A Steeplechase For Love

CHAPTER ONE 1867-1

CHAPTER ONE

1867Helsa saw her father off in the family trap and then walked slowly into the garden.

She hoped that he would not find the journey to the woman who had sent for him too long or too arduous.

She knew that, when people were ill and turned to the Vicar for help, they had an infuriating habit of talking about themselves until he was exhausted.

The Reverend the Honourable Alfred Irvin was an extremely conscientious clergyman and he looked after the Parishioners in the village as if they were his own family.

As the younger son of the Earl of Irvindale, he had not joined the Army like his elder brother.

He was expected to take on one of the Parishes for which his father was responsible in the County of Surrey, and had therefore gone up to Oxford to read for a degree in history and theology and this he did so brilliantly that he was awarded a double first.

He was really, as his wife often said to him, far too able to be no more than the Vicar of a small Parish, but at the same time he was more or less living at home.

He enjoyed all the advantages of a great estate and a name which was revered over the whole countryside.

However, what had not been expected was that the Vicar’s elder brother should be killed in the Crimean War.

The British Army had travelled out to the Crimea Peninsula more than thirty thousand strong to fight against the Russians in 1853, but very few had returned.

Neglected since the Battle of Waterloo, the Army was badly equipped and poorly led and owing to muddle and misinterpretation of orders at Balaclava, five hundred horses of the Light Brigade alone were killed or injured.

The Earl of Irvindale was totally broken-hearted at the death of his elder son and he died shortly before peace was signed.

Thus on the old Earl’s death, his second son Alfred succeeded not only to the title but to the house and estate as well.

However, because he was so well known locally as ‘the Vicar’, he did not call himself the Earl of Irvindale as he was entitled to do.

Nor did he move from the Vicarage into Irvin Hall.

He realised for the first time that his responsibility was far greater and more difficult than he had anticipated.

Owing to the war and the fact that so many of their best workers left to join the Army, the estate had become neglected and unprofitable.

The Earls of Irvindale had been wealthy men for several hundred years, and their successors had carried on as if there were inexhaustible funds in the bank and they spent as much as they wished without a second thought.

As was usual with ancestral families, the Head, in this case the Earl, was responsible for all his relations, but the family estate had become impoverished because of the extravagance and disinterest of previous Earls.

And then the late Earl of Irvindale, handicapped by constant financial problems arising from the Crimean War and saddened by the death of his elder son, had found it impossible to keep the estate in good order.

It was now in a state of sad decline and producing very little income.

The Reverend Alfred Irvin was in despair.

How could he ever dispense what had become only a small income amongst so great a number of applicants?

“What am I to do, Helsa?” he asked his daughter with her long golden hair and shining blue eyes.

He thought as he looked at her how lovely she was.

If things had been normal, she would have gone to London as a debutante and would have then undoubtedly been a huge success in the Beau Monde who appreciated beauty whenever it appeared.

Instead of which she had to stay in Little Medwell and listen to the endless stream of complaints and requests that poured into the Vicarage every day.

But it was Helsa who thought up the bright idea of letting out Irvin Hall.

“Of course, dearest Papa,” she had said, “you will never wish to sell anything that has been in the family for nearly four centuries. The Hall has been home not only for us but for everyone who bears our ancient name.”

“No, definitely no,” the Vicar replied to her almost angrily.

It had indeed passed through his mind that the only way to survive would be to sell objets d’art, but he knew only too well that virtually all the valuable objects at The Hall were entailed – for the son he did not possess.

He would be succeeded by a fairly distant cousin he had not seen for a long time.

But that was for the future.

For the present it was he and only he who could somehow contrive to keep the family alive.

“I think now we are at peace,” Helsa was saying slowly, “more visitors from other countries will be coming to England. Perhaps we can find a rich man who wants to rent a large country house so he can entertain his friends.”

Her father stared at her in astonishment. “That had never occurred to me, but it could well happen and is certainly worth considering.”

“What we have to do, Papa,” continued Helsa, “is to notify the Agents in London who help foreigners to find accommodation whether it is in a hotel or a house.”

“That is very clever of you, my dear. It would be a tremendous help if we could lease The Hall and save me from having to dispense with the few servants who are still there.”

Helsa gave a little cry.

“You cannot think of doing so, Papa! The Cosnets had been with us ever since I was born. Robinson would, I know, rather die than leave The Hall, which he adores.”

“I know!” the Vicar responded almost testily. “But unfortunately they have to eat and expect to be paid.”

“That is why I am suggesting, Papa, that someone else does it for us. If we could find a suitable tenant even for a short while, things may well improve.”

The Vicar sighed.

The last thing he wanted was to have to manage his estate as well as looking after the people who had always turned to him instinctively for help – not only his relations but all his Parishioners to whom he had been a guide and a comforter since they were born.

What was more, two of the other Vicars in villages round the estate had died or left and so he was responsible for not only running his own Parish but two others nearby.

It was more than enough to preach at three Services on Sundays and to baptise, marry and bury and at the same time to listen to their troubles was almost too much.

In fact he carried out all his duties extremely well and was consequently adored by everyone on the estate and in the neighbourhood.

Yet it was impossible for him to carry on doing so much for ever.

“Now if you will allow me, Papa,” proposed Helsa, “I will write to two of these Agents in London who have advertised in the newspapers.”

Her father gazed at her and she added,

“I am sure as they advertise in English newspapers, they also put advertisements into foreign ones. I think too that we should write to the Embassies and they may know of wealthy people from their countries visiting London.”

“It certainly sounds a good idea,” the Vicar agreed. “You must forgive me, my dear Helsa, for not thinking of it myself.”

“It’s a miracle, Papa, that you have time to think of anything except the people who hammer on our door day and night. Do you realise you have been out three times this week when you should have been sleeping to recover from the exertions of the day?”

Her father smiled.

“I have always thought it extremely unnecessary for people to die at night when they have the whole day to do it in,” he had grinned. “I often think it is because they are left alone and find it easier to meet their God when there is no audience!”

Helsa had laughed.

Her father had a great sense of humour and she had often found herself laughing helplessly at his quips.

Equally she realised that no one could possibly do more for all those who turned to him in trouble.

It was so obvious to her that he was adored by those he served and the result was that they sent for him on every possible occasion and with every excuse however feeble.

“Now, when you come back from Mrs. Willow this afternoon, if she lets you off quickly, I suggest, Papa, that you go to bed and have a few hours sleep before dinner.”

“What about my sermons for tomorrow?” he asked distractedly.

“You know perfectly well, Papa, you can deliver an excellent sermon without writing it all down. Just talk to the people from your heart and they will listen attentively. I sometimes think that because you enjoy writing so much, what you say goes over their heads.”

“I know that, Helsa. Equally when I am writing a sermon, I often get carried away by my subject. It is only when I am reading it in Church that I realise that you are the only one in the congregation who will understand what I am trying to say!”

“I always enjoy every word of your sermons, Papa, but until you have more free time, I suggest you talk to the Parishioners about themselves and it’s the only thing they listen to anyway!”

Her father laughed heartily, but he realised that his darling daughter was talking sense.

He had enjoyed teaching her enormously and it had delighted him when she grew older to find that Helsa was extremely intelligent. She wanted to learn more and more as he had when he was young.

Every penny he could spare went on buying books, which he read and discussed with his daughter and he often thought that other children would not have been advanced enough for such discourse.

The result was that Helsa at eighteen was not only outstandingly beautiful, as her mother had been, but she was also unusually intelligent and extremely well educated.

The Vicar had sat back in his chair before he said,

“Now you know I always listen to what you have to say to me. Tell me more about this idea of yours of letting out The Hall.”

He was not feeling very optimistic, but he felt that he must give his daughter a free hand.

She wrote to every letting Agency in London which she thought might produce an interested client who would want, if only for a short time, to rent a large house in the country.

To her surprise and delight she received a number of encouraging letters in return.

Two people had arrived the next week to look at Irvin Hall, but unfortunately both of them had decided it was far too big for their requirements

Apart from anything else they would not have been able to afford the enormous staff that would be required if they rented The Hall.

It was useless for Helsa to try to maintain that they had managed with very few servants and she had to admit that all the State rooms were closed and so was one entire wing of the enormous house.

Then, by what Helsa believed to be an undoubted miracle, she heard from one of the largest Agents.

He wrote saying that he had received a request from a certain Lady Basset who was looking for a large house in the country in which she could throw large parties during the summer.

Helsa had felt when she first decided to advertise that it would be an advantage that they were near London.

She learnt when she visited the head of the Agency that Lady Basset wished to entertain – it would be mostly at weekends – in a very grand style.

Everything then moved so incredibly rapidly that Helsa really felt breathless at the end of it.

Lady Basset was willing to pay what she and her father thought was a very large rent for the house and the grounds.

It was all so exciting that they were half afraid the whole idea was just a mirage.

They were given instructions as to what was to be ready for her Ladyship’s arrival and these multiplied day after day.

First she required a butler and four footmen – that was comparatively easy as Robinson had been at The Hall for so long and he could find exactly the sort of young men he would need in the village for the footmen.