The Captive (20 page)

Needs must. But you do know that every minute you are getting nearer home. “

She was the sort of woman who gives you a summary of her life in five minutes or so. I learned that Jack had always been in the Service, that he and she had gone to school together, married when they were both twenty, had two children, Jack Junior who was now in the Foreign Office, and Martin who was still at university. He would assuredly go into one of the Services. It was a family tradition.

I could see that she was going to relieve me of making conversation and perhaps saying something I might regret. My great fear at this time was that I might be led into being indiscreet which would involve Simon. I must at all costs respect his desire for secrecy. I must remember that if his is9

whereabouts were betrayed he would be brought back to face a death sentence.

In Mrs. Deardon’s company I went out to buy some clothes. We sat side by side in the carriage while she chattered all the time. She and Jack had been in Constantinople for three years.

“What a place! I was thrilled when Jack first heard of the posting .. now I’d do anything to get out. I’d like a nice cosy place … Paris Rome … somewhere like that. Not too far from home. This place is miles away and so foreign. My dear, the customs! And what goes on on the Turkish side! Heaven alone knows, you’d have experience of that. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned it. My dear, I know how you feel. Do forgive me. Look! You can see across the water to Scutari. That was very much in evidence during the Crimean War when wonderful, wonderful Florence Nightingale took out her nurses. I do believe they played a bigger part in the eventual victory than people know. We’re on the north side of the Golden Horn, dear. The other side is quite sinister. Oh, there I go again … we’re not far from Galata, that’s the merchants’ quarter … founded by the Genoese centuries ago. Jack will tell you all about that. He’s interested in that sort of thing. Mind you, the streets are incredibly noisy and dirty. Our people wouldn’t risk going there. We’re in the best neighbourhood Pera, you know. Most of the embassies are there … the legations and the consulates. There are some fine houses too.”

While she was talking, I would go into a kind of dream. Pictures of the island would flash in and out of my mind . of going off with Simon, leaving Lucas to watch for a sail . and then the arrival of the galley. On and on . and I would come back to the question: Where is he now? What will become of him? Shall I ever know?

“Now here is a very good tailor. Let’s see what he can do. We have to get you presentable for home.”

Her discourse went on. The great charm about it was that she did not expect replies.

It seemed a long time before we sailed from Constantinople. To board the ship much smaller than the Atlantic Star to gaze across the Bosphorus at historic Scutari, where our men had suffered so much in that hospital which from a distance looked like a Moorish Palace, to look back at the towers and minarets of Constantinople, was an emotional experience.

Mr. Deardon was a tall man with greying hair and a somewhat dignified manner. He was the archetypal English diplomat rather aloof, giving the impression that nothing could ruffle his composure or break through his reserve.

The journey to Marseilles was, as Mrs. Deardon had predicted, uncomfortable. The Apollo, being many times smaller than the Atlantic Star, took a battering from the rough seas as severe as I had previously suffered, and there were times when it seemed like a dream and that it was going to start again. If the Atlantic Star had succumbed to the fury of the storm, I wondered how the frail Apollo could survive.

Mrs. Deardon took to her bunk and did not emerge. I missed her discourse. Mr. Deardon accepted the fury of the storm with the equilibrium I expected of him. I was sure he would remain serene and dignified, no matter what the disaster.

I could now go on deck and I recalled vividly that occasion when Simon had found me there during the great storm and had chided me and sent me down. I thought: All my life there will be memories of him.

At length the ordeal was over. Mrs. Deardon quickly recovered and was her old garrulous self. Mr. Deardon listened to her perpetual chatter with composed resignation;

but I was glad of it. I could listen to it vaguely while inwardly following my own thoughts, secure in the knowledge that

if I betrayed inattention I should be immediately forgiven on account of the ordeal through which I had passed.

There followed the long journey through France and finally the arrival at Calais and the Channel crossing.

The sight of the white cliffs of Dover affected us all. Tears came to Mrs. Deardon’s eyes and even her husband, for the first time, showed a certain emotion by the twitching of his lips.

“It’s home, dear,” said Mrs. Deardon.

“It’s always the same. You just think of Easter and the daffodils … and the green grass. There’s no green like our green. It’s what you think of when you’re away. And the rain, dear, the blessed rain. Do you know, in Egypt they go for a year or even two without seeing a drop just those horrible sandstorms. We were in I’mailia … how many years, Jack, was it?

Surely it wasn’t that . and . and hardly ever saw rain. That’s what it is, dear. It’s the white cliffs. Home. It’s good to see them.

”

And after that, London.

The Deardons insisted on delivering me.

“You must come in and meet my father,” I said.

“He will want to thank you.”

Mrs. Deardon was eager to do so, but Mr. Deardon was firm, and in this he showed his talent for diplomacy.

“Miss Cranleigh will want to meet her family alone,” he said.

I looked at him gratefully and said: “My father will most certainly wish to thank you personally. Perhaps you could come and dine with us soon.”

“That,” said Mr. Deardon, ‘would be a great pleasure. “

So I said goodbye to them in the cab which waited until I had rung the doorbell and the door was opened. Then immediately and discreetly, Mr. Deardon ordered the cabby to drive on.

The door was opened by Mr. Dolland.

I gave a cry of joy and threw myself into his arms. He coughed a little. I did not realize at that moment that our household had changed. And there was Mrs. Harlow. I rushed at her. There were tears in her eyes.

“Oh, Miss Rosetta, Miss Rosetta,” she cried, embracing me.

“You’re really here. Oh … it’s been terrible.”

And there were Meg and Emily.

“It is wonderful to see you all,” I cried.

And then . Felicity. We flew to each other and clung.

“I had to come,” she said.

“I’m here for two days. I said to James, ” I’ve got to go. “

“Felicity! Felicity! How wonderful to see you,” There was a little cough. Over Felicity’s head I saw my father. He looked awkward and embarrassed.

I went to him.

“Oh, Father,” I said.

He took me into his arms and held me rather stiffly. It must have been the first time he had ever done so.

“Welcome … welcome home, Rosetta,” he began.

“I cannot express .. “

I thought then: He does care for me. He does. It is just that . he cannot express.

A tall thin woman was standing a pace or two behind him. For half a second I thought my mother had been saved after all. But it was someone else.

“Your Aunt Maud is here,” said my father.

“She came to look after me and the household when …”

Aunt Maud! My father’s sister. I had seen her only once or twice during my childhood. She was tall and rather gaunt. She had a look of my father, but she entirely lacked his obvious helplessness.

“We are all tremendously relieved that you are now safely home, Rosetta,” she was saying.

“It has been an anxious time for your father for us all.”

“Yes,” I said, “for all of us.”

“Well, now you are back. Your room is ready. Oh, it is such a relief that you are home!”

I felt numb with surprise.

Aunt Maud here . in my mother’s place. Nothing would be the same again.

How right I was. The house had changed. Aunt Maud had proved to be a strict disciplinarian. The kitchen was now orderly. There was no question of my having meals there. I should have them with my father and Aunt Maud in the proper manner. Fortunately, for those first few days Felicity was with us.

I could not wait to hear the verdict of the kitchen. Mr. Dolland discreetly said that Miss Cranleigh was a good manager and no one could help but respect her. Mrs. Harlow agreed.

“Things were not really run right in the old days,” she said.

“Mind you, Mr. Dolland worked wonders but there ought to be either a master or a mistress in a house and a mistress is better because she knows what’s what.”

So Aunt Maud apparently knew what was what; but the old unconventional house had disappeared and I desperately longed to catch the old flavour.

Mr. Dolland still did the occasional ‘turn’, but The Bells had lost their horror for me. Having passed through some horrific adventures myself, I could no longer get a thrill out of the murder of the Polish Jew. Meg and Emily regretted the old days; but one thing I could rejoice in was the fact that some of those who had shared them were still here.

Meals were naturally different. Everything had to be served in the correct manner. The conversation was no longer dominated by ancient finds and the translation from some piece of papyrus. Aunt Maud discussed politics and the weather; and she told me that when my father

had got over mourning for my mother, she proposed to give a few dinner parties . for his colleagues from the Museum . professors and suchlike.

I was glad Felicity was with us for these first days, apart from my joy in seeing her. I knew that if she had not been there I should have wanted to shut myself away in my bedroom and avoid those interminable meals. But Felicity did lighten the conversation with amusing stories about life in Oxford and the exploits of her son Jamie, now aged three, and little Flora who was not yet one.

“You must come and see them, Rosetta,” she said.

“I am sure your father will spare you after a while. Now, of course, you have just come home …”

“Of course, of course,” said my father.

I could talk more freely to Felicity and I needed to talk. But I must do so guardedly even to her. It was very difficult to speak of my adventures because Simon had played such an important part in them and the fact that I must not betray him made me very reticent, lest by some odd remark I might do so.

But Felicity and I had been so close and she guessed something was on my mind.

On the day after my arrival she came to my room. It was clear to me that, sensing some problem, she wanted to help me with it. If only someone could do that!

She burst out suddenly: “Tell me frankly, Rosetta. Do you want to talk? I know how difficult it must be to discuss what has happened. Do say if it is. B.ut I think it might help …”

I hesitated.

“I’m not sure …”

“I understand. It must have been very frightening. Your father told us how you were lost when you went back for his notes.”

“Oh yes. It’s strange how little things like that can change one’s life.”

“He blames himself, Rosetta. I know he doesn’t betray his emotions .. but that does not mean they are not there.”

“Everything is so different now,” I said.

“The house … everything.

I know it can never again be as it used to. “

“It really is a very good thing that your Aunt Maud is here, Rosetta.”

“We never saw much of her when I was young. I scarcely recognized her.

It seems so strange that she should be here now. “

“I gathered she and your mother did not get on. That’s easy to understand. They were so different. Your parents were so immersed in their work and … your aunt is so efficient in running a house.”

I gave her a wry smile.

“I liked ours as it was … inefficient.”

“Your father misses your mother … terribly. They were so close in everything they did … always together. It is a sad blow for him.

He cannot. “

“Cannot express,” I said.

She nodded.

“And you, Rosetta, when you feel more settled you must come and stay with us. James would be delighted and you would love the children. Jamie is a very independent young gentleman and Flora is just beginning to toddle. They are adorable.”

“It would be lovely to come.”

“You have only to say. I shall have to go back the day after tomorrow.

But I had to be here for your’re turn. “

“How glad I am that you were!”

“By the way, did you hear about Lucas Lorimer?”

“Lucas … no!”

“Oh … didn’t you? I suppose you wouldn’t. He came back, you know.”

“He came back …” I repeated.

“Obviously you haven’t heard. He told us the story. We thought you had been drowned and it was a great relief to hear that you had escaped the wreck. But we were terribly worried to hear you had fallen into

the hands of those wicked people. I’ve had nightmares wondering what had happened.”

“Tell me about Lucas.”

“It’s a very sad story. That it should happen to him! I’ve only seen him once since he came back. James and I went down to Cornwall. James was lecturing at a college in Truro … and we called at Trecorn Manor. I don’t think he is very pleased to see anyone. Trecorn Manor is a lovely old place. It’s been in the family for years. Lucas’s brother Carleton inherited. That was another sore point. It’s always a bit of a strain for a man like that to be a second son. He used to be such a vital person.”

“What happened to him?”

“As you know, he was captured with you, but he somehow made a bargain with those people. He persuaded them to free him in exchange for some family jewels. How it was done I don’t quite know. He obviously didn’t want to talk about it, and one can’t ask questions … not too many in any case. However, they let him go. It was a sort of ransom. Poor Lucas, he’ll never be the same again. He so loved to travel. James always said he was something of a dilettante. It’s his leg, you see.