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‘Did you see all you wished at the Home Farm, Cousin?’ Agriculture was clearly a safe topic.
‘Thank you, yes. Everything appears to be in excellent order. My late cousin was obviously a good landlord.’ If not a well-liked one, he added to himself. Everyone he’d spoken to had been as one in agreeing that this was a well-managed estate, run to the highest standards. No one had spoken to him of a sense of loss, or with any warmth of the late Earl. Yet every one of the estate workers he had encountered had enquired anxiously, and with obvious respect, after the welfare of the Countess.
Marcus glanced down, but the edge of her hood hid Marissa’s face from him. Her hand rested trustingly on his arm, the kid-gloved fingers surprisingly firm. It seemed as though she was the only person who had found something in his cousin to mourn: there was no mistaking the genuineness of that flood of tears or the stark hurt in her eyes. This was no rich young widow weeping for form’s sake.
They discussed the estate and its workers as the great house loomed into view. Marcus was impressed again by Marissa’s depth of knowledge of the families at Longminster: who was related to who, who had a daughter in service in London, which of the pensioners suffered from arthritis and needed help in his garden.
‘If you want to know more about sheep husbandry, then Reuben Childs is your man. I imagine that sheep are not common in the West Indies? He is the grandfather of Mary, my maid. Oh, look, another carriage. Perhaps it is Miss Venables arrived at last. Poor thing, what a cold and long journey she must have endured.’
Jane Venables was standing in the front hall as they reached the house. Her modest pelisse and bonnet were matched by the few items of luggage which stood beside her yet, to Marissa’s eyes, she did not appear overawed by the splendour of her surroundings, which she was regarding quizzically, nor by the host of superior servants who were bustling around her.
Her spinster cousin Jane was the daughter of her father’s elder sister who had made a most regrettable marriage to an impoverished curate. She had compounded the offence this had given her brother by living happily in their rambling Cumbrian vicarage and producing a bevy of equally happy and unambitious children.
Despite Sir George Kempe refusing to acknowledge the existence of his sister or her family, Jane, the eldest of five girls, had written to congratulate her young cousin on her marriage and they had fallen into the habit of exchanging greetings on birthdays and at Christmas. Miss Venables, in her early forties, had been earning her own modest living as a governess, but had confessed to Marissa that she did not find it a congenial existence and was hoping to find a position as a companion.
Marissa’s first action, once the immediate shock of the Earl’s accident had died away, had been to write to Jane urging her to join her and enclosing a bank draft to hire a post chaise and postilions.
Marissa hurried forward, her hand outstretched in welcome. ‘Cousin Jane! How very glad I am to meet you at last. I do hope you have not had too fatiguing a journey. Please, let me make you known to my husband’s cousin. My lord, Miss Venables, who has so kindly hurried to support me. Cousin Jane, the Earl of Longminster.’
Miss Venables’s thin eyebrows rose a further fraction as she returned his lordship’s bow with a demure curtsey. She might be a spinster of forty-two summers, Marissa thought with a stirring of amusement, but that did not dull her discernment of good looks, she suspected.
‘Shall we go up to your rooms, Cousin Jane? Marissa suggested as the footmen carried the luggage out of the hall. ‘Luncheon will be in about an hour, but I am sure you would like a cup of tea to warm you.’
As soon as they were alone in Jane’s rooms, Marissa turned to hold out her hands to the other woman. ‘I cannot tell you how much I am obliged to you for coming to support me in such haste. I do hope it did not cause any inconvenience to your employers.’
‘I had already given them notice.’ Jane squeezed her hands in return, then removed her pelisse. ‘Although I liked their children, I could scarcely tolerate the parents. Your letter could not have come at a more suitable moment, Lady Longminster.’
‘You must call me Marissa. We are going to be good friends.’ She found her fingers gripped warmly in response.
‘I do believe it too, Marissa.’
Mary came in, bobbing a curtsey. ‘Shall I unpack now, ma’am? James has put the tea tray in your parlour, my lady.’
‘Thank you, Mary.’ Marissa turned to her cousin. ‘Mary will see to your needs until we can find a suitable girl of your own. Now, let us go down to my sitting room, the fire should be well alight by now.’
Seated either side of the hearth, with Gyp curled up on Janes’s feet, they found themselves slipping into an easy conversation, as though they had known each other for years.
‘You are honoured indeed by Gyp’s attentions as foot-warmer. He is normally wary of strangers, although perhaps he is mellowing, because he likes his lordship too.’
‘One can quite see why,’ Jane said, leaning down to scratch behind Gyp’s ears. ‘From the little I saw of him just now he seems to be a gentleman whose manners and appearance must be universally appealing.’
‘Why, this fire is almost too warm,’ Marissa murmured, pushing her chair back and fanning her inexplicably hot cheeks.
‘It must be disconcerting to have a stranger, however amiable, in the place of your husband,’ Jane observed. ‘And presumably his lordship will be bringing his wife here as soon as possible. Has she remained in Jamaica?’
‘Lord Longminster is not married, but he does have a young sister who has travelled to London with him. He has asked if I will be willing to have her live with us while he returns to the West Indies to settle his affairs, as he expects to be away for quite some time.’ Marissa realised that her original letter to Jane had been very brief. ‘I did not explain when I wrote, but I am movin
g to the Dower House in the grounds as soon as possible. There is ample room for Lady Nicole.’
Jane set her cup on the table. ‘It will be most pleasant to have a young person with us, I am sure. But will you not regret leaving your home? It is truly, er, magnificent.’
‘How tactfully you put it! Since you ask me, I will tell you candidly that I hate this mausoleum. It is cold, impersonal and has never felt like my home. On the other hand, the Dower House does feel like a home and I hope you will like it as much I do. The Earl has said I may redecorate it as I wish, but it is like this room – comfortable and a touch faded, warm and just big enough. I have no desire to change it.’
‘I love it already, my dear.’
Chapter Six
Marcus got to his feet as they entered the dining room. ‘I trust it will not be inconvenient, Cousin, but with the weather turning milder I thought it would be as well to leave for London after this meal. I should reach Downham Market before it is too dark, put up at the King’s Head there, rest the horses and push on first thing.’
