The Castle of Love (2 page)

at the Earl. She was determined to impress him one way or another. "But I am not at all worried by the weather. I find it rather exciting!"

 The Earl did not turn his head. He was too used to women who tried earnestly to attract his attention. There had, after all, been plenty of them, amongst the officers' daughters in India, and sometimes even amongst their wives.

"Is that not the Earl of Ruven at the handrail?" asked the young gentleman.

"Yes it is," said Laetitia. She grabbed the young man's arm as the ship heaved into the face of a huge wave.

"Handsome fellow!" said the young man.

"Yes," said Laetitia sullenly. She was piqued at the Earl's evident disregard for her.

At that moment Georgina gave a great cry. "The coast of England! I am sure it is. There, to the North."

Georgina and her companions rushed to the bows for a sight of England.

The Earl lifted his head high. He appeared to be scanning the horizon. Nobody noticed the bitter smile on his lips.

He would have dearly liked to be able to catch a glimpse of his native country. But this was denied to him.

In one of the early battles of the Indian Mutiny he had been seriously wounded.

Hugo, the handsome new Earl of Ruven, was returning home blind.

*

Castle Ruven was an imposing sight. It dominated the surrounding woods and crags that characterised the countryside of the far North of England. The castle was constructed of grey stone, much of it overgrown with ivy. A stone bridge arched over the surrounding moat.

The bridge did not lead directly into the castle but into an area that had been cultivated as a garden. A white driveway ran over the bridge, through the garden and up to the wide entrance steps of the castle. Inside, the castle boasted a Great Hall with a minstrel's gallery.

 The Great Hall was also the main entrance to the castle.

It was here that Doctor Carlton and his daughter Jacina stood a few days later, having just arrived at the castle in their pony and gig.

Jacina gazed round the Great Hall with admiration as she removed her bonnet. She loved the cool stone floor and the oak panelling, polished until it gleamed. She was fascinated by the family portraits that adorned the walls.

Jacina knew the castle well. She often accompanied her father on his visits here.

Her father was the Ruven family doctor. He had become a good friend of the old Earl and spent many an evening playing cards with him over a decanter of port. The old Earl had trusted the doctor so much he had made him the executor of his will.

"Shall I take your hat too, Doctor Carlton?" asked the maid who had answered the door.

"Why, thank you, Nancy," said Doctor Carlton. "I expect you are all very busy here this morning! Is that why Jarrold did not answer the door as usual?"

Jarrold was the butler.

"Yes sir, that's why," replied Nancy. "The new Master is expected around noon. Jarrold is upstairs overseeing the preparation of his private rooms. It was thought best to move some of the furniture out so it wouldn't be in the way. Seeing as the new Master is – is – "

Nancy could not go on and burst into tears.

"Now, now," said the doctor, patting her arm kindly.

 "But it's all so dreadful, sir," wailed Nancy. "Poor Master Crispian dying out in the Crimea last year. Then the old Earl dying this February, with Master Hugo so far away. And then news that Master Hugo is – is – "

Nancy still could not bring herself to say the word 'blind'.

"Nancy," said Doctor Carlton, "you must keep up a cheerful spirit. It will not do for the new Earl to return to a gloomy household, will it?"

Nancy shook her head and sniffed away her tears, "No, sir." She took Jacina's bonnet and the doctor's hat and gloves. "Shall you go through to wait in the library, sir?"

"Indeed I shall. Would you order some tea for me?"

"Yes, sir. And Miss Jacina?"

"Thank you, not for me," said Jacina.

Nancy curtsied and hurried off.

The doctor turned to his daughter. "I expect you are away on your usual social round, Jacina?"

"Yes, Papa."

"Good, good," said the doctor. "Well, you know where to find me."

Doctor Carlton marched off in the direction of the library.

Jacina watched her father thoughtfully until he was out of sight. She knew he was more disturbed by what had happened to Hugo Ruven than he revealed.

Turning to go her eye settled on a particular portrait that hung over the stone fireplace. She walked over and stood for a moment gazing up at it.

She knew this portrait well. It depicted the two grandsons of the old Earl, painted when they were in their late boyhood. Crispian was seated. Hugo leaned over the back of the chair. Crispian was pale and thin, with mournful eyes. Hugo gazed out forcefully from under his black brows. He looked strong and confident.

 Jacina had met Hugo only once in her life. It was when she was eight years old and her father was attending the old Earl – who suffered from gout – for the very first time.

Jacina was sent to play outside. It was a blustery day. The wind tugged at her straw bonnet, as she ran down to the river that flowed through the castle grounds and into the moat. She watched in delight as a pair of white swans glided by with their cygnets.

Suddenly the wind snatched the bonnet from her head and sent it spinning into the swift flowing water. Jacina gave a cry. She ran alongside the river, keeping pace with her bonnet as it bobbed along. She did not know what to do except keep it in her sight.

She reached the point where the river swirled into the moat. The bonnet swirled with it. Once it entered the calmer moat waters, the bonnet remained almost at a standstill. Alas, it was still beyond her reach.

She looked round desperately. Perhaps she could find a branch, or a gardener's rake. Anything she could use to fish out her bonnet.

It was then she noticed a tall gentleman lounging against a nearby tree, watching her. He had dark eyes and a lock of black hair tumbled over his high forehead. Jacina could not help but notice the amused look on his face

"It's n-not funny," she said. Her red-gold hair glinted in the sun and her green eyes blazed with indignation.

The gentleman's expression immediately changed.

"Indeed it is not," he said gravely, "and I humbly apologise for my frivolous demeanour. In recompense, will you allow me to retrieve your bonnet for you?"

Jacina looked at him doubtfully. "How will you retrieve it without a pole?" she asked. She looked back at the water and her lower lip began to tremble.

 "It's my v-very best bonnet, you know."

"Your very best!" exclaimed the gentleman. " Then there is no time to lose."

The gentleman removed his velvet jacket and pulled off his leather boots. Then, in his shirt and trousers, he jumped straight into the moat and waded out. Jacina was astonished.

The moat had silted up over the years and the water rose no higher than the gentleman's shoulders. He reached the bonnet without having to swim at all. When he returned to the bank, he vaulted up onto the grass. Then he bowed to Jacina.

"One very best bonnet," he said, holding it out.

The bonnet was soaked but Jacina clutched it to her as if it were a long lost treasure.

"I do n-not know how to thank you, sir," she said.

"You can thank me by telling me your name."

"It is Jacina Carlton, sir."

"Ah! Your father is even now attending my grandfather, I believe?"

"Yes, sir."

The gentleman picked up his jacket and boots. "I must return to the castle and change my clothes before supper." He gave another low bow. "Hugo Ruven, forever at your service."

With that he turned and disappeared among the trees.

Jacina saw no more of Hugo Ruven. Only two days later, he had sailed away to join his regiment in India.

That was ten years ago.

So much had changed for the worse for the Ruvenfamily since then.

 Jacina gave one last, sad glance at the portrait. Then she made her way to the castle kitchen. She liked to say hello to the cook, whom her father had often treated for what the cook called her 'bone troubles.'

The kitchen was in turmoil. Servants ran to and fro with platters on which sat the various dishes to be cooked for the new Earl's supper. There was a great side of ham and a huge salmon caught early that morning. There were pastries and pies and syllabubs.

The cook was pounding a slab of dough with her knuckles.

"Well, here's Miss Jacina," she said. Her face was red and shiny. She stopped to wipe her sleeve across her brow.

"You are working even harder than usual this morning," observed Jacina.

"That I am," said cook. "I'm making a rabbit pie for lunch. No decent pie without pain, that's the truth!"

"You are making a lot of things," said Jacina, looking round with wide eyes.

"I'm making things as'll have a nice, strong smell," said cook. "Because when a person can't see – " She didn't finish but shook her head sadly.

Jacina chatted for a little while and then said goodbye. She left the kitchen and found the back stairs that led to the nursery. She was going to see old Sarah. Sarah had been Nanny to Hugo and Crispian when they were boys. Jacina got to know her when her father came one winter to treat Sarah's chilblains.

The old Nanny was sitting alone in the nursery. All about her were playthings from the childhood of her charges. There was a large white rocking horse. There was a wooden Noah's Ark complete with painted animals. There were books and balls and toy soldiers. Old Sarah kept the nursery just as it had been when Crispian and Hugo were boys.

 She was always pleased to see Jacina.

She straightaway swung the kettle over the fire for tea. She could have rung down to the kitchen, but she knew they were busy. Besides, she was convinced she made better tea than anyone at Castle Ruven. She kept a caddy of her own in the nursery.

The caddy was from India, with scenes of an exotic garden painted on it. Jacina often wondered if Hugo lived in a house with a garden like this around it.

Sarah fetched a biscuit jar from a cupboard and offered Jacina some shortbread while the tea brewed.

Jacina sat eating her biscuit while Sarah chatted about castle affairs.

"There's been such a bustle here since we heard the Earl was coming home. My poor master Hugo." Sarah wiped her eye with her apron. "Mercy me, what cruel times we've had."

Jacina brushed crumbs from her skirt and looked at Sarah thoughtfully.

"Sarah?"

"Yes, my lovely?"

"What will happen now to – Felice Delisle?"

"Bless me, don't you know the latest?"

Jacina shook her head. "I only really know what you tell me, Sarah. You know more than anyone."

This was true. Sarah knew everything that went on within the castle walls.

It was from Sarah that Jacina first heard the full storyof Felice.

Felice was the daughter of Monsieur le Comte Delisle, an old friend of the Earl's and a widower like himself. Monsieur le Comte had fled to Switzerland during the French Revolution. He had lost his estates and so never returned to the country of his birth. He married late in life and still his young wife died before him. He became an inveterate gambler and died penniless, leaving his only child to the guardianship of the old Earl.

 The old Earl did all he could for his ward. He settled a living allowance on her and made sure she went to a good school in Switzerland.

In the summer of 1852 the old Earl went travelling in Europe. He took his grandson Crispian with him. They stopped in Geneva, where Felice was at school, intending to stay for just a few days.

They ended up staying for over a month.

Felice was a pretty girl of sixteen. She had auburn hair and large eyes and was considered a very good pupil by Madame Gravalt, the owner and Headmistress of the school.

It seemed inevitable that Felice and the shy heir to the Ruven title should fall in love. The Earl was secretly delighted but insisted they wait to be married. It was agreed that Felice should come to England to be married when she was twenty-one.

She never came.

In 1855 Crispian went to fight in the Crimea. He wanted to prove to himself and his fiancée that he was brave. As brave as his younger brother Hugo.

He died shortly before the Crimean war ended.

Now the old Earl, Felice Delisle's guardian, was also dead.

Jacina thought it must be terrible to be an orphan and lose your fiancé and then your guardian. It was with all this in mind that she had asked Sarah what was to become of Felice.

"Well," said Sarah, peering into the teapot to see if the tea was brewed, "you know she took Master Crispian's death very hard and was ill in a sanatorium for a long time after?"

 Jacina nodded.

"Well, after the illness, she went to live with this Madame Gravalt, who had meanwhile given up the school in Geneva and retired to a village in the mountains. I suppose she was as near to a family as Felice had. The old Earl invited Felice here but – "

Sarah shook her head. "She didn't want to come. I suppose it was too soon to visit the place where Master Crispian grew up."

Sarah stopped to pour out two cups of tea. Jacina took her cup and dropped in some sugar. Sarah took a sip from her own cup and sat back with a sigh. Jacina waited, stirring her tea. She tried to be patient, but she found herself gradually stirring harder and harder, until the spoon tinkled loudly against the china. Sarah looked up, startled.

"What was I saying?" she asked.

"You were explaining why you thought Felice didn't accept the Earl's invitation to come and live here after Crispian died – " said Jacina, feeling a little ashamed of herself for having so startled the old lady.

"Ah, yes." Sarah shook her head dolefully. "The old Earl had grown very fond of her, you know. Not just for the sake of his friend, but also for her own sake. She was the daughter he never had. I'm sure that's why, after Master Crispian died, he started to encourage Master Hugo to take an interest in her."

Jacina felt herself go strangely still. "And did he – take an interest?"