Part 33 (1/2)
She knew he wasn't angry, and she explained, ”It was Olive Wilson who told Walter, Charles. When she came up to get some of the countess's clothes. About six months ago.”
”I wish he'd told me, I really do,” Charles murmured.
”There's a certain line even we can't cross, and we Swanns respect that.”
”We can fornicate, the Swanns and the Inghams, and have done so for centuries, from what I gather. But we can't confide?”
Charlotte nodded. ”Yes, I suppose that is so, but I didn't make the rules.”
Rising, she went and knelt down in front of him and looked into his face.
He was a very handsome man, irresistible to her. There was also a certain gentleness in his face, and his features were finely drawn, cla.s.sical and genteel. He was well bred, kind, and caring, and she had never heard a bad word said about him. Not by anyone. And she told him that, and then she said, ”Walter didn't know what to do, to be honest, Charles. He explained that to me. On several occasions he was on the point of telling you, but lost his nerve. None of us want to hurt you.”
Leaning forward, Charles kissed her lightly. ”I'm not angry with Walter. I hope you know that. In fact, I can't ever remember any Ingham being angry with a Swann. What else did Wilson have to impart? Will you tell me?”
”Yes, I will. She's disgusted, and not really very happy with working for her ladys.h.i.+p anymore. But she needs the job, you know.” She left it at that, not wanting to repeat the gory details Olive Wilson had imparted to Walter.
He simply nodded, then asked, ”Are you going to let me stay for supper? May I?”
”Yes, but whatever will Hanson think, if you don't return home for dinner?”
”I don't know, nor do I care. But I will telephone and explain I'm having supper here with you. Just so he knows where I am, in case I'm needed.”
Charlotte realized, as she knelt there looking at him so adoringly, that he was trying very hard not to laugh, and then suddenly he did. He was convulsed, and she laughed with him, because his laughter was so infectious.
When they had calmed down, she asked, in all seriousness, ”Why did you start laughing like that?”
”Because I am now forty-seven years old. I'm the Sixth Earl of Mowbray, and you're asking me how I'm going to explain to my butler where I am. I'm not that ten-year-old schoolboy you used to boss around, you know.”
”I never bossed you around. And I was only thinking of discretion, of being careful. There'll be gossip otherwise.”
”Oh b.u.g.g.e.r gossip!” he exclaimed, and then leaned forward and grabbed her, said against her flowing hair, ”Sorry. I know you don't like me to swear.”
”As far as I'm concerned you can do anything you want,” Charlotte said, and meant it.
”I will tell Hanson that if anyone asks where I am, he must simply say I'm out. But not where. He's my man, and he's totally loyal.”
”So is Walter, Charles. Don't be cross with him.”
”I'm not, don't be silly.” Charles let out a sigh. ”I've a bit of bad news for you, Charlie. All able-bodied men are going to be called up. Enlistment is now compulsory.” He told her about the new act that had just been pa.s.sed in Parliament the day before, and gave her the details.
”You won't have to go, will you?” she asked, suddenly sounding genuinely concerned.
He looked at her, and said quietly, ”I'm too old, and I have bad eyesight.”
”You're not too old in my book, and your eyes are beautiful. And I'm relieved you won't have to go to the front.”
”We'll have a lot of villagers and estate workers leaving,” he said, sounding grim. And they did go off to war in droves.
Fifty-four.
The day that Daphne had been dreading finally arrived. Hugo was going to leave Cavendon and go for field training at Catterick, before embarking for France to fight in the trenches.
She had several important things to say to him, and she rose early so that she could speak with him privately before they had breakfast with her father.
Hugo found her waiting for him in the little library she had created two years ago. As he walked in he thought she looked more stunning than he had ever seen her. She was always beautiful, his Daphne, but today there was something about her that stirred his heart.
She stood up quickly when he entered the room, and said, ”Will you come outside with me, Hugo? And go for a very short stroll? To the rose garden.”
”Why not? You said you needed to speak to me, and that's the perfect place. Very private, my darling?”
”That's right.” She stretched out her hand.
He took hold of it, and went out of the library with her, and walked toward the grand entrance hall. He knew she was going to tell him something very secret or inflammatory, otherwise she wouldn't have suggested they take a stroll. No one could overhear her in the gardens.
There was no one around. The park was deserted. Many men had gone already. Kitchener was desperate for soldiers; the troops were being mowed down by the thousands. And that was where he was going. To the killing grounds of France. And the Battle of the Somme.
He pushed these thoughts to one side as they walked down the steps and sat on one of the iron garden seats. She clung to his hand, and he looked at her and he thought his heart would break. He had to leave her to go and do his duty for king and country, and he might not come back. And he could not bear that thought. If he lost his life he would never see her again. And what would she do without him?
She was wearing pink today, and she blended in with the roses all around them, and he had that perfect picture of her in his mind's eye, and he would keep it there, and remember, when he was on the front. It would sustain him, as would the thought of their child Alicia and the baby she was carrying.
”Hugo, listen, I want to tell you something very important,” Daphne announced, leaning into him, her cornflower blue eyes fastened on his face. She sounded and looked more serious than he had ever seen her.
”Yes, I'm listening, sweetheart,” he said quietly, holding himself still, also steeling himself for bad news.
”When you first met me, it was love at first sight,” Daphne said. ”That's how you described it. And when we went to Paris on our honeymoon, it was love at first sight for me. Not for Paris. But for you, Hugo. I want you to know I fell in love with you then. And I love you with all my heart, I always will. And you will come back to me, I am truly certain of that.”
Tears had filled his eyes, and he took her in his arms and held her close to him, breathing in her scent, as he always did, that mixture of roses and hyacinth so unique to her.
”You're right, I will come back, Daphne. Because we have a long life to live, and much joy to share. And it makes me happy that you fell in love with me on our honeymoon. I thought you had.”
”We're going to have five children,” she whispered.
Leaning away from her, he smiled, love for her spilling out of his eyes. ”Why not six?” he asked.
”Because Genevra says it will be five. I begged her to tell me what the seven hearts mean on that piece of bone, and she wouldn't. But then when I said you were going to war and I was afraid for you, she told me. She said you would be safe because we were going to have five children altogether. The other two hearts were for you and me. I trust her predictions, Hugo, I really do.”
”And so do I,” Hugo murmured, wanting to please her, and wanting to believe he would come home.
”What I have to say now is a sort of confession. About something I never told anyone. You must promise you will keep this very confidential all of your life, Hugo.”
She spoke so solemnly and she was so tense, he knew this was the serious matter she had not wanted anyone to overhear. ”I won't betray you,” he said. ”I'm ready. Tell me what you've been hiding from me?”
Daphne took a deep breath, and began. ”When my parents knew I had been raped and was pregnant, they jumped to a conclusion. They were also fixated on Julian Torbett. Because we had been friends for so long, and also because I had been over to Havers Lodge that afternoon. He wasn't there. He was out. And when I walked back through the bluebell woods I was attacked. The man who attacked me wore a scarf around his face. When I managed to pull it off later, I was horrified. It was Richard, Julian's brother. He is the one who raped me. But I let my parents believe it was Julian because he was dead. And I lied to you when I said it was Julian. For the same reason.”