Chapter 27
27
ELOISE
Spring had not only sprung in Lowbridge, but also done a complete cartwheel, and Eloise was happily filling her days with preparations for Easter. She made pretty cards from brightly coloured paper, blew and decorated eggs, and filled the house with elaborate floral arrangements using simple flowers and blossom cut from the meadows and hedgerows. The delicious smell of simnel cake drifted through the rooms and she heroically marched through Lent.
This most joyous of seasons was heartily welcomed by everyone as winter had been long and dreary, and Eloise, in particular, was glad to see the back of it. At least in Branchester, she had been able to visit the theatre occasionally and call on a much wider circle of friends. It was not that she hadn’t been invited places – money made you delightfully popular and there were always a handful of dinner parties and other social events to attend – but the snow had been brutal that year, cutting them off for most of February. For the first time in over a decade, parts of the river had frozen over, and Rose said that even Daniel had been driven to abandon his swimming in such extreme conditions .
During this time of isolation, Eloise became increasingly close to her maid – someone she belatedly realised was a bright girl who had been hindered by unfortunate family circumstances. The pair began a friendship of sorts, where they revelled in village gossip and girlish speculation regarding the young Mr Thornbury. She was surprised to learn that Rose was also a reader, although of novels and novelettes, rather than the more serious texts she was attempting to tackle in her quest to impress Daniel.
‘I attended the large girls’ school in town,’ Rose explained, ‘and we had a particularly kindly teacher who recognised me as keen and even loaned me some of her own books, encouraging my learning. But when my mother died, my father, who was a clerk in a large shipping company, did not cope well. Eventually, he could no longer afford the fees, and I had to go into service.’
Eloise remembered something her mother had said about the man winding up a drunk, but didn’t want to embarrass Rose by saying as much. Their upbringings had probably not been very different, but the fickle vagaries of fate had seen to the downward spiral of Rose’s life, and the glorious advancement of her own.
Lowbridge was growing on her, and she was missing Branchester less and less, largely because the thing that made her happiest lived not two hundred yards from her front door. Daniel’s intellect impressed her, his opinions excited her, his face pleased her and his refusal to make the chase easy gave her the biggest thrill of all. He became an increasingly frequent visitor at Church View, calling to see her father about work-related matters, but always happy to talk about books with her, and occasionally politics. Eloise enjoyed their lively conversation, and he delighted in both shocking her and proving her wrong. She was in love and it consumed all her waking hours. If she was not surreptitiously observing the object of her earnest affections from afar, or contriving reasons for their paths to cross in the village, she was planning their future life.
She subscribed to several ladies’ periodicals, lapping up the articles on the roles of wives and mothers, and indulged in frivolous romantic novels recommended by Rose, finding them a welcome break from her more serious reading. Love was everywhere she looked: from the lambs leaping across the open fields behind their house, to the boxing hares at the fringes of the woodland. And, on that particular morning, it was flaunted before her very eyes, as her parents reminded her what a happy marriage entailed.
Everything in the Haughtons’ more financially secure world continued to flourish. Her father had recently expanded his business interests, taking over a struggling shoemaker’s. Without money worries, and enjoying the very best of what life had to offer, her parents were more adoring of each other than ever. Thank goodness her mother was approaching her fiftieth year and there was no danger of their family unexpectedly growing in size. The disruption would be too much to bear.
‘My cousin has written to say she will be a grandmother by the autumn,’ her mother said, a sheet of cream paper in her hand.
‘It must be the season,’ her father said, his eyes not leaving those of his wife for one moment. ‘A time for new beginnings, when Mother Nature is at her most fertile.’
‘I am almost certain that the schoolmaster’s wife is expecting again,’ she agreed. ‘It’s far too early for her to be announcing it, but she looked quite sickly and pale yesterday; a sure sign that she’s in the family way. I blame that snow; we were all shut in with little to do.’
They exchanged a knowing look and Eloise rolled her eyes.
‘I’ve lost at least three female workers to imminent matrimony,’ he bemoaned. ‘And I think even young Thornbury is preparing to embrace such a fate. He will be particularly keen to progress in the company if he is to have a wife to support.’
Eloise sat up straighter and the periodical she’d been reading fell into her lap.
‘Oh?’
Her father’s startled eyes met hers. ‘I shouldn’t have let that slip, so please forget I said anything. He spoke to me in confidence.’
Damn the young man for his smoke and mirrors games, but part of her was thrilled by his nerve. The pretence he executed that he was indifferent to her just made her all the keener, and he knew that. He was truly a match for her, with his outward display of indifference concealing the real strength of feeling underneath. Oh, what a wedding night they would have because, ever since the kiss in the sweet chestnut grove, she knew the truth. Perhaps her father would now consider him for the role of manager at the recently acquired shoemaker’s. With an engagement on the horizon, Daniel must be promoted to a position of authority. Her mother certainly would not support a match to a mere foreman.
‘I shall be the very soul of discretion,’ she assured her father, who was now playfully kissing his wife’s neck, as her mother tittered like a small girl. Eloise smiled, anticipating the day she would be so cherished.
Most of Lowbridge had been persuaded to attend a small benefit concert in the school rooms and Lady Fletcher had agreed to introduce the local quartet, so the Haughtons simply had to attend. But Eloise had never been so bored in her life… with the exception of the tedious cricket matches .
For a man imminently to propose, Daniel had been behaving most peculiarly all evening. He was not his usual outspoken self and was definitely more introspective. But then, it was a momentous occasion – asking a girl for her hand – when there was always the chance your hopes could be dashed by her refusal. But she would not tease or keep him guessing at her reply. She’d waited too long for the question.
Engineering an encounter during the interval, she followed him outside, and stood watching him for a moment as he rolled his cigarette, before making herself known by stepping into the pool of lamplight that surrounded him.
‘You can kiss me, if you like.’
Daniel’s face clouded with confusion as Eloise joined him on a wooden bench in the schoolyard, overlooking the green.
‘Why would I want to kiss you?’ He frowned and tucked the cigarette behind his ear, knowing it was impolite to smoke in the presence of a lady.
‘You surely can’t be fearful of accusations of impropriety now?’ She thought back to his comments in the grove. ‘I didn’t have you pegged as so prudish. After all, the God that you don’t believe in can hardly judge you for such an action if he doesn’t exist.’
‘What are you talking about, Miss Haughton?’
He looked at her as though she had quite lost her mind, but she just knew that he was holding back the urge to grin. Her whole body thrilled at his continuation of the charade. Perhaps, even after they were married, when they were alone in the bedroom and as a prelude to their lovemaking, she might be bold enough to suggest he still sometimes called her ‘miss’. There was something inexplicably arousing about him deferring to her in this way, when they both knew that he would be in complete control sexually. Had he already been with a woman? she wondered to herself, a part of her rather hoping he had. How tiresome if neither of them knew what to do in that department.
‘I don’t know why you are being so coy.’ She was cross now. Why was he still playing this silly game of indifference? ‘I know you have asked my father for my hand, and my answer will be yes, so shall we dispense with the teasing? I have been so patient over the last few months, but to continue to deny me even a kiss, is beyond ridiculous.’
She bit tentatively at her bottom lip and leaned towards him. There was still the lingering smell of shoe leather emanating from him. It was a scent she remembered from when her father used to spend his days in the factory. It was masculine and intoxicating all at once.
Daniel shook his head slowly from side to side and let out a measured sigh. ‘You’re incredible.’ She was about to thank him for the compliment but as he continued it became apparent that his words were mocking. ‘I have made it abundantly clear that I have no romantic interest in you. And yet spoilt Eloise Haughton truly believes that because she desires a thing, it will be hers. Yes, I have spoken to your father about my future plans, and have even secured a modest ring, but it was not intended for you. I am in love with someone else?—’
‘Someone else?’ She was incredulous. ‘But you have few friends and rub most people up the wrong way.’
‘I have a very dear friend, who I have spent much time with in recent months, and who has utterly and completely won my heart. A plucky girl, who is kind to others and even knows how to swim. She is bright and questioning, and admirably calm in a crisis…’
Suddenly, Eloise had the sickening realisation where this was going. How could she have been so blind? All this time, she thought she had an ally in her quest to win over this challenging man. But she had been betrayed in the most calculated way. She did not let her eyes leave his, finding the courage to hear the truth she knew was coming.
‘I am completely in love with, and fully intend to propose to, your maid, Rose.’