Reluctant Widow Read online

  Miss Beccles smiled at his lordship. ‘Dear Elinor was always such a lively girl!’ she murmured. ‘So spirited! I know your lordship will make allowances.’

  ‘I should be happy to do so,’ he returned. ‘But I do not find her at all spirited. On the contrary, she appears to me to take an unnecessarily despondent view of her situation. There is really no need that I am aware of, Mrs Cheviot, for you to put yourself in a fret.’

  ‘Oh, she is not as chicken-hearted as you would suppose, Ned!’ Nicky said blithely.

  Mrs Cheviot, speech failing her, rose, and took several agitated turns about the room. Carlyon went to her, and took her hand. ‘Come!’ he said reassuringly. ‘I should not leave you here, you know, if I thought you stood in any danger. To run away must be nonsensical. By remaining, like a sensible woman, you may be very helpful. I am persuaded you must see, in the light of what has happened, that my placing you in charge here was a very lucky chance.’

  Elinor gazed at him. ‘A very lucky chance!’ she echoed faintly. ‘My lord, when I first encountered you the suspicion crossed my mind that your intellect was disordered. I am now certain that this is so!’

  Ten

  An exhaustive search of Eustace Cheviot’s bedroom having brought to light nothing but some more crumpled bills, and several irrelevant papers tucked into the pockets of various coats, it became apparent that if Eustace had indeed had in his possession any document destined for French eyes he had hidden it away in some place where it was unlikely papers would be looked for. Even Nicky was a little daunted by the prospect of being obliged to search minutely a house crammed with chests, cupboards, commodes, drum-tables, and old coffers. ‘And when we have ransacked every drawer in the place, ten to one it will be found poked up a chimney, or stuffed into the lining of a chair!’ he said pessimistically. ‘I do not know how we are to do!’

  ‘I suppose,’ said Elinor, who, in spite of herself, had begun to take an interest in these proceedings, ‘that it was not upon his person?’

  Carlyon shook his head. ‘I have everything that was in his pockets,’ he replied.

  ‘I wonder,’ said Miss Beccles diffidently, ‘if he perhaps put it between the leaves of a book? I cannot help feeling that that would be a very good hiding-place, and I noticed that there were a great many books in that room below-stairs. If you should like it, my lord, dear Mrs Cheviot and I can busy ourselves to-morrow with taking them all out, and dusting them at the same time.’

  ‘A very excellent notion,’ Carlyon said. ‘I am much obliged to you, ma’am.’

  ‘So am not I!’ said Elinor. ‘Why, I dare say there are more than a thousand books on the shelves!’

  Nicky, who was beginning to feel tired, sat down on the edge of the bed, and said disgustedly; ‘Oh, lord! There is no end to the places where we should search!’

  ‘Do you not think, sir, that if a warming-pan was brought up, as I dare say it might be directly, and the fire kindled in your bedchamber, you would be more comfortable in your bed?’ suggested Miss Beccles, in her gentle way.

  Nicky naturally scouted this idea, declaring that he should not retire before dinner; but upon being assured that he should not be fobbed off with gruel, but should be supplied with a tray loaded with sustaining and palatable viands, he began to think more kindly of his bed, and finally consented in a magniloquent spirit to get between the sheets again. Carlyon went downstairs to give orders for the securing of the secret door; and Elinor took Miss Beccles off to install her in the bedchamber next to her own. Miss Beccles sighed her pleasure at the sight of the fire already burning in the hearth, and smiled mistily upon her hostess. ‘It should not be, my love, but such a comfort to one! I do not know if I stand on my head or my heels! From the moment of his lordship’s coming I have been cast into such a flutter! I declare I could not believe the evidence of my ears when Polly – you remember Polly, my love: a very obliging girl! – when Polly came to tell me my Lord Carlyon wished to see me! And me in my old olive-green merino, for you must know I was engaged in polishing the furniture, and not in the least expecting to receive a visitor, much less so noble a visitor! But I dare say he would not notice, for thank heaven I had my wits about me enough to strip off my apron, and thrust it under a cushion. But to see such a fine gentleman in my poor little room – ! I declare I was so overcome I had scarcely strength enough to drop him a curtsy! But he is most truly the gentleman! I was rendered easy in a trice!’

  ‘Lord Carlyon’s manners are certainly well-bred, but –’

  ‘Oh, my love, I perceived at a glance that he was used to move in the first circles! And the beeswax lying on the table, and an old rag, and my merino so crushed! I was almost over-powered! And what he could want with me I knew no more than Polly, but that was soon told. You may imagine my astonishment! I fear he must have supposed me to have less than common sense, for I was obliged to beg him to repeat the whole before I could credit it!’

  ‘I do not wonder at it! You must have been excessively shocked to hear what a dreadful tangle I was got into!’

  ‘I own, my first reflections upon the event were of so agitating a nature that I was obliged to sit down plump upon the nearest chair. But all was soon explained! And then to learn that I was to come into Sussex the very next day, to be with you! I was left with my head in such a whirl I scarcely knew what I was about, or how I should contrive!’

  ‘Poor Becky, you have been shamefully used!’ Elinor said warmly. ‘I would not for the world have had you pack up in such uncomfortable haste! But I might have known how it would be! He is the most abominable creature, and thinks everyone’s convenience must give way to his!’

  ‘Oh, no, my love, indeed I do not know how you can talk in such a way! Only fancy his calling to take me up into his own chaise, and sitting beside me all the way, just as though I had been a person of the first consequence! Alas, dear Mrs Cheviot, you must know as well as I how seldom it is that one meets with any extraordinary civility when one is only a governess!’

  ‘Yes, indeed I do know, but –’

  ‘Every observance was shown me! The most distinguishing notice! And such kind attentions! And I in so much agitation that every faculty was in danger of becoming suspended! I am sure he must think me the most antiquated fidget, for what must I do but forget my netting-box! I am quite ashamed to think that I should have exclaimed that I believed I had not brought it, for his lordship, without the least show of being vexed, instantly ordered the postilions to turn back! And a glass of ratafia and a macaroon on the road, though I assured him I was not accustomed to take anything in the middle of the day!’

  ‘I will allow him to be thoughtful in such matters as that, but –’

  ‘And such a well-informed mind, my love! I did not look for him to put himself to the trouble of talking to me, I’m sure, but he was all that was most amiable! You may judge of my relief to know that you were in the care of one whom I could so truly respect!’

  ‘Becky, let me make it plain to you that I am not in Carlyon’s care! How I came to let myself be thrust into this imbroglio I cannot imagine! And now to hear you, whom I have all my life believed to be a model of propriety, talking as though a piece of good fortune had come to me, puts me out of all patience! For it is quite shocking, Becky!’

  ‘Indeed, my love, I do partake of your sentiments, but depend upon it you did right to trust his lordship to be the best judge of your actions.’

  ‘Did right to let myself be married and widowed within a couple of hours? How can you say so?’

  ‘To be sure, when you speak of it in such terms as that it does sound a trifle unusual,’ Miss Beccles admitted. ‘But I have never been able to support the thought of your being condemned to the life I have been obliged to lead. And you know, my dear Elinor – if I may still call you so, though I know I should not – from all his lordship was condescending enough to tell me it does seem as though it is a merci
ful dispensation of providence that the young man is dead. Not that one would wish to say anything unkind, but I cannot think that he was quite the thing, and I dare say must have made you a sad husband. How often has one been forced to observe that the most tragic events are for the best!’

  It was plainly useless to expect the little governess to enter into her feelings on the matter, so Elinor left her to her unpacking, and went downstairs to discover what Carlyon meant to do next.

  She found that he had put on his coat again, and was upon the point of departure. As she descended the stairs, he looked up, and said: ‘The door is now fast, ma’am, and I do not anticipate that you need feel any further alarm. Remember, I beg, that all is as yet no more than conjecture! We should be ill-advised to refine too much upon what has happened, until we are given more positive proof that our suspicions are well-grounded. I shall be visiting you in the morning, with my cousin’s lawyer. Meanwhile, I have procured a wedding-ring for you, which I trust may fit your finger more nearly than that signet of mine.’

  He held it out to her, so that she was obliged to take it, and to give him back his own. He seemed to have judged the size of her finger with tolerable accuracy. She slipped the ring on, but demanded: ‘My lord, how long do you mean to keep me in this house?’

  ‘I fear I cannot answer you until I learn more precisely how matters stand.’

  ‘I dare say you would not be in the least moved if you came to-morrow, and found us all lying dead in our beds!’ she said bitterly.

  ‘On the contrary, I should be a good deal surprised.’

  She could not help laughing. ‘Odious creature! Very well, I see you have a heart of stone, and I waste my time in useless entreaties! What would you have me do, sir?’

  ‘My advice to you you found so unpalatable that I hesitate to repeat it, Mrs Cheviot.’

  ‘Oh, yes! you would have me decked out in black crepe! I am not such a hypocrite!’

  ‘I do not know what will be proper for you to wear, but I must point out to you that it is in the highest degree likely that my cousin’s uncle, Lord Bedlington, will come into Sussex to attend the funeral, if not the inquest, and he will certainly wait on you. Your wearing colours will occasion some remark.’

  ‘You have a reasonable answer for everything, my lord. It is what one particularly dislikes in you! Pray, what am I to say to Lord Bedlington?’

  ‘I will engage to say all that is needful. It will be best for him to suppose that you had been for long betrothed to my cousin. As for last night’s affair, Nicky assures me that he allowed Greenlaw to suppose that he had been shot by a common housebreaker. I have already desired the Barrows to tell the same tale. Our care must now be not to do or say anything that could betray our suspicions.’

  ‘Very true! How shocking if we should frighten any spies away!’

  ‘Yes, I think you must see that it would be shocking indeed,’ he agreed, smiling, and putting out his hand. ‘I shall leave you now. If you should be nervous, I recommend you to let Nicky’s dog roam at will over the house during the night. He would certainly give tongue at the approach to any stranger.’

  ‘How little one guesses what one may come to!’ she remarked, turning her head to look at Bouncer, who was enjoying a satisfactory roll on the hearth-rug. ‘Never did I think I should live to be grateful to that horrid animal!’

  He laughed, shook hands, and went away. Bouncer stood up, shook himself, and wagged his tail expectantly.

  ‘If it’s your dinner you are thinking about,’ said Elinor severely, ‘You had best come and be civil to Mrs Barrow.’

  He pranced ahead of her down the long stone-paved corridor that led to the kitchens. Nothing could have exceeded his affability there, but only Elinor’s persuasion induced Mrs Barrow to bestow a plate of scraps on him. She said that he had already had the shoulder of mutton designed for Elinor’s own dinner. But the sagacious hound listened to Elinor’s reproaches with an expression compounded of innocence and such gnawing hunger that she found it hard to believe such a thing of him, and insisted that he should be fed. There was nothing in the manner in which he disposed of his portion to lend the least colour to the allegation made against his character.

  The evening passed tranquilly. Miss Beccles, who had lost no time in getting upon good terms with Mrs Barrow, made a panada for the invalid, which he pronounced to be first rate; Elinor lost to him all the vast sums she had won at piquet on the previous night; and Bouncer suddenly achieved popularity with Mrs Barrow by catching a large rat in the larder, whither he had repaired in search of something to maintain his strength during the night watches. Mrs Barrow was moved to bestow on him a large ham-bone. He subsequently hid this under Elinor’s bed, and his recollection of its whereabouts in the middle of the night, and insistent demands to be admitted into her room, were all that occurred to spoil her rest that night.

  The morning found her spirits fast recovering their tone. Nicky seemed to be much amended; and the presence of Miss Beccles was at once so comfortable and so calming that she received the news that his lordship’s carriage was at the door, ready to carry her to Chichester, with a docility surprising in one so high-spirited. The two ladies set off in this luxurious vehicle, and spent an agreeable few hours shopping, returning in the afternoon with so many band-boxes piled up on the seat before them that Nicky said he wondered they had not thought to hire a wagon, or even Pickford’s van.

  It would have been useless for Elinor to have attempted to pretend that her mind was of too elevated an order to rejoice in the possession of new clothes, and she lost no time in running up to her room to try on the dove-gray muslin, with black ribbons, and the handsome black silk, trimmed with lace, and a treble flounce. She was just trying the effect of a very pretty lace cap, with lappets that tied under her chin with a black bow, when she heard Bouncer set up a great barking in the hall. The next moment Nicky was thumping on her door, and telling her to make haste and come downstairs, for a post-chaise had just driven up to the door.

  ‘It’s old Bedlington, cousin, for I craned out of my window, and had the plainest view of him! Lord, I wonder what he will say when he finds you here! I wish Ned were here still to enjoy the jest!’

  She ran to the door, and opened it. ‘Oh, Nicky, what shall I say to him? Where is your brother?’

  ‘Oh, he is gone back to the Hall! He and Finsbury took all Eustace’s papers away with them, and wasted I do not know how much time trying to discover what his keys might fit. I dare say the most of them belong to things in Cork Street – he had rooms there, you know. Oh, and Ned told me to say that he begged pardon, but had forgot to inform you that he took the liberty of paying off Eustace’s valet, when he went to Cork Street yesterday, because you will scarcely need him, and he is a mean sort of a fellow, up to every trick. By Jove, Cousin Elinor, if that gown is not the most bang-up thing I ever saw! You look all the crack!’

  ‘Nicky, pray come downstairs with me!’ she begged. ‘I am quite at a loss to know what I shall say to Lord Bedlington!’

  ‘Well, I don’t mind owning I would give a monkey only to see his face,’ said Nicky frankly. ‘But Ned said, if he should chance to arrive here I was not to show myself, on account of the awkwardness of its being my fault that Eustace is dead.’

  ‘Good God, yes, indeed! I had quite forgotten that circumstance! My dependence must be all on Becky. Is my cap quite straight?’

  He assured her that it was, and she went down the stairs, taking some comfort in the imposing rustle of her silk skirts, but pale enough from fright to pass for an inconsolable widow.

  Barrow had ushered the visitor into the front parlour, where Miss Beccles was engaged in disposing the chairs more comfortably round the newly-kindled fire. Mrs Cheviot, softly entering the room, was in time to hear her assuring his lordship, with unshaken placidity, that Mrs Cheviot would be downstairs directly.

  ‘Here she is
, indeed!’ she said, catching sight of Elinor. ‘My dear Mrs Cheviot, here is my Lord Bedlington come to pay you a visit of condolence!’

  Elinor curtsied, wondering at her meek little chaperon’s effrontery.

  ‘Mrs Cheviot!’ ejaculated Bedlington. ‘Upon my word, I do not know what to say! I am quite at a loss!’

  He passed his handkerchief across his face as he spoke, and she was able to steal a look at him. He was a portly gentleman, of some fifty years, of medium stature, and a round face, in which small blue eyes were habitually open to their widest. He wore very tight Inexpressibles, and very high and rigidly starched shirt-points, which made it hard for him to turn his head; and when he bowed a slight creaking betrayed that a swelling paunch was confined by stays. The yellow lining to his coat, and the Prince’s buttons, which embellished it, proclaimed his office.

  ‘My dear ma’am – this shocking intelligence – my poor nephew! I was so much upset I was obliged to have half a pint of blood taken from me!’ he uttered.

  ‘Ah, a wise precaution, my lord!’ nodded Miss Beccles. ‘I have the greatest faith in the good effects of judicious cupping.’

  He turned to her eagerly. ‘There is nothing like it!’ he assured her. ‘My dear friend, his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, swears by it, you know! I do not know how many pints he has not had taken from him! But this is not to the point! My poor nephew! Ah, no one but myself had a value for the boy!’

  Elinor thought it prudent to keep her gaze discreetly lowered.

  His lordship applied his handkerchief to his eyes again. ‘Carried off so young!’ he sighed. ‘I had always a kindness for him, for you must know he was so like my dear brother it could not but affect me profoundly! But I do not properly understand – in short, ma’am, had no notion he was married! Indeed, I doubted that it could be so, but I perceive – It is very strange!’