Beyond the Stars

CHAPTER ONE ~ 1897The Earl of Ardwick stared in astonishment at the very beautiful young woman standing opposite him. “What do you mean you are not coming to the ball?” he asked. “What I said, Ingram,” she replied, “is that I am not coming with you.” “Not coming with me?” the Earl repeated incredulously. “I just don’t know what you are talking about.” Heloise Brook moved slowly towards the window. She walked with perfect grace that had been acclaimed by practically every member of the highly critical Clubs of St. James’s Street. Even His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales had commented on her favourably. She was well aware that, with her red hair shining in the strong sun coming through the window and wearing her emerald green gown, she looked like a Greek Goddess. There was something vaguely Eastern and magical about her that never failed to arouse a man’s passions. She had heard this said often enough when she wore green and so she had deliberately put on a green gown that accentuated her figure before the Earl arrived. He waited until she had reached the window, before he asked sharply, “What is this all about? What have I done to upset you?” “It is not that I am upset,” Heloise said in a soft voice, “it is you, dear Ingram.” “Of course I am upset when you say you are not coming to the ball with me when you made all that palaver about having a very special gown. God knows it cost enough money!” “You surely do not begrudge it to me?” Heloise asked almost apologetically. “I do not begrudge it,” the Earl replied, “but I thought it a somewhat large expenditure for something you will wear only once.” Heloise did not answer and after a moment’s pause he went on, “Anyway I bought the gown so what on earth are you complaining about now?” “I am simply trying to tell you, Ingram, that I am not coming to the ball with you. I have chosen another partner both for the ball and ‒ for life!” The last words came very slowly and the Earl felt that he could not have heard her aright. “For life!” he exclaimed. “What do you mean by that?” “I am afraid that you will indeed be upset,” Heloise said, “but I have decided to marry Ian Dunbridge.” The Earl, who was walking towards her, stopped dead in sheer astonishment. “Marry Dunbridge?” he questioned. “I just don’t believe it!” Heloise did not speak. “But you are engaged to me!” the Earl exclaimed. “Only secretly – and you agreed that we should think it over before we made it public.” The Earl seemed for a moment to be lost for words. Then he came back at her furiously, “You are only marrying Dunbridge because he is a Duke and not because you love him.” “That is my business,” Heloise answered. The Earl’s voice was sharp as a whiplash as he carried on slowly, “You have kept me dangling on the hook because you thought that Dunbridge would not come up to scratch. Now he has, you are chucking me over, just because you want a superior title.” Heloise gave a little sigh. “A Duke is always a Duke,” she murmured. “Curse you!” the Earl cried. “You have made a complete fool of me. All I can say is that I think you have behaved disgracefully and with a complete lack of any principles.” He walked towards the door. “Goodbye, Heloise,” he said, “and I hope I never see you again!” He walked out before she could answer him. With a great effort he managed to close the door quietly when he really wanted to slam it as hard as he could. As he crossed the hall, he could hardly believe that what he had just heard was true. Heloise Brook, whom he had been courting for nearly two months, had turned him down at the last minute. And all because the Duke of Dunbridge had finally taken the plunge. “Damn him and damn all women!” he cursed out loud. His carriage was waiting outside. He had brought it with him rather than a vehicle that he could drive himself. He had hoped to bring Heloise back to central London with him. Her father, Lord Penbrook, had a house at Ranelagh and, although it might be considered indiscreet, Heloise had on several occasions allowed the Earl to convey her to London. The excuse being a ball or a dinner that they had both been invited to. The Earl threw himself onto the back seat. As he did so, he was aware that a large gown box had been placed on the seat opposite. “What is that?” he enquired of the footman. “I were told to put it in the carriage with your Lordship,” the footman replied. The Earl’s lips tightened. He realised that it was the gown that Heloise had intended to wear tonight. They had been going to attend a Fancy Dress Ball that the Duchess of Devonshire was giving at Devonshire House. It was part of the celebrations that were taking place to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. For months the whole of Society had been preparing for the occasion and the Duchess had asked everybody to come in fancy dress. There had been much speculation, arguments and some disagreeableness about who was to appear as what. Lady Warburton had made certain before anyone could stop her that she would come as Britannia. Lady Gerard had chosen Astarte, Goddess of the Moon. These two had forestalled and disappointed a great number of other aspirants. Heloise had laid claim that she should appear as Cleopatra and her rivals had reluctantly acceded to her insistence. It was left to the Earl therefore to make himself into a suitable Mark Antony. Fortunately the costume of a Roman General was distinguished-looking enough and not too fanciful. It annoyed him now to think that, in her overdone desire to go as Cleopatra, Heloise had been extremely extravagant. “She was Queen of Egypt,” she had insisted, “and had the most fantastic jewellery. Just think of the fuss that has since been made about the one pearl earring she dissolved in wine to give to Mark Antony.” “Pearls were the most expensive of all jewels in those days,” the Earl replied, “and as a whole campaign could be fought on the proceeds from one earring, I would consider it an unnecessary extravagance.” “I am sure, dearest Ingram, you will not deny me a pair of pearl earrings,” Heloise said, “and, of course, we must say that we are as we were before I gave you one to drink!” The Earl had conceded that he should provide the pearl earrings and so, of course, they were the largest and most expensive obtainable in Bond Street. He then found that the gown itself, what there was of it, was on Heloise’s instructions also festooned with jewels. “After all, you can only wear it for one evening,” he said, “and semi-precious jewels are something that you would never wear again.” “I want to look entirely authentic,” Heloise replied confidently. The Earl had paid up simply because Heloise was undoubtedly the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. If he had to marry someone, he was totally determined that she should look unarguably outstanding and different to all the others. Heloise, with her red hair, green eyes and translucent skin, was the most beautiful young woman in the whole of Mayfair. She had rivals who thought that they eclipsed her, but they were amongst the married women who were admired by the Prince of Wales and his contemporaries. It was the Prince who had made it possible for the first time for a gentleman to have an affair with a woman of his own class without her being ostracised by the rest of the Social world. The beautiful Lillie Langtry had been fêted and acclaimed by nearly every grand hostess in London. The Prince of Wales then added to the list the Countess of Warwick with whom he was really in love, the Princess de Sagan and a number of other majestic beauties. Then he became completely satisfied with the charm of the delightful Mrs. Keppel. The Earl had enjoyed a few fiery affaires de coeur with exquisitely beautiful married women. It was only when he saw Heloise Brook that he thought the Ardwick diamonds would look sensational on her red hair. From that moment he decided it was time, at nearly twenty-eight, that he should settle down. He would produce an heir or rather several sons to inherit his vast estates and houses. Extremely rich, the Ardwicks had added to their property and collectables generation by generation. As the tenth Earl, he was one of the greatest landowners in England and therefore very influential in the Social world and the House of Lords He found it almost impossible to believe, considering his own importance, that the girl he had chosen to be his wife should prefer a Duke. Now the Earl thought about it, he recalled that Heloise had been somewhat piqued when one of her friends had married a Marquis. It was not, he had thought, an enviable position to be the wife of a man who was twenty years her senior. At the same time it was a most attractive title. He guessed how much Heloise disliked the fact that her friend would walk into dinner in front of her. For Heloise to become a Duchess was very certainly ‘one in the eye’ for every ambitious Mama and eager debutante. They had run relentlessly after Dunbridge ever since he had left Eton. It had never occurred to the Earl that the woman he had asked to be his wife would prefer another man simply because of his title. He would have been very stupid, which he was not, if he had not been aware that he was extremely handsome. He was also an outstanding sportsman and had been described as the most intelligent of all the younger men at Queen Victoria’s Court. He ran the estates himself with a brilliance of organisation that was the envy of every other landowner in the County. His horses, which again he chose himself, invariably won all the Classic Races at Ascot and Newmarket He was expert at polo and outstanding in the hunting field. He had won so many Point-to-Points and Steeplechases that some young men refused to compete with him. “I am so fed up with you romping home ahead of me,” one of them had said to him the previous week. “It would be so much easier just to give you the Challenge Cup before we start than to exhaust ourselves galloping across the country to watch you come in first at the Winning Post!” It was a protest half-humorous and half-serious, but it made the Earl feel uncomfortable. He knew, however, that his success was not only due to his riding as he chose his horses with great care and trained them himself diligently. His house, Ardwick Park, which had been in his family for many generations, was as near perfection as it was possible for him to make it. After his father’s death he had redecorated it from top to bottom. To everyone’s astonishment, it was not in the Late Victorian popular style that was now the vogue of the affluent. Instead he had restored it to how it had looked at the beginning of the century. Although the Georgian style was out of fashion, the Earl had swept everything away that the Victorians had found so attractive. Now it looked as it had when the renowned Adam Brothers had finished with it. Because it was so unusual to do such a thing, people flocked to Ardwick Park to see the alterations and improvements that its owner had made. Strangely enough it was the Prince of Wales who swept away any criticisms by saying, “You have created for yourself a magnificent background which, I must say, Ardwick, is most worthy of you.” After that everybody had acclaimed Ardwick Park as exceptional and impressive. They themselves, however, continued with their aspidistras, their antimacassars and their over-decorated and over-tasselled Reception rooms. The Earl had recently been thinking about the changes he would make to the beautiful bedroom that would be Heloise’s after their marriage. He was aware there was too much pink in the carpets and curtains for a woman with her fiery red hair and he had already planned very carefully the adjustments that he intended to make. He wanted it to be a pleasant surprise for her when she finally came to Ardwick Park as its Chatelaine.