The Virtuous Cyprian. Nicola Cornick

go to visit for a little? I do not wish to alarm you, but if you stay here you will not be able to show your face beyond the gates! I imagine Miss Susanna may return in a week or so, but there is no guarantee…’ She let the sentence hang but Lucille understood what she meant. Susanna’s timekeeping had never been of the most reliable, particularly if it suited her to be doing something else. She would not hesitate to stay with Sir Edwin for as long as it took to get what she wanted out of him.

      For a moment, Lucille considered visiting Mrs Markham. Gilbert Markham’s widow and daughter were always pleased to see her, but they were living with Mrs Markham’s sister and Lucille knew she could not just arrive without warning. And there was no one else. She sighed.

      ‘I am sorry, ma’am! It seems I must stay here another ten days or so. Perhaps it will not be so bad…’ She knew she sounded unconvincing. The idea of having to impersonate Susanna for that time seemed suddenly intolerable. From being blissfully happy in her country retreat that morning, she suddenly felt unbearably trapped. After a moment Mrs Appleton sighed as well.

      ‘Very well, Miss Kellaway! Perhaps matters will settle down once the village is over the initial shock of Miss Susanna’s arrival.’ She sounded as unpersuaded as Lucille herself. She sighed again. ‘It is easier in London, where such matters are commonplace. The society in which your sister lives operates in much the same way as the beau monde. But here the community is insular and judgmental, and I do not doubt Miss Susanna would detest it!’

      ‘Seagrave said he made no judgments on the way in which Susanna chooses to make a living,’ Lucille said slowly, ‘yet he would not simply allow her to reside here quietly without interference!’

      Mrs Appleton gave a wry smile. ‘My dear Miss Kellaway, you will find that most gentlemen have no difficulty in preserving a dual attitude towards ladies such as your sister! They…enjoy their company but they would never marry them, nor even consider them fit company for their sisters! By the same token, I suspect Seagrave believes a Cyprian should stay in London and not cause a stir in his sleepy dovecote!’

      Lucille frowned, remembering something else Seagrave had said. ‘Does my sister know the Earl?’ she asked, carefully. ‘He made some reference to her causing trouble for his family before this…’

      Mrs Appleton looked disapproving, though whether of Susanna’s exploits or Lucille’s enquiry was hard to judge. She fidgeted with the edge of her apron before looking up to meet Lucille’s gaze. ‘I collect he must be referring to Miranda Lethbridge,’ she said with constraint. ‘I believe she is some connection of the Seagraves. Last winter your sister…’ she hesitated, seeing Lucille’s innocent blue eyes fixed on her ‘…well, no point in prevaricating! Miss Susanna took it into her head to seduce Miranda Lethbridge’s betrothed, who was also a war comrade of the Earl of Seagrave.

      ‘She did it solely because he was rich, and she was bored! It was a shocking thing, and believe me, Miss Kellaway, I thought myself unshockable! After one night Mr Tatton—Justin Tatton was his name—realised that he had made a mistake and tried to disengage, and Miss Susanna was furious. She spread the rumour that they had been having a lengthy and passionate affair, and she made sure that Miss Lethbridge heard all about it. The poor girl was completely distraught and broke off the engagement immediately.’

      Mrs Appleton shook her head. ‘I do not condone the behaviour of men such as Mr Tatton, but he had made a mistake and did not deserve to be punished so cruelly. But I fear Miss Susanna detests rejection.’

      ‘I hear very little of Susanna’s exploits, tucked away as I am in Oakham,’ Lucille said a little hesitantly, ‘but I do remember hearing of a young man, the son of a duke, who was ruined—’

      ‘You mean Adrian Crosby, I collect,’ Mrs Appleton said expressionlessly. ‘He was just one of many! He was infatuated with Miss Susanna and bought her costly gifts by the barrow load. Worse, she took him to dens—’ she saw Lucille’s puzzled frown ‘—gaming dens, Miss Kellaway, where he played deep and lost a fortune to the House who, of course, gave Miss Susanna her share of the pickings! The affair only ended when the boy’s father realised the extent of his debt and sent him off to the country to rusticate!’

      Mrs Appleton looked unhappy. ‘I am in no position to criticise your sister, Miss Kellaway, for she pays my wages! But in my book, men such as Seagrave are fair game for a woman like Miss Susanna, for they know the rules of engagement! But Adrian Crosby was barely more than a boy…And Miranda Lethbridge did not deserve—’

      She broke off. ‘Forgive me, Miss Kellaway. I am not normally one to gossip, but I thought it only fair that you should know what kind of woman you are impersonating—and why the Earl of Seagrave dislikes your sister so much!’

      Lucille’s heart felt like lead. Although naive in the ways of the world, she had common sense enough to have realised a long time before that she knew nothing of her sister’s way of life, nor did she want to know. She had already learned too much in the inn at Felixstowe. Any lover was good enough, it seemed, as long as he was rich enough to pay Susanna’s price. No wonder Seagrave held her in such contempt! Lucille had no time for the double standards of men who kept mistresses and then denounced the very women they would have in keeping, but she had some sympathy with Seagrave’s point of view over Miranda Lethbridge. The prospect of being obliged to meet him again, knowing what she did now, made her feel vaguely sick.

      Mrs Appleton was watching her sympathetically. ‘I thought it best to tell you, Miss Kellaway,’ she said apologetically. ‘Should you meet Seagrave again—’

      ‘I cannot bear to meet him again!’ Lucille said, in anguish. ‘Mrs Appleton, forgive my curiosity, but however did you come to work for Susanna? I cannot imagine—’ She broke off, aware that her comments could offend. But the housekeeper was smiling, albeit a little sadly.

      ‘You are right in thinking that it was not what I might have chosen, Miss Kellaway, given different circumstances! After I was widowed I had very little money, you see, and no means of keeping myself, so I applied for a post as cook/housekeeper with Miss Susanna. I knew what sort of an establishment it was, of course, but without references I could not hope for a position elsewhere…’

      She paused. ‘As I said earlier, I am fairly unshockable after ten years on campaign, and am in no way missish! And indeed I have very little to do with Miss Susanna’s business, for she has a maid to attend to her.’ She smiled suddenly. ‘That is not to say that I haven’t had my moments! A gentleman was once overly amorous to me, but I was able to dissuade him from his attentions with a saucepan! And believe me, Miss Kellaway, I could have done a great deal worse than work for Miss Susanna!’

      Lucille was left shaking her head in disbelief. She knew that she was both missish and easily shocked, and yet she was the one who had so foolishly agreed to impersonate Susanna. She had not known the half of it—and now she was trapped by her own folly. Thinking of this led her thoughts inevitably back to the Earl of Seagrave.

      ‘Apparently Susanna’s arrival at Dillingham has caused Seagrave’s betrothed to cry off,’ she told Mrs Appleton solemnly, ‘so he has another reason to dislike her now!’ Despite her feelings, she could not suppress a smile. ‘He seemed remarkably annoyed by the fact!’

      ‘I doubt his emotions are involved, only his pride,’ Mrs Appleton said calmly. ‘Seagrave is notorious for having no feelings at all! No more than a month ago he got engaged to Louise Elliott, a hen-witted girl of absolutely no distinction other than in her lineage. If she has thrown him over he may one day come to thank your sister! They say girls become very like their mothers and Lady Elliott is an arrogant, overbearing woman! But enough of this gossiping!’ She got to her feet. ‘I must make shift to find us some dinner!’ She cast a look at Lucille’s unhappy face. ‘Never fear, Miss Kellaway,’ she said bracingly, ‘I have found sustenance under far more adverse conditions than this! As for Seagrave, well, we will just have to keep you out of his way in future!’

      Chapter Three

      Lucille felt that the whole atmosphere of Cookes had changed after that one meeting with the