Page 23 of To Catch a Husband
‘The Lady Elizabeth used the family jewels and her own to fund the repairs. She and Sir Robert rescued the house, but it took time, and the family fortunes did not improve until their son, Sir James Lound, was made a baron by Queen Anne, rewarded for diplomacy during the Wars. I would not have said my grandfather was diplomatic,’ mused Miss Lound, ‘and nor was Papa. I can only assume that great-grandfather used up all the diplomacy in the family.’ She did not seem concerned by this. ‘He used his newfound wealth to build the west wing, which is far more comfortable and better organised for modern living. We use – used – that far more, of course. It has made the house almost in symmetry, a “C” shape not an “L”. I think the fact that it was all of the same local Cotswold stone means that the outside has a pleasing unity despite that, and who actually paces out the size of a house?’
‘Who indeed, Miss Lound.’ Sir Rowland was enjoying hearing her views. Here, in ‘her’ house, she had lost all the anger at the world in general, and that look of being trapped in a nightmare not of her own making. She was honest and direct and no, would never be termed diplomatic, but she was a breath of fresh air to him. ‘Was the first Lord Damerham the man who had the park designed, or enlarged? Its situation and shape seem too well formed to be entirely the work of nature alone.’122
‘Yes. He kept the formal garden to the front of the house, and enlarged it, but he saw the potential of the brook, and he was a fisherman.’ Miss Lound evidently thought anglers a superior breed for she stressed the ‘he’. ‘Grandfather was equally keen, but the interest bypassed Papa altogether. Fishing is far better than playing cards, especially playing for large sums of money. I have never seen the sense, since however much skill is involved, there must be an element of luck also. Are you inclined to games of chance, Sir Rowland?’
‘No, I am not, though I can spend a very convivial evening playing piquet with a friend, or my brother. I did as most young men do in London when I went there for the Season as a greenhorn, and tried the gaming tables, but it gave no pleasure. I like London for a few weeks, and then I wish I was back in the country. I was found to be a very boring fellow indeed.’
‘A very sane fellow, sir. I never went up for the Season. An aunt, my papa’s sister, was going to bring me out, but died quite suddenly two months before. I think I regretted it for all of one week, and then realised how much happier I was at home. I have attended the assemblies in Cheltenham, and some in Bath, and talking of nothing to people one does not know and having one’s toes trodden upon by clumsy partners is not my idea of pleasure.’ She had led him from the hall to where the grand staircase rose to the upper floor. Unlike his ancestor, Lord Damerham had not treated stairs as simply a way to reach the upper storey. This staircase123was a statement, with carved newel posts and a sweeping oak banister either side of a broad stairway that could accommodate four persons ascending abreast, rising to a half landing which turned to the left. ‘Since the upper rooms are bedchambers and dressing rooms, I do not think I need show you anything there, Sir Rowland, but the dining room, saloons and the library are noted for their fine ceilings and door pediments.’
‘I would be most interested in your view of the furnishings, ma’am, since it is in this portion of the house I would wish to add a little of my own taste. I cannot simply add more and more and make the rooms cluttered. I wonder, if there are items and pictures of importance to you, which I would replace, whether you might like them for the dower house?’
‘And thereby clutter that instead, sir?’ She saw him wince at his own clumsiness. ‘No, no, I am roasting you, Sir Rowland. It is a very thoughtful offer. Shall we see what you have your eye upon as surplus to your requirements?’
‘Thank you.’
They went from chamber to chamber, Sir Rowland began a little cautiously, lest his wish to replace something appear to denigrate a much-loved piece, but gradually relaxed. In the drawing room was a pianoforte.
‘Do you play, Miss Lound? This takes quite a lot of room and—’
‘I am abysmal. Mama had it brought from124Cheltenham, in the hope that I would become accomplished, but I admit to you, sir, that I am remarkably lacking in accomplishments. I stumble over even country dance tunes, I cannot sing beyond humming to myself when in good humour, and my sketching is, er, “sketchy” and my watercolours …’
‘“Watery”?’
‘Decidedly.’ She gave him a smile and a gentle laugh. It was not musical but low and very genuine.
‘But you are a good angler, Miss Lound.’
‘That cuts no ice at functions. A young lady is not elevated by her prowess upon the hunting field, or with rod and line.’
‘You hunt, ma’am?’
‘I used to, when I possessed hunters. They were both sold by my brother. I shed a tear at their loss, not just because I was attached to them, but also because it was another diminution of my life. I have but my old hack, who is a dear, but could not possibly hunt.’
‘That must indeed have been a blow. How fortunate that he could not sell your bow or your fishing rod.’
‘If he had thought they were of worth he would have tried, but I would have probably put an arrow through his leg if he attempted it.’
‘Remind me not to thwart you, Miss Lound.’ Sir Rowland laughed, and then made a request. ‘You are free to fish here just as you always did, but I wonder, would you impart your skill to me? You see, I am no fisherman, but feel it would be a very pleasant way125to spend a few hours, and that since the lake was designed to be fished … Would you, Miss Lound, be gracious enough to show me how?’ It was an idea that had occurred to him during the course of the tour. It would mean spending time with this fascinating young woman in her natural environment, the open air, where she would be as she was here, fresh and direct, and unencumbered of spirit.
‘Why, of course, Sir Rowland, though you will find me a hard taskmaster, or taskmistress. What begins as being thought through every time has to become instinctive through practice, as though one’s limbs learn to do it like walking, where one’s brain does not instruct one foot to be placed before the other, at least not consciously. And you must be warned now that there is but until the end of September in which to learn to fish as I do for trout, for thereafter they are left over the winter until the end of March.’
‘In which case, may I request a first lesson at your earliest convenience?’
‘The day after tomorrow, sir, in the afternoon, if the wind is not blustery, and if there are still rods in the house. I doubt not they remain. Let us go to the gunroom. Edmund kept my father’s guns and took them with him, saying that Canada contained many wild beasts. It probably contains good fishing too, but he would not consider that.’ She led him towards the back of the house, and to a door beside that which led to the servants’ quarters. ‘Oh, of course, I need the key.126If you have not been within, Sir Rowland, Mrs Peplow must have it.’
Mrs Peplow, who had followed them around the house a respectful few paces to the rear so as not to listen to their conversation too closely, coughed, and vouchsafed that in fact she did indeed have the key, and went off to bring it. A few minutes later Miss Lound entered a room she had come to feel was hers almost exclusively. The glass case in which the guns used to be was bare, excepting for an old fowling piece, which was too archaic to have been taken, but the fishing rods hung in their bags from a row of hooks, and Mary Lound went to them, touching them as one might stroke a pet.
‘These have not been used since my brother James …’ She swallowed rather obviously.
‘If it distresses you …’
‘No. What is a fishing rod if not for fishing. He would think as I do, that the lake, and the rods, need use.’ She looked along the line, remembering the contents of each. ‘This one ought to suit. It was James’s first rod, ideal for a beginner, and will not have been put together in years. Let us see if the ferrules are still in order.’ She unhooked the bag and opened it as if unwrapping a gift, untying the binding and laying the sections upon the deal table in the middle of the room. ‘They look sound enough, but best to assemble it just to be sure.’
He watched her as she put the rod together with deft fingers and a certainty of touch. He had the feeling that she could have done it blindfolded.127
‘You began angling as a child?’
‘Yes. How … oh, you must wonder at my lack of hesitancy. Well, I have been putting rods together more than half my life. It is natural to me now. There, that is all secure. I will not add the whalebone tip. I had forgot how nice a rod this is. There are boxes of flies in the drawer here, but we can select those when we see the weather.’
