Julia and the Master of Morancourt Read online

  Sophie was not going to be deterred much longer from her purpose. “Papa, Papa, may I go and put on my boots now—please let me—then we can go riding? Please!”

  Sensing the inevitable, her father smiled wearily at Julia, and he and Sophie left the room with Jack Douglas. His brother, Kit, excused himself and went after them with the groom, leaving Julia in the library with his father.

  Before she could follow, Mr. Douglas said in a quieter voice, “Miss Maitland? Your father, Lewis, how is he? I had heard that his heart had been troubling him again. He looks rather worn. That concerns me very much.”

  “It’s true that he is still not well, sir, and he worries so about the future for all of us, now that the estate will go to our cousin after him.”

  Julia might have hesitated, but his kind manner encouraged her to continue. “It is very kind of you to try to help by introducing me to Jack, though it seems that I may need to compete with Sophie for his attention!”

  “Jack is twenty-seven years old now but, unless he acquires more gentlemanly manners, he may never be what I had hoped. My sons are very different and it is Kit who takes after my late wife. She was always quietly considerate of others.”

  As he spoke, he looked up at the portrait hanging on the wall of a tall dark-haired woman who bore a strong resemblance to his younger son.

  “As the owner of Norton Place, I have a local living here where I control the choice of the new curate, but Kit was never interested in entering the church, so I encouraged him to join the regiment, and he did very well. I had purchased him a commission in the Hussars, and then he was off to Spain. But all too soon he was wounded in an engagement with the French and, before he came home, my wife died suddenly.”

  Mr. Douglas paused and blew his nose loudly on a large spotted handkerchief.

  “Your family’s loss in the next battle was much greater than ours, but both young men were unlucky, for in each case the army had won a great victory—celebrated, of course, by those officers and men who survived.”

  “You are right, sir, for Dominic Brandon returned with the sad news of my brother’s death in the war with Napoléon.”

  “Yes. But for your father, for that to be followed so soon by his losses because of the bank failing in Derby, it was such bad timing.” And he patted her shoulder in a fatherly way.

  It is very odd, Julia thought. She had been so prepared to be wary of this man, and yet she now found that they were quite in sympathy with each other. Perhaps the common bond was her father and their affection for him, or maybe it was that she just felt confident that Harry Douglas was not pretentious but genuine, and keen to act in her best interests.

  A quiet voice from the doorway intervened. Kit Douglas had returned and was standing watching them both.

  “Father, we must go now to catch up with Jack and Miss Sophie, or they will leave on the ride without us. I fear that Jack might lead Miss Maitland’s sister on a dangerous route without thinking of the consequences.”

  Turning towards Julia with a slow smile, he added, “Your sister seems to be a determined young lady.”

  “Perhaps you really mean headstrong?”

  “I did not choose to put it that way, for fear of being rebuked.”

  “I must remember to be careful what words I use in your company, Mr. Douglas.”

  “I rather believe, Kit,” said his father, laughing, “that you might have met your match at last in this young lady.”

  “Perhaps, sir,” said his son, “but we really must go now before they leave for the ride.” He added, “Your sister asked me to tell you, Miss Maitland, that she has taken the tapestry bag and will leave it in the carriage, but your own riding boots await you in the hall.”

  Escorted by Kit Douglas to the hall, Julia took off her red shoes, gave them to the butler, and laced up her boots. By the time they had reached the stables, Jack Douglas and Sophie were already mounted. Her sister’s pretty bay was just the right size for a girl of middle height and, to Julia’s relief, did not seem to be too skittish. Jack had a fine chestnut stallion, which was already pawing the ground with impatience to be off.

  The stable lad was holding the reins of two more horses, and Reuben helped Julia to mount and settle comfortably side saddle on a grey roan. Kit Douglas was soon astride his large stallion, and the four young people rode out of the stable yard. On their way, they passed the steps to the main entrance of the house, where Harry Douglas and Julia’s father were standing by the front door to wave them on their way.

  “I suggest that we take the route up the valley, Jack, and then once we have emerged from the trees, go along the ridge where there will be a pleasant view over the park. I am sure that the young ladies would enjoy seeing that panorama.”

  “I suppose that we could go that way, Kit,” said his brother, “but it would be much more fun, once we reach the higher ground, if we take the longer route across the fields and down the valley on the far side. There are some good jumps over the low stone walls there.”

  Julia could see that his brother did not favour this idea, but Sophie exclaimed, “Oh, yes please, Mr. Douglas, I do enjoy jumping!”

  Before either Julia or Jack’s brother could protest, their companions set off at a fast trot up the slope, and only paused to wait for them once they had reached the very top of the hill. Julia rode behind with Kit Douglas at a more steady pace but, just as they were going to reach the others, Jack turned his mount to the left and Sophie followed him, cantering along and then out of sight over the ridge.

  “You don’t like that route, Mr. Douglas?”

  “No, Miss Maitland. The walls are not as low as my brother suggests. Is your sister a safe rider in a tight situation? If not, she could come to grief. I suggest that we ride a little further this way, and then we shall have a good view of them as they reach the jump over the first wall.”

  They rode as Kit Douglas had suggested, and paused at a viewpoint overlooking the further valley. Quite soon, Jack and his companion came into view, and Julia could see that they were heading for a stout stone wall at the far side of a large field. Kit Douglas was right, the wall was quite high, and Sophie was riding a small mare. However, that did not deter her.

  Julia held her breath and almost closed her eyes in concentration as the moment came for Sophie’s mount to jump the wall.

  “Oh, thank goodness,” she said, “she’s over safely.”

  “Yes—she did very well. But my brother did not. Look to the right, can you see—his mount refused and he was tangled in the reins as he fell.”

  “Oh, I do apologise. I had quite forgotten about your brother. Is he hurt?”

  “Probably not, but he will not be pleased that your young sister has shown him up. Perhaps one day he will learn not to show off. My father will be delighted that your sister had such success compared to Jack!”

  He turned in the saddle as he spoke and caught her surprised expression.

  “I can see that you disapprove?”

  “I would not speak of my father like that,” said Julia slowly.

  “But it’s true. Am I being harsh? Perhaps so—Jack usually does what he wants to, whether it is sensible or not. He will not help our father manage the rest of the estate. I would love to do that, but I am not the elder son. That is one reason why I went off to make my career in Spain, as an officer in Wellington’s army, but this wretched wound will probably prevent me from continuing that career—and anyway, now my father really wants me to stay in England.”

  Julia was still annoyed with him, but she tried not to show it.

  “Why would your father be delighted that Jack fell?” said Julia.

  “Have you noticed, Miss Maitland, that when two people are quite alike in some ways, they sometimes take pleasure in each other’s misfortunes? That is how it is with my father and Jack, and I suppose it always will be. My father would have preferred to have had a daughter like you.”

  “Like me? I don’t believe that he knows very much abo
ut me.”

  “He already has a very good opinion of you, gained from your father. He knows how much Mr. Maitland depends on you since the loss of your brother.”

  Julia was quite taken aback to find that tears came so quickly to her eyes at the mention of David’s death, and even more upset to realise that her companion had noticed.

  He now spoke in quite a different tone of voice. “Please forgive me, Miss Maitland, I do apologise for mentioning a subject so painful to you. I never met your brother, but I heard an account of the battle, passed on by your father from Freddie Brandon.”

  “It was not Freddie, but Dominic, the elder brother,” Julia said quietly. “I know Freddie quite well, as he is the same age as his cousin Emily, who is a great friend of mine. She has lived with their family since her parents died. We are visiting the castle next week, although I don’t know if Emily will be there.”

  “So that will not be the reason for your visit?”

  “No, but my mother insists that we go. She is too easily impressed by people with titles, and she is very determined that I should be.”

  “We at least seem to have one thing in common then, Miss Maitland.”

  “What is that?”

  “That we are both getting rather tired of other people trying to take control of our lives. I would guess, from the way you put it, that you are not anxious to marry the son of an earl?”

  “Freddie is good fun, but of course he is the younger brother, and not the person that my mama has in mind for me.” Then she remembered where she was, and why. “Should we not find out how your brother and Sophie are getting on down there?”

  “Yes—you are quite right. If you will follow me, we can take another way from theirs, which is just as picturesque but not so likely to bring us to harm.” And he suddenly gave her a warm smile, which made her feel rather breathless.

  Perhaps fortunately, at that moment they came around a bluff and then had a better view of the two riders. Riding steadily down the slope, she followed her companion until they reached the stone wall where Jack Douglas was still untangling himself from the reins and muttering under his breath.

  Sophie had turned her own mount on the far side of the wall, and was riding back towards Jack Douglas as Julia asked him how he was.

  “I’m all right, Miss Maitland, just a bit winded,” he said with more than a tinge of annoyance in his voice. “Your sister is a brave rider, and especially so on such a small mare.”

  He remounted his horse rather painfully, and they all continued together. Julia noticed that, from then on, he did not try so hard to impress Sophie with his riding prowess.

  The rest of the outing was uneventful, and after about two hours they returned to the stables where Reuben the groom awaited them with a message from their host. A light collation was ready in the dining room, where Mr. Douglas and Mr. Maitland were anxious to start their meal without delay.

  “Well, Miss Sophie,” said her host, “have you enjoyed your ride, and meeting Jack and Kit?”

  “Oh, yes, thank you so much, Mr. Douglas.”

  “And you, Miss Maitland? Have you enjoyed your visit?”

  Julia acknowledged that she had had a very pleasant afternoon.

  “Your father was telling me that you have been reading books about the improvements to farming practice being introduced by Mr. Coke in Norfolk? I had been hoping that Jack would travel to Holkham Hall for the same reason.”

  “I’m not interested,” Jack said. “We are doing well enough the way we are running the farm now.”

  His father looked displeased. “Jack is not keen on anything new. You don’t see it that way, Miss Maitland?”

  “No, sir, for the changes to the farm that our manager has made since he went there, to learn about the best crop strains and changes to the types of stock that we should use, have made quite a difference to the income from our estate land.”

  “That is an unusual interest,” interjected Kit Douglas.

  Julia jibbed at this. “You mean for a young lady, Mr. Douglas?”

  She could see from the amused expression in his eyes that she had scored a hit.

  But his father answered for her. “Lewis tells me that Miss Maitland is doing her best to help him in her brother’s place.”

  Kit looked chagrined. “I do apologise, Miss Maitland—please forgive me, for a moment I had forgotten your very sad circumstances.”

  “Perhaps you would not have me read books on that particular subject?” Julia said to him, with a wicked smile.

  He acknowledged his error. “Touché, Miss Maitland! Are you going to confound me with my own remarks earlier this afternoon?”

  “Although we shall not be able to stay on at Banford Hall after my father’s cousin inherits the estate.”

  He nodded in understanding.

  “You could say that I am wasting my time.”

  “I doubt very much if you ever waste your time, Miss Maitland.”

  Julia’s father smiled at this, but suggested that they should be on their way home soon.

  “I do hope that you will both come again,” Mr. Douglas said, looking at his elder son. But Jack was too busy enjoying his plate of cakes and said nothing.

  The journey back home was full of cheerful chatter between the sisters, whilst their father listened with approval. It was only when they entered the house that Julia suddenly remembered that she had left her old red shoes behind at the mansion.

  Two

  Only an hour had passed on the following morning, but Julia was already feeling totally exhausted after trying to explain to her mother everything that had occurred during their visit to Norton Place.

  Sophie, her mother’s favourite, had already given a highly coloured account of their day, the excursion that the sisters had taken, with Jack riding with Sophie and Kit Douglas with Julia, and Sophie’s success in jumping the wall when Jack’s mount had refused.

  As so often happened, Mama seemed to think that Julia had deliberately not ridden with Jack because she was being difficult, rather than it being the consequence of the headstrong way that Sophie had behaved.

  “Mama, Jack Douglas is a really good horseman,” said Sophie, “and we had such fun together out in the park.”

  Their mother was less interested in that than whether Julia had been able to have any private conversation with him.

  “Mama,” said Julia, “I have already tried to explain that I didn’t ride with Jack Douglas, so I couldn’t have any private conversation with him. But he didn’t seem to be the kind of young man of whom you would approve.”

  “The visit was not arranged for you to decide whether I would like the young man,” her mother said in her dismissive way. “Papa made the journey so that you could have an opportunity to meet him.”

  Julia decided not to argue.

  Her mother had always valued people with a title and inherited property above those who had made their own way in the world. Odd really, thought Julia, since Mama herself did not come from a long-established family.

  “Harry Douglas is the kind of man who has always had to buy his own furniture.”

  “Buy his own furniture? Mama, what do you mean?” asked Sophie.

  “A self-made man has not had the opportunity to inherit handsome furniture, or indeed an estate, from their parents or grandparents. They would have to buy such things themselves, Sophie.”

  “But what would Mr. Douglas have bought the Norton Place estate with, Mama? Did you not tell me that it is a very valuable property?”

  “I’ve been told that his father was a farmer in only a small way of business. Harry Douglas bought Norton Place with money that he had made himself from trade. His late wife, whose father was a baronet, did have a handsome dowry, but Mr. Douglas himself does not come from a long-established family like the Brandons.”

  “If they are not a suitable family for us to associate with, why did we go to see Jack Douglas yesterday?” said Sophie.

  “I did not say that t
hey were an unsuitable family, Sophie, only that they were not long established. In any case, Papa particularly wanted Julia to go, and it was Mr. Douglas who suggested that you should accompany them. He has been a good friend to Papa, and he did his best to help us when we had the problem with the bank’s failure.”

  “Jack did not seem to be very interested in Julia,” said Sophie. “I thought that he liked me better!”

  “He seemed to like animals much better than people in general,” responded her sister.

  Their mother decided to change the subject.

  “Julia is going next week with Papa to meet Lord Brandon, the heir to the earldom. His family is very wealthy by inheritance, and would provide handsomely for the wife of their eldest son. As you know, Julia is already very friendly with his cousin Emily.”

  “I think,” said Sophie, “that Julia likes Freddie, his brother, much better than she does Dominic.”

  “You,” said her elder sister, “know nothing about it, and I would be grateful if you would mind your own business!”

  For once, their mother frowned at Sophie and told her to keep quiet.

  “What did you think of Jack’s father, Harry Douglas?” said her mother.

  “I liked him. He has a rather rough and ready way of speaking compared to many people that we know, but he seemed to be a fair-minded person, someone who could be relied upon in a difficult situation, and he was very understanding when referring to David. In fact, he was very pleasant to me in all our conversation.”

  Mama did not look impressed by this description.

  “And the mansion and the park at Norton Place?”

  Julia was beginning to feel rebellious at all this questioning. “It is a gracious house, quite large and very well kept, although perhaps missing a woman’s touch in the furnishings. We only saw part of the park, but Sophie will have told you that there are extensive rides across the grounds.”