Page 16 of The Gathering Storm (Morland Dynasty #36)
Vivian intervened: ‘Sir Henry Royce, of Rolls-Royce motorcars, once said, “Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble.”’
Molly wrinkled her nose. ‘Darling, whatever does that mean? In this context?’
He smiled sheepishly. ‘Just trying to keep the peace. A quotation usually does the trick. It can stop the most furious argument dead.’
Basil laughed. ‘I must brush up my store of quotations. Didn’t Socrates say you should improve yourself by other men’s writings, so that you gain easily what they laboured for?’
‘Socrates also said the only wisdom lies in knowing that you know nothing,’ Vivian said pointedly.
‘I am justly rebuked,’ Basil said meekly. Then, to Charlotte, ‘Let me come with you to Tunstead!’
She recoiled. ‘No!’
‘I mean it, seriously.’
‘You’d poke fun and be a nuisance and make everyone uncomfortable.’
‘I swear I wouldn’t. You know I owe Richard a lot, and I’d never do anything to upset him. Or you. And,’ he added, with an innocent look, ‘it will make the numbers at table even.’
‘You are an atrocious wretch!’ Molly laughed. ‘Robert will make the numbers even.’
‘Not if he takes his fiancée.’
‘Robert’s not going,’ Charlotte said. She avoided Basil’s eye. ‘He’s engaged somewhere else for the weekend.’
There was a brief silence. They all knew her brother Robert disapproved of Richard’s choice of bride.
Basil said, in a different voice, one without edges, ‘Then you must take me. I feel for Richard. I want to do my bit to make his in-laws feel welcome. I’m serious now. Let me show you I can do it.’
Charlotte seemed to be warming to the idea, but she said, ‘It’s up to Mother. I can’t just “take” you.’
‘You could send a telegram and ask,’ Basil suggested.
Molly said, ‘I’m sure your mother will like to see Basil again. And he can behave prettily when he wants to.’
Basil looked at her with narrowed eyes. ‘You just want to be rid of me.’
‘What – want to spend a rare weekend alone with my beloved husband whom I see all too little of? How could you think it?’
Molly was right: Violet said yes. She and Jessie had been each other’s best friend all their lives, Jack was Jessie’s favourite brother, and Basil was his son.
And she was aware that when Basil had first flown the nest, Richard had taken him under his wing, found him lodgings and a job, so there was a connection there.
Also, though Charlotte had dismissed the idea, she really did like the numbers to be even round her dining table.
It was a small matter, and these days lots of hostesses didn’t bother any more, but she felt it made things comfortable.
And she was a little worried that the Nevinsons might feel out of place.
She had grown up in a very formal age: Basil, like Charlotte, was of a more relaxed generation.
Between the two of them, they ought to be able to keep things going.
The Nevinsons were a little intimidated by their surroundings.
Tunstead Hall, in the glorious Peak District, was Elizabethan, built of grey stone with a multitude of small-paned windows so that it glittered in the sun.
Inside, a darkness of oak floor-boards, family oil-paintings and old furniture contrasted with the daylight from the many windows.
There was a smell of lavender wax and an underlying mustiness, like prayer-books.
Room led to room in bewildering sequence, with massive fireplaces and ceilings of decorative plaster-work.
There was a plethora of servants. Lady Belmont greeted them with a pretty smile and evident kindness, but she was undeniably grand.
Like scared children, the Nevinsons put themselves on their best behaviour, sat with their hands folded and their backs straight, and said as little as possible.
Violet was made uneasy in her turn. Richard had assured her that they had no special dietary requirements or religious tabus, but did he really know?
She did not want to tread on any cultural sensitivities.
In the drawing-room on their arrival she tried to engage her future daughter-in-law in conversation, but Cynthia was even more scared than her parents and she could hardly get her further than yes and no.
Eventually Avis and Samuel struck up on the neutral subject of business, Charlotte and Basil drew Cynthia out on the latest shows and films, and Richard encouraged Violet and Hannah to talk about the proper care of furniture and fabrics, about which Hannah knew everything and Violet nothing.
Hannah gave Violet some excellent housewifely hints, and Violet admired her expertise, but it was still very sticky.
Both sides were glad of a respite when the visitors were shown to their rooms before dinner.
At dinner there was an incident which made Violet glad that Basil had invited himself.
They had just finished the first course, and without thinking Hannah stood up to clear the dishes.
At table, when a lady stands, the gentlemen have to stand also, and Basil who was opposite her and Avis who was beside her were both automatically getting to their feet before they had registered what was happening.
Startled by the movement Hannah froze, one hand outstretched, her cheeks crimsoning as she realised what she was doing.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see the servants waiting to clear, and was mortified.
Basil took it all in with one leap of piercing sympathy.
As the other two men began awkwardly to rise and Cynthia, not understanding what was happening, half rose too, he said cheerfully, ‘A little cramp, ma’am?
Horrid thing, isn’t it? I get it too, when I sit for too long.
I got a cramp once when I was dining with some very fashionable people, and I stood up so fast I knocked my wine glass over, and the contents landed in the lap of my dinner companion. I’ve never felt so foolish.’
By now, one of the footmen was standing behind Hannah holding her chair, ready to seat her again, and she subsided into it, her eyes down. Basil prattled on as the men sat again.
‘Luckily it was white wine, not red, so it didn’t show too much.
But the poor lady was terribly put out. She was so obliging as to tell me that it was the first time she’d worn that particular dress: it had come home from the dressmaker only that morning.
So I comforted her as best I could by assuring her that I felt much worse about the whole thing than she did. ’
Everybody laughed at that, and Charlotte said, ‘Oh, Basil, you didn’t!’
‘I had to. I was afraid she was going to tell me how much it cost, which would have been a shocking solecism. I had to save her from that.’
‘Now, young man, I’m sure you’re exaggerating,’ Samuel Nevinson said, but not unkindly; and across the table, Hannah threw him a silent look of gratitude.
After that, Basil entertained the table, playing the impudent but lovable young rapscallion, and the atmosphere eased until everyone was joining in with the conversation to some extent, even Cynthia.
Later, when the men rejoined the ladies in the drawing-room, Violet came up to him and murmured as she handed his cup, ‘That was kind of you. I felt dreadfully for that poor lady.’
‘The one whose dress I ruined?’ he said innocently. ‘I am a clumsy oaf, it’s true.’
‘Anything but clumsy, Basil dear,’ Violet said.
On Sunday morning, Basil was halfway down the stairs when he overheard Violet in conversation with Richard, and paused on the landing out of sight to listen.
‘I’d completely forgotten about church,’ Violet was saying. ‘I really ought to go, and Avis is supposed to read the lesson. But I don’t think there’s a temple, or whatever it is, anywhere near.’
‘I told you, Ma, they’re not observant.’
‘Are you sure they didn’t just say that to be polite? And it would be rude to go, and leave them here.’
‘You and Avis should go. They’ll understand completely. The rest of us will take care of them. I’ll show them over the house or something.’
‘That’s another thing. Now we’ve had them here, they ought to invite us down to their place for a weekend. But they haven’t got a place, have they?’
‘We’ve discussed that,’ Richard said firmly. ‘When you come up, they’re going to invite you to dinner. That will cover it quite nicely.’
‘Oh!’ Violet said. She sounded anxious. Basil could imagine her concern. What would their home be like? Would she feel as out of place in it as they had evidently felt in hers?
Now Richard sounded a trifle impatient. ‘The food is always delicious. Hannah’s a wonderful cook. You’ll enjoy it, Ma.’
Basil decided it was time to interrupt, given that Violet had never cooked a meal in her life and might well question the last statement. He clattered noisily down the last flight with a cheerful ‘Good morning!’ Both of them looked slightly relieved.
Before lunch the sun came out, and they all took a turn around the gardens, naturally separating into pairs according to their speed of walking. Charlotte and Basil soon pulled ahead of everyone else.
‘It’s a good thing Robert didn’t come,’ Charlotte said, after a pause in the conversation. ‘He’s such a snob – worse than you. He’d have done his best to make the Nevinsons feel small.’
‘You are horridly unjust to me. I’m not a snob and I get on with everyone.’
She snorted, then said, ‘What do you think about it?’
‘It?’
‘Richard marrying her. It’s odd, isn’t it?’
‘All marriage seems odd to me.’ He thought for a moment of Gloria. Would he marry her, if she was free? Yes, probably – but he was quite glad the question didn’t arise. ‘She seems a nice enough girl, if a little milk-and-water for my taste. But I believe she’ll inherit her father’s business.’
‘Basil! You don’t say he’s marrying her for her money?’
‘Oh dear, you’re so romantic! A man has to have something to live on. But I’m sure he’s fond of her.’