The Cavendon Women
‘If you’ve been suffering withdrawal symptoms from Downton, this is for you’ Daily MailA stately home. The roaring twenties. And four spirited girls who must forge a new future for themselves.On a summer weekend in 1926 the Ingham family gathers at the great house in Yorkshire that has been their family home for centuries. With them are the Swanns who have served them for generations – and know all their secrets.The estate is under threat: the aftermath of the Great War has left it facing ruin. Four young women from both sides of the house must shape its future – Daphne, fighting to modernise her ancestral home; Cecily Swann, flying high as a fashion designer in London; Deidre, the career girl, and Dulcie, the outspoken debutante. As the roaring twenties burn towards the Great Depression, nothing will ever be the same again…
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2015
Copyright © Barbara Taylor Bradford 2015
Cover layout design © HarperCollâinsPublishersPublishers Ltd 2015
Cover photographs © Morgan Norman/Gallery Stock (front); Jill Battaglia/Trevillion Images (back).
Barbara Taylor Bradford asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN 9780007503261
Ebook Edition © October 2015 ISBN: 9780007503254
Version 2018-02-16
For Bob, with all my love always
Table of Contents
Charles Ingham, 6th Earl of Mowbray, aged 57. Owner and custodian of Cavendon Hall. Referred to as Lord Mowbray.
Felicity Ingham, his ex-wife, the former Countess of Mowbray, aged 56. An heiress in her own right through her late father, an industrialist. Now remarried to Lawrence Pierce, a noted surgeon.
THE CHILDREN OF THE EARL AND FORMER COUNTESS
Miles Ingham, heir to the earldom, aged 27. He is known as the Honourable Miles Ingham, lives at Cavendon and is learning to run the estate. Married to Clarissa Meldrew.
Lady Diedre Ingham, eldest daughter, aged 33, living in London. She works at the War Office. Single.
Lady Daphne Ingham Stanton, second daughter, aged 30. She is married to Hugo Ingham Stanton. They live in the South Wing of Cavendon with their five children.
Lady DeLacy Ingham, third daughter, aged 25, living in London. Divorced from Simon Powers, and has reverted to her maiden name.
Lady Dulcie Ingham, fourth daughter, aged 18. She lives at Cavendon.
The four girls are still referred to affectionately as the four Dees by the staff.
The children of Lady Daphne and Mr Hugo Stanton are Alicia, aged 12; Charles, aged 8½; the twins, Thomas and Andrew, aged 5, and Annabel, aged 2.
OTHER INGHAMS
Lady Lavinia Ingham Lawson, sister of the Earl, aged 53. She lives at Skelldale House, on the estate, when in Yorkshire. She is mostly in London. She is now widowed. She was married to John Edward Lawson, known as Jack.
Lady Vanessa Ingham, the spinster sister of the Earl, aged 47, who has her own private suite of rooms at Cavendon, which she uses when in Yorkshire. She spends most of her time in London.
Lady Gwendolyn Ingham Baildon, the widowed aunt of the Earl, aged 86, who resides at Little Skell Manor on the estate. She was married to the late Paul Baildon.
The Honourable Hugo Ingham Stanton, first cousin of the Earl, aged 45. He is the nephew of Lady Gwendolyn, the sister of his late mother, Lady Evelyne Ingham Stanton. He is married to Lady Daphne.
BETWEEN STAIRS
THE SECOND FAMILY: THE SWANNS
The Swann family has been in service to the Ingham family for over one hundred and seventy years. Consequently, their lives have been intertwined in many different ways. Generations of Swanns have lived in Little Skell village, adjoining Cavendon Park, and still do. The present-day Swanns are as devoted and loyal to the Inghams as their forebears were, and would defend any member of the family with their lives. The Inghams trust them implicitly, and vice versa.
