When Holly and Harry returned, Lady Darcy’s Aston was already in the drive and the sun cast lengthy shadows across the grass.
‘Your mum’s probably furious with me,’ Holly admitted as she climbed out of the car. ‘Storming off like I did.’
‘Probably,’ Harry agreed cheerfully as he slammed his door. ‘But she’s always wound up about something or other; it might as well be you.’
‘Holly! There you are.’
She looked up to see Hugh, his face creased with worry, striding down the front steps to meet them. ‘Yes, Harry brought me home.’
‘Where on earth have you been?’
Holly hesitated. ‘Well,’ she began, ‘as to that…’
‘Mum said you’d gone off on your own to shop and must’ve got lost coming back,’ Hugh said. ‘She looked for you but finally gave up and came back home.’
‘Yes, that’s exactly right.’ Holly eyed Lady Darcy as she joined Hugh at the top of the entrance steps, grateful that their altercation, for the moment at least, would remain private.
‘We were just about to organise a search party,’ he informed her. He leaned forward to give Holly a brief – very brief – kiss. ‘Really, darling… you should be more mindful of your surroundings in future. You might’ve really got lost.’
She bit back a sharp retort. ‘I had my mobile with me. I would’ve called had I got lost, believe me.’ She went up the steps, waiting until his mother was out of earshot just inside the hall before sliding her arm through his. ‘Now,’ she added in a low voice, ‘about that ravishment…?’
‘Don’t forget, you two,’ Lady Darcy called out, turning back to give Holly a tight smile as they followed her inside, ‘dinner’s served at half past, with drinks in the drawing room beforehand. I’ll see you shortly?’
‘Of course,’ Hugh said, and laid a quelling hand atop Holly’s as she opened her mouth to sputter out a refusal. ‘We’ll see you soon.’
‘If I didn’t know better,’ Holly fumed when Lady Darcy had retreated to the kitchen, ‘I’d say your mother’s doing everything she can to keep us apart. First it was the jumble sale, now drinks and dinner – honestly, what next? Star gazing with the family in the folly at midnight?’
‘Don’t give her any ideas,’ Harry said as he brushed past them. ‘If she could, Holly, she’d fit you for a chastity belt and throw away the key. See you lot at dinner.’
And with a grin, he made his way up the stairs.
***
The next day dawned bright and unseasonably warm. Holly pulled on a pair of capris and a fitted pink polo shirt in readiness for her second round of jumping practice with Lizzy and thrust her feet into a pair of riding boots.
‘Good morning, darling,’ Hugh said as he met her at the top of the main staircase. ‘You look like a proper horsewoman,’ he approved, and kissed her. ‘Ready for our ride?’
‘I’m looking forward to it. Every muscle in my body’s aching, but it was so much fun I’m ready to do it again.’
Hugh nodded. ‘I’m glad. Horseback riding is one of the best workouts you can get.’
‘I can think of another excellent workout,’ Harry called out behind them. ‘More fun, too. And no need for liniment afterwards.’
Holly giggled. ‘Unless you’re very old, perhaps.’
‘Or very athletic,’ he agreed.
‘What are your plans today, Harry?’ Hugh asked as they went downstairs. ‘You’re welcome to come riding with us.’
‘No, thanks. I think I’ll go down to the Pemberley and speak to the captain to make sure everything’s in order for the race on Saturday. Ciaran’s entered the Meryton and I’m determined to best him.’
‘How long does the race last?’ Holly wondered. ‘Only one day?’
Harry shook his head. ‘The semi-finals for the Challenge Cup start Saturday,’ Harry said. ‘But the finals won’t happen for two weeks. In the meantime there’ll be fun fairs, 10k races, even fireworks and a ball on the day of the Challenge Cup race.’
‘It sounds amazing.’
‘It’s brilliant. Now,’ Harry added, ‘I’d best be on my way to the marina, before those thunderstorms they’re calling for blow in.’
‘As long as you’re back by early afternoon, you should be all right,’ Hugh told him. He glanced at Holly. ‘That goes for us, as well.’
‘Well, it’s barely eight o’clock. I’m sure we’ll be back in plenty of time,’ Holly assured him. ‘Now, let’s go and get some breakfast. I can’t possibly ride without lots of toast and coffee first.’
***
‘Where are you off to this morning, Lizzy?’ Mr Bennet enquired, deftly catching two pieces of toast as they popped up from the toaster. ‘Going riding again?’
She nodded and took the plate he held out to her. ‘Jumping practice with Holly for an hour or so, then she and Hugh and I are going for a hack to Rosings and back.’
‘Rosings?’ He lifted a brow. ‘So far? The forecast is predicting thunderstorms later today.’
‘Oh, don’t worry,’ she reassured him as she took a bite of toast liberally spread with jam, ‘we’ll be back before the first rumble of thunder, I promise.’
‘Will you stop and see Hugh’s godmother while you’re there?’
‘That old gargoyle?’ Lizzy gave a mock shudder. ‘I’d sooner run naked through Leicester Square or brave the Boxing Day crowds at Whistles than make small talk with that awful woman.’
‘She’s not that bad, surely. Lady de Byrne may be a bit intimidating, but she is, after all, Hugh’s godmother. I suspect she’s merely a lonely widow with too much time on her hands and no one to talk to.’
‘And far too much of her nose stuck in other peoples’ business,’ Lizzy said sharply. ‘Besides which, she makes no secret of the fact that she doesn’t approve of me, or my fondness for Hugh, and she never has.’
Mr Bennet buttered his second piece of toast with a generous hand and observed, ‘I’m sure you exaggerate, my dear. At the end of the day, Georgina de Byrne is nothing more than a lonely woman in need of a friend.’
‘Then I wish her well, truly,’ Lizzy replied. ‘But I’ve no interest in being her friend or providing a salve to ease her loneliness. I’ve problems enough of my own.’
With that she rose and brushed the crumbs briskly from her hands, and after kissing the top of her father’s head, left to go and meet Holly and Hugh.
***
‘Kick on and sit back,’ Lizzy called out an hour later. She looked on as Holly and her mount went around the ring for a final run of practice jumps. ‘Trust your horse. He knows what he’s doing.’
Holly nodded and tensed her thighs, leaning back slightly in the saddle as she urged the bay hunter from a canter to a gallop, focusing as they approached the first of the jumps. She kept a close but relaxed grip on the reins as Thor gathered his muscles and sailed effortlessly over first one, then the next jump.
‘Excellent form,’ Lizzy approved. ‘You’re much improved since yesterday. Are you ready to tackle those hedges and stone walls now?’
Holly nodded and reined the horse in. ‘I think so, yes. My training’s coming back to me. Let me change my mount and you can have Thor. I’ll ride Lady.’
‘No need. Stay on; you’ve handled him beautifully so far. I’ll take Lady.’
And so it was decided. At ten-thirty Hugh and Lizzy were mounted and ready to ride as well, and the three of them cantered out of the paddock and galloped across the fields, into the warm brilliance of an early June English morning.
***
‘What’s that place?’ Holly called out as she reined Thor in forty-five minutes later and shaded her eyes against the sun with one hand. ‘It’s very striking.’
A Georgian house, imposing but not half so large as Cleremont, overlooked a grassy slope that rose just ahead of them. It was fronted with white columns and rows of perfectly symmetrical windows that reflected the sun, with an identical wing on either side of the main house.
Hugh rode up beside her. ‘That’s Rosings,’ he said. ‘My godmother, Lady de Byrne, lives there.’
‘Should we go and visit?’ Lizzy said, and smirked. ‘Lady de B is always such fun.’
‘I ought to stop and see how she’s getting on,’ Hugh admitted. ‘She doesn’t have many visitors these days.’ He cast a glance skyward. ‘But it’s nearly noon, and we should start back before long if we don’t want to get caught in a storm later.’
‘There’s not a cloud in sight.’ Lizzy followed his gaze upwards and turned her horse towards Rosings. ‘Besides, the horses need a rest. I say we soldier on and go and visit the old dragon – I mean, Lady de Byrne.’ She grinned and gripped her reins. ‘Come on, you two – race you to Rosings!’
***
When Hugh and Holly and Lizzy were seated in Lady de Byrne’s drawing room and duly presented with glasses of iced tea by the aged butler, Holly glanced around her in mute awe. Everything, from the moiré-papered walls and silk-upholstered loveseats and chairs to the brocade drapes and rugs, was a variation of pink, and the furnishings consisted of white and gold French provincial pieces with delicately turned legs.
‘Does your godmother live here,’ Holly murmured as she looked at Hugh in amusement, ‘or Barbara Cartland?’
Lizzy leaned forward. ‘Don’t be fooled by all the pink, Holly,’ she warned in a low voice. ‘Lady de B is positively terrifying. She’ll probably want to quiz you now that you’re engaged to her godson.’
‘Quiz me?’ Holly’s fingers tightened around her glass of tea. ‘About what?’
‘About your antecedents, of course.’ Lizzy’s smile was mischievous. ‘And you’ll no doubt be found as wanting in that department as I am.’
‘It is very rude, young woman,’ an imperious voice called out from the doorway, ‘to whisper – and to gossip – in mixed company.’
‘Lady de Byrne,’ Hugh said, setting his glass aside in haste as he rose to his feet.
Holly and Lizzy scrambled to follow suit.
‘What have we here?’ Hugh’s godmother asked as she entered the drawing room. Her iron-grey hair was cut in a short and becoming style, but the pugnacious set to her jaw and upturned nose spoke of a strong will. She wore very little make-up but her eyes were as bright and shrewd as a jackdaw’s.
Holly half expected her to enter the room trailing a full-length bombazine gown, like Queen Victoria; but she wore an ordinary shirtdress of – what else? – pale pink cotton, belted around a trim waist.
Hugh made the introductions. ‘Tell me, Lady de Byrne,’ he said when he was done and they were all seated, ‘how are you getting on?’
‘I manage as well as can be expected,’ she replied. She lowered herself onto a loveseat. ‘Age makes one a prisoner. I cannot walk so often nor so far as I once did, and I seldom ride, as I fear a fall would break my hip and land me in hospital.’
‘Very sensible of you, Lady de Byrne,’ Lizzy offered.
‘And how is your father doing, Miss Bennet?’ Hugh’s godmother enquired. ‘What does he do to fill his days now that he no longer leads the village flock?’
‘He bakes,’ Lizzy replied. She exchanged a glance with Hugh and tried not to laugh. ‘Scones. Dozens of them, every day.’
‘My goodness.’ Lady de Byrne’s hand rose to her chest. ‘What does he do with all of them?’
‘He gives them away, mostly. The rest, I regret to say, we must endeavour to eat.’
Hugh’s godmother chuckled; the sound was rusty, like a pump scarcely used that needed priming. ‘Thank you for telling me. I shall consider myself warned if he visits bearing a basket of his baked goods.’
‘You look very well,’ Hugh said. ‘Country life agrees with you.’
She lifted her brow. ‘You’ve always had perfect manners, but a poor ability to lie. That, at least, hasn’t changed.’ She smiled as if to take the sting out of her words. ‘Thank you, Hugh. Now, then.’ She brought her bright gimlet eye to rest on Holly. ‘You’re Holly James, are you? I must say – you’re tolerably pretty. But your hair could do with a brush.’
Holly was far too surprised to summon a word in response. She heard Lizzy suppress a snort of laughter beside her. ‘We’ve been riding,’ she managed at last. ‘My hair’s in a tangle.’
‘That is why one normally ties one’s hair back,’ she observed with asperity. ‘Who are your people, pray tell?’ Lady de Byrne asked imperiously.
‘My… people?’ Holly echoed, her eyes widening. Who did this old battleaxe think she was, anyway? Lady Catherine de Burgh? ‘I was born in London, but my sister and I grew up in the Cotswolds, in Chipping Norton. My father owns fifty per cent of Dashwood and James department stores,’ she added with just a trace of smugness. Take that, you old cow.
‘A merchant,’ Hugh’s godmother sniffed. ‘How very disappointing. And what of your mother? Has she a title to recommend her?’
‘No,’ Holly shot back. ‘She has warmth and beauty and intelligence to recommend her. And a degree from Oxford.’
‘Well done, you,’ Lizzy whispered, and giggled.
‘Too much education is never a good thing in a woman. And tittering and whispering while others speak is most unbecoming in a young lady,’ Lady de Byrne added, fixing a gaze of disapproval fully on Elizabeth. ‘I see you’re still lacking in manners, Miss Bennet. Did your mother teach you nothing?’
A dull flush of anger mottled Lizzy’s cheek. ‘My mother taught me a great deal,’ she said, her words even. ‘She taught me how to use my cutlery at dinner, how to say “please” and “thank you”, and how to make a proper introduction. And,’ she added, ‘from a very young age, she taught me how to recognise snobbery and condescension.’
There was a small, uncomfortable silence.
‘Well. That’s me put in my place, has it not?’ Lady de Byrne said.
Although she spoke without inflection, there was a gleam of approval in her eye as she studied Lizzy, and Holly thought she recognised in the Bennet girl a more worthy adversary that she had perhaps initially supposed.
‘Tell me – how is your daughter, Lady Georgina?’ Hugh asked, and leaned forward.
‘I scarcely know. Imogen rarely speaks to me except in passing these days. She married a most unsuitable man in haste, as you know, and now,’ she added as she fixed her jackdaw’s eye on Holly, ‘she is repenting at leisure.’
Holly bristled. What was that supposed to mean?
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and with the sound Hugh stood. ‘I’m sorry to cut our visit short, Lady Georgina, but I’m afraid we must be on our way,’ he told her. ‘The forecast is calling for storms later today, and we really should head back to Cleremont now.’
‘Of course. Horses are notoriously skittish in thunderstorms,’ she said, and rose as well. ‘Thank you for visiting, and for introducing me to your fiancée.’
‘It was a pleasure to meet you, Lady de Byrne,’ Holly gritted. ‘I hope to see you again at our wedding.’
‘Oh, I daresay you’ll see me before then. I shall call on Lady Darcy very soon to discuss the impending nuptials. Good day, Miss James, Miss Bennet.’
‘Good day,’ the girls echoed.
Banks reappeared to show them out, and as Hugh remained behind to speak with his godmother for a moment, the girls followed him across the entrance hall and out the door. As it shut behind them, Holly let out a breath she didn’t even realise she was holding.
‘God, that was the most painful visit ever,’ she exclaimed.
‘I told you she’s a gargoyle,’ Lizzy agreed. ‘Even her daughter won’t speak to the old cow.’
‘Why? What happened?’ Holly asked, curious.
‘Well, you heard Lady de B – in her opinion, Imogen didn’t marry the right sort of man.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Not to gossip, but I heard she married a high-flying City stockbroker. She thought he had scads of money, and so did everyone else in London. But he had nothing but debt and only married her to get his hands on her money. She’s divorcing him but he’s taking her, as they say, to the cleaner’s. It’s all very ugly.’
‘How awful,’ Holly agreed. ‘Poor girl.’
‘Yes, I imagine she will be, once the dust settles. She’ll literally be very poor, and probably end up back under her mother’s thumb.’ Lizzy paused. ‘I hear footsteps. Hugh’s coming.’
The door opened, and Banks bowed as Hugh Darcy emerged and turned to give the butler a nod. ‘Thank you, Banks. Good day.’
‘Good day, sir, ladies.’
Hugh joined them as the door closed. Thunder grumbled again in the distance, and he moved past them down the front steps. ‘We’d best get going.’
‘You’ll get no argument from me,’ Lizzy said, and followed him down the steps. ‘Still – the sun’s out, and there’s only a couple of clouds in the sky.’
Several puffy white cumulus clouds looked down on them benignly. ‘Lizzy’s right. Looks pretty tranquil to me,’ Holly agreed. ‘Why the hurry to get back?’
‘We’re not that far from the coastline,’ Hugh reminded her. ‘Storms can blow up quickly off the bay.’
‘All right, then, let’s go.’ Lizzy untied Lady and swung up into the saddle. ‘Why don’t we make it interesting?’ she added as Hugh and Holly untied their mounts. ‘Who’s for a race back to Cleremont?’
‘A race?’ Holly eyed the bay, pawing now at the ground restlessly, with misgivings. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea. Thor seems a tiny bit skittish. Maybe you should ride him back and let me take Lady.’
‘Oh, piffle! You’ll be fine. Just keep a firm grip on the reins,’ Elizabeth said over her shoulder as she turned the dapple grey. ‘And don’t forget to let him know you’re in charge, not him.’
‘Well…’ Holly caught her lower lip between her teeth as thunder growled again in the distance – sounding a bit closer now – and tensed as Thor whickered restively.
‘Come on,’ Lizzy coaxed. ‘A nice, brisk race – it’ll be fun. We’ll outrun the storm.’
‘We need to leave, Holly,’ Hugh called out with a trace of impatience from atop his horse. He cast a glance at the distant darkening of the sky. ‘There’s no time to dawdle. Let’s go.’
Praying that Thor would be as easy to handle going back as he’d been on the way to Rosings, Holly mounted and settled herself in the saddle, and with a deep breath gathered the reins and urged the bay into a gallop after the others.