Bride of Pendorric (16 page)

” I’m very sorry.”

” Oh, don’ tee be. Father bain’t sorry for himself. He’s happy enough with his pipe and all he wants to eat. He likes to sit at the door on sunny days and it ‘ud astonish you, ma’am, how good his hearing is. Sort of makes up for not having his sight, so it seems.”

” I expect I’ll see him some time.”

” He’d be real pleased if you stopped and had a little chat with him.

He’s always asking about Mr. Roe’s new bride. “

” I’ll look for him.”

” You can’t make no mistake. It’s the second of the cottages down Pendorric Village. Lives all alone there. Independent since Mother

went. But Maria and me, we’re always in and out. And we pop over with a plate of hot something for his dinner regular as clockwork. He don’t pay no rent, and he’s got his bit of pension. Father’s all right. He’d be wonderful … if he had his sight.”

I was glad Mrs. PenhaUigan was the loquacious type, be cause I had been wondering what I should say to her.

” I’ve been hearing about how your family have been at Pendorric for generations.”

“Oh yes … always Pleydells at Pendorric. But then Father and Mother didn’t have no son. I was their only daughter. Then I married PenhaUigan, who was gardener here till he died. And we only had one too—my Maria. She’ll be working here till the end … and then that’ll be the end of the Pleydells at Pendorric.”

“What a pity!”

” All things has to come to an end, ma*am. And did you want to give me some orders or something? ” “Not really. I thought I’d like to see how things were worked down here.”

” Right and proper that you should, ma’am. You be the mistress. Miss Morwenna, she was never one to take much interest. Now Miss Bective . ” Mrs. Penhalligan’s face hardened . ” she was up another street.

When she first come here, it was,
Mrs. Penhalligan, we’ll have this and we’ll have that. ” But I know my place if some don’t, and I take orders from the mistress of the house and none other.”
* I expect she was trying to be helpful. “

“Helpful! I don’t need help in my kitohen, ma’am—no more than I’ve got. My Maria’s been well trained and I’m not doing too bad with Hetty Toms.”

” Everything is very well organised, I’m sure.”

” And so it should be—the years I’ve been at it. I was in the kitchen when the other Mrs. Pendorric first come here.”

I felt excited as I always did at the mention of Barbarina. ‘
Was she interested in the kitchen? “

” She were like yourself, ma’am. Interested, I’d say but not one to want to change things. I remember the day she came into my kitchen, her lovely face all glowing with health; she’d come in from a ride and she was in her riding clothes … breeches and coat like a man’s. But there was nothing of the man about her. There was a little blue flower in her i buttonhole and she had on of them riding hats on with a band of yellow round it. She always wore them—like in the picture in the south hall, only she’s in blue there.”

” Yes, I know the picture well.”

” A lovely lady, and it was a pleasure to serve her. It was terrible when … But my tongue runs away with me. Maria always says so and she’s right.”

” It’s pleasant to have a chat, though. That’s really what I came down for.”

Mrs. Penhalligan’s face shone with pleasure as her nimble fingers went on kneading the dough.

“She was like that too—always ready for a chat, particularly in the beginning. Afterwards she was …”

I waited, and Mrs. Penhalligan frowned down at her dough. ” She was less friendly later?” I prompted.

” Oh, not less friendly. Just sad, I think ; and sometimes she wouldn’t seem to see you. Reckon she was thinking of other things, poor lady.”

” Of her troubles?”

” She had those. She was very fond of him, you see….” She seemed to recall to whom she was talking, and stopped. ” I suppose, ma’am, you have a preference for the whole meal bread. I bake some white—but more whole meal Father, he likes white—done in the old-fashioned co burg style. Father’s one to have what he wants. Though I must say now, though, that his mind wanders a bit. It’s not being able to see, I think. That must make a difference.”

I said I personally preferred whole meal and that I thought the bread she made was the best I had ever tasted.

Nothing could have delighted her more; she was my ally from that moment. She relaxed, too ; she had concluded that although I was the mistress of the house I was fond of a gossip.

” I’ll certainly look out for your father when I next pass the cottages,” I told her.

” I’ll tell him. He’ll be that pleased. You must be prepared though for him to wander a bit. He’s close on ninety and he gets a bit muddled. He’s had it on his mind a bit lately. I reckon it’s because there’s a new bride here at Pendorric.”

“Had what on his mind?” I asked.

” Well, ma’am, you’ll have heard of course how Mr. Roe’s and Miss Morwenna’s mother died.”

” Yes, I have heard.”

” Well, Father was there when it happened. It preyed on his mind a bit for a time. Then he seemed to forget like … but things are likely to bring it back, which is all natural. And when he heard there was a new bride at Pendorric, you see . , .”

” Yes, I see. He was there, you say.”

” He were there. In the hall when she, poor soul, did crash from the gallery. He weren’t completely blind then neither-but almost he were. He couldn’t see clear enough, but he knew her were up there, and it was him that gave the alarm. That’s why it preyed on his mind like.

That’s why he remembers now and then, though it be twenty-five years since it happened. “

“Does he believe … the story about the ghost?”

Mrs. Penhalligan looked surprised. ” Father knows there be such things. I don’t rightly know what he thinks about Mrs. Pendorric’s fall. He don’t talk much. He just sits brooding. Can’t get him to talk much about it. Might be better if we could.”

” I shall certainly look out for him when I pass the cottages, Mrs.

Penhalligan. “

” You’ll see him … puffing away at his old pipe. He’ll be that pleased. Maria’ll just be taking the first batch out of the oven. I still use the old cloam oven for bread. Can’t be beat. Would you like to come and see it, ma’am?”

I said I would; and as I went through the kitchens to the bake house and returned the greeting of Maria and Hetty Toms, I was not thinking of them nor the golden-brown loaves fresh from the oven; I kept seeing that beautiful young woman crashing from the gallery, the smiling painted face of Lowella Pendorric behind her; and in the hall, an almost sightless man, peering towards the falling figure, trying so hard to see what was happening.

After my talk with Mrs. Penhalligan I felt that I was truly mistress of the house. The faithful housekeeper, daughter of the Pleydells who had served the family for generations, had accepted me. My sister-in-law had no great desire to manage the house, and I felt delighted to have something to do.

I wanted to know every inch and corner of Pendorric. I was beginning

to love it, and to understand that a house which had I’ll stood for hundreds of years must necessarily have a stronger appeal than one which had stood only a few years.

I told Roe how I felt and he was delighted.

” What did I tell you?” he cried. ” The Brides of Pendorric fall fiercely in love with the place.”

” It must be because they’re so happy to have become Pendorrics.”

The remark delighted him. He put his arm about me and I felt suddenly secure . safe.

” There are lots of things I want to ask you about the place,” I told him.

“Is it true that woodworm is slowly destroying parts of it?”

” The little beasts are the enemies of the stately homes of England, darling. They’re almost as destructive as the Inland Revenue.”

“That’s another thing: You did seem rather sorry because you weren’t so rich as Lord Polhorgan. Do you really think it’ll be necessary to hand over Pendorric to the National Trust?”

Roe took my face in his hands and kissed me lightly. ” Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll manage to keep the wolf from the ancestral home.”

” So we aren’t living beyond our means?”

He laughed lightheartediy. ” I always knew I’d married a business woman. Listen, darling; when I’ve talked over this with Charles I’m going to show you how things work here. I’m going to make use of you, you see. I’m going to show you all the inner workings of an estate like ours. Then you’ll see what it’s all about.”

” Oh, Roe dear, I’ll love that.”

” I thought you would. But first I’ve got to make up for my long absence from home. Then I’ve got to prepare old Charlie. He’s a bit old-fashioned. Keep the women out of business and all that. He doesn’t realise the sort of woman I’ve found for myself. You see, Morwenna’s never been the least bit interested in anything except the gardens.”

” Do persuade him soon.”

” Trust me.” He was serious suddenly. ” I want us to be … together in everything. Understand?”

I nodded. ” No secrets,” I added.

He held me tightly for a moment. ” Quite close … for ever and ever until death us do part.”

” Oh, Roe, don’t talk of death.”

” Only as something in the dim and distant future, my love. But you’re happy now.”

“Wonderfully happy.”

” That’s how I want you to stay. So no worries about the house. Don’t I have you to help me? Then there’s Charles. He’d die rather than see the old place go. Not that it goes completely if you hand over to the National Trust. But you can’t teli me your home’s the same if you’re going to have people wandering round from two till six-thirty every afternoon except Wednesdays.”

I felt completely happy after that talk; never had the tragedy of my father’s death seemed so far behind me. My life was here at Pendorric;

it was true I was a newcomer, but everyone accepted me as a member of the family and Roe had given me the comfort that only he could give.

Soon afterwards I decided I would make a tour of all the rooms and see if I could detect anything that was in need of urgent repair. I was sure it was something which should be done, for Charles was interested in the farm, Morwenna in the garden, and Roe had the entire estate to manage.

I would begin with the east wing because that was the one which was unoccupied; and after luncheon one day I came down to the quadrangle, sat by the pond for a few minutes and then entered the house by way of the cast door.

As soon as that door closed behind me I began to think of Barbarina, who had loved this part of the house, and I longed to see her music room again.

I went straight to that floor, and as I mounted the stairs a sudden impulse came to me to turn back, but I quickly thrust this aside, for I was not going to feel afraid every time I came to this part of the house simply because of an old legend.

When I reached the door of the music-room, I quickly turned the handle and went in.

Everything was as it had been when I had last seen it: the violin lying across the chair, the music on the stand. I shut the door behind me, reminding myself that I had come here for a practical purpose. Where, I wondered, would woodworm most likely be found? In the woodwork about the windows? In the oak beams across the ceiling?

In the floor perhaps, or the doors? If it did exist, the sooner it was dealt with the better.

My eyes kept straying to the music stand, and I was picturing her there, her eyes bright with inspiration, faint colour in her cheeks. I knew exactly what she looked like, and I wondered what her thoughts had been the last time she had stood there, her violin in her slim hands with their tapering fingers.

” Barbarina!” The name was spoken in a whisper.

I felt a prickly sensation in my spine. I was not alone in this room.

” Barbarina! Are you there, Barbarina?”

A movement behind me made me spin round hastily. My eyes went to the door and I saw that the handle was slowly being turned. My hands had involuntarily placed themselves across my heart, which was beating painfully as the door was slowly opened.

“Carrie!” I cried reproachfully.

“You startled me.” The little eyes beneath those heavy brows glinted as she looked at me. ” So it’s Mr. Roe’s bride,” she said. ” I thought for the moment …”

“You thought I was someone else?”

She nodded slowly and looked about the room as though she were seeking something.

I went on because I wanted to know what was in her mind: ” You said:

‘ Barbarina. “

” Again she nodded without speaking.

” She’s dead, Carrie.”

” She don’t rest,” was-the low reply.

” So you believe that she haunts the house … haunts these rooms?”

” I know when she’s getting ready to walk. There’s a kind of stirring.” She came close to me and looked in my face. ” I can feel it now.”

” Well, I can’t.” Then I was afraid that I had spoken rather sharply, and I remembered that she had been nurse to Bar barina and Deborah and had loved them dearly. When loved ones died, often those who had lost them made themselves believe that they could come back. I could see the devotion shining in Carrie’s eyes, and I knew that when she had heard me in the music room she had really hoped it was Barbarina.

“You will,” said Carrie.

I smiled disbelievingly.

“I must get on,” I said.

“I’m rather busy.”

I walked out of the music room, but I didn’t want to stay any longer in the east wing. I went back to the quadrangle and sat there; and every now and then I would find myself looking up involuntarily at those windows.

When I next called on Lord Polhorgan, Dr. Clement was there. He had tea with us and I found his company pleasant, as I was sure our host did.

I was very pleased to see that Lord Polhorgan had recovered from his recent attack and I was surprised that he could appear as well as he did.

We talked about the village and I discovered that Dr. Clement, like the Reverend Peter Dark, was very interested in the customs of the place.

He lived on the outskirts of Pendorric village in a house which he had taken over from the doctor who had retired on his arrival. ” It’s called Tremethick—which is apt, because in Cornish it means the doctor’s house. You must come and meet my sister sometime.” I said I should be delighted to; and he talked of his sister Mabell, who was interested in pottery and made quite a number of the little pots and ashtrays which were for sale in some of the shops in the towns along the coast. She was something of an artist, too, and not only supplied pottery but her pictures ” on sale or return ” to the shops.