Page 25 of The Book of Lost Stories
‘You are very kind.’ She drew on her gloves.
‘Mary is just bringing tea: will you not stay for it?’ enquired Alys.
‘No indeed, I have much to do.’ Lady Basset looked about her again and then said, with a sly, sharp sideways glance at Alys, ‘Yes, I believe Mama and the girls will be extremely comfortable here at the Dower House – but that we can discuss once they are safely with me.’
Out she sailed. James, crimsoning, ran after her, leaving a stunned silence behind him.
‘Well, Letty,’ Alys said, ‘you see we are shortly to receive our marching orders, so it is well that we have some means of supporting ourselves elsewhere. Still, it would certainly suit us if we need not remove until April when the tenants are out of our house in London. How surprised James will be when he learns we own such a property.’
*
‘I am gladRavish’dis coming along so well now, for I do not like to leave such a long gap between new novels. But I supposeafter three of them it is unlikely I will be entirely forgotten, for people will always like to be horrified and frightened.’
‘It still seems very odd to me that you should be an infamous novelist, talked about by all thetonin London,’ Letty confessed. ‘Only, of course, they think you are a man. Why, even Mrs Franby warned me against Orlando Browne’s novels, particularlyThe Captive Bride of Castle Grismort, which she said was a distasteful volume of no possible interest to any lady of delicate sensibilities!’
‘She said much the same about that book by Mr Lewis, but Lady Basset bought it just the same … Although, come to think of it, itwasrather shocking,’ Alys said, with a twinkle in her grey eyes.
She went back to her manuscript, making a few corrections to the last page, and thinking how quiet it was without Papa raging in his bedchamber or shooting off his pistol in the garden. She felt she had had enough of Little Stidding and was quite ready to live in a place where she could see faces other than those of sheep, visit lending libraries, museums and concerts, and generally amuse herself when she was not at work.
She wondered if a short visit to London in the spring would be a good idea, before they sold the Hans Town house and settled on somewhere to live permanently. She would like to see all the sights she had heard about, and was sure Letty would be glad to visit her relatives.
*
Lady Basset lost no time in paying another call at the Dower House, and had barely sat down before beginning, ‘MissWeston, you must excuse my plain speaking, but you now have your way to make in the world and need to cut your coat according to your cloth. First, you must instantly dismiss Miss Grimshaw, which will be an immediate economy. I cannot understand why you have not already done it. Then you should advertise for a position for yourself as a governess or companion.’
‘I thank you for your concern, Lady Basset,’ Alys said, feeling deeply grateful that her future was not in the hands of so cold and ungenerous a woman. ‘You will be delighted to learn that I am not quite the destitute orphan you think me, and in fact own a small house in a respectable part of London, to which I intend removing myself and my companion as soon as the present tenant’s lease expires in the spring.’
The effect of this announcement gave her great satisfaction, for Lady Basset’s jaw dropped with astonishment. ‘Ahouse! How is this? James did not tell me your father had property of any kind. In fact, he gave me to understand that you would be very lucky if your income came to more than a hundred and fifty pounds a year.’
‘I dare say James did not knowallof my father’s business.’
‘Pray, in whatpartof London is this house?’
‘Hans Town.’
Lady Basset looked down her Roman nose. ‘I do not believe that is where thetonlive.’
‘No, but neither is it a back-slum. In any case, I mean to sell it and move to some small, quiet town.’
‘Major Weston cannot have been open and honest in his dealings with Sir Ralph, when he came to live here at his expense,’ said Lady Basset, looking very much put out.
‘I believe Sir Ralph knew how matters stood. There was nodeceit,’ Alys said truthfully. ‘And although our income will be less than before, we will still have enough to manage on comfortably, in a modest sort of way. But I thank you for your kind concern.’
‘Well!’ Lady Basset said, rising to take a hasty turn or two about the small parlour, skirts swishing. ‘I think you will find London prices steep – quite beyond your purse – and how you are to pay Miss Grimshaw’s wages, I cannot think.’
‘Miss Grimshaw is my friend as well as my companion and would stay with me whether I paid her or not.’
‘Pray,whendid you say you intended to remove to London?’
‘In April, when the lease falls vacant.’
‘The workmen will shortly begin to make some alterations to the Dower House in readiness for my mother and sisters. You would find yourselves uncomfortably circumstanced if you were to remain here while it was being carried out,’ Lady Basset said, then added with a wintry smile, ‘but James has it in mind to move you to a vacant cottage on the estate.’
Alys said nothing, biting her lip to stop the hasty words that would forever have estranged her from the Bassets. Had it been in her power, she would have removed herself and Letty instantly, but could not imagine how it could be done economically. But she could imagine what hovel her ladyship would think suitable to house them.
‘I dare say you cannot have much to pack,’ Lady Basset said, following some train of thought of her own.
‘No, we have few possessions that can be taken with us,’ Alys agreed. ‘And you can be sure that we will waste no time in leaving, once we are able to.’
