Chapter 5
The breeze was pleasant on Livia’s cheeks—she’d been going uphill for the past ten minutes. Had she been standing still, it would have felt a little frosty.
The unseasonable balminess of the past two days couldn’t last. Somewhere nearby a mass of cold air was on the move, its vanguard encircling Stern Hollow.
The imagery made her shiver a little, as if winter had already arrived.
She tried to dwell on the remaining warmth of the afternoon, the quiet serenity of the woods, and the sun that was still some distance above the horizon, generously shedding its light. But without quite realizing it, her mind turned to a different autumnal day, a different pretty estate.
Moreton Close. Bernadine, her sister who, if she hadn’t been rail thin, would have resembled Charlotte a great deal.
Her life at home had not been ideal, but it had been safe enough and stable enough.
Who could vouch for the new place where their parents intended to stow her for the remainder of her natural life?
Charlotte had been quiet after Livia had spoken of Moreton Close, of its disarming coziness and its seemingly content residents. And then she had said, “I’ll take a look myself.”
“But you won’t be able to,” Livia reminded her. “They don’t let anyone in who’s never been invited there before.”
“Wait until you meet Mrs. Watson. No one will refuse to open a door when she stands on the threshold.”
And Mrs. Watson had indeed possessed that magical quality, and Livia had felt a burden lift from her shoulders. Between Charlotte and Mrs. Watson, they would see to it.
But now anxiety returned.
Ferreting out the truth about Moreton Close would take time, even if they could finagle an invitation. After all, Livia had been inside—and hadn’t found any cracks in the facade. What would happen to Bernadine in the meanwhile?
What if Dr. Wrexhall, who seemed so competent and reasonable, turned into a monster like the evil Mr. Hyde when all the visitors had left? Who would protect Bernadine then? Who would make sure that she wouldn’t be—
“Miss Holmes, are you lost?”
Lady Avery and Lady Somersby, the vultures themselves.
After the confrontation with Lady Avery, knowing that the gossip ladies were in fact after a different and much bigger target, Livia’s sense of foreboding had eased somewhat.
Let them chase their mirage. May it take up all their waking hours and leave them no time or energy to remember Charlotte and Lord Ingram.
“No, thank you,” she said coolly. “I am not lost.”
But she had wandered off the path into a grove of aspens. As sunlight slanted through, the slender tree trunks were almost white. And the undergrowth had turned the same golden hue as the shimmering canopy of leaves high overhead.
“Will you head back with us? The temperature is dropping fast now,” said Lady Avery.
Livia almost declined by reflex. Then she remembered that she had caught Lady Avery riffling through her room. Their offer wasn’t an order but something closer to an apology.
She supposed she could be magnanimous while she held the upper hand. “Certainly.”
They walked for some time in silence, then Lady Avery said, “We spoke to the servants.”
“And did they shed any light on this ‘great indiscretion’ you are seeking?” Livia wasn’t magnanimous enough to keep her tone free of snideness.
Lady Avery exchanged a glance with her sister. “We have discussed this and we have decided to tell you the truth. The part about the great indiscretion I made up on the spot. What we are investigating is not an indiscretion but an injustice.”
“Injustice?” Livia couldn’t help her incredulity. “What do you care about injustice?”
“From the very beginning we have cared passionately about injustice,” said Lady Avery in all seriousness.
“We move in Society and must speak its language and accumulate its currency—so we are fluent in enmities, liaisons, and financial entanglements going back several generations. Indiscretions and whatnot are amusing, we will not deny that. But along with an interest in sin, we have always been determined to unearth injustice where it exists and do what we can to remedy the situation.”
Livia almost tripped over a stone that poked up from the ground. What was the woman going on about?
“You are probably not familiar with employment agencies for domestic service,” Lady Avery went on. “But we always pass along what we know—if the master of a house takes advantage of the maids, or if the mistress works them too much and docks wages unfairly.
“We warn mothers of young ladies, or young ladies themselves, if we think they can handle such intelligence, when we know certain alarming things about young men they might consider marrying.
Sometimes they marry them anyway, because they refuse to believe us or because their parents exert undue pressure. But we do what we can.
“Anyway, our point is, we try to prevent or expose injustice. Often we can’t speak aloud—the culprits hold too unassailable a position or the consequences are too adverse, should it be found out who had passed on the information.
But we do speak quietly, and we do inform as many people as possible, especially those who must brush up against their spheres of influence. ”
Livia stared at Lady Avery. She had never thought of the women as being in any way helpful.
To anyone. She wasn’t sure she believed Lady Avery, who admitted that she’d made up the bit about the “great indiscretion.” Might this not be another gambit to make sure Livia didn’t say anything about their having gone into every guest room at Stern Hollow?
The next moment a huge premonition slammed into her. “And what, exactly, is this injustice you are so interested in just now?”
“I mentioned that we spoke to the servants,” said Lady Avery.
“They are a loyal lot, down to the scullery maids, and didn’t consider it our business to ask after their master and mistress.
But we both received the impression that while they are reluctant to say anything, they are as puzzled about Lady Ingram’s departure as we are.
“Neither of the coachmen drove her to a railway station. No one in the house, in fact, saw her on the night of her birthday ball, after about half past midnight or quarter to one. The children and their governess aren’t here right now, but we learned that even the children didn’t get to say good-bye to her.
The entire household, with a few exceptions, was ordered back to Stern Hollow the very next day, while Lord Ingram himself took the children to the seaside—neither of which had been in the plans earlier. ”
“Plans always change,” countered Livia, even as her stomach once again twisted with dread.
“And wasn’t it said that it was a sudden collapse?
They had a houseful of guests. Given Lady Ingram’s private nature, wouldn’t it be like her to leave, since she must, with as little noise and drama as possible? ”
The ladies did not escalate the debate. Livia was beginning to wonder whether her argument carried more weight than she thought it did, when Lady Avery said, “This is our first visit to Stern Hollow. I take it, Miss Holmes, that the same is true for you?”
“That is correct,” Livia answered warily.
“What do you think of the estate?”
Their path turned and the house came back into view, quite close now, serene and lovely, nestled in its sweet green dell. “I find it enchanting.”
“We find it a little chilling.”
Livia’s fingertips tingled with alarm. They were about to speak of Lady Ingram again.
“There is no imprint of Lady Ingram upon this place,” Lady Avery continued.
“Not at all. We spoke to all the senior servants, the majordomo, the butler, the housekeeper, the chef, the head gardener, et cetera, et cetera. It would seem that any and all alteration or improvement originated with Lord Ingram. Your room, for example, had been redecorated to his specification within the past year or so. The nursery. The library. The addition of certain fruit trees to the walled garden. It has all been Lord Ingram. It was as if—”
“As if Lady Ingram has no interest in houses or gardens,” said Livia heatedly. “Such women do exist.”
Charlotte was one. She appreciated a beautiful house, but she wouldn’t lift a finger to help make one. And any interest she had in horticulture was tied directly to whether the species in question could be made into a good pudding.
“I don’t doubt the existence of such women. But that is a terribly innocent interpretation on your part, Miss Holmes. Lord Ingram could very well have forbidden any input from his wife with regard to her own home.”
“That is a preposterous statement to put forward, Lady Avery. Lady Ingram has one of the largest allowances in Society. And her husband has thrown a lavish ball to celebrate her birthday every year, even after he learned that she married him only for his money. He has been more than generous to her at every turn and does not have it in his character to practice such meanness.”
“Being generous to his wife and undertaking extravagant gestures are choices that reflect well on him. They reflect especially well on him when it is believed that she does not deserve either. But think back to their rupture. I have investigated it, and everything rests on the word of one then new under-housemaid, who told the other servants, who in turn passed on the gossip to servants they knew in other households. The story filtered upward to the ears of their masters and mistresses, and eventually a picture emerged that was wholly uncomplimentary to Lady Ingram.”
Livia threw up her hands. “Because the truth was wholly uncomplimentary to Lady Ingram.”