Héloïse knelt before her and untied her bonnet-strings and
lifted it off, and took off her gloves for her, and even unlaced her boots and removed them, and chafed her feet. It was very
pleasant to be looked after like that: she had had so little
mothering in her life.
‘There, is that better?' Héloïse said when she had made her
comfortable. 'Now a glass of wine will do you good. James,
pour a glass for Fanny.'
‘
It will be very interesting to hear of your experiences,
Fanny,' Miss Rosedale said. 'It was a marvellous opportunity
for you, to be present at such an historic time. I hope you
were aware of it.'
‘
I was aware of everything,' Fanny said with a tired smile.
'I can't tell you how I loved Vienna! I felt so alive, with every
thing happening all around me. Sometimes it was almost as if there wasn't time to breathe! I didn't want to leave, ever. If it
hadn't been for the baby --’
James pulled his chair nearer. 'I hope you talked about it to
your Aunt Lucy, Fan,' he said earnestly. 'There's no-one
whose advice you could better trust. What did she tell you? I
wish we could make sure she would be on hand when the time
comes. When is it due?'
‘
In June, I suppose,' Fanny said. She felt a little awkward
discussing her pregnancy with her father, and was only glad
Uncle Ned was not present — he was about the estate as
usual. 'Where's Mathilde?'
‘
She has gone out riding with John Skelwith,' Héloïse
answered her.
Fanny made a face. 'Oh, has she? Well I hope he may
marry her this time, and take her off our hands.'
‘Fanny!' Héloïse said reproachfully.
‘
It's embarrassing having a great girl of her age still
unmarried and hanging about the house,' Fanny said. 'I
should have been ashamed to stay single until I was twenty-
five!’
The house has been very quiet without you,' James said
with a wry smile.
‘
Well, I can tell you, I haven't come home to be quiet,'
Fanny said. 'I have come to stir you all up — and it looks as
though you need it!'
‘
I suppose you won't be able to hunt this season, will you,
Fanny?' Sophie said. 'That will be sad for you. We had the
most wonderful hunt on Tuesday — we galloped four miles
without a check, all the way from Hessay to the Roman Road
past Tockwith! I wish you had been with us!'
‘
I was hunting in the Wienerwald just before Christmas,'
Fanny said airily. 'The Csar complimented me on my seat,
and said he wished he could shew me some Russian hunting. I
thought I might go to St Petersburg one day, just to see.'
‘
You met the Csar of Russia?' Sophie said, as impressed as
Fanny had intended her to be.
‘
How wonderful to be able to travel,' Miss Rosedale sighed.
'Of course, now the war is over, there's no reason why you
shouldn't see lots of other countries.'
‘
I have to set my affairs in order first,' Fanny said. 'I shall
have a look at the books tomorrow, Papa, and see what you
have all been getting up to while I've been away. And then I must go and visit Grandpapa. Has anything more been heard
from him?'
‘Nothing,' Héloïse answered.
‘Has anyone written to tell him I'm increasing?'
‘No,
ma there.
We thought you would want to write yourself.’
‘
Good.' Fanny nodded in satisfaction. 'That gives me an
excuse to go and see him.'
‘
Another journey so soon — and in winter?' James said
anxiously. 'I don't think it's wise, Fanny. Can't you just write
to him?'
‘
No, Papa, it won't do. I have to make sure of the mills.’
‘
Oh, that!' James looked exasperated. 'Haven't you got
enough, Fanny?'
‘
I could never have enough. And I've got a son to think
about now,' she said firmly.
‘
How dynastic you sound!' James couldn't help laughing.
'But it may be a daughter, don't forget.'
‘It's a boy,' Fanny said. 'I know.’
*
Fanny took a fortnight to 'set her affairs in order', before she
departed on the visit to Manchester. Edward was more than
glad to see her go. She had been openly hostile to him from
the moment he arrived home on her first day back, and the
following morning, disconcertingly early, she sought him out
to take him to task for the promise he had extracted from
Hawker to stay abroad.
‘
Everything we did, we did for your benefit,' Edward said
hotly. 'God knows, the whole world revolves around Fanny
Morland, and precious little thanks anyone has ever got for it!
You've spent your life being contrary and causing trouble,
and then you needs must decide to marry the most worthless
man in Christendom —'
‘
That's the last time you ever speak of my husband like
that, do you hear me?' she hissed, her eyes like slits of green-
gold fire.
‘
You can't speak to me like that,' Edward said, half angry,
half disdainful.
‘
Yes I can! Yes I will! You think you can do what you like,
because you're my trustee, but one day I shall be powerful
enough to crush you like a robin's egg! And if you ever say
anything slighting about my husband again, I shall strike
you!’
It had been a hard two weeks. Fanny found fault with
everything, checked and checked again on Edward's work
and figures in the most insulting way, letting the servants and
estate-workers see that she didn't trust him. She appeared
when she was least expected, silently, critically observing him;
and in the evenings in the house she ignored him utterly, not according him even a civil nod as he came into the room. He
would by far have preferred to retire to the steward's room of
an evening, except that he would not be driven out of his own
drawing-room by his own niece. It made things uncomfort
able for everyone, and Héloïse begged James to intervene.
‘
It is intolerable to be forced to side with one or the other,'
she said. 'If I talk to Edward, Fanny glares at me; and I
cannot ignore him, and condone Fanny's rudeness.'
‘
Well, I'll talk to her,' James said, 'but I don't think it will
do any good.'
‘
Tell her if she doesn't mind her temper, she will sour the
baby's,' Héloïse suggested.
James tackled Fanny, and she listened to him with unex
pected patience, but only said, 'He doesn't deserve my civility.
He has deliberately separated me from my husband. He was
always against Fitz, from the beginning.'
‘
Fanny, darling, we all were,' James said uncomfortably,
'and if you're reasonable, you can't blame us. It was our
business to protect you, you must see that. We would have been
failing in our duty if we hadn't tried to stop you making what
we saw — everyone saw — as a bad marriage.'
‘
Well, I forgive you, because you love me. And Madame did
her best to make my wedding-day happy. And Rosey minded
her own business, and the others don't count. But I'll never
forgive Uncle Ned. He'd better just watch his step from now
on.
James changed tack. 'Darling, there's another thing — I
don't think you ought to be doing so much. You're working
far too hard. You must remember your delicate condition.
You ought to be resting, and thinking about the baby.'
‘
Pho! The baby can take care of itself. Why, I hardly even
chew yet,' Fanny said robustly.
‘
At least won't you forget about this trip to Manchester?
And rest during the afternoons, if you're working during the
mornings?’
She patted his hand. 'I can't, Papa. I know you're worried
about me, but don't be. I'm very strong and healthy, you
know that. I've never had a day's illness in my life.'
‘
That's true. But you've never been pregnant before,' he
said.
‘
I must put everything in order, before I get too far along,'
she said decidedly. 'You must understand that. By April I
shall be too big to get about, and I'll have to spend my days
lying on the sopha. Then you may brood over me as much as
you like, and bring me caudles and cushions and rugs! But I
must be sure everything is settled first, or I shall fret.’
James had to be content with that.
*
Fanny found the journey to Manchester more tiring than she
expected. The winter had been mild, fortunately, and there
was no snow to contend with, but the roads were heavily
mired, and the slow jolting, with frequent stops while the
horses hauled the carriage out of a particularly deep rut, was
exhausting. Now in her fifth month, Fanny had been feeling
very well, the bouts of sickness having disappeared, and a new
access of energy filling her as her body adjusted itself to its
new state. The journey, however, left her feeling nauseous, with an unpleasant headache, and at the end of seven hours
in the chaise the first day, she was more than glad to reach
Huddersfield, and to stop at The George, and bespeak a room
and an early dinner.
After an hour's rest and a wash, she was refreshed enough
to feel the pleasure of travelling alone, and of ordering her
own dinner at a posting-house; though when the meal came,
she was unable to do it proper justice. She slept heavily, and
woke the next morning little refreshed, to face the second, but
shorter leg of her journey. Once they were past Oldham, the
roads were much improved, and the last eight miles were
covered in only an hour, on a fine hard surface. At three
o'clock they were clattering through the familiar crowded,
grimy streets of Manchester. Fanny viewed the pall of smoke
which drifted sideways in the damp air with indulgence: it
was the symbol of prosperity; it was the smoke that was
making wealth — her wealth.
When the carriage pulled up outside Hobsbawn House,
Mrs Murray was waiting on the steps with the butler to greet
her, her face wreathed in hypocritical smiles, which did not
conceal from Fanny the sharpness of the eyes that scanned
her as she stepped down from the chaise. Fanny might flatter
herself that she 'hardly shewed', but one glance told Mrs
Murray all. For a moment her face seemed to sharpen and
age, and then her smile returned twice as wide, and she
hurried forward.