Cavendon Hall. Barbara Taylor Bradford

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СКАЧАТЬ their busy little minds at rest. By the way, where did you fall, Lady Daphne? In the woods?’

      ‘Yes,’ Daphne replied, swallowing hard.

      ‘I shall lock the door behind me, m’lady. You don’t need anyone walking in on you unexpectedly. I’ll only be a few minutes.’

      ‘Is Daphne all right?’ DeLacy asked as soon as Alice walked into the sewing room.

      ‘Oh yes, she’s perfectly fine,’ Alice answered, smiling. She added, ‘You look lovely in that rose-coloured chiffon, Lady DeLacy. I think this one will work beautifully for you, for the spring supper dance later this month. Don’t you agree, Cecily?’

      ‘I do, Mother, it is a wonderful colour for DeLacy, and a change from blue.’ Cecily began to laugh. ‘Everyone in this family wants to wear blue.’ She glanced at DeLacy, and said, ‘I’m sorry, Lacy, but it is the truth.’

      ‘Oh, I know. Great-Aunt Gwendolyn says we’re all stick-in-the-muds, and unimaginative. She thinks we should all wear purple – the royal colour. She even wonders aloud why we want clothes to match our eyes.’

      Alice also had to laugh. ‘She’s been saying that for as long as I can remember.’

      DeLacy swirled, the chiffon evening dress flaring out around her legs. She said, as she turned again, ‘I suppose Daphne must have fallen in the woods. I know she was going to see Julian at Havers Lodge … to tell him he could invite his fiancée to the big ball. She must have been hurrying back because of the thunder clouds, and then tripped.’

      ‘That’s exactly what happened,’ Alice agreed, her mind instantly focused on the Torbetts. She knew the Earl and the Countess had never been too happy about Lady Daphne’s friendship with Julian, when they were younger. They were afraid the two of them might become too attached to each other. Fortunately, that hadn’t happened, because of Julian’s intentions to have a military career, and Daphne’s lack of interest in him romantically.

      They had only ever been platonic friends. This was also because Daphne’s head was filled with dreams of a duke’s son and a brilliant marriage, planted there at a very young age by her father.

      To Alice’s way of thinking, there was something odd about the Torbett family. They tended to put on airs and graces, but they weren’t as wealthy as they liked the world to believe. Hanson had always told Walter that they were pretentious, jumped-up nothings.

      On the other hand, Hanson was a bit of a snob and tended to dismiss anybody without a title. However, his damning statements had seemed to stick with her.

      Going over to the rack of dresses, Alice looked at all of them with her beady eye; they were perfect for DeLacy, she decided, and also Daphne, as well. She took a honey-coloured taffeta ball gown over to DeLacy. ‘I think this would be lovely …’

      There was a knock on the door, and when Alice called, ‘Come in,’ it was Walter who poked his head into the room. ‘Sorry to disturb you, ladies, but His Lordship would like DeLacy to go down for afternoon tea. Lady Gwendolyn has just walked over, and they are waiting in the drawing room.’

      Alice nodded, and exclaimed, ‘Tea, of course! You’d better hurry along, DeLacy.’ And I’d better go and look in on Daphne, Alice thought, as she gave the honey-coloured gown to Cecily, then hurried out to join her husband.

      In the corridor, Alice took hold of Walter’s arm, ‘Has the Countess returned from Harrogate yet?’

      ‘No, she won’t be back for another hour or so.’

      ‘I’ll see you at home tonight,’ Alice said, and went down the stairs to the bedroom floor. Walter followed her, and squeezed her arm affectionately, before they went in different directions. DeLacy was already halfway down the main staircase, on her way to tea.

      Alice unlocked the door to Daphne’s bedroom, went inside, and quickly locked it behind her. Daphne was nowhere in sight. Alice noticed the small pile of clothes folded up on a chair. She went to examine them. The blouse was badly ripped; Alice thought she could mend it. As for the jacket, the back was smeared with green streaks from the grass, and splotches of mud. The skirt was in the worst condition, with dirty patches, grass and bloodstains. She could clean them successfully. She had good products and special methods.

      Carefully, Alice folded them up again, and finally picked up the underskirt. There was blood on it, and some other damp patches. Alice bent her head and sniffed, and then turned away, grimacing. Her worst fears had been confirmed. A man had attacked Lady Daphne out in the woods, no two ways about it. That male smell clung to the underskirt. Carefully, she folded it and put it under the pile, shaking her head.

      Alice sat down heavily in the chair. She felt as if a lump of lead was lodged in her chest. Her mind floundered for a moment, and her heart went out to Daphne, so sweet, so lovely. Whoever had done such a thing to a seventeen-year-old innocent girl should suffer the severest punishment. She wondered then if any of the woodsmen or gardeners had seen anything; several Swanns worked on the outside at Cavendon. Walter would have to ask them if they had noticed anything untoward this afternoon.

      A moment later the bathroom door opened and Lady Daphne came out in her robe. She smiled at Alice, but then the smile instantly faltered. ‘I hoped I hadn’t bruised my face, but there’s a mark, here, on the cheekbone,’ Daphne said anxiously, touching her face. ‘How will I explain it to Mama and Papa, Mrs Alice?’

      Alice hurried across the room, peered at her face. ‘It’s not so bad, Lady Daphne. I think it can be covered up with a few touches of powder and rouge. And you fell, remember, and if you fell forward then you would easily hit your face on a rock, a tree trunk or roots. You’ll explain it that way. What about the rest of you, m’lady?’

      ‘Just bruises, nothing broken. Did you see DeLacy and Cecily?’

      ‘Yes, they were in the sewing room. I told them you’d tripped and fallen. DeLacy assumed it was in the woods, because she said you’d gone to Havers Lodge to see Julian Torbett this afternoon.’

      ‘That’s true. I went to tell him his fiancée could come to the big ball. Obviously DeLacy heard me telling Father after lunch that I was going there.’

      ‘By the way, DeLacy has gone down to tea to join your great-aunt and your father. Walter brought a message from His Lordship. What about you? Do you want to join them, m’lady?’

      Daphne shook her head. ‘I think I should rest. I’m hoping I’ll be able to go down for dinner later, but for now …’ Her voice trailed off.

      Alice nodded, ‘Yes, stay and have a rest. I’d get into bed if I were you, m’lady. If it’s all right with you, I will tell Walter to inform your father that you’re resting after trying on dresses most of the day. I’ll say you’re a bit tired.’

      Daphne inclined her head. ‘Thank you, Mrs Alice. I’d appreciate that. And thank you … for everything.’

       ELEVEN

      Lady Gwendolyn Ingham Baildon stood in the centre of the great entrance foyer at Cavendon Hall, glancing around, a beatific smile on her face. She had been in London for the past week, and this was her first visit since her return to Yorkshire two days ago.

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