‘Someone of the
family must still be at home.’ Hal took Julia’s arm and climbed the steps, his limp very pronounced after the long carriage ride. ‘Oh well, let’s see.’ He banged the knocker while Julia’s heart thudded in unison.
The door swung open to reveal a tall, balding butler whose expression of dignified solemnity lasted as long as it took him to recognize the man on the doorstep. ‘Major Carlow, sir! We had not hoped—Lord and Lady Narborough are in the—’
‘Hal!’ A tall woman hurried across the chequered floor of the hall, her hands held out. ‘Oh thank God!’ She threw her arms around him and burst into tears as a young woman came down the stairs.
‘Is that the post? Oh! Hal!’
Julia stepped aside, as Hal was embraced from the other side, then saw she had better intervene. ‘Please, do mind his arm, his ribs…Lady Verity—’ She supposed this must be Hal’s younger sister.
‘Hal.’ It was a man, rather stooped, greying, obviously a invalid. He did not come down the hall, but waited, leaning on a stick while Hal put his mother and sister gently to one side and went to him.
‘Father.’ Julia saw him hesitate, then he embraced the older man. ‘You all seem very surprised to see me. Have you not had my letters?’
‘The only letter we have had was from a Captain Grey to say you had been badly wounded, but that you had been removed from the battlefield and he had hopes of your eventual recovery,’ Lord Narborough said. ‘If we had heard nothing by the last post today, then Marcus was going to travel to Brussels to find out what had happened.’ His voice was measured, but even from where she stood, Julia could see his hands shaking as they held his cane.
‘I sent letters, I promise you,’ Hal said. ‘But if you have not had those, you will not know who this is.’ He turned and held out his hand to Julia. ‘Mama, Father, may I present my wife, Julia, the niece of Sir Alfred Tresilian of Rochester. Julia, my parents, my younger sister Verity.’
Julia dropped a respectful curtsey and her new mother in law burst into renewed tears.
‘Mama!’ Hal sounded shaken, but Julia realized she had expected nothing less than this rejection. Then Lady Narborough threw out her arms and gathered her into a rather damp embrace and she felt her own tears welling up with relief.
‘Oh my dear! Oh, how pretty you are and what a terrible time you must have had of it. But welcome to the family.’ She kissed Julia and thrust her towards Lord Narborough before seizing Hal’s hands. ‘At last, you wretched boy! And the poor child arriving unannounced into a houseful of strangers.
‘Now, come into the drawing room. Or should you go straight to bed? Julia, my dear. You must advise, what is to be done with him?’
‘I think Hal will tell us himself,’ Julia said, seeing her husband’s jaw beginning to tense. ‘But, for myself, I would be very glad of the opportunity to retire for a short while: we seem to have been travel ling for an age.’
‘But of course. Now let me see—Hal, you have your old room and Julia can have Marcus’s—we have re deco rated it as a guest room, not that you are a guest my dear, but it is right next to Hal with just a little sitting room between that used to be the school room but you can have it as a private parlour. Wellow, do take Mrs Carlow upstairs—oh, and a maid…’
‘My dear,’ Lord Narborough interjected, ‘You will make our new daughter dizzy. You go up, my dear, take Hal with you and we will see you later when you are rested and we are all a little calmer.’
‘I will show you.’ Lady Verity—the well-behaved sister, Julia remembered—stood beaming at them. Her golden hair resembled Hal’s, but her eyes were a distinctive hazel green. She linked arms with Julia and guided her towards the stairs. Julia cast a glance back over her shoulder at Hal, but he nodded for her to go, so she let herself be swept along.
‘We were so worried that Hal had been killed, or been horribly wounded, and it is hopeless trying to get any information at Horse Guards; they kept saying he was alive, but there were no letters. And here he is, perfectly all right and married!’
‘He was wounded badly,’ Julia interjected. ‘And he is a dreadful patient as you no doubt know, Lady Verity, so he does need to rest.’
‘You must call me Verity, we are sisters.’ She pushed open a door. ‘Here you are. Isn’t it nice? I chose the hangings. And that door there is the dressing room and that one is to the little parlour and then Hal’s room is the other side of that. And you have the garden side, not like Hal who has the street, so you will be very quiet.’
‘It is lovely.’ Julia looked round at a room into which all the bed chambers at Place de Leuvan would have easily fitted. There was no sign of Hal, he must have gone to his own room. She eyed the inter connecting door uneasily.
‘Is your maid coming later? Only you can borrow mine, her name’s Miriam. I used to share her with Honoria, but she’s married now and somewhere in America, would you believe?’ She smiled, and Julia thought how sweet and open she seemed. ‘It is so lovely to have a new sister.’
It was all going much better than he had hoped. Marcus and Nell had come and had stayed for the evening, visibly moved by the news of his safe return and unexpected marriage. Hal looked round the drawing room after dinner at his mother, sister and sister in law, all three de lighted with Julia. She had relaxed, her nerves apparently subsiding in the face of the warm welcome, and his father and brother sat either side of him, watching the women.
‘A very prettily behaved young lady,’ Lord Narborough commented. For once, Hal decided, he had done something right as far as his father was concerned. ‘I cannot imagine how you prevailed upon her to marry you.’ Ah, there was the barb back again.
‘She saved my life,’ Hal said. ‘She found me after the battle and nursed me—in a squalid hovel, just yards from the battlefield—until I could be moved. If she had not, I would be dead.’
‘Then we are even more in her debt,’ Lord Narborough said. Hal half regretted his words, seeing how white his father had gone around the lips, but he wanted his family to know just what they owed their new daughter.
‘I think I’ll take a turn in the garden.’ He got to his feet with care. ‘I get stiff if I sit for too long. Coming?’ He raised an eyebrow at Marcus who needed no stronger hint.
‘How bad is it?’ his brother asked when they were clear of the half-open windows. ‘You’re doing a damn good job of pretending it doesn’t hurt, but you don’t fool me.’
‘Not good,’ Hal admitted. ‘A lot better than it was, and the healing is going well, thanks to Julia, but the cut in my thigh was damned deep and I keep losing strength in it, suddenly. And all the internal bruising is working its way out—slowly!’