Monica hadn’t heard because Rosie was tugging at her hand. ‘Mama. Mama! Why are Aunt Kate’s shoes and skirt all wet?’
‘I really have no idea,’ said Monica, ‘what your aunt has been getting up to here, Rosie. Now, why don’t you go and play with Elijah in that old hut over there?’ Rosie bounded off to join her brother, who was trying to clamber onto the bathing cabin’s roof. But Edward stayed at his wife’s side with his gaze still firmly on his sister-in-law.
‘Actually, Kate,’ said Monica, ‘we arrived in Brighton last night. Our intention was to let the children enjoy the delights of the beach this afternoon, then later to visit you and tell you of our deep concerns about you. As you know, I distance myself from town gossip as a rule. But then I heard that you had been see in the company of the Earl of Rivington, whose reputation is notorious!’
Kate suddenly wanted to laugh. ‘And you were worried?’ she echoed innocently. ‘That’s strange, because I remember you once saying that you needn’t be concerned about any man trying to assaultmyvirtue! I think that was when you were scolding me for my lack of skill in the art of flirtation.’ She looked hardat Edward, who had the grace to drop his stare. Then she turned to her sister again. ‘The Earl has kindly escorted me on several outings, Monica. But I don’t see what business it is of yours, or why you are so agitated.’
‘Because of the man’s reputation! I have heard that he’s mixed with scandalous women in the past. Admittedly, he was engaged to be married recently, but that ended, no one quite knows why, and they say he has no intention of settling down for a good while. He’ll be on the lookout for a mistress, Kate, not a wife—and certainly not a wife like you, a mere baronet’s daughter!’
Before Kate could reply, the twins came racing back. ‘That hut on wheels was boring,’ declared Rosie. Kate heaved a sigh of relief; Dan must have escaped before they got there.
‘And, Aunt Kate,’ Rosie was saying, ‘when are you coming back to London? Mama got a new lady to look after us and she was horrible. Wasn’t she, Elijah?’
‘Yes,’ said her brother. ‘She slept in your old room, Aunt Kate, and one night I put a slug in her bed. She screamed for hours, and the next day she left.’
‘We were pleased,’ said Rosie, nodding. ‘Very pleased.’
Ah, thought Kate. Matters were becoming clearer. Monica wanted Kate to return and be an unpaid childminder once more. Aloud she said, ‘Where are you staying in Brighton, Monica? And how long are you here for?’
‘We are in an excellent hotel overlooking the sea. It is small but exclusive, so we are not pestered by the pleasure-seekers who haunt the town. We are staying for three nights only.’
Thank God for that,thought Kate. And thank goodness too that they did not expect to stay with her at Clematis Villa.
‘Yes,’ Monica was saying, ‘we thought that three nights would give Edward and myself ample time to warn you that you risk your reputation by associating with the Earl. You see, we do notwant you to be hurt, and neither did our father. That is exactly why I helped him put an end to your correspondence with our Aunt Jemima, for your own good— Oh!’
Monica clapped her hand to her mouth and looked flustered, while Edward laughed unpleasantly. ‘I knew you were bound to let it slip,’ he told his wife. Then he looked at Kate. ‘Did you realise what Monica and your father were up to, getting rid of your letters to Jemima and hers to you for all those years?’
Kate was saying slowly, ‘I guessed. I wrote to our aunt regularly even though I never heard back from her. And since coming here, I’ve learnt that in fact Jemima wrote to me, often.’ Her voice hardened. ‘Monica, you say you and father stopped that correspondence for my own good. What on earth do you mean?’
Monica looked embarrassed but defiant. ‘Our father believed that Brighton’s sea air was responsible both for our mother’s death and your illness! He also felt that Jemima, with her independent way of life, would have been a most inappropriate influence on you—you surely see that?’
‘No, I don’t! Jemima was a wonderful person!’
Kate’s voice had risen but Monica looked only vaguely uncomfortable. ‘Well, it’s clearly a good thing we came here,’ she said. ‘Because now that I’m face-to-face with you, Kate, I can see that Brighton is indeed a dangerous place for you. I fear that your independence, combined with the Earl’s attentions, are doing you no good at all. Whereas if you came back to live with us—’
‘No,’ said Kate.
‘We would pay you a governess’s salary!’
‘What part ofNodo you not understand, Monica?’
Monica was beginning to look exasperated. ‘Maybe you and I can meet up tomorrow in the town? We could look around the shops and talk alone, properly— Oh!’
Monica broke off, for a horseman was approaching and as he drew near, he pulled his black stallion to a halt.
It was Dan and Kate was astonished. How had he done that? How did he get back to his horse without being seen? The twins, who’d been throwing clumps of seaweed at some oystercatchers, came rushing back to gaze up at him in awe, and Monica was looking flustered. ‘Oh, my goodness,’ she exclaimed. ‘The Earl of Rivington—my lord, it is you, isn’t it? I saw you once, in your box at the Drury Lane theatre!’
‘Did you, indeed?’ said Dan. ‘Well, at present I’m in Brighton and I’m taking my afternoon ride, as I often do.’ He looked at Kate. ‘Miss Summerby, perhaps you would introduce us?’
Kate obliged. ‘Lord Rivington, this is my sister and her husband, Mr and Mrs Edward Terrance. And here are their children,’ Kate added, noting that Elijah and Rosie remained utterly silenced by this man and his horse.
Edward bowed low. ‘My lord. An honour to meet you.’ But Monica appeared to be in a tremendous dilemma. She looked at Kate then back at the Earl, and Kate could imagine her thinking,Is this man really taking an interest in my sister?
At last Monica spoke. ‘My lord, we are all, of course, missing dear Kate, and we have travelled from London to pay her a visit. We hoped that my sister would make acquaintances here, but we never expected to find her in such lofty company.’
Lofty company?The hypocrite! Kate’s eyes widened at the stark contrast with her sister’s earlier opinion of the Earl, and she thought she saw Dan actually wince. But he replied, ‘Miss Summerby and I happened to meet because we are neighbours. We have had one or two pleasant outings together, haven’t we, Miss Summerby?’
‘We have indeed.’ Kate guessed that Dan, though coolly civil to Monica, absolutely loathed her sister’s obsequious manner.
