Eline Vere (33 page)

‘We can't just leave them to their fate. Are you sure they have gone to the White Hollow?' fretted Catherine.

‘Sure? Well, not really, but they were talking about it. Wait, I'll go and tell Klaas to take the covered wagon to the White Hollow.'

Off she went to speak to the coachman.

Scattered raindrops began to fall. The dogs on the lawn got up, stretched, and ambled into the house one after another. Madame van Erlevoort paced the floor while Catherine and Mathilda grew increasingly nervous as they waited for Klaas to hitch the horses.

The gloomy sky lit up with a sudden flash of lightning, followed by a loud rumble of thunder. Hardly had it died away than the clouds burst forth in a heavy downpour. The billiard players hurried out to the veranda, where they all stood close together in the shelter of the awning, united in their concern for the youngsters and heedless of the raindrops blowing in their direction. There were more flashes of lightning and the ensuing thunderclaps became deafening.

‘I don't think we should stay here,' said Catherine anxiously. ‘Let's go inside. Oh, my poor Kitty!'

Truus was very fraught, blaming herself for having allowed the children to go out, and in her nervous condition she snapped at
Catherine and Mathilda, then at her husband, even at her mother, and finally at Etienne, who had suggested going after them with umbrellas. Umbrellas! The boy had taken leave of his senses! Why had no one thought to warn her? Why did everything go wrong the minute her back was turned? How could she possibly run this household properly under these conditions? Suddenly she rounded on Eline:

‘Eline, don't just stand there by the pillars, you'll get all wet, and it's dangerous with the lightning. Oh dear, it can't be helped, so do let's go indoors! What if they've had an accident! I can't bear it! Oh, Mathilda, why didn't you warn me? I can't take responsibility for everything, you know!'

She shooed them all into the drawing room, for there was no sense in standing around getting wet, it would only make the waiting harder to bear. Nevertheless, she kept running out to the veranda to see if the youngsters were coming, while the thunderstorm continued unabated.

Inside, they seated themselves. Little was said, and the atmosphere was charged with restless expectation. They all heaved a sigh of relief when at last the old wagon returned. The hood was secured on all sides, but small hands could be seen parting the flaps and small, wide-eyed faces peering out. The ramshackle vehicle rumbled past the house on its way to the covered entrance at the back, and there was a general rush to welcome the bedraggled passengers.

One by one they emerged: first Marianne and Henrietta, then Willy and Gustaaf, after which they helped the Van Rijssel foursome and Memée to alight. Catherine flew to Kitty, who was crying. They were all soaked to the skin, their shoes and hands were covered in mud and their straw hats soggy and dripping. Bedlam broke loose as the children swarmed through the vestibule into the large dining room shouting at the tops of their voices, the three barking dogs bounding alongside.

Marianne and Hetty hooted with laughter at Willy, who had left one of his shoes in the White Hollow; Tina, Johan and Madeleine shrieked in unison as they told Mathilda how Nico had very nearly been left behind because he had gone off in search of
his toy spade, which he had lost in the sand. However, Truus soon showed her mettle as mistress of the house by raising her voice commandingly and rapping loudly on the table until some semblance of order was restored. The youngsters were dispatched upstairs, where Nurse Frantzen, Truus' governess and the English nursemaid ran from room to room fetching out dry socks and vests from the wardrobes while Truus distributed bath towels. The little ones were stripped of their wet clothes, and no one heeded the thunderstorm raging outside. Marianne and Henrietta went into their room and shut the door behind them for some privacy, as everyone was running in and out, including Papa and the uncles. Willy and Gustaaf were told to help themselves, and Truus threw them towels and fresh underwear, telling them to make sure they dried themselves properly, not forgetting their backs, chests, and between their toes, while she fetched them socks and shoes. Kitty was still crying; she could be heard in another room, along with Catherine and her governess, who were conversing in English.

‘Oh, Tina, do take off your wet clothes,' cried Mathilda, helping Johan while her mama took charge of Nico and Frédérique saw to Madeleine. Tina, however, sat on a chair and refused to budge. Just then Eline appeared, bearing a complete set of clothes for her favourite.

‘Now, now, Tina dear!' said Eline indulgently, ‘your poor mama is quite run off her feet, so you mustn't be cross. Will you let me help you instead? What do you say?'

Tina nodded her head, pouting like a little princess. Eline crouched down on the floor, unfastened the child's mud-spattered button boots and pulled off her soaked stockings.

‘My pretty poppet, you're shivering!' she cried out in dismay, and rubbed the child's clammy feet and legs with a rough towel until they were warm and rosy once more. Tina wriggled her toes in Eline's lap, happy again. She untied her belt and began to unbutton her blouse.

‘Good girl! Go on, take your clothes off, and I promise I'll brush your hair afterwards. You'll like that, won't you?'

‘Will you do my hair? Will you put it up like yours?'

‘Gracious no, poppet, I shall make you a braid, the way you always wear it.'

‘Oh please, please, Eline, put it up, won't you? I want to look like a proper lady!'

‘All right then, if you do as I say. Quick, Tina, let's get you undressed first.'

Eline made her stand up on the chair and proceeded to undress as if she were a doll, while Tina prattled on about the White Hollow and how frightened they had been by the lightning. She rubbed the slight, shivering body until it glowed all over, after which the little girl flung her arms around Eline's neck and squeezed with all her might. Eline had to laugh.

‘You have a gift for child-care, Eline! It's as though you've been doing it all your life.' exclaimed Mathilda with gratitude, for she was still occupied with Johan. Madame van Erlevoort and Frédérique looked over their shoulders and smiled at Eline. Willy and Gustaaf were teasing Hetty, who had been supplied with dry stockings at last and was now pulling them on in the middle of the floor, which was littered with shoes, wet stockings, discarded underclothing and towels.

Visibly pleased with her success, Eline set about helping Tina to don her fresh set of clothing.

‘How nice you look in your clean vest! Wait, I'll give you a tickle, shall I? There you go: lift this foot, now the other one, so we can get your bloomers on. Dear me, if you go on wriggling like this and waving your arms you'll muss my hair. Fasten your buttons, go on, I know you can do it! Or did you think I was going to do everything for you? Ah, where's the hairbrush? Wait, I'll go and fetch a comb!'

‘And my red hair-ribbon, too!' called Tina.

Eline ran off, pausing on her way to tie a large bow in Marianne's sash.

Tina grew impatient and clamoured for Eline to hurry.

‘Here I am!' said Eline, returning, and began to pile Tina's hair on the top of her head in ladylike fashion, much to everyone's amusement. Tina was thrilled, but meekly submitted to having her thick brown tresses taken down again and tied into braids.

‘That's better! You're as pretty as a picture!' said Eline, combing the fringe down over the little girl's forehead.

‘Now children, off you go!' said Truus, regaining her confidence, and they all trooped down the stairs.

‘Eline was so good with Tina,' Madame van Erlevoort said to Truus in an undertone. ‘You should have seen them together! Such a pretty sight! Oh, I can't tell you how relieved I am that they are all back home again, safe and sound!'

. . .

Bedtime was early at De Horze; by half-past ten all was still. Eline had spent an hour chatting with Frédérique in her bedroom, very happy to perceive the growing sympathy between them. Freddie was already under the covers and Eline had perched on the side of the bed while they exchanged confidences about all kinds of subjects, stifling their occasional giggles so as not to disturb the silence prevailing in the house. At length Eline had returned to her room on tiptoe, and now she was alone at last. She lit her candle and slowly began to undress, her lips curved in an unconscious, happy smile. She paused a moment, sunk in thought, with her hair hanging loose about her bare shoulders. There was nothing else that she wanted, nothing at all: she had simply everything she could wish for.

She opened the window and looked outside. The rain had stopped and the air was fragrant with moist foliage. The sky was clear, wiped clean of leaden clouds but for some lingering streaks, from which rose a brilliant crescent moon. The far-flung fields lay muffled in silence; a lone windmill held aloft a dark, motionless sail, starkly defined against the pale sheen of the evening sky. The ditches glittered like strips of metal, and a scented freshness emanated like a gentle sigh from the slumbering landscape. Eline leant out of the window, hugging her bare arms. She felt as if that soft sigh of freshness had sweetened all her thoughts with the fragrance of wild flowers, banishing the stale, sickly smell of her former state of mind. It was like inhaling the heady perfume of musk and opopanax, and she felt very young, younger than she had ever felt before, and oh! – of this she was certain – never had she been in love as she was
now, never! Her Otto! Thinking of him she felt no need whatsoever to conjure up some idealised image of him; she thought of him as he was, manly and strong in his good-natured simplicity, with one single thought governing his mind: the thought of her. His love was so rich, so full, so all-encompassing. And hers was growing by the day, she believed . . . no, it couldn't grow any further, that would be impossible! No further wishes, no concerns about the future; it would unfold of its own accord, a perspective tinged with a golden glow! Nothing but the stillness of that lake into which her soul had glided, nothing but the peace and love of that blue ecstasy! Nothing but that . . . She could not imagine what more a human being could wish for.

Only, there was one tiny blemish in all that clear expanse of blue, an inkling of fear that change might yet come! It was so very long since she had prayed, and she was unsure how to go about it, whether she should say the words aloud or just think them. Indeed, she no longer knew whether she believed in God, she no longer knew what she believed, but now, at this moment, she dearly wished to pray that it might remain as it was now, that nothing would ever change – oh, for that gentle happiness, that tranquillity of mind, that blue to remain with her for ever!

‘Never again as it was, please God; make everything stay the same as it is now! I'll die if anything changes!' she whispered under her breath, and as she folded her hands in prayer, a teardrop quivered on her lashes. But it was a tear of joy, and in her joy that tiny fear drowned like a drop in the ocean.

August was stiflingly hot in The Hague, though the evenings were refreshing on the terrace at Scheveningen or at the Tent in the Wood. It was Sunday evening, and Betsy decided to stay in for a change. It was so long since old Madame van Raat had been to see her, and so, rather than go to Scheveningen, which was less interesting on a Sunday anyway, she had instead invited her mother-in-law to visit. Tea would be taken in the green conservatory, where the glass doors already stood open. Henk took a turn about the garden with his mother, who professed admiration for his splendid long-stemmed roses. Betsy and Vincent sat alone.

‘I have had a letter from Eline; she is returning with the Van Erlevoorts next Wednesday. Apparently the Howards are staying on a little longer at De Horze,' she said.

‘Oh? And when Eline returns I am to move out, I suppose?' he responded bluntly. Betsy was taken aback, but smiled very sweetly.

‘The very idea! Certainly not. You know that our home is yours until you decide where you want to go. Have you heard anything from that friend of yours in New York, what's his name again?'

‘Lawrence St Clare. No, I haven't had any news for quite some time. But then it's hard to keep up with friends over such a long distance. I can't say I blame him.'

He leant back in his cane armchair with a slightly aggrieved air. In reality, however, he felt very well at ease, agreeably lulled by the luxury surrounding him in the tenebrous lighting of the green conservatory. The garden beyond was well kept, rich in flowers, with an
ornamental marble urn on the lawn. In that soothing environment, with the presence of Betsy in her light summer dress, elegantly poised over the softly gleaming silver and Japanese porcelain on the tea tray, he felt shielded from the discomforts of life. It was all very reposeful, monotonous even, but to him it was refreshing. He knew he had the upper hand with Betsy, but there was no need to throw his weight about just yet. Besides, he felt distinctly idle. For the present, life was easy, and he had nothing to worry about.

‘What would you say if I were to look for a wife?' he asked abruptly, the sight of Betsy having put him in mind of the pleasures a wealthy marriage might offer.

‘A wife? Oh, an excellent idea! Shall I try and find you one? What sort of wife did you have in mind?'

‘She needn't be a beauty, just elegant. But not too naive and idealistic, please! And with money, naturally.'

‘Naturally. You wouldn't want to get carried away by an unsuitable passion, would you? What is your opinion of the Eekhof girls?'

‘The very idea! All they do is giggle! No money there either, is there?'

‘Some say there is, others say they live beyond their means. Anyway, you could find out. But are you serious, Vincent? Or were you just making conversation?'

‘No indeed. I think it would be very sensible of me to get married. Don't you agree?'