ignored it. In fact she stared at her aggressively and angrily.

  “How do you do,” she said at last in a hard voice.

  “How do you do, my Lady,” Elvina said politely.

  “My daughter, Lady Alexandra Gorleston. My love, this is Mrs. Winters. The governess.”

  “How do you do, Lady Alexandra.”

  Lady Alexandra inclined her head and murmured something, but plainly she would do nothing until she knew which way her mother would turn.

  In a cold hard voice Lady Gorleston asked,

  “Am I to understand that you are employed to teach this poor child, who has been unlucky up to now in those who have been hired for this purpose?”

  “I am very fortunate to be here in this lovely castle,” Elvina replied. “Violet has shown me the horses, which as I am sure you appreciate, are wonderful. They would be the envy of every rider in the South.”

  Lady Gorleston turned almost rudely towards the Duke to comment,

  “You must be glad that after so many difficulties, you have at last found someone who will instruct poor Violet in everything essential before she makes her debut.”

  There was silence.

  Then Elvina said,

  “It isn’t commonly known that Lady Violet is extremely accomplished. She could read before she was four years old and she is reading her way right through the magnificent Castleforde library.”

  Because she spoke so admiringly, the Duke smiled at her and remarked,

  “I think the truth is that few people enjoy the library as much as you do, Mrs. Winters.”

  As he spoke, Elvina was aware that Lady Gorleston stiffened.

  There was fury in her eyes, but for the moment she could not think of anything to say.

  Then, before the Duke could reply, the butler came in to announce,

  “Luncheon is served, Your Grace,” and all heads
turned towards him.

  “Good!” the Duke exclaimed. He gave Lady Gorleston an engaging smile and offered her his arm.

  “Why don’t you take Alexandra in?” she asked immediately. “Alexandra, my dear, take the Duke’s arm.”

  Smiling like a well-behaved doll, the girl did so. He accepted the change graciously and led her into the dining room.

  Before following them Lady Gorleston turned back to Elvina and said with lofty graciousness,

  “So delightful to meet you Mrs. Winters. Such a shame that we have to part so soon.”

  “But we are not parting, my Lady,” Elvina replied. “I am coming in to lunch.”

  Lady Gorleston’s face was a study of horror.

  “You? A governess?”

  “His Grace has been kind enough to invite me,” Elvina parried, refusing to be discomposed by the other woman’s icy glare.

  “In that case,” Lady Gorleston said in a hard voice, “I suppose you had better come.”

  Turning, she stormed into the dining room, leaving Elvina and Violet to exchange significant glances.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The table that had been laid for them was round and just large enough for five people, a welcome change from the huge oblong table where the Duke normally dined.

  The Duke seated Lady Alexandra on his right and her mother on his left. Lady Gorleston shoved her way in front of Elvina, as though afraid that she might take a better seat than was a servant’s right.

  But Elvina had the last laugh, because she found herself sitting directly opposite the Duke.

  Violet turned the conversation to horses. It might have been innocently done, but the three of them knew all about horses and it soon became obvious that the Gorleston ladies knew very little.

  Good manners kept Elvina from pressing a subject which would show the guests at a disadvantage, but when Violet mentioned breeding it was too much for her.

  “David is as good as any breeder you have ever known, isn’t he Mrs. Winters?” Violet enquired provocatively.

  “I am certain of it. Your Grace, it would be a tremendous success for the County, as well as yourself, if you challenged some of the other breeders who, I can assure you, are not as good as you are.”

  She sensed Lady Gorleston stiffen. Since when did governesses assure their employers of something so far outside their duties?

  Firmly she claimed his attention to say,