When Ilam arrived at the vicarage the following day, hoping for private words with his aunt and with Eustacia, he found that at least half-a-dozen persons had arrived and were cluttering up her ladyship’s drawing-room. Now that many people had returned from London, and marked their presence by their attendance at the garden party, it seemed that at least half of them wanted to pay their respects to Lady Agatha who, after all, was Ashbourne’s sister. Lady Agatha had her own reasons for wanting to avoid a tête-à-tête with her nephew, so she made no effort to see him on his own.
Eustacia, too, was much occupied, though not by her own design. Miss Granby appeared with two other young ladies, and all three of them wanted to discuss the garden party in detail as well as the forthcoming ball at the Olde Oak.
‘What are you going to wear, Miss Hope?’ asked Miss Barclay, one of the two. A slender, brown-haired young woman of about the same height as Eustacia, she spoke in rather a breathless voice.
‘Yes, do say,’ said the other newcomer. She was about the same height as Miss Granby, but with darker hair and prominent features. ‘Evangeline tells us that you are very stylish, despite never having been to London.’
‘Why do you not take the young ladies up to your room?’ suggested Lady Agatha. ‘Then you will be able to show them what you plan to wear.’ After Eustacia had shown them her gown, which was yet another item from her trousseau, they seemed to want to examine every piece of clothing in her possession.
Later, as they descended the stairs, Miss Granby encouraged Miss Barclay and the other young lady, Miss French, to go on ahead. ‘Come and take a turn with me in the garden,’ said Miss Granby under her breath. ‘I have something very exciting to relate.’
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the two other young ladies entered the drawing-room and Eustacia could see that Lord Ilam was in there. He glanced up, and their eyes met. She paused briefly, but then Miss Granby pulled at her arm and said, ‘Do come on. I must talk to you in private.’
Eustacia acknowledged his look with an inclination of her head, and hoped that he realized she was already committed to Miss Granby for the time being. She did not know whether to be glad or sorry. Part of her longed to speak to him, even if he wanted to reprimand her again. On the other hand, part of her dreaded the next meeting because of her brazen behaviour towards him.
‘Ah, that’s better,’ said Miss Granby. ‘I didn’t want to speak in front of Amy Barclay. If you tell her anything, you’ve told the entire village.’
‘I’m glad you consider me a safe confidante,’ answered Eustacia. ‘What is it you want to tell me?’
Evangeline waited until they were well out of earshot and said, ‘Do you recall that I told you about a certain gentleman who attracted my interest whilst I was in London?’
Eustacia nodded. ‘Well he is definitely coming to the ball. He wrote me a letter telling me so.’
‘He wrote you a letter?’ Eustacia repeated, reflecting that she had never received a letter from a single gentleman, even from Morrison when they were engaged.
‘You are thinking that Mama would have wanted to read it,’ answered Evangeline carelessly, as if she could guess her thoughts. ‘Mama never interferes in my correspondence. I would not permit it. Anyway, he is coming, and I shall have a chance to see whether I like him as well as I did in London. It will make my life a lot easier, though, if you say that you know him or are acquainted with his family. Mama thinks that you are the model of a well-brought-up young lady, and if you say that your family approves of him, or something like that, then she will not make a fuss, and that will make my life a lot easier.’
At this, Eustacia could feel her heart sinking down into her boots. More intrigue! What had she done to deserve this? ‘Evangeline, I don’t see how I can,’ she answered. Then, when Evangeline looked mulish, she said craftily, ‘Your mama is aware that I have lived a very quiet life and never been anywhere. She will want to know how on earth I came to be acquainted with him – especially if he lives in Town.’
‘He doesn’t live in Town all the time,’ answered Evangeline. ‘His parents have an estate somewhere in the far North of England. Please help me,’ she went on in the same sort of wheedling voice that Eustacia had sometimes heard her use with her father.
‘We’ll see,’ temporized Eustacia, feeling a strong sense of kinship with Mrs Granby. She knew she was being weak, but she could not face making anyone else angry at the present time. ‘The most I will promise to do is to say that I don’t know anything against him.’
‘Well I suppose that that will have to do,’ replied Evangeline. Her tone reminded Eustacia very much of that of her music teacher at school on those occasions when she had not found enough time to practise before her lesson.
By the time they got back indoors, Ilam had gone.
‘He barely had a chance to exchange a single word with me,’ Lady Agatha said gleefully after the visitors had all gone and they were both sitting down to luncheon.
‘Did he say that he wanted to see me?’ asked Eustacia, trying to sound casual.
‘He did make an enquiry, but I managed to brush him off,’ said her ladyship in satisfied tones.
Eustacia laid down her fork. ‘Ma’am, do you think that perhaps it might be time to enlist Lord Ilam’s help?’
‘His help?’
‘In resolving the problems concerning your living quarters,’ answered Eustacia measuring her words carefully. ‘After all, he now knows about your plans….’ she allowed her voice to tail off delicately.
Suddenly Lady Agatha looked rather weary. ‘Yes, you do not need to tell me that. Of course Ilam will side with the church. I suppose I should not be surprised, when I consider that his half-brother is a clergyman.’
‘A clergyman!’ exclaimed Eustacia.
Lady Agatha gave voice to a brief laugh. ‘Ironic, isn’t it?’
‘Was it his own decision to enter the church?’ Eustacia asked curiously.
‘I’ve no idea,’ replied Lady Agatha. ‘Anyway, to get back to Ilam, he may support the bishop, but he won’t see me without somewhere to live.’ She looked about her and uttered a heartfelt sigh. ‘I suppose I always knew that I would have to leave this place. I just wanted to put it off for as long as possible. It can be rather a dull existence here, you know. A fight with the church provided me with a little sport.’
Eustacia reflected that this was yet another piece of information that she would not be passing on to her mother. It occurred to her, however, that Lord Ilam might be the very man to provide his aunt with some kind of occupation which might give her talent for scheming and planning an opportunity to flourish in a legitimate manner.
As for his attitude to herself, though, that might be a different matter. He knew his aunt and all her foibles, and would doubtless forgive her. What would be his attitude to her goddaughter?
She was soon to have her answer. That afternoon, while Lady Agatha was busy with her correspondence, Lord Ilam returned. ‘I didn’t manage to speak to you this morning, and very much wanted to,’ he said to Eustacia after Grimes had shown him into the drawing-room. ‘May we talk now?’
‘I don’t know,’ Eustacia replied, recalling all that had happened on Saturday. She took a few steps away from him, then turned to face him. ‘Are you going to talk, or will you shout at me again?’
‘I wasn’t shouting, I was raising my voice,’ he replied.
‘That’s what men always say,’ she retorted.
‘You knowing so many,’ he murmured.
‘There is no need to talk in that kind of sarcastic way,’ she told him. ‘In any case, you cannot go round implying that I do not know any men, when just a short time ago you have been harbouring improper suspicions with regard to your father and myself.’
He flushed. ‘Improper and reprehensible,’ he acknowledged. ‘Forgive me. My only excuse is that I am so used to imagining the worst about Ashbourne’s behaviour. If it is any consolation to you, I would only ever have supposed you to be a victim.’
‘That’s very kind of you, but it does make me sound a little pathetic.’
He laughed. ‘I apologize for that too.’
‘Perhaps none of us can ever look at our parents’ behaviour in an unbiased manner,’ she suggested.
‘Or even our aunts’ behaviour. There is one aspect of my aunt’s schemes that I would like to ask you about; and that is why you ever allowed yourself to become embroiled in them.’
‘I’m truly sorry for that,’ she told him sincerely. ‘There is very little excuse for me. I know how important a parish priest is to his people. I hardly knew Lady Agatha when I arrived, and as a guest in her house, I wanted to please her.’
‘Well yes, but—’
‘There is another reason.’ She told him about how she suspected that Lady Agatha’s friendship with Claire Delahay had damaged her reputation. ‘So you see, I owe her a good deal on my mother’s behalf, as well.’
‘I see what you mean,’ he agreed, ‘although I think that my aunt always was the mistress of her own destiny. You must not make yourself responsible for the consequences of her actions. However, I do understand your motives better, now.’
‘I hope you will believe me to be guilty of thoughtlessness rather than of deliberate malice.’
‘I couldn’t ever believe you to be malicious,’ was his reply. He looked at her steadily, and said, ‘Did anyone tell you yesterday how lovely you looked in that gown?’
‘Possibly,’ she replied airily. ‘One amongst the many men of my acquaintance must have said something.’
He stepped a little closer and caught hold of her hand. ‘Forgive me; I don’t have Ashbourne’s facility for flattering the opposite sex.’
‘I’ve no particular desire for flattery, my lord,’ she answered, feeling a little breathless at his touch. At that moment, she heard Lady Agatha’s footsteps as she came back towards the parlour.
Ilam heard them too. He glanced round swiftly at the direction from which they came, and added in a low tone, ‘Then let me offer you a home truth. To me, you were the loveliest woman present, and if we were sure of not being interrupted, I would return that kiss with interest.’
When Lady Agatha appeared in the doorway, Ilam said, ‘Forgive my returning so soon, but I wanted to ask Miss Hope if she would honour me with a dance at the ball.’ He turned to Eustacia, who had half turned away from the door so that her godmother would not see her blushing at Ilam’s audacious words. ‘What do you say, ma’am? Will you dance the first dance with me at the Olde Oak on Thursday?’ He was still holding her hand.
She looked up at him. The echo of the last words he had spoken before Lady Agatha came in seemed to hang in the air. ‘Thank you, my lord, I would like it of all things,’ she said as he raised her hand to his lips.