22 An Invitation
T ess could hardly take it in.
“Fifty thousand? And it is certain?”
“It is at least fifty thousand pounds,” Mr Willerton-Forbes said. “I cannot be precise about the exact sum yet, but I can assure you it is at least that much. I will know very soon. You will have a very pretty dowry when you marry, Miss Nicholson. I congratulate you.”
“But how is it possible? The gold I understand, it was undervalued initially, but all these valuable items in the house — surely my father did not buy them? I never recall him taking any interest in art.”
It was the earl who answered. “My father bought the house and furnished it many years ago, so most likely it was his doing.”
“Did he use the house himself?” Tess said, but the men exchanged uncomfortable glances. “Why else spend so much money on it?”
Mr Willerton-Forbes said carefully, “We believe there was a lady living there, whom the late earl visited from time to time.”
“His mistress, you mean?” she said.
“Tess!” the earl said. “A girl of your age should know nothing of such matters.”
“Well, I do. Was it Mrs Mayberry?”
The earl sighed. “I never knew her name. She was not mentioned in his will, however, only the house, which was left to your father. No one knew at the time just how valuable a bequest that was. But what became of the lady, I know not.”
Tess at once went looking for Edward. He was not in any of the principal rooms, but a visit below stairs soon ascertained that he had not gone out riding or in the carriage, nor had he asked for his outdoor clothes. He was still in the castle, therefore. She had no compunction about going straight to his room. He was not there, but there was a faint hint of him in the air, a subtle manly scent that she immediately recognised as unique to him. Idly she ran her fingers over his brushes laid out on his dressing table. They were silver-backed, with his crest on the handle, and of an old-fashioned design embossed with his crest, perhaps inherited from a previous holder of the title. Stuffy, as he was.
But he was not there, and she had run out of places to look… no, there was one place he might be. It was her own refuge, but perhaps he needed a place to hide away, too.
She made her way along the upper corridor, and ducked behind the curtain that hid the balcony overlooking the great hall. He was there, sitting on the floor with his knees drawn up, head lowered.
“Edward?” She knelt beside him on the floor. “You have heard, then. Are you not pleased for me?”
He lifted his head a little to look at her, and she was shocked to see how grey his face was, how anguished his expression. “You will marry Ulric,” he said in flat tones.
“I have to. It is the only way to get my money… to be sure that I have full control of it.”
“You cannot be certain of that. Ulric is unpredictable.”
“His mother and I can manage him.”
“I pray you are right, Tess. I thought… I hoped… that you might actually marry me. If we eloped. I thought that would make me less stuffy.”
“Oh, Edward, that was only a game! I would never… although it would have been fun, if I had wanted to marry you. It would have put my mother in such a pelter! Not that she ever truly gets in a pelter. I might get on with her better if she did. Does your mother get in a pelter?”
He gave a wry smile. “No. She harangues me. ‘Edward, you must do this. Edward, you must do that. Edward, you must marry at once.’ I go to a lot of trouble to arrange not to do all those things she says I must do without fail.”
She smiled back at him. “You are a rebellious son.”
“And you are a rebellious daughter. Is there nothing I can say to dissuade you from marrying poor Ulric?”
Tess gently stroked his face. “I mean Ulric no harm, you know that. He will be perfectly happy living at Myercroft with his mother and his half-brothers and sisters, and all his horses conveniently to hand.”
“You intend to marry him, and then leave him there with his mother?”
“I do not think his life would be enhanced by having me underfoot, do you? Or mine in living with him. Nor is his mother sensible enough to leave in charge. I hope I can depend on you to look after Ulric, even when he is married.”
Edward looked at her, frowning. “And how am I supposed to do that?”
“By tying up his income so that his mother cannot get hold of it. You are his trustee until he marries, so you can surely deal with the legal wrangling, and you seem to be rather good at keeping mothers in check. No, do not shake your head like that, for I know you can do it if you set your mind to it.”
“No, I cannot. My hands are tied. By the terms of his father’s will, the income goes directly to Ulric when he marries… but of course, if he were to ask me to manage it for him… yes, it could be done that way. And you will persuade him to put all your money into your hands. But this is still madness, Tess. You would do far better to marry me.”
“And join the peerage? Wear fancy robes for state occasions? Everywhere I go, it would be my lady this and my lady that, and I could never slink about in the shadows again. I could not!”
He gave a wry smile. “Too stuffy for words. I can see that.”
“Edward, can you not understand? I do not need a husband. I have never needed a husband, not even Tom. He was only ever a means to achieve a degree of freedom, and much as I regret him in many ways, I take your point that he would perhaps have become a domineering husband in time, and expected me to play the obedient wife. That would not have ended well! Perhaps you and I are better suited, but we are still at odds more often than not, and if I were your wife, sooner or later you would start throwing your weight around. But Ulric… he will never be a real husband. He is only necessary to allow me to gain control of my money… my own money, after all. I want nothing more from him than that.”
“But you cannot live independently, Tess. No woman can. She must live under the protection of a father or uncle or brother, or else she marries. That is how the world works. If we were married, then I would protect you.”
“I do not need to be protected. What you call protection is more like a cage.”
“No, no, no! I only want to be there to pick up the pieces when you get yourself into trouble.”
She laughed. “What an opinion you have of me! I doubt I shall ever be in such trouble as to need rescuing.”
His smile widened. “Tess, my darling, you will always be in trouble. That is one of the reasons I love you so much… why I want to be your husband so I have the right to protect you. Not to constrain you, any more than I would trap a butterfly in a bottle. I want to see you fly, my love, but someone needs to be there to watch out for danger and to take care of you when you singe your wings by flying too close to the flame.”
She gazed at him, chastened. He truly meant it, the foolish man! She leaned forward and kissed him gently. “How sweet you are, when you are not shouting at me. I wish you were not quite so respectable, so that I might consider marrying you. It is a pity.”
“A great pity, but I cannot escape the barony, unfortunately.”
“No, but if you were to kill a man in a duel, say, we could flee the country together and live as wandering outcasts on the continent. That would be amusing, would it not?”
“It would. Presumably we would be penniless, so we would have to live on our wits, by thievery or cheating at cards, and there would be the constant threat of discovery and being hauled back to England to be hanged. How charming a life we should lead. Short, no doubt, but exciting while it lasted. Sadly, I fear I am too stuffy to kill a man to bring this delightful situation into being.”
He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, as she snuggled against him with a sigh of contentment. Edward was so much fun in this mood!
“You are a good friend to me, Edward,” she murmured into the smooth wool of his coat.
“I have no wish to be your friend.”
She lifted her head to gaze up at him. “I may not need a husband, but I shall always need a friend. Will you not be a friend to me? Help me to keep Ulric happy, at least.”
“That much I can and will do.”
“And climb trees for me… and kiss me when I am upset.”
He laid his lips on hers for a moment, and with his free hand softly stroked her cheek. “Ah, Tess! I had my life just as I wanted it until you came along and upended everything. I do not want to be only your friend, but if that is all I can be, then I shall be the best and truest friend there ever was.”
And then his lips were on hers again, burning into her with a fervour that seemed to be more desperation than desire. She surrendered happily to the moment, content in his arms. Her life might be strange and unsettled just now, and the future uncertain, but none of that mattered when Edward was there to hold her tight and kiss her worries away.
Her friend… her best and truest friend.
***
T he letter was so unexpected that Tess had no idea what to make of it.
‘To Miss T Nicholson, Corland Castle, North Riding. My dear Miss Nicholson, Forgive me for writing to you when we have not been introduced, but it seems to me that your betrothal to Mr Ulric Frith permits me to make the approach. My husband, Sir Ernest Peterson, and I are very fond of Ulric, regarding him almost as a son, and wish to do everything in our power to forward his happiness. To that end, we feel it would be helpful to both of you if you and Ulric were to pay a visit to Myercroft for a few days, so that Ulric might show you around your future home. There may be changes or improvements you will wish to undertake before your marriage. The only other person we have invited is Lord Tarvin in his capacity as a trustee of Ulric’s estate. It will be helpful while you are here to discuss the winding up of the trust fund, your marriage settlements and the arrangements for us to depart from Myercroft. Although our lease runs until Lady Day, for Ulric’s sake we will vacate the house before that date, if that is what you wish. I shall also be writing to Lady Alice Nicholson to request her permission for you to come to Myercroft. Respectfully yours, Jane Peterson.’
The letter to her mother had clearly arrived at the same time, for Tess was summoned to her mother’s sitting room.
“Are you persisting in this foolish marriage, Tess? Lord Tarvin told me the truth about Mr Frith, you know, so you cannot pretend that this is a match of affection.”
“I have never pretended any such thing,” Tess said with dignity. “If you dislike it, you may blame Papa, who tied up my inheritance so that I have no alternative but to marry.”
“But not to a half-wit!”
“Ulric is not a half-wit, Mama. He is not a man of much brain, but so long as he has horses about him, he is perfectly content.”
“Why can you not marry a proper gentleman, as your father intended? Lord Tarvin, for instance.”
“Lord Tarvin, Lord Tarvin!” she cried, pacing angrily across the room. “What is so wonderful about Lord Tarvin?”
Her mother sat placidly, hands neatly folded in her lap, her sightless eyes following the swish of Tess’s skirts back and forth. “I am sure it does not matter to you that he is a baron, and very wealthy, and would make you mistress of a great house, and that attitude is very proper. Such details do not weigh with me either. So long as your husband can keep you in comfort, and support a family, rank and position do not matter very much. But Lord Tarvin is a pleasant young man. I like the sound of his voice, his manners are good, as far as I can judge, and I am told he is well-favoured. And he loves you, Tess. There can be no better husband for a woman than a man who adores her.”
“But I do not love him.”
“No. The only person you love is yourself, Tess. I live in hope that one day you will grow up and realise that there are other people in the world who care about you, and are hurt by your selfish ways.”
“No one cares about me! You and Papa have never cared about me, or whether I am happy or not. You only ever wanted me to creep away and not bother you, to be silent and behave like a little mouse and do whatever good girls are supposed to do. And now you want me to go away and marry Lord Tarvin so that you will not have to think about me ever again! Well, I will not creep away or be silent, nor will I marry a dull old stick like Edward, so you need not think it! Pleasant young men bore me to tears, Mama, and if you knew anything about me, you would understand that. So I am going to manage my own life, in a way that brings me the most happiness, and you may as well accept that.”
Irritatingly, her mother only smiled. Did nothing dent her composure?
“I cannot blame you for that, Tess, since it was precisely what I did myself. You think me a helpless creature, I dare say, and physically I am, but just because I am blind does not mean I must… how did you put it? Creep away and be silent. No, when my father wished me to marry the late Lord Tarvin and I did not, I made arrangements to see that matters turned out just how I wished. I had a little help, but it all resolved most satisfactorily, and no one suspected a thing. Except your father, of course.” Her smile softened. “No one ever pulled the wool over his eyes.”
“No, the shoe was very much on the other foot,” Tess said savagely. “Papa was a wicked, deceitful man.”
“Nonsense,” Lady Alice said robustly.
“How do you think he compiled this fortune that I inherited? Not legitimately, that much is certain.”
“This house that the late earl left him—”
“—is but a small proportion of it!” Tess cried. “The largest portion of that money came from embezzlement of the earl’s rentals from his tenants. A farmer would hand over twenty-five pounds and Papa wrote down twenty in the earl’s books and pocketed the difference. And that house in Pickering… Mrs Mayberry was not a respectable woman, and nor were her nieces. They were not her nieces at all, I expect.”
“No,” Lady Alice said firmly. “You are mistaken, Tess. You have misheard something, or misunderstood it, I am sure. Your father was a good man.”
“Such a good man that he never bothered to tell the earl that he had never been ordained, and look at the damage that has caused.”
“I am sure that is a mistake… Arthur would not… he would not have intended… the last thing he would have wanted was to harm the late Lord Rennington. They were the best of friends, always, despite the difference in their ages.”
“Such good friends that the earl never complained when Papa somehow always won at piquet. Did Papa ever lose? I do not remember a time. That was another way he lined his pockets, Mama.”
“No,” Lady Alice whispered, hand to throat. “No, he was a good man… on the whole. All men have their weaknesses, naturally, and perhaps the lure of money was too strong for him, but he always meant well and to me that made him a good man. A kind man who loved us both dearly.”
“Well, he had an odd way of showing it,” Tess said. “But since he has amassed this fortune, and not all of it can be identified as thievery, I shall have at least fifty thousand pounds, which I have no intention of handing over to a husband. So I am going to marry Ulric Frith, Mama, because I can persuade him to give me full control of it, and he will not trouble me as a real husband would do, and then my life will be my own at last. Are you going to give me permission to stay at Myercroft? I am going to go, regardless of your opinion.”
Lady Alice sighed. “I know. I have never been able to stop you from doing whatever you want. All I ask is that you take Betty and Harold with you, and since Lord Tarvin is also invited, you may as well travel with him. A baron’s private carriage will be far more comfortable for the journey than travelling post.”
Tess laughed. “Very well, Mama, it shall be as you wish, although I expect we will quarrel all the way there.” Kneeling at her mother’s feet, she took her hand and said quietly, “I know I am a great trial to you, Mama, but once I have my money and I am free to live my life as I please, you will not need to worry about me again.”
Her mother squeezed her hand. “Mothers always worry about their children, Tess, and especially daughters. While I applaud your spirit, I cannot approve of the direction you are taking. I wonder sometimes if you have not got the worst of both your father and me in you — my determination to forge my own happiness, and his obsession with money. Both of us employed somewhat unorthodox methods of obtaining our own way, but I never stepped beyond what was proper, and your father had a charm that carried him through many difficulties. You are more like a hound racing after the faintest scent. It is irrational, this desire to control your own fortune at all costs. I hope you are not making decisions about your life solely to thwart your father’s wishes or mine.”
“Oh, no. Not solely for that reason, Mama,” she said mischievously.
Lady Alice sighed. “That is what I feared, Tess. I shall reply to Lady Peterson that you have my permission to visit Myercroft, but I have misgivings… deep misgivings about the entire enterprise.”
“Thank you, Mama. I hope one day you will understand that this is all for the best.”
“For whom? Not for you.”
“Yes, for me, for who else knows what will content me except myself? But also best for Ulric and his family, too, and certainly best for Lord Tarvin, who will be spared a most troublesome wife. I want my freedom too badly to marry at all, in truth, but if I must, then better by far to bind myself to Ulric than a man who will keep me in subjection forever.”
Lady Alice shook her head sadly. “Oh, Tess, Tess! Marriage to the right man, a man who truly loves you, is not subjection, it is glorious. I wish above all things that you could experience that too.”