“Getting back to a job for you, if you stay in London, you might consider working with me at the shop. You do love antiques, and you know a lot about them. I could certainly use your expertise. And your obvious talents as a decorator.”
When I said nothing, Diana sat back, stared at me for a few seconds, and then reached out and took my hand in hers. “I’d like you to become my partner, Mal.”
“Oh, that’s so generous of you! Thank you, Diana. I’m not sure. Can I think about it?”
“Yes. Take your time.” She half smiled and then reached out, touched my cheek. “You’re like my daughter. No, you are my daughter. And I love you.”
“I love you, too, Diana. You’re very special to me.”
“I started to say I could use your talents as an interior designer. You’re awfully good at decorating, and I have a lot of clients who don’t just want to buy antiques from me. They also want me to put together whole rooms for them. Whole houses, in fact.”
“I do enjoy decorating, but I’m not sure I’d want to do it for other people,” I said. “But it is a possibility, I guess.”
“We could always have a trial run. We’ve nothing to lose.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s no good reason why you shouldn’t stay on in London for a few months. You could work at the shop, travel with me to France on buying trips, even make trips on your own. Then you could spend weekends up here with me. It’s always lovely at Kilgram Chase in the summer months. At the end of the summer you could go back to Connecticut, if you wanted to, if that’s what you decided was best for you.”
“There’s nobody like you, Diana, you’re so kind, so loving.” I leaned my head against the cushions and closed my eyes. A small sigh escaped me.
She said softly, “I won’t press you anymore, but do think seriously about it, Mal. And remember, it would please me enormously to have you as my partner.”
That night when I went to bed, I lay awake for a long time, watching the light from the fire flickering across the ceiling and the walls.
Here in this room that had once been his as a boy, Andrew was always close to me. And tonight I felt his presence more acutely than ever. It was as if he stood at the foot of the bed, keeping watch over me.
I talked to him, asked him what I should do, and it seemed to me that he was telling me to stay here with his mother at Kilgram Chase. If that was what he wanted me to do, then I would do it. Here in Yorkshire I was far away from New York and the terrible violence that had claimed my family. I felt safe here, just as I felt safe in London. Yes, perhaps it would be best to stay in England, best to start my new life here.
I turned this thought over and over in my mind until I finally fell asleep.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Diana had gone off to London en route to Paris, and I was alone at Kilgram Chase once more.
The library had become my sanctuary in the last few weeks, and now as I sat here on Monday morning, glancing at the newspapers and drinking a cup of coffee, I thought of the things Diana had said to me over the weekend.
She had been right, had spoken only truths.
I had acknowledged this to her and to myself. Self-delusion was not one of my faults. Nonetheless, I knew already that it was going to be hard for me to come to grips with my grief, that it would take me a long time to get it totally under control. The pain inside me was relendess, never seemed to diminish; my sorrow was overwhelming; my loneliness filled me with desolation.
The memory of the terrible violence that had taken my family from me and changed my life forever would always be there in my heart. That was a given. But I would try to make a new start. Somehow. I had promised Diana I would; I owed it to her and to myself. And that, at least, would be some sort of a beginning.
I still did not know what I was going to do with the rest of my life, where I was going to live or how I would earn a living. The first thing I had to do was pull myself up out of my despair, rise above it if I could. I was not sure how to do this.
Earlier this morning it had occurred to me that I ought to find something to focus on, if only for a short while, something to take my mind off my troubles, take me out of myself. Going back to my painting, as Sarah had suggested before I left Indian Meadows, did not particularly interest me now, and therefore, it was not a solution.
However, there was one thing that had fascinated me when I was here at Kilgram Chase last November, and that was the diary I had found in this very room. I realized, as I thought of it again, that the seventeenth-century Lettice Keswick still intrigued me. And I could not help wondering, as I had last year, whether or not there was another volume, perhaps even volumes of her writings somewhere in this house.
The diary had no monetary value as far as I knew, and certainly it had nothing to do with my earning a living. On the other hand, looking for another volume, a continuation of the first book, would give me something to focus on. And that in itself would be a step in the right direction.
I would do it. I would start a search. It would keep me busy until I had worked out some sort of plan for my future, bleak though this seemed at the moment.
The library steps were at the other side of the room, and I dragged them over to the fireplace, deciding to look at all the books in this area first. After all, Clarissa’s copy and the original had been found on one of the shelves here.
I had just started to mount the steps when there was a tap on the door; Hilary came in for the coffee tray.
“Do you remember those diaries your father and I found last year, Hilary?” I asked, peering down at her.
“Yes, I do, Mrs. Andrew. Quite a find they were. Mrs. Keswick showed them to the vicar. Very impressed, he was.”
I nodded. “I thought at the time that there might be more of them, but I never did get around to doing a search before I left. So I’ve decided to start one today.”
“My father and I have already done that, Mrs. Andrew,” Hilary explained quickly. “You see, Mrs. Keswick thought the same as you, that there might be another one knocking around, and anyway, she wanted all the books dusted, so we’ve been working the entire library section by section for some time.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling a small stab of disappointment. “And you found nothing?”
“No, I’m afraid we didn’t. Not so far, anyway. We haven’t done the two walls on either side of the fireplace yet, where you’re standing. And not that one down there.” She nodded in the direction of the end wall with its door leading out into the corridor.
“All right. I’ll continue looking here, Hilary.”
“And I’ll come back and help you if you like, Mrs. Andrew,” she said. “I’ll just take the tray to the kitchen, I won’t be a minute.”
“Thanks, I’d really appreciate the help,” I said, going higher on the library steps, peering at the leather-bound volumes in front of me. Once I’d read every title, I pulled a couple of books out and felt behind them, hoping for hidden treasures.
Within minutes Hilary returned with Joe, who was carrying the tall ladder he used for cleaning the chandeliers.
“It’ll be right grand if we find another diary, Mrs. Andrew,” Joe said as he propped the ladder against the end wall. “Mrs. Keswick’ll be ever so chuffed if we do.”
“So will I, Joe,” I said, adding, “By the way, I’m not dusting any of these. Do you think perhaps I should?”
“Aye, no, don’t worry about that!” Joe exclaimed. “Hilary can give the books a bit of a flick with the feather duster later. Hilary,” he turned to his daughter and said, “Run back t’kitchen, like a good lass, and bring the small step-ladder. That way you can follow on behind Mrs. Andrew and dust them there books once she’s looked at them.”
I was about to protest, but then I remembered how obstinate he could be and decided I’d better not interfere. I continued reading titles and poking around on the shelves, as did Joe and eventually Hilary in other parts of the library.
When Parky ap
peared at one point to announce that my lunch was ready, I was completely taken aback. I glanced at my watch and saw to my astonishment that it was exactly one o’clock. How quickly the time had flown this morning.
We had a fruitless afternoon, came up empty-handed, and both Joe and Hilary had long faces. Their disappointment was quite evident. It struck me that for some unknown reason they had expected me to find something truly special, even if it wasn’t another volume of Lettice’s diaries.
“Never mind,” I said, as we abandoned the search for the day. “Maybe we’ll be luckier tomorrow. I fully intend to keep going, to investigate every shelf you two haven’t already tackled.”
“And we’ll help you, Mrs. Andrew,” Hilary said. “It’s a challenge.”
“Aye, it is that,” Joe added over his shoulder, going out with the ladder.
That evening Diana called me from London, as she usually did, and I told her what I’d been doing all day.
“I was so intent on finding another Lettice diary, I forgot about the time,” I said. “Not only that, I even met with Parky’s favor today.”
Diana chuckled softly at the other end of the phone. “Don’t tell me. You actually ate something, is that why she was pleased?”
“Yes. I managed a small plate of cottage pie. Parky was flabbergasted. To tell you the truth, Diana, so was I.”
“I’m glad you’ve started to eat again, however small the plate. It’s a start, and you need to build yourself up. I’m relieved that you took my words to heart. I must admit, I worried driving back to London this morning, worried that I’d been too strong with you, but I needed to get through to you.”
“Tough love,” I replied.
“Is that what you call it?”
“Yes, and Mom says it’s the best kind of love when somebody’s in trouble and needs help.”
“I’m here for you, Mal, with tough love and whatever else you need.”
“I know, and I’m here for you. We have to support each other now, get each other through this—”
“We will, darling.”
We chatted for a few minutes longer about other things; Diana told me she would be staying at the Crillon in Paris, then gave me the number. After saying good night, we hung up. But within minutes Diana called me back.
“I’ve just thought of something, another place for you to look for the diaries, or rather, a copy by the Victorian Clarissa, who was so intent on preserving things for the future.”
“You mean a place other than the library?” I asked.
“The attics in the west wing,” Diana explained. “There are several steamer trunks up there. They’ve got torn old labels on them, you know, labels from steamship lines, such as the P & O and Cunard. Anyway, in those trunks are all sorts of items from the Victorian era. My mother-in-law showed them to me years ago, just after Michael and I were married. She said they’d been packed up by one of the Keswick wives years before her time, at the turn of the century, in fact. Perhaps it was Clarissa who put those things in the trunks.”
“And you think she might have included the diaries, if they exist, in amongst them?” I said.
“There’s that possibility. In any case, it’s worth looking, don’t you think?”
“I certainly do,” I said. “And thanks for calling back.”
“Good night, Mal.”
“Night, Diana.”
“Look at this embroidery, it’s exquisite, Mrs. Andrew,” Hilary said, glancing up at me.
She was kneeling on the attic floor in front of one of the old trunks, and she handed me a claret-colored velvet cushion covered in beads. It was obviously Victorian.
I examined the work, surprised that the cushion and the beading were in such good condition after these many years. One entire side was covered with claret bugle beads, with gray, black, white, and silver beads used for the design. This was a combination of roses and leaves, bordered by delicate ferns around the edge. In the center of the cushion, white beads had been worked to form three words.
“Amor vincit omnia,” I read out loud. “Latin. It’s quite a well-known phrase. I think it means ‘love conquers all.’” Staring at Hilary, I lifted a brow questioningly.
“Don’t look at me like that, Mrs. Andrew,” she exclaimed with a laugh. “I never studied Latin. Mrs. Keswick would know what it means, though, she took Latin at Oxford University. At least, I think she did.”
“Yes, she did,” I concurred.
Bending over the trunk, Hilary pulled out another cushion, this one larger and cut from olive-green velvet. Silver, gold, and bronze beads formed the background; white beads made a pattern of calla lilies, with green beads for the stems. Once again there was a Latin phrase at the bottom, worked in green beads.
I took the cushion from Hilary and read, “Nunc scio quid sit Amor. I’m afraid I don’t know this phrase at all, but again, it has something to do with love.”
“Yes,” Hilary agreed, plunging her hands into the treasure trove. She pulled out two more cushions, both Victorian, heavily embroidered with beads and bearing Latin phrases.
As she showed them to me, I shook my head. “I can’t tell you what they say, but let’s take them downstairs. Mrs. Keswick will be interested in seeing them when she gets back from Paris.”
“I can’t believe she’s forgotten how beautiful they are,” Hilary murmured. “What I mean is, you told me she’d seen them years ago. You’d think she’d want to have them out. On the sofas and chairs, I mean.”
“Yes. But then perhaps she has forgotten, Hilary, just as you said. After all, it was quite a long time ago when she was shown them. Forty years, as a matter of fact.”
“Look at this, Mrs. Andrew!”
Hilary now passed me the most beautiful piece of black lace, cut in a large square, edged with jet beads, and encrusted with black bugle beads.
I held it up to look at it in the lamplight.
“What do you think it is?” Hilary asked me. “A mantilla? Like Spanish women used to wear?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so, though, it’s not quite long enough for a mantilla. But you’re right, it’s gorgeous. Is there much else in there?”
“Just old linens at the bottom of the trunk.”
Hilary began to lift out this collection of items, which had been carefully folded years ago, and handed them to me one by one. Then she pushed herself up on her feet. “This trunk’s empty now, Mrs. Andrew.”
Together we examined the folded white linens, discovered several Victorian nightgowns made of cotton, half a dozen hand-embroidered pillowcases, and six matching, hand-embroidered sheets.
“Mrs. Keswick can probably make use of these antique linen sheets and pillowcases,” Hilary announced. “In the two guest rooms. But I don’t know what she’ll do with the nightgowns. They’re a bit old-fashioned.” As she spoke Hilary held one of them against herself. “It smells of mothballs,” she muttered and made a face.
For the remainder of the week, Hilary and I spent most of our afternoons poking about in the attics of Kilgram Chase.
There were quite a lot of them located in the four wings of the house, and we ventured into all of them. I had never been up in the eaves before, and I was fascinated by these vast spaces and all that they contained.
Aside from the Victorian steamer trunks in the west-wing attics, we found a variety of other trunks, huge cardboard boxes, and many wooden tea chests stored at the top of the house.
Inside them we discovered a wealth of lovely old things, from more beaded cushions, needlepoint samplers, and a big selection of old linens to china, glass, and all manner of Victoriana: tortoiseshell stud boxes, mother-of-pearl calling-card cases, papier-mâché trays, decorative boxes, and tea caddies.
But no books. No diaries by Lettice Keswick. No copies by Andrew’s Victorian ancestor, Clarissa.
On Friday afternoon, Hilary and I were in the north-east attic above the library when I stumbled on an old leather trunk. Not quite as large as the other one
s we had come across, it was decorated with brass nailheads, now badly discolored, and looked very ancient.
“This might prove to be interesting,” I said to Hilary. “But wouldn’t you know, it’s locked.”
“I’ve got this kitchen knife with me,” Hilary answered. “Let me try to prise it open.” She came and knelt with me in front of the trunk. She worked away at the lock but was unable to get it to open.
“What about a hairpin?” I suggested. “That sometimes works.”
“I don’t have one. Do you, Mrs. Andrew?” she asked, looking at my pile of red hair upswept onto the top of my head.
“No, I’m using combs today,” I explained. “But there are some pins in my bedroom, I’ll rush down and get them.”
“Wait a sec. I’ll have a go with one of these old keys we found the other day,” Hilary replied, pulling a diverse collection of small, very ancient keys out of her apron pocket.
Selecting one at random, she tried to push it into the lock; it did not fit. After trying a number of others, she finally found one that slid into the lock with ease.
“This just might work,” she muttered to herself, twisting the key and jiggling it around. It took a few seconds, and then there was a distinct, if slight, click.
“I think I’ve done it!” she cried with a triumphant look at me.
“Go on, then, open it,” I said.
She lifted the lid, and together we looked inside.
“Books!” I exclaimed, bending over the edge of the leather trunk.
“I’m not going to touch them, Mrs. Andrew; they might be very valuable. I wouldn’t want to go and damage one.”
“I know what you mean, Hilary.” I began to nod to myself as I added, “Maybe we’ve struck gold.”
And we had, as it happened.
The first book I put my hands on turned out to be a treasure indeed, although at first glance it looked like nothing of much importance. Bound in black leather, worn, and torn a bit on the spine, it had a frontispiece written in a hand I instantly recognized. There was no mistaking that elegant, feathery, seventeenth-century script.