As soon as was decent, Marsden told her to leave, which she did with relief in her eyes.
“Let us go through to the parlour,” Marsden said, picking up the decanter of port. “We can be comfortable there. I hate this room.”
“Why use it, then?” Ian said, following him down several passageways.
“That isheridea, not mine. I was happy to eat in the breakfast parlour, but that wife of yours has filled Beth’s head with grandiose ideas, so now we sit down to dinner in the dining room.”
They reached the parlour, and Marsden set the port down and hurled himself onto the chaise longue. “Pour me a glass, will you, Farramont? I am too fatigued at present. That woman will be the death of me, and it is all Izzy’s fault. She took her into Beverley, you know. Took my own carriage and went into town, advertised for a butler and a lady’s maid and all sorts of nonsense, bought swathes of material for gowns, and hats! Three hats, if you please, and gloves and boots and a fur muff! A farmer’s daughter, parading about in a fur muff — have you ever heard the like? If she thinks I am paying for fripperies like that, she is very much mistaken. And now she has opened up the dining room. I hate that room, Farramont. Hate it!”
“It seems a pleasant room to me,” Ian said, sipping his port.
“That is because you never saw it with my father in it. Day after day we sat in there while he complained about every single thing I did. Nothing was ever right for him. In twenty-five years, I had not a single word of praise from him, nor a kind one. Hewas never glad to see me when I came down from school. He was never sorry when I went back. He was a miserable old man, and this place makesmea miserable old man, too.”
“Then change it,” Ian said. “Make it yours, not his. Or knock it down and build something new, although there is not a lot wrong with it, frankly. Or you could let that wife of yours run it properly, with a full staff, and fill it with children.”
“Children! I want no children… not from her or from anyone. I never wanted to bring another unhappy child into the world, but I got drunk last time I was here and… well, you know how these things happen. Or perhaps you are better disciplined than I am.”
“Marsden, surely you know by now that I am the world’s dullest man. I never get drunk. I have tried, in fact, but I only managed a slight feeling of dizziness. I went to bed, and woke up as right as rain. So no, I have no idea how these things happen, but now that ithashappened, in a few months you will be a father, whether you want it or not. But what kind of father you will be is entirely in your hands. Bad fathers rear unhappy children. So choose to be a good father. Treat your child with affection. Give him the love your own father withheld from you. Do not let history repeat itself.”
“You had a good father,” Marsden said.
“I did. He taught me well, and although he never said so, I always knew that he loved me. His grief was overwhelming when my mother died, and then my brothers, and last of all, my little sister. We stood at her bedside as she breathed her last… we both cried… four times we cried together. Then he put one arm round me and said,‘Now it is just you and me, Ian.’And then he said,‘You are not going to leave me, are you?’I said,‘No, Father.’And he just said,‘Good. Very good.’. But after that, he sent for my cousin Henry, who was the next in line, so hemust have wondered whether I would die, too. Life is very cruel, sometimes.”
Marsden stared at him. “You are getting maudlin, Farramont.”
Ian gave a bark of laughter. “True. This business with Izzy has rubbed me raw. I want her back! I shall never stop chasing her, unless… unless…”
“Unless she marries someone else?”
Ian nodded. “But I have to try! This is a trial, but I cannot meekly surrender. She is worth fighting for.”
“Unlike my wife,” Marsden said gloomily. “What am I to do with her, Farramont?”
“Let her make this place a proper home.”
“But she wants a dozen servants, all eating their heads off, no doubt. Think of the expense!”
Ian laughed. “Marsden, what is your income — twenty thousand a year, yes? And your present expenses cannot be more than… at a guess, three or four thousand.”
“Two and a half,” he said sheepishly.
“There you are then. Give her a thousand a year—”
“What!”
“—and let her manage this place within that budget. She seems a sensible creature, so she will not run you into the ground. It cannot be done on less, I believe.”
“Is that what Stonywell costs you to run?”
“No, a lot more than that, but we live there for much of the year, including Henry and his family, and we entertain there. But you will not be entertaining here, I dare say. You may choose to live elsewhere a great deal. But Mrs Marsden is your wife, and although she may be a farmer’s daughter, she is now the wife of a gentleman, and should be allowed to live with the dignity and style that rank bestows on her. I am not at all sure whyyou married her, but whatever your reasons, it is done now, and cannot be undone, so you must make the best of it.”
“That was Izzy’s fault, too,” Marsden said, draining his port and crossing the room to refill his glass. “After she married you, it hardly mattered who I married, because there would never be another Izzy, so I might as well marry my housekeeper as anyone. That first season Izzy was out was amazing, was it not? We all followed her about, jostling for primacy with her. I thought she would settle for Osborn in the end.”
“Did you? My money was on Davenport. All that poetry he wrote for her!”
“Do you remember that time at Lady Jolley’s garden party? We played pall mall, and we were all trying to hit a shot into the shrubbery with Izzy so that we could snatch a private moment with her.”
“She still cannot hit a ball straight,” Ian said, laughing. “I think Osborn was the only one who managed to get her alone.”
