Page 5 of Trusting Miss Austen (Miss Austen #3)

Kent, February 1800

The lengthy journey to Godmersham Park from Derbyshire was planned with military precision and deliberately timed for us to arrive under the cover of darkness.

However, I had thought that there might have been a small welcoming party to greet us—Elizabeth and Edward at least. Yet when I stepped from the carriage into the frigid, blustery night, there was no one and nothing to be seen. A chill wind whipped around my cheeks as I peered valiantly into the pitch blackness. All I could hear was the rustling and creaking of some nearby trees .

I turned to the coachman, who had collected us from Ospringe and who was at present helping a tired Lucinda down from the carriage. ‘Are we at Godmersham? Where is the house?’

‘Over yonder, madam,’ he replied vaguely. I strained my eyes but could not see any friendly lit windows within the veil of darkness .

‘Are we to walk there? ’

‘Ah, no, ma’am. Mrs Austen has given me strict instructions to take you to the guest cottage. She said to tell you that she will be down in the morning to greet you. The cottage has been prepared and a fire lit. There is also some food. You should have everything you need for the night.’

As tired as I was, I grudgingly realised the sense of it. It was silly to think we would be welcomed with open arms and shown into the Austens’ grand house with its multitude of children and servants. No, Elizabeth was right to bundle us off out of sight. Even if we had arrived at midnight (which we had not—it was barely nine o’clock), a maid would have had to attend to us. Lucinda’s condition was instantly discernible—as was mine, even though it was fake.

I adjusted the mound of padding on the front of my gown and wondered how much Elizabeth had paid their coachman to keep his mouth shut or if she had threatened instant dismissal if he said anything.

The man himself had not indicated that he thought anything was strange by frowning or winking, so I gathered whatever he had been threatened with or offered had worked .

‘Very well,’ I said with as much dignity as I could muster.

He nodded and unhooked the carriage lantern and gave it to me to carry. Then he lifted our carpet bags, one in each hand, and nodded towards the path on the left .

Lucinda and I linked arms and waddled along with our bellies leading the way. To any outsider, we were a couple of expectant ladies staying at Godmersham Park for our confinement. But even if we were in the middle of the Kentish countryside and many miles from Derbyshire and York, it still looked suspicious and would no doubt arouse curiosity.

Max and I had had a devil of a job deciding what to do about our own servants. In the end, we had given the majority an extended paid holiday for a month after Christmas. Lucinda had arrived the day after they left. Then she and I had travelled to Kent the day before they came back. We kept on only our cook, housekeeper, and Bertram, the butler. We had made all of them swear on the Bible not to say anything (and Max had given them double their wages for the month to sweeten the incentive to stay quiet).

What else could we do but trust them?

After depositing us in the cottage and making sure the candles were lit, the coachman took his leave, and I shut and bolted the door against the icy north wind. Lucinda peeled off her shawl with a sigh and wandered over to warm her hands at the fire, which was burning low in the grate.

‘It seems comfortable,’ I ventured, looking around. As cottages went, it was not particularly small. We were standing in a sizeable parlour that was wood panelled and laid with beige carpet. There were a couple of lounging settees and a small bookshelf. A fine watercolour of Godmersham itself hung on the wall, reminding us where we were not. Upon checking the other two doors that led off the parlour, I reported that they both contained nicely decorated and well-appointed bedrooms.

The cottage had the feel of a place that one could escape to when the demands of the main house became too pressing. Jane had commented in her letters once or twice of feeling exhausted when she had returned from visiting Godmersham, for Elizabeth and Edward had five children—four of them boys aged 6 and under. According to Jane, they were ‘liable to be rowdy’ while their daughter, Fanny, just turned 8, Jane deemed a ‘lively and talkative creature’. Reading between the lines, I had got the impression Jane was tasked with being the babysitter when she stayed here, so I felt somewhat glad that we were not going to be bothered similarly. Really, however, it was the perfect opportunity for me to gain some parenting skills since I had none. Oh well.

After consuming the food that had been laid out on the side table under a muslin cloth (some bread, cheese, pickles, and various conserves), there was nothing much else to do but for me to relax on the sofa while Lucinda flicked through some of the titles in the bookshelf. After a while, growing tired, we lit our candles, bid each other good night, and went to bed .

***

If our first night in Kent had passed without fanfare, then the next morning more than made up for it. I was roused from slumber at dawn by the most godawful bellow outside. Thinking that we were about to be set upon by ruffians, I ran to the parlour, grabbed the poker, and crept cautiously to the window. Gingerly moving the curtain aside, I gasped to see a huge brown stag complete with impressive spiky antlers standing there! It seemed remarkably close, with plumes of frosty breath drifting from its nostrils. I pulled the curtain back to see better. At the movement, the creature gave me a baleful stare, tossed its antlers, and pranced away across the fields, quickly followed by a number of doting does.

‘What on earth was that noise?’ mumbled Lucinda sleepily from the depths of her eiderdown when I went to see if she was awake. ‘Are we being besieged?’

‘It was a herd of deer, that’s all,’ I replied, sitting on the edge of her bed, my heart still going pitter-patter from the rude awakening. ‘The stag was right outside the window. He must have sensed people in the cottage and decided that it was time for us to wake up.’

Lucinda giggled. ‘I think he woke up half the county with his racket.’

‘Apart from that, did you sleep well?’ I asked.

She nodded. ‘Surprisingly so despite ...’ She gestured to her round protuberance. ‘He has been kicking much of late. My poor insides are black and blue!’

‘He? I thought you had deemed it a girl?’

Lucinda placed a hand protectively on her belly and grinned. ‘With a pair of clodhoppers like that? No, I feel more and more certain it is a boy.’

My ears pricked up at that. Max had his heart set on a boy. ‘Oh, I do hope so,’ I breathed. ‘For Max’s sake,’ I added when she looked at me enquiringly. ‘I myself am not concerned either way as long as the child is healthy.’

‘Speaking of Uncle Max, he has been very good at letting you come away with me,’ remarked Lucinda, propping herself up on the pillows. ‘Especially after our last trip. I’m surprised he agreed to it.’

I looked down at my hands. ‘He did not have much choice in the matter. Men do not usually accompany their wives during confinement. So it would have looked strange if we both went off together. He has to play the part of the anxious husband waiting patiently at home for the good news. Besides, I suppose I cannot get into too much trouble here in the depths of Kent,’ I concluded lightly.

Lucinda arched a sly eyebrow. ‘Does he know that Dorian made a play for you at Hartmoor?’

I shook my head vehemently. ‘No, and he never will. My husband and your father are cut from the same cloth. What your mother fears, I also fear. I have no wish to see him swinging from the gallows because of some rash decision to defend my honour—and over nothing too. Dorian’s declarations were all poppycock, as you would expect from a rascal like that.’

However, his earnest speech about wanting to be a better man for me had been rather stirring. I shook the image of Dorian’s intense brown eyes out of my head as my gaze dropped to Lucinda’s burgeoning belly. The man had a lot to answer for, including a fast-approaching bundle of joy that was soon to make its way into the world and into my inexperienced arms.

I could not help but feel apprehensive about it all.

‘Do you think Elizabeth has employed the services of a midwife?’ I asked, eyeing Lucinda’s bump nervously. ‘If so, I hope she lives close by. ’

It would be my luck to be thrust into having to deliver the child myself because the midwife lived forty miles away. The thought made me quail.

‘Do not fret, Aunty Fliss. Remember Elizabeth said she would organise it all, and we need not worry about a single thing,’ Lucinda said, seemingly unconcerned.

‘That is all very well. But I will feel more at ease when I have seen her and heard exactly what the plan is. ’

By midmorning, she had still not appeared, and we had started to feel light-headed from hunger. Then finally, there came a light tread and a sharp rap at the door. Before I had a chance to open it, Elizabeth Austen came bustling in. She was armed with a wicker basket, which she deposited on the sideboard with a sigh of relief.

We embraced politely, and she murmured something that sounded like ‘What a business’. She held me at arm’s length, and we surveyed each other.

Her appearance was the same as when I had seen her in Bath, though her hair was hastily pinned, as if she had done it herself. She saw me looking and tucked a loose strand behind her ear. ‘Forgive me if I seem a bit dishevelled. My youngest took ill and has been awake most of the night. He has been given a draught with some rum in it, and it has knocked him out, so I took the chance to escape.’

‘Not at all,’ I said, though my stomach was quivering with hunger. I could smell something savoury coming from the basket, and my appetite had sharpened.

‘Where is our Lucy? ’

‘Resting in her room,’ I replied distractedly. ‘We were woken early by a noisy stag.’

Elizabeth tsked. ‘Do not worry. There is a ha-ha between the deer and the cottage, so they cannot mow you down. ’

‘That’s a relief,’ I said, inching towards the sideboard. ‘Is there food in there, perchance? ’

‘Yes, Cook has kindly done me up a basket. I said I was going to visit the poor.’ She flipped open the lid, and my mouth watered when I saw the assortment. I did not think there would be much left for the poor when I had finished with it.

I filched a soft roll and tore into it while Elizabeth laid the table.

‘Have you told any of your staff that we are here?’

Elizabeth paused, a pottle of jam held aloft. ‘My cook, housekeeper, and lady’s maid know you are here. But they do not know about Lucy and her condition.’ She glanced at my flat stomach (I had not bothered to put on my padded corset) .

I stopped eating my roll. ‘Do they not think it strange that I am in the guest cottage and not the house?’

‘I explained that it was more convenient as you had arrived late at night. But yes, it will look strange if you stay here. So that is why you are coming back with me after you have eaten, and Lucy will stay here. ’

I gawped at her. ‘I cannot leave Lucy.’

Elizabeth continued as if I had not spoken, ‘You and I can look in on her when we take our daily exercise. Edward too will call if the occasion arises. She shall not want for discreet visitors.’

I swallowed this information as if it were a bitter pill. Elizabeth had been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes planning! ‘But what if it is her time, and there is no one here? ’

‘I have entrusted our gardener’s wife, Mrs Busby, to attend to her. She is the local midwife and has successfully delivered many babies in the village.’

‘Oh.’

‘Additionally—and this is the best part—she is disliked by the other servants and does not socialise with them. So there is no danger of her saying anything to them about Lucy.

‘She assures me she is prudent,’ Elizabeth continued. ‘And that she has been entrusted with several similar cases over the years and has not told a soul about any of them, and I believe her. Plus she has had her wages increased accordingly. So you see, it is very safe, and I have disguised Lucy’s presence admirably. It will be like she is not here at all.’

I wondered uneasily why Mrs Busby was disliked by the other servants. ‘And what is my role in this performance?’

Elizabeth chuckled. ‘It is a bit like that, isn’t it? And rather fun organising all the actors—I feel like a theatre director! Your part is easy, Felicity. All you have to do is wear your special corset and complain about being tired and having sore ankles. That is generally what I do, as Edward will attest.’

My heart sank. By the sound of it, the die had been cast. We were at her mercy. All that remained was for me to swallow my pride.

‘Thank you. You appear to have thought of every detail. ’

Elizabeth smiled broadly. ‘It is my pleasure. Now will you rouse Lucy to take some food? She needs to remain strong for her ordeal in the coming weeks.’

I went off dutifully to fetch my niece, feeling a bit flummoxed that Lucinda and I were to be separated. Should I refuse to stay at the main house? I was apprehensive enough about Lucinda giving birth as it was. Now the process was to be undertaken by Mrs Busby, a woman that Elizabeth seemed to trust implicitly, but no one else liked!

Yet what can I do? I thought. If it weren’t for the Austens agreeing to have us stay at Godmersham Park, Lucinda would be at a York nunnery. So I decided I would go along with the current plan for the meantime as I was under Elizabeth’s domain and had to acquiesce. But if I sensed anything untoward about Mrs Busby, I would speak up immediately to rectify matters!

***

Lucy was surprisingly calm (more so than I!) about staying alone in the cottage. I was reluctant to leave her and said so.

‘Do not fuss, Aunty Fliss. There are plenty of books here to keep me occupied, and Elizabeth has promised that Mrs Busby will look in on me three times a day. And you will be coming down to visit me as well. What with everyone poking their heads in the door to check on my health, I’m sure that I will have hardly any time to myself!’

Feeling somewhat reassured by her pragmatism, I attached my corset padding and left with Elizabeth soon after breakfast. She said my luggage would be picked up by the coachman and delivered later. Perhaps it was better for me to be out of the way and not leaping to my feet anxiously every time Lucinda experienced a twinge. As Elizabeth said on our pleasant walk to the house, it would be another few weeks before anything happened regarding the birth, and I had my own part to play—namely creating the illusion of being eight months pregnant so everyone thought the child was mine when it arrived.

We emerged from a tree-lined lane, and the stately brick mansion of Godmersham and its outbuildings came into view. I drew a breath, for the house oozed wealth and prestige. Edward really had landed on his feet when he’d been plucked from the bosom of his family by Mr and Mrs Knight at age 12. From the humble rectory at Steventon to this!

‘There is a visitor waiting for you whom I think will make everything easier to bear,’ Elizabeth said, taking my stunned silence for angst at being parted from Lucinda.

I stared at her. ‘Who? Not Max surely?’ He would have had to have ridden like the wind. But he had surprised me before, so it was not out of the question .

But Elizabeth would not be drawn, saying I would find out soon enough. Indeed, as we approached the formal gardens, through a bricked arch, I saw a familiar figure strolling along the flagstones by a rectangular pond with a fountain. And when she saw me, her face broke into a wide smile.

‘Jane! Oh my goodness, what are you doing here?’ Giggling with glee, I ran to her as fast as my oversized belly would let me manoeuvre.

‘Elizabeth thought you might need some help with ... everything.’ We embraced as well as we could with my huge stomach between us. ‘Gracious!’ she remarked, gazing down at it. ‘This is going to be a large baby. ’

We looked at each other and burst out laughing until Elizabeth reached us and hurriedly shushed us as the servants might hear. Sighing, I followed them into the house. Jane might be here to make my life easier, so why did I feel like everything was about to become more difficult?