“What precisely is my situation?” Olivia said with some heat. “Because if this is about my illegitimacy, I do not see why that should concern anyone. If Lord and Lady Harraby do not regard it, why should anyone else?”
“That is the very best attitude to take,” Aunt Alice said, nodding her head. “You must never be ashamed of what you are, for it is not your fault. Nevertheless, it cannot be ignored or swept aside, either, and just at the moment, as news of your father’s situation is spreading and we are all subjected to unpleasant gossip — even more unpleasant gossip, after the recent tragedy — it might be best to… well, to…”
“Keep my head below the parapet?” Olivia said.
“Exactly,” Aunt Alice said, smiling, her sightless eyes fixed on a point close to Olivia’s ear. “Live quietly at home or with relations, and do nothing to attract more comment. Then, in the spring—”
Olivia gave an exclamation of disgust and jumped to her feet. “Spring!” She paced restlessly across her father’s study and back again. “By the spring I will be nineteen and practically an old maid.”
“In the spring,” her aunt said firmly, “under the wing of a new stepmother, if that should happen, or your Aunt Tarvin, perhaps, you can be introduced into a suitable level of society for your new position. You need not fear that you will be unable to marry. Your connections will still ensure you make an excellent match, in time, but you must be very careful not to do anything to invite disapprobation. It is… an awkward situation, to be sure.”
It was her father who came to her rescue. “I do not think that Olivia could come to any great harm with the Harrabys, Alice. She wants to move in society a little before her come out and this is as good an opportunity as any. If Lady Esther is willing to chaperon her, new company might cheer her up, instead ofmoping about Corland with nothing very much to do. I have seen how low her spirits have been these last few months, and I do not want to selfishly keep her by my side if she can be off enjoying herself.”
“Her place is by her father, until she marries,” Aunt Alice said sharply. “You are too soft with the girls, Charles.”
“I want them to be happy,” he said, spreading his hands helplessly. “I have Kent to bear me company, and Eustace, now and then. And you, of course, and George and Jane are looking after me.”
“Then I may go?” Olivia said excitedly.
He nodded, although he looked a little sad. “I shall miss you, daughter.”
“Then come with me. New company might cheer you up, too.”
He shook his head. “Your Aunt Jane has another friend coming to stay… someone I might like to marry. I must do my best to find another wife, you know. Your mama insists on it.”
“Oh, Papa!” Olivia said, flinging her arms around him and squeezing him tight. “I wish Mama had not gone away.”
“So do I, daughter. So do I.”
Aunt Alice’s well-modulated tones interrupted this moment of family accord. “Olivia, if you will scribe for me, I shall dictate a letter to Lady Esther, to see if she is willing to undertake this venture. If not, it will have to be given up, I fear.”
This was a dispiriting thought, especially as Aunt Alice felt it necessary to lay out in the letter in stark terms her own disapproval of the idea, and all the pitfalls awaiting an unwary and inexperienced girl in a strange house. But Lady Esther did not let Olivia down. Within an hour, the note had been delivered to Lady Esther Franklyn, and a positive reply received. Two days later, she set off for Harraby Hall, accompanied by LadyEsther and her rather starchy maid, a coachman and groom, two footmen and a pair of outriders.
And before she left Corland, a little miracle happened. Papa called her into his study, beaming from ear to ear. Mr Willerton-Forbes was also there in his fashionable clothes, looking nothing like a lawyer.
“Well, daughter, I have some excellent news. The money that was removed from the estate over many years has been found, and I shall be a great deal better off. Is it not so, Willerton-Forbes?”
“Indeed, my lord. Very much better off.”
“It means I shall be able to do something more for you — twenty-five or perhaps thirty thousand pounds, in total. That will make all the difference to you… your aunt was so concerned… well, so pretty as you are, you will have no difficulty in finding a husband, but we want it to be the right sort of husband… someone worthy of you. With such a dowry, you are assured of making a splendid match, even with—”
“Even with the illegitimacy?” she said.
He had the grace to look abashed. “It does make a difference, daughter.”
She was very well aware of that, but she was too happy to care. She was going to Harraby Hall and she would have thirty thousand pounds with which to entice a potential husband. Lord Embleton, perhaps? A girl could hope, could she not?
***
Harraby Hall was not like any house Olivia had ever seen before. It was not vast and imposing, like Lochmaben Castle, nor solidly square, like Corland, nor light and airy, like Westwick Heights. It looked as if a child had thrown together bricks of different sizes and shapes and colours. At one side wasa tower, with narrow slits for windows, and on the other, rooms projected outwards from the walls. The central part of the house was a single storey, but behind it could be seen other, higher wings. The roof featured an array of battlements, statuary, oddly curved protuberances, chimneys of varying styles and a clock tower. It made Olivia want to laugh.
In some respects, however, it was like any other great house, for out poured an army of footmen, followed by Lord Harraby, who ushered them into the great hall, with its arched roof supported by wooden beams.
“Forgive my wife for not being here to greet you, but she is taking her mandatory afternoon rest,” he said. “On behalf of both of us, may I say how pleased I am that you could both come. You are very welcome to Harraby Hall.”
Lord Harraby personally conducted them to their rooms and left them to the ministrations of a friendly housekeeper and a pair of maids. Gowns were changed, hair was brushed, faces were washed, a tray of tea and cakes arrived, then Lady Esther settled down to write to her husband, informing him that they had contrived to survive a journey of fifteen miles unscathed.
Olivia wondered if she should write to Papa, but somehow the excitement of a new house and new people to meet overwhelmed any desire for so sedentary an occupation. Instead, she gazed out of the window at the little patch of gardens which was all that was visible — new gardens to explore, too! Everything was new and thrillingly different. But a solitary walk did not appeal, either. People, that was what she needed.
