Chapter Fourteen
When Rachel woke on the morning of her birthday, her immediate feeling was one of relief. Now no-one could stop her marrying Angus. She lay for a little while pursuing pleasant thoughts until Rose came in, pulled her curtains and said, ‘Morning, my lady.’
Rachel sat up in bed. ‘You didn’t say “happy birthday”.’
‘Can’t see the reason of celebrating a birthday. We all have one every year.’
‘But it’s my twenty-first. It’s special.’
Rose managed to look slightly less disagreeable. ‘Happy birthday, my lady. What shall I put out for you?’
Rachel’s mood had changed. ‘Twenty-one and not married yet. That’s what they’ll be thinking, isn’t it?’
‘Which “they” is that, my lady?’
‘Everyone. But it wasn’t my fault! I could have been married in my come-out year, but Mother thought no-one was good enough.’
‘I’m sure everyone knows that,’ Rose said, soothingly but with an undertone of impatience. ‘And you’ll be married very soon. Isn’t it better to have waited for the right person?’
The smiles returned. ‘Yes, you’re right. I love Angus, and I want to be Lady Rachel Tullamore more than anything.’
‘That’s the ticket,’ Rose said. ‘The yellow muslin, my lady? You can have your bath this evening before dressing for dinner.’
Having sent her charge out into the world – or at least down to breakfast – Rose left the bedroom and reached the service door to the back stairs at the same moment as Frederick.
He held it open for her courteously, making her remember the late, unlamented James Hook who had served at various times as valet, footman and butler, and would have thrust through the door ahead of her – and let it swing back in her face.
She gave Frederick a tight nod of thanks.
He said, ‘You all right, Rose? You look as if you’d lost sixpence and found a ha’penny. Have you got troubles?’
‘If I had, I wouldn’t tell you,’ she said.
‘Was it something her ladyship said?’ Frederick asked, following her onto the staircase. ‘Has she got troubles?’
Rose had not meant to answer, but it burst out of her like a little spurt of steam from under a pot lid. ‘Got nothing to do all day but enjoy herself, so she’s teasing herself with not being married before now. As if getting hitched at seventeen was the be-all and end-all.’
‘Whereas you and me, Rose, we know it’s marry in haste, repent at leisure, don’t we? Best take your time over it and get it right – like you?’
She was regretting her outburst now, of course. She flung him a look over her shoulder that would have shrivelled a reasonable man. ‘There’s no “you and me” knowing things, and I don’t want any of your cheek!’
He looked sympathetic. ‘Ah, I heard you and your gentleman friend was off hooks.’
‘There’s no gentleman friend and no hooks, and my concerns are my own and private, so you mind your knitting!’
He smiled with what she interpreted as pleasure at having got her riled. ‘He’ll come around, you’ll see. Give it time.’
Rose made an exasperated noise and ran down the rest of the stairs to get away from him.
It was not the Tallant way to make a big fuss of birthdays, and Rachel was satisfied with a small dinner-party and dancing afterwards.
It was nice that her birthday fell on a Saturday, so Angus was able to come down in the afternoon and they went out for a ride together before coming back to dress.
Apart from the family, the guests were friends of Rachel’s age: Clara and Ena Brinklow from The Red House, Sydney and Eveline Bexley from The Grange, the Massingberd twins, Freddie and Compton, from Asham Bois, and Arnold Baring-Gould from Ashmore Court.
He was only twenty and very shy but, counting her brother Richard it made the numbers even for dancing.
Giles did his bit by ordering champagne.
For the music, Kitty had discovered that their own Frederick could play the piano, and she had found another fiddler – Tim Whitcroft, son of one of the local farmers – to supplement old Frewing.
Then she had only to persuade Rachel that such a scratch orchestra was appropriate for informal dancing at home, and that it would have looked absurdly excessive to hire a military band to come down from London.
By the time Rachel had dressed in her favourite pale blue silk and seen the admiration in Angus’s eyes, she was ready to enjoy herself and find no more fault in the arrangements.
At breakfast the next morning the conversation turned to Linda’s wedding.
An invitation had come from her for the whole family, in tone triumphant, and so generous Giles assumed Prince Usingen was paying for a lavish affair.
‘Now I’m more than ever persuaded to go,’ he said.
‘To see poor Linda in full feather and – we hope – happy at last is the opportunity of a lifetime!’
Kitty looked shocked. ‘You surely can’t expect me to go, after the way your mother spoke to me.’
Giles was given pause. ‘Ah,’ he said, awkwardly. ‘Of course, the wedding will be at the Usingerhof. But Mother’s behaviour is not Linda’s fault. It wouldn’t be fair to punish her for it.’
‘I understand your point,’ Kitty said, her usually smooth brow still buckled, ‘but how could I possibly accept the hospitality of someone who called me such names?’
‘But, you know, that’s just her way. You shouldn’t take any notice. She’s rude to everyone, but it doesn’t mean anything. She won’t even remember it.’
‘Well, I do,’ Kitty said resentfully.
But by the next post a separate letter arrived from the princess, which seemed to prove Giles’s point.
It made no reference to the abrupt termination of the visit in the spring, and talked about everyone attending the wedding as if it had been previously agreed.
It then went on to mention Giles, Kitty and Rachel specifically.
From the wording, you would assume nothing untoward had ever happened.
‘You see?’ Giles said, reading out the letter at luncheon. ‘If you brought up the incident she’d simply look puzzled. She has no memory of it. And she specifically asks for you. I really think we should go.’
Kitty hated to refuse him anything., but she still felt hurt. ‘I don’t want to. I shouldn’t know how to speak to her. I’d feel uncomfortable.’
‘I promise you, she won’t say anything to you. She’ll be in such a good mood over getting rid of Linda at last – and so well! – she’ll be purring like a cat. Please come, Kitty. I don’t want to go without you.’
‘Well, she hasn’t asked for me,’ Richard said, ‘and much as I’d enjoy seeing Linda in her glory, someone has to stay and mind the shop.’
‘I don’t have to go, do I?’ Alice said. ‘She didn’t ask for me.’
‘You’re one of the many things she’s forgotten,’ Richard said, with a grin. ‘And Kitty will feel better about leaving the children if we are both here to look after them.’
‘There’s a large nursery staff to look after them,’ Giles pointed out.
‘Ah, but we’ll play with them,’ Richard said. ‘And talk to them all the time about Mama and Papa to keep your memory green.’
‘We’ll only be gone for two weeks,’ Giles said.
So Kitty found that it was assumed she was going without her ever having actually agreed. But Giles had said he didn’t want to go without her – she clung to that. ‘So you will be here?’ she said to Alice. ‘When is it that you go back to art school?’
‘They don’t begin again until mid September, do they?’ Richard answered for her.
Alice said, ‘I’m not going back.’
Giles looked puzzled. ‘I thought it was a two-year course. Surely there’s another term to go?’
There was a brief silence, then Alice said, ‘There is, but I don’t want to carry on. I…I think I’ve learned as much as I can from them.’
In that silence Giles had noted her deep embarrassment and, in a moment of sympathy, declined to probe any further.
‘Well, God forbid I should force you to go if you don’t want to.
It makes no difference to me – except that I’ll save a whole term of fees, which I can put towards the expense of Rachel’s wedding. ’
Rachel, who had been concentrating on a piece of toast, apparently far away in her thoughts, had actually been concentrating on the matter in discussion.
On the one hand, she was still very afraid of her mother; on the other hand, she had been at the Castle for weeks now, and was longing for a change of scene, for fun and parties.
She loved weddings, and this one promised to be on a lavish scale.
And it would be interesting to see how they were done in Germany: one might pick up some useful ideas.
When Giles mentioned her name, everyone looked at her. Richard said, ‘What about you? Ready to put your head in the lion’s mouth?’
‘I’m not afraid,’ Rachel said defiantly. ‘I’m going to marry Angus and she can’t stop me now.’
‘Ah, I understand.’ Richard grinned. ‘You want the chance to thumb your nose at her.’
‘Won’t you hate to leave Angus?’ Alice asked.
‘He’s terribly busy, so he won’t miss me for two weeks,’ Rachel answered. ‘We’ll have all the rest of our lives to be together.’
‘Well, that’s that,’ said Richard, as he and Alice went back into the house. ‘Now it’s just you and me.’
‘I suppose you’ll be working all the time,’ Alice said.
‘It’s August. And I’m entitled to a holiday too. We’ll have fun. Riding. Outings with the boys. And we can order anything we like to eat.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, really. Have you a secret craving for lobster à la King?’
‘I’ve never had lobster. Would I like it?’
‘Probably not. Sausages then, and cake and cocoa.’
At last she laughed. ‘I’m not seven!’
‘Think of me as your fairy godmother.’ He tucked her hand through his arm. ‘Tell me all your secret dreams and longings.’
‘Oh, I couldn’t do that,’ she said.
He was sorry to see her look away, the smile disappearing. What on earth was troubling her? He thought of her sudden decision not to go back to art school. Had something happened there? He wanted to get to the bottom of it, but was distracted by the arrival of the nursery maids with the children.