‘She was a very respectable lady. She had some fine emeralds, too, which I bought.’
‘May I see the emeralds?’
‘A necklace and a brooch,’ he murmured, frowning.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘That is right. Please let me see them.’
‘They were sold some weeks ago. A lady and a gentleman came in and he bought them for her.’
‘Tell me about the woman who sold them to you.’
‘She was French. She said she had to leave England in a hurry. She was going to catch the Dover coach. She had to return to France unexpectedly, and being short of money temporarily until she could settle her French estates, she was disposing of some of her jewellery.’
Oh, Jeanne, I thought, how could you?
I didn’t want to hear any more. I asked if he would deliver the bezoar ring to Albemarle Street, where he would be paid for it.
He promised to do so.
MENACE IN THE FOREST
LANCE WAS VERY INTERESTED to hear that I had found the bezoar ring and that the jeweller’s story had confirmed the fact that Jeanne had sold them and gone to France.
‘She should have waited until she got over there,’ said Lance. ‘She might have been caught disposing of them in London. But I suppose she didn’t like carrying them on her person. Although of course the money would be equally tempting to a thief. Anyway, I’m glad you have your ring back.’
‘I’m delighted to have found it. It’s rather a special one, having been in the Hessenfield family for generations. Our baby shall have it.’
‘It will be a long time before he can wear it,’ said Lance.
‘She shall have it in good time,’ I retorted.
Lance laughed. ‘All right, darling,’ he said, ‘I shan’t grudge you your girl any more than you will grudge me my boy. I bet if it is a girl it will turn out to be exactly what I want, and if a boy, just your desire.’
‘That is the sort of bet you can always make with certainty,’ I said.
I was indeed happy during those early days of my pregnancy. It was only now and then when I thought of Jeanne that the shadow would fall; and every time I looked at the bezoar ring I imagined her going boldly into that shop with the tale she had prepared about hurrying to France and needing the money urgently.
Sabrina was not sure whether she wanted a baby or not. Sometimes she talked about it excitedly and what she would do when it came. She would teach it to ride and tell it the stories I used to tell her, she decided.
‘It will be a long time before the baby is able to ride,’ I warned her.
‘Oh, you can’t start too young,’ said Sabrina with an air of wisdom.
Then at times she was jealous of it. ‘I believe you like this baby more than you like me. And it’s not here yet.’
‘I love you both.’
‘But you can’t love two people the same.’
‘Oh yes you can.’
‘No. You have to love one more and this one is your own.’
‘So are you, Sabrina.’
‘But I wasn’t born yours.’
‘It makes no difference.’
‘I wish this one wasn’t coming. I know it will be silly… sillier than Jean-Louis.’
‘He’s not silly.’
‘And I don’t like her, either.’
‘Who is that?’
‘His grandmother. I don’t like her.’
‘I thought you liked to listen to her.’
‘Not any more.’ She brought her face close to mine. ‘I don’t like her because she doesn’t like me.’
‘Of course she likes you.’
‘And she doesn’t like the new one either.’
‘You’re not telling the truth, Sabrina.’
‘It is the truth. I know it.’
‘She didn’t say so.’
‘She looks it. I don’t like her. I don’t like Aimée and I don’t like Jean-Louis.’
‘Oh, you are in a disliking mood.’
‘Uncle Lance likes Aimée, though.’
‘Of course he does. We all do… except you, of course.’
‘He likes her… kind of special.’ She hunched her shoulders and looked mysterious.
‘Who told you?’
‘I saw them.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I saw them talking.’
‘Why shouldn’t they talk?’
‘I saw them. I knew. He likes her and she likes him… a lot.’
It was silly to listen to Sabrina. She told wild stories, and if she saw that she had caught my attention her stories would become wilder. All she was doing was calling attention to herself, for she had an idea that now the baby was coming she was being set aside.
I tried to be extra loving to her. She responded, but the suspicious jealousy was there, and I felt it growing.
After the first two months of pregnancy I began to feel quite ill. Aimée soothed me. It had been the same with her, she told me. She had been wretchedly ill during the first months. But it passed. What was that tisane Jeanne had made? She thought she remembered. She would ask her mother, for she was sure she would know. She believed it was a well-known remedy in France for morning sickness.
Madame Legrand was only too delighted to make the tisane. She wasn’t sure that it was the same as Jeanne’s, but there was a recipe in her family which had been handed down for generations, and if she could lay her hands on the right herbs she would make it for me.
She did, and I felt worse after it. I thought it didn’t agree with me.
‘That can’t be,’ said Aimée. ‘It often makes you worse for a time and then it cures you. You see.’
Madame Legrand was disappointed. She had believed it to be a certain remedy. She immediately prepared another, and I felt considerably better after taking it.
‘I think we have hit on the right thing,’ said Madame Legrand. ‘The first one was too strong.’
Lance was deeply concerned. ‘You’ll have to rest more, Clarissa,’ he said. There’s no help for it.’
I did not ride but I did like walking. Lance said we should go to the country, which would be so much better for me. I supposed it would be, but I missed my walks through the teeming streets of London.
However, we went to the country, and Lance said he thought I should stay there until the child was born. He would have to be in London some of the time, of course, but he would accompany me and stay with me for a few weeks.
So we went to the country. Madame Legrand declared herself delighted with Clavering Hall.
‘It is beautiful,’ she said. ‘The old English country house! Never would I wish to leave it.’
‘You’re welcome to stay as long as you like,’ Lance told her in his generous way.
‘Your husband is a reckless man,’ she told me with a smile. ‘Listen to what he say to me! Why, you might be hating me in a few months’ time.’
‘I am sure, Madame Legrand, I could never hate you, however much I tried,’ said Lance.
‘Oh, he is a charmer,’ she replied.
I did not feel any better in the country, in spite of the tisanes which Madame Legrand continued to make for me.
I remember one occasion when Sabrina was with me. She used to come and sit on my bed when I felt it necessary to be there.
‘You see what a lot of trouble this baby is causing,’ she said. ‘You have to rest in bed because of it. You never had to rest in bed because of me.’
‘Oh dear, Sabrina,’ I replied, ‘don’t be jealous of this little baby. You’re going to love it as much as I do when it comes.’
‘I am going to hate it,’ she told me cheerfully.
One of the servants brought in the tisane on a tray and as soon as we were alone Sabrina picked it up and sipped it.
‘Ooo, it’s nasty. Why are things to do you good always nasty?’
‘Perhaps we imagine they’re nasty.’
Sabrina pondered that. ‘Nice things do you good sometimes. You’re wearing your ring. That’s the one Jeanne stole. It’s rather a funny ring. It belonged to a Queen.’