Reunited At The King's Court. Helen Dickson
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hair, gently curling, was drawn off her face and hung down her back. Everyone paused in their conversations and glanced her way. Her smile was dazzling and she seemed to bestow it on every one of those present—and did he imagine it, or did everyone resume talking with more animation than before?
His whole sum and substance was concentrated on her. She had an individuality that had nothing to do with her beauty. It took William’s breath away. With her creamy white complexion she was utterly feminine. She moved with a fluency and elegance that drew the eye. There was an intriguing, indefinable presence about her that made her stand out, even in the moving kaleidoscope of colour and animated voices. It was as if everyone and everything was in motion except Arlette. But he detected a restlessness about her. She looked about her with a keen interest, her glance filled with anticipation and bright expectance.
And then, as if she sensed his gaze on her, her head came up and she saw him and smiled the widest smile that warmed and lit up her features. Holding her gaze, he headed slowly but purposefully towards her.
‘William! I am most surprised to see you here.’
‘Do you mind?’
‘Oh, no. I’m glad you came. The whole of London is celebrating tonight. But come with me. I know Hester will be most happy to see you. I told her I had seen you in the parade—I did not tell her I had spoken to you—but I told her you recognised me and waved, which will explain your arrival here tonight.’
Hester was happy to see William and relieved to know he had survived his exile in France. When Anne Willoughby asked Arlette to accompany her to the kitchen to fetch more refreshments as the guests continued to pour in, she left William talking to Hester and Richard. She was kept busy for quite some time and when she returned to William’s side he asked her to walk with him awhile in the garden.
She looked at him for a moment and indecision flashed across her face. Considering the propriety of taking a stroll in the garden with him, she glanced at Hester, but her sister was engaged in conversation and did not look her way. The indecision on her face turned to resolution and she smiled at William. ‘If you have the time, I would be happy to.’
‘I have no great desire to return to Whitehall just yet.’
They left the revellers behind and stepped on to a pathway that wound around the flowerbeds, the scent of roses and honeysuckle competing with the smell of roast meats wafting from the kitchen.
‘I think this has been the best day of my life,’ Arlette told him, her eyes alight with happiness. ‘I don’t want it to end. Ever since you left for the Continent I have thought of you, remembering how we travelled together from Mayfield and wondering if I would ever see you again. And now here you are.’
Arlette didn’t know how explicit her expression was—like an open book, exposing what was in her heart. William saw it and was immediately wary, and in that moment he realised that eliminating her from his life now he had become reacquainted with her was going to be harder than he could possibly have imagined.
Having walked as far as they could go, William guided her to a wooden bench against a high stone wall and indicated that they should sit.
‘But not for long, Arlette,’ he replied in answer to her remark. ‘Very soon I shall head for Warwickshire—once the Puritan who took up residence at Arlington Court has been evacuated.’
‘Will you be able to do that—turn him out?’
He nodded. ‘The man was a regicide. His position is threatened now the King has returned. He may not have signed the notorious death warrant for the execution of Charles I, but it is widely known that he actively supported it. He will be lucky to escape with his neck intact. The King has agreed to pardon all those of conscience who appeal for his grace and favour—a generous action in my opinion. However, it does not extend to those who murdered his father—the forty-one men who put their name to that infamous death warrant. It is almost certain that all Royalist properties gained by the regicides and others who supported Cromwell will be rescinded.’
‘Including Arlington Court?’
He nodded. ‘Arlington Court means a great deal to me. The estate was bestowed upon one of my ancestors by the Crown for his acts of heroism and loyalty. Since my father died and the title and estate passed to me, it is my intention to see that this proud heritage is maintained in a manner that represents the grandeur my ancestor earned. I imagine my return will come as something of a shock.’ He smiled down at her. ‘But you need not worry about such things.’
‘But I do—all the time. More so now the monarchy is restored. I pray Thomas will come home. I cannot bear to think of what he is having to endure on that island, and if—when—I have to think positively, you see—he comes home, I would like to think he has one to come home to. As a consequence of my father’s actions and his failure to pay the huge fines levied against him, Mayfield Hall was sequestered. Will it be possible for me or Hester to put forward a petition?’
‘You told me you’ve heard nothing at all from him.’
‘No, nothing,’ she said softly, shaking her head dejectedly.
‘From what I understand, the prisoners’ term of indenture on Barbados is for seven years.’
‘Then why has he not come home?’ Her eyes, big and dark in her face, filled with tears. Her brother’s situation seemed so much worse now that England was at peace and everyone was celebrating the return of the King.
‘I have no idea. I believe when a prisoner’s term of indenture is over they are free to work for themselves or another employer. Those who wish to return to England will have to earn enough to pay for their passage. It is possible that when Thomas was released he decided to stay there.’
‘But if so, then surely he would have written. Unless—unless he didn’t survive. He’s occupied my thoughts so much over the years and I have wondered what has happened to him. I know he will have been put to work on a plantation; that he might have been sold like a slave and forced to perform hard labour on the sugar plantations and treated cruelly. But no matter what has happened to him, I would still like to petition to have Mayfield Hall returned to my family. I think about the tenants and the servants a great deal: the old, the sick and the children who have served my family faithfully for generations, people who were dependent on us. How have they fared, I wonder? It concerns me greatly.’
‘That I can understand. I remember the pain you suffered when you left.’
‘I was fortunate to have stayed at Mayfield for as long as I did. It was a dark day for me the day I left. I felt the darkness of despair and the fear and the knowledge that I would not see my father again. The fear I felt was for the future, not knowing what was to happen. The real reason Father didn’t send me to Hester sooner was because Richard sided with Parliament. We lost contact with Hester during the latter part of the wars. I was so tired of it all and the estrangement.’
‘The wars are over, Arlette. The gaps are closing.’
‘And you are here. I still cannot believe it. In the brief time we were together I felt as if my spirit was alive...as if I had drunk sparkling wine—not that I knew what sparkling wine was like, but I tried to imagine it—and the bubbles were effervescing and bursting inside me. And then you weren’t there any more and I felt quite desperate.’
‘You had Hester.’
She dropped her gaze. ‘Hester wasn’t you.’
Looking at the young woman sitting beside him, at her bowed head and the dejected droop of her shoulders, something of her anguish and despair penetrated William’s mind. Taking her hand he held it tight for a moment, breathing in the faint sweet scent of her, of roses and jasmine, he thought, and rosemary—for remembrance, remembrance of their time together