I hope this letter finds you well, although I myself have suffered from a bad chill in the days after our mountain escapade. I wished to tell you that everything I said to you, I meant. I ask you to please bear with me as there is a complex situation that I must endeavour to resolve. It is not of your making – or, for that matter, particularly of mine – but arose simply from my readiness to do the right thing for all whom I love.
I know I speak in riddles, but sadly, plans were set in motion before I saw you and I must now do my best to extricate myself from them, to clear a path forward. I suggest, due to the current sensitivity of the situation, that you burn this letter, as I know how such missives have a habit of falling into the wrong hands. And I would not wish to compromise you.
In the meantime, I entreat you again to trust me, and I remain your friend and ardent admirer,
Archie Vaughan
P.S. Please pass on my best regards to Panther. I hope he is looking after you.
Flora read and reread his words, trying to make sense of them. When they started to dance across the page in front of her, she folded the letter with a sigh and placed it back in its envelope.
To distract herself, Flora reached for the letters from Aurelia. The first one was full of excited gossip.
There are already two betrothals announced and Mama and I have been invited to attend both engagement parties. In truth, there are a number of young men here who seek me out, but none of them have caught my heart. I was disappointed that your nemesis, Archie Vaughan, was apparently unwell and therefore had to cancel his intended visit to London. Now I doubt I will see him before the Season ends and everyone disperses to summer at home or, in some cases, abroad. I confess that returning to Esthwaite might feel a little dull after London, but I am so looking forward to seeing you, my darling sister. You have no idea just how much I have missed you.
‘“Nemesis” . . . hah!’ Flora put down the letter and thought how much had changed since she had last seen Aurelia. And then, with a heavy heart, she knew she must acknowledge her sister’s feelings for Archie. Aurelia only wished Flora to like him and forgive him. How horrified would she be if she knew the truth?
Flora went up to her bedroom, tucked the letters into the silk pocket at the back of her current journal, and locked that in her writing bureau. She sent up a silent – and rather selfish – prayer that some man . . . any man other than Archie, might capture Aurelia’s heart in what little remained of the Season. There were many things she was willing to share with her sister, but she was painfully aware that her newfound passion for Archie Vaughan could never be one of them.
She lay down on the bed and tore open the second letter from Aurelia.
4 Grosvenor Square
London
7th July 1909
Dearest Sister,
It is with a mixture of sadness and great joy that I write to tell you that, after all, I will not be joining you at home as soon as I thought. I have been invited to stay at High Weald by Lady Vaughan! Elizabeth has told me of its beauty and I look forward to seeing the legendary gardens she has described to me. As you can imagine, what is making me most eager to visit is the fact that Archie will be there. I am told he is still suffering from his chill, which is the reason he has not been seen in London and is much missed by all. Mama will return home to Esthwaite alone and I hope you can forgive me for extending my stay down south, but equally, understand the reasons why. I will be home in September and will continue writing in the meantime.
My love to you, my darling sister,
Aurelia
A lurch of pain clutched at Flora’s heart. A pain that transcended any blistered feet, fever or past grief over a lost member of her menagerie. Aurelia was going to stay at High Weald. She would see first-hand the house Archie had described and, even more poignantly, his beloved gardens.
Flora’s treacherous mind pictured Aurelia in one of her beautiful dresses, a large sun hat adorned with flowers perched on the top of her blonde head, being escorted around the gardens by Archie. As Flora sank back onto her pillows, she thought she might well vomit all over Panther’s sleek black fur.
When Sarah knocked on the door an hour later to see what she fancied for lunch, Flora feigned sleep. She doubted she would ever feel hungry again.
Her mother arrived home from London in the first week of August. Flora could see Rose was tense and put it down to her unhappiness at returning home after the bright lights of London. Three days later, her father, who it seemed to Flora was always miserable, returned from the Highlands. Perhaps it was also Aurelia’s absence, and the fact that Flora’s vivid imagination travelled hourly to dark thoughts of her sister with Archie at High Weald, but the entire household seemed to lie under a pall of gloom.
Now fully recovered from her chill, Flora took up her normal routine, rising early to forage for food for her animals, taking the trap to run errands in Hawkshead, and sketching whatever new treasures she’d found on her travels in the balmy afternoon sun. When she was at home, she heard hushed whispers behind the door of her father’s study and the conversation at dinner was even more stilted than usual.
As August gasped its last dying breaths and took summer with it for another year, Rose asked her daughter to come to see her after breakfast. Flora felt a strange sense of relief as she walked towards the morning room and tapped on the door; whatever it was her mother had to tell her, it would be a welcome cloudburst after weeks of pent-up pressure.
‘Hello, Mama,’ she said as she entered.
‘Come and sit down, Flora.’
Flora sat in the chair her mother indicated. Clear light flowed in from the windows and illuminated the faded colours of the old Mahal carpet underfoot. A fire had been lit in the grate, a sign the seasons were on the turn.
‘Flora, over the past few weeks, your father and I have been discussing the future of . . . our family.’
‘I see.’
‘I am hoping that what I have to say to you will not come as too much of a shock. Even though you may say little, I’m aware that you note everything.’
‘Do I?’ Flora was surprised at her mother’s comment.
‘Yes. You are a clever and perceptive young woman.’
Flora knew what was coming must be bad, for she could hardly remember such a compliment ever passing her mother’s lips before. ‘Thank you, Mama.’
‘There is no other way to tell you this, but your father is selling Esthwaite Hall.’
Flora’s breath caught in her throat and Rose avoided her daughter’s eyes as she continued.
‘During the past few years, every penny has gone into its maintenance, which is why the household lives so frugally. The fact is, there is simply no more money. And, quite rightly, your father refuses to accumulate debt to fund the necessary repairs. There is a buyer who is prepared to pay a good price and has the money to restore the Hall. Your father has found us a house in the Highlands, by Loch Lee, and this is where we will be moving to in November. I am sorry, Flora. I am aware of how much, out of all of us, you love our home and its surroundings. But there is nothing to be done.’