“If you had known my father better, you would understand,” Andrew said, for perhaps the third or fourth time.
“Yes, yes, but that does not explain anything,” the lawyer said.
Sally Payne laughed, a rich, throaty laugh that gave Simon an inkling as to why Luke had been drawn to her. She was from the lower end of the gentry, with a hint of an accent in her voice, and she dressed for comfort rather than style. Although she wore the correct head-to-toe black of mourning, it was of a style that might have been fashionable five years ago. A sensible woman, then, who reused an old gown rather than go to the trouble of buying fresh.
“The late earl,” she said to the lawyer, “wished to control his children. His sons in particular, for women were only breeding machines, to him. The only comment he ever addressed to me was that I had good wide hips, and should have no trouble popping out babies. I suppose he was right about that — I managed seven before Luke took ill and died, but still, it’s hardly the thing to say, is it? But the way he treated Andrew and Luke! I completely understood why they wanted to thwart him, and I never wanted to be a countess, so it suited me just fine. Uncle Charles left Cherrywood Place to Luke, and he’s left it to me, for Archie, so I’m very well placed now, and Archie understands how it is, don’t you, my dear?”
“Yes, Mama,” the boy said. “I don’t think I’d like to live here.”
“No more would I,” said his mother. “Horrid great mausoleum of a place! As for the stain of illegitimacy, if we had any pretensions to cut a dash in society, it would be a hindrance indeed, but nothing is further from our thoughts. Archie will be a gentleman of independent means, wealthy enough to help his brothers to profitable careers and his sisters to good marriages, and my family is well-connected in Newcastle and will ensure no one ostracises them. Most of our acquaintances already know of our situation. So you see, gentlemen, everything has worked out for the best, and Edlesborough will eventually be the seat of theonly one of the earl’s sons who had the gumption to stand up to him to his face.”
She smiled at Simon, and his brothers nodded sagely, leaving him surprised. Had he truly done anything so noteworthy? His father had wanted him to go into the army, a career for which he was spectacularly unsuited, and he had refused. What was so courageous about that? He had already decided on architecture by then, and knew that Juliet would take him in, for in those days there had been no bar on communication. It was only later that all contact had been banned.
He was, he decided, a simple man, who preferred the honest, straightforward route to the convoluted schemes dreamt up by his older brothers. They might take satisfaction in appearing to obey their father while secretly thwarting him, but the constant fear of discovery must have worn them down, over the years. Now, Andrew was not the hale man he had once been and Luke had already been felled by illness. What a strange, sad life they had led! Whereas Simon’s only concern had been the cost of coal and candles.
Dinner that evening promised to be a lively affair. There were two additional guests who had arrived with Sally Payne, but had not been involved with the lawyers, so this was the first time Simon had seen them. Mrs Granville was a handsome woman of above sixty, her smooth white hair and fashionable clothes only enhancing her appearance. With her was her eldest son, Mr Charlie Granville, a man of almost forty with a cheerful countenance. They were cousins to Luke’s uncle and benefactor in Newcastle. He had been the brother of the late earl’s first wife, Juliet’s mother, so she naturally had an interest in the Granvilles.
“They are my cousins, too, to some degree,” Juliet whispered to Simon, as they sat together in the drawing room watching the Granvilles circulate amongst the guests. “She is a fine lookingwoman, would you not agree? What a lovely gown, and such a magnificent diamond necklace. Mr Granville must be very wealthy. How beautiful she must have been as a young woman! Do you think she might have known my mother? She must have done, surely — Mama was a Granville and this lady married one. She might know something about…” She lowered her voice even further. “…about the divorce.”
“Andrew said that the full proceedings in the House of Lords were in the library.”
“Oh yes, but it does not tell me anything new, and the man accused of… of doing those things with Mama, did not, did he? The duke said it was all a lie. But if Mrs Granville knew Mama at the time, perhaps she is privy to the truth about it, for I am sure Mama could not have done anything so very dreadful. No doubt she went along with the divorce to get away from Father. Anybody would.”
“A divorce is a terrible stain on everyone involved,” Simon said. “I cannot imagine any sane person wouldchooseto be divorced purely to escape from a difficult marriage.”
“She is coming this way! Do you think I should ask her about it?”
“Personally, I think the less said about it the better.”
Andrew brought Mrs Granville over to them. She was even more handsome when observed more closely, the only wrinkles of age being a few laughter lines around her eyes, and she moved with all the gracefulness of a much younger woman.
“Here is someone who very much wishes to meet you,” Andrew said, smiling broadly. “Simon is the eldest of my father’s second family, and this…” He paused, the smile widening even further. “…this is Juliet.”
“Oh, my dear!” Mrs Granville said, sitting down beside Juliet in a soft swirl of silk, and taking her hand. “I have heard so muchabout you over the years, but you cannot imagine how much I have longed to see you again.”
“Again? Then… we have met before?”
Mrs Granville gave a low laugh. “Indeed we have, but not for very many years. Not since you were three years old.”
“Three? But… I do not understand,” Juliet said, wide-eyed. “That was when I left Edlesborough. How can that be? Were you here? Whoareyou?”
“Have you not guessed? I am your mother, Juliet.”
21: The Library
For a long, long moment, Juliet said nothing, staring transfixed at the woman who claimed to be her mother. Simon was just as shocked. So this elegant lady, who seemed so eminently respectable, was in fact the scandalous first wife of the late earl, so badly behaved that he was forced to divorce her.
“But what did youdo?”Juliet wailed at last. “Whatever happened?”
“Do you mean why did he divorce me? Oh, the usual reason, my dear. I was a very bad wife, and he was quite within his rights. Do you want to hear all about it?”
Juliet nodded eagerly.
“Well, then, I shall tell you everything, but I see the estimable Spearman waiting to announce dinner, and we cannot discuss such sordid matters over the mutton. After dinner, we shall creep away to my room where we can be private, and you shall hear it all, and then you may judge me, if you will.”
Dinner was a strange meal. Even with the lawyers taking their meal separately, there were still seventeen of themsqueezed into the breakfast parlour. The number included Ruth, sitting on a cushion to allow her to reach the table, who was allowed to be present for the first course, accompanied by Miss Towers.
Eventually, the second course was removed, the sweets, nuts and port laid out and the servants withdrew. Lavinia rose to lead the ladies out, but Mrs Granville raised a hand.
