The Mask of the Enchantress (25 page)

That was the state of affairs when the ship arrived.

I woke up one morning and there she lay, white and gleaming, out in the bay. She was about a mile out, for the water round the island was too shallow for her to come closer.

There was the usual excitement but no more than usual and, looking back, I marveled once more that Fate gives one no warning when some great event is going to burst upon one and change one whole life.

The ship small boats were being lowered and the canoes were already paddling out to the ship. How they reveled in those days when the ship came in! The noise and babble were tremendous and we could hardly hear ourselves speak.

My parents and I were standing on the shore ready to receive the boats as they came in, when to our amazement we saw someone being helped out of one of the boats which came from the ship. It was a woman. She was climbing down the swinging ladder and being caught by two of the sailors. She settled herself down to be rowed ashore.

ho on earth can this be?said Anabel.

Our eyes were fixed on the boat as it came nearer. Now we could see her more clearly. She was young and she wore a big shady hat decorated with white daisies. It was a most elegant hat.

She had turned towards us. She had seen us. She lifted a hand in a rather regal manner, as though she knew who we were.

The boat was scraping the sand. One of the sailors had sprung out. He gave her his hand and she rose. She was about my height, which was fairly tall, and she was dressed in white clinging silk. I thought she was very attractive, and like someone I knew.

And suddenly it hit me. It was like looking into a mirror not quite true mirrornd seeing oneself reflected in a flattering way. The person she was like was myself.

The sailor had lifted her out of the boat. He carried her so that she might not get her feet wet.

She stood there looking at us, a smile on her face.

She said: Susannah.

I think we all felt that we were dreamingll except Susannah. She was completely mistress of the situation.

My parents appeared to be stunned. Anabel kept looking at her as though she could not believe she was real.

She was aware of it. I came to believe that there was little Susannah was not aware of. And she found the situation very amusing.

had to come and see my father,she said. s soon as I knew where to come I set out. And AnabelI remember you. And who

ur daughter,said Anabel. uewellyn.

our daughter and She was looking at her father.

es,he said. ur daughter Suewellyn.

Susannah nodded slowly, smiling. Then she looked straight at me. ee sisters half sisters. Isn it exciting? Fancy discovering you have a sister at my time of life!

knew of your existence,I said.

h, unfair advantage!Her eyes remained on me. e are alike, aren we?She pulled off her hat. Her hair was cut in a fringe over her forehead.

e are sisters indeed,she went on. nd we could look more alike if we dressed similarly. Oh, this is thrilling. How glad I am I have found you at last!

The sailors put her baggage on the sand beside Susannah.

oue come to stay,said Anabel.

or a visit. If youl have me. I have come a long way.

et go to the house,said Anabel. herel be lots to talk about.

Susannah went to my father and slipped her arm through his.

re you pleased I have come?she asked.

f course.

am so glad. I remember you, you know and Anabel.

our mother he began.

he died about three years ago. It was pneumonia. Yes, there is a lot to tell you.

Several boys and girls had come to stare at the newcomer. My father shouted at them: ome on. Give us a hand with these bags.

They giggled and came running, delighted to be included in the adventure.

And so we went into the house, our emotions in a turmoil.

Philip was already there. He came out when he heard us. When he saw Susannah he stopped and stared.

Anabel said: his is my husband daughter. She has come out from England to see us.

his is most interesting,he said, advancing.

Susannah held out her hand. ow do you do?she said.

his is Dr. Halmer,my father announced. r. Halmer, Susannah Mateland.

nd have you come to stay?asked Philip.

am hoping to for a while. It is a long way to come for a day. I believe the ship sails tomorrow. I hope they will like me well enough not to send me back on it.

oue rather like

She turned and flashed her smile at me. t natural,she said. e share a father.

We all went inside. Cougaba came out and behind her was Cougabel. She had obviously been visiting her mother and was carrying the baby whose appearance in the world had been too soon for our comfort.

ougaba,said Anabel, ur daughter has arrived from England. Can you see that a room is made ready for her?

es, yes, yes,said Cougaba. ougabel, you come give me hand.

Cougabel stood there smiling, holding the baby in her arms and looking from me to Philip until her eyes rested on Susannah.

t a pleasant house,said Susannah.

t improved a good deal since we came,replied my father.

t must have been about eleven years ago. I remember I was seven when you went away.

t is eleven years ago,said Anabel quietly. ou must be thirsty. Let me get you something to drink while Cougaba gets your room ready.

ougaba! Is that the baleful female who regarded me as though I were some devil escaped from the gates of hell?

ougaba is the elder,I said.

h, I meant the young one with the baby. Theye servants, I suppose. Ie wanted so long to find you. It was so sudden your disappearance.

My mother brought some lemonade to which she had added some of the herbs she had discovered; they gave a special and very delicious tang to the beverage, making it a pleasantly refreshing drink.

e shall dine in an hour time,said Anabel. re you hungry? Should I speed it up?

Susannah said no. The drink was refreshing and an hour or so would suit her beautifully.

She looked rather roguishly at my father. expect you are wondering how I found you. Old Simons, who arranged all your affairs, died last year. His son Alain took over. I made Alain give away your secret. I haven told anyone but I was determined to come and see you.

ow did Jessamy die?asked Anabel.

t was during the cold winter three years back. We were snowed up at the castle for several weeks. You know how the wind whistles down those corridors. It the draftiest spot Ie ever been in. Well, it was too much for my mother. Her chest always troubled her. Elizabeth Larkhamou remember Elizabeth Larkham?he died a few months after of the same complaint. A lot of people suffered through that winter.

nd how was your mother when began Anabel.

Susannah gave that rather secretive smile which I had already noticed. hen you went away?she asked. h, devastated! She was terribly ill. Another of her colds, which turned to bronchitis. She was too ill to think of anything but getting her breath. I heard her say that it saved her from dying of melancholy.

Anabel closed her eyes. Susannah was opening an old wound and turning the knife in it.

owever,she went on, hat all in the past. Things are different at the castle now.

Cougabel came down to say that the room was ready. She had only had to make the bed, she said; and she looked at Susannah and continued: ooms always clean this house. Mamabel like it so.

ow very commendable,said Susannah.

Cougabel lifted her shoulders and giggled.

et me take you to your room,I said. I thought my parents would want to be alone for a while to discuss this shock. Philip would realize this. He was most perceptive and would make an excuse to leave them, I guessed.

Susannah rose with alacrity. I believed she was looking forward to being alone with me.

When we reached her room she took a cursory look round it and turned to me. I obviously interested her far more.

sn this fun?she said. didn know I was going to find a sister.

She shook out her hair and looked at her reflection. She laughed and came to me. Taking my arm, she drew me to the mirror and we stood there side by side.

t a fair likeness,she said.

ell, perhaps.

hat do you mean perhaps! Why, I tell you, sister, that if you cut your hair in a fringe if you wore a fashionable garment like this one if you were a little less serious Do you see what I mean? Why, you even have a mole in the same place. Fancy that!

I stared at it. I had forgotten how long ago that mole had seemed so significant when Anthony Felton tormented me because of it.

call it my beauty spot,went on Susannah.

t darker than mine,I said.

ear innocent Suewellyn! Il confess to you and to you only. I touch it up a little with a special pencil I have for the purpose. I have perfect teeth you too, sister and the mole being where it is just calls attention to them. That why they used to wear patches in the past. I wish we did now. How amusing that you should have one just in the same place. I tell you what wel do. Il touch yours up to accentuate it and wel dress up as each other. Oh, it is exciting, finding you, Suewellyn!

es,I said, t is.

ou must show me the island. I like the doctor. Are you going to marry him? He rather handsome, isn he? Not as distinguished as our dear papa, but then it is hard for anyone to compare with a Mateland. Don you agree?

think Philip is handsome,I said. nd we are not engaged to be married.

ot yet,she said. I had a feeling that Susannah could see right through me. She fascinated me and at the same time made me feel very uncomfortable. My thoughts were in such a whirl and I was so entranced by her appearance that I could scarcely take in what she was saying. She was like me and yet so different. She was what I might have been if I had lived in a different world a world of castles and gracious living. That was the difference. Susannah exuded confidence; she believed herself to be fascinating and beautiful and, because she believed it, she was. Her features were so like mine that she could not have been so much more attractive than I without that belief. I was suddenly struck by the fact that I might have been exactly like her.

She was watching me in the mirror and again I had that uncomfortable feeling that she could read my thoughts.

She went on as though I had spoken. es, we are alike taken feature by feature. Your nose is only a trifle longer than mine. But noses are important. Remember Cleopatra? If it had been a fraction longerr was it shortert would have changed the history of the world, someone said, didn they? Well, I don think that difference in our noses changes so much. I look slightly more pert than you do saucier, more irreverent. But perhaps that my upbringing. Our mouths are different too. Yours is much sweeter rosebud of a mouth. Mine wider it shows I very fond of the good things of life. Our eyes the same shape, the color very slightly different. You are a little fairer than I. Looking at us like this, the resemblance is not so striking, but if we dressed up f we impersonated each other oh, that would be another story. Let do it one day, Suewellyn. Wel see if we can deceive them. I doubt we could Anabel. I am sure she knows every inch of your face. You are her little ewe lamb, aren you? Do you know I was always aware of some secret Anabel was biding. It hard to look back all those years. Can you look back, Suewellyn?

es, I can.

nd you were hidden away, weren you? And I suppose on the night my father killed Uncle David they swooped down and carried you away with them to this desert island. What exciting lives we Matelands live, don we?

his one could hardly be described as such.

oor Suewellyn, we must alter that. We must make your life more amusing.

dare say you are the sort of person exciting things happen to.

nly because I make them. I must show you how to make them happen to you, little sister.

ot so little,I retorted.

ounger. How much by? Do you know?

We compared birthdays. h, I am the senior,she said. o I may call you little sister justifiably. So you were tucked away, were you? And Anabel used to visit you. It must have been a fearful quarrel they had that night. I shall never forget waking in the morning and feeling that something had happened. There was a terrible hush over the castle and the nurses refused to answer my questions. I kept asking where my father was. What had happened to my Uncle David? And my mother was just lying there on her bed as though she were dead like my uncle. It was a long time before I learned what had happened. They never tell children things, do they? They don understand that what you can imagine might be far worse than what actually happened.

here could hardly be a greater tragedy.

ou knew, did you? I suppose they told you. I suppose you know why.

hey will tell you if they think you should know,I said and she burst out laughing.

ou are a very self-righteous little sister. I dare say you always do what is right and honorable, don you?

shouldn think so.

or should Iif you are a Mateland. But imagine what it felt like having a murderer for a father. Though, of course, I didn know this until later. I had to find out myself listening at doors. Servants are always chartering. here is my father? Why isn he here any more?I was always asking, and they would button up their lips, and I knew by their eyes that they longed to tell me. And there was no one in the doctor house and all the poor patients were sent away empty. And my mother, of course she was always ill. She would tell me nothing. If I mentioned my father to her she would just get tearful. But I got it out of Garth. He knew everything and he couldn keep it to himself. He told me I was the daughter of a murderer. Ie never forgotten that. I think he found some satisfaction in telling me. He said his mother hated me because my father had killed Uncle David.

She turned to me and laid her hand on my arm.

talking a great deal,she said. always do. But wel have lots of time for talk, shan we? There so much I want to tell you so much I want to know about you. Dinner is in an hour, Anabel said.