The next morning she had made a decision and was determined to tell Lady Gascoine, but first she sought out Jane Gibson in the small south drawing-room.
‘Elizabeth, good morning,’ Miss Gibson greeted her. ‘Bradbury is not yet down but she will be joining us for breakfast.’ Looking more closely at Elizabeth she said, ‘What is it, child? Have you come to your decision already?’
‘Why, ma’am, I have and the answer is that I … I have decided to accept Lady Gascoine’s kind offer. But … but I wanted to tell you first.’
Jane Gibson stood up and took both Elizabeth’s hands in hers. ‘I am so delighted, Lizzie, and my sister will be so much cheered when she knows you are going to be companion to her. I shall tell Bradbury as soon as she is down. Meanwhile, here is my sister now. Great news, Mary. Our little Lizzie has decided to stay with you and will make herself your cheerful young friend and companion.’
‘Great news indeed.’ Lady Gascoine beamed. ‘If you are agreeable, Jane, in return for her services I shall give Elizabeth her own rooms and all found. In addition I will match the allowance which you made for her when she was at Miss Hanbury’s.’ She turned to Elizabeth. ‘For my part, I shall expect unquestioning loyalty and respect and your company whenever I require it. Meanwhile, we must have breakfast and then I shall take you to my own suite, so that you will be familiar with the house.’
Lady Gascoine’s bedroom was even more impressive than Elizabeth could have imagined. The large four-poster bed was upholstered in green Genoa velvet and the graceful bedside tables were inlaid with elegant marquetry. Lady Gascoine’s writing desk was dainty and feminine with a silver-bound writing case and ink stand to match. There was a brass bell pull at each side of the white marble fireplace and the cast-iron grate incorporated the Gascoine crest. Everything was the best quality and Elizabeth gazed in awe at the beautiful tapestries on the wall, and the green silk wall covering in Her Ladyship’s dressing-room. Leading off from this was a small, cosy sitting-room with a tiny fire grate and a large upholstered chair with many cushions.
Lady Gascoine seemed to understand the impact that it had all made on Elizabeth and quietly suggested that they should go downstairs. ‘Before we go, Elizabeth,’ she said, laying a soft white hand on Elizabeth’s arm, ‘I should like to make you a little gift. Just a trifle, my dear, to mark the start of our friendship, and if you agree, I would like to forgo the custom of calling you “Baines” and stick to “Elizabeth”. It is such a pretty name. I own that when Jane decided on sending you to Miss Hanbury’s, I was doubtful of the wisdom of it all. As it happens, everything has turned out for the best and you are thoroughly worthy and suitable to be my close companion. Here, this is for you.’
She handed Elizabeth a leather case and Elizabeth opened it carefully. It contained a single row of perfectly matched and graded pearls. ‘My papa gave this to me over thirty years ago, as a coming-out present,’ Lady Gascoine said. ‘Papa believed that young girls look tasteless wearing diamonds and precious stones. He said that a dainty necklace of pearls was all the jewellery a girl needed, until she married, that is. But that won’t be for some time yet, will it, my dear?’
‘No indeed, ma’am,’ Elizabeth said softly. For some reason she discovered her voice had gone quieter, whether it was shyness she knew not. ‘But I cannot accept…. You should not be so generous…. You cannot make me such a gift….’
‘Fustian!’ Lady Gascoine smiled. ‘Turn round, Elizabeth. The catch can be quite tricky but I am used to it and have the knack of it.’
Blushing with pleasure, Elizabeth turned obediently and stood still while Her Ladyship fastened the dainty necklace for her.
‘Charming, quite charming, and most suitable for a young and beautiful girl. Papa was quite right. I shall go and write some letters now, Elizabeth, and will see you at luncheon. Perhaps we may have a little outing this afternoon, in celebration of our working agreement. No, really, run along,’ she ordered as Elizabeth tried stumblingly to thank her again for the gift of pearls.
Elizabeth went downstairs, pausing in front of a large mirror on the landing and touching the pearls at her throat. Already they appeared to be more lustrous and to have taken on the warmth of her body. It was the first time in all her young life that she had been given such a personal and splendid gift. In her conscious memory, Elizabeth had never had a birthday present. She didn’t even know when her birthday was, and no one in the Baines’ household had ever enlightened her on the topic. She had felt very excluded at Miss Hanbury’s when the other girls had received the best wishes and congratulations of their companions, and yet she had never been able to celebrate her own.
From the euphoria of the gift, and the simple pleasure of Lady Gascoine in giving her the pearls, she must have gone down a different staircase, or made a wrong turn. She didn’t even recognize this part of the house at all. She had turned the corner at the bottom of the staircase and found herself in a long gallery. With Lady Gascoine’s need to have a warm house, there was a fire burning in a veined marble fireplace. On either side of it were alcoves specially created to hold specific statues. As Elizabeth began to walk the length of it, she realized this must be Robert Gascoine’s statue gallery.
Although Lady Gascoine might have chosen the chairs and settees, of carved and gilded mahogany with the upholstery of crimson silk damask, and the magnificent chandelier, it was Robert who had been responsible for the simplicity of the decorations and the arrangement of the sculptures. Everything seemed designed to emphasize the splendour of these figures. It was full of statues, most of them lifesize, all of them partially or completely unclothed. She walked slowly past them, thinking all the time that she should go back the other way and return to the south drawing-room. One statue in particular caught her eye and she paused and stood before it to have a closer look. It was Diana the Huntress, holding her bow in her left hand, and reaching back with a graceful gesture of her other hand, to pluck another arrow from the quiver on her right shoulder. Elizabeth was entranced. The loveliness of the calm stone face and the curve of the draperies opened her eyes. She was eager for more. She turned round to see the other statues.
‘Miss Baines, you seem to be very taken with the goddess of the chase. Does she please you? Does this mean that you can admire such an antique model of brave womanliness?’
It was Robert Gascoine, who had come upon her without her awareness, and Elizabeth turned immediately at the sound of his quiet, distinctive voice.
She looked at him closely before she replied. He was wearing ordinary clothes for a man of his station, yet she could sense the hidden muscle power in his tall but compact body. He seemed to be waiting for her reply without appearing to.
‘Well,’ she said, hesitantly. ‘She seems a warrior, with her bow and arrows, but feminine and graceful also…. An … an ideal of womanly beauty.’
His compelling eyes were bright in the comparative dark of the gallery and she noticed with fascination that they were mainly green today. His shapely lips curved into a smile that his eyes had already begun. ‘And does this mean that you can identify yourself with her brave and open warrior spirit?’
In spite of the lightness of his tone, she recognized that his antiques were an absorbing interest and she answered seriously, ‘Well, I don’t know about that, sir, but I think she is very beautiful.’
‘She is the jewel in the crown of my collection,’ he said gravely, with the hint of a smile. ‘While I was on the Grand Tour, I stayed for some time in Italy. There I met a Signor Bertorelli, who recognized my interest in antiquarian statues. He put several my way including this one. Which had once belonged to Cicero.’
Elizabeth was impressed, not only by the statues but by his knowledge and erudition.
‘Should you care to view some of the other statues, Miss Baines?’
‘Why, yes, it is an amazing collection, sir. Being newly released from the schoolroom, I have never seen their like.’
At that precise moment, Elizabeth’s eye alighted on a shamelessly naked Perseus slaying the Gorgon.
Noticing her blushes, Robert said sympathetically, ‘Many of Mama’s friends deplore the lack of any sort of contrivance, which would conceal the nudities of the male statues, but my Aunt Jane considers this to be the most beautiful room in the house.’ He paused and then said, ‘And of course, it is true to all the Palladian principles of simplicity with restraint.’
Elizabeth, suspecting he was laughing at her, gazed at him severely for a moment. Having little knowledge of Palladian principles, she had nothing to say. Pointing to another carved head, she asked, ‘Is that another goddess?’ She indicated the head of another Roman woman. With its oval frame and carved and gilded swags and tassels, it seemed the room had been designed just to display this epitome of classical beauty.
‘Yes, she was dredged up from one of the Italian ports and sold to me as being a representation of the goddess Juno. Since then I have had some doubts about her identity, but she is still very beautiful, is she not?’
‘Yes,’ Elizabeth said softly. ‘She is certainly that, sir.’
She spoke carefully in her best elocution voice, hoping that the very faint Irish intonation of her voice, which even Miss Hanbury’s sternest efforts had not succeeded in eradicating entirely, wouldn’t be too evident. As she looked up at him she saw his bright, lustrous eyes expressing open amusement and bit her lip, thinking she must sound very gauche. As she continued to gaze at him, uncertain as to what to say next and yet unable to look away, she wondered how old he was. She wished suddenly that she could make a witty remark, have a joke with him, tease him a little as she’d been wont to do with her friends at school, but she hadn’t the confidence.
Instead, she listened politely while he said, ‘If you’re interested in art and antiquities, Miss Baines, perhaps you would like to see the pictures in the landscape room?’
‘Why, yes, I should like that very much, sir.’ She said no more because at that moment one of the maids came to summon her to attend Lady Gascoine in the south drawing-room and she went in haste. Robert was left alone.
He remembered the shy waif of two years ago, who never spoke above a whisper and who looked as though a breath of wind could blow her away. Now she was so changed and he just hoped that Miss Hanbury’s Academy had not influenced her to adopt the shallow manners and vapid interests of some of the young ladies of his acquaintance. He’d been surprised and intrigued by her appearance and manner. She was so pretty with her fair complexion and golden curls yet seemed totally unaware of the impact her beauty had on people.
In spite of his apparent detachment, she had aroused his interest. He was obliged to admit to himself that there was definitely a sexual element to this. He wondered fleetingly what she would be like to kiss but stifled the thought as soon as it had begun.
Being personal companion to his mama would not be easy, he thought sombrely. She would be required to always tread the fine line between friendliness and professional correctness. She would be required to mix with other servants as well as gentlefolk; would have to endure unkind criticism and learn to laugh at spiteful remarks and the petty jealousies of other women in the household. He felt an urge to warn her to protect herself in some way from the cruelties that being a lady’s companion would hold for her.
He knew from his Aunt Jane that Elizabeth had endured physical cruelty while still a child. It would be a shame to remove this from her childish years only to return to it when she thought she was safe again. Still, for all her fragile appearance, she must be strong and resilient. As far as he knew, she had never had difficulties with bullying or spiteful remarks from the girls at Miss Hanbury’s. Perhaps the other girls had recognized the strength in her and never attempted it. He sighed and went back to his self-imposed task of cataloguing his collection in the landscape room.
As Elizabeth dressed for dinner that evening, she remembered the first time she had visited Lady Gascoine and how consumed with nervousness she’d been. How gauche and naïve. Unlike tonight, when she was pleasantly excited by the pleasures to come. She was looking forward to dining in the presence of Robert Gascoine, and she dared admit that his conversation and his sense of humour made him attractive.
Miss Gibson had Bradbury to help her to dress and they had Susanna to assist with the preparation of their washing water and the dressing of their hair. Elizabeth had decided to be independent. One of the many skills she’d learned at Miss Hanbury’s was adapting the latest hairstyles to her own type of beauty and how to carry herself well in order to show off the fashionable Regency dress to advantage. Many of the girls at Miss Hanbury’s had little interest in anything except the opposite sex and the latest fashions. Their conversations were on subtle little beauty hints and the most modish accessories for their various outfits. She knew that some of them changed their gowns several times a day, but this was not Elizabeth’s interest. Rather she enjoyed her books, her sketching and her dancing lessons. This did not mean she was indifferent to the interests of her contemporaries, however. She was as interested as the next young miss in how to bite her lips a little, so as to redden them before she made her entrance, or to use a mixture of glycerine and rosewater to whiten her hands.
She was also fully aware that the high-waisted white dress, which was de rigueur for young unmarried girls, suited her to perfection. She put on one that had flounces on the hem, lending it extra weight and ensuring it hung straight and without creases. She had chosen the dress because it emphasized her slender figure and the shapeliness of her arms and shoulders. Once it was on she arranged her hair in the usual fashionable ringlets, which cascaded from the crown of her elegant head to the nape of her slender neck.
She looked in the mirror and was pleased and satisfied with what she saw. She knew that this time she wouldn’t disgrace herself or Miss Gibson with her lack of social finesse. Miss Hanbury had instructed her in the art of acceptable table manners. She drew a deep breath and reached for Lady Gascoine’s gift, the pearl necklace, and attempted to clasp it round her slender throat. She liked the effect. The luminous beads quickly took on the warmth of her flesh again and reflected perfectly the stunning whiteness of her skin. For a few minutes she fumbled ineffectually with the fastener. No matter how she struggled, the knack of fastening it eluded her. The first dinner gong resounded gently through the house and, sighing with annoyance, she opened the door and went in search of Miss Gibson and Bradbury. She was sure one of them would be able to help her out.
As she stepped on to the dimly lit landing, she was aware of someone coming along the corridor.
It was Robert Gascoine. He was dressed in the usual male evening attire and was looking more relaxed and handsome than he had done that morning.
‘Why, Miss Baines,’ he said and smiled. ‘I hope I didn’t startle you. I have just been doing some work on the last entries in my catalogue.’
She looked at him, a confident ex-scholar from Miss Hanbury’s Academy just taking the first steps on the rungs of the ladder, which was to lead to a comfortable life with his mother Lady Gascoine. The smile she gave him and the polite request to aid her with the string of pearls was a very correct one, so why did he think it so provocative?
He supposed that it must be because she was so young. He hoped that no one took advantage of her innocence, and gave a self-deprecating smile as he realized that must mean him too.
‘I can’t fasten it, sir,’ she said rather breathlessly.
‘Turn round for me then,’ he said gravely.
She felt a certain quickening of her heartbeat as she handed the pearls to him and stood obediently with her back to him. As she felt the gentle fingers fastening the string of pearls, she was aware of the sensation on her skin and the way his light touch encouraged feelings she never knew she had.
As for Robert, he had the strange feeling when he saw the bent head that he should raise it and make the beautiful lips his own. He was shocked at this thought, which was no better than Frederick’s and he quickly dropped his hands from her neck.
Elizabeth, who had enjoyed the feeling of his hands touching the back of her neck and the strange sensations these had given her, stuttered, ‘Th … thank you, sir,’ before she fled downstairs to the dining-room.
Robert stayed where he was for a few moments. He had to acknowledge that she was very alluring with her pretty curls and blue eyes. The skin at the nape of her neck was white and of a texture most fashionable ladies would die for. The feel of her soft curls beneath his fingers was absolutely beguiling. She seemed quite a poised and confident young lady after two years at Miss Hanbury’s and yet she had the quality of artless innocence, which he found totally seductive.