Page 30 of The Affairs of Ashmore Castle

‘You haven’t changed,’ Rachel said. ‘What have you been doing since we went away?’

‘Hunting, of course, and we had house parties for hunting weekends, which was nice. Otherwise, there’s been no company. But I’m allowed to dine down all the time now. What else? Keeping Kitty company. Uncle Sebastian plays cards with me in the evening sometimes, but he always wins, because he remembers every single card that’s been played. He says you have to, to be a proper card player. So I said I’d sooner just do it for fun and keep losing. Oh, and Kitty’s maid Hatto taught me to knit. I’m not very good yet – I can only go in a straight line – but I knitted a scarf.’

Rachel seemed impressed. ‘Can I see it?’

‘I haven’t got it now. I gave it to Richard for a present, but he laughed so much he cracked a chair leg. So I took it back and gave it to Josh, and he said it was very nice, which was something, coming from him.’

‘How’s my darling Daystar?’

‘I kept him exercised for you, and hunted him a bit. But Josh has been so disagreeable, he insisted on turning him and Queen Bee out with the others after Easter, even though they’d hardly hunted at all, really. I was hoping to ride one of them while Pharaoh is out but he said no, they all had to rest. So if you want to ride this month it’ll have to be one of the road horses, or the ponies.’

‘That’s all right, I don’t need to ride,’ Rachel said. ‘We rode a lot in Germany.’

‘Did you hunt?’

‘Well, they called it hunting, but it was really just riding out into the forest and having a picnic.’

‘Was it fun, over there?’

Rachel’s face grew animated. ‘So much fun. Aunt Vicky and Uncle Bobo are so nice. And the cousins are lovely. We didn’t see much of Freddie, because he’s at cadet school, but he did come to one or two parties and looked divine in his uniform. He’s nineteen this summer. Addie’s fifteen and charming – she so admired me, it was almost embarrassing. She’s longing to go to grown-up parties. Klaus and Giddy are just little boys, but much less annoying than little boys usually are. And the baby, Pauline, is simply sweet. She’s going to be a great beauty. Nothing like Linda’s Arabella.’

‘But what did you do that was so much fun?’ Alice pursued.

‘Oh, parties – so many parties! And balls. I had to have dozens of gowns made – I’ll show you some later, when I’ve been unpacked. And we went to a lot of military reviews. Goodness, German uniforms are smart! And there were the hunts, and picnics, and lots of things on the river. And when we moved to the summer palace, there was bathing as well.’ Rachel blushed. ‘I have a bathing dress,’ she confided in a low voice, ‘but I’d never dare to wear it in England.’

‘I suppose you had lots of admirers.’

Rachel tried to look modest. ‘Well, a few. But everyone danced with everyone else. It was very nice, really.’

‘And I suppose you’re madly in love with someone.’

‘Of course not. I’m too young.’ She said it as if it were a matter of course, but Alice wasn’t convinced. Rachel coloured slightly. ‘I don’t mean to be in love at least until next year. I learned my lesson with you-know-who.’

‘You mean there was no flirting?’

‘Of course there was flirting. But don’t tell Mama.’

‘I won’t tell. Who did you like best?’

‘Well – Frittie Landau was nice. He dances divinely. He’ll be the Margrave of Landau one day. And Vinnie Pazzalo was great fun. He’s Italian, a viscount, such a joker! He has very dark skin – they say his mother was an Ethiopian princess. And Nicky Hohenloeuwe taught me archery one day at the Wachturm when they had a competition. I managed to hit the centre bull one time. He said I had a natural eye for it. But I think I liked Frittie Landau best. Oh – there was one horrid old man who was always hanging around us, the Prince of Usingen. He’s old as Mama, very rich, and he kept trying to make friends with me. Frittie teased me that he was going to make me an offer. When I saw him coming I had to go and hide.’

‘So did anyone make an offer?’ Alice asked, feeling sad. She knew Rachel would marry one day and go away, but she had hoped it was a long way off.

‘Of course not, I’m not old enough,’ Rachel said, but with a conscious look that suggested the opposite. She seemed to change the subject. ‘Oh, such an interesting thing – one of the guests at Biebesheim was the Landgravine Ortenberg, who’s an American, and we got talking together at one of the parties and she said her sister went to school with Kitty. What d’you think about that? Her name before she married was Brevoorte. I must ask Kitty about her. She’s not long been married, and she’s expecting a child.’ She remembered something, hesitated, and lowered her voice. ‘I had a maid assigned to me at the Wachturm, and she told me – about how you get a baby.’ She looked at Alice, shiny-eyed, excited and appalled in about equal proportions. ‘There’s a Thing husbands do, and then you swell up and a baby pops out. I should like a little baby,’ she added, ‘but I don’t like the idea of the Thing.’

‘What is it?’ Alice asked. ‘The Thing?’

‘I couldn’t possibly tell you,’ Rachel said, redder than ever. ‘It’s too awful.’

Alice giggled. ‘Do you think Giles did it to Kitty? Must have, I suppose.’

‘Oh, don’t!’ Rachel cried. ‘It’s too horrid to think about.’

‘On the whole, a very satisfactory visit,’ Maud said. She had tracked Giles down in the library, and Linda had followed her in, blocking his escape.

‘I assumed it was,’ he said, ‘since you stayed away so long.’

‘It was exactly what Rachel needed,’ Maud went on. ‘It has made a different girl of her. She’s become poised, confident – quite a young woman. And she was much admired. Everyone thought her a beautiful girl.’