‘This is splendid news, Brandon,’ he said, as we sat over our port. ‘It is about time you settled down.’

‘I can afford to, now.’

‘Have you been back to Delaford yet?’

‘No. I have some business to attend to in London first — ’

‘Buying a carriage, I hope.’

I smiled. ‘Yes, I mean to set myself up well. And then I want to visit Eliza.’

It was a relief to talk about her, for he is one of the few people who knows of her heritage. To the world at large she is my ward, although I am aware some people impute a closer connection, believing her to be my child, but to Leyton she is Eliza’s daughter.

‘It will do her good to have a settled home. Will you take her to live with you? ’

‘Not yet. She likes her teachers, and she has made many friends at school. I mean to have her with me in the holidays, but I am persuaded she will be happier in familiar surroundings with familiar people for the time being.’

‘You must buy her a pony.’

‘I intend to, and to teach her to ride.’

‘And a pianoforte. Abigail has one with a sweet tone. You must come to dinner tomorrow, and I will encourage her to play for you.’

‘I am relieved you have two daughters, Leyton, for at least I have someone to ask about Eliza’s welfare. Otherwise I would be lost.’

‘We are all lost!’ he said. ‘Women are incomprehensible creatures, even at so tender an age, and having two daughters has not made them any more comprehensible to me. They can be inconsolable over a ribbon that is the wrong shade of blue, but let some real tragedy befall them and they bear it like a man, indeed far better than many men I have known. But I will do my best to help.’



Wednesday 12 December

I visited Eliza at school today. She was lively and cheerful, telling me all about her studies, her masters and her friends. I told her I had inherited a house, and that I had left the army. She was excited to learn that she would be able to visit me in the holidays, and I have promised her that she can invite a friend to stay.

1793

Thursday 10 January

I was apprehensive about coming back to Delaford, but my fears were misplaced, for Delaford as my estate is very different from a Delaford ruled over by my father or brother. I have found a good manager and appointed a new housekeeper and together we are setting about restoring Delaford to its rightful condition. The house is already looking brighter, for with a new staff of maids to help her, Mrs Trent has seen to its cleaning. The main rooms are now well polished, with not a trace of dust to be found anywhere. They need new decorations, however, and I thought how Eliza would have loved to choose them!

The stables are improving. I have a hunter and a road horse for myself, and I have found a suitable pony for Eliza. It is gentle, and yet it has some spirit. She should really have learnt years ago but it is not too late, and I mean to make a horsewoman of her.



Monday 21 January

I dined with Leyton at his home and I was pleased to renew my acquaintance with Sir John Middleton.

‘I cannot believe you have not met my wife, Mary, yet. You must come and stay with us at Barton, then you and she can get to know each other,’ he said, in his usual warm and friendly manner.

He would not take no for an answer.

‘You can meet my sons, too. Upon my soul, they are the finest boys you have ever seen. Mary and her mother agree with me. Ay, I know what you are thinking, it is a family’s partiality, but you are wrong. I will prove it to you when you come and stay with us. You will be able to see for yourself.’

Leyton laughed and said that he must lay claim to the finest boys I had seen, and the two fathers argued it out, deciding in the end that there were four fine boys in the world and their names were Leyton and Middleton. I said that I would lay claim to the finest girl, and then paused, for I had not meant to mention Eliza. But the words could not be recalled, and I told Sir John about my ward, and he said she sounded a very fine girl, at which Leyton suggested we join the other fine girls, and we finished our port and rejoined the ladies in the drawing room.

Tuesday 29 January

I arrived at Barton this afternoon and was warmly greeted by Sir John and his wife. Mary was as elegant and beautiful as John claimed, and she seemed to be good natured. Her mother, Mrs Jennings, was with her, and her younger sister, Charlotte. They were all besotted with the children, who looked much like other children to me. I did not say so, however, but said they were fine, handsome boys.

‘You’ll be wanting a fine handsome boy of your own before long, Colonel,’ said Mrs Jennings.

Her remark took me by surprise, but I soon learnt that although her conversation was vulgar, her heart was good. I was surprised to find that she was the mother to such a refined creature as Lady Middleton but I liked her none the less. True, I was disconcerted when she remarked, several times, that a fine man such as myself must have plenty of girls dangling after him, but fortunately she was too much interested in her grandchildren to talk about me for long, and returned to cooing over them.

As the ladies continued to play with the boys, Sir John took me outside and showed me over the estate. He has the same problems as I have with Delaford, and we talked over the solutions we had found, sharing ideas and experience, so that it was a very useful afternoon.

In the evening, Charlotte, who was about seventeen years old, entertained us by playing on the pianoforte, and although her performance was full of a great many stops and starts, and a great many wrong notes, her mother was delighted with her, and assured her she would break a lot of hearts when she was not very much older. Charlotte giggled, and Mary pretended that she had not heard them.

‘Do you intend to live at Delaford, or do you intend to live in London?’ Mary asked me politely as we sat in the drawing room.

‘At Delaford,’ I said. ‘It is not ready for visitors yet, but I hope that, before very long, you will join me there.’

‘Thank you, we would like that,’ said Mary.

‘Oh, yes!’ said Mrs Jennings. ‘We always like to see a fine place, don’t we, Charlotte? Are there any young men in the neighbourhood, Colonel? A nice young baronet with ten thousand a year? Or a knight, perhaps? For I would not mind parting with my Charlotte if a personable young man was to offer for her.’

‘Oh, Mama!’ said Charlotte.

‘I do not think Charlotte is old enough to be worrying about such things yet,’ said Mary.

‘Lawks! Mary. Fine young men don’t grow on trees. We have to start looking about us, don’t we, Charlotte? Otherwise you’ll be running off with the dancing master. Ay, miss, you may well look sly, but I’ve seen him, and a better calf I never saw, and I know what the sight of a fine calf does to a young girl.’

‘Mama, you will put me to the blush!’

‘A nice young man with a few hundred acres, that’s all I want for my girl, just like I found for her sister.’

Sir John bore this remark good-naturedly, but Mary was less pleased. She proposed whist, and whilst she sat out, Sir John, I, Mrs Jennings and Charlotte made up a four. The play was poor, for Mrs Jennings and her daughter could not keep their minds on the cards, but at least I was not asked more than four or five times when I intended to marry.



Monday 11 March

Delaford is thriving. The threadbare carpets have been replaced, the worn furniture has been taken to the attics, and fresh flowers fill every room. The broken fences have been mended, the lake has been cleaned, and the barns have been rebuilt. I am pleased that, at last, I can repay the hospitality of Leyton and Sir John, and I have invited them, with their families, to visit me in a month’s time.



Tuesday 26 March

I decided not to alert Eliza’s school to my proposed visit, so that I could see it in its natural state, and I was pleased to see how healthy the children looked as I arrived, and how well they were treated by their teachers.

Miss Grayshott welcomed me cordially and agreed to me taking Eliza out of school for two weeks.

‘It will be a treat for her. We were all delighted to hear you had come into property. Eliza is excited about her pony. She has talked of nothing else since you wrote to her about it.’

At this moment Eliza, who had been summoned to the headmistress’s sitting room, made her appearance. She was looking well and happy, and she greeted me with a warm smile. We made our goodbyes, and then we were off. I was glad that Leyton had warned me to hire a maid for Eliza, for I would not have thought of it myself, and I would have been dismayed when we stopped for the night, for only then would I have realized my omission.



Wednesday 27 March

Eliza’s excitement as we reached Delaford was everything that I could have wished for, and after running round the house, looking at the room where Mama had sat or slept or eaten her dinner, she at last collapsed in exhaustion. She soon revived, however, and a hot meal replenished her energy, so that she was ready to go out and look at the grounds afterwards.

As we went down to the lake, she disconcerted me by asking, ‘Are you my father?’

‘No,’ I said.

‘Oh. Only Melissa Stainbridge said that you were.’

‘Melissa Stainbridge is a very pert young lady and she is wrong,’ I replied.

‘But you were in love with Mama?’ Eliza asked.