‘What do you mean?’ Ilam asked the bishop, drawing his brows together. ‘How has my aunt been obstructive?’
‘Rather ask, how has she not been obstructive!’ the bishop replied. He was of medium height with a slight stoop, and plainly dressed, his clerical wig proclaiming his calling. ‘She has continued to occupy the vicarage for far longer than would normally have been expected. Mind you, I do not hold back from saying that I blame you for that, my lord, at least in part.’
‘Blame me?’ echoed Ilam in completely baffled tones.
‘To be plain with you, her ladyship has implied that she will have nowhere else to go if she is forced to leave the vicarage,’ responded the bishop in blunt tones. ‘The church is not in the business of putting people out into the street.’
‘Neither am I,’ Ilam informed him. ‘Despite what you may have been told, my aunt could easily find a home, either with me or on her brother’s estate. May I pour you a glass of sherry?’
‘Thank you,’ the clerical gentleman replied. ‘I can see that there is more than one piece of confusion that may need to be sorted out. Talking of Lord Ashbourne—’
‘Were we?’ murmured Ilam.
‘I believe so. I understood from your aunt that he was travelling in Greece and therefore could not be approached, but that he would unhesitatingly support her because her knowledge of local interests would be superior to his.’
Ilam gave a crack of laughter. ‘Do you know Lord Ashbourne?’ he asked.
The bishop’s face stiffened. ‘Only by repute,’ he answered.
‘Then you will be unaware that the only notice that his lordship would take of his sister would be to do the opposite of what she wanted. By the way, he isn’t in Greece, he’s in Italy. Incidentally, why the deuce haven’t you been applying to me? You must know that in his absence I deal with all matters pertaining to the estate.’
The bishop’s pale cheeks flushed. ‘Her ladyship gave me to understand that as far as you were concerned the church could go hang.’
‘Did she indeed?’ asked Ilam, his eye kindling.
‘Not only that, but she has threatened one of my priests and offered him physical violence.’
‘That would be Lusty, I suppose,’ said his lordship.
‘That insect!’
The two men turned to where Lady Agatha was standing on the threshold, awesome in her righteous anger.
‘Ah, Aunt Agatha,’ exclaimed Gabriel, in tones of assumed affability that fooled no one. ‘Please come and join us. I am finding out all sorts of interesting things, and am discovering how much wool you have pulled over my eyes.’
‘None at all,’ responded her ladyship. ‘The church is seeing fit to throw me out of my home; my home, Ilam, to which your uncle brought me thirty years ago. In order to do so, it has sent that insect Lusty to do its dirty work. The man would not leave my premises when I asked. How else was I to effect his departure save by throwing him out?’
‘My lady, they are not your premises,’ answered the bishop. ‘They belong to the church.’
‘The church of which my sainted husband was a vicar, and where he remained appointed until the hour of his death,’ answered her ladyship. ‘He was never relieved of his position. Therefore he is still the vicar in principle and I am still entitled to reside in the vicarage.’
‘Balderdash!’ exclaimed Ilam. ‘My grandfather was Lord Ashbourne and died in that office. That does not mean that he continued to be Lord Ashbourne after his death.’
‘He died in the performance of his duties,’ insisted Lady Agatha.
‘He fell into a newly dug grave on his way back from the vestry having over-indulged in communion wine,’ answered Ilam brutally.
Eustacia gasped audibly. ‘Lord Ilam, how can you be so brutal?’ she demanded.
Ignoring her interruption, he went on. ‘Aunt, you are not entitled to be there; and whilst you have been occupying that house illegally, the people of this village have been denied the pastoral care that was their right.’
‘That is not true,’ his aunt insisted, flushing. ‘See if you can find anyone who has been sick who has not received a visit from the vicarage. I defy you to do so.’
‘Tom Seppings was like to die last week,’ said Ilam quietly. ‘He wanted to see a priest. There was none. Luckily he rallied, but what if he had not? And what of Mrs Ross?’
For the first time, Lady Agatha’s gaze dropped from his. She walked slowly away from the entrance to the room, and towards a chair, with Eustacia holding her arm.
‘I’m all right, child,’ said the older lady. ‘No doubt these two gentlemen will acknowledge your presence in their own good time. Fetch me a glass of sherry, will you?’
‘I beg your pardon, ma’am,’ said Ilam to Eustacia, inclining his head. ‘This is my aunt’s goddaughter, Miss Hope,’ he told the bishop. ‘Miss Hope, this is the Bishop of Sheffield.’
‘Ah, this is the young lady who has … has suffered a severe disappointment, and is somewhat delicate in health,’ said the bishop, his tone dropping and becoming warmer. ‘Pray sit down, my dear, and do not fear my clerical attire. I will not do you any harm.’
Ilam gave another crack of laughter. ‘Save your sympathy, Bishop,’ he said. ‘The young lady is in as excellent health as I am.’
‘You are very arrogant in your pronouncements, Ilam,’ replied Lady Agatha.
‘Am I?’ he asked quizzically. ‘I don’t think so. I’m willing to hazard a guess that Miss Hope has not been jilted by a clergyman, or indeed by anyone at all. I don’t believe that she’s suffered a day’s illness in her life. In fact, I am convinced that she is nearly as deeply involved in this matter as are you, Aunt.’
‘I have not been jilted by a clergyman,’ Eustacia agreed, blushing, ‘but—’
‘Eustacia has been all that is kind and helpful,’ interrupted Lady Agatha, sitting up straight in her chair. It was as if the attack on her goddaughter had put spirit back into her. ‘I regret to have to say that she has proved to be far kinder to me than my own nephew. Do not dare to pour scorn upon her misfortune. It was for that reason that her mother sent her to me.’
‘And because of Lord Ashbourne’s interest in her and concern for her well-being,’ the bishop put in helpfully.
‘Indeed,’ put in Ilam, staring at her for one long moment.
‘No indeed,’ retorted Eustacia, turning bright red. ‘Lord Ashbourne has nothing to do with it.’
‘But my lord, I am completely at a loss,’ said the bishop in baffled tones after a short pause. ‘What is this all about?’
‘Have you not realized, even now?’ demanded Ilam scornfully. ‘My aunt, who is so devious a person that she might give Beelzebub a run for his money, has been bamboozling you from start to finish, and so has the innocent-seeming Miss Hope. She has no right to be in the vicarage and no reason to stay there.’
‘Ilam!’ exclaimed her ladyship in outraged tones.
‘And Lord Ashbourne and his concern for the young lady’s condition?’ enquired the bishop. Deathly silence fell as the implication of his words sank in.
‘I do not have any condition,’ exclaimed Eustacia, her voice trembling.
‘No, no, of course not, my dear young lady,’ declared the bishop hastily, drawing out his handkerchief and mopping his brow. It was his turn to go red. ‘No one would dream of thinking it.’
‘Of course not, my dear,’ added Lady Agatha soothingly.
‘Judging by her evident talent for scheming, I would have said that anything was possible,’ Ilam drawled. Eustacia looked at him. He was leaning negligently against the table in the centre of the room with his legs crossed and his arms folded and one brow slightly raised. In that moment, he was the image of his father. She walked across to him, drew back her arm and slapped him hard across the face. Then, amid horrified exclamations from Lady Agatha and the bishop and a hastily repressed oath from Lord Ilam, she gathered her skirts and ran out of the room.
She had not gone very far when she heard footsteps behind her. Then she felt her arm being seized, and turning, she found herself facing the viscount. He looked furious, an expression which was accentuated, if anything, by the red mark on his cheek.
‘No you don’t,’ he said in minatory tones.
‘How dare you! Let go of me!’ she demanded.
‘Not until I’ve had my say. I know that my aunt is not the most truthful of people—’
‘An understatement if ever there was one,’ Eustacia interjected, shaking her arm. Now, he did release her.
‘But I had thought better of you,’ he went on, as if she had not spoken. ‘I was told you had had your heart broken by a clergyman and this is now revealed to be untrue. I’ve also been told that you were ill, and that, too, has been proved to be a lie. Nor are you the impoverished young woman that rumour has reported you to be. Instead, I find that you are aiding my aunt in her unprincipled deception of the church and the bishop.’
‘That isn’t fair,’ Eustacia retorted. ‘I didn’t tell you any of those lies.’
‘Didn’t you? What about fainting in my presence?’
She stared at him, blushing. She had forgotten that. ‘I didn’t set out to deceive you,’ she protested in a small voice.
‘Perhaps not; but you could have sought me out at any time, and told me the truth. Why did you not do so?’
‘I was going to,’ she told him. When he looked doubtful, she added, ‘It’s true. I was going to, but at first….’
‘Well?’
She looked down. ‘I didn’t think it mattered,’ she replied. ‘You annoyed me and I wanted to get my own back. Anyway, I thought it was just a game.’
There was an ominous silence. ‘A game? To deny the villagers the spiritual guidance and solace to which they are entitled? How old are you, Miss Hope? I thought that you were a grown woman, but you seem to me to have been behaving in as childish a fashion as… as Anna.’ She did not answer him, but hung her head instead. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a cricket match to take part in. You know about cricket, don’t you, Miss Hope? It’s a game in which there are rules, in order to ensure fair play.’ So saying, he turned on his heel and left her.
She did not head for the garden. It was full of people and her emotions were so jumbled up that she had no desire to confront anyone at that moment. The door by which she had left the room gave onto a corridor, at the end of which was a flight of stairs. She ran up to the next landing, turned to the left, and more by luck than by good judgement, found herself in the passage that led to her room. She went inside, shut the door and sat down on the bed. She felt she needed a time of quiet reflection so that she could recover her composure after the awful scene that had just taken place.
How she wished now that she had made more of an effort to speak to Ilam and explain things. Of course he had a right to be angry. She had put him into a most awkward position, but she had to admit that although the confrontation had been unpleasant, she was glad that Ilam now knew the truth. He had also discovered it in a way that had meant that she had not had to betray Lady Agatha. She would be able to stay in the village; except for the fact that Ilam’s disapproval might now make that impossible.
She would have liked to go straight back to the vicarage, and would have done so but for two considerations. The first was that she had no intention of allowing Ilam to think that he had intimidated her. The second was that it would be a shockingly disloyal act towards her godmother. She would just have to endure the day as best she might; and to think that she had been so much looking forward to it!
She felt her heart sink right down into her sandals. She could not delude herself. He could be as angry as he pleased. He might even make her just as angry in return. It did not alter the way that she felt about him. Thinking about that made her realize that there was another reason for staying; he might seek her out and forgive her.
By the time Eustacia had composed herself sufficiently to come outside and rejoin the company, most of those who had come to the garden party had already gathered to watch the cricket match. This took place on one of the fields just beyond the ha-ha. Lord Ilam captained one of the teams, and the other was led by Mr Granby who, apart from his sentimental approach to his daughter, whom he always addressed as angel, my precious, or something similar, seemed to be a very sensible man.
The game was already underway, Mr Granby having won the toss and chosen that his team should be the first to bat. Eustacia looked round for her godmother and found her sitting on a chair in the sun. She opened her sunshade and sat down next to her.
‘Are you all right, my dear?’ asked her ladyship quietly. ‘I declare I could murder my nephew after the things he said!’
‘He wasn’t very polite,’ Eustacia agreed.
‘Polite? I’ve never heard anything so rude. His insinuations about you and Ashbourne were quite unforgivable, and so I told him.’
‘What did he say?’
‘Nothing much. He ran after you moments later. I don’t suppose it was to apologize?’
‘No, it wasn’t,’ Eustacia answered. She would have liked to ask if the late vicar had indeed perished in the manner in which Ilam had described, but she did not know how to approach the subject. Perhaps she would ask Trixie to find out later.
At that moment, Ilam came running in to bowl to Mr Granby, who looked quite menacing, bat in hand. ‘Good,’ said her ladyship fiercely. ‘I hope he knocks his block off. Call himself a nephew! Judas is what I would call him.’
Glancing round hastily, Eustacia saw with some relief that no one else was sitting near them. She was glad that her aunt had regained her customary self-possession. She had been rather anxious when Lady Agatha had asked for a glass of sherry when Ilam had confronted her in the house. For the first time since Eustacia had met her, the vicar’s widow had looked old.
In order to divert her thoughts, she tried to concentrate on the game. It seemed as if Mr Granby had not knocked Lord Ilam’s block off. On the contrary, he was having some difficulty in dealing with the ball which his lordship had just delivered.
Eustacia had had the opportunity of watching cricket being played at home, and had never previously taken any interest in it, always thinking it a rather dull game. She could vaguely remember her father trying to explain the rules to her, and they had seemed to her to be impossibly complicated. Even when Morrison had been playing, her only wish had been that he might finish his turn very quickly so that he might sit with her. Never had she gained any pleasure from watching him as she did now from watching Ilam.
As a diversion from her romantic feelings towards his lordship, however, it could not have been said to be entirely successful. The energetic nature of the game meant that those involved were obliged to take off their coats and, if applicable, their waistcoats and cravats. She was therefore treated to the rather distracting sight of Ilam’s shirt being moulded to his form by the action of the breeze. She was also able to observe the ripple of the muscles in his thighs as he ran forward in order to propel the ball in Granby’s direction.
At that point, a particularly fine delivery on his lordship’s part knocked the stumps behind Mr Granby clean out of the ground. A cheer went up from the viscount’s side, and Granby left the field looking rueful. Ilam’s face was lit up by a broad grin, and as Eustacia looked at him, he turned his head and their eyes met for a brief instant. It was a moment or two before the smile died out of his eyes. He looked at her for a little longer, then turned away. Suddenly, she felt very hot. ‘Godmama,’ she asked, ‘do you mind if I go and sit in the shade?’
Her godmother looked at her, frowning. ‘You are a little flushed. Run along. As you see, Dr Littlejohn is now coming to join me, so I shan’t be alone.’
She walked to the nearest clump of trees, where Anna Crossley was sitting with two or three other girls of her own age. They were clearly listening avidly to what she had to say, but when Eustacia approached, they all fell silent. She did not make the mistake of supposing that they had been talking about her. Given Anna’s infatuation, she was sure that the girl had been regaling them with her dreams about Ilam. She had met them briefly earlier on in the day and now asked if they minded if she joined them.
They willingly assented and made space for her on the rug on which they were sitting. Eustacia deliberately sat so that she could not easily see the play without turning her head. Anna was facing her, and was therefore able to look her fill at Lord Ilam without turning her back on her companions.
Both of Anna’s companions looked at Eustacia with unconcealed admiration. She was older than all of them by at least three years. Add to that the fact that thanks to Lady Hope, her outfit was both summery and stylish, and she became a person well worth cultivating.
‘Miss Hope,’ began one of Anna’s companions, ‘have you been to any weddings recently?’
Suppressing the urge to say ‘Only my own,’ Eustacia answered ‘Not very recently, no.’
‘We were just wondering what brides are wearing at the moment,’ said the same girl, whilst the other one giggled.
‘Why? Is there to be a wedding around here?’ Eustacia asked.
‘Maybe,’ said the giggling girl.
Anna frowned at her two friends. ‘I don’t actually know of one,’ she said with dignity.
‘But there might be one,’ added the girl who had just spoken.
‘Oh do hold your tongue, Susan,’ said Anna firmly. ‘Miss Hope, do they play cricket where you come from?’
Her words and expression made it sound as if Eustacia must, at best, come from some outlandish and probably primitive country on the other side of the world, or at worst from a very distant planet or possibly the moon.
Eustacia answered her question politely, but inside, her mind was seething. About whose wedding had they been speaking? No one was due to get married, were they? Their general demeanour confirmed Eustacia’s earlier opinion, namely that Ilam had been so gentle in his conversation with Anna that she had completely failed to grasp what he was trying to tell her. She felt her heart sink. She really must speak to him again, before Anna said so much that she made a fool of herself. The only trouble was, he had not received her first attempt at raising the subject of Anna’s infatuation very well. Then she had slapped his face and that awful scene had ensued. He would not be very likely to listen to her now.
After the conversation had limped along for a short time, Anna said ‘Shall we stroll about a little? I’m getting tired of sitting in one place. Will you join us, Miss Hope?’
Her two friends obediently got up, and turning, Eustacia was not surprised to observe that Lord Ilam had ceased bowling and had retreated well away from them in order to take his turn retrieving the ball on the other side of the pitch. She had no wish to look as if she were pursuing him around the field, so she declined Anna’s invitation and instead went to see if she could help those who were hiding the pottery eggs.
Thanks to a little confusion over whose task it was this year, the job had not been completed, and her offers of help were greeted with grateful thanks. After the busyness of the morning preparations, the need for company manners as she greeted many acquaintances, and the disturbing nature of her encounter with Lord Ilam, a task which involved nothing more testing than hiding pottery eggs amongst the vegetation was very much to her taste. Consequently, by the time childish voices were heard as they approached the parterre, she was feeling very much more at ease.
The cricket match was not a long affair, and after Lord Ilam’s team had emerged the winner – by only a mere handful of runs – everyone wandered over to observe the treasure hunt, or to wait for the band to start to play. Young Elijah Crossley was an enthusiastic participant in the treasure hunt, and some of those who joined in were very much the same age as Anna Crossley. Indeed, her two friends were not above participating, even if they did proclaim themselves to be helping the giggling girl’s younger sister. One of them cried out in triumph as loudly as any ten year old when she located one of the better hidden eggs, and Eustacia liked her the better for it. She noticed that Anna carefully edged through the group of observing adults in order to get nearer to Lord Ilam. In the meantime, her brother David, watching her movements, was clearly intending to head her off.
Soon the treasure hunt was over, and people began to gather on the lawn to listen to the band and then to make their farewells. The musicians struck up with a country dance, and Ilam began the proceedings by leading his aunt out to take a few steps. Either they had made up their differences, or they were putting up a very good front, Eustacia decided as she accepted an invitation from a Mr Percy, a landowner from the next village.
‘Your first affair of this kind, Miss Hope?’ Percy asked as they waited their turn at the bottom of the set.
‘It’s not the first garden party I have attended, but I have not been to one here before,’ she replied.
‘Oh, they’re always big affairs. Mind you, I suspect Ilam doesn’t enjoy them above half.’
‘Really?’ enquired Eustacia, who had her own reasons for suspecting that he hadn’t enjoyed this one.
‘Oh, he does his duty, and all that,’ replied Percy. ‘Look at him now; plenty of pretty girls around, but he’ll only dance with his aunt.’
‘Indeed?’ murmured Eustacia, wanting to vary her responses.
‘Oh yes. He never dances with anyone else. If you ask me, he’ll be glad to see the back of us.’
When the dance was concluded, Ilam led his aunt to one of the chairs that had been set around the grassy area at the foot of the terrace, on which the band had set up their instruments. Eustacia could see that Anna was rejecting an invitation to dance, and looking hopefully in his lordship’s direction. Perhaps earlier in the day she, too, might have hoped for an opportunity to dance with him; but not now. She had had enough of the day, and would have been glad to go home with Trixie who was saying farewell to a wiry-looking lad from one of the farms. Unfortunately, she could not leave without telling her aunt, and she would not approach her because Ilam was standing behind her chair. It was not that she was nervous, she told herself stoutly; she was just very unsure of her welcome at present.
She drifted away from the dancers and wandered into the house, quite unaware that she was observed. There were a few servants about, and one or two guests talking quietly, but no one appeared to take any notice of her. She found a candle and wandered upstairs. After going through two or three rooms and crossing another small landing, she found herself, by a strange quirk of fate, to be yet again in the little room which housed the portrait of Lord Ashbourne.
She recalled the lie that her godmother had told about Ashbourne’s interest in her, and Gabriel’s insinuations about a possible relationship with his father. She stared up at the painted face. She had never even met the man, and he had caused her nothing but trouble.
‘You, my lord, are exceedingly tiresome,’ she told him wearily. ‘As for your wretched son, I would very much like to push him into his own stupid fountain, because he is just as tiresome as you are.’
‘I’m obliged to you, ma’am,’ said Ilam grimly from the other entrance. ‘I might have guessed you would come here.’
She jumped as he spoke. He had appeared noiselessly, and, moreover, she had assumed him to be outside with his aunt. ‘Oh, might you? Well, I can assure you that it was a complete surprise to me for I arrived here entirely by chance,’ Eustacia answered, colouring a little because he had overheard her saying that she wanted to push him into the fountain.
‘You’ll allow me to keep to my own opinion on that matter,’ his lordship replied.
‘Well, I suppose I had better do so, even if it is a completely stupid opinion,’ Eustacia replied. ‘As a matter of fact, I came up here to get away from people, not to be pursued by … by—’
‘You don’t need to say any more,’ replied Ilam suavely. ‘Your destination tells its own tale.’ He glanced up at his father’s picture.
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake,’ Eustacia began.
‘The first time I saw you, you had laid flowers before his picture,’ Ilam interrupted.
‘No I hadn’t. I put them there by accident.’
Ilam laughed. ‘A fine story,’ he declared. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if you came here quite deliberately, hoping to meet him, as I had assumed originally.’
‘I certainly did not,’ retorted Eustacia indignantly, turning quite pink. ‘I do not go running round throwing myself at men.’
They stared at each other. Up until now the air had been filled with fury. Now it seemed to crackle with tension of quite another kind.
‘No, you place flowers beneath their portraits instead. Don’t try to deny your interest in him. Remember that I heard you quizzing Aunt Bertha about him. This is not the first time that I have found you sighing over his picture. God Almighty, I have even had you defend him to my face!’ His voice had risen during this speech. Now, he made a perceptible attempt to pull himself together, and went on in a calmer manner. ‘I am well aware that your mother was pursued by my father and in your eyes he must have acquired an aura of glamour. Believe me, Miss Hope, you are far from the first to be captivated by his charms.’
‘Ooohh!’ Eustacia made an infuriated sound which was something between a growl and a scream. She looked around for something to throw at him, failed to find anything and eventually resorted to seizing hold of his coat and attempting to shake him. ‘For the thousandth and what I hope will be the last time, although somehow I doubt it, I do not know your father, I have never met your father, I have no desire to meet your father, and I do not find your father attractive!’
‘“Methinks the lady doth protest too much”,’ Ilam quoted softly.
With a squawk of rage, Eustacia tugged hard at his coat once again, and this time, whether because she tugged harder or because he chose to give way at that moment, she succeeded in pulling him down so that his face was close to hers. This proximity was so unexpected that she was taken completely by surprise, and therefore acted without thinking. Recalling the incident afterwards, she decided there could be no other way of accounting for it, for she took a deep breath, and kissed him full on the mouth.
His lordship did not respond by taking her in his arms, but he did not pull away either. When Eustacia drew back, the enormity of what she had done swept over her and she felt herself turning bright red.
Ilam stared down at her for a long moment. ‘I think you’ve made your point,’ he said, his voice sounding very quiet.
Before either of them could speak, or do anything, they heard the sound of footsteps in the passage, and a footman appeared with the message that Lady Agatha was now ready to leave.
‘Allow me to escort you downstairs, Miss Hope,’ said Ilam, politely making way for her, then giving her his arm the length of the long gallery. They were both silent, each lost in thought.
As they made their way into the garden, Ilam said, ‘Believe me, Miss Hope, this conversation is very far from finished.’
Eustacia watched him as he exchanged a few words with his aunt before their departure. She thought about how she had kissed him – and it had undoubtedly been she who had kissed him, not the other way round. She began to feel hot at the very thought; and not entirely from embarrassment. What would everybody think if she ran to him now and planted another kiss upon his lips? What would it be like to be pulled into his arms and enfolded in his powerful embrace? She was sure it would be powerful. His arms were so strong and muscular. Involuntarily she gave a little shiver.
How could she have been so unprincipled and vulgar, she asked herself. He had accused her of running after Lord Ashbourne. She had not done that, but she had behaved in just the kind of way that some female in pursuit of a notorious rake might be expected to conduct herself. It was high time she exercised a little more control.
That, she had found, was a good deal easier to say than to do. Quite recently, she had been afraid that he might have guessed that she was attracted to him. Now, the situation was infinitely worse, for she was in love with Lord Ilam, and thanks to the shameless way in which she had kissed him, he probably knew that as well.