Page 75 of The Secrets of Ashmore Castle

‘How is the library scheme coming along?’ Nina asked, with an effort.

‘That’s what I have been talking about for the last half-hour,’ said Aunt Schofield.

After lunch she got straight down to inviting some of her friends for dinner. In the course of a lively evening of brisk, academic conversation, she was relieved to see Nina perk up and join in. She sees now what she’s been missing, Aunt Schofield thought. She’ll have had no talk so satisfying these last weeks.

But on Sunday morning she seemed down again, and breakfasted in moody silence.

‘You had better not go back to the Bayfields,’ Aunt Schofield said at last. ‘I see your stay with them has made you dissatisfied. I was afraid of it when I agreed to let you come out with Kitty, but I had thought you sensible enough to come through unscathed.’

For an instant Nina looked up, and Aunt Schofield recoiled before the misery in her eyes. This is not just dissatisfaction, she thought. Then Nina looked away, and said, with an obvious effort to sound normal, ‘I’m not spoiled, truly I’m not! And I know it’s not my world. I don’t want it to be, really. I enjoyed dinner last night so much. But I promised Kitty I would support her at her wedding. Please let me go back, just until then. It’s only a few more weeks.’

‘If you promised, then I suppose you must go.’

‘Thank you,’ Nina said, but she didn’t sound relieved by the permission. To go back was not the answer to whatever was troubling her.

A suspicion formed in Aunt Schofield’s mind. ‘Nina, you haven’t—?’ she began. Fallen in love? But at the last minute she realised she didn’t want the answer to that question. Instead she said, ‘You may go back, but you must buck up. I can’t have you drooping about like a wilted flower. It’s not seemly – and it’s not helpful. Behave cheerfully, and you’ll feel more cheerful. When you come back after the wedding, I shall see to it that you are kept busy. There are always plenty of good works to be done, and not enough people to do them. All this idle pleasure is sapping your moral fibre, and I don’t like it.’

Nina said, ‘You’re very bracing. I wish you were with me all the time.’

‘You must learn to do it without me. I shan’t always be here, and you have the rest of your life ahead of you.’

Just then, the rest of her life looked like an endless desert, but she thought, I have to be cheerful for Kitty, so it’s a good thing to practise now. And she managed a smile.

The peace treaty had been signed in Pretoria on the 31st of May and, with the war over at last, Richard began to see army friends and colleagues reappearing in London, some on leave and others, like him, out for good. It didn’t take them long to find out where he was, and his two best friends, Bracegirdle and Keenswell, ran him down in Berkeley Square on their very first evening home, and took him out on a carouse that lasted until dawn. Over the first bottle, he saw the look in their eyes, the long stare of men who have been used to a different horizon, and who are still not entirely living in the here and now. More bottles followed, and the look gradually faded, as he supposed his had.

They wanted to know what he’d been doing.

‘The Season,’ he told them. ‘Every ball, rout, dinner, card party and supper on the schedule. Exhausting! Hunting Boers across the veld was child’s play in comparison. I was helping my brother find a wife.’

‘Your brother that’s the earl?’ Bracegirdle asked unsteadily. His head was moving minutely as if he was having difficulty in keeping Richard in focus.

‘That’s the one. Haven’t any other. Any amount of sisters but only one brother. Anyway, I’ve got him fixed up, getting married at the end of the month, and then I shall be free to do … whatever I like.’ There was a slight hesitation before the last three words, as he realised he hadn’t thought about what to do next.

‘Brother getting married,’ Bracegirdle explained solemnly to Keenswell.

‘Important event,’ Keenswell agreed. ‘Going to be his supporter, I suppose?’

‘That’s the ticket,’ said Richard.

‘And then – pfft! Another good man gone.’

‘Happens all the time,’ Bracegirdle agreed.

‘Not to me,’ said Richard.

Bracegirdle concentrated owlishly. ‘Sisters. You said you had sisters.’

‘That’s right.’

‘Enough for both of us?’ Keenswell enquired.

‘Too young. Not out yet,’ said Richard.

‘Oh,’ said Bracegirdle. ‘Just as well, perhaps. Interfere with the fishing, women. They squirm, and talk about fish being slimy. And complain about water being wet.’ He shook his head at the illogic of the other sex.

‘Fishing!’ said Keenswell, as if he had just heard of it for the first time.

‘Scotland, that’s the thing,’ said Bracegirdle. ‘Town’s impossible this time of year. Too noisy. Salmon, trout – July’s best for trout. We should all go to Scotland.’ He managed to get Richard in focus again. ‘Haven’t you got an uncle in Scotland? Lord something?’