Mistress of Mellyn (33 page)

” Congratulations! As a matter of fact I, too, am engaged to be married.”

” How wonderful!”

” To Connan TreMellyn,” I added.

She stared at me in astonishment. ” Why …” she stammered, ” I wish you the best of luck.”

I could see that she was a little embarrassed and trying to remember what she had said about Connan. I felt too that she thought I should need that good luck.

I could not explain to her that I would rather have one stormy year with Connan than a lifetime of peace with anyone else.

” I wonder,” she said after a pause, ” why you wanted to see me.”

” It is because I had heard of you. They talk of you often. Alvean was fond of you and there are things I want to know.”

” But you, who are soon to be a member of the family, will know so much more than I can tell you.”

” What do you think of Gilly Gillyflower?”

” Oh, poor little Gilly. A strange, mad Ophelia-like creature. I always felt that one day we should find her floating on the stream with rosemary in her hands.”

” The child had a shock.”

” Yes, the first Mrs. TreMellyn’s horse nearly trampled her to death.”

” You must have gone there soon after the death of Mrs. TreMellyn.”

” There were two others before me. I heard they left because the house was too spooky. A house couldn’t be too spooky for me.”

” Oh yes, you’re an expert on old houses?”

” Expert! Indeed I’m not. I just love them. I’ve seen a great many and I’ve read a great deal about them.”

” There was a peep in your room. Gilly showed it to me the other day.”

” Do you know, I lived in that room three weeks without knowing it was there.”

” I’m not surprised. The peeps are so cleverly concealed in the murals.”

” That’s an excellent way of doing it. Do you know those in the solarium?”

” Oh yes.”

” One overlooking the hall, the other, the chapel. I think there’s a reason for that. You see, the hall and the chapel would be the most important parts of the house at the time that was built.”

” You know a great deal about period and so on. At what period was Mount Mellyn built?”

” Late Elizabethan. At the time when people had to keep the presence of priests in their houses secret. I think that’s why they had all these peeps and things.”

” How interesting.”

” Miss Nansellock is an expert on houses. That was some thing we had in common. Does she know we’re meeting?”

” No one knows.”

” You mean, you came here without telling even your future husband?”

Confidences trembled on my lips. I wondered if I dared share them with this stranger. I wished it were Phillida sitting opposite me. Then I could have poured out my heart to her;

I could have listened to her advice, which I was sure would be good.

But, although I had heard Miss Jansen’s name mentioned so much since I had come to Mount Mellyn, she was still a stranger to me. How could I say to a stranger: I suspect the man I am engaged to marry of being involved in a plot to murder me.

No! It was impossible.

But, I reasoned, she had suffered accusation and dismissal. There was a kind of bond between us.

How far, I asked myself, are hot-blooded people prepared to go for the satisfaction of their lust?

I could not tell her.

” He is away on business,” I said. ” We are to be married in three weeks’ time.”

” I wish you the best of luck. It must have happened very suddenly.”

” It was August when I went to the house.”

” And you had never met before?”

” Living in the same house one quickly gets to know people.”

” Yes, I suppose that is so.”

” And you yourself must have become engaged in almost as short a time.”

” Oh yes, but …”

I knew what she was thinking. Her pleasant country doctor was a very different person from the Master of Mount Mellyn.

I went on quickly: ” I wanted to meet you because I believed you had been falsely accused. I am sure that many people at the house think that.”

” I’m glad.”

” When Mr. TreMellyn returns I shall tell him that I have seen you, and I shall ask if something can be done.”

” It is of little consequence now. Dr. Luscombe knows what happened. He is very indignant. But I have made him see that no good purpose could be served by bringing up the matter again. If Lady Treslyn ever tried to make more mischief, then something could be done. But she won’t; her only desire was to get rid of me, and that she did … quite effectively.”

” What a wicked woman she is! She did not consider the effect on you.

But for the kindness of Miss Nansellock. “

” I know. But don’t let’s talk of it. You will tell Miss Nansellock that you have seen me?”

” Yes, I will.”

” Then tell her that I am engaged now to Dr. Luscombe. She will be so pleased. And there’s something else I would like her to know. Perhaps you’ll be interested too. It’s about the house. The house will soon be your home, won’t it? I envy you the house. It’s one of the most interesting places I’ve ever seen.”

” What were you going to tell me to pass on to Miss Nansellock?”

” I’ve been doing a little research on architecture, and so on, of the Elizabethan period, and my fiance arranged for me to see Cotehele, the Mount Edgcumbes’ place. They were delighted to let me see it because they are understandably proud of it. It’s more like Mount Mellyn than any house I’ve ever seen. The chapel is almost identical, even to the lepers’ squint. But the squint at Mount Mellyn is much bigger, and the construction of the walls is slightly different. As a matter of fact I’ve never seen a squint quite like that at Mount Mellyn before. Do tell Miss Nansellock. She would be most interested, I’m sure.”

” I’ll tell her. I expect she’ll be more interested to hear that you are so happy and that you are going to marry.”

” Don’t forget to tell her too that I remember I owe it all to her.

Give her my kindest regards and my best thanks. “

” I will,” I said.

We parted, and on my journey home I felt I had obtained from Miss Jansen some fresh light on my problem.

There was no doubt that Lady Treslyn arranged for Miss Jansen’s dismissal. Miss Jansen was very pretty indeed. Connan admired her and Alvean was fond of her. Connan would consider marriage because he

would want sons; and Lady g to allow him to marry anyone but herself.

I believed now that Lady Treslyn was planning to remove me as she had removed Miss Jansen; but because I was already engaged to Connan she would have to use more drastic methods in my case.

But Connan did not know of this attempt on my life.

I refused to believe that of him and, refusing, I felt a great deal happier.

Moreover, I had made up my mind. When Connan came back I was going to tell him everything—all I had discovered, all I had feared.

The decision brought me great comfort.

Two days passed, and still Connan had not returned.

Peter Nansellock came over to say goodbye. He was leaving late that night for London on his way to join the ship which would carry him to Australia.

Celestine was with him when he came to say goodbye. They thought Connan would have returned by now. As a matter of fact while they were there a letter arrived from-Connan. He was coming back if possible late that night; if not, as early as possible next day.

I felt tremendously happy.

I gave them tea and, as we talked, I mentioned Miss Jansen.

I saw no reason why I should not do so in front of Peter, because it was he who had told me that Celestine had found her a job with the Merrivales.

” I met Miss Jansen the other day,” I began.

They were both startled. ” But how?” asked Peter. ” I wrote and asked her to meet me.”

” What made you do that?” asked Celestine.

“Well, she had lived here, and there was a mystery about her, and I thought it would be rather interesting, so, as I was ;

going to Plymouth. “

“s ” A charming creature,” mused Peter. | ” Yes. You’ll be pleased to hear that she’s engaged to bel married.

” J “

How interesting,” cried Celestine, her face growing pink. ” I’m delighted. “

” To the local doctor,” I added.

” She’ll make an excellent doctor’s wife,” said Celestine.

” Her husband’s male patients will all be in love with her,” put in Peter.

” That could be disconcerting,” I replied.

” But good for business,” murmured Peter. ” Did she send us greetings?”

” Particularly to your sister,” I smiled at Celestine. ” She is so grateful to you; you were wonderful to her. She says she’ll never forget.”

” It was nothing. I could not let that woman do what she did and stand by doing nothing.”

” You think Lady Treslyn deliberately planted that theft on her? I know Miss Jansen does.”

” There is no doubt of it,” said Celestine firmly.

” What an unscrupulous woman she must be!”

” I believe that to be so.”

” Well, Miss Jansen is happy now, so good came out of evil. By the way, I have a special message for you. It’s about the house.”

” What house?” asked Celestine with great interest.

” This one. Miss Jansen has been to Cotehele and has been comparing their squint, in the chapel, with ours. She says ours is quite unique.”

” Oh really! That’s very interesting.”

” It’s bigger, she says I mean ours is. And there’s some thing about the construction of the walls.”

” Celestine is aching to go down and have a look at it,” said Peter.

She smiled at me.

“We’ll look at it together sometime. You’re going to be the Mistress of the house, so you ought to take an interest in it.”

” I’m becoming more and more interested. I’m going to ask you to teach me lots about it.”

She smiled at me warmly. ” I’ll be glad.”

I asked Peter what train he was catching, and he answered that it would be the ten o’clock from St. Germans.

” I’ll ride to the station,” he said, ” and stable the horse there.

The baggage has gone on ahead of me. I shall go alone. I don’t want any fond farewells at the station. After all, I shall no doubt be home this time next year . with a fortune. Au revoir, Miss Leigh,” he went on. ” I’ll come back one day. And if you do feel like coming with me . it’s not too late even now. “

He spoke flippantly, and his eyes were full of mischief, I wondered what he would say if T suddenly agreed to his proposal, if I suddenly told him that I was filled with terrible doubts about the man I had promised to marry.

I went down to the porch to say my last farewells. The servants were there for he was a great favourite. I guessed that he had bestowed many a sly kiss on Daisy and Kitty, and they were sad to see him go.

He looked very handsome in the saddle and beside him Celestine seemed insignificant. We stood waving to them. His last words were: ” Don’t forget. Miss Leigh … if you should change your mind!”

Everybody laughed and T joined in with them. I think we all felt a little sad that he was going.

As we were going back into the house, Mrs. Polgrey said to me: ” Miss Leigh, could I have a word with you?”

” But certainly. Shall I come to your room?”

She led the way there.

” I’ve just had word,” she said. ” The result of the autopsy.

Death through natural causes. “

I felt floods of relief sweeping over me.

” Oh, I’m so pleased about that.”

” So are we all. I can tell you, I didn’t like the things that were being said … and him dying after he’d had supper here.”

” It seems as though it was all a storm in a teacup,” I said.

” Something like that, Miss Leigh. But there you are-people talk and something has to be done.”

” Well, it must be a. great relief to Lady Treslyn.”

She looked a little embarrassed and I guessed she was wondering what she had said to me in the past about Connan and Lady Treslyn. It must have been disconcerting to discover that I was going to be Connan’s wife. I decided to sweep aside her embarrassment for ever, and said:

“I hoped you were going to offer me a cup of your special Earl Grey.”

She was pleased and rang for Kitty.

We talked of household affairs while the kettle boiled, and when tea was made she tentatively brought out the whisky and when I nodded a teaspoonful was put into each cup. I felt then that we had indeed resumed the old friendly relationship.

I was glad, because I could see this made her happy, and I wanted everyone about me to be as happy as I was.

I kept on telling myself : If Lady Treslyn really did attempt to kill me by sending that boulder crashing down in front of me when I was mounted on Jacinth, Connan knew nothing about it. Sir Thomas died a natural death, so there was nothing to hide; he had no reason to ask me to marry him except the one which he gave me; he loves me.

It was nine o’clock and the children were in bed. It had been a warm and sunny day and there were signs of spring every where.

Connan was coming home either tonight or tomorrow and I was happy.

I wondered what time he would arrive. Perhaps at midnight. I went to the porch to look for him because I had imagined I heard horses’ hoofs in the distance.

I waited. The night was still. The house always seemed very quiet at times like this for all the servants would be in their own quarters.

I guessed that Peter would be on his way to the station by now. It was strange to think that I might never see him again. I thought of our first meeting in the train; he had begun by playing his mischievous tricks on me even then.

Then I saw someone coming towards me. It was Celestine, and she had come by way of the woods, not along the drive as usual.

She was rather breathless.

” Why, hallo,” she said. ” I came to see you. I felt so lonely.

Peter’s gone. It’s rather sad to think that I shan’t see him for a long time. “

” It does make one sad.”

” He played the fool a great deal, of course, but I am very fond of him. Now I’ve lost both my brothers.”

” Come in,” I said.