Page 35 of Searching for Mr Tilney

It was all too much for my mother who instantly demanded to be told what was going on.

‘Oh, don’t fret, Cassandra,’ he said, ‘your daughter’s been making friends with the Duke of Dorset. Thomas took her this morning to see the house, and as you can see she’s returned, quite unscathed.’

‘Is this true, Jane? And you told me no word of it?’ demanded my mother.

‘Don’t scold her, my dear. Ozias tells me the duke is very taken with your daughter. He said she would break more than her fair share of hearts before too long.’

I bit my lip and watched her expression change. ‘What a pity it is that Cassy did not go with you,’ she said, ‘though on reflection, I have heard he is a very dangerous man.’

And then they all burst out laughing, even my father who doesn’t usually laugh at me. I could see what they were thinking. The duke had been very gentlemanly to say such kind things about a plain girl who would not easily find a husband as quickly as her sister. But, I knew differently. I knew I’d been admired … very much.

***

Mr Humphry’s manner was usually quite severe, but he was more talkative and congenial when Thomas came in and expressed an interest in everything he was doing. My arm felt quite stiff with holding the parasol, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I started to fidget. It was so very hard standing still for an hour, but I liked listening to the chatter in the background. Thomas wanted to know all about the preparation of oil paint for the sketches Mr Humphry was making, and about how he mixed the colours.

‘And what shall you paint in the background, Mr Humphry?’ he asked, when he’d exhausted all his questions on the properties of paint.

‘Oh, I haven’t quite decided yet, though I think it will probably be a landscape of some sort and a windswept sky … that’s what clients expect, and is very fashionable.’

‘We know a place that would make the perfect background, do we not, Jane?’

‘I’m not sure where you mean, Thomas,’ I said, anxious that the subject of our visit to Knole should not be brought up again.

‘In the deer park, I daresay,’ said Mr Humphry, anticipating Thomas, and fixing him with that stern expression again, as if to say he knew we’d been trespassing where we didn’t belong.

‘Yes, that’s right,’ said Thomas, ‘by one of the dewponds … it’s very picturesque, and a fitting landscape with gently rolling hills in the background, and scattered trees. And it would always remind the viewer of a day well spent.’

Thomas regarded me steadily with a smile, and I smiled back. I’d had a day full of mixed emotions, one I was sure I’d never forget.

***

Mr Humphry declined G-U-F’s invitation to dinner and said he must be getting back to his brother’s house in Seal in order to do some more work on the sketches, so as soon as he was gone Cassy and I went upstairs to get changed for dinner. When I was dressed I crossed to my sister’s room to lie on her bed and watch her putting the finishing touches to her hair. I usually love the time I spend with my sister, swapping confidences, sharing our hopes and dreams, though I don’t like it very much when she takes the opportunity to scold me.

‘I promise I will not keep going over the subject, Jane, but the scheme you were involved in this morning was not at all the thing to do. Riding about the countryside with Thomas, and both of you sharing a horse … it has a very odd appearance.’

‘How do you know about that?’

‘One of the grooms informed our mother.’

‘And, I suppose she’s asked you to speak to me. Well, I’ve done nothing to be ashamed of, and Thomas always looks after me. There was plenty of room on the horse - it’s not as if I was going to fall off and crack my head open.’

‘But, Jane, if you were five, or even seven years old that would not signify. But, you are a young woman, and too old to be running round with boys, and sitting in very close proximity on a horse. People will gossip about you, and say you are free with your charms and worse.’

‘But, I like Thomas, and he likes spending time with me too.’

‘Be that as it may, my mother thinks you need to spend less unchaperoned time with him, and under no circumstances, whatsoever, are you to go to Knole again unless you’re invited with a party of adults.’

I was too tired and emotional to argue further, and besides, I had no intention of ever going near that house again … wild horses could not drag me. But, I was bitterly disappointed that I shouldn’t be able to spend so much time with Thomas.

‘Well, we’ll say no more on the matter. You know I love you so much, Jane, but I cannot be happy if you put your reputation in danger. I do not wish to keep saying this, but you must realise the importance of keeping yourself free from all taint.’

‘Or I’ll end up like La Baccelli, I suppose,’ I said, just to vex her.

‘Oh, Jane, sometimes you’re impossible,’ came my sister’s reply.

Cassy was ready at last, looking a vision in white muslin, and we were just about to go downstairs when there was a loud rapping at the door. My sister got up to answer it, but when she opened the door, she screamed out loud. It wasn’t a very loud scream, more like a strangulated cry, and when I rushed to her aid, I must admit I wasn’t far from screaming too.

Lucius was standing on the threshold, grinning from ear to ear with blood smeared on his cheeks. He was holding a dead fox, bloodied and cut, in his arms.