A Stranger at Castonbury(19)

‘I am sorry, Mrs Stratton,’ he said. ‘I’m afraid I startled her.’

‘L-Lord Hatherton?’ she whispered. ‘Is it really you?’

‘It is me,’ Jamie said. He could think of nothing else to say, nothing that could smooth his homecoming. ‘I’m sorry to have arrived at such an inconvenient time. I understand a wedding is imminent.’

Mrs Stratton shook her head, her eyes bright. ‘We thought never to see you again, my lord. Any moment you arrived would be...’ She shook her head again and seemed to compose herself. ‘Welcome back to Castonbury, my lord.’

‘Thank you, Mrs Stratton. It’s...’ Strange? Difficult? Painful? ‘...good to be back.’

Mrs Stratton reached down for the maid’s arm and pulled her to her feet. ‘Stop that caterwauling at once, girl. It is only Lord Hatherton. You need to gather those flowers immediately and see that they get to Ellen for arranging. They need to be in the drawing room well before tonight’s dinner party.’

Mary gave a squeak and hurriedly scooped up the flowers before she ran off.

‘A dinner party?’ Jamie said in alarm.

‘Merely a small dinner, my lord,’ Mrs Stratton said. ‘The family is upstairs getting dressed after an afternoon in the gardens. Your father will probably not attend, I think.’

Jamie remembered what Harry had said about their father’s health, that he seldom left his rooms these days. ‘Is he unwell today?’

‘No, it has been rather a good day for the duke, my lord. He is excited about the wedding, as we all are. But he does have his good times and his bad times.’ Mrs Stratton gave him a smile. ‘I am sure seeing you will make this the best of days.’

Another twinge of guilt touched Jamie. ‘I hope I can be of help now that I am home, Mrs Stratton. I will try to stay out of the way for the wedding.’

‘Nonsense, my lord! You could never be in the way. You were always the best behaved of all the Montague children.’

Jamie laughed wryly, remembering all his childhood pranks. ‘I fear you are too kind to me.’

‘Not at all.’ Mrs Stratton’s eyes were suspiciously bright again, but she shook her head and said, ‘Shall I take you to the duke, then, my lord? He likes to have a small brandy and some cakes at this hour. It livens up his evening a bit.’

Brandy and cakes? It seemed like such a small world for the man he remembered as larger than life. ‘Thank you, Mrs Stratton. I would appreciate that.’

As Jamie followed the housekeeper through the kitchens, he saw how truly busy everyone was. The maids and footmen dashed around, bearing gowns and cravats to be pressed, flowers to be arranged and trays of refreshments. The clatter of pots and pans and silver was in the air, which smelled of roasting chicken and cinnamon spices. But as he passed, they all froze in their paths to stare. When he nodded to them, they hurriedly curtsied and bowed and scurried on their errands.

Did they think he was a ghost as well? A spectre haunting the party.

He followed Mrs Stratton up the winding stairs, past more maids carrying flowers, and through the green baize doors that divided the warm, noisy servants’ realm from the outer world of Castonbury.

But even here everything was noise and movement, splashes of colour amid the shadows. Vases of flowers stood against the dark walls and garlands were twined along the staircase banisters. Jamie couldn’t remember so much colour in the house since his mother, with her love of parties, had died so long ago. It felt almost like the house was coming awake again after a long sleep.

If only it could thaw his own soul.

‘How is your son faring, Mrs Stratton?’ he asked as they turned down a long, narrow gallery lined with portraits in their old, heavily gilded frames. The first duke who had once been an earl, his grandfather, his uncle, his mother with Jamie in his infant days clinging to her skirts. All as familiar to him as his own face in the mirror.

Yet even they seemed very far away, not a real part of him at all.

‘Adam?’ Mrs Stratton said. A smile touched her lined face. ‘He is quite well, my lord. He is married now, you know, to Amber Hall from the village. They are living in Lancashire where he has his business concerns. I hope to join them there after the wedding.’ She did not mention the fact that had recently come to light, that Amber had turned out to be their illegitimate half-sister.

‘You are leaving Castonbury?’ Jamie asked in surprise. ‘The house will not be the same without you.’ And it truly would not. Mrs Stratton had been a part of Castonbury as long as he could remember.