Chapter thirty-nine

Elizabeth’s house

 

Lily felt like she’d been ambushed.

‘Lady Anne is here’ said Elizabeth, a second or so after she’d walked through the door. Lily was still taking her boots off – Pettifer didn’t allow mud in the house.

‘Why?’ was all she felt able to say. Her heart was beating too fast for clarity.

‘Why? Because she’d like to meet you’ laughed Elizabeth, ‘she’s a close friend of mine and would like to get to know my new apprentice’

Lily said nothing. Elizabeth looked puzzled for a moment.

‘You do know who Lady Anne, is, don’t you?’

Lilly nodded. She’d heard that Anne was the most powerful person in the world, man or woman. She was High Lord Raymond’s sister, and it was said that she made all of the crucial decisions for him, and so for Eth. John had described Raymond as an ‘amiable fool’ and Lady Anne as ‘clever, ruthless and charismatic’. Lily had no desire to meet her at all. Elizabeth ploughed on with what seemed to be a pre-prepared speech.

‘Lady Anne told me that she thought it would be too daunting for you to meet her in the Hgh Lord’s residence; that’s why she’s come here’

Lily could think of nothing else to do but nod again. She really had nothing to say.

 

She was hurried off to the sun lounge – a long high conservatory building on the south side of the house. She settled down there and waited to be summoned. She could see into the kitchen where there was a massive amount of flapping around. The cook seemed to have been given military-style instructions as to what should be prepared. This seemed to be a lot of fuss for a meeting between two “close” friends.   

Lily stared out through the sun lounge window. It was mostly a boring sight: there was a lot of lawn and a raised gazebo. Right in front of her, though, were three large ceramic plant pots with very tall sunflower in them. She blinked and turned, reluctantly, to Pettifer, who had come in a few minutes before and was now was eating a sandwich at an old oak table.

‘Mr Pettifer – where did they come from?’

Pettifer stared up at her. He scarcely attempted to hide his irritation. He gave the impression of someone who has been distracted from something far more important than a cheese and pickle sandwich and a jug of ale.

‘They came from you, Miss Smith. Where else would I have magicked up three bloody great sunflower plants?’

‘Oh...’ said Lily, ‘I thought they were dead...’

‘Seems not’ he muttered, returning to his sandwich. He unfurled a newspaper and disappeared behind it.  

‘Who saved them then?’ she asked. He didn’t bother to look over his paper.

 

 

 

 

 

‘I don’t like to see living things go to waste...’

Lily had no desire at all to continue this conversation with the loathsome man servant but she was intrigued in spite of herself.

‘Are you a gardener, then, Mr Pettifer?’

He lowered his newspaper and scowled up at her.

‘It’s “Pettifer” when I’m on duty; I would have a thought a…’ he paused pointedly, ‘…well-brought-up lady like you would have known that…’

Lily was learning not to be cowed. She responded immediately, in her most patrician tone. She hadn’t completely forgotten how to be a princess.

‘Pettifer – are you a gardener?’

He smiled briefly at her, a sly smile that she couldn’t quite interpret, but a surprisingly warm one.

‘Never given a chance in this household, am I... I used to hope that one day I’d have a little allot…’

He stopped abruptly and nodded at her; again she wondered why. His frown returned.

‘Haven’t you something better to do than hang around my mistress’s kitchen talking about horticulture?’

‘Not really…’ murmured Lily. She had a strong urge to stick her tongue out at him, but that really wouldn’t help.

A matronly woman strode into the room. Lily recognised her instantly. She was both delighted and astonished.

‘Miss Jenkins!’

She got up and they embraced. Victoria looked down at her with affection, but Lily saw something else in her eyes as well. She had half of her attention on the lay out of the room, the positions of the doors and the elements of the garden.

‘Hello Molly’ she said, ‘I’m quite surprised at the warmth of your greeting’

A hard tone contradicted the enthusiasm of her hug.

‘After all…’ she continued, ‘we can only have met a few times…’

Pettifer sniggered from behind his newspaper. Lily coloured up and withdrew rapidly from the hug.

‘I was just so delighted to see a familiar face so far from home’ she said, ‘I got a little carried away’

‘Understandable’ said Victoria, ‘and no harm done’

Lily relaxed a little; this was all a bit silly anyway, given that everyone in the room knew exactly who she really was. She sat down again.

‘So, why are you here?’ she asked

Victoria straightened, as if standing to attention. The formal motion made her plain blue dress look like a uniform.

‘I am Lady Anne’s liaison officer to the Hybitor council in Eth City. I work directly with my sister, who, I believe, is your mentor’

Lily nodded.

‘So…’ she said, choosing her words with care, ‘you work for Lady Anne now, do you?’

‘Well, the High Lord ultimately, of course, but I report directly to the High Lord’s sister’

Lily wondered at this.

‘That’s quite a change, isn’t it? From governess to… What exactly are you?’

‘Lieutenant Jenkins of the Ethian secret service – that’s exactly what I am…’

Victoria paused. Her eyes flickered over to Pettigrew and then back to Lily. I can’t speak now they clearly said.

‘…and I always have been. I was working undercover when I was a governess’

Lily knew that this was nonsense – there was nothing that went on at her parent’s house that was worth spying on; before the Emperor’s return Amansk hadn’t even had a proper army. She had a strong sense, however, that this was a lie that Miss Jenkins needed to sustain.

There was an awkward pause.  Finally, Victora seemed to remember why she had come into the room in the first place.

‘Lady Anne and Councillor Jenkins are ready for you now’ she said

Lily feared that if she got up straightaway that her knees would give way. She sat there for a moment with a pathetic cascade of fears tumbling through her mind: would she make a fool of herself, would this embarrass Elizabeth, and would Elizabeth tell John, might even auntie M find out about it? And, worst of all, it might get back to her parents. She gulped, there was no way she could get out of this, however much she might want to run away, so she stood up as steadily as she could and followed Lieutenant Jenkins out of the room.

 

Lady Anne sat in Elizabeth’s plushest armchair in the sitting room. She was wearing a sombre grey dress with no frills and her long greying hair was gathered up into a bun. She was sipping from a cup of tea. She made no attempt to get up when she saw Lily, she just nodded and smiled. The smile was neither cold nor warm, but there was amusement in her eyes.

‘Miss Molly Smith; I am delighted to meet you’

Apprehension tugged at Lily – should she bow or curtsey? She attempted a vague mixture of the two:  her skirt barely moving, her body barely bending. Lady Anne smothered a laugh with her free hand.

‘I’m honoured to meet you, my lady’ gabbled Lily

‘Don’t just stand there’ ordered Elizabeth, who was sitting directly to the right of Anne, ‘sit down’. She gestured to the seat in front of her on the other side of the coffee table. A fourth chair was set up a little way away, next to a smaller table. Lily knew that there was no happenstance in the arrangement of the furniture.

She sat down as gracefully as she could manage. Victoria took up her assigned position behind the other table.

‘I’ll be mother’ said Lady Anne, manoeuvring two cups on to their saucers.

‘Do you take milk?  Sugar?’

‘Just milk’ said Lily

Lady Anne poured a black tea for Victoria and then a white one for Lily. She passed the cups over solemnly.  Lily took hers and stared miserably into the swirling brown liquid. She had to force herself to look up when Lady Anne spoke.

‘How are you finding life at the University, Molly?’

‘I’m enjoying it very much, madam, thanks you’

‘Rather a change from Amansk though, I would imagine?’

Lily nodded.

‘Yes – it’s a much bigger city; I found it daunting to start with, but my great friend Julia showed me how everything worked…’

Lady Anne looked down at the table. Lily expected to see some notes there, but there was nothing except the blue tablecloth.

‘Julia Glyde – is that who you mean?’

Lily nodded. Anne smiled.

‘I know her; her father is one of my brother’s lawyers. He is a skilful, canny man, like so many westerners. As that saying goes – when he’s singing there are no birds left in the branches…’

‘Westerners, my lady?’

‘He’s Rhylic – the race from the west of this country. He married an Ethian heiress; not that it was for the money. He has a knack for making that as fast as he desires’

There was a distaste in Lady Anne’s voice that Lily did not understand. She had met Lily’s father several times – he was a small, dark, witty man with sparkling eyes. He was very like his daughter.

‘You might wonder why he has an Ethian name – Glyde.’ Lady Anne glanced up at her – Lily knew she was being played with. She had no idea what was, or was not, an Ethian name.

‘He took his wife’s name – which is very… unusual’

‘Is it?’ asked Lily. Lady Anne clearly thought that Mr Glyde was a social climber. She had always been warned about those sort of people, but this was her best friend’s father and he seemed to be much nicer than Lady Anne. 

‘And his children are unusual as well – twins with (so I am told) rare abilities…’

‘They’re seers, yes’ Lily said in all innocence.

‘Seers?’ asked Anne, eagerly.

‘They can sense magical emanations, in people and things’

‘That must be a very useful skill. What sorts of things do they do with their seeing powers?’

‘Well, they could tell that I…’

Lily stopped herself. Anne continued probing, using her most reasonable voice.

‘That you what, young lady?’

This was the sound of authority – Lily felt a compulsion to obey it. She struggled for a moment with her response.

 ‘Go on… Don’t worry – we’re all friends here…’ insisted Anne

Lily’s heart jumped. She realised what was going on – Lady Anne was looking for information. She had been set up. Intensely annoyed, she couldn’t help but glare briefly at Elizabeth. Her mentor coloured slightly. She shook her head, signalling not to Lily but to Anne.

Lady Anne frowned and said no more about the Glydes or their skills. It seemed that this was a moderated conversation – not everything went. This made Lily feel a little happier. Anne took a sip of tea and a bite of cake and then tried another tack. Her tone now had an extra bite.  

‘So – Molly – what made you want to become a witch?’

Lily stared down at her tea, which was cooling slowly in its cup. She had no stomach to drink it.

‘I’m not really sure… well… just circumstances…’

Anne’s mouth twitched. It could have been a smile – it was hard to tell.

‘Odd really. A girl of your breeding would normally want to be a ballerina or a pianist, or a singer… perhaps even… a princess’

Lily forced herself to eat a bite of cake. She nodded and smiled. She had been dreading having to talk about her fake life; particularly to someone who already knew exactly who she was.

‘Never a princess, your ladyship’ she mumbled, in all truth, ‘I promise you that’

Anne mouth twitched again. She was very hard to read.  

‘And your parents approve of this unorthodox career path, do they?’

Lily wondered. It was hard to say what the truth was about this, from either Lily’s or Molly’s perspective

‘They put up with it’ she said, feeling unexpected tears well up, ‘because they love me’

Lady Anne’s face fell as she saw the water in Lily’s eyes.

‘Are you quite well’ she said, bristling with antipathy. The embarrassment that she felt at this display of emotion was palpable.  

‘Just momentarily homesick’ Lilly said, hurriedly, ‘I’m fine’

Elizabeth glared at her, but the look was not entirely unfriendly.

‘Go and tidy yourself up’ she said, ‘have a walk round the garden or something…’

Lily got up, relieved.

‘Come back when you feel better’

Lily bowed to Anne and left the room. She went back to the conservatory and stared at the sunflowers for a while. She was glad that they were still alive and that went some way to cheering her up

By the time she returned, Anne and Elizabeth were talking in some detail about state finances. They didn’t notice that she’d returned for a while and she was able to sip her tea undisturbed, grateful to be, apparently, now completely invisible. Time dragged on, but now she bored, which was much better than being scared.