[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] How long have you been in town, Caroline?
Oh, just a few days. I m afraid I ve become very dull
company, preferring the peace and quiet of the country, but
Courtney insisted that I come up to town for the party.
And have you brought little Alicia with you? I should so
love to see her again.
Mention of her daughter s name brought a flicker of ani-
mation back into Caroline s mien. I m afraid not, Aunt.
Anne Ashley 111
Courtney thought it better to leave her in the country. And he s
right, of course. She s only just turned three, and the journey
would have been too much for her.
Yes, perhaps you re wise, Lady Hester agreed. I should
dearly love to see her, though. I haven t seen her since her
christening. Nor you for that matter.
Emily certainly didn t miss the note of reproach in Lady
Hester s voice, and seemingly neither did Caroline, if her
faintly uncomfortable expression was any indication. Emily
also noticed the decidedly wary glance Caroline cast up at the
surly, thickset individual seated beside her coachman before
she said rather hurriedly, Yes, we must arrange a visit, Aunt
Hester, perhaps later in the year when you ve returned to
Bath. And now you must excuse me. I have an appointment
with the dressmaker, and I believe Madame Pérot does not
take kindly to being kept waiting.
Lady Hester made no attempt to prolong the interview, but
the instant she and Emily were comfortably settled in his
lordship s carriage, and were heading back to Berkeley
Square, she was quick to express her shock at her niece s
vastly altered appearance. Furthermore I gained the distinct
impression that she would have avoided us altogether if she
could possibly have done so.
Emily could well understand why Lady Hester felt so hurt.
She, with the help of Sebastian s mother, had been virtually
responsible for bringing Caroline up, after their sister had died
shortly after giving birth to her only child. Caroline s father,
a partner in a trading company, had travelled extensively after
his wife s demise, and had been happy to leave the rearing of
his baby daughter in the capable hands of his sisters-in-law.
Caroline had spent several weeks each year in Hampshire
with Sebastian s family, but for the most part had remained
in Lady Hester s tender care. Having had no children of her
own, Lady Hester had naturally enough eventually come to
look upon her deceased sister s child as her own daughter.
112 Lord Hawkridge s Secret
Am I correct in thinking that Sir Courtney s home is in
Derbyshire, ma am? Emily enquired when her companion,
uncharacteristically, fell silent and took to staring broodingly
through the carriage window.
Yes. And I do appreciate that it is a great distance to
travel. But that is hardly reason enough never to make the
effort to visit me in Bath, nor invite me to stay with her. Lady
Hester s sigh was clearly heartfelt. I was determined, after
she married, not to interfere in her life. She knows where I
am if she should have need of me.
Evidently, ma am, you feel that she does.
You saw her, my dear! Lady Hester did not attempt to
conceal her dismay. Have you ever seen anyone so altered?
She is not even seven-and-twenty and yet looks nearer forty!
Emily had no wish to add to her companion s disquiet, but
felt compelled to agree with this. But you heard her say
yourself that she had been unwell of late, she added.
Pshaw! Lady Hester scoffed, clearly revealing that the
attempt to console her a little had singularly failed. It isn t a
simple chill which has left her looking so haggard. It is much
more likely to be a marriage which has failed miserably. She
shook her head sadly. Rumours reached me, of course, but I
chose to ignore them, simply because Caroline s letters to me
were always so cheerful. Furthermore some women are
content to look the other way when their husbands stray.
You are suggesting that Sir Courtney Farrington has
sought solace out of wedlock, ma am? Emily prompted,
when her companion appeared disconcerted, as though she
had sullied innocent ears with her revelations. I am not so
naïve as to suppose that all men, once married, remain faithful
to their wives and do not take a mistress.
If there had been only one! Farrington s name has been
linked with a string of notorious women since his union with
my niece. And there have been other unsavoury rumours
about him over the years. Lady Hester gave vent to a further
Anne Ashley 113
heartfelt sigh. Perhaps I should have tried harder to dissuade
Caroline from marrying him, but she had attained the age of
two-and-twenty, hardly a chit out of the schoolroom, and she
was intent on wedding him. And I must confess I always
thought he was more interested in Caroline than her money.
But I was wrong. I should have paid more heed to Sebastian
and others who tried to warn me about Farrington s true char-
acter. It was a grave error of judgement on my part too that I
didn t attempt to persuade Caroline to wait a while longer
before tying the knot. Then she would have been in a position
to wed one who really cared for her, and not just the money
she was destined to inherit from her father.
Emily experienced the pain of guilt, far more acutely
searing than the stab she had suffered that morning. If she had
known before, during the last Easter she had spent with her
mother, she would not have hesitated to absolve Sebastian
from all obligations then. At least he would have been given
more time to attempt to win the woman he loved. Whether or
not he would have succeeded in persuading Caroline to
change her mind and marry him was anybody s guess, but at
least he would have been granted ample opportunity to try.
Although Lady Hester, seemingly wrapped in her own
unhappy thoughts, uttered nothing further throughout the re-
mainder of the journey back to the house, Emily was con-
vinced that the subject of Caroline would be raised again
before the day was out, and sure enough, when she entered
the parlour that evening, half an hour before dinner was due
to be served, she discovered her chaperon and guardian with
their heads together, deep in conversation.
They broke off abruptly the instant she entered the room, but
Lady Hester didn t hesitate to enlighten her as to the topic
under discussion. Nor was she slow to request Emily to corrobo-
rate her description of Caroline s vastly altered appearance.
She certainly looked far from well, Emily felt obliged to
114 Lord Hawkridge s Secret
concede, after accepting the glass of Madeira his lordship held
out to her and his invitation to sit beside him on the sofa.
There was absolutely nothing in Sebastian s demeanour to
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