A Lady Of Rare Quality. Anne Ashley

he isn’t married, my dear,’ Lady Pelham disclosed, with a quizzical smile. ‘I cannot quite make up my mind whether that surprises me or not. I met him only once, when he paid an unexpected visit here, offering his condolences, shortly after Charlotte’s death. Whether he did so with his father’s full knowledge and approval, I’m not altogether sure, though I will say this, his expressions of regret at his stepmother’s demise did seem genuine. Understandably, after almost ten years, my memory of him is a little hazy, but I seem to recall thinking him a very serious young man, though not unappealing in a darkly brooding sort of way. And I seem to remember too someone, quite recently, mentioning that he resides with his sister who, if I remember correctly, is close to him in age and, like himself, has never married.’

      Lady Pelham once again lowered herself gracefully into the chair, and for several moments stared meditatively at an imaginary spot on the carpet. ‘Helen knows nothing of Lord Greythorpe’s most recent letter. She knows nothing either of the extent of his authority over her.’

      Annis was surprised to discover this and didn’t attempt to conceal the fact. ‘Great heavens, ma’am! Why on earth did you keep his guardianship secret?’

      Lady Pelham shook her head, as though at a loss to know why herself. ‘The truth of the matter is that, even though I was informed, shortly after her father’s demise, that Deverel Greythorpe had become Helen’s legal guardian, I never gave the matter a second thought. Her father never once attempted to interfere in her upbringing, never attempted to make contact at all, come to that. It never occurred to me to suppose that her half-brother might behave differently.’ A further sigh escaped her. ‘Believe me when I say that I didn’t deliberately keep the guardianship secret from Helen. All the same, I cannot help feeling that it would be a mistake to reveal it at the present time, while she is still viewing a certain unscrupulous young rogue through a rosy haze.’

      Annis, having no difficulty understanding this viewpoint, at last began to appreciate the extent of her godmother’s grave concerns. ‘You fear that Helen just might be persuaded into believing a prolonged visit to Greythorpe Manor is a ploy on your and her guardian’s part to separate her from her beau?’

      Given her troubles were many at present, Lady Pelham managed a secretive little smile. ‘Not only that, my dear, I sincerely believe it would be a grave mistake to cancel our visit to Devonshire, for I’ve recently discovered that Mr Draycot is, for reasons best known to himself, not at all keen for Helen and I to go there. And I feel sure his objection does not stem from a desire not to be parted from Helen.’

      ‘How interesting!’ Annis was intrigued. ‘You suspect he fears that you might uncover something unsavoury about him there?’

      ‘That is precisely what I do think, yes,’ Lady Pelham admitted. ‘And, to be perfectly truthful, what I am hoping. He did on one occasion let fall that he stayed for a short space in that part of the world, though whether in Okehampton itself, where Helen’s friend resides with her parents, I’m not altogether sure. Although I believe Mr Draycot has attempted on more than one occasion to persuade Helen to cancel the visit, declaring he cannot bear to be parted from her even for a few days, she has withstood his pleas thus far, and remains determined to go.’

      Lady Pelham returned to her chair as the sound of voices filtered through from the hall. ‘Unless I am much mistaken, Helen has once again come upon Mr Draycot…er…quite by chance, you understand, during her walk in the park, and has, unless my hearing is defective, invited him back for refreshments. You may judge for yourself what manner of man he is. But have a care, Annis, my dear,’ she warned in an undertone. ‘Helen does not expect to discover you here. So you must say your visit is purely impromptu; that you are on your way to stay with friends, and that you simply couldn’t pass so close without visiting us for a day or two. On no account must she discover that I have sent for you.’

      As a direct result of that one and only encounter with Mr Daniel Draycot, Annis did not linger in Bath. Within the space of two days, she was travelling across the country again in a hired post-chaise, only through Hampshire this time, a county she had never visited before.

      Ordinarily Annis would have found sufficient to capture her attention, even this early in the year, when the countryside was most definitely not looking its best, had it not been for the fact that she was more interested in reaching her destination without delay.

      Unfortunately, since her departure from that once-fashionable watering place, the weather had taken a definite turn for the worse. Within the space of twenty-four hours the temperature had plummeted, the country was now being buffeted by a biting-cold east wind, and the leaden sky, which had looked grimly threatening all the morning, was finally adding to the sufferings of hapless travellers by liberally scattering frozen droplets across the landscape.

      ‘I ought to have bespoken rooms back at that posting-house, instead of foolishly attempting to reach Greythorpe Manor today,’ Annis confided to her sole travelling companion. ‘Both you and the post-boys predicted snow before too long.’

      ‘You’re not one to ignore sound advice,’ Eliza Disher, ever loyal, countered, ‘leastways, not unless you have good reason. I know well enough that you’re not at all comfortable with this task Lady Pelham has set you. So the sooner it’s over and done with the better you’ll feel, my lamb.’

      ‘That’s assuming his lordship is willing to receive me,’ Annis responded, smiling despite the fact that she was under no illusion about this herself.

      Of course, there was a very real possibility that she might be denied admittance, and the discomforts she had suffered during the past days, travelling about the country at a most unseasonable time of year, would have been for nought.

      ‘It is true I carry a letter of introduction from my godmother. Whether or not it will suffice, and I shall be granted the interview I seek with the Viscount, is a different matter entirely. Furthermore, as what I wish to discuss is of a very personal nature, I might well be shown the door long before I’m able to state my godmother’s case fully.’

      ‘I see it this way, Miss Annis, you can do no more than your best,’ the lifelong maid encouraged, thereby winning herself a loving smile from the young woman whom she had helped bring into the world almost twenty-four years before. ‘I know you better than most anyone else does, and know that unless you believed you were doing right to speak up for Lady Pelham, you wouldn’t be here now.’

      Silently, she acknowledged the truth of this. Lady Pelham was one of the few members of her own mother’s social class whom Annis openly admired. A widow of many years, Henrietta Pelham was intelligent and good-natured, a lady who had taken her responsibilities as a godmother seriously indeed. It was mainly thanks to her that Annis had been able to sample those entertainments enjoyed only by the most privileged class during the many visits she had made to Bath, both before and since her beloved mother’s demise.

      Undertaking this mission now was a way of thanking Lady Pelham for the many kindnesses she had shown towards her over the years, but even so Annis had not made her decision without giving the matter a deal of thought first.

      ‘Well, Dish, every instinct tells me that Lady Pelham has good reason to be suspicious about Mr Daniel Draycot. A rogue and no mistake! I don’t doubt my godmother’s ability to manage things, providing of course she is granted the opportunity. It’s up to me to do my utmost to ensure that she is given sufficient time to reveal Draycot’s true—’

      Annis broke off as the carriage came to an unexpected and abrupt halt in the middle of the road. The snow was nowhere near heavy enough to contemplate abandoning the journey quite yet. So she could only assume that the post-boys, not quite certain of the precise location of Greythorpe Manor, were debating between themselves which fork in the road to take.

      Drawing her cloak more tightly about her against the inevitable blast of cold air, Annis let down the window, and demanded an immediate explanation for the delay. An apologetic post-boy was before her almost at once, appearing decidedly ill at ease as he revealed the surprising intelligence that there was what appeared to be a body lying in the road, just up ahead.

      Naturally