âYou will be away at the weekend, wonât you?â there was silence, âStanley Iâm talking to you.â she aimed the question at the plume of cigar smoke rising from behind the newspaper. At the other side of the Victorian drawing room a voice answered, âI will be seeing Lord Sandale on Thursday before we travel to his estate for formal discussions about the India fleet, why?â
She busied herself with her embroidery, âWell Jane is staying at the school over this weekend, some exam, so I thought I would go down to my sisters, I really am worried, I havenât heard from her for months and I would have thought she could have wrote or something, after all Desmond is away so often on his firms business.â
After a cough and a turn of a page, âWell thatâs what you get when you girls used your beauty to marry older successful business men, if you wish to be kept in a manor better than accustom we have to be away a lot, but surely his two boys would be company enough, what would they be now late teens or early twenties, I know its time they joined the firm, take some of the bloody work load off their father.â
He muttered something about, âIdle little twerpsâ, before she carried on, âThey are 18 and 19 and he told their late mother that they would join the firm at 21, thatâs why she left them the legacy, some money to enjoy themselves, the trouble is Isobel has never really got on with themâ.
His face appeared over the paper, âWhat makes you say that, sheâs only 12 years older than them, she should get on, teach them a thing or two, as you well know, the art of learning is a great experienceâ.
She looked back at him, âDo you remember that young maid she had, pretty girl, we met her last time we were down there, she seemed to be fond of her and she confided in me by saying that her mistress thought them course and uncouthâ.
As the newspaper flicked back up, âAs I said, idle little twerpsâ.
She stood up and rang the bell for tea, âWell thatâs settled then, Iâll travel down by train on Thursday, take a carriage from Birley to the hall and surprise her.â
He grunted, âWell your two years older than your sister, try and get her to get some responsibility into those boys, youâve done well with my daughter Jane so teach them. You know their father has a very important job with the government and any whiff of scandal would ruin all of them, not to say that it would give Lloyd-George I bloody good reason to destroy our India contract.â
Arabella could still hear the little train as it left the station, she looked at the passing country side as the one horse carriage gently rounded the lake; she could see the hall in the distance and she felt a tingle of excitement at seeing her again after all it had been nearly six months since their last meeting and she did so love her pretty younger sister.
The carriage rolled up the drive and stopped at the great wooden door, the driver climbed down and opened the small carriage door, Arabella stepped down in to the warm July sunshine. To her surprise there was no one there to greet her, no servants or family.
Her bags were placed by the door; she duly paid the carriage fare then watched the horse wheel around and pull up the drive and out of sight. She was startled back to reality by the gruff voice of the gardener, âHave you business here madam?â
She turned to face him, he touched his cap, âSorry didnât recognise you, madam, Iâll take your things to the guest room then try and locate your sister, if youâll be so good as to wait in the parlour.â
Arabella stood in the parlour; she busied herself by looking at the photos around the room, she saw pictures of them both together, then of her brother in law Desmond, she was surprised to see pride of place had been taken by the two boys Edward and George, she could see why her sister didnât like them, even in the picture they had a smug look of superiority on their faceâs.
All the time she waited for her sister to come bounding through the door with that infectious smile that lit up a room.
She heard the door go and a quite subdued Isobel walked in to the room, âOh Arabella, what are you doing here, youâve just missed Desmond?â Quiet taken back by her sisters attitude, she moved to greet her, âHello Isobel, how wonderful to see you, Iâve been so worried, not hearing from you has caused me great concern.â
Isobel gave a faint smile as she said, âThere was no need to worry, now is this just a flying visit, whereâs Stanley and Jane, are you going somewhere?â Arabella took her hand, âNo, no all these questions, I knew Desmond was on government business this weekend and Stanleyâs away, Janeâs at school so Iâve come for the weekend just to see you, itâs a surpriseâ.
Before Isobel could answer Edward entered the room, âWell, well aunt Arabella, what a pleasant surprise, did I hear you are staying for the weekend that will be fun, wonât it mother?â
His surly tone echoed round the room, before any body could answer he grabbed Isobel by the arm, âTea will be a five and we will all take it together in the sun-lounge, do I make myself clear?â Isobel whinsed and looked away, âYes Edward, it will be ready at five,â he smiled at Arabella before leaving. Isobel tried to make light of it, âGets more like his father every day, anyway it will give you time to settle in, Iâll see you later,â and much to Arabellaâs dismay she turned and left.
Arabella went upstairs to unpack more worried now than she was before.
Her clothes hung or neatly put in to draws, Arabella freshened her face before venturing down again; she went in to the kitchen and was amazed to see her sister making tea, âWhereâs the maid, surely domestic staff arenât that difficult to find, even out here?â
Isobel nearly dropped a plate, Oh Arabella you made me jump, no we havenât got a housekeeper and the maid, she eerr left, look Arabella I have to tell you---,â the door slammed open, it was George.
âAnd what have you got to tell aunty Bella,â Arabella hated the way they shortened her name, âWas it how we lost the maid, oh I bet sheâd been interested at that, wouldnât you aunt Bella?â
Arabella tried not to look flustered as she said, âAll in good time, now you find your brother and Iâll help lay for tea.â
Tea was eaten accompanied by small chat, the two boys lorded it over the two women, bragging to their aunt how life for them was wonderful and how well the firm was doing now that father was in charge of the governments Japanese interests, Isobel was forced to agree with them, but much more to Arabellaâs concern was the way they where making remarks on her beauty and her body.
It was as they washed the tea things that Isobel quickly confided in her sister, â You have to get out of here, go home, please Iâm begging you go.â Arabella first looked shocked then sternly at her sister, âNot until you tell me why.â
Looking scared, Isobel went to the door and looked outside, then she came back, pulled her sister to her and in a low whispered voice started her story, âIt all started with, eerr you remember that lovely young maid, Elsa?â Arabella nodded, âOh this is so difficult.â
Arabella said, âLook we have very little time, just tell me, I am your sister.â âAll right here goes, I was on my own so much, Desmond was away and the boys worried me, so I became friendly with Elsa, very friendly.â
âOne night there was a thunder storm, she was scared, so was I and she came in to my room, I let her in to my bed. As we lay together the thunder got worse, we clung to each other, she was soft and I felt comfortable in her arms, very comfortable, we kissed and she caressed me, more and more.â
Arabella could see this was difficult so she quickly hugged her, delicately planted a kiss on her forehead then smiled as her sister continued, âWe became lovers, I loved to have her in my bed, licking her most intermit parts then she would lick me, I had never felt such tenderness, she knew how to make my breastâs and virginal opening respond and we would have carried on our secret affair but for Edward and George, they saw us whispering and spied on us.â
âThey caught us but at that time didnât confront me, they were too clever for that, they arranged a robbery of some of Desmondâs government papers, the local police officer found them in her room, I had to save her from prison or scandal.â
âThey forced me to sign documents to keep her from prison, they paid off the local constable making sure it looked like I had bribed an official of the law, and then forced me to admit, in writing, my infidelity, my lesbian affair, if any of this got out, Desmond would be ridiculed, ruined and the government would take reprisals for my indiscrimination.â
As she said that, the words of Stanley exploded in Arabellaâs mind, ruination, outcasts, bankrupt, even homeless, no wonder she was terrified of George and Edward.
âWell if theyâve covered it all up, what do they want, why are you so afraid of them, whatâs going on, why are you letting them ordering you about?â
Isobelâs eyes where filled with fear, â Donât ask because I donât know, they said they would speak with me this evening, but now youâre here, you must give me time to sort this out, just stay out of the way for awhile, we will talk again tomorrowâ.
Arabella sat in her room, her mind trying to make sense of her sisterâs stupidity until she dozed in to an uncomfortable sleep; her sleep was broken with a bang, the door to her room opened.
She woke with a start for a moment forgetting where she was, until she saw George standing in the doorway, âIâve come to take you for an evening stroll, donât you think itâs a pleasant summer evening, Bella?â