The Lorimer Legacy (7 page)

Her most immediate thought was the most impossible. Once before, when she was only nine years old, she had performed for a few months in music halls in order to earn money for her dying mother. Alexa had never forgotten those months, and her feeling of power and pride every time she had managed to reduce a noisy audience to silence, forcing them to listen to her singing and to love her. Even with no more experience than that, it was likely that her voice and appearance would gain her employment of the same kind again now. But not even Alexa could argue that a music hall was a respectable environment. And how hurt Margaret would be to learn that her ward preferred such a way of life to the one offered by herself and Robert. It was impossible. Of course it was impossible. But she must do
something
, she told herself. She must do something.

Lord Glanville returned at last, and sat down.

‘Now then, Miss Lorimer,' he said. ‘We must consider your future. It's difficult for me to know what help would be of most advantage to you. I may feel that my family has some responsibility for the difficulty of your situation – in point of fact, I do most strongly feel that – but without having very much opportunity to discharge that responsibility. You ought to be sent home, of course, but your reluctance to return to Mr Lorimer's house is understandable. I have been discussing your position with my wife.' He hesitated, as though an effort were needed for him to continue. ‘We had a daughter who, if she had lived, would have been almost your age by now. Lady Glanville was greatly affected, I believe, by – well, the details are not important. She has suggested that what we could offer you, if you would like it, is a little time, so that you may consider what you want to do without the spur of insecurity. If you would care to travel with us to Germany tomorrow, Lady Glanville would appreciate
your help as a companion while she is taking the waters. Her maid will be with her, of course, and there are attendants at the spa, so your duties would not be onerous. But to lie all day in a bath is tedious, and I shall have to return to England as soon as I have seen her comfortably settled. You could perhaps read to her, and accompany her on whatever walks she can manage. This would be for a few months only, but it would allow time for reflection. It's possible, too, that we could find a singing teacher for you in Baden-Baden.'

Alexa hardly needed to hesitate. She had already realized that a return to Elm Lodge now would mean the defeat of her hopes for ever. And the attraction between herself and Lady Glanville had been mutual as well as immediate. To act as a companion was the most proper of employments and the promise of singing lessons meant that her ambitions need not yet be completely buried.

There was one difficulty – that if she were to leave early the next morning she would have no chance to get in touch with Margaret first, and it would not be easy, either, to write during the course of the journey. But then, Margaret believed her ward to be safely at Brinsley House. There would be nothing in a few days' silence to worry her, and a letter which came in the end from a semi-permanent address and which described a working arrangement would be more reassuring than a tentative proposal. Alexa began to express her gratitude, but Lord Glanville's mind was running in the same direction as her own.

‘Does your guardian have the telephone?' he enquired.

Alexa shook her head. She meant by that that Margaret could not be reached by telephone; but even if she had realized that Lord Glanville was referring to William Lorimer, it would have made no difference to her answer. There was no instrument at Brinsley House, but only at
the offices of the Lorimer Line, which William would not reach until after the Glanvilles had begun their journey.

‘Then you understand that I must write a letter,' Lord Glanville said. ‘You are under age. I cannot simply take you out of the country without saying anything. However, since we must leave early, I see no reason why we should, not take the answer for granted. If your guardian was willing to entrust you to my brother's care without a chaperone, there can be no possible objection to your travelling with my wife. But of course, if you are summoned back to England, you will have to come. Will you travel with us on those terms?'

‘My lord!' Alexa sprang to her feet and held out both hands towards him in relief and thanks, forgetting that she was wearing only her nightdress. The events of the past few days had given her little reason to think that she was a good judge of character. She had believed that Matthew was in love with her, that William Lorimer had wanted to help her, that the Honourable Duncan Glanville was interested only in her voice; and in each of these beliefs it seemed that she had been mistaken. But this time, she felt sure, she was not wrong in believing that Lord Glanville was a kind and upright man.

Even with this confidence she was briefly disturbed as he took her outstretched hands and smiled at her. Her life at Elm Lodge had offered her no experience of men. Within the past few days she had seen Matthew Lorimer look at her with all the tenderness of young love – or so she had thought at the time. Within the past few hours she had seen lust in the eyes of Duncan Glanville. Lord Glanville's smile was different again. There was admiration in it, and sympathy, and something else which she could not quite identify.

But he was not a young man like the other two. He must be almost forty. Old enough to be her father, as he
had indirectly pointed out himself: the explanation seemed sufficient at once. What his smile revealed was undoubtedly a kind of fatherly affection. She smiled whole-heartedly back at him.

‘I shall be very happy to travel with you, my lord,' she said.

Even a town wholly devoted to the cure of sickness is not a depressing place when most of its visitors suffer from nothing more than greed. Baden-Baden was one of the most fashionable resorts in Europe during its season. Beneath the glittering chandeliers of the Casino some of the wealthiest men in the world gambled away fortunes with gold and silver tokens; while in the arcade outside its doors their wives and mistresses chose beautiful jewellery, elaborate hats and the most exclusive styles of fans, shoes or gloves. The ladies who promenaded on the rich green lawns around the Trinkhalle, or along its colonnaded concourse, were often too plump to be elegant, but could certainly claim to be expensively dressed.

The glitter and animation of the spa brightened Alexa's eyes in excitement when she first arrived. Behind the town a romantic backcloth of dark, forested hills framed a ruined castle perched on a crag. The wild panorama and the swirling scandals of society both appealed to a side of her nature which had been for far too long smothered by the conventions imposed by the Lorimer family.

But her hopes of gaiety and entertainment did not survive for long. Baden-Baden was a resort for the wealthy and offered little to a dependant. Lord Glanville lost no time in settling his wife comfortably into the Haus des Kurgastes and discussing with the Kurhaus doctors
what course of treatment could best alleviate the pain from which she suffered.

He had business to do in Vienna but would return, he promised, within a few days – to satisfy himself that all was well before he travelled back to England. Almost at once a daily routine was established which left Alexa little time for new experiences. Lady Glanville spent every morning in the thermal baths at the Friedrichsbad, taking comfort from their heat and aeration. Alexa was not expected to attend her there. It was in the afternoon and evening that her company was appreciated. At the invalid's slow pace they walked together along the Lichtentaler Allee and beside the shallow stream in which basked fish as fat and greedy as the old men who nursed their gout along its banks. There was a ceremony of drinking the waters at the Trinkhalle and hardly less of a ceremony in taking tea or hot chocolate with a small group of acquaintances. Lady Glanville did not play cards, and always retired early to bed. Such a routine demanded little of Alexa, but she could find no profitable way to spend her free time. She had hardly had time yet to be bored, but already she sighed with the anticipation of boredom.

Her ennui bred dissatisfaction, which increased as the season ended. The autumn sunshine lost its strength and the flowers which trailed from every balcony in the spa were chilled into bedragglement. Overnight the ornamental beds in the Casino garden were robbed of their brightness by the first touch of frost, and the neatly manicured trees of the Kurhaus park drooped sadly, their brown leaves falling with the soft rain. There was a feeling of life retreating in every sense – for with the approach of winter the wealthy men departed, leaving only the oldest and most infirm of their own sex and the most indolent or ailing of their wives.

There were never many young people in Baden-Baden: now suddenly it seemed that there were none at all. Except, of course, for the sturdy attendants who were employed to push wheelchairs – but although they could hardly fail to notice Alexa's youth and beauty, they had learned that it was more profitable to fawn on the elderly ladies who employed them. Alexa felt herself drooping like the flowers, overwhelmed by a feeling of time passing. To Lord Glanville in London she had cried out in anguish that she was only eighteen. Now the emphasis had changed. She was almost nineteen, and nothing was happening, nothing was going to happen: she was making no progress towards the goal on which she had set her heart.

The unhappiness of her thwarted ambition was increased by guilt. Every day which passed made her more ashamed of the fact that she had not yet written to Margaret. The realization that she had left a loving home to no advantage was part of the reason for her reluctance. It would be humiliating to admit that her unwise behaviour had brought her no nearer to fulfilling any of her ambitions. Margaret would summon her home and scold her for her impetuosity, and there would never be a second chance to escape. Even to explain how meaningless she found life at Elm Lodge would be hurtful. Alexa found one excuse after another to justify her silence: Margaret would believe her still to be at Brinsley House, and so would not be anxious yet; a letter would be more reassuring when there was something definite to say in it; it would reach England more swiftly and safely if she waited to put it into Lord Glanville's own hands. So every day she postponed what she knew to be her duty.

When she was in danger it was Lord Glanville who came to her rescue. Now, as her boredom increased, it was his wife who helped her. The musical life of the spa
was vigorous, for many famous musicians had made their homes there. Even after the season had ended there were regular tea-time and evening concerts. In addition to this, the Haus des Kurgastes invited its residents to provide their own less formal entertainment as though they were in their own drawing rooms. Lady Glanville arranged that Alexa should be invited to sing after dinner one evening.

After the little concert was ended, Alexa returned to the side of her patroness and found her talking to a stout lady with a strong face and vigorous manner. Her name, Eva Becattini, was familiar – until her retirement she had been one of the best-known dramatic sopranos in Europe. Alexa hardly dared to breathe as she waited to hear whether she would be dismissed with a polite compliment or whether her singing had inspired anything more enthusiastic. But La Becattini – her fame was such that she was always spoken of in this way – appeared to be arguing too busily with Lady Glanville even to notice Alexa's arrival.

‘My voice has gone, completely gone!' she was protesting.

‘But not your experience. If you could only set her on the right road. She gives her time to me and I have no means of helping her. I can ask only as a favour. But you would find her responsive.'

La Becattini turned to stare at Alexa as though noticing her for the first time. ‘What languages?' she asked.

‘I speak Italian, diva,' said Alexa. ‘I have learned French in the schoolroom, enough to study a role although not to converse fluently. And I am learning German here.'

‘You are too slight for Wagner,' said La Becattini dismissively. ‘His work demands a stronger constitution. But of course German would be necessary if you were to
sing in Dresden or Vienna. Well, I could give you some exercises. Teach you a role, perhaps, if you are quick and promise not to bore me. There will be no society to amuse me here until July. You can call in the mornings if you wish. I am at home to my friends at noon. You should come at ten.'

She nodded brusquely at Lady Glanville, recognizing that no great thanks were due for an invitation designed so much more for Alexa's advantage than her own, and strode away. Alexa took the seat she had left and squeezed Lady Glanville's hands between her own. Her eyes were bright with happiness.

‘Dear Lady Glanville, why should you do so much for me?' she asked.

Tired though she was, Lady Glanville laughed with an affectionate amusement.

‘Boredom is a disease that the thermal waters cannot cure,' she said. ‘You are bored because you dream of excitement without knowing how to attain it. La Becattini is bored because she remembers excitements she will never be able to repeat. And I am afraid that unless I can provide you with occupation you will return to England and leave me to be bored with my own company. But now, I hope, we shall all be happy. Will you help me to bed, Alexa? It's been a long day, and I am tired.'

Together, and very slowly, they went up the marble stairs to Lady Glanville's suite. Often at such times Alexa was overwhelmed with pity for a woman who was not yet forty years old but who would soon need to be pushed in a chair from one place to another. It had already become obvious that Baden-Baden could offer no treatment to cure Lady Glanville's condition, although the heat of mud or water made her limbs less painful while they were immersed.

Lord Glanville returned to Baden-Baden. The lack of
improvement in his wife's condition caused him to frown anxiously and ask quiet questions of the maid; but in Lady Glanville's presence he was as cheerful and as kind as ever. She had little news of her own to give him, but was enthusiastic about Alexa's progress, and the information appeared to give her husband pleasure.