The Eternal Collection

CHAPTER ONE-2

It was Larisa who had thought of writing to her Godmother Lady Luddington to ask if she could recommend for her a situation as a governess.

As Lady Stanton had sat down at her desk and started the letter in her elegant handwriting, she hoped almost against hope that her old friend would be generous enough to invite Larisa to London for a short visit.

But Larisa had entertained no such hopes.

She had met Lady Luddington once when she was fifteen and had realised far more clearly than her father and mother were apparently able to do that the worldly, elegant woman with her artificially preserved attractions was not likely to concern herself with the socially unimportant but very beautiful Stantons.

Larisa was the cleverest of Sir Beaugrave’s daughters.

They were all highly intelligent and, having been given an intensive, if slightly unbalanced education by their father, were much better read and far more knowledgeable than the average young women of their age and social position.

Because Sir Beaugrave wished his daughters to help him, in what he called his research into Greek history, they could all speak Greek and write it with an elegance that also required precision.

Sir Beaugrave himself was bilingual in English and French – his grandmother had been a Frenchwoman.

When it suited him, he would speak French at meal times and nothing annoyed him more than not to be answered in the same language in vocabulary as extensive as his own.

History and Geography were of course part of the background of his beloved studies and therefore his children were obliged to become as proficient in them as he was himself.

Only in mathematics, which bored him, was there a gap in their knowledge that made Larisa say ruefully,

“I shall have to buy a book, Mama, on simple Arithmetic. I can hardly teach my pupils to count as I do on my fingers!”

“You will soon be able to mug it up,” Athene remarked irrepressibly, only to be rebuked by her mother for using such a vulgar word. “Nicky uses it!” she protested.

“It may be suitable for Nicky, but it is certainly not suitable for you!” Lady Stanton pointed out. “We may be poor but we can still behave like cultured, civilised human beings.”

“I only hope that the people we work for will recognise our worth!” Athene answered pertly.

Privately when she was alone with Larisa she said,

“I do not envy you being a governess. It is a horrid position. You are not grand enough for the drawing room and too grand for the servants’ hall.”

“What else am I capable of doing?” Larisa asked. “At least like Cynthus I shall be kept, so that every penny I earn I can give to Nicky.”

This was indisputable.

At the same time, it was Larisa and not Athene who realised how many difficulties lay ahead of her.

First and foremost was the fact that she was so young.

Also, somewhere at the back of her practical little mind was the idea that ladies like her Godmother Lady Luddington would not be particularly anxious to employ someone so attractive that their own charms suffered in contrast.

Larisa would have been a fool, which she was not, if she did not realise that her whole family caused a sensation whenever they were seen by any member of the public.

Unfortunately, it did not work to their advantage.

Neighbours who had marriageable daughters took every care not to ask the Stanton girls to parties where their own offspring were expected to shine.

But now after ten days delay Lady Luddington had replied and, as she finished reading the letter, Lady Stanton put it down on her lap with a sigh.

“What does she say, Mama?” Athene asked eagerly before Larisa could speak. “Has she any good suggestions?”

“I do not know what to think,” Lady Stanton murmured.

“Do let me hear what she has to say,” Larisa begged.

Lady Stanton picked up the letter again.

“I will read it to you,” she said and did so in the soft, musical voice that had always pleased her husband,

“‘My dear Margaret, Your letter came as a great surprise as I must admit that I missed reading of the death of your husband in The Morning Post. I can only offer my somewhat belated condolences and my deepest sympathy. I know how fond you were of each other and how deeply you will miss him.

“‘My dear Margaret, Your letter came as a great surprise as I must admit that I missed reading of the death of your husband in The Morning Post. I can only offer my somewhat belated condolences and my deepest sympathy. I know how fond you were of each other and how deeply you will miss him.It is moreover with great regret that I hear he had left you in difficult circumstances and that my God-daughter Larisa is therefore obliged to find some sort of employment.

It is moreover with great regret that I hear he had left you in difficult circumstances and that my God-daughter Larisa is therefore obliged to find some sort of employment.You ask me whether I know of a position as a governess in a well-connected family where she would be welcomed despite her extreme youth.

You ask me whether I know of a position as a governess in a well-connected family where she would be welcomed despite her extreme youth.When I received your request, I searched among my many acquaintances for someone in need of such a teacher for their children. Unfortunately, at the moment, there is no-one in England as far as I know who would consider Larisa at the age of eighteen, preferring, not unnaturally, much older women with more stability and experience.

When I received your request, I searched among my many acquaintances for someone in need of such a teacher for their children. Unfortunately, at the moment, there is no-one in England as far as I know who would consider Larisa at the age of eighteen, preferring, not unnaturally, much older women with more stability and experience.It happened by chance however that my dear and valued friend, the Comtesse de Chalon, was passing through London and came to dinner. During the course of the conversation, she informed me that her brother, the Comte de Valmont requires an English governess for his grandson to whom he is devoted.

It happened by chance however that my dear and valued friend, the Comtesse de Chalon, was passing through London and came to dinner. During the course of the conversation, she informed me that her brother, the Comte de Valmont requires an English governess for his grandson to whom he is devoted.This means of course that Larisa would have to go to France to live at Valmont-sur-Seine. I, naturally, haying the interests of your family, dear Margaret, at heart enquired whether Larisa would be properly chaperoned, although it is not a question that would trouble one’s head about an ordinary governess.

This means of course that Larisa would have to go to France to live at Valmont-sur-Seine. I, naturally, haying the interests of your family, dear Margaret, at heart enquired whether Larisa would be properly chaperoned, although it is not a question that would trouble one’s head about an ordinary governess.The Comtesse assured me that the Comte has his widowed sister, Madame Savigny, with him in the Château and that they live a very quiet life on their family estate.

The Comtesse assured me that the Comte has his widowed sister, Madame Savigny, with him in the Château and that they live a very quiet life on their family estate.This is what I am sure you would wish for Larisa, as the temptations and extravagances of Paris, which is now called the ‘most debauched city in the world’, would certainly not be suitable for a young girl.

This is what I am sure you would wish for Larisa, as the temptations and extravagances of Paris, which is now called the ‘most debauched city in the world’, would certainly not be suitable for a young girl.Furthermore, I learnt from the Comtesse that the Comte de Valmont is well over sixty and, although a well-preserved man, has always been known for his austerity combined with a deep sense of responsibility towards those he employs.

Furthermore, I learnt from the Comtesse that the Comte de Valmont is well over sixty and, although a well-preserved man, has always been known for his austerity combined with a deep sense of responsibility towards those he employs.I feel sure, my dear friend, that you can trust that Larisa will be safe in such an environment and on my recommendation the Comtesse has written to her brother to appraise him of Larisa’s qualifications for tutoring his grandson.

I feel sure, my dear friend, that you can trust that Larisa will be safe in such an environment and on my recommendation the Comtesse has written to her brother to appraise him of Larisa’s qualifications for tutoring his grandson.I can only hope that Larisa will realise what a privilege this is for a young girl so inexperienced in the ways of the world and that she will behave, as might be expected of your daughter, in the best traditions of an English Lady.

I can only hope that Larisa will realise what a privilege this is for a young girl so inexperienced in the ways of the world and that she will behave, as might be expected of your daughter, in the best traditions of an English Lady.I send you, dear Margaret, my thoughts and prayers during this sad and tragic time,

I send you, dear Margaret, my thoughts and prayers during this sad and tragic time,Yours affectionately,

Yours affectionately,Helen.’”

Helen.’”There was silence as Lady Stanton finished reading the letter and then Athene cried impulsively,

“France! You are going to France! Goodness, how lucky you are. I only wish it was me!”

France!“I am not certain I ought to accept such a suggestion,” Lady Stanton said with a troubled look on her face.

“I cannot see why not, Mama,” Cynthus exclaimed.

“It is so far away!” Lady Stanton murmured. “Besides, whatever Helen Luddington may say, Valmont-sur-Seine is very near Paris.”

“Larisa certainly will not have any money to go gadding about in the wicked city!” Nicky interposed. “But I must say I envy her.”

“As Mama said,” Larisa said slowly speaking for the first time, “I shall doubtless lead a very quiet existence in the country, and I am no more likely to sample the excitements of Paris there than I am living here.”

“I should hope not!” Lady Stanton said quickly. “From all I have heard it is very depraved.”

“But very beautifully dressed!” Athene said irrepressibly. “All the best gowns in The Ladies Journal are Parisian models.”

The Ladies Journal“And that certainly will not concern me as I shall not be able to afford even one of them!” Larisa smiled.

“You will need some new clothes all the same,” Cynthus said. “You cannot go to France wearing the rags you are in now!”

Larisa looked down at her gown, which had once belonged to Cynthus, and had been passed on to her and would in its turn go on to Athene.

“It will soon be summer,” she answered. “I can easily make myself some muslin gowns very cheaply. No-one will expect a governess to be smart.”