Page 77 of The Secrets of Ashmore Castle

All this mention of historical figures and events (the third earl had been killed in the Crimea) made Kitty feel smaller and more unworthy than ever. She seemed to be about to marry into the entire history of England. She wished so much that Nina was there to comfort her. She wished even more that she could jump out of the train and run away very fast and very far. When she was roused from her reading by the shouts of ‘Canons Ashmore! Canons Ashmore!’ as they pulled into the station, her heart contracted so hard she felt faint.

‘Come, Catherine! Don’t dither!’ Mama’s voice was sharp, and had the effect of galvanising her, but as she gathered herself together, she noticed Mama’s hands were shaking – she actually dropped the magazine she had been leafing through. Could it be that Mama was nervous too? She wasn’t sure if the idea gave her courage, or the opposite.

The station master himself came to open their carriage door, hand them down, and guide them towards the exit, and right outside there was an open landau, gleaming black with gold trim on the wheels, and drawn by four beautiful dapple greys. There was a coachman and two grooms in livery, who bowed to her and helped her in and did not once betray any shrug or curling of the lip to suggest she was anything but a Very Important Person.

They drove through a pretty village, then across a bridge over a river (the Ash, she supposed) and up a hill of green pastures dotted with fine old timber and grazed by sheep. All this will be yours, she heard Nina’s voice whisper in her mind. It was too much. She felt like crying. Surely she must wake up soon.

And then they caught the first sight of the house. It looked very large, a symmetrical oblong of many windows, a large portico with Corinthian columns covering the central third, and the roof hidden by the crenulated parapet.

‘Palladian style,’ said Lady Bayfield. ‘I am glad, Sir John. There is something fine about Palladian houses.’

‘Yes, my dear,’ said Sir John. He stared at the house, then looked doubtfully at Kitty. ‘You’ve done well, Kitty.’

It was rare indeed that she was called Kitty at home. She melted with gratitude, and gave her father a shaky smile.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Kitty was glad that she’d had the experience of staying at Dene Park, which had prepared her a little. It had been even larger and grander than Ashmore Castle, and the Wroughtons were loftier than the Staintons. The meeting between Lady Stainton and Lady Bayfield was almost comic, with each attempting to out-gracious the other with gritted smiles and stiff compliments, but Kitty was too frightened to be amused.

A tall, stout man was presented, who reminded her a bit of the King – Giles called him Uncle Sebastian.

Giles at least was familiar, though she felt more shy with him than ever, now they were engaged. But he was accompanied by two large dogs, which bowed politely, waved their tails and butted her hands with their big heads, and she could be at ease with them, at least.

‘They were my father’s,’ he said. ‘They adopted me when he died. That’s Tiger and this is Isaac. They’re very gentle.’

‘Oh, I’m not afraid,’ she said. ‘I’ve always wanted a dog.’ And he seemed pleased.

As well as the dogs, there were two very nice, cheery girls, Giles’s sisters, who did not seem at all lofty and were dressed quite plainly. Nothing to daunt her there. They greeted her warmly.

‘We’re so glad Giles is getting married,’ said Alice. ‘Now we’ll be your sisters.’

‘It must be nice for you, to be always two,’ said Kitty.

They looked at each other. ‘We don’t think about it, really,’ said Rachel, ‘because we’re used to it. But it is, of course. Are you really only one?’

‘I had a brother,’ Kitty said, ‘but he died.’

‘Oh, that’s so sad,’ said Rachel, her eyes growing moist.

Kitty’s did too. ‘It was a long time ago,’ she faltered.

Luncheon was served at once. The food, to her surprise, was not very good. Sir John and Lady Bayfield only picked at it, but Lady Stainton, Uncle Sebastian and Giles’s sisters ate as though there was nothing wrong. Giles ate very little. Kitty worked away as well as she could, swallowing what she didn’t know how to spit out politely, pushing the most inedible bits together to make them look less. The conversation was all between Lady Stainton and Lady Bayfield, and between Sir John and Uncle Sebastian. The latter two seemed to be getting on better than the ladies, and chatted pleasantly about politics and the land.

After luncheon, Uncle Sebastian excused himself and the others were taken on a tour of the house. Lady Stainton expounded its history as if she had learned it by rote. There was no escape – even Giles’s sisters were quiet and did not whisper together. But when they reached the picture gallery, and Lady Stainton led Sir John and Lady Bayfield firmly around the portraits to impress them with the achievements and royal connections of the family, Giles extracted Kitty and took her to the far end, where there were landscapes, still-lifes and many paintings of horses and dogs.

‘These, I think, will be more to your taste,’ he said. ‘Other people’s relatives, I always think, are of limited interest.’

The girls came hurrying to join them. ‘Come and look.’ Alice drew Kitty towards another wall. ‘This is my favourite painting – Great-grandpa’s horse, the one he rode at Crimea. He’s called Buckingham. Isn’t he splendid?’

‘What happened to him?’ Kitty asked.

‘Buckingham? He was brought home after the war. Great-grandpa died out there, you know, and a friend, Lord Tilney, took over his horse because they were so short of them. They both survived, and he brought Buckingham back here, to the Castle, because he thought Great-grandpa would have wanted it.’

‘My father told me my grandfather used to go and see the horse every day,’ Giles said. ‘He’d take him an apple or a carrot and stand talking to him.’

Alice chimed in eagerly, ‘Grandmère says Grandpapa always claimed he got more sense out of the horse than any of the humans he knew.’

‘He lived to be thirty and died of old age,’ Rachel said. ‘Papa buried him and built a memorial over him. We can take you to see his grave.’