Page 92 of The Fortunes of Ashmore Castle

Vogel cocked his head, and the light glinted off his gold-rimmed spectacles, which he wore at the end of his nose. ‘Lady Stainton’s ambitions for Ashmore Castle are laudable, and were they carried out, they would create something magnificent that would stand for ever, like Chatsworth, perhaps, on a smaller scale. But . . .’

‘I am not a duke,’ Giles finished for him.

‘The great gardens at Chatsworth have been developed over hundreds of years. And the present duke, I believe, employs forty or fifty gardeners. I am sorry to say the Ashmore estate is not, if I may put it so, in that class.’

Giles smiled. ‘I wish her ladyship had heard all that from you. It might have softened the blow.’

Back at Aunt Caroline’s house he became aware that he was following another visitor up the stairs, and arrived in the drawing-room to see Kitty, Aunt Caroline and Grandmère staring at Uncle Sebastian.

‘You’ve been away a long time,’ Giles said, when they were all settled. ‘I can’t remember exactly when it was that you left. Have you been in Henley all that time?’

‘Most of it,’ Sebastian said.

‘You’re looking very well,’ Aunt Caroline interrupted. ‘And your suit . . .’ She circled a hand to indicate the tout ensemble. ‘Is it new? Not your usual style, but very becoming.’

‘Oh, I thought a change was overdue,’ Sebastian said.

Grandmère gave him a suspicious look. ‘A gentleman settles his mode on reaching maturity. There is no purpose in “a change” . . .’ her tone mocked the expression. ‘. . . unless he has a change of audience.’

‘Audience?’ Aunt Caroline said. ‘What can you mean? He is not an actor.’

‘All men are actors,’ Grandmère said. ‘Some are charlatans and mountebanks.’

‘I say, steady on,’ Sebastian objected.

‘But I think what we have here is an illusionist.’

Sebastian remained composed. ‘No illusion, I promise you. The change goes all the way through.’

‘What is her name?’ Grandmère demanded.

‘Which “her” are we referring to?’ Aunt Caroline asked, not keeping up at all. ‘Oh dear, I wish everyone would speak plainly.’

‘There is a woman in the case,’ Grandmère said, her eyes not shifting a fraction from Sebastian’s face. ‘Note the new necktie. The hair, cut recently and to a new style.’

‘I thought there was something different, apart from the suit,’ Aunt Caroline exclaimed, as though the riddle was now untangled.

‘And an odour of Muelhens entered the room with him,’ Grandmère concluded. ‘Il ne lui manque qu’un gardénia à la boutonnière!’

‘But how exciting,’ Aunt Caroline exclaimed, catching Grandmère’s meaning at last. ‘Is there really someone, Sebastian? Is that what you’ve come to tell us? Oh, who is she? When may we meet her?’

‘Yes, there is someone,’ Sebastian said, massively patient before the inquisition. ‘And you may meet her as soon as you wish.’

‘But how sly you have been!’ Aunt Caroline said. ‘We never knew a thing about it until now. She must be very special to have won your heart, a bachelor all these years – and an eligible bachelor into the bargain. I’ve known several very nice females who would have been glad to have you. What is her name, the dear creature?’

‘Dory,’ said Sebastian.

Giles frowned. ‘That’s an odd name. Is she a foreigner?’

‘It’s short for Dorcas.’

‘That is not a lady’s name,’ Grandmère decreed.

Kitty looked up. ‘We had a maid called Dory. The sewing maid. She left us quite suddenly.’ She stopped abruptly, with a startled look, and could not go on.

‘Obviously it’s not the same person,’ Giles told her impatiently, then saw Sebastian’s expression. ‘You can’t have come to tell us that you are romancing a housemaid?’

‘No, I’ve come to tell you I am to be married to a woman whom I love very much.’