Page 15 of A Sense of Paradise
‘I see.’ This was starting to make sense. ‘Does the man have a name?’
‘Yes indeed. Lord Avery.’
Archie’s expression darkened as he shared a speaking look with Pawson. Avery was one of the participants of Flora’s father’s cruel exorcisms. One of the leading participants, from what information Archie had been able to glean. He didn’t have any difficulty in believing it either. Avery had a cruel aspect to his character. Spoiled and indulged, the viscount had been a constant thorn in Archie’s side during his school days and afterwards at university. He was a handsome dog with more money than sense and the morals of an alley cat.
Archie had been liberal with his favours but did not press them where they were unwelcome. Avery, he had heard, never took nofor an answer. He had competed with Archie in pursuit of the most alluring female companions, often coming out second best. Archie had heard distressing tales from some of the women who had fallen for his toxic charms and had the bruises to show for it.
Avery would be under pressure to marry, as all bachelors who had reached Archie’s age found themselves. A beautiful young Frenchwoman who probably had not heard of his appalling reputation would make an ideal bride. Rich though he was, the majority of matchmakers did not push their charges in Avery’s direction. It took a very great deal to deter them, position and wealth being their primary objectives, but even they had their limits. It didn’t surprise Archie that he had been obliged to look abroad for a suitable bride. Avery could be charming, and tales of his cruelty would not have spread to foreign parts.
His path had not crossed with Avery’s since his return to English soil. Archie seldom went up to London, nor did he enter society on the rare occasions when he was obliged to do so.
‘Avery lives permanently in London,’ Archie said. ‘I assume you have enquired after your brother at that establishment.’
‘Naturally, but his servant told me that his lordship had not been in residence for some months.’
‘Does he have a country estate, Pawson?’
‘Not to my knowledge, but I can put enquiries in hand.’
‘Do that.’ Archie took a moment to reflect. ‘I still fail to understand why Maurice felt the need to come to England with his friend. Presumably, if Francois’s sister wanted her brother to be here with her then she would have made the arrangements openly.’
‘This I do not know.’ Eloise spread her hands. ‘M. deBois had reservations about the match. Celine told me that there was something about Lord Avery that her father found untrustworthy, but Celine was madly in love and decided that her father’s suspicions grew from his distrust of the English in general.’
‘We’re an untrustworthy lot,’ Pawson said, failing to lighten the mood.
‘I understand that Celine sent for Francois and their father allowed him to join her. He is not well enough himself to travel and it is only natural that she would want a member of her family there to see her married. Francois is eighteen, almost a man in his father’s eyes, so it seemed reasonable to let him go. M. de Bois was not aware that Maurice had gone with Francois and couldn’t understand why he would take off without asking permission. I assume he did so because Papa would not give him leave to…well, leave, especially not when we are approaching harvest time.’ She paused and fixed Archie with a probing look. ‘Maurice has not stopped talking about you ever since you left, wondering why we could not come to visit you.’
‘As far as I am aware, he has not attempted to make contact.’ Archie felt deeply uncomfortable. ‘If he came to the gate without an appointment, he would have been turned away and I would have known nothing about it.’
‘I recall de Bois,’ Pawson said. ‘He was a man with a short temper, if memory serves.’
‘And very strict with his children. If he forbade the match with Avery and Celine disobeyed him, then he would have washed his hands of her, leaving—’
‘Leaving Francois to endure his father’s temper,’ Archie finished for her. ‘An impressionable young man, filled with images of dashing English gentlemen, put into Maurice’s head by me…Well, it isn’t difficult to see why the two boys decided to cross the Channel. But where the devil are they?’
Eloise shook her head, tears streaming down her face. ‘I do not…I cannot possibly…’
Choked by emotion, she dissolved into a fit of tears.
Moved by the sight and mindful of how much Archie actually owed this woman—she had saved his sanity and given him something to live for when his life had felt as though it had lost all meaning and purpose—he stood and pulled her into his arms.
‘It will be all right,’ he said. ‘We will find him, never fear.’
‘I still cannot believe the changes in Pamela,’ Melanie said the as Flora drove them on a round of visits, the obliging Mabel plodding along between the gig’s shafts at a stately pace. Mabel had never seen any need for haste. ‘She is like another person. Do you think that Mr Janson is an agreeable husband?’
‘Very likely not, and he will bully Pamela in much the same way as Papa tramples all over our mother, unless she learns to stand up for herself.’
‘The clergy are supposed to be compassionate, yet they can be horribly judgmental and unforgiving.’
‘My sentiments exactly.’ Flora rippled her shoulders as she steered Mabel round an obstruction in the road. ‘Some but not all of them consider that their calling puts them above us lesser mortals. Given the example set by our own father, I cannot help but think they use their positions to be deliberately cruel. Polly was universally criticised for giving birth to little Alice outside of wedlock. She told me that she went to her local vicar seeking solace and was turned away and told to seek forgiveness for her wickedness in prayer. The fact that she was seduced by her master against her will was not taken into account since it was assumed that she had somehow provoked him. Men, it seems, are incapable of harnessing their lust and blame women for their own weakness.’ Flora blew air through her lips. ‘It makes me so angry.’
‘You, Flora dearest, are ten times kinder than the majority of clergymen. You help people without expectation of reward, and took Polly and little Alice in, and…well, you are very good.’
Flora laughed. ‘You would not say that if you were privy to some of my more uncharitable thoughts. Besides, if the locals ever learn that we speak to a miserable excuse for a spirit guide that only we can see, then we would be looked upon as candidates for Bedlam and all our good work will be undone.’
Melanie laughed. ‘Don’t let Remus hear you calling him a miserable excuse. He will be mortally offended.’
‘He might be offended but since he is not mortal…’
