The Mask of the Enchantress (10 page)

So I did not go to Mateland Castle. If I had gone things might have turned out differently. I know it would have been different, and I should not be writing this to you, Suewellyn. Your life and mine would have gone on smoother lines. How the great events of our lives hang on flimsy chances. Yours and mine could have been so differentand all because of an unwanted kiss under an oak tree!

Jessamy returned from Mateland Castle in a state which I can only describe as bemused. For a time I could get no sense out of her; then an amazing truth began to emerge.

Jessamy had wakened up; she had become animated, which was what I always thought she needed to make her attractive. In the place of the gangling girl was a personable young woman.

Of course I lost no time in drawing the story from her.

Mateland Castle, it appeared, was an enchanted place. It was a combination of El Dorado, Utopia and the Elysian Fields. It was inhabited by gods and the occasional goddess; and nothing would ever be the same for Jessamy now that she had set foot within those magic portals.

shall never forget my first sight of it,she said. e alighted from the train and the Mateland carriage was waiting to take us to the castle. I shall never forget riding along those lanes.

ll accept the fact that it has engraved itself in your memory forever. Youe mentioned that twice. Get on, Jessamy.

ell, it just what you think a castle should be. It medieval.

ost castles are. Never mind about the castle. What about the people?

h, the people She half closed her eyes and sighed. here Egmont Mateland

gmont! A medieval name to go with the castle.

nabel, if you are going to interrupt and make fun, I shall not tell you.

I was amazed. Signs of revolt in our docile Jessamy! Yes, something had indeed happened.

here Egmont,I went on. o on from there.

e is the father.

ather of whom?

avid and Joel. David has the dearest little boy named Esmond. He, of course, will be the heir to the castle.

ow interesting,I said coolly, feigning a complete lack of that state.

f course, if you don want to hear

f course I want to hear. But youe so slow.

ll right, there are two brothers, David and Joel. David is the elder and he is married to Emerald.

like the names.

oue interrupting again, Anabel. If you want to hear

h, I do. I do,I said humbly.

avid manages the estate, which is considerable. Joel is a doctor.

Ah, I thought. It Joel. I knew my Jessamy too well not to recognize the change in her voice when she said his name. I also noticed the slight emotional twitch of her lips.

ell me about the doctor,I said.

e such a good man, Anabel. I mean he really does a lot of good to a lot of people.

I found my interest flagging a little. People who did a lot of good to a lot of people were, I discovered, often indifferent to individuals. They liked people en masse, not individually. Moreover, they were usually so wrapped up in their good works that they became a little boring outside them. My only interest in Joel was the effect he had had on Jessamy.

ow?I asked.

ith his work, of course. He has a place in the little town. The castle is outside the town right in the country. He lives in the castle with his family, of course. The Matelands have lived there for centuries.

ince the days of the Conqueror, I bet.

oue laughing at them again. No, it was not since the days of the Conqueror. The castle was built one hundred years after he came to England.

see you have the family history at your fingertips. Very commendable after one short visit.

feel as though I have known Mateland all my life.

he castle or its fascinating inmates?

ou know what I mean.

believe I do, Jessamy. Tell me more of the intriguing Joel Mateland.

e is the younger son.

es, you told me that, he having an elder brother, David, with a delightful son, Esmond, begotten in co-operation with the glittering Emerald. I have them and Grandpa Egmont settled in my mind. Now tell me about Joel.

e is tall and handsome.

f course.

ll his life he wanted to be a doctor. There was some opposition in the family because the Matelands had never had a doctor in the family before.

ertainly not. Too aristocratic, I am sure, to be sullied by a profession.

h, do stop teasing, Anabel. You know nothing about these people.

ortunately your knowledge is so great that it positively drips out of you. How old is Joel?

e is not so very young.

thought he was the younger brother.

e is. David is about two years older. He was married for ten years before Esmond was born. Joel was married before but had no children. Like all big families, they wanted an heir.

hat happened to Joel wife?

he died.

widower, eh?

e is the most interesting man I ever met.

gathered that.

y mother liked him very much. My father had met them somewhere I forget where. That was why we visited.

t was obviously a successful visit.

h yes,said Jessamy fervently.

Very significant, I thought. A widower. Perhaps the best sort of husband for Jessamy. And Mateland Castle! There was a good possibility of Aunt Amy Jane approving of that.

It seemed that she did, for after about a month there was another visit to Mateland Castle. It was supposed to be for a few days but it was extended and Jessamy and her parents were away for two weeks.

When they returned a radiant Jessamy came to see me.

I guessed what her news was before she told me. She was engaged to be married to Joel Mateland. Aunt Amy Jane had won the campaign almost before it started. No coming-out balls for Jessamynd I realized with a pang that that meant none for me either. I would have shared Jessamy but I could not expect to have one specially for myself.

I shrugged my shoulders.

Jessamy, in the sweetness of her nature, had time to think of me.

hen I am at Mateland Castle you shall come and stay,she told me.

I could see plans forming in her limpid eyes. Jessamy was always one who liked to share good fortune. She was going to have the best husband in the world and it would be her pleasure to find the second best for me.

I kissed her. I wished her all the happiness in the world.

t what you deserve, sweet Jessamy,I said, seriously for once.

The Matelands had not come to Seton Manor. Joel was busy working, Jessamy told me. She and her family could always go to Mateland.

The wedding, however, would be held at Seton. Aunt Amy Jane threw herself into the bustle of preparation, for this was going to be the occasion to outdo all others. No expense must be spared. The very desirable marriage of the only daughter should be given all the honor and dignity it deserved.

One afternoon soon after the announcement of the betrothal she came to the vicarage in her carriage. It was early Mayneither foot warmer and muff nor parasol weather. The Seton footman helped her out of the carriage and she came straight into the house. Janet took her into our rather shabby sitting room where my father received his parishioners when they came to pour out their troubles to him.

I was summoned too.

Aunt Amy Jane was seated in the only comfortable armchair and even in this the springs were sagging. They were apt to make pinging noises of protest when anyone sat down and I wondered how they would bear my aunt not inconsiderable weight. She gave her usual disdainful look about our room, but she was not really thinking of it. She was in very high spirits and clearly the marriage of her daughter was going to be one of the great events of her life, rivaling only the triumph of her own marriage to Sir Timothy on which her opulent fortunes were founded.

s you know,she announced, essamy is to be married.

I could not resist murmuring: e had heard of it.

Aunt Amy Jane chose to ignore my impertinence and went on: he wedding will be as great an occasion as we can make it.

She smiled smugly. That meant very great with the might of Uncle Timothy purse strings behind it, and it was well known who had control of them.

imothy and I are determined that it shall be a day neither Jessamy nor we shall forget. There is so much to do between now and the wedding day. How they are going to get her dress done in time, I don know. But talking of the actual ceremony Jessamy has made a request. She wants you to be her bridesmaid, Anabel.

h, how kind of Jessamy. She always thinks of others.

essamy has been very properly brought up.A stern glance at my father, who quite missed the shaft and was intent on retrieving his spectacles, which had receded even farther than usual. he fact is you are to be a bridesmaid. Now we shall have to have you suitably clad. I am arranging for Sally Summers to come and make a dress for you.

erhaps we could find something began my father.

o, James. The dress is not to be found. It is to be made. It must be absolutely right for the occasion. I thought of buttercup yellow.

I did not like buttercup yellow. It was not one of the colors which became me most and I had a notion that Aunt Amy Jane might have chosen it for that reason.

essamy wanted shell pink or azure blue,she went on.

Dear Jessamy! She knew that of all colors those suited me best.

suppose she, as the bride, will be the arbiter on this occasion,I said.

My aunt did not reply to that. Instead she said: ally will be coming over with the material in a few daystime. There must be no delay. I have told her that she will stay here and make the dress. It should only take a day or so. We shall have a houseful of guests for the wedding, so there will be no room for you to stay at the Manor. You will be officiating of course, James, and Anabel can join the party at the church and you will come to the Manor for the celebrations. The bride and bridegroom are going to Florence for the honeymoon. You can return to the vicarage after they have left. I will send the carriage back for you.

h, Aunt Amy Jane, what a wonderful manager you are!I cried. verything planned to the last detail. I am sure it will all go off beautifully.

She gave me a look of rare approval; and when she left I thought how different life was going to be with Jessamy married, how I had taken her for granted and how fond I really was of her.

I should go and see her, though, in this wonderful enchanted castle of hers and I should meet the husband who had been able to work such a miracle in her.

Two days later the material arrived for my dress. It was soft azure-blue silk chiffon.

Dear Jessamy! I thought.

It was a lovely morning. June was the month to marry. Tomorrow would be Jessamy wedding day.

There would be bustle and excitement at the Manor with all the guests arriving.

e have a houseful,Aunt Amy Jane declared proudly. he Matelands will be there in force and naturally all the bridegroom family are staying in the house.

I had offered to help decorate the church and early this morning roses had come over from the Seton gardens and were now standing in buckets of water in the church porch. Sally Summers was an artistic arranger of flowers as well as a dressmaker and had been assigned to deal with them by my indomitable aunt. Poor Sally, her eyes looked as though they were going to disappear into her head; she had been so overworked, hurried and harried over the last two weeks.

l get a start on it,I told her. ou can come in later and adjust them all. But it will be a help to have them in their various containers.

Sally was grateful and consequently on that June morning, the day before Jessamy wedding, I made my way to the church immediately after breakfast and set to work on the decorations.

It was a lovely morning, and I felt exhilarated. Tomorrow was the great day. Who would have believed it possible that Jessamy would be married so soon? Shy little Jessamy had found the man of her choice, whose home was a castlelbeit shared by David, Emerald, little Esmond and Grandfather Egmont. And the bridegroom was a doctor. Such a comforting profession. One never need suffer from mysterious ailments, for he would always know what was wrong and to whom should he give his care more assiduously than to his dear wife? Oh yes, Jessamy was a queen of romance. I would never have believed it possible. In fact, I had always thought that, in spite of my overwhelming handicap, I should be the first to marry.

Well, Fater Aunt Amy Jane, which I had begun to believe was the same thingad decided otherwise. And here I was confronted by bucketfuls of beautifully scented flowers which filled the church porch with their exquisite perfume and I was to start on this taskor which I was not really fully qualified; but I should be some help to poor tired overworked Sally.

I carried the buckets into the church and found the containers in the vestry. Then I set about the task. I sorted the colors and carried in more water from the pump and began on the flowers.

I had been working for an hour, cautiously picking up the prickly stems and arranging the flowers to the best of my ability.

They were so beautifulnly the very best blooms would suit Aunt Amy Jane, and I could imagine how the gardeners had been harassed ever since she knew there was to be a wedding. I decided that the glorious pink roses which had an even more exquisite scent than the others should go on the altar. There was a special pot which was used for this. It was metal and rather heavy. I made the mistake of filling it with water and arranging the flowers and then carrying it up the three carpeted steps to the altar. I should, of course, have taken it to the altar and filled it there. It was a supreme effort on my part and I was not going to dismantle it. I was sure I could never achieve that artistry again. So I picked it up and started up the altar steps.

I am not sure now what happened. Whether I heard the church door creak and open, and turned and so fell, or whether I stumbled and fell and then the door opened. I turned to look towards the door and saw a man standing there as I felt the pot slipping out of my hands. The roses were falling out, stabbing my hands, and I made a frantic effort to save the pot, which failed. I went sprawling up the three steps. It all happened in less than a second. I was lying there, the overall I had put over my dress was soaked with water, the flowers were scattered round me, and the pot had gone rolling down the stairsump, bump, bumpcattering Seton prize blooms as it went.