Twixt Two Equal Armies (16 page)

“So!” Lord Baugham said and broke the silence surrounding the first sip. “Here we are, travelled all over, restless in our pursuit of novelties or peace, yet never before having been to tea in Clanough. I must thank you, Mrs Tournier, for opening your door to show us what we have been missing.”

“If you are referring to the tea itself, my lord, I think it is probably about time you were treated to new sensations. As for our company, I would suppose a man like you is not inclined to come to obscure Scottish villages with an eye toward enlarging his social circle. Perhaps you feel we ought to be spectacular in our singularity in order to warrant another visit?”

“Oh, no!” Lord Baugham laughed. “You are singular enough in the fact that you have failed to live up to my prejudiced expectations! And I assure you, madam, you have failed in a most charming manner!”

“You are surprised at the quality of society outside your own circles, my lord?” Holly sat down beside her cousin, stirring her cup slowly.

“Perhaps, but such surprise is nearly always the fault of the expectant party — as it surely is in this case — and the triumph of those being visited.”

Holly arched her eyebrow and looked at Lord Baugham
.
What a smug face he had! It was all sport to him, this whole thing
.

“I suppose,” her cousin broke in, “Scottish society is by no means foreign to your lordship. I would venture a guess that you are intimately acquainted with its wilder forms.”

“That is very true, Miss Bennet,” Baugham said cheerfully. “I am not overly familiar with the society here, other than the wildlife. I tend to visit Scotland when I am in my more subdued frame of mind, to enjoy the solitude and quiet — and I must say beauty — of the place.”

“And I see that when you
do
require company,” Holly added, quietly, but with a noticeable edge to her voice as she glanced at Mr Darcy, “you prefer to import your own rather than seek out what may be close by?”

Lord Baugham gave her an amused look, Darcy shifted in his chair and Mrs Tournier smiled smugly into her teacup.

“Now Holly!” Elizabeth laughed uncertainly and stood, ostensibly to fetch some more cheese. “Take care! As your own imported companion, I must ask you to have pity! Or else quickly praise my bravery in venturing so far north!”

Lord Baugham watched Miss Tournier for a few more moments, and then shifted his attention to Miss Bennet.

“Well, Miss Bennet, I will certainly praise you then and ask you to entertain us with your travel exploits all the way from Hertfordshire. Travel guides being all the rage, perhaps you might inspire us!”

“I do not know how well I can inspire one who has undoubtedly made the journey countless more times than I have, and since my aunt and cousin make the reverse journey but rarely, I have exhausted my gift for description of the picturesque beauties of the roadsides long ago. They grow quite out of patience with me sometimes. It is hard to believe, my lord, but living here as they do, they do not appreciate my raptures over the green of the landscapes, the grandeur of the wild storms or even the fickleness of the weather as they ought — but do not you agree that, though the journey is long, the pleasures awaiting us at the end of it make all the inconveniences worth while?”

“My sentiments exactly, Miss Bennet! Although I must be honest and admit to generally being of a romantic disposition and longing for whatever exact landscape I just left behind.”

“My cousin and I walked to the edge of your grounds the other day — you have a lovely estate, my lord, and certainly no reason to want for any other surroundings.” Elizabeth appeared happy to be able to converse with Mr Darcy’s easy friend, while at the same time her eyes frequently darted across the room.

“I am glad you approve,” he said, bowing his head in recognition of the compliment, though his smile momentarily tightened. “But,” he brightened again, “never having been to Hertfordshire, Miss Bennet, you must awaken my interest in it. It is, as I said, in my nature to be curious.”

Holly listened as Lord Baugham skilfully steered the conversation to rest on Elizabeth, questioning her in a friendly, but particular, way on her family, her home, her interests and opinions. Holly had no wish to sit quietly and listen to her cousin being grilled in this manner — however good-natured it seemed on the surface — but she could not think of a single thing to say to break the conversation that did not seem impolite. And Mr Darcy certainly was no help! He sat there, as he would, seemingly quiet and poised and content, but with a restless look in his eye and no conversation.
No
conversation! Holly saw that whatever his professed feelings for Elizabeth might have been, he would be of no help in rescuing her from the interrogation of his friend.

With a sigh she waited for his lordship to take a breath and jumped in the middle of their talk, resigning herself to the appearance of rudeness in order to defend her cousin.

“Lord Baugham,” she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind, “I hope you have no plans to correct that bit of lower ground that tends to go boggy in the spring. It does give a lovely place to watch the birds as they come through.”

It worked. Lord Baugham paused in his extended questions on how the social life in Meryton compared with that of Clanough and looked at her. Holly suddenly felt self-conscious under such a direct and very clear blue-eyed stare, and flushed.

“I . . . I trust you know that which I mean.”

“Oh, of course,” his lordship said regaining some of his ease. “I did not realise that you . . . well, that is to say, it is rather far off the path through to the north fields. I was not aware of it being such a favourite spot. Of anyone’s.”

“Well,” Holly stammered, now wondering whether she should have just left Elizabeth, who had really seemed to be doing quite well, to fend for herself. “I do . . . that is, when I am home, I tend to wander a bit far afield. I sometimes forget to mind the property lines.”

“Hmm,” his lordship said and could not prevent a shadow of disdain from passing across his face. He had always thought of Clyne as a personal sanctuary, and it did not please him overly to know that she knew about the places he had come to consider his private and intimate sources of pleasure and comfort in the short time he had been in possession of it.
He
had only come across that patch of land last year, and had been pleased to think of it as his own secret discovery.

The look in his eyes was easy enough for Holly to read. Yes, it
was
his property, but she felt a twinge of resentment in being made to feel like an intruder in the places she had loved to wander since she was a child.

“I will be certain to pay closer attention in the future. Forgive my trespassing, please,” she said, sitting back in her chair and turning her attention to her teacup.

“It is perfectly in order to have my grounds enjoyed by those walking through them,” his lordship said airily. “Think nothing of it, Miss Tournier.” But it was quite clear
he
did.

T
HEY LEFT SOON AFTERWARDS AND
rode homewards in silence. Darcy seemed calm and almost happy. Certainly the corners of his mouth were relaxed and he sat easily on his horse looking at the surroundings with interest.

Baugham’s predicament was greater. On the one hand, he was surprised and pleased at his encounter with Mrs Tournier. Far from the dull widow he had expected, he found her to be intelligent, informed, witty and frank in a manner that gave him great delight and she was also a surprisingly handsome woman. He had liked her very much and had not been sorry to spend an afternoon in her company.

On the other hand, was the dilemma of Miss Bennet. There was no doubt she was an intelligent woman herself and his suspicion that she might find his friend intimidating and for that reason be averse to his advances he soon discarded. Not that his friend had done anything to counteract his inclination of repulsing unwanted addresses. He had sat on his chair, silent and relaxed and quite content to observe the proceedings around him. Baugham had the sneaking suspicion that the visit had been arranged as much to give him an opportunity to assess Miss Bennet as for his friend’s own benefit.

If that was the case, Miss Bennet had given a fine performance. And, as it
was
a performance, it was better not commented upon. Perhaps there would be other opportunities to speak with her and to observe. Baugham reflected that he should not be sorry to do that either, and the puzzlement he felt at that realisation soon made him abandon any further deliberation on the subject of Miss Bennet’s personality and sincerity.

“Oh, I need to thank you, Darcy!” Baugham said instead and moved his horse closer to his friend’s. “I enjoyed myself very much back there!”

Darcy gave him an arch look. “I’m glad to hear it.”

“What a remarkable woman! And all the way in this little place! Astounding.”

“I assume you mean Mrs Tournier.”

“I do indeed. I am most impressed. And, I don’t mind telling you I liked her very much. Do you know, she turns out to be the widow of Jean-Baptist Tournier, the revolutionary and Girondist! I read his pamphlet ‘On the Necessity for the Abolishment of Noble Privileges’ when I was fifteen and it was rousing stuff, let me tell you. He was a lawyer but frightfully clever with words. Even my French teacher, old Monsieur Vallée thought so. Tournier had to flee Paris in ‘92 with his wife and daughter and they eventually settled here. Sadly, he died quite soon afterwards. He was a very clever if, of course, frightfully radical man. Isn’t that quite amazing!”

Darcy, never a man to endorse revolutionary sentiments, however prettily written, grunted and shook his head.

“And easy on the eyes still, too, wouldn’t you say?” Baugham winked, knowing he had successfully managed to irritate Darcy on all the points he felt strongly about in one go.

“And I remember the daughter now, too,” he went on more thoughtfully. “I have seen her about on occasion, I suppose. She’s a teacher. I wonder how that rhymes with her father’s views and her mother’s frankness!”

His lordship chuckled and Darcy gave him an almost imperceptible headshake. “Well,” he said, “I suppose I owe you that fishing trip.”

“Ah!” his lordship said and his thoughts drifted even further away from Rosefarm Cottage. “Angling! Yes, the great leveller of men, a sport for gentlemen of all social standing, a pursuit where the master meets his servant on common ground!”

“A sport of quiet and reflection?” Darcy smiled.

“And therefore more of a challenge than one would think,” Baugham laughed and to his great happiness, Darcy grinned broadly.

They made plans, then and there, to go up to Brachen Falls and trick the trout as soon as possible. Darcy appeared to look forward to the trip and asked his friend a number of detailed questions pertaining to geography and terrain. Baugham answered him happily, feeling his mind and heart already racing off ahead to the best and most beautiful spots.

“Darcy,” he said after a while with a sheepish smile, “you know, I really did enjoy myself very much today.”

His friend looked at him carefully. “You did?”

“Yes,” Baugham answered. “I did. But I don’t know that I quite understand it all. Yet.”

“Don’t fret,” Darcy said calmly. “One day you surely will.”

H
OLLY WAS LYING ON HER
bed, unable to close her eyes. It was a small room, right under the roof. A maid’s room, if there had been a maid. When it rained the patter of the drops was so close it was guaranteed to lull her to sleep in an instant. It was not raining now, however, and she could not sleep.

This had always been her room, it was completely familiar to her, and yet she loved going over the things and checking that they were still where they had always been. Her chest of drawers, her small cabinet, her table and chair by the window that held few books and a looking glass perched on the side. It was mostly empty now, but when she was younger the table had always been covered with papers and paints and easels and gathered treasures of every kind. Her bed was narrow, but the blankets and pillows were familiar and smelled old and sweet.

There were no sewing samplers on the walls, but they were far from empty. On every available spot there was a drawing or a study or a sketch and on the slanted ceiling, just above her head, where it was impossible to hang anything, she had instead drawn butterflies and other insects making their way across the whitewashed space.

Holly sighed and watched the wasp that was just above her. Just on the opposite side of the hall was an identical room where Elizabeth was lying in a bed just like hers. She did not have insects to look at above her bed, but Holly was certain she was not sleeping either.

When the gentlemen left them that afternoon, she had wanted to speak to her to come to some sort of common result and judgement of the visit, but Elizabeth had been evasive. She instead asked her to write a letter to Jane with her — she was due, she explained, and Jane would never forgive her if Holly did not speak to her directly. Holly was eager to oblige and somehow they ended up being very silly in their serious pursuit, once again finishing each other’s sentences and Holly drawing silly little portraits of the two of them in the margins.