Being Elizabeth (21 page)

‘S
o you've gone and done it again!'

At the sound of Kat Ashe's voice a happy smile spread across Elizabeth's face and she lifted her head, stared at the door. But the smile instantly faded when she saw the troubled look on Kat's face.

Immediately jumping up, she went around the desk and then stopped abruptly, filled suddenly with uncertainty, wondering what was wrong. Yet deep down she knew.

Kat, who normally rushed to greet her with great affection and warmth, was as immobile as Elizabeth; the older woman hovered on the threshold of the library, scowling, obviously ill at ease.

Frowning, Elizabeth said, ‘You look a bit upset –' She cut herself off, stood scrutinizing the woman who had been the mainstay of her life since childhood, and took a deep breath. As everything fell into place, Elizabeth knew a verbal assault was imminent. She steeled herself.

‘That's the understatement of the year!' Kat exclaimed accusingly. ‘I'm absolutely furious with you, Elizabeth. How
could
you? How could you go off and do it again?'

‘What do you mean?' Elizabeth muttered, stalling, wishing to avoid a wounding confrontation.

‘You know very well what I mean. How could you get involved with another man like Selmere?'

‘Robin's not like Tom!'

‘He's married, isn't he?' Kat shot back angrily.

‘So what? I don't want to get married, Kat. You, of all people, know my feelings about that. It doesn't matter to me what his status is.'

‘But it
does
matter. You're involved in a scandal. And for the second time. This is a replay of the Selmere affair.'

‘No, it's not!' Elizabeth contradicted.

‘It is. You're having an illicit relationship with a married man. And you're the head of Deravenels now. Furthermore, you're sleeping with a colleague, and that's wrong, just as it was wrong for you to sleep with your stepmother's husband. Another stupid thing you did, Elizabeth.'

‘I never slept with Tom Selmere,' Elizabeth cried, her voice rising, becoming unusually shrill for her. Her face was whiter than ever and she was shaking inside.

‘You were very …
intimate
with him, and you encouraged him. That was why he came courting you after your stepmother died. Which is the reason his brother was so incensed and created problems for you, as well as for the silly, very careless Tom.'

‘I never encouraged Tom Selmere, Kat. Marrying me was his idea. Actually, I didn't even know he had spoken about that to his brother … not until Tom was in deep trouble. I was the innocent bystander, and you're aware of that. You also know my opinion of matrimony.'

Kat was silent, and suddenly looked chastened.

Elizabeth said in a milder voice, ‘For God's sake, come into the room and close the door.'

Kat did so, walked briskly into the library, making for the
fireplace. She sat down in one of the chairs, and looked at Elizabeth, her expression one of expectancy.

‘Whatever you might think, Robin and I have been extremely discreet at the office, and certainly we don't flaunt our relationship there. Nor have we flaunted it in public.'

‘But you're always in the gossip columns, and the magazines. Whatever you say, it
is
a scandal,' Kat insisted.

‘It's not our fault that the press hound us. And yes, it's true, we are seen at different functions, fashionable events in different places, and that's because we're not in hiding, nor are we planning to go into hiding. We're very open about being together. In any case, for what it's worth, Robin is separated from Amy, and has been for the last five years.'

‘If that's the case then he should straighten out his marital affairs,' Kat pronounced in a firm voice, but she was now a little calmer. ‘He must get a divorce at once, make himself a free man for you.'

‘That's not important to me.'

‘But the gossip would stop, Elizabeth,' Kat pointed out.

‘Oh, what do I care about gossip! I don't give a fig for the scandal-mongers.'

Kat sighed. ‘You always were stubborn, even as a child.'

Leaning forward, Elizabeth took hold of her arm affectionately. ‘It doesn't matter that I'm involved with a colleague. Lots of people fall in love with their co-workers; that's where everyone spends most of their time anyway these days: at the office. Where else do we meet people? At work, of course. And there's another thing. It's 1997. Times have changed, attitudes are different, there's been a relaxation of those rigid rules of … long ago.'

‘I know,' Kat admitted. ‘It's just that I do worry about you.'

‘Please try and understand that I'm
happy
. Happy for the first time in my life. I love Robin, and he loves me. I suppose we've always loved each other, actually. And you know how close
we've been. I adore him. He's the love of my life. But I'm not going to marry him. You'd better get used to the idea that I'm never going to get married to anyone.'

Kat let out a long sigh, the anger in her suddenly dis sipating, finally fleeing. She had never been able to remain angry with Elizabeth for very long anyway. ‘I know I'm overly pro tective, Elizabeth. I can't help it. I've behaved like that ever since your father put you in my care. And there's another thing, I don't want you to get hurt.'

‘Robin's not going to hurt me, and I know you care about me, love me, you've proved this so many times. It's just that … I'm free, Kat.
Free
. For the first time in my life I can do anything I want. Nobody can tell me what to do any more. Those who controlled me for so long – my father, my half-brother and my half-sister – are all dead and buried. I don't have to answer to anyone.
I am liberated
.'

Kat stood up, pulled Elizabeth to her feet and embraced her, held her tightly in her arms. After a long moment, she released her, looked into her pale face, said in a gentle voice, ‘I just want the very
best
for you, that's all.'

‘I'm aware of that, Kat, I truly am. And you
know
Robin Dunley. Why, you've known him since he was a little boy. He, too, wants only the best for me, and I promise you one thing, he
will
get a divorce from Amy. Will that make you happy?'

Kat nodded. ‘I want him to be single so that no one can point a finger at you, Elizabeth, or call you names.'

‘He'll be talking to Amy next week when he comes back from Marbella. He told me he was going to Cirencester to see her. There won't be a problem, it's an amicable separation. Basically, he's outgrown her and did so long ago, and she's bright enough to know that. They rarely see each other, in fact they haven't set eyes on each other for several years.'

Immediately Kat's face brightened. ‘It's such a relief to know that. I'm afraid I've been fretting, making myself sick.'

‘Stop worrying and let's get down to work. Bring out the inventories, and we'll go over some of them. Perhaps we can calculate how much money I'm going to make from the first auction.'

‘The Fine Art Auction is the first, and Sotheby's are working on everything pertaining to that themselves. They're the experts. Naturally, they'll be calculating the value of the jewellery as well. I do have some information, and a few thoughts, and I'd like to show you my notes.'

Elizabeth beamed at her.

For the next hour the two women went over the inventories of the jewellery which Kat Ashe had been creating for months. She explained how she had selected certain pieces and sets because she believed they would be much sought after and would fetch high prices.

‘For instance, I think the diamond necklace from the Diamonds of the Crown of France Collection, made for the Empress Eugénie, will go sky high,' Kat said, sounding pleased, handing her a photograph.

‘How high?' Elizabeth asked, looking at the picture and then at Kat.

‘Possibly two million pounds, maybe even more. I'm meeting with Sotheby's next week and we'll come to some decisions then … about how we're going to handle everything. Then there are these Harry Winston, Cartier and Mauboussin necklaces from the 1950s and 1960s, and we know they'll go very, very high.'

Elizabeth took the photographs, stared at them, nodding. ‘I remember these pieces. When Robin and I found them in the vaults at Ravenscar we were both very impressed. The diamonds were big, some of them about twenty or thirty carats, and the workmanship was fabulous. I suppose we're talking in the millions again.'

‘Absolutely. Sotheby's are very excited, and they already believe the collection will far exceed their original evaluation. You see, there's nothing comparable around these days. You've inherited something quite extraordinary, jewels that are works of art.'

‘I've become aware of that, and thank you, Kat, for all the hard work you've put in, sorting the pieces, and making lists. I really appreciate your help.'

‘I'm enjoying it,' Kat said, and sat back on the sofa, endeavouring to relax, glad things had returned to normal. She eyed Elizabeth. ‘I'm sorry about earlier, about our little spat. It was my fault, and I apologize, Elizabeth. I made an assumption I'm afraid when I said you'd slept with Tom Selmere. It wasn't nice. Please say you forgive me.'

‘Oh, Kat, come on, don't be so silly. There's nothing to forgive, for goodness' sake. And I know you only have my interests at heart. I just hope I've made
you
feel better, about Robin's situation I mean.'

‘You have, and I must admit I'm tremendously relieved that he's going to speak to his wife, get all that mess sorted out.'

‘He will. Just stop worrying. Everything's going to be fine. Now, I'm afraid I'm going to have to get off to the office. I told Cecil Williams I'd be there by noon for a meeting.'

‘No problem. I'll finish up here and leave you some extra notes. Blanche said she would come over a bit later with a selection of white shirts for you. We're going to have lunch together.'

‘Give her my love, and we'll talk later.'

Cecil Williams looked across at Nicholas Throckman and said slowly, ‘I always thought you knew that John Norfell was somewhat sympathetic towards Mary Turner.'

‘Not until Francis told me in Paris. He said that's why Robert Dunley doesn't trust him, that Norfell's two-faced.'

‘I think that's a very apt description,
accurate
, Nicholas. I've long been of the same opinion as Francis.'

‘Why were they so close?'

‘They attended the same church. And both of them were somewhat involved with church administration, that level, you know, caught up in the politics, I suspect. I'm sure Norfell still is.'

‘So John Norfell's a Roman Catholic!' Nicholas sounded startled. He shook his head. ‘Funny, I never knew that. On the other hand, I don't go around asking people about their religious persuasion.'

‘You were in Paris most of the time during Mary Turner's tenure, and I was living in the country. We didn't realize how friendly they were.'

‘And Francis was in Paris also. I certainly ran into him a lot.' Nicholas stood up, walked across Cecil's office, stood next to the window for a moment, looking out. Today the sky was a beautiful blue, without cloud, blameless. He couldn't wait to get away this afternoon, drive to Gloucestershire for the weekend: June was a lovely month to be in the country, his favourite time of year.

Cecil leaned back in his chair, watching Nicholas, and after a moment he broke the silence. ‘What else did Francis have to say when you saw him in Paris last weekend?'

‘He confided that the gossip about Elizabeth and Robert has crossed the Channel, that was the way he put it. I don't think he was too perturbed about it, although he did say Madame de Burgh, also known as Marie Stewart, was calling Elizabeth nasty names, castigating her for her immoral behaviour, for having an affair with a married man, the usual rubbish.'