The House Page 6

  “What do you make of that?” Anna whispered to Georgina.

  “A clever move. He doesn’t want to come across as bad to Edward. He wants to pretend there are no bad feelings between you.”

  Later that night the fire burned and crackled in the fireplace as everyone sat around listening to Diana Hunter singing. Her singing voice was bewitching and hypnotic, her face lit up by the firelight in the darkened room.

  As Diana sang ‘She Moves Through the Fair’, her eyes seemed focused on the reflection of the flames dancing on the walls of the room. But they weren’t. Diana’s eyes were trained directly on Sinclair, whose dark eyes stared back at her in equal measure as she concluded the song: “It will not be long love, till our wedding day.”

  Chapter thirteen

  Georgina returned to Tullydere, and Anna was lonelyfor her for a long while. After her argument with Edward, things quickly returned to normal. Edward seemed to think the gesture of the flowers was a wonderful peace offering and that she and Sinclair were now the best of friends. However, although they remained cordial when they met, Anna tried her best to avoid being in Sinclair’s company.

  Although Seán got on her nerves frequently, she did find herself becoming fond of him. He was a welcome distraction after Georgina left, always at hand to drive her somewhere, always forthcoming with gossip from around the estate. There was a sharp frost throughout the winter, and Anna would often have Seán in the garden directing him to make sure the shrubs and flowers were protected against the weather. She loved the gardens, and was taking a keen interest in them.

  “In what part of the estate do you live, Seán?” asked Anna.

  “Over by Knockmora,” said Seán, as he trimmed a holly bush that was beside some steps leading up to a fountain. “I havea lovely cottage and four acres there looking down to the lake. I love it there.”

  “Does your family live on the estate here as well? Your parents?”

  “No. I’m from the Hamilton estate originally.”

  “And why didn’t you stay there?”

  “Ah, the Hamiltons are a nasty lot. They treat everyone like dirt, and when I got the opportunity to leave, I left quickly. A post came up in the stables here and I grabbed it. And now I’m renting my own land.”

  “And is Lord Edward a much kinder landlord than the Hamiltons?”

  “Lord Edward is a total gentleman. There isn’t a bad bone in his body. He’s much loved by everyone on the estate, and in the town.”

  “How reassuring to know,” she said, trying not to sound too sarcastic.

  “And to be fair to him, he does try to stopMr Sinclair as much as he can, given the character Mr Sinclair is.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “Well, Mr Sinclair as you’ve seen can be very tough. And he shows no mercy for people who cross him. Lord Edward does try to rein him in a bit. Tries to get him to show some compassion. Give people a chance if they are in arrears or can’t work as fast as Sinclair demands.”

  Anna suddenly felt a great love for her husband, considering how he was trying to steer his domineering cousin to goodness.

  “And will you stay on this estate for long, Seán? With your four acres?” she didn’t hide the slightly mocking amused tone in her voice.

  “Sure isn’t it as good as anywhere else? Where else would I be going? I’ll marry myself a nice girl from the town, and we’ll settle into the cottage and have a big family.”

  “As all good Catholic tenants do!” she mocked openly.

  “Ah, you can laugh all you want about us Catholic tenants. But if it wasn’t for us, you wouldn’t have an income to keep this big estate and your big house running. It’s our rents that keep you in the style you’re used to.”

  Anna felt suddenly annoyed by Seán’s cockiness. “I think you’ll find that there are many other tenant farmers who would be very happy to take over your four acres any time you feel hard done by, Seán.”

  “I’m sure there are, but they’ll still be Catholic tenants and you’ll still be reliant on their rents, won’t ye?”

  “Seán, I don’t think the Armstrong dynasty will ever be reliant on the likes of you for anything,” she said regallyto him. “Now, cut away that ivy from that wall, once you’ve finished that holly tree.” She turned and began to walk back towards the house.

  “Yes, my lady, anything you say, my lady,” said Seán after her, smirking to himself as he continued to shape the holly tree.

  Chapter fourteen

  As the months passed by and the cold winter turned into a bright fresh spring, Anna and Edward’s life swirled by in a series of parties and balls. The social life of their class revolved around the great houses that they owned. And so there were constant invitations to one another’s homes. There was a constant competition between the dynastic families as to whose house was more palatial, who could be the most hospitable hosts and have the best balls. Edward always made sure their house lived up to the stiffest competition from their world. And Anna effortlessly turned into a charming and popular hostess. Edward was very proud of her. She was much admired by all their circle. She was relaxed in company, and easily occupied the role she had been born and bred for.

  Edward and Anna were making the long journey home in a roofed carriage from the Carton estate in Kildare where they had been guests for the previous week and had attended the most elaborate ball of the year so far.

  Anna sat musing beside her husband as he drifted in and out of sleep.

  “Edward?”

  “Yes, my darling?”

  “Why is Diana Hunter never invited to any party or event at any other house but our own?”

  Edward opened his eyes and looked at her. “Don’t be naïve, Anna. Many smaller local Protestant farmers get included in the local large house affairs. But they aren’t sufficiently ‘society’ to get invited beyond that.”

  “I imagine Diana Hunter would very much like to get beyond that,” said Anna.

  “You don’t like her much, do you?” he asked.

  “It’s not so much that I don’t like her. I just can’t warm to her. Do we have to invite her to every occasion at the house?I’d prefer if we didn’t sometimes.”

  “It would be rude not to. Besides, I don’t think Sinclair would be too happy if we took her off our invitation list.”

  “Sinclair?”

  “I think he’s quite smitten with her.”

  “Is there anything going on between them?” she questioned, wondering if her suspicions would be confirmed.

  “No, nothing more than a bit of flirting. I think our Sinclair is aiming a little higher than Mrs Hunter.”

  “A little higher?” Anna looked at him confused.

  “Well, as you said yourself. Diana Hunter is not gentry. But Sinclair is a lord’s grandson, when all is said and done. Sinclair is ambitious, and I imagine will want to have his own estate one day – whichever way he can get it . . . Marriage probably.”

  Anna nodded. “Yes. I’m sure he could do much better than Diana Hunter.”

  Chapter fifteen

  Diana Hunter was sitting on the couch in the drawing room of the house smiling broadly, Sinclair standing beside her,as she held his hand.

  “We wanted you to be the first to know,” said Sinclair to Anna and Edward. “We’re engaged to be married.”

  “Well, there is a surprise!” said Edward, taken aback but smiling broadly.

  “Most unexpected!” added Anna.

  Edward shook Sinclair’s hand and hugged him tightly, before kissing Diana.

  “Congratulations,” said Anna, kissing Sinclair on the cheek.

  Diana stood up and, smiling broadly, said to Anna, “I’m so happy. I want us to be like sisters.” She embraced Anna and kissed her on the cheek.

  “Indeed, I’d like nothing more!” said Anna, managing to smile.

  “Well, this calls for a celebration!” said Edward, ringing the bell.

  Barton appeared almost immediately.

  �
��A bottle of champagne from the cellar, Barton,” said Edward.

  Barton withdrew, obviously trying not to look intrigued.

  “Where will you live?” asked Anna, curious about the practicalities of the arrangement.

  “I will move into Hunter’s Farm,” said Sinclair.

  “Excellent decision,” said Edward. “It’s a fine house.”

  “I’ve been very happy there, anyway. And hope to continue being,” said Diana, smiling at her fiancé.

  Unlike your servants to whom you give a miserable time according to Seán, thought Anna.

  Barton came in with a bottle of champagne, popped it open and filled four glasses.

  “Thank you, Barton,” said Edward, signalling to him to leave.

  As soon as the door closed he handed around the glasses.

  “And what about the date?” he asked then.

  “We’re thinking Monday week,” said Diana decisively.

  “Monday week!” Anna was astounded.

  “Well, there’s no point in waiting around, is there?” said Diana, looking at Sinclair with a cool smile.

  “We were hoping to use the church on the estate, and could I ask to have the reception here afterwards?” saidSinclair.

  “I insist! It’s my wedding gift to you,” said Edward as he raised his glass. “To Sinclair and Diana!”

  “Sinclair and Diana!” Anna raised her glass and nodded, discreetly raising her eyes at the thought of it all.

  Anna was walking down the street in the town with Seáncarrying her shopping.

  “According to Jimmy Callan there were massive ructions at Hunter’s Farm last week,” said Seán, trying to see above the hatboxes he was holding.

  “And who is Jimmy Callan?” questioned Anna.

  “He’s Diana Hunter’s stable boy and a good friend of mine.”

  “Have you stable boys nothing better to do than carry gossip all day long about your masters and betters?”

  “Sorry, ma’am.” Seán looked suitably ashamed and they walked along the street in silence for a while.

  “Well, go on,” said Anna eventually. “What did this Jimmy Callan have to say for himself?”

  “Well, Jimmy says that the parlour maid and the cook at Hunter’s Farm said there was a terrible row between Mrs Hunter and Mr Sinclair.”

  “When was this?” asked Anna.

  “Just at the weekend.”

  “At the weekend? But they got engaged at the weekend.”

  “Well, that’s as may be. But there must have been some negotiating for the engagement because they nearly took the roof of Hunter’s Farm with the screaming of the two of them.”

  “How very odd!” commented Anna as she mulled over this information.

  Chapter sixteen

  Anna stepped into her gown with the aid of two of her maids the morning of Sinclair’s wedding. As she stood while the two maids finished dressing her, she was unhappy at the thought of the day ahead. That Diana Hunter was becoming a close relative and she would be saddled with her for life was bad enough. But that Diana and Sinclairwere have their wedding reception in their house, her house, was very much annoying her. She didn’t like her house being used for their nuptials. Although she had loved her own wedding in Dublin, she now wished she and Edward had it in Armstrong House.Georgina had come down for the wedding, arriving only the day before. With all the wedding preparations afoot, Anna had had no chance to have a proper chat with her cousin but she did notice that the rejection by her fiancé seemed to have become even more entrenched in her, making her even more bitter about life than the last time she had seen her.

  “You look beautiful, ma’am,” said her head dresser.

  Anna went to the mirror and viewed herself. The ivory satin gown with its scoop neckline and V-waisted bodice was certainly flattering.

  Her dresser placed her bonnet on carefully and arranged the curls at the sides of her face. Then the other maid draped her shawl about her shoulders.

  “Now, I think you’re all ready, Lady Anna,” said her dresser.

  Anna smiled and thanked them before leaving her room and going downstairs.

  “Lord Edward and your cousin are already in the carriage, my lady,” Barton informed her, as he held the front door open for her.

  She stepped into the morning sunshine. Edward and Georgina sat in the open-topped carriage, in all their finery, waiting for her.

  Seán, who was driving, jumped down from the carriage and held the door open for her. Even he was all dressed up.

  “You look a picture,” complimented Edward as Anna approached the carriage.

  “You’ll steal all the attention from the bride.”

  “No fear of the bride allowing that, from what I recall of Mrs Hunter,” said Georgina.

  Anna stepped in and sat beside her husband.

  There were villages scattered throughout the estate, but the one nearest Armstrong House was a model village Edward had got an architect to design. The carriage made its way through the countryside towards thislittle village which was set around a little green, with the church in pride of place. They pulled up alongside the other carriages and Seán opened the door to let them all out.

  “Thank you, Seán,” said Edward as he escorted the two women up the pathway to the church.

  “Seándid as he was told and scrubbed up well for the day,” said Edward with a smirk.

  Anna glanced over at Seán who was tending to the horses. “I guess he can do what he’s told occasionally then.”

  Edward gave a small laugh. His wife’s irritation with her servant amused him.

  “I’ve heard many a girl has been open to offers from him. Seán is considered quite a catch on the estate.”

  “What? Him and his four acres of potatoes?” said Anna dismissively as she smiled at the people gathered outside the church.

  Of course Diana Hunter looked stunning on her wedding day, as Anna had expected. The service in the church was pleasant if short with beautiful music chosen by Diana.

  “Where are her family seated?” whispered Georgina to Anna as everyone stood to sing. Georgina had scoured the church but seemed to recognise most people there as part of the Armstrongs’ circle.

  “Oh, didn’t I mention? They couldn’t make it over from Yorkshire in time.”

  “Well, why did they have the wedding so quickly in that case?”

  “I don’t know. Odd, isn’t it?”

  “What’s odder is that no matter how much I checked with people I know in Yorkshire,” said Georgina, “they have never heard of Diana Hunter socially there or anywhere else for that matter.”

  “Really?” Anna’s eyes widened, as the music finished and they all sat down.

  “Not one person I enquired from had heard of her.”

  “She is a bit of a mysteryall right,” said Anna as she watched her and Sinclair exchange their wedding vows.

  “And one you’re now stuck with!” murmured Georgina as Diana said “I do!”

  Back at the house the ballroom had been laid out with long tables as the guests celebrated the wedding. The servants brought in a continual train of glazed ham, roasted duck and pheasant.

  “Who is actually paying for all this?” questioned Georgina.

  “It’s vulgar to talk about money,” snapped Anna.

  “It’s only vulgar to talk about money if you have plenty of it. I haven’t any of my own, so it’s not vulgar. I take it from your reaction it is Edward who is paying?”

  Anna said nothing as she observed Diana order their servants about, complaining the Claret was not good enough and sending back food to the kitchens that she considered wasn’t good enough.

  Later, Anna watched Diana and Sinclair take centre stage, dancing in the middle of the ballroom. Although Sinclair had neither property nor fortune, marriage to him had brought Mrs Hunter firmly into their circle. And by the way she was acting, the former Mrs Hunter, present Mrs Armstrong, planned to rise to the very top.

  Edward hel
d Anna tightly in bed that night as the reflection of the flames of the fire in the hearth danced around the room. The wedding party was now over and most of the guests had retired to their guest bedrooms in the house or as guests of the Foxes and other neighbouring families.

  “It was good to see Sinclair so happy,” said Edward as he caressed his wife.

  “I don’t think he looked happy. I’ve never seen Sinclair look happy. He looked as he always does,determined and pleased with himself.”

  “Well, if he can’t be pleased with himself on his wedding day, when can he be?”

  Anna thought before she spoke but decided to voice her concerns. “I didn’t like the way they ordered the servants around for the day, Edward.”

  “What do you mean?” Edward sat up, looking confused.

  “This is our house, our servants, and Diana and Sinclair spoke to them as if they belonged to them.”

  “I didn’t see anything wrong with their behaviour.”

  “Well, I did, and so did Georgina.”

  “Georgina!” Edward said loudly with a cynical laugh. “Georgina sees something wrong in everything everyone does since she was jilted by her fiancé.”

  “Don’t be cruel about her, Edward!” Anna said angrily.

  “Why? It’s the truth! She’s welcome here any time but I don’t like how she comes down here and tries to poison you against things.”

  “Against Sinclair, you mean?”

  “Yes!” Edward jumped out of the bed and started pacing up and down.

  “She doesn’t need to poison me against him, because I can’t stand the man, or his new wife for that matter.”

  “But why?” Edward was aghast.

  “Because he’s not a nice person.” She was tempted to tell him all the stories she had heard about him from Seán, but didn’t want to get Seán into trouble.

  “You’ve no cause to continue this vendetta against him.”