Jilted (17 page)

Eustacia had had the opportunity of watching cricket being played at home, and had never previously taken any interest in it, always thinking it a rather dull game. She could vaguely remember her father trying to explain the rules to her, and they had seemed to her to be impossibly complicated. Even when Morrison had been playing, her only wish had been that he might finish his turn very quickly so that he might sit with her. Never had she gained any pleasure from watching him as she did now from watching Ilam.

As a diversion from her romantic feelings towards his lordship, however, it could not have been said to be entirely successful. The energetic nature of the game meant that those involved were obliged to take off their coats and, if applicable, their waistcoats and cravats. She was therefore treated to the rather distracting sight of Ilam’s shirt being moulded to his form by the action of the breeze. She was also able to observe the ripple of the muscles in his thighs as he ran forward in order to propel the ball in Granby’s direction.

At that point, a particularly fine delivery on his lordship’s part knocked the stumps behind Mr Granby clean out of the ground. A cheer went up from the viscount’s side, and Granby left the field looking rueful. Ilam’s face was lit up by a broad grin, and as Eustacia looked at him, he turned his head and their eyes met for a brief instant. It was a moment or two before the smile died out of his eyes. He looked at her for a little longer, then turned away. Suddenly, she felt very hot. ‘Godmama,’ she asked, ‘do you mind if I go and sit in the shade?’

Her godmother looked at her, frowning. ‘You are a little
flushed. Run along. As you see, Dr Littlejohn is now coming to join me, so I shan’t be alone.’

She walked to the nearest clump of trees, where Anna Crossley was sitting with two or three other girls of her own age. They were clearly listening avidly to what she had to say, but when Eustacia approached, they all fell silent. She did not make the mistake of supposing that they had been talking about her. Given Anna’s infatuation, she was sure that the girl had been regaling them with her dreams about Ilam. She had met them briefly earlier on in the day and now asked if they minded if she joined them.

They willingly assented and made space for her on the rug on which they were sitting. Eustacia deliberately sat so that she could not easily see the play without turning her head. Anna was facing her, and was therefore able to look her fill at Lord Ilam without turning her back on her companions.

Both of Anna’s companions looked at Eustacia with
unconcealed
admiration. She was older than all of them by at least three years. Add to that the fact that thanks to Lady Hope, her outfit was both summery and stylish, and she became a person well worth cultivating.

‘Miss Hope,’ began one of Anna’s companions, ‘have you been to any weddings recently?’

Suppressing the urge to say ‘Only my own,’ Eustacia answered ‘Not very recently, no.’

‘We were just wondering what brides are wearing at the moment,’ said the same girl, whilst the other one giggled.

‘Why? Is there to be a wedding around here?’ Eustacia asked.

‘Maybe,’ said the giggling girl.

Anna frowned at her two friends. ‘I don’t actually know of one,’ she said with dignity.

‘But there
might
be one,’ added the girl who had just spoken.

‘Oh do hold your tongue, Susan,’ said Anna firmly. ‘Miss Hope, do they play cricket where you come from?’

Her words and expression made it sound as if Eustacia must, at best, come from some outlandish and probably primitive country on the other side of the world, or at worst from a very distant
planet or possibly the moon.

Eustacia answered her question politely, but inside, her mind was seething. About whose wedding had they been speaking? No one was due to get married, were they? Their general demeanour confirmed Eustacia’s earlier opinion, namely that Ilam had been so gentle in his conversation with Anna that she had completely failed to grasp what he was trying to tell her. She felt her heart sink. She really must speak to him again, before Anna said so much that she made a fool of herself. The only trouble was, he had not received her first attempt at raising the subject of Anna’s infatuation very well. Then she had slapped his face and that awful scene had ensued. He would not be very likely to listen to her now.

After the conversation had limped along for a short time, Anna said ‘Shall we stroll about a little? I’m getting tired of sitting in one place. Will you join us, Miss Hope?’

Her two friends obediently got up, and turning, Eustacia was not surprised to observe that Lord Ilam had ceased bowling and had retreated well away from them in order to take his turn retrieving the ball on the other side of the pitch. She had no wish to look as if she were pursuing him around the field, so she declined Anna’s invitation and instead went to see if she could help those who were hiding the pottery eggs.

Thanks to a little confusion over whose task it was this year, the job had not been completed, and her offers of help were greeted with grateful thanks. After the busyness of the morning
preparations
, the need for company manners as she greeted many
acquaintances
, and the disturbing nature of her encounter with Lord Ilam, a task which involved nothing more testing than hiding pottery eggs amongst the vegetation was very much to her taste. Consequently, by the time childish voices were heard as they approached the parterre, she was feeling very much more at ease.

The cricket match was not a long affair, and after Lord Ilam’s team had emerged the winner – by only a mere handful of runs – everyone wandered over to observe the treasure hunt, or to wait for the band to start to play. Young Elijah Crossley was an
enthusiastic
participant in the treasure hunt, and some of those who
joined in were very much the same age as Anna Crossley. Indeed, her two friends were not above participating, even if they did proclaim themselves to be helping the giggling girl’s younger sister. One of them cried out in triumph as loudly as any ten year old when she located one of the better hidden eggs, and Eustacia liked her the better for it. She noticed that Anna carefully edged through the group of observing adults in order to get nearer to Lord Ilam. In the meantime, her brother David, watching her movements, was clearly intending to head her off.

Soon the treasure hunt was over, and people began to gather on the lawn to listen to the band and then to make their farewells. The musicians struck up with a country dance, and Ilam began the proceedings by leading his aunt out to take a few steps. Either they had made up their differences, or they were putting up a very good front, Eustacia decided as she accepted an invitation from a Mr Percy, a landowner from the next village.

‘Your first affair of this kind, Miss Hope?’ Percy asked as they waited their turn at the bottom of the set.

‘It’s not the first garden party I have attended, but I have not been to one here before,’ she replied.

‘Oh, they’re always big affairs. Mind you, I suspect Ilam
doesn’t
enjoy them above half.’

‘Really?’ enquired Eustacia, who had her own reasons for suspecting that he hadn’t enjoyed this one.

‘Oh, he does his duty, and all that,’ replied Percy. ‘Look at him now; plenty of pretty girls around, but he’ll only dance with his aunt.’

‘Indeed?’ murmured Eustacia, wanting to vary her responses.

‘Oh yes. He never dances with anyone else. If you ask me, he’ll be glad to see the back of us.’

When the dance was concluded, Ilam led his aunt to one of the chairs that had been set around the grassy area at the foot of the terrace, on which the band had set up their instruments. Eustacia could see that Anna was rejecting an invitation to dance, and
looking
hopefully in his lordship’s direction. Perhaps earlier in the day she, too, might have hoped for an opportunity to dance with him;
but not now. She had had enough of the day, and would have been glad to go home with Trixie who was saying farewell to a
wiry-looking
lad from one of the farms. Unfortunately, she could not leave without telling her aunt, and she would not approach her because Ilam was standing behind her chair. It was not that she was nervous, she told herself stoutly; she was just very unsure of her welcome at present.

She drifted away from the dancers and wandered into the house, quite unaware that she was observed. There were a few servants about, and one or two guests talking quietly, but no one appeared to take any notice of her. She found a candle and wandered upstairs. After going through two or three rooms and crossing another small landing, she found herself, by a strange quirk of fate, to be yet again in the little room which housed the portrait of Lord Ashbourne.

She recalled the lie that her godmother had told about Ashbourne’s interest in her, and Gabriel’s insinuations about a possible relationship with his father. She stared up at the painted face. She had never even met the man, and he had caused her
nothing
but trouble.

‘You, my lord, are exceedingly tiresome,’ she told him wearily. ‘As for your wretched son, I would very much like to push him into his own stupid fountain, because he is just as tiresome as you are.’

‘I’m obliged to you, ma’am,’ said Ilam grimly from the other entrance. ‘I might have guessed you would come here.’

She jumped as he spoke. He had appeared noiselessly, and, moreover, she had assumed him to be outside with his aunt. ‘Oh, might you? Well, I can assure you that it was a complete surprise to me for I arrived here entirely by chance,’ Eustacia answered, colouring a little because he had overheard her saying that she wanted to push him into the fountain.

‘You’ll allow me to keep to my own opinion on that matter,’ his lordship replied.

‘Well, I suppose I had better do so, even if it is a completely stupid opinion,’ Eustacia replied. ‘As a matter of fact, I came up here to get away from people, not to be pursued by … by—’

‘You don’t need to say any more,’ replied Ilam suavely. ‘Your destination tells its own tale.’ He glanced up at his father’s picture.

‘Oh, for goodness’ sake,’ Eustacia began.

‘The first time I saw you, you had laid flowers before his picture,’ Ilam interrupted.

‘No I hadn’t. I put them there by accident.’

Ilam laughed. ‘A fine story,’ he declared. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if you came here quite deliberately, hoping to meet him, as I had assumed originally.’

‘I certainly did not,’ retorted Eustacia indignantly, turning quite pink. ‘I do not go running round throwing myself at men.’

They stared at each other. Up until now the air had been filled with fury. Now it seemed to crackle with tension of quite another kind.

‘No, you place flowers beneath their portraits instead. Don’t try to deny your interest in him. Remember that I heard you quizzing Aunt Bertha about him. This is not the first time that I have found you sighing over his picture. God Almighty, I have even had you defend him to my face!’ His voice had risen during this speech. Now, he made a perceptible attempt to pull himself together, and went on in a calmer manner. ‘I am well aware that your mother was pursued by my father and in your eyes he must have acquired an aura of glamour. Believe me, Miss Hope, you are far from the first to be captivated by his charms.’

‘Ooohh!’ Eustacia made an infuriated sound which was
something
between a growl and a scream. She looked around for
something
to throw at him, failed to find anything and eventually resorted to seizing hold of his coat and attempting to shake him. ‘For the thousandth and what I hope will be the last time, although somehow I doubt it, I do not know your father, I have never met your father, I have no desire to meet your father, and
I do not find your father attractive
!’

‘“Methinks the lady doth protest too much”,’ Ilam quoted softly.

With a squawk of rage, Eustacia tugged hard at his coat once again, and this time, whether because she tugged harder or because
he chose to give way at that moment, she succeeded in pulling him down so that his face was close to hers. This proximity was so unexpected that she was taken completely by surprise, and
therefore
acted without thinking. Recalling the incident afterwards, she decided there could be no other way of accounting for it, for she took a deep breath, and kissed him full on the mouth.

His lordship did not respond by taking her in his arms, but he did not pull away either. When Eustacia drew back, the enormity of what she had done swept over her and she felt herself turning bright red.

Ilam stared down at her for a long moment. ‘I think you’ve made your point,’ he said, his voice sounding very quiet.

Before either of them could speak, or do anything, they heard the sound of footsteps in the passage, and a footman appeared with the message that Lady Agatha was now ready to leave.

‘Allow me to escort you downstairs, Miss Hope,’ said Ilam, politely making way for her, then giving her his arm the length of the long gallery. They were both silent, each lost in thought.

As they made their way into the garden, Ilam said, ‘Believe me, Miss Hope, this conversation is very far from finished.’

Eustacia watched him as he exchanged a few words with his aunt before their departure. She thought about how
she
had kissed
him
– and it had undoubtedly been she who had kissed him, not the other way round. She began to feel hot at the very thought; and not entirely from embarrassment. What would everybody think if she ran to him now and planted another kiss upon his lips? What would it be like to be pulled into his arms and enfolded in his powerful embrace? She was sure it would be powerful. His arms were so strong and muscular. Involuntarily she gave a little shiver.

How could she have been so unprincipled and vulgar, she asked herself. He had accused her of running after Lord Ashbourne. She had not done that, but she had behaved in just the kind of way that some female in pursuit of a notorious rake might be expected to conduct herself. It was high time she exercised a little more control.