The Irish Bride Page 3

  'Did you know you had cousins?'

  'Yes, Papa told me. Colum was born before he quarrelled with his father, and he heard about Sinead from a friend.'

  'I see.' She was thoughtful for a while. 'Don't make any decision in a hurry, Brigid. You know you are welcome to stay here for as long as you wish, and when Kenelm and Joanna are back in England they will want you to visit them, I am sure. They will be here in a few weeks.'

  'I will not be impulsive,' Brigid said, and laughed. 'Joanna was always accusing me of that. It is pleasant, though, to know I have some family of my own, and that they wish to know me. They have no intention of carrying on the feud my father had with my grandfather.'

  'Why should they?'

  Sophia retired to her room for a rest before dinner, and Brigid was in the drawing room on her own, sewing some of the clothes for the new baby, when Matthew was announced. She looked up and smiled.

  'We didn't know you were coming back to London yet,' she said, jumping up to greet him. 'Sophia will be delighted to see you. Were the roads very difficult?'

  He took both her hands in his, and pulled her towards him, kissing her on the cheek. She drew back in confusion, and he laughed and released her.

  'Come, don't reject me! You are like a cousin, you know. But how is Sophia? Has she dropped the brat yet?'

  'No, there is still some time to go. She has been sickly, but seems better now. She is relieved to be in London and near her physician. She has more confidence in Sir William Knighton than the midwife down in the country. She is resting now, but will be pleased to see you. I'll go and tell her you are here.'

  'There is no hurry. Sit down and talk to me. I am sure she will invite me to stay for dinner. Then I can entertain you all with my adventures on the journey. Have you heard from Kenelm recently? The posts to Yorkshire have been abominable, and their last letter to me was written just after Christmas.'

  'They expect to be home soon after Easter. Were the roads bad?'

  'Fortunately not a great deal of ice, but mud up to the axles, and an astonishing number of small lakes whenever the road dipped! I sometimes thought I was going to have to swim here. I am glad I came, though. There is going to be more snow, and mayhap next week I would not have been able to come.'

  'It has been so cold! Not as severe as two years ago, though, when there was a frost fair on the Thames. I took some of my pupils to see it.'

  Mr Langston came into the room at that moment, and he and Matthew were soon deep in a discussion of political matters, the aftermath of the wars, and the position of the government. Brigid was able to retire to a chair further away, and resume her sewing.

  *

  It was a week later that Sophia went into labour. Brigid, as an unmarried girl, was excluded from the bedroom, as was Mr Langston. He paced up and down his library the whole day, and refused to sit down for any meal. Brigid and his valet tried to persuade him to eat, but he ordered the valet from the room and would have done the same to Brigid if she had permitted it.

  She braved his wrath when Jameson asked her whether he should lay dinner as usual in the dining room. She stood her ground just inside the door and looked significantly at the brandy decanter sitting on the reading table.

  'You'll be incapable of seeing Sophia, or your child, if you drink any more of that,' she remarked. 'It's almost empty, and I suppose it was full this morning? Do you think Sophia will welcome you when you are permitted to see her if you are breathing brandy fumes all over her?'

  He scowled, looked at the decanter, picked it up, and for a moment she thought he would throw it at her. Then he sighed, and handed it to her.

  'Get rid of the temptation, then! Brigid, how is she doing? I'm so afraid! She was well all the time she was having the boys, but this time, she has been sickly throughout.'

  'That has nought to do with actually giving birth,' Brigid said, praying she was right. After all, what did she know? 'Now, come and eat some dinner, or you will be swooning from hunger, and that would scarcely help.'

  He shook his head. 'I cannot eat. I am too nervous.'

  'At least come and sit with me. You may be able to drink some soup.'

  He repeated he would be unable to eat, but she cajoled him into trying the soup, and did not comment when he finished the bowl. The cook had very sensibly provided a simple meal of easily digested dishes, and he accepted a helping of fish, and without appearing conscious of what he did, ate it. Afterwards he agreed to sit in the drawing room, and when Matthew was shown in greeted him with considerable relief.

  'How is she?' Matthew asked. 'Your valet came to tell me.'

  'I don't know! They won't let me near her, or tell me how things are progressing. You'd think I had nothing to do with the whole business. Will you have port or brandy?'

  'No!' Brigid said sharply, and Matthew looked at her in surprise.

  She blushed. She had not intended to speak so abruptly.

  'If you encourage Mr Langston to drink any more, he will soon be incapable,' she was forced to explain.

  Matthew grinned. 'A termagant, I see. Very well, I will drink an innocuous cup of tea with you. That is permitted?'

  His brother-in-law smiled, but it was a poor effort.

  'She's been bullying me, and I pity whoever becomes rivetted to her. He'll be well under the cat's foot.'

  Brigid ignored him, and rang to order the tea tray to be brought in immediately. She and Matthew tried to introduce various topics of conversation, but Mr Langston was unresponsive. Then Sophia's maid, who had been waiting outside the bedroom, came running into the room without ceremony.

  'Oh sir, you're to come! My mistress has a girl, and she wants to see you.'

  Mr Langston's tea cup went flying as he leapt to his feet.

  'Is she well? Did it all go as it should?'

  'Lor, sir, I don't know. They just said to fetch you. Sir William is still there, though I heard him say he was needed elsewhere soon.'

  Mr Langston wasn't listening. He brushed past the girl and ran swiftly up the stairs. Matthew and Brigid looked at one another and Brigid didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She had become very fond of Sophia, and if Sir William was about to leave it seemed as though all was well.

  'You can relax now,' Matthew said softly. 'As I understand it you have been keeping everyone calm all day, and you must be exhausted.'

  Brigid had to blink hard to keep back the tears. She hadn't expected Matthew to be so understanding.

  'I - I have been so worried. Sophia hasn't been normal, and I think she has been worried herself, but she would not confide her worries.'

  'No, my sister has always been like that. Now I wonder whether I will be permitted to see my new niece this evening?'

  They made desultory conversation for a while, and then Mr Langston appeared, carrying the baby in his arms.

  'Here is Beatrice Matilda, the picture of her mother. A mouthful for such a scrap, but they say she is healthy, and Sophia is weary but content. Thank you, Brigid, for keeping me sane today.'

  They made appreciative comments about the baby, but once he had taken her back to Sophia Matthew grinned at Brigid.

  'She looked more like a wrinkled prune to me,' he said, laughing. 'I can never see any resemblance to an adult, but we have to allow the fond parents their delusions, I suppose.'

  'You will doubtless be just the same when you have your own children,' Brigid snapped.

  'Will I? Well, we will see. But after today I'm sure you will appreciate an outing. I will call for you in the morning and take you for a drive in the Park. If, that is, there is no more snow. Now I am no longer subject to military orders I mean to enlarge my stables in London, and these bays are a pair I am trying out.'

  *

  Chapter 3

  Brigid hoped for more snow. She was reluctant to go driving with Matthew. It was, to her regret, a bright sunny day, and Matthew was at the door that afternoon. Mr Langston urged her to fetch the fur-lined cloak that had been his and Sophia's gi
ft to her at Christmas.

  'Everyone says red-heads should wear green,' he said, 'but for my money that pale blue suits you wonderfully well.'

  She could not refuse, and there was a keen north wind, so she was glad to snuggle into the comforting warmth. The cloak had a sable collar and the hood was trimmed with sable. Brigid hoped that, almost buried in it, none of Matthew's friends would recognise her. After all, she was a companion, a servant, and however much they treated her as one of the family it was just not suitable for her to be out driving with her employer's brother. She cringed at the thought of any of the Patronesses of Almack's recognising her. Most of them had met her, for they were all on calling terms with Sophia, and had met her before they went to Oxfordshire.

  A groom was holding the horses, and after Matthew helped her into the curricle Brigit was relieved to see him clamber up into the small seat behind. Matthew was observing the proprieties, she was relieved to see. No one could complain at a couple so chaperoned, even though they might object to the identity of the girl.

  'Have you visited your aunt and uncle yet?' Matthew asked after he had turned into the Park.

  She shook her head. 'Not yet. Sophia has been somewhat listless, and I have been keeping her company, trying to raise her spirits.'

  'I thought she was longing for a daughter?'

  'Yes, and she delights in the baby, but she cannot regain her former spirits. I have heard it is sometimes like that, especially when the pregnancy has been difficult. She will be better soon, when the weather improves. It has been such a gloomy, cold winter.'

  'You won't leave her too soon, I hope?'

  'Of course not.'

  'Do you want to go and live with your aunt?'

  'I'm not sure. I feel I would be better off by finding another job as a governess, when I would not have to depend on anyone but myself.'

  'And your employer,' he reminded her.

  'Of course, but I can always change my employer, but I couldn't change my relatives.'

  He laughed. 'I really would like to see these Irish relatives of yours. The Irish are reputed to be knowledgeable about horses, and as I mean to purchase a couple of riding horses, they might be able to give me advice.'

  Brigid looked at him suspiciously. Matthew had been in the cavalry. He had ridden horses all his life, and Sir Kenelm had once told her he was the best horseman of the three brothers. What did he imagine any Irishman could tell him that he did not know himself?

  'I never heard Papa say anything about horses. My grandfather did not breed them, I knew that.'

  He grinned down at her and urged the pair of bays to a canter.

  'Maybe I'll ask him about these. I have them for a couple more days, to try out. Let me take you to Wimpole Street tomorrow and we'll see.'

  She did not know what to say. It would be more comfortable to have a companion when she visited Wimpole Street, but she was not at all sure she wanted that companion to be Matthew. What would her aunt and uncle think? However, there was no one else who could accompany her, and she did not wish to explain her hesitation to Sophia or her husband.

  'Very well,' she agreed. 'And thank you. I hope you will not be disappointed.'

  *

  Sophia was listless for days after the baby's birth, then gradually began to regain her normal health. A rosy-cheeked damsel from their home in Oxfordshire had been engaged as a wet nurse, and she and her own daughter, just three months old, were installed on the nursery floor.

  'Have you visited your aunt and uncle yet?' Sophia asked, the first evening she came downstairs for dinner, which was the day Brigid had been driving with Matthew.

  'Not yet, but if you do not need me I am going tomorrow.'

  'And Matthew is to escort you,' Mr Langston added. 'Please don't agree to leave us too soon,' he went on. 'Sophia needs your company.'

  'Of course I won't go, even if I decide to, until I can leave Sophia.'

  She was apprehensive the following day when Matthew called for her. It was colder, and there were flurries of snow, so she was glad of her warm cloak. Matthew was looking even more handsome than usual, and his cravat was tied in a knot she thought was an Osbaldeston. One of her friends at Miss Benson's had confided that her brother spent hours perfecting the set of his neckcloth, and could ruin a dozen or more before he achieved the required effect. She wondered how long Matthew had spent, and giggled at the thought of him poised before a mirror.

  'What is amusing you?' Matthew asked, glancing down at her.

  She shook her head. She had no intention of letting him know she spent even a minute thinking about him.

  'I wonder what my cousins are like?' she said. 'It is so odd to suddenly have relatives I never expected to meet.'

  He raised his eyebrows.

  'That was not worthy of you,' he murmured. 'You would scarcely laugh at the thought of meeting unknown cousins.'

  'Well, what I am thinking is no business of yours!' she snapped. 'You don't own me, or my thoughts.'

  'I apologise. Tell me what you know about them.'

  Brigid took a deep breath. She must not permit her nervousness to cause her to offend Matthew, who was being helpful to her, and for whose company and support she was grateful.

  'Colum is about four and twenty, and Sinead is about a year younger than me. I think perhaps they have come to London to give her a come-out. Unless, that is, they come every year. I don't know any more.'

  Fortunately they soon reached Wimpole Street, and Matthew became occupied in looking for the right house. Brigid pointed it out to him, reminding him she had been here before, if only to deliver her letters. When he came to a halt outside his groom jumped down and went to hold the horses' heads while Matthew, bidding her wait until they knew whether her aunt was at home, sprang down and went to knock on the door. It was opened by the superior butler, who said he would enquire whether his master and mistress were at home.

  'Inform them their niece has come to visit them,' Matthew said.

  Brigid thought she had never before heard the usually friendly Matthew speak in such cold tones. It did, however, have an effect on the butler, who stood back and, with considerably greater politeness, invited them to step into the hall.

  Matthew came to help Brigid from the curricle.

  'Walk them up and down, Josh,' he instructed the groom, and led Brigid to the front door.

  *

  The butler trod in a stately manner up the stairs, but before he could return a young man, fashionably dressed in rather tight yellow pantaloons, his shirt points so high he could scarcely turn his head, and an elaborately tied cravat, emerged from a room to their right.

  'Did I hear that correctly? Are you my cousin Brigid? I'm Colum, and delighted to be the first to welcome you to our home.'

  He held out his hand, and as she took it Brigid had the somewhat stray thought that he would not be able to advise Matthew about horseflesh. His hand was soft, white and somewhat limp. Matthew's was hard and muscular. She inspected him with interest. He had his mother's dark hair, and was tall and thin.

  'This is Matthew Childe,' Brigid managed. 'It is his sister I am living with. I was hoping to see your parents.'

  'Of course. They'll be in the drawing room.' He frowned. 'There is a visitor, a neighbour, who had been trying to cut a dash with Sinead, but he will be going soon. Come up now.'

  He ushered them up the stairs, passing the butler on the way.

  'I'll take the visitors up, Waller. I expect Mr Thompson will be leaving soon, so you may as well wait in the hall.'

  The butler merely nodded, and watched them go on up the stairs. Colum took them into the drawing room, where Brigid found her aunt and uncle and a short, dark-haired man with a classical profile, and one of the prettiest girls Brigid had ever seen. She wore a sprigged muslin gown, and a Norwich shawl was draped carelessly round her shoulders. A string of pearls was wound round her neck, unsuitable for daytime wear, Brigid thought, but indicating the O'Neills were not short of money.
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  Aunt Mary glanced up, then came across the room to clasp Brigid in her arms.

  'My dear niece, how lovely to see you. I trust your - friend is well, and that you will soon be able to come to us for that promised visit?'

  She looked enquiringly at Matthew, and Brigid hastened to introduce him.

  'Matthew Childe is Mrs Langston's brother, and was good enough to escort me here.'

  'You are welcome. I see you have already met Colum, Mr Childe. My husband, and our daughter Sinead.' There was a pause, and she finally turned to the other man. 'This is a neighbour, Mr Thompson, who called in just for a moment.'

  She paused, and blushing furiously Mr Thompson, who had, in leaping to his feet, managed to knock over a small table beside his chair, muttered that he supposed he had better be going.

  'Perhaps you can answer my mother's invitation later?' he said, and somehow got himself out of the room. No one offered to escort him downstairs.

  'Do come and sit here beside me, dear,' Aunt Mary said, patting the sopha. 'Mr Childe, take the chair beside Sinead, do. Mr O'Neill, perhaps our guests would like a glass of sherry, or do you prefer ratafia, Brigid?'

  'Oh, ratafia, please.'

  While the drinks were being poured, and small macaroons offered, Colum, who had moved to look out of the window, turned to Matthew.

  'Are those chestnuts yours?' he asked. 'A bang up pair. I watched you coming up the street, and said to myself, that's a prime pair. They must have cost a hundred or so guineas.'

  Brigid tried not to laugh. So much for Matthew hoping to find Colum of help with his horseflesh, if he could not distinguish between bays and chestnuts. And Matthew had told her he would be paying several hundred pounds for them if he decided to buy.

  'Oh, is there another pair outside?' Matthew asked, and moved across to the window. He shook his head, smiled at Colum, and came back to take the seat offered to him.

  Sinead smiled and blinked rapidly at Matthew. She turned towards him in her chair and crossed her legs so that her skirt rose up and revealed a slender pair of ankles. Then she leant towards him and spoke in such a soft, breathy voice that Brigid could not hear what she was saying. Besides, in politeness, she had to pay attention to her aunt, who was demanding details of Sophia's confinement, the baby, the names they were giving her, and when she was satisfied on these points asked when Brigid would be free to come for her proposed visit.