LITMIR.BIZ

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behind high walls came into view. Dark and sombre and set amid acres of gardens and lawns, it was a large, forbidding structure, a gentleman’s manor house, three storeys high, with Gothic turrets rising up into the sky.

      Passing through the tall wrought-iron gates, Ned drove the cart up the long, straight, gravel drive, but there was no sign of life. Victoria’s trepidation increased a thousandfold by the sheer size of the building. It made her feel even smaller and more insignificant than she already did. The door was opened by Mrs Hughs, the housekeeper. Victoria informed her of her identity and Mrs Hughs let her in. Once inside the Hall the warmth struck her immediately, causing her to glance towards the roaring fire set in the deep stone fireplace.

      Mrs Hughs gave a sad shake of her head. As soon as the master had heard of Betty’s illness, he had set the whole household agog by going to the extraordinary lengths of having her brought to the Hall.

      ‘The master has spared neither trouble nor expense to see that your mother is taken care of. He has been goodness itself.’

      ‘I’m sure he has and I am grateful.’

      ‘Your mother is very ill, Miss Lewis. Indeed, she cannot rise from her bed,’ she told Victoria in a quiet, sombre voice. ‘I’m very sorry.’

      ‘Please will you take me to her?’

      ‘Of course. Come with me.’

      Victoria followed her up the wide, oak staircase on to a long gallery. Everything was very stately and imposing to her. She was aware of gilt-framed pictures on the walls, graceful marble statues in niches and the richness of the Persian carpet beneath her feet, but unaccustomed to such grandeur and with her mind set on reaching her mother, she did not give them much further attention.

      She was ushered along a corridor that led to the domestic quarters. After several twists and turns they entered her mother’s room. It was small yet comfortable, offering a splendid view of the moors. A vase of flowers and a bowl of fruit stood on a dresser by the window.

      Her mother was in bed. Her face was still beautiful. Age had faded the intensity and colours of her beauty, but not the structure. Her grey hair was long and braided and draped over her shoulder, her skin so pale it was almost translucent. Once so tall and fine, she was now all bones and her lips were blue.

      Victoria knew that over the years her mother had tried her best, but she had never loved her as deeply as her father had. Her mother had rarely held her, and Victoria could not remember her coming to her room to kiss her goodnight except on the rare occasions in her childhood when she had been ill. Often when she had tried to hug her mother, she had been gently put away from her, with the words: ‘Not now, Victoria, Mother is tired,’ whereas her father had been more affectionate, sitting her on his knee while he read her stories and giving her bear hugs when she hurt herself. Victoria had always assumed that she was too much trouble for her mother, which was probably why she had been happy for her to go away to school.

      Without her father to turn to, Victoria had taken the pain and turned it inwards and for a while she had been adrift. But now, seeing how ill her mother was, she decided to cling to those things that were wonderful about her and to ignore the insecurity, instability and anxiety that had beset her all her young life.

      On opening her eyes and seeing Victoria, Betty offered a weak smile. ‘Why, Victoria! Is it really you? What a lovely surprise. I was not expecting you for several weeks.’

      Victoria had not cried in a long while, not since the death of her beloved father when she had been a girl. Now tears threatened and she struggled to keep them at bay. Approaching the bed, she reached out and took her mother’s hand, bending over to kiss her mother’s brow.

      ‘I did not know you were so ill, Mother. Truly I didn’t. Why was I not told? I would have come home immediately to take care of you.’

      ‘I didn’t want to worry you. Your time at the Academy was almost over and I knew you would soon be home. Don’t look so worried, my dear,’ she said, seeing her daughter’s eyes bright with tears. After an awkward moment she reached up and with a slender thumb she wiped away a tear. Her eyes were soft and unafraid. ‘Don’t be concerned.’

      ‘But of course I’m concerned. I don’t understand why you are here—at the Hall.’

      ‘Because I was lady’s maid to the old mistress.’ She smiled. ‘Lord Rockford has been very kind to me. When he heard I was ill and alone in my cottage, he had me brought here where I can be looked after properly.’

      Full of remorse and resentful that she was to be denied taking care of her mother when, for the first time in her life, she needed her—for was it not a daughter’s duty to look after her mother?—Victoria took her hand, relieved that she did not pull away. As poorly as her mother was, she had decided not to mention the cottage. But she wanted answers and only one man could give them to her. ‘I should have been here to look after you—and I would have been had you not sent me away.’

      ‘I have told you over and over again that it was for your own good, Victoria,’ she whispered, coughing. She closed her eyes, drawing a deep breath and expelling it slowly before continuing. ‘You know how important your education was to your father. It was what he wanted.’

      Victoria gave her a tender smile. ‘While you always wanted me to be a lady.’

      ‘Which is exactly as you’ve turned out. Why, look at you—a proper young lady. You make me so proud. And you’ve done well at the Academy. Whatever you decide to do, you have a bright future ahead of you, Victoria.’

      Victoria remembered the time when she had been taken out of the village school where her father had been the headmaster and sent to the Academy in York to be shaped. Into what? she had asked. A young lady, her mother had replied.

      ‘You cannot remain here. Will you come home now I am here to take care of you?’

      ‘Lord Rockford is most adamant that I remain at the Hall. I am well looked after and my every need is taken care of.’

      ‘But—Lord Rockford! I have heard he is most fearsome.’

      ‘Do not judge the master too harshly, Victoria. There is good in everyone. Always remember that. And there’s a great deal of good in him. He has shown it with his kindness to me.’

      Victoria had almost forgotten her father’s words as he lay dying, telling her mother not to worry, that the master would take care of her. Until today she had never given Lord Rockford a moment’s thought, a man with whom she had never come into contact. She’d been too young and stricken with grief to realise that one day he’d be something more.

      ‘You must speak to him,’ Betty said. ‘I know he has been looking forward to meeting you. I—would like you to stay here with me, Victoria. Lord Rockford will suggest it.’

      ‘I see.’ Victoria didn’t see, not really, and she would do everything within her power to take her home. But her mother was becoming visibly weaker and her eyes were closing so she let the matter rest. She sat by her, the person who had remained the one constant throughout her life, and she told herself that if anyone deserved God on their side, it was she.

      Chapter Two

      It was dark when Laurence arrived home, having ridden with Clara Ellingham to the Grange, where she lived with his brother Nathan and his new wife Diana, Clara’s sister. Six weeks ago they had left for France on their honeymoon. They were expected back at any time.

      He crossed the hall and went into his study. After a few moments Jenkins, the butler at Stonegrave Hall, entered. He carried a salver with some correspondence that had been delivered in the master’s absence and a glass of brandy, which the master always insisted on before dinner.

      ‘Some correspondence and your brandy, sir,’ he murmured diffidently as he placed both beside him on the desk.

      Wordlessly, Laurence picked up the glass and took a drink.

      All this was executed with the precision

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