Page 26 of The Affairs of Ashmore Castle (Ashmore Castle #2)

Suicides were not so uncommon among the unregulated portion of society, and in the last ten years Victorian attitudes had softened so that it was more often regarded as a misfortune than a crime.

Even among churchmen it was hardly now condemned as a rebellion against God’s will – she had heard Dr Bannister, the rector, argue that if we must all humbly accept the pains we are sent, then anaesthetics and vaccinations are equally sinful.

He would have spoken the words of the funeral service over Mrs Oxlea when Giles asked him to, if Maud hadn’t intervened.

And she was aware that her intervention had rather increased the gossip than suppressed it – people who wouldn’t have thought twice about a servant’s suicide now wondered what her ladyship had against the cook.

She had done her best to keep the inquest as brief as possible, and Fothergill had done his part, and had acted so quickly there had been no audience or journalists there.

But that wretched Eddowes woman was a loose cannon: her attending the burial could only provoke speculation, and who knew what she would say if asked the right question?

It infuriated Maud to be still at the mercy of other people, the three who knew the secret – Eddowes, Rose and Taylor.

Would she never be free of it? Anything she did to suppress talk would likely backfire: a cook’s suicide would not normally get into the papers, but if she tried to ban discussion of it, outsiders might start taking an interest. She hated to be whispered about and stared at – and she hated, hated most of all, the feeling of helplessness.

So, once the inquest was over, she sought out Giles and said, ‘This atmosphere is very bad for Rachel.’

‘Atmosphere?’ he said vaguely, looking up from the farming monthly he was reading. Drainage, it seemed, was crucial, especially on clay soils. But it was labour-intensive, and so very costly . . .

‘A suicide in the house,’ Maud said tersely. ‘Are you listening to me, Stainton? It is unhealthy for her to remain here when the servants constantly talk about it.’

Giles tried to get a grip on the conversation. ‘Kitty,’ he said. ‘You mean bad for Kitty.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘In her delicate condition – just having given birth. You think she ought to go away somewhere?’

‘Not Kitty – Rachel ,’ Maud said, exasperated. ‘It is very depressing to a young girl’s spirits. And above all, we must prevent her future chances being damaged by any connection with an act of – of—’

Giles frowned. ‘I don’t see how the cook’s unfortunate end can reflect on Rachel – and she doesn’t seem terribly upset when I see her at dinner.’

Maud took refuge in magnificence. ‘Allow me to know what is best for my own daughter. You are so bound up with your – your agricultural journals’ – she managed to make ‘agricultural’ sound like something mildly obscene – ‘that you never see what is going on under your own nose. I am not asking your permission, Stainton. I am informing you that I shall be taking Rachel away as soon as we can make the arrangements. If not tomorrow, then the next day.’

Giles gave the vestige of a shrug. ‘Whatever you say, Mama. Where this time?’

‘The South of France,’ she said. ‘Vicky and Bobo take a house there at this time of year, on the C?te d’Azur. We shall stay there for several weeks – perhaps until it is time to go to Scotland.’

Giles was about to say something cutting about her lack of interest in Kitty’s welfare – but realised that his mother going away for an extended period was the best thing for Kitty’s peace of mind.

So he said mildly, ‘It sounds like a good idea. I’m sure Rachel will enjoy it. And you won’t be troubled there by domestic matters.’

Maud gave him a suspicious look – she didn’t trust compliance so easily won – then nodded and went away.

‘May I come in?’

‘Oh, Alice! Yes, you’re just the person I need.’

Alice stepped in and looked around. ‘Are you still sticking to your room? I’d have thought that now Mama has gone away you could come out.’

‘It isn’t just your mother,’ Kitty said. ‘Everyone said I have to rest for six weeks. Even Hatto, and she’s quite modern-minded. Some of them say I should have stayed in bed all that time, but I simply couldn’t.’

‘I should think not,’ said Alice. ‘It would drive one mad. But I don’t see how staying in your room is supposed to help.’

‘I’m meant to be lying on the sofa and resting when I’m not in bed. But that’s all over now. It was six weeks yesterday and I’m quite well, and my parents are to visit tomorrow—’

‘Oh yes, I heard.’

‘So could you please help me choose what to wear?’

‘Me?’ Alice was surprised, but pleased. ‘All I ever wear is riding habit.’

‘But you have the eye of an artist,’ Kitty said. ‘Some of your paintings are beautiful . I think you’re good enough to do it professionally.’

Alice laughed. ‘Do you think Mama would ever allow me to work for a living? I only have this bit of freedom because I didn’t turn seventeen until March. As soon as the Season starts next year I shall be trussed up like a Christmas goose and taken to market.’

Kitty couldn’t help laughing. ‘It isn’t like that. It’s fun – most of the time. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it when your turn comes.’

‘Well, never mind me, anyway. Why do you need help dressing? And shouldn’t you be asking Hatto?’

‘I didn’t like her choice. The thing is, my mama is terribly fashionable and smart, and I don’t want her to think I’ve become a dowdy. But I have to remember I’m a mother now, so I can’t be too gaudy.’

‘Well, let me see your things,’ Alice said. ‘Though, honestly, I wouldn’t worry too much about clothes if I were you. Surely the best thing about being a countess is that you can do as you like? I’m sure Mama does.’

Kitty, who hadn’t yet found there were any good things about being a countess, and indeed didn’t really believe she was one as long as her mother-in-law ruled the roost, just nodded, and led Alice to her wardrobe.

Kitty had received a nice note from her step-mother in reply to the announcement of the birth, but it had said it would not be proper for them to visit until her confinement was over.

Now, here they were, and after a brief word with his daughter and an inspection of the baby, Sir John had gone off to talk about manly things with Giles, while Lady Bayfield sat with Kitty, chatting brightly, while looking about her critically and fiddling with the braid on the sofa arm, which was coming off.

‘It is a pleasant thing that you have settled so close to London,’ she had said earlier, and Kitty had felt a little rush of pleasure at the words, until Lady Bayfield added, ‘It means we can visit you without having to stay the night.’

‘Oh,’ said Kitty, blighted.

‘Though Sir John and I are so busy these days that it’s hard to find time even for a visit of one day.

I promise you, if I were to show you my diary, you would stare!

There are engagements every day until the House rises – multiple engagements on most days – and then we begin a series of country-house visits right through the summer.

So many people have been pressing for us to come and stay, and one hates to disappoint – though some, of course, will have to be put off.

’ She laughed gaily. ‘One can’t be in two places at once! ’

‘It was nice of you to find time to visit me,’ Kitty said dully.

‘I hope I know my duty, Kitty. And of course I wanted to see my grandson, though Lady Richborough – I think her son was one of your dancing partners last year, wasn’t he?

– Lady Richborough says I look far too young to be a grandmother.

One must say there’s something ageing about the term.

But little Lord Ayton is very sweet. I think he favours your father for looks.

You are looking rather peaked, Kitty. You must not neglect your complexion, even though you are a mother.

A wife owes it to her husband to look her best. Be sure to keep using Pond’s night and morning – and, Kitty, it wouldn’t hurt to apply a little lemon juice each day to clear your complexion. ’

‘Yes, Mama.’

‘And you should wear diamonds – diamonds worn close to the face give it a sparkle.’ She patted her diamond earrings affectionately.

‘Lady Stainton says, “No diamonds in the country”,’ Kitty said.

Lady Bayfield was not daunted. ‘Of course, the dowager Lady Stainton is of another generation. Things are different now.’ Kitty could only admire the effortless way her step-mother demolished the ogre in Kitty’s life.

Lady Bayfield changed tack. ‘I wonder what Sir John has found to talk about all this time. I suppose we must stay to luncheon,’ she concluded with a sigh.

‘Our old cook . . . left,’ Kitty said. ‘We have a temporary girl, but she’s quite good. She can manage a light meal perfectly well.’

‘We’ll see,’ said Lady Bayfield. ‘I never eat much at luncheon in any case. It dulls the complexion.’

But when the time came, and the light repast of omelette aux fines herbes , artichoke hearts, poached chicken with salads and new potatoes, and strawberries was served, Lady Bayfield forgot her complexion, tried everything, and except for saying that the chicken was tough and should have been accompanied by a sauce, pronounced it all surprisingly good.

‘Your temporary cook seems a vast improvement on the old one. You may tell her so from me. But tell her these early strawberries are better set into a jelly or made into a mousse. They haven’t much flavour. ’

Giles and Sir John seemed to have been getting on well during their absence.

‘I have had a most interesting conversation, Kitty, with your husband about Egyptian genealogy. A number of examples of marriage between brother and sister, and between uncle and niece – which one couldn’t condone, of course, but they perceived a necessity, one supposes.

And they had female pharaohs! Such advanced ideas for such an ancient people. ’