A Place Called Home (46 page)

Lucy embraced her but drew away quickly. ‘Sorry, I'm a bit out of breath. It's hot and I walked from Pickett Street.'

‘You shouldn't go there on your own. You know what a rough area it is.' Dora moved swiftly to tug at the bell pull. ‘Sit down and I'll send for some lemonade, or tea if you'd rather.' She resumed her seat, staring at Lucy with a worried frown. ‘What's happened to upset you? It's not because of what happened to Linus, is it? I mean, he deserved what he got. I know I shouldn't say it, but it's true.'

Lucy sank down on the sofa. ‘Everything is in a muddle. I don't know what I'm going to do.'

‘But you've found your mother. She's rich and famous, and now Linus is no more you'll get what's rightfully yours. You're an heiress and very eligible.'

‘Yes, I suppose so. I have the house in Leman Street, and Marriott Park, but . . .' She broke off, unable to continue.

‘But what?' Dora angled her head. ‘It's Bramwell, isn't it? What's he done to upset you?'

‘I thought he supported me in everything, Dora.'

‘Darling, you're bound to disagree about something now and then. Life would be very boring if you didn't.'

‘It's more than that, but it would sound like something and nothing if I went into details. I just feel he's let me down.'

Dora moved from her chair by the window to sit at Lucy's side. ‘But you love him, and I'm sure he loves you. It's a lovers' tiff, that's all. You're exhausted after all you've been through and you need a rest.'

Lucy gave her a watery smile. ‘When did you get to be so wise, Dora?'

‘I may not be very clever, but I know what's in people's hearts. I think you ought to go to the country and spend some time away from everyone who takes so much from you.'

‘But I love my family, Dora. Are you suggesting I leave them all in London?'

Dora smiled and her dimples deepened. ‘Who would you least like to leave behind?'

‘The children, I suppose, and perhaps Bedwin. He's as solid as a rock and I know I can depend on him, and Hester too. But she's needed to run the lodging house.'

‘What about your grandmother and Froniga?'

‘I think they'd rather stay in London, and Mama will be making arrangements to tour the music halls.'

‘Then you have your answer. Take your little household with you and leave the others, including Bramwell, to sort themselves out. You can't be responsible for everyone's happiness, Lucy. Sometimes you have to be a bit selfish and do things just for you.'

A tap on the door preceded the maid who bobbed a curtsey. ‘You rang, Miss Dora?'

‘We'd like tea and lemonade, and perhaps some of Cook's shortbread.'

‘Yes, miss.' The maid retreated, closing the door softly.

‘I'm going to do something just for me as well,' Dora confided. ‘I'm joining Mama and Papa in Paris. Piers will have to find someone else to act as hostess for his boring dinner parties. It's high time he married, but I can't seem to find a woman who's prepared to take him on. I love him dearly, but he's a bit of a bore.'

As if on cue Piers strolled into the room. He stopped, staring at Lucy in overt astonishment. ‘Lucy. So you've returned to London none the worse for your adventure.'

‘I wouldn't call it an adventure, Piers.' She stood up. ‘I'm back, but only for a day or two.' She glanced down at Dora. ‘I'm thinking of going to Marriott Park for the rest of the summer.'

‘To recover, I should think. You and your family have been headline news for days. I've had people accosting me in the House of Commons, asking about you. I've told them, of course, that we are no longer affianced.'

‘We never were, Piers. And perhaps it's just as well considering the scandal I would have brought to your door.'

He smiled and nodded. ‘It would have been an embarrassment, but I hope I'm a big enough man to overcome such prejudice.'

‘Well, you won't have to since we're just friends.' Lucy treated him to a smile as she made her way to the door. ‘I have to go now, but I hope I'll see you before you leave for Paris, Dora.'

Dora rose gracefully from the sofa. ‘I'm leaving tomorrow, but this is au revoir and not adieu. You see, I'm speaking the language already. Do tell Christelle to contact me if and when she comes to Paris. I'm sure she'd be more than welcome at the Embassy.'

‘My little sister has developed a mind of her own at last.' Piers moved to open the door for Lucy. ‘Are you returning to Leman Street?'

‘I am.'

‘I'm going that way as it happens. I have business in the city and my carriage is waiting outside. I'll take you home.' He held up his hand as she was about to argue. ‘Indulge me, Lucy. We've not always seen eye to eye, but I want us to remain friends, and if ever you're in need you know where to come.'

‘Thank you, Piers.' She turned to give Dora a fond hug. ‘I'll miss you, but we won't lose touch. We'll always be good friends.'

‘The best,' Dora said, wiping tears from her eyes.

The carriage drew up outside the house in Leman Street and Piers stepped out to help Lucy alight. To her consternation she saw Bram striding along the pavement towards them. Of all people she did not want him to get the wrong impression. ‘Thank you, Piers,' she said hastily. ‘I mustn't keep you.'

He bowed over her hand. ‘Remember what I said, Lucy. I've never found another woman who could match up to you and I doubt if I ever will.'

‘I hope that's not true.' She withdrew her hand, glancing over her shoulder at Bram, whose grim expression said more than words.

He came to a halt, scowling at Piers. ‘Is he a part of this, Lucy?'

‘What on earth are you talking about?' Piers drew himself up to his full height, but he was still half a head shorter than Bram.

Lucy marched up the steps to knock on the door, leaving them to posture like prizefighters about to go into the ring. Bedwin let her in and she went straight to the kitchen where she knew she would find Hester. ‘I've come to a decision,' she said, taking off her bonnet. ‘I'm going to open up Marriott House and take the children away from London for the rest of the summer. Will you come with us, Hester?'

Hester stopped kneading bread dough to stare at her. ‘What about your granny and Froniga?'

‘I think they'd prefer to stay here, but of course I'll speak to them. If they choose to remain they can look after the lodgers.'

Hester put her head on one side. ‘And Bram?'

Lucy could hear his footsteps on the stairs. ‘I think he has plans of his own,' she said tersely.

Hester took one look at Bram's face when he strode into the kitchen and slapped the dough into a bowl. ‘I've got water to fetch.' She left them facing each other across the kitchen table.

‘What was going on with you and Northam?' Bram demanded suspiciously.

‘I'm not talking to you while you're in this mood, and it's none of your business anyway.'

‘Of course it's my business. I thought we had an understanding.'

‘I thought we had too, but it seems that it's based entirely on what you want. You don't seem to think that my opinions count. You assume that I'll do anything you say and agree with every word you utter. Well, I'm sorry but it's not so.'

‘It's not like that.'

‘I'm going to Marriott Park for the rest of the summer and I'm taking the children with me. They can run wild and have the freedom they won't get if we stay here.'

‘Don't I have a say in it?'

‘Not unless you can offer them a better home and a more settled way of life. Can you?'

‘I always assumed that we'd look after them together.'

‘Then perhaps you should have spoken to me about it first. When I mentioned a home and children you told me to wait for the romantic moment when you would propose. I'm not waiting for any man. I learned that lesson years ago when I thought that Piers and I had an understanding. He backed out at the first sign of trouble.'

Bram ran his finger round the inside of his starched white collar. ‘You're being unfair, Lucy. Haven't I stood by you and tried to help?'

‘Yes, and you were kind enough to remind me that it was your money I was reliant on. Well, I'll have my own income when I get matters straight and I won't ever have to depend on another person, male or female.'

‘Monty Charter wouldn't have anything to do with this change of heart, would he?'

‘Why do men always assume they have a rival? I haven't had a change of heart, Bram. But I don't want to make a mistake that will ruin the rest of my life. If I marry anyone it has to be as equals or not at all.' She left the room.

The grounds of Marriott Park were ablaze with colour but the once well kept herbaceous borders were in danger of being strangled by weeds. Dog roses and convolvulus vied with lupins, hollyhocks and delphiniums in their efforts to reach the light. The lawns were knee high in buttercups and daisies and the gravel carriage sweep was pockmarked with scarlet pimpernel and clumps of yellow fumitory. The house itself lay beneath a blanket of dust and a curtain of spider's webs, but Hester and Lucy set about cleaning it with the help of Vicky and half-hearted efforts from Maggie, who had found the library and was more often than not curled up on the window seat with a book. Lucy was prepared to be lenient. ‘It's good for her education,' she said when Hester complained.

Bertie roamed the grounds, fishing in the river for trout and helping Ron Lugg snare rabbits for the pot. Lugg was teaching him to shoot and soon pheasant was added to the menu. Peckham was enjoying a new lease of life and hunting rabbits had brought out the terrier in his nature. He followed Bertie everywhere and came home each day dirty and exhausted, wagging his stumpy tail furiously when he rushed up to Lucy and falling asleep on the foot of her bed at night.

Bedwin put himself in charge of the butler's pantry and spent days cleaning the silver which they found locked in a cupboard. Not that they would be entertaining the local gentry in any style, but Bedwin was insistent that they must keep up appearances. Lucy had inherited a country house and an estate and was now a personage of some note in the community. She kept her opinions to herself and concentrated on keeping busy, which was the only way she could stop her thoughts from wandering to what might have been. But she could not control her dreams and it was Bram who haunted them, causing her to wake up with a pillow soaked with tears and suspiciously swollen and reddened eyes. If Hester noticed she was wise enough not to comment.

Lugg put Lucy in touch with Septimus Copper, Sir William's erstwhile land agent, who had apparently been scrupulous in collecting the rent from tenants, paying them into an account at the local bank. Lucy discovered that she had what to her was a small fortune, but as Copper explained, most of that money was needed to make long-needed improvements to the cottages and outbuildings. She spent many mornings sitting with him in the kitchen discussing what needed doing first, and found the business of running a large estate both absorbing and fascinating. They had left the aged carthorse with the circus as well as the cart, and Lucy attended a horse sale with Copper where she purchased a grey mare for herself and three ponies for the children. She also bought three goats, two nannies and a billy, and half a dozen hens. Copper dissuaded her from buying a cow, suggesting that she ought to wait a while before investing in more livestock, and reluctantly she agreed.

Riding her little mare, Lucy accompanied Copper on his visits to the tenant farmers and became acquainted with them and their families. She listened to their problems and made notes as to their requirements, promising to do what she could for them.

The fields were now heavy with golden corn ready for the harvest and the fruit trees were groaning beneath the weight of apples and pears in the orchards. The children were tanned and healthy and, more important, they were happy. Hester was queen of the kitchen and delighted to be away from the stews of London. Bedwin was ruler of the butler's pantry and he laid down the laws of etiquette for the children to obey without question. ‘You won't always be little heathens running wild,' he told them solemnly. ‘No one likes a man or a woman who eats like a pig and doesn't know how to behave in company.' Lucy smiled to herself, sending a warning glance to Bertie, who looked as if he might argue.

Eva arrived at the beginning of September, having left Froniga in charge of the lodging house. ‘Two women in a kitchen is one too many,' she said, dumping her carpet bag on the polished wooden floorboards in the entrance hall. ‘Besides which, I may be a Londoner but I wanted to be with my girl again. We was apart for too long, Lucy.'

‘I've got your room all ready for you, Granny.' Lucy kissed her fondly. ‘I'm glad you feel you can live here with us, and you can visit London whenever you feel the need.' She was about to close the door but Eva held up her hand.

‘You've got a visitor, darling girl. Be nice to him.' She sniffed the air. ‘I'm starving; I think I can find the kitchen on my own.' She hurried off without giving Lucy a chance to argue.

She went to the door, which had been left ajar, and opened it wide. Her heart lurched against her ribcage when she saw Bram standing on the step, half hidden behind a huge bouquet of red roses. From what she could see of him he was dressed in a well-cut tweed suit. He took off his hat and tossed it over his shoulder. ‘I'm done with city life, Lucy. I've come as a humble admirer to beg your pardon for my behaviour. I was being boorish and I promise on my honour it will never happen again. Will you forgive me?'

She was quick to hear the note of uncertainty in his voice, and his expression was that of a shy boy. The sun shone on his hair, and he was once more her golden boy. His smile went straight to her heart, and the look in his eyes sent pleasurable shivers down her spine. She held her hands out for the flowers. ‘Of course I will, Bram. Why have you left it so long?'