3
“But my dear Jane, are you saying you had no knowledge of this young lady before today?” Susannah was sitting on her friend’s bed, watching as she made her final preparations before going downstairs for a late dinner.
Jane had changed into a pale lemon dress which, although fashionable with its tight waist and full skirt, drained all the delicate colour from a face that was already far too pale.
Their maid, Tabitha, had put up her hair in a tight, braided coronet and Susannah wished that for once she would display it in the cloud of fair waves that changed her from pretty to beautiful.
It had taken her a very short time to wash and change from her own travelling outfit into a plain brown silk that she knew to be old fashioned but was cool on this very hot evening.
She longed to explore the house which seemed so old and exciting, but that adventure would have to wait until the morning.
They could not be late to dinner on their first evening.
Susannah could already see the fascination a building such as Deerwood Park might have for a person with romantic inclinations such as Jane.
Her own bedroom was small and oddly shaped with no two walls the same length.
But it was comfortable, tucked away at the end of a twisting passage, with a tiny diamond-paned window that overlooked an apple orchard where the trees were bowed to the ground with fruit.
The wooden floor sloped steeply and she had smiled to discover that her bed was propped up by wooden blocks on one side to stop the occupant from sliding out onto the floor in the middle of the night!
In all the confusion of arriving, she had not had a moment to speak privately to her friend.
There had been an awkward moment when it was revealed by the housekeeper that Jane would not have the spacious bedroom she usually frequented on her visits to Deerwood Park.
Celeste was using that and although the Italian girl charmingly, with many apologies, said she would move immediately if given a chance to pack all her belongings but it might take a while because she had so much scattered everywhere, Jane had obviously politely insisted that any room would suit her just as well.
Tabitha had been sent downstairs to have her own supper in the kitchen and the two were now alone. Jane fussed with a blonde tress that refused to stay pinned into place.
“No, never. Well, I vaguely knew there had been a great scandal in the Fitzwilliam family, but I was never that much interested in old history. Papa’s mother—whom Anne is named after of course—Lady Catherine de Bourgh and the Colonel’s own father, had a much younger sister, Rose.
Of course we were never told the details, but Bennetta discovered recently—from gossiping with the servants, I fear—that Rose, who was wild and wilful, ran away from home when she was just fifteen and eloped to Italy with one of the grooms!
“It caused the most dreadful situation. She was disowned by the family and never mentioned again. It was as if she had never existed. I believe, although I have never seen it for myself, that my great-grandfather, Earl Fitzwilliam, even crossed her name out of the family Bible!”
“And this Celeste is her granddaughter?”
“So it would seem. I think Papa will be amazed to hear that she exists. I am only surprised that she came here to the Colonel and did not present herself to the Earl himself. Although he does not have good health, so perhaps she thought it kinder to be introduced by a family member.”
“The Colonel seems delighted to have her here. And she seems to be very much at home at Deerwood Park.”
Jane stood up, smiling. “I am delighted that there is another cousin to include in our family circle. No doubt we will get to hear all about her life in Italy, which will be interesting. I wonder how long she intends to stay in England? And it is good for the Colonel to have company. I would wish to be here far more often than is possible because I think he gets lonely on his own. Now, we must go down to dinner—I am not particularly hungry, but I am sure you must be.”
She led the way down the twisting oak staircase and across the panelled hall to the dining room. A footman leapt forward to open the door but as she stepped through into the candle-lit room, Jane stopped so suddenly that Susannah almost bumped into her.
“Jane, my dear. Come in, sit down and let me make more introductions.”
The Colonel smiled warmly at her. “This gentleman is Mr Archer Maitland. The grandson of an old acquaintance of mine, Lady Goddard, who purchased the Robyns estate, just a few miles distant on the far side of Deerwood hill. Archer is staying in Dorset for a short while, an escape from his busy life in the law courts of London. And here is his friend, the celebrated archaeologist, Dr Andrew Moore. Gentlemen, my goddaughter, Miss Jane Darcy and another friend, Miss Courtney.”
Archer Maitland strode forward and taking Jane’s hand, bowed over it, his dark eyes gleaming in the candlelight that flickered and flared as a gentle breeze slipped through the half open windows. He was smiling, enjoying her surprise.
“Miss Darcy, we meet again! I fear you are astonished to see us here and will probably be annoyed that we did not mention that we were to be fellow guests when we met earlier.”
Jane gently pulled her hand away, realising she was irritated more than astonished. Why had the wretched man not mentioned that they were close neighbours?
“Indeed, Sir, I am confused that you did not speak of it.”
“But not appalled, I hope?” Andrew Moore, who was standing by the window, crossed the room to take Susannah’s hand in turn and bowed over it, his good humoured face creased with an anxious frown.
Jane summoned her wits, which had been lost for a few minutes and turned away from Archer towards his friend. “Oh no, Sir, just surprised. And it is a pleasure to see you warm and dry once more. And certainly with far less mud about your person.”
“Indeed, we have heard all about Dr Moore’s escapades this afternoon,” the Colonel said. “I am only thankful that no one suffered any lasting injury. Now, please be seated everyone. The soup will surely be getting cold with every minute that passes.”
Jane smiled and started towards the seat on the Colonel’s right hand which was her normal place when she visited, then realised that Celeste was already sitting there.
The Italian girl gazed up at her, her dark eyes full of contrition.
“La, I am afraid I have taken your place, Jane. First your bedroom and now your seat at the table. You will think me very remiss but we do not stand on these outdated manners at home in Sicily and I believe the Colonel, too, is beginning to think that sometimes life can be far too ordered for comfort.”
Celeste flicked open her fan and turned to the Colonel, her eyes full of affectionate merriment above the lace folds.
“But of course Jane, I will move immediately if you wish to take precedence. I believe you are, in fact, nearly a year older than me. I have only just turned nineteen and the Colonel told me that your twentieth birthday is in December.”
“I insist that Miss Jane sits here next to me.” Archer held out the chair before the footman could do so and Jane had no choice but to nod her thanks and sit, trying to cover her confusion as best she could, only too well aware that Celeste, in glittering gold silk, made her own pale lemon evening dress seem washed out and boring.
She sighed; this was exactly how Anne made her feel. Her mama had never dressed the twins in identical clothes, wanting them to have their own personalities, but Anne had always chosen brighter colours, more dramatic styles, lower necklines.
‘Really, Jane,’ she thought crossly. ‘Does it matter how you look? Dear Colonel Fitzwilliam won’t care and I have not the slightest desire to attract either of these two gentlemen.
My feelings for Digby are still as strong as ever, no matter how badly he has treated me.
Indeed, it seems that Mr Maitland has already met Anne, so he will be only too aware of her attraction. ’
“I am sure your sister insists on all ceremony around the Pemberley dining table,” Archer said, leaning back to allow his soup plate to be filled by a footman from a great blue and white tureen.
“We have met when she has been staying in London with Mrs Caroline Tremaine; I found her to be a young lady with very strong views on such things.”
“Indeed, Anne is perhaps more particular than I am, Sir, especially on formal occasions. But our family meals are very relaxed. My younger sister and brothers make it so. They are not great believers in staid behaviour!”
“I am afraid I have missed out on that side of family life. I am an only child, although Andrew there has four younger siblings.”
“I am sympatico with you, Mr Maitland. I, too, am an only child. It can be very lonely when you are growing up. I long to meet all the Darcy family,” Celeste put in brightly.
“The dear Colonel speaks so warmly of your parents, I am sure I will be immensely fond of them. And what of your family, Miss Courtney?” she continued, leaning forward a little to direct her words to Susannah who was sitting across from Jane at the end of the table, next to Andrew Moore.
“You must surely miss them, living as Jane’s companion. Are they farmers? In trade, perhaps?”
“Oh, but Miss Courtney …” the Colonel began but Susannah interrupted him smoothly, without hardly looking up from her plate.
“I do not live at Pemberley, Signorina Celeste. I live nearby with my brother and sister-in-law.”
“Susannah’s brother is a doctor,” Jane said. “She is a good friend, not just a companion, although, of course, she is my closest companion on this holiday.”