A Dream Come True (13 page)

“Would you care for some tea? I do apologise for keeping you waiting. Mama is still not at all well.”

“She is no better then?” he asked.

“No, we had to call out Doctor Maybury last night and the situation is grave.”

“Oh, I am so sorry, and I assume that now you will not wish to go for a ride this morning? In any case, it is now rather late.”

“Would you mind terribly, Edward?” she said, turning her sad, grey eyes on him. “I do not feel strong enough to go haring over fields today as I had to sit up with Mama all last night.”

“Do you not have servants to do that kind of thing?” asked Edward with a genuinely shocked look on his face.

“I wished to do it myself,” replied Lucia quietly. “Besides, I have not seen her all week having been at Longfield Manor.”

Edward took a deep breath and Lucia winced. She knew what he was about to say before the words had spilled from his mouth.

“Lucia, I hope you have had time to consider my proposal?” he asked quite brusquely.

She cast her eyes down and wrung her hands.

“Edward, I am afraid I cannot think of marriage while Mama is so ill. It would not be right. Doctor Maybury thought – ”

She swallowed hard afraid that she was about to cry.

“He thought that she might not recover.”

Edward nodded his head soberly. His mouth pursed in barely concealed disappointment.

“Naturally,” he said at last. “You must not give it further thought. We shall talk again on a more suitable occasion. But I must warn you – I am not a man to give up easily.”

He went to get up and Lucia felt alarmed that she had offended him.

“Edward, Moston has not brought our tea yet.”

“There is no need for tea,” answered Edward. “I can see you are very preoccupied at the moment.”

Finally he rose and strode into the hall, asking a surprised Moston for his hat.

“Leaving so soon, sir?” he commented, putting down the tea tray.

He turned briefly to bid goodbye to Lucia and left.

After he had gone, Lucia asked Moston to bring the tea tray into the drawing room.

“Let's not allow good tea to go to waste!” she murmured, trying to muster a smile.

As she sat and sipped her tea, she thought long and hard. In her heart, she knew that the next time that Edward proposed to her, she would have to search for another excuse to refuse him.

She did not care to admit that since spending so much time with Lord Winterton, she had begun to question more closely the nature of her attachment to Edward.

Once she had finished her tea, she returned upstairs to sit with her mother for a few hours.

At half-past one Mrs. Darrowby had to wake her up to tell her that luncheon was served.

*

 Lucia took a walk around the garden that afternoon and, as she did so, she rehearsed what she would say to Lord Winterton on Monday morning.

She did not care if they ended up owing him more money or if she had to answer a thousand letters from love-struck women, she would ask about the Swiss doctor her stepfather had mentioned.

‘Surely, if we already owe him a great deal of money, then another hundred pounds or so will not make the slightest bit of difference?' she told herself, as she examined the wisteria for signs of budding flowers.

She had a whole speech formulated by dinner that evening, and announced to her stepfather that she would broach the subject with Lord Winterton as soon as she arrived at Longfield Manor on Monday.

“Oh, I'm not certain it is such a good idea,” Sir Arthur told her, shaking his head. “I'm in the man's debt enough as it is and it pains me to be so.”

“But Stepfather, you yourself said that Doctor Maybury has told us to prepare for the worst! You cannot let her – ”

She could not finish the sentence – again the word die stuck in her throat.

Sir Arthur sighed and picked up his soup spoon.

“Lucia. I do not want you to think that I am a heartless man. I know I am bluff at times, but I care a great deal for your Mama. Perhaps this doctor will visit us and allow us to delay payment. There is word in the City that the fortunes of my mines in South Africa may be about to improve. We must not set our hopes too high, but if they discover diamonds, we shall not want for a very long time.”

“Oh, then I pray it happens!” cried Lucia passionately. “Is it likely?”

“I could not say,” but we should not dwell on it in case the mines yield nothing but dirt and rock. “Don't count your chickens as my mother would say.”

Lucia agreed and set about her soup.

“By the way, I saw Edward de Redcliffe leaving the house again this morning. I hope you're not encouraging him? You must not forget that you are promised to Lord Winterton – he will not be pleased if he thinks that someone else is paying you attention.”

“He is just a friend,” sighed Lucia.

It was not an outright lie after all.

‘Oh, what shall I do about Edward?' she pondered, as they ate in silence. ‘I do like him, but – marriage?”

As the meal progressed, she told herself that she should concentrate on her mother rather than him.

‘She needs me more than he does. I must find a way to persuade Lord Winterton to engage this doctor as soon as possible.'

*

 Her mother appeared to neither worsen nor improve over the course of the weekend. Lucia could not wait for Monday morning and was ready waiting for Briggs to take her in the motor car at the crack of dawn.

“I want to be there early so that I can begin work on a very important project for Lord Winterton,” she told him, as they sped towards Longfield Manor.

Lord Winterton was eating breakfast when she arrived and he emerged from the dining room with a puzzled expression on his face.

“So keen?” he said, an amused smile playing about his lips.

“Well, you did say that we would have to work long and hard on the unveiling ceremony, so here I am!”

“Would you care to have some breakfast first?” he asked, pushing back a lock of thick dark hair.

It was a gesture that he performed in such a languorous manner, it was as if he was attempting a seduction.

He stood awaiting her reply whilst Lucia simply blushed and handed her hat to Jepson.

“I would probably like something to eat later, but for now, I wish to make an early start.”

Lord Winterton laughed in his easy manner and followed her with his eyes as she walked along the corridor.

‘Damn fine girl,' he muttered to himself appreciatively.

Lucia settled herself down at the desk and began to look through the morning's correspondence.

After a while, Lord Winterton came sauntering into the study.

“How is your mother?” he asked, as he leaned against a bookcase.

“She is not at all well, I'm afraid,” replied Lucia, with emotions welling up inside her. “We had to call the doctor out again, but he was not much use. However, my stepfather mentioned that you knew of a Swiss chest specialist.”

“Doctor Heidweg? Splendid fellow! Shall I telephone him and ask him to call on her?”

Lucia hung her head.

“There is just one problem. We cannot afford to pay for him. I wonder if there might be any way you could perhaps ask him to defer payment of his account until we find ourselves in better circumstances.”

Lord Winterton strode across to the telephone, picked it up and waited for the exchange to answer.

“You must let me settle the account,” he said, as he was put through.

“I could not hear of such a thing and nor will my stepfather.”

Secretly, she was hoping that he would argue with her.

“Nonsense! Ah, Doctor Heidwig, please. Lord Winterton calling.”

Lucia felt a glow of happiness as Lord Winterton quickly made arrangements for the doctor to attend her mother. After he had finished the call, he turned and came to kneel beside her.

“There, it is done,” he told her in a low voice. “He will call on her this evening once his clinic in London has finished for the day. I am certain that he will be able to help her. He is a very gifted man.”

“Thank you so very much,” whispered Lucia, unable to meet his brilliant blue gaze. “You do not know what this means to me. How can I ever thank you?”

His voice became even lower and huskier as he replied,

“What is maybe another hundred pounds on top of the money I have already loaned Sir Arthur? In any case, I already have a down payment from him in the form of a very beautiful secretary! I will just have to make you work overtime for me!”

Lucia met his eyes and for a moment she felt that familiar tremor inside her.

He did not drop his gaze and his hand crept towards hers across the desk.

In a split second, she pulled herself together and began to type.

Lord Winterton rose with an almost disappointed look on his face and for the rest of the morning, Lucia sensed a distinct tension between them.

Lord Winterton seemed to load each word with a sigh and took every opportunity to brush against her.

‘Is he attempting to seduce me?' she wondered, as they left the dining room after luncheon.

He had been incredibly attentive and had flirted with her in front of Jepson.

‘Does he now believe that because he has granted my family another favour, that he can expect some repayment in kind from me?'

He kept up his subtle assault all week.

By the time that Friday afternoon came, Lucia's mind was spinning with his advances. She was terrified that she might succumb to his charms.

‘If only he was a good deal older and less attractive,' she told herself, as he passed close behind her chair in the study. ‘It would be easy for me to dismiss him or ignore him.'

But his overpowering masculinity was working its magic upon her.

She found herself gazing at his fine form and admiring his broad shoulders or thinking that his eyes were almost hypnotic in the way they engaged her.

And there was so much to do for the unveiling ceremony. She had to write to a huge list of dignitaries, as well as deal with the King's private secretary.

As the week drew to a close, Lucia was quite pleased with herself at how much she had achieved.

It was now late on Friday afternoon and she had almost finished her work.

Lord Winterton had just rung for some tea when none other than Lady Shelley swept into the study unannounced.

“Really, Richard, she scolded. “The front door was open – you should order your servants to be more careful.”

Lucia sighed inwardly as Lady Shelley cocked her head on one side flirtatiously, whilst fluttering her eyelashes at Lord Winterton.

“Camilla, I'm busy.”

Lady Shelley completely ignored him and instead made a beeline for Lucia.

“My dear, I hear that congratulations are in order.”

Lucia's mouth fell open. Surely she could not know of the deal with Lord Winterton? She decided that she must bluff.

“I am sorry, Lady Shelley, but you are mistaken. I am not engaged.”

Lady Shelley raised one elegant eyebrow.

“Really? That is not what I heard and that is not what a certain Mr. de Redcliffe is telling his friends either. My brother is a close intimate of his and apparently they were discussing you at length over dinner last night.”

Lucia was horrified.

‘How could he?' she thought. ‘How dare he tell people we are engaged when I have yet to give him an answer! I am seeing him in another light if this is true.'

Tears filling her eyes, she excused herself and ran out of the room into the corridor. She did not stop until she reached the back door that led into the garden.

“Oh dear, I seem to have upset your little secretary,” commented Lady Shelley without a hint of remorse, as Lucia pushed past her.

Outside in the garden, Lucia cried hot tears of anger that not even the sight of an albino peacock could stem.

‘Be sensible now, Lucia,' she told herself, as she pulled herself together. “Is it likely that Edward would discuss such personal matters with others? But how did she even know his name, let alone that he has been courting me, if she had not been told? No one except for Emmeline, Cecily and Tristram know that we have been seeing each other.'

But she doubted that any of her friends would even know about Edward's proposal.

‘I will write to him this evening and ask him outright,' she decided. ‘He is far too upright to fib, but I hope Lady Shelley is now satisfied with the mischief she has made and what will Lord Winterton think of me now? That the woman who he has struck a marriage deal with is a trollop who gets herself engaged to other men?'

Lucia suddenly realised how very much she did care about what Lord Winterton thought of her and that she felt more for him than just admiration.

‘For the time being, I must seek to limit the amount of damage that stupid woman has done,' she said to herself, returning to the house.

However, when she returned to the study, it was empty. Although the scent of Lady Shelley's heavy perfume still lingered, there was no sign of anyone.

She listened to see if she could hear sounds from the library next door, but all was silent.

‘It's just as if they had vanished into thin air.'

She had not been back in the study for long when Jepson came in to announce that the motor car was being brought round for her.

“Is it time already?” she said, looking at the clock on the mantelpiece.

Indeed it was five minutes to five.

“Yes, Miss Mountford. Shall I ask the driver to wait for you?”

“Please,” she answered, feeling a little flustered.

She was looking forward to seeing her mother again, as the reports back from the Hall had so far been highly encouraging.

When she had telephoned the day before, Mrs. Darrowby had said that her mother had made a marked improvement. Not only that, but Doctor Heidweg was calling on her every other day.