Ashton Park (20 page)

“Is that why you’re apologizing? Because you found out I am a ‘blueblood’ like yourself?”

“I’m apologizing because of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. It would be easy to say it was my grief over Mark. But that’s an insult to Mark. You were right when you said he was a better man than I am.”

“All right then. How can I help you today? Is the traction for your arms and legs set comfortably?”

“Oh, sure. I feel great. Like a turtle that’s landed on its back and can’t get up. Could I trouble you to light a cigarette for me?”

“No smoking in hospital rooms. You can slip out into the corridor if you wish.”

“Or you could wheel me.”

“The door’s too narrow for the bed.”

“If I can’t smoke, perhaps we could chat.”

“We have nothing to say to each other, Captain. I don’t mind helping you with your breakfast.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Libby smoothed down the white apron of her uniform. “Then I’ll be on my way. I’ll pop back in an hour to check on things.”

“You are a hard case, aren’t you?”

“Nurses are not prostitutes, Captain Woodhaven. We are ladies. Whether we are of the manor born or not.”

“I appreciate that. As I said, the other day was conduct unbecoming. Once again, I am sorry. I was a beast. I am trying to make it up to you.”

“I doubt you can. I never met a man in my life I liked less. If you’ll excuse me, I have to—”

“I do need something, Miss Danforth.”

“What exactly is that?”

“A shave.”

“A shave?”

“If I have one I guess I’ll feel up to some scrambled eggs and toast.”

Libby hesitated. “Very well. Let me step out and fetch a razor.”

“A razor. Glad to hear it. I thought you’d be looking for a dull bayonet.”

Libby’s lips curved upward slightly. Then quickly returned to a thin line. “I’m grateful for the idea, Captain. I’ll see what I can come up with.”

She returned with a basin of hot water, soap, shaving brush, a towel, and a straight razor.

He grunted. “That looks almost as bad as a bayonet.”

“Actually, it’s much worse. A slip would be fatal. Do you still want me to go ahead, Captain?”

“My life’s in your hands.”

“Your life is in God’s hands, Captain. I’m just a mortal, prone to mistakes.”

Libby wet his beard and lathered it with the soap and the brush. Carefully, she began to apply the razor, frequently dipping it in the basin to free it of soap and whiskers. Woodhaven’s eyes followed her hand. Neither of them spoke. Inch by inch beard and lather disappeared until his face was clean and pink. Surprising herself as well as him, she patted his face lightly with her hand.

“Smooth as a baby’s bum, Captain. Is that East London enough for you? I expect you’re ready to eat now.”

“Considering I thought I’d be dead before you were done, yes.”

“You never know, Captain. I could have put strychnine in the eggs.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

She sat by his bed and fed him the scrambled eggs with a fork. Then she held the pieces of toast to his mouth, one after the other, so he could take bites until they were both gone. After the toast she offered him a slice of fried tomato.

“What’s that?” he asked, suspiciously.

“It’s what it looks like.”

“Do you English fry everything?”

“Everything we can get our hands on. Including Yanks.”

“I think I will forego the tomato, Miss Danforth. I eat them fresh with salt and pepper.”

“An odd custom. Anything else then, Captain?”

“The bedpan. Please.”

Libby brought a white ceramic bedpan out from under the bed and plopped it in his lap. “Help yourself.”

“Yes. Well. I have no arms. And I can’t move.”

This time a full smile came to Libby’s face and she let it stay there. “If I had a shilling for every time I’ve heard that line in East London I’d be a rich lady today.”

“Mother, you called for me?”

“Ah. Victoria, dear. Please come in and shut the door.”

Lady Elizabeth was seated in a white rattan chair at a small white table in a greenhouse that took in the sun from the south and west. Green plants and bright blossoms thrived all around her. Victoria sat in a chair next to her mother. A tea had been poured for her.

“I had Charlotte set that out for you only a minute ago,” Lady Elizabeth said.

“Thank you.” Victoria lifted the cup and took a sip. “It’s lovely.”

“A special blend from Ceylon. I forget its name. Look at your father.”

Sir William was throwing sticks for his shepherds. Now and then he raced them and got hold of the sticks first. Mother and daughter laughed.

“He thinks he’s twenty.” Lady Elizabeth smiled. “Summer is so good for him. Away from Westminster and all that.”

“I agree.”

“He worked tirelessly on that voting legislation that received royal assent in February. Did it please you?”

“It pleased me to have all men over the age of twenty-one receive the vote, Mother. But there are still too many restrictions on the women. They have to be over thirty, they have—”

“Yes, my dear. But it is, as your father says, a step in the right direction.”

“It is.”

Lady Elizabeth patted her daughter’s hand. “He’ll be back at it in a week or two. We’ll start packing up for our return to Ashton Park in a few days.”

Victoria nodded. “I’ll be ready.”

Her mother poured herself fresh tea from a small white pot with a blue knitted cozy. “Charlotte Squire will not be making the trip, I’m afraid.”

Victoria set down her cup. “What do you mean?”

“She has found a position at an estate on the Isle of Man. Wonderful family. We, of course, provided excellent references for her.”

“I don’t understand. She hasn’t said a thing to me. I thought she was happy here. She is one of the best maids we have.”

“Indeed she is. Graceful. Competent. Pleasant. Charming. Altogether too charming when it comes to my eldest son.” Lady Elizabeth continued to look at Sir William playing with his dogs. “Honestly, my dear, did you have to encourage the affair? I appreciate she has lifted Edward’s spirits but you must know nothing could ever have come of it. Out of the question. Why, her father is a grocer.”

“Edward—”

“Edward thinks he’s in love with her. Of course he does. I admit she is striking in appearance. But a few months at our hunting lodge in Scotland, where he can meet young women of his class, will soon put things right. Your father and I have agreed he is to go there once the war is over. Whenever that may be. Miss Squire, on the other hand, will be on her way the day we leave Dover Sky.”

“But she has been so kind, Mother.”

Lady Elizabeth nodded, sipping her tea. “She has. That is why arrangements were made to put her up with a fine family elsewhere. Tavy will inform her of all this tonight. That’s why she’s said nothing to you—she hasn’t been made aware yet. It’s for the best. Although we are not ungrateful for how she managed to lift Edward’s spirits after the sinkings.” She turned to face Victoria, cup still in her hand. “Then there is the matter of you and Ben Whitecross.”

Victoria’s cheeks lost what little color they still had after the news about Charlotte Squire. “What do you mean?”

Lady Elizabeth shook her head. “No more of that. You’ve played quite enough games with us this year, Victoria. I was informed of your correspondence with young Ben. Once again, a fine man for his class. Upright. Good with the horses. A superb driver. But he will not be returning to the Danforth estate after the war.”

“Our correspondence. Who told you about that?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I only shared the letter with Char…and Norah—”

“As I said, it doesn’t matter. Is it true?”

“Mother, I—”

“Shh. You love him. Or think you do. Once that nonsense in Europe is finished we will be having a good number of balls at Ashton Park and inviting a great many young men to come and call. Not a few of them will be officers and gentlemen as well the sons of noble families.”

“Ben is an officer and a gentleman as well.”

Lady Elizabeth saw her daughter’s temper rising and held up one hand. “I do not wish to have a fight here. Your father and I are as fond of Ben as we are of Charlotte. Perhaps they would be suitable for each other? Nevertheless, if you wish to keep on writing him, you are welcome to do so. If he survives the war, he may come to call at Ashton Park. He will receive the warmest welcome. The Danforths know how to honor gallantry and courage, attributes young Ben seems to have in generous amounts.”

Victoria’s eyes were the darkest green. “But he cannot ask for my hand, can he?”

“I should think not.”

“Even if he was a captain or a major or—”

“Which he is never likely to become.”

“But if he were? If he came back a hero like my brothers are in your eyes? What then?”

Lady Elizabeth laughed at her daughter’s persistence. “You are tenacious. It is true Ben has made his way up in the world. From a stable boy to a groom to our principal coach driver to an officer in the Royal Flying Corps. Your father and I recognize these are not small accomplishments for someone of his class. Who knows? He may become the great commoner who attains to loftier heights yet. So your father and I are prepared to strike a wager with you.”

Victoria’s hands were clenched together in her lap. “A wager? What do you mean?”

“We are not a gambling people. It is not the Christian thing to do. But this is not a wager quite like that. Though I should say the stakes would be considered quite high, especially from where you sit, my dear.”

“You’re speaking in riddles, Mum.”

Lady Elizabeth nodded. “I am. Forgive me. This is going to sound frightfully medieval, but it was the only way your father and I thought we could appeal to your sense of fair play and keep you from running off the cliff.”

“I am not going to run off the cliff!”

“Allow me to finish, my dear. Let Ben come back. Let him have a chestful of medals. Let him have the rank of captain or greater. Let him gain the eye of the king for some reason or other.”

Color rushed back into Victoria’s face and eyes. “The eye of the king! For heaven’s sakes, Mother, there are millions of men fighting in this war, how can you expect Ben to be singled out no matter how brave he is?”

“I have no idea. You may pray about it. But now, listen, my dear, the Lord can do whatever needs to be done. We do not want the two of you coming up with outlandish schemes. Do not tell Ben of this wager. If something occurs, let it occur naturally. Or by divine appointment. But not by the two of you working out grand schemes in your letters to each other. He is not to know about any of this. Or you forfeit the wager.”

“Forfeit the wager! You make it sound like a game!”

“On the contrary, Victoria, your father and I are deeply in earnest. Great things may come of Ben Whitecross. We are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt on that.”

“I see. And suppose he meets or exceeds Danforth expectations? What if I take you up on this and I win the wager? Does he get to return to Ashton Park? Will you let him be employed here again? Would you dare to allow him to be close to me?”

Lady Elizabeth leaned over and kissed Victoria on the cheek. “Oh, you do not understand, do you? The stakes are infinitely higher than that, my sweet girl. Let Ben Whitecross show signs of becoming a great man and he shall win more than a position among the servants of Ashton Park. If you wish it, he shall have you as his bride.”

Sir William knocked and came into his wife’s room in his robe, winding his pocket watch. “Came to say goodnight, my dear. So we’re off to Ashton Park in the morning. The summer went by like a galloping horse.”

Lady Elizabeth was in a red robe, sitting at her vanity and dabbing cream on her face. “It’s always too brief a season.”

“How is Charlotte Squire?”

Lady Elizabeth shrugged with one shoulder. “Reconciled.”