Mistress of Mellyn (28 page)

Then he said an astonishing thing. ” I’ve been anxious. I visualised all sorts of mishaps. I wished I’d come and brought you here myself.”

I thought: He means Alvean, of course. He is not really talking to me.

But he was facing me, and smiling; and I felt I had never been quite so happy in the whole of my life.

I began: ” The children …”

He smiled down at Alvean.

” Hallo, Papa,” she said. ” It’s lovely to be here with you.”

He laid a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him almost pleadingly, as though she were asking him to kiss her. That, it seemed, was asking too much.

He merely said: ” I’m glad you’ve come, Alvean. You’ll have some fun here.”

Then I brought Gilly forward.

” What …” he began.

” We couldn’t leave Gilly behind,” I said. ” You know you gave me your permission to teach her.”

He hesitated for a moment. Then he looked at me and laughed. I knew in that moment that he was so pleased to see me—me, not the others—that he would not have cared whom I brought with me as long as I came myself.

It was no wonder that as I walked into Alice’s old home I felt as though I were entering an enchanted place.

During the next two weeks it seemed that I had left behind me the cold hard world of reality and stepped into one of my own making, and that everything I desired was to be mine.

From the moment I arrived at Penlandstow Manor I was treated, not as a governess, but as a guest. In a few days I had lost my sensitivity on this point and, when I had cast that off, I was like the high-spirited girl who had enjoyed life in the country vicarage with her father and Phillida.

I was given a pleasant room next to Alvean’s and when I asked that Gilly should be put near me this was done.

Penlandstow was a house of great charm which had been built in the Elizabethan era. It was almost as large as Mount Mellyn and as easy to lose oneself in.

My room was large and there were padded window seats upholstered in red velvet, and dark red curtains. My bed was a fourposter hung with silk embroidered curtains. The carpet was of the same deep red, and this would have given warmth to the room even if there had not been a log fire burning in the open grate.

My bag was brought up to this room and one of the maids Sroceeded to unpack while I stood by the fire watching the blue ames dart among the logs.

The maid curtsied when she had laid my things on the bed, and asked if she might put them away. This was not the manner in which to treat a governess, I thought. Kind and friendly as Daisy and Kitty had been, they had not been ready to wait on me like this.

I said I would put my things away myself but would like hot water to wash.

” There be a little bathroom at the end of the landing, Miss,” I was told. ” Shall I show it to ‘ee and bring ‘ee hot water up there?”

I was taken along to the room in which there was a big bath;

there was also a hip bath.

” Miss Alice had the room done afore her married and went away,” I was told; and with a little shock I remembered that I was in Alice’s old home.

When I had washed and changed my dress I put on the lavender cotton I went along to see Alvean. She had fallen asleep on her bed so I left her. Gilly was also asleep in her room. And when I returned to my own the maid who had shown me the bathroom came in and said that Mr.

TreMellyn had asked that, when I was ready, I would join him in the library.

I said I was ready then and she took me to him.

” It is indeed pleasant to see you here. Miss Leigh,” he said.

” It will be very agreeable for you to have your own daughter here. ” I began.

And he interrupted me with a smile. ” I said it was pleasant to see you here, Miss Leigh. I meant exactly that.”

I flushed. ” That is kind of you. I have brought certain of the children’s lesson books along….”

” Let us give them a little holiday, shall we? Lessons I suppose there must be, if you say so, but need they sit at their desks all the time?”

” I think their lessons might be curtailed on an occasion like this.”

He came and stood close to me. ” Miss Leigh,” he said, ” you are delightful.”

I drew back startled, and he went on: ” I’m glad you came so promptly.”

” Those were your orders.”

” I did not mean to order. Miss Leigh. Merely to request.”

“But …” I began; and I was apprehensive because he seemed different from the man I had known. He was almost like a stranger a stranger who fascinated me no less than that other Connan TreMellyn, a stranger who frightened me a little, for I was unsure of myself, unsure of my own emotions.

” I was so glad to escape,” he said. ” I thought you would be too.”

” Escape … from what?”

” From the gloom of death. I hate death. It depresses me.”

” You mean Sir Thomas. But …”

” Oh, I know. A neighbour merely. But still it did depress me. I wanted to get right away. I am so glad you have joined me … with Alvean and the other child.”

I said on impulse: ” I hope you did not think it was presumptuous of me to bring Gillyflower. She would have been heartbroken if I had not brought her.”

Then he said a thing which set my senses swimming: ” I can understand her being heartbroken if she had to part from you.”

I said quickly: ” I suppose the children should have a meal of some sort. They are exhausted and sleeping now. But I do feel they need some refreshment before they go to bed. It has been a tiring day for them.”

He waved a hand. ” Order what you wish for them, Miss Leigh. And when you have seen to them, you and I will dine together.”

I said : ” Alvean dines with you … does she not?”

” She will be too tired tonight. We will have it alone.”

So I ordered what I wanted for the children, and I dined with Connan in the winter parlour. It was a strange and exhilarating experience to dine with that man in candlelight. I kept telling myself that it could not be real. If ever anything was the stuff that dreams were made of, this was.

He talked a great deal; there was no sign of the taciturn Connan that evening.

He told me about the house, how it had been built in the shape of an E as a compliment to the queen who had been reigning when it was built.

He drew the shape to show me. ” Two three-sided courtyards,” he said, “and a projecting centre block, if you see what I mean. We are in the central block now. The main feature of it is the hall, the staircase and the gallery, and these smaller rooms such as the winter parlour which, I think you will agree, is ideally suited for a small company.”

I said I thought it was a delightful house, and how fortunate he was to possess two such magnificent places.

” Stone walls do not bring satisfaction. Miss Leigh. It is the life one lives within those walls which is of the greatest importance.”

y ” Yet,” I retaliated, ” it is some comfort to have charming surroundings in which to live one’s life.”

” I agree. And I cannot tell you how glad I am that you find my homes so charming.”

When we had eaten he took me to the library and asked me if I would play a game of chess with him. I said I would be delighted.

And we sat there in that beautiful room with its carved ceiling and thick piled carpet, lighted by lamps the bowls of which were made of artistically painted china of oriental origin. I was happier than I had ever dreamed I could be.

He had set out the ivory pieces on the board, and we played in silence.

It was a deep, contented silence, or so it seemed to me. I knew I should never forget the flickering firelight, the ticking of the gilded clock which looked as though it might have belonged to Louis XIV, as I watched Connan’s strong lean fingers on the ivory pieces.

Once, as I frowned in concentration, I was conscious of his eyes fixed on me and, lifting them suddenly, I met his gaze. It was of amusement, and yet of speculation. In that moment I thought: He has asked me here for a purpose. What is it?

I felt a shiver of alarm, but I was too happy to entertain such feelings.

I moved my piece and he said : ” Ah!” And then : ” Miss Leigh, oh my dear Miss Leigh, you have, I think, walked straight into the trap I have set for you.”

” Oh … no!” I cried.

He moved a knight which immediately menaced my king. I had forgotten that knight.

” I believe it is …” he said. ” Oh no, not entirely. Check, Miss Leigh. But not checkmate.”

I saw that I had allowed my attention to wander from the game. I sought hurriedly to save myself, but I could not. With every move the inevitable end was more obvious.

I heard his voice, gentle, full of laughter. ” Checkmate, Miss Leigh.”

I sat for a few seconds staring at the board. He said: ” I took an unfair advantage. You were tired after the journey.”

” Oh no,” I said quickly. ” I suspect you are a better player than I am.”

” I suspect,” he replied, ” that we are very well matched.”

I retired to my room soon after that game.

I went to bed and tried to sleep, but couldn’t. I was too happy. I kept going over in my mind his reception of me, our meal together, his words: ” We are very well matched.”

I even forgot that the house in which I now lay had been Alice’s home—a fact which at one time would have seemed of utmost interest to me—I forgot everything but that Connan had sent for me and, now that I was here, seemed so delighted to have me.

The next day was as pleasant and unpredictable as the first. I did a few lessons with the children in the morning and in the afternoon Connan took us for a drive. How different it was, riding in his carriage than jogging along behind Tapperty or Billy Trehay.

He drove us to the coast and we saw St. Michael’s Mount rising out of the water.

” One day,” he said, ” when the spring comes, I’ll take you out there and you can see St. Michael’s chair.”

Can we sit in it. Papa? ” asked Alvean.

” You can if you are prepared to risk a fall. You’ll find your feet dangling over a drop of seventy feet or so. Nevertheless, many of your sex think it worth while.”

” But why. Papa, why?” demanded Alvean, who was always delighted when she had his undivided attention.

” Because,” he went on, ” there is an old saying that if a woman can sit in St. Michael’s chair before her husband, she will be the master of the house.

Alvean laughed with pleasure and Gilly, who I had insisted on bringing with us, stood there smiling.

Connan looked at me.

“And you. Miss Leigh,” he said, ” would you think it worth while to try?”

I hesitated for a second, and then met his gaze boldly. ” No, Mr.

TreMellyn, I don’t think I should. “

” Then you would not desire to be the master in the house?”

” I do not think that either a husband or his wife should be master in that sense. I think they should work together and, if one has an opinion which he or she feels to be the only right one, he or she should adhere to it.”

I flushed a little; I imagined how Phillida would smile if she heard that.

” Miss Leigh,” said Connan, ” your wisdom puts our foolish folklore to shame.”

We drove back in winter sunshine and I was happy.

I did not dine with him that evening because I had asked that I might have my meals in the schoolroom with Gilly. Alvean dined with her father. And afterwards I sat in my room reading. He did not ask me to join turn that evening.

I went to bed early and lay for a long time thinking of the strange turn life had taken, and I knew that when I awoke next morning I should do so with a feeling of expectation, because I believed that something wonderful was about to happen to me.

I awoke with a start. Someone was in my room. There was a movement by my bed. I started up. It was early morning. I knew this because I could see that the sky was streaked with pale pink light.

” Who is there?” I cried.

Then I saw Gilly.

She was wearing one of Alvean’s old dressing gowns which I had altered to fit her, and her feet were in a pair of slippers which I had bought for her.

I said: ” What are you doing here, Gilly?”

She opened her mouth as though to speak. I waited, but she smiled at me and nodded.

I said: ” What has happened, Gilly? It is something, I know. You must tell me.”

She pointed to the door and stared at it.

I felt a shiver run down by spine because Gilly often made me think that she could see things which I could not.

” There’s nothing there,” I said.

She nodded again and then she spoke: ” She’s here. She’s here.”

I felt my heart beat fast. I thought: She means that Alice is here.

This was Alice’s home. She has found Alice here.

” Mrs. TreMellyn …” I whispered.

She smiled rapturously and continued to nod.

” You … you’ve seen her?”

Gilly nodded again.

” In this house?”

Again the nod.

” I’ll take you to her.” The words tumbled out. ” She wants me to.”

I got out of bed and with trembling fingers wrapped my dressing gown about me and put my feet into my slippers.

Gilly took my hand.

We went through a gallery and down a short staircase. Gilly rapped with her fingers on the door and appeared to listen.

She looked up at me and nodded as though she had heard someone tell her to enter. I bad heard nothing. It was very uncanny.

Then she opened the door. We were in a room which was shadowy, for the day was young yet.

Gilly pointed, and for a few seconds I thought I saw a woman standing there. She was dressed in a ball dress and her fair hair fell about her shoulders in long silken curls.

I stared, and then I saw that I was looking at a life-size oil painting.

I knew I was face to face with Alice.

I went close to the painting and looked up at it. The blue eyes looked straight out of the picture at me and it seemed as though words were forming themselves on those red lips.

I forced myself to say: ” What a good artist must have painted that picture!”

But perhaps because it was not yet quite light, because this grey house was sleeping, because Gilly had brought me here in her own strange way, I felt that this was more than a picture.