Page 11 of Ambition (The Chaplain’s Legacy #6)

O livia returned to Corland Castle in unsettled mood.

She had enjoyed her brief stay at Harraby Hall, naturally, for lively company was always exciting and Robert Osborn had been amusing, but it had not advanced her objective at all, and now she had to wait a full month before she could move forward.

Lord Embleton was staying with a different sister, in Gloucestershire, far from her reach, and only the certainty that he would be at his hunting box in Leicestershire for the whole of November and possibly December too kept her spirits up.

It was fortunate that there were many entertainments to enjoy.

Ever since the ghastly murder, the family seemed to have retreated into its shell, hardly venturing out at all, but now there was a positive spate of large gatherings.

First, there were the celebrations surrounding the marriage of her eldest brother, Walter.

Then, the Cathcarts, not noted for their hospitality as a rule, held a charming little party for Katherine Parish to which all the young people of the district, but none of their parents, were invited.

With the wedding of Bea Franklyn to Cousin Bertram rapidly approaching, Lady Esther and Aunt Jane seemed to be competing with each other in providing a host of elegant and increasingly ambitious parties, all of which was to culminate in a grand ball at Corland Castle two days before the wedding.

As if this were not enough excitement for Olivia, there was much more of the same to look forward to, since both her remaining two brothers had become betrothed.

She did not much care for Eustace’s future wife, Miss Rosamunde Wilkes, although she could not say why.

She seemed pleasant enough, but Olivia could not warm to her.

Kent’s betrothed, Katherine Parish, she liked well enough.

She had thought her dreadfully shy at first, with hardly a word to say for herself, but when she saw how happy she made Kent, and how he managed to bring her out of her shell, she understood that it would work very well.

And then had come the astonishing news that Tess Nicholson had eloped!

Eloped! Run off to Scotland to be married over the anvil, as the saying was.

And even though it was a respectable, indeed eligible, match, to Lord Tarvin, which everyone approved, and they then went straight to London to be married properly by special licence, it was still an outrageous thing to do.

The second worst thing a lady could do, yet everyone seemed pleased about it.

“At last, the girl has acquired an ounce of common sense,” Papa said, and even Aunt Alice smiled at it, and wrote at once to give her permission, since Tess was not yet of age.

Olivia did not understand it at all, although she was pleased for Cousin Tess, naturally.

But there were unhappy moments, too. The murder investigation was still going on, although Captain Edgerton and his team never seemed to make much progress.

A few weeks ago, one of them, Miss Peach, an elderly spinster who had once been governess to Mrs Edgerton, had disappeared, and now her murdered body had been found at a farm near Pickering.

Olivia had not known the lady well, for she had not dined with the family when she had lived at Corland, and so had been rarely seen, but another murder was a dreadful thing, and poor Mrs Edgerton was very upset.

And then there was Papa. He had been so glad to see her when she returned from Harraby Hall, he had hugged her and made her sit beside him at dinner.

“How much we have all missed your lively chatter,” he said over and over.

“So dull we have been without you. Do not go away and leave me again, daughter, for I am sadly bereft now. Your mother gone, your sisters far away, and now your brothers… what am I to do without you all? But you will stay with your poor, lonely Papa, will you not?”

Then he had been thrown from his horse and dislocated his shoulder, and although he mended quickly, he was very sorry for himself. Olivia went to see him the day after the accident, when he was sitting up in bed, wearing an ornate nightcap.

“I should know better at my age,” he said glumly.

“Trying to keep up with a younger woman, but Miss Quick outrode me, there is no doubt about it.” He sighed heavily.

“I wish… well, what I wish makes no difference, for your mother is not coming home. She wants me to find a new wife, so that is what I must do. It will be for the best.”

“Will it?” Olivia said. “I do not much want a stepmother, Papa, and I do not see why there should be one at all.”

“For legitimate sons,” he said sadly. “It is important.”

“Is it? There is Uncle George to inherit, and then Bertram, and they will make sure Corland stays as it always has. A new wife would change everything. It would be horrid. Do you not think it is time to give up this quest for a new Lady Rennington? Aunt Jane has produced five candidates so far, and none of them have answered.”

He sighed again. “That is true. Perhaps you are right. I shall tell Jane not to invite any more just now, and perhaps in the spring we shall all go to town, and I can look about me for a wife while you look for a husband, eh? That might be amusing, and at least I shall have the winter free from any more of these women. It does not come naturally to me any more to do the pretty to a young woman. My courting days were so long ago, I have got out of the way of it.”

“I think that is a splendid idea,” Olivia said. “And perhaps you should think about going away from Corland, with all its sad memories. A week or two somewhere else would be just the thing to lift your spirits. My few days away did me so much good.”

His face brightened. “Actually, that is not a bad idea. Not too far away, mind you, in case your grandmother… well, I should not like to be out of reach if… although she has clung to life most tenaciously. After her last turn, we all thought she would not last the winter, and here she still is, a year later, although not very coherent. Does she know you, when you visit?”

“No. She calls me Hermione. Who is Hermione?”

“Her sister, who was the Duchess of Lochmaben. Long dead, of course. She calls me Gabriel, and I have not the least idea who he might be. Poor Mother! Such a strong woman, reduced to a mumbling shell of herself. Old age is very cruel, sometimes, and harder to bear for those of us who have to watch a much-loved relation in sad decline. I think you are right, daughter. I should get away for a while. Perhaps after this wedding of Bertram’s to Bea Franklyn I might go to Izzy or Josie. ”

That would not do for Olivia’s purposes! “Lady Esther knows some people in Leicestershire… hunting people. That would be more fun, would it not? Ian and Aubrey are not really sporting types.”

“Hmm, that is true. Farramont has good shooting on his land, but he is not really interested, and as for Woodridge — and they would both be talking politics at me, which is not my strong suit. But Leicestershire…”

“Near Melton, apparently.”

“Ah,” he said with a little smile, and she knew the argument was won.

But there was still a month before that could happen, so Olivia settled down to wait with what patience she could muster.

Lord Embleton was still in Gloucestershire, Lady Esther informed her, for she had acquaintances who were intimate with the marquess’s family and knew his movements, but even so it was hard for Olivia to do nothing.

Every day he was out of her sight was a day when he might be meeting some other young lady who would steal his heart away.

But she could not be entirely downhearted, not with a grand ball to contemplate, so even though she often wept a little in pure frustration, she had much to occupy her.

A few days before the ball, Eustace arrived with Miss Wilkes.

Olivia had only seen her briefly on her previous visit, but this time she was to stay longer, and Olivia was determined to get to know her better.

“You are from Northumberland, I understand?” was her opening question, finding Miss Wilkes alone with her needlework in the parlour one day.

She looked up with a faint blush. “Yes. It is not far from Berwick.” Her voice was quiet, and she seemed subdued, but although Olivia smiled at her, there was no answering smile. If anything, she looked nervous to be approached, even with such a gentle question.

“Goodness! Practically in Scotland, then.”

“It is nearer to Edinburgh than Newcastle.”

“I shall have to look it up in the atlas. Are your parents pleased with the match?”

This time she blushed deeply. “I… You see, my mother is dead, and my father… we fell out. He knows nothing of it.”

“Oh dear! But when he knows, he will undoubtedly be pleased that you are to marry so well. Eustace has his own house and an independent income, so he is a very eligible parti.”

She nodded, but said nothing more.

“Your father… does he have a large estate?”

“Not as large as your father’s,” she said, with a sudden laugh, which made her look much more approachable. “It is called Warriston Hall. He is a baronet, Sir Reginald Wilkes. I have two brothers and two sisters, all married now.”

“So you are the last to be married. I am sure your father will be pleased to have you settled.” She wanted to ask about the quarrel, but it would be unpardonably rude to pry, so she said instead, “Have you fixed a date for the wedding yet?”

“No, we cannot marry until my father knows… and there has been a reconciliation. For now, it must all remain secret. Eustace did not want to tell anyone about it, but he had to tell Captain Edgerton about me… to do with the murder investigation. So now your family knows, but you must not mention it to anyone outside the family, and no one must tell my father until I have seen him. I live with… with my aunt in Scarborough, so I am well cared for.”

“And you have Eustace, of course.”