The Lovegrove Hermit (10 page)

The confrontation took place in the Great Hall. I had parted from Colonel Hartley, promising to inform him of the outcome of this new development, and made my way back to the house. As usual, the rest of the party – or what was left of it – had assembled before dinner. The moment the doctor had left, Lady Denby went up to lament over Sir Ralph. As he was blissfully unaware of her presence and his valet sat in attendance, she declared she could not bear to see her beloved spouse in such a woeful state. She hastily changed for dinner and came down to minister to her guests: Mrs Thorpe, Frank Lawrence, Sophie and me. I had no time to change unless I was willing to miss what promised to be an exciting scene.

The prodigals all entered at the same time, the two women first and then Rowland and George. The latter sidled over to me for protection in case Mrs Thorpe staged a flank attack.

Lady Denby stared at the incomers like an avenging Fury. ‘What has been going on?’ she demanded. ‘Elinor, you owe us all an explanation. You’ve almost driven your poor father into his grave with your reckless behaviour. He’s lying in his bed now at death’s door.’

‘Papa is ill? I must go to him!’

‘You’ll do no such thing! No one is allowed to see him. He must rest. And what are you doing, Rowland? Was it you who found her?’

‘Not exactly.’ He looked sheepish. ‘I suppose you could say she found me.’

‘And this young woman – who is she?’

‘His wife!’ Before Rowland could answer, the newcomer spoke for herself. She was a handsome girl, no more than twenty or so with copious chestnut hair, pink cheeks and shining hazel eyes. She was smartly dressed in a rather showy style: a canary yellow pelisse and an over-decorated bonnet. The child in her arms whimpered.

A deathly silence was broken by a hoarse, choking enquiry.

‘His wife?’ repeated Lady Denby. ‘What do you mean by that, pray?’

The young woman, who had looked nervous when she first entered, had gained confidence and viewed her ladyship with a defiant air.

‘Rowland and I were married nine months ago in Peckham. This is your little granddaughter, Arabella.’ The voice had a strong Cockney accent and would, I felt sure, become shrill under pressure of emotion.

‘Rowland – explain!’

‘Well,’ he shifted from one foot to the other uneasily, ‘I met Carrie about a year ago and – er—’

‘We fell in love!’ Carrie finished the sentence for him.

‘And how did you meet, pray?’ enquired Lady Denby.

‘My father kept the Bull Inn and Rowland used to come there with his cronies to play cards and drink.’

Lady Denby passed her hand over her brow as though about to faint. Mrs Thorpe proferred her smelling salts but her ladyship declined them with a gesture.

‘So you are a publican’s daughter?’

‘That’s right. It’s a very respectable place – quite large and well appointed.’

Lady Denby had been doing a calculation. ‘That child can’t be less than three months old and you say you were married nine months ago? You fool, Rowland, why did you have to marry her? Sir Ralph and I would have dealt with the matter if you’d confided in us.’

‘Oh, he had to marry me,’ said Carrie brazenly, ‘Pa insisted and he can get very nasty if thwarted. He has friends who know how to look after his best interests. But don’t you want to look at your grandchild?’

‘I certainly do not. There must be some way out. This marriage can’t be legal.’

‘I’m afraid it is,’ admitted Rowland, ‘I’m of age, after all.’

‘It was a proper wedding in church and we signed the register and everything and there were plenty of witnesses.’ Carrie was beginning to sound indignant. Now facing her towering, raging mother-in-law she had found her voice. Rowland was quite subdued. I reflected that in this
marriage
it was clear who would be the dominant partner.

‘I think you might at least ask me to sit down as I’m
carrying
the baby,’ Carrie complained.

‘Yes, sit down, my dear,’ said Rowland. ‘Mama’s had a shock. I told you she’d be angry but she’ll come round when she gets to know little Arabella.’

Carrie sank into a chair with a shake of her ostrich plumes.

‘I have no desire to get to know little Arabella. This is all too much. And what has all this to do with you, Elinor? Did you know about this marriage?’

‘Not at first. I found out that day we went to the Unicorn for luncheon. I met Rowland coming out of one of the rooms when he was supposed to be miles away. This young woman was standing in the doorway with her child. I saw him kiss them both. He then saw me looking at them – the girl went back inside but he couldn’t ignore me. He admitted then that he was married but made me promise not to tell anyone. He said he wanted to introduce the idea to his mother gradually.’

‘Gradually? How could anything like this be gradual? It was always going to be a shock.’

‘He knew about my friendship with the hermit and threatened to tell everybody, putting the worst possible
construction
on it. I would be disgraced and Brother Caspar banished. So I kept quiet. But it doesn’t matter now – it’s all over and I’ve no reason to be silent. If Rowland had treated me differently perhaps I would have taken another course of action.’

Lady Denby fought between her inclination to indulge in another tirade and her desire to hear the rest of Elinor’s story. I saw her struggling for control and finally she blurted out: ‘Go on!’

‘I went into Ashdale early this morning and made some enquiries. At last I found out where Carrie was in lodgings; Rowland had moved her there when he realized the inn was too dangerous. I went to see her. She was very reluctant to confide in me at first but I told her she’d already been seen once in the park so it was time she introduced herself to her new family.’

‘I did come once,’ said Carrie, ‘but when I saw the house I didn’t know what to do – the stableboy said Rowland was out somewhere. He kept refusing to bring me here – he said he was waiting for the right time but I began to think the time was never going to be right.’

‘A clandestine marriage!’ cried Louisa Thorpe. ‘You must find that romantic, Amelia. Your novels are full of
clandestine
marriages.’

‘Perhaps, but they don’t involve publicans’ daughters.’

‘And where does Mr Tyler come into this farrago?’ enquired Mrs Thorpe, with a coy look in his direction.

‘I went to the Unicorn for something to eat.’ George spoke without looking at her, directing his answer towards Amelia Denby. ‘On the way out I met Rowland and asked if his sister had been found. He said she’d never been lost and he’d come to hire a gig to take her back to Lovegrove. I said I’d
accompany
them and I went back to his wife’s lodgings and heard the whole story.’

‘And I am not just a girl or a woman or a mere publican’s daughter!’ declared Carrie defiantly. ‘I am Mrs Webb, if you please.’

‘A disgrace to the name!’ exclaimed Lady Denby, who, after all, had once been Mrs Webb herself. ‘Rowland’s father was a gentleman and a man of property. Heaven knows what Sir Ralph will say. A shock like this is enough to carry him off!’

I reflected that Rowland was merely a stepson and Sir Ralph, whose first wife was a brewer’s daughter, was unlikely to be as horrified as her ladyship.

‘Rowland,’ she ordered, ‘will you kindly remove your wife and child from my presence – they are a continual reminder of the shame you have brought on us all.’

‘You might at least let us stay the night,’ he protested.

‘I wouldn’t stay if you paid me,’ declared Carrie. ‘Come on, Rowley, let’s get back to our lodgings and then we can make plans.’

‘No doubt, Rowland,’ said Lady Denby with heavy sarcasm, ‘your father-in-law can give you employment as a pot-boy. You’ll need some means of earning a living when your allowance is cancelled.’

‘What – but I’m entitled—’

‘To nothing. Your father left very little but debts and I’ve had to support both of us by the labour of my pen and a small annuity. I owe you nothing now. Please go!’

Rowland looked as though he might prolong his pleading and begged his mother to see him alone but she remained adamant and Carrie swept out of the hall ahead of him leaving him little option but to follow her.

Lady Denby suddenly descended on Sophie, who backed nervously away.

‘He has broken my heart!’ she cried. ‘And yours too, I know, you poor child – all your affections wasted and your hopes dashed by that deceiver!’

Sophie looked at her with astonishment and some alarm, when she found herself pressed to Lady Denby’s heaving bosom.

‘Unhappy girl! I know what it is to suffer. You must be brave. And now I must go and lie down. I am sorry to abandon my guests but I cannot face dinner. This has been an appalling day.’

She wished us all good evening and departed. I later saw a heavily laden tray being taken to her room. We had all watched, breathless, as if at a play. When the leading lady
departed there was an outburst of animated conversation.

‘She seems to think I was besotted with Rowland!’ cried Sophie.

‘That’s what she planned, so she believes it happened,’ I said. I went over to Elinor. ‘Everyone is very glad to see you safely home,’ I told her. ‘We were all very concerned.’

‘Yes, and I’m so sorry about poor Papa.’

‘You could simply have
told
your stepmother about Rowland’s marriage.’

‘Oh yes, that’s that I was going to do at first but then Rowland and his mother were so horrid to me I decided to cause the greatest amount of trouble possible. I thought an actual confrontation would be much more exciting than a mere denunciation. I quite enjoyed it.’

‘I’m sure you did. I think we all did if truth be told.’

‘Of course, I knew I was going to make an escape with you and your brother. Now I can’t come – not while Papa is so ill.’

‘We can wait a few days, I’m sure. Your father will soon be on the mend and he’ll want you to have a holiday.’

I little realized then that our departure would be delayed by something far more dramatic than Elinor’s reluctance to leave her sick father.

There were only six of us at dinner and without our host and hostess the meal lost its formality. We all moved to one end of the table, George carefully manoeuvring himself away from the seat next to Mrs Thorpe; and the
conversation
became general.

‘Did any of you, apart from Elinor, have any idea Rowland was married?’ enquired Louisa.

‘Aunt Charlotte and I thought something suspicious was
going on,’ said Sophie. ‘We saw him going into a cottage in Ashdale near that nice bonnet shop. We thought he had a mistress in there.’

‘Sophie!’ I remonstrated.

‘Well, we did.’

‘I don’t think Amelia would have been nearly so
distressed
if the female in question had been a mistress,’ said Mrs Thorpe. ‘Mistresses can usually be bought off but a wife and child are really too much to stomach.’

‘Do you think she’ll come round eventually?’ asked Frank.

‘Oh yes. Amelia adores Rowland – he’s her only child after all and she’s always spoiled and indulged him. I’m sure if he lies low for a while he can start edging his way back into her affections. They’ve had rows before, though none as bad as this, and they’ve always made it up. He usually knows how to win her round.’

‘I wish Lady Denby didn’t suppose I nurtured some sort of romantic interest in Rowland,’ said Sophie. ‘He and I were never more than friends, and he’s not at all the sort of man I want to marry.’

‘Of course not, dear, we all understand,’ said Louisa Thorpe. ‘I think Amelia entertained hopes in that direction but I could tell you weren’t suited. He had to pretend an interest in you to hide the true situation. Perhaps he regrets now his haste in a choice of bride – one forced on him after giving way to a reckless impulse.’

‘I think Colonel Hartley suspected something,’ said Sophie thoughtfully. ‘He once said that one day Rowland might
surprise
us all.’

‘The Colonel is very perceptive,’ observed Elinor, ‘I think he knows more than we suppose about a great many
matters.’ After this enigmatic remark she fell silent.

‘Well, our numbers are sadly depleted this evening and likely to shrink even more,’ said Frank Lawrence. ‘I will be departing shortly.’

‘Really?’ Louisa Thorpe looked shocked. ‘You’ve not said anything to me.’

He shrugged. ‘We don’t have to make our plans together, surely, Aunt? You may stay as long as you please. Lady Denby is your friend after all. I have my own life to lead and I must return to town very soon. It will only be for a few days but I have some business to transact that has already been delayed too long.’

‘If it is only for a few days …’

‘Of course.’

‘We’re going as soon as Sir Ralph is better and Elinor feels able to leave him,’ said George. ‘I must say, I’m
beginning
to long for home. Too much excitement doesn’t suit me.’

There was something wrong; I felt it. Mrs Thorpe was still looking at Frank with a sort of stifled fury. I thought what he had said was in no way remarkable. Why should an active young man be content to stay kicking his heels in the house of strangers who were nothing to him, dancing attendance on an aunt and no doubt growing more bored every day? Yet Louisa Thorpe still looked incredulous. She obviously felt that Frank ought to have confided in her before making an announcement to everyone else but he seemed to think it of no importance.

I wondered again about George’s change of mind
regarding
Mrs Thorpe. There was something going on of which I knew nothing.

After dinner, instead of dividing, we all repaired to
the library. ‘This is a pleasant change,’ observed Frank Lawrence, sitting beside me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw George take Sophie by the arm and beckon Elinor to join them as he inspected a large book of engravings on the library table. I am sure he was not much interested but it served to deflect the possible attentions of Louisa Thorpe, who decided to await the arrival of tea in solitary grandeur.

‘I believe she is offended with me,’ murmured Frank, ‘she thinks I should stay to keep her company.’