Heirs of the Body(42)
“Look!” cried Belinda. “I can’t wait for Monday.” She explained to Ben the delights of a village fête.
“It sounds a bit like our Carnival,” he said doubtfully. Judging by his description of Carnival, as overheard by Daisy, the fête was a far more staid affair.
To the right, towards the village, the Dower House lay near the foot of the gentle downward slope, a red-brick Georgian house surrounded by its own gardens and orchard. Though small in comparison with Fairacres, the house easily accommodated Violet and John and their children, together with their nanny and Vi’s personal maid, in addition to the dowager and her servants. Daisy’s mother complained bitterly of overcrowding, but she would have complained equally bitterly of being neglected had her elder and favourite daughter and family accepted Geraldine’s invitation to stay at Fairacres.
Daisy hoped she wouldn’t be too set against Derek moving up to the big house. After all, she was always complaining about noisy boys, and Derek was the noisy one, his younger brother being of a quiet and contemplative nature.
“I’ll race you,” said Belinda, and she and Ben dashed off down the hill.
Laurette tut-tutted, but sotto voce.
The visit went better than Daisy had feared. Both the dowager viscountess and Lord and Lady John Frobisher were accustomed to deference and found no fault in the Vincent Dalrymples’ manners. Belinda and Benjamin were on their best behaviour, and Bel’s request for Derek to join them at Fairacres was met with “If he’d like to, we’ll see.”
Lady Dalrymple appeared to be blind to Ben’s colour. As she later confided to Daisy, “Obviously Edgar’s lawyer has made some stupid error over the boy; no doubt he’ll soon sort it out. I’m not at all prejudiced against black people, the civilised sort. You will recall that I was of some assistance to the Indian person at Brockdene, when we mistakenly spent Christmas there. But naturally it’s quite impossible that a black could be a member of our family.”
Daisy didn’t argue. In the first place, arguing with her mother was entirely pointless. In the second place, she had her own doubts of Crowley’s veracity.
Her brother-in-law also drew her aside. “To tell the truth, Daisy, I’ll be very happy if Derek wants to go up to the house. Violet isn’t well. The journey exhausted her.”
“I thought she was looking a bit pale and wan. She hasn’t really been well since the baby was born, has she?”
“I’m afraid not,” John said wryly. “The doctor says no more children. I’ll be glad to see Derek off her hands this week, especially as I’m going to have to go home for a couple of days. The hop harvest is just getting going and it’s the one thing my bailiff isn’t comfortable handling on his own, with all the pickers coming down from the East End.”
“You’ll be back for Edgar’s birthday?”
“Of course. But if you could keep an eye on Violet while I’m away, and make sure she doesn’t overexert herself.… You know how she likes to spend time with the children.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her, and Derek can bring his things over tomorrow after church.” Daisy went to talk to her sister.
“Has John been telling you I’m at death’s door?” Violet asked resignedly, in a soft voice. “Don’t go spreading it about, will you, Daisy?”
“Of course not, darling. Is it true?”
“Just a bit done up from the journey. You know how I hate to travel, and John gets in a fuss. I just need a couple of days of peace and quiet and I’ll be perfectly all right for Edgar’s birthday ‘spree,’ as Derek insists on calling it.”
“You’ll have much more peace and quiet if Derek comes to the house.”
“Y-yes. I suppose, if you and Alec think the … that boy is an acceptable friend for Belinda.…” She glanced at the three children, who had their heads together as if they’d known each other for years. “Much as I love him, he’s at that awkward age—active and noisy, but too old to be sent to the nursery. All right,” she conceded with a sigh. “And I won’t even ask you to try to keep him out of mischief. It’s impossible.”
Daisy briefly wondered whether she had bitten off more than she could chew. She took comfort in the thought that Edgar and Geraldine were both accustomed to dealing with large numbers of children at that “awkward” age. Derek, Bel, and Ben must be encouraged to work off their excess energy in insect-hunting expeditions.
As usual, as the party from Fairacres was leaving, Lady Dalrymple had the last word. “You didn’t bring the twins, Daisy. Belinda is a nice enough child, but after all, she’s only a stepgranddaughter.…”