Doubting Abbey (40 page)
‘Sure you don’t want to sit like a sandwich in between us, little lady?’ the Baron shouted over to me.
While I shook my head and cringed, Edward’s face kind of scrunched up – a bit like he had the night Nick tried it on with me. Clearly, he didn’t like the Baron any more in the flesh.
The sound and camera crew stood at the ready. Nervously, Jean coughed and I told her how fab her hair looked. She’d had it especially styled and I’d done her and Kathleen’s nails. The temptation to bejewel them had been strong but, even though I wasn’t an aristocrat-in-training any more, I couldn’t face one of Lady C’s disapproving dinner lady stares.
Three, two, one… Charlie introduced the show. Oh my God – we were
live
on television! This was kind of exciting – or terrifying. I couldn’t decide which. Once I’d seen the coverage in the papers yesterday, I’d rung Dad with an explanation. Usually, we spoke at least once a week. He just thought I’d been busy looking for a new job. Proud, he was—said I’d been a good friend to Abbey; said it was nice to see me classily dressed up. Apparently, my brothers had hooted with laughter when they found out and put YouTube clips of my
Titanic
lawnmower antics onto their phones. Yet Dad said they both thought I had
Iron Man
nerves and threatened to duff up ‘that tosser, Nick’, if he ever crossed their paths.
Smile fixed on my face, I sat on the edge of my seat as Charlie chatted to the Earl and the Baron. Boring! For the hundredth time, he was asking them both what it would mean to win. Cue footage on a TV screen we could see, at the front next to Charlie, of both properties and comments from members of the public. Then various celebrities chipped in with their views.
Just as it was getting more interesting, there was a commotion outside the door. At that moment the programme went to an interval and filming stopped for five minutes. The make-up girl rushed over to Charlie, passed him a comb and powdered his nose. Quickly, Edward typed on the borrowed laptop. The door finally opened.
Uh oh – embarrassing for me or what? Looking mega tanned, it was the Honourable Mr and Mrs Richard Croxley. What the fu…dge were Abbey’s mum and dad doing here?
LORD EDWARD’S E-DIARY
Saturday 15th September
7.25p.m.
All too quickly, my e-diary is coming to an end. Here I am, writing this post whilst you watch the last show, ‘live’. Can I just take this opprot… I mean opp
or
tunity (excuse me for typing fast before the interval ends) to thank you all for your support. It has meant everything. My heartfelt wishes extend to you all. I…
Erm, excuse me, blog-readers, there has been an unexpected turn of events. My cousin’s parents…they’ve… Richard Croxley, he’s… Well, I never…
‘Well, well, well,’ said the Baron, with a smirk. ‘Richard Croxley, I presume?’
‘Watch it, you troublemaker!’ said Abbey’s dad and stepped forward. Still in holiday mode, he wore three-quarter length trousers and his balding head shone bright red.
‘Richard?’ Unsteadily, the Earl got to his feet. ‘What’s all this about?’
The two brothers looked at each other.
‘James…old boy… It’s been a long time.’
Richard scowled at the Baron and wow! Talk about a family likeness—for one second he looked just like Edward!
‘That rogue contacted me…’ continued Abbey’s dad ‘…said he intends to reveal something live on air about… you and me. The whole story.’
The Earl’s cheeks flushed purple. Blimey – more revelations? Really?
‘We’re about to go live on television again in a few minutes,’ said Edward, on his feet now, hand on his dad’s arm. He, the Earl and Richard stood together on our side of the room. ‘Whatever it is, Baron,’ hissed Edward, ‘is this really necessary? Do the decent thing, man.’
But the Baron was whispering into Gaynor’s ear. Like ink drops in water, her pupils spread wide. In turn, she muttered something to Charlie. Less subtle, he gave a long whistle. Like dominoes falling, now it was Lady C’s turn—she sucked in her cheeks as her tanned sister, greying hair swept up Princess Anne style, filled her in on the secret. Meanwhile, Gaynor had an excited word with Roxy, whose jaw dropped before she skedaddled out of the room for a moment.
‘Ten seconds to go,’ said Gaynor.
‘Don’t do this,’ said Richard to the Baron.
Harry sneered. ‘What’s the matter, buddy? Worried the public might realize your family ain’t so picture perfect? We know what you lot think to me and Pops, looking down your noses. But at least we haven’t misled our fans. With us, what you see is what you get. It’s time you lot dropped this wholesome Walton family charade.’
‘Three, two, one, action,’ said Gaynor.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ said Charlie to the camera. ‘Get dialling those numbers – there’s one hour left to get your votes in… And, to help you make up your minds, perhaps, here’s something unexpected. Out of the blue, the Earl of Croxley’s brother has arrived. The Honourable Richard Croxley and his lovely wife have been away on a cruise and, undoubtedly, knew nothing about their daughter’s involvement – or not—in this show.’
One of the cameras zoomed in on Richard’s face. His wife was sitting next to Lady C.
‘A friend alerted us to this matter when we returned from our trip, two days ago.’ Abbey’s dad said and sighed. ‘I can only apologise for my daughter putting you in this impossible situation, Gemma. And we’ve had words with Rupert for not giving us the heads-up. We had no idea. But you did a sterling job. Well done. We’ve watched most the episodes on catch-up. It was quite a marathon.’
‘Oh, um… Ta,’ I stuttered.
‘But, as for Abigail…’ said Richard and ran a hand over his bald head. ‘We can’t understand why she would let us – and the family—down. I suppose the situation in Africa couldn’t wait…’
‘She wanted to tell you,’ I mumbled.
He leant on a nearby chair. ‘I’ve thought it over and…well…since watching the footage of that evacuee reunion—how having somewhere safe to stay with responsible adults changed children’s lives… It made me think… Perhaps I misjudged young Zachary. It’s shaken us, to be honest, that Abigail would go to such lengths to help him, and I can’t say I’m not worried about her safety, but I’m also…immensely proud.’
‘Abigail’s a good girl, Richard,’ said Lady C.
He nodded and glanced sideways at the Earl. ‘I reckon Mama would have been proud of her as well.’
‘She wanted to do the right thing,’ I said. ‘It was urgent. She asked if I’d help out. And Lady C… Lady Constance… has been amazin’—really supportive.’
‘You knew about this, Connie?’ asked her sister.
Oops – foot in mouth again. I’d forgotten that this fact hadn’t come to light in my interview with Charlie.
Lady C blushed. ‘Yes. I… know what it’s like to spend your life as a spinster, dreaming about the past. I wouldn’t want that for anyone, least of all my darling niece, Abigail. She’s happy with Zak and I’ll do everything I can to protect that.’
‘This is all very heartening, folks,’ said the Baron with a snort. ‘But how about we get to the real reason I rang the Earl’s brother, to say he should be here.’ He stood up. ‘Tell us, Richard, mate… You Croxleys are such a proud bunch, mouthing off about the importance of family values. So how come you ain’t seen your brother since you lasted visited the estate, ooh, fourteen years ago?’
‘My, my, Nick
has
been busy,’ said Edward and his top lip curled. He couldn’t take his eyes off Richard, though.
‘You two brothers have been estranged for years,’ continued the Baron. ‘Thirty-two exactly.’
‘Since Edward was born,’ Harry chipped in and sniggered. ‘Funny coincidence, that.’
‘Stop filming,’ said the Earl.
‘You aren’t serious?’ said Charlie. ‘Surely you can see, Lord Croxley, the public would find that highly suspicious. It would leave them feeling you had something to hide.’
‘Which you have!’ said the Baron and clapped his hands. ‘Let’s cut to the chase: admit it. Edward is Richard’s son – not yours. That’s at the root of your fall-out.’
What the…? How…? The Earl sat back down and suddenly looked even older, like a wizened centenarian.
Richard? Edward’s dad? Nah, that didn’t make sense – yet there was no angry reaction or laughter at such an idea. Edward didn’t even flinch.
‘Edward is illegitimate,’ said Harry. ‘He shouldn’t even inherit Applebridge Hall. The Earl’s younger brother, Richard, is officially the next in line – and then his son Rupert, I presume. The Croxley remit for winning this show is based on nothing but tall stories.’
‘How did Nick find out?’ said Edward quietly.
‘You don’t deny it?’ said Charlie.
‘No. All these years, I’ve lived with this lie.’ Edward’s cheeks flushed. ‘It’s not been easy – don’t ever think that, viewers. But I…we – tried to do the best for our ancestors.’
My mouth parched and my heart raced. Really… I mean,
really
? All this time Edward had lied? What a hypocrite! How could he give me such a hard time for my two weeks of pretending I was someone else, when he’d done that all his life?
And yet, thinking back to Edward, head in hands, in the library, and to his reaction to comments about thoroughbred Croxleys and him wishing he could be more forthright… Plus moments when he’d seemed to want to say something important to me – all of this made sense now and pointed to a mega tortured soul. A mega tortured soul who treasured honesty above everything, yet was expected to tell porkies about himself.
I caught Kathleen’s concerned eyes. She didn’t look surprised. But then the loyal cook had previously hinted that Edward had deception in his life. She must have known.
‘Nick got suspicious when looking into Abigail’s history,’ said Harry. ‘People in the village never remembered seeing her here before. And Gemma and Abigail’s neighbour, Chelsea, once overheard something about a long-running Croxley feud.’
‘So Nick asked around,’ said the Baron. ‘Eventually, he tracked down a housekeeper who’d worked at Applebridge Hall in the eighties. She spoke of how well the two brothers seemed to get on until Edward was born. Apparently the Countess—’
‘Stop,’ said the Earl in a croaky voice. ‘That’s enough. Don’t bring my wife into this.’
‘Your wife was much younger than you when you got married, wasn’t she?’ said the Baron. ‘Twenty-three to your forty-two. You naughty boy…’
‘Don’t use that filthy tone with regard to any member of my family,’ spat Edward.
‘Ooh, I could talk all night about your ma, if you wish.’ The Baron’s eyes narrowed. ‘I don’t
do
losing – I do whatever it takes to win. Nick tracked down several more former employees. Like a gardener who once heard the Countess sobbing by the pond, a few weeks after she moved into Applebridge Hall…’
‘The Countess was an incredibly special woman,’ said the Earl finally, ‘and…’ he glanced at his brother ‘…I should have appreciated her more when we first got together. But…’
‘This all happened just after Papa died,’ murmured Richard and shot the Earl a sympathetic glance. ‘Applebridge Hall was in crisis, with major electric and plumbing issues as well as a few surprise debts of our father’s to clear. After a few whiskies one night, you let slip that you didn’t think we’d make it through the winter, financially. It was all on your shoulders, James. The next day you joked that it was the alcohol exaggerating the situation.’ His voice broke. ‘I should have been more help.’
‘It was my responsibility,’ said the Earl. ‘And Rosemary bore the brunt of my black moods. Papa’s death came just after I’d proposed to her. I…I’ve thought about it a lot, over the years. How I closed in on myself and hardly spent any time with her, for those few months. She’d moved away from her parents. Richard, you were practically the only friend she had. You were both the same age…’
‘I never planned… It was just one night, James. Unforgiveable. I… was smitten with Rosemary from the moment you introduced her, however much I tried to fight my feelings and keep my distance, spending time away from Applebridge Hall. But one evening I found her alone and crying. We talked for hours. I tried to cheer her up.’ He shrugged. ‘One thing led to another and we both hated ourselves, afterwards. We wanted to tell you and I kept away as much as I could.’
‘I assumed your absences from our home were because I took everything on and wouldn’t let you help,’ said the Earl. ‘I knew how passionate you were about catering and Dad always wanted you to follow your dream. I just thought it was your business dealings that kept you away so much. It made sense for Edward to inherit – you’d hinted often enough that you wouldn’t have wanted to be in my position, as heir.’
‘I would have given up all my plans in an instant if I’d really understood what pressure you were under,’ said Richard, eyes all shiny. ‘I just assumed you were overcome with grief for our father. But you’re right – I never felt like you did about Applebridge Hall.’ He gave a wry smile. ‘The irony is, Rupert is the exact opposite to me and would do anything to run a place like the Hall. Guess genes will out eventually…’
‘What happened when you found out the Countess was pregnant?’ Charlie asked the Earl, as everyone listened for the reply in absolute silence.
The Earl cleared his throat, stood up and paced the room. ‘I was unable to have children. Rosemary knew this before I proposed. It made no difference to her. That’s the sort of woman she was, so…’ He stared into space for a moment.
‘So, we came to an agreement,’ said Richard. ‘I’d leave once and for all and never return. James would bring the baby up as his own. It… It suited us both, although… It’s been more than hard, not knowing Edward – my son.’
‘So, Lord Edward,’ said Harry sarcastically, ‘you’re not really an aristocrat with rights to a fancy mansion at all. You’re nothing but a bastard.’
I snorted and opened my mouth to hurl insults back, but Edward caught my eye and gave a shake of his head.
‘You think titles, big houses mean anything to me?’ he then said to Harry. ‘I’ve always known the circumstances of my birth and my parents…’ Edward glanced at Richard ‘…
all
of them, did what they thought was best for me. I’d sacrifice everything to protect the Hall but that’s because it’s where my ancestors were born, grew up and died. I may not be the direct heir, but I’m still a Croxley.’
