Time for Silence (17 page)

“Well, come along in,” said my mother. “I only hope you are not going to be called away. One never knows at times like this with you military people. Anything can happen from hour to hour.”

My mother had arranged that the major should sit on her right hand and I was next to him. Uncle Gerald was between Miss Carruthers and Andrée.

My parents asked the major a lot of questions about the journey, most of which I had already answered; and again my mother thanked him for what he had done. He replied again that it had been a pleasure.

“A change from my usual duties,” he added. “And you know how we all love a change. By the way,” he added, “how is Master Edouard faring? Has he deigned to accept his new home?”

“With supreme indifference,” replied my mother. “Lucinda will tell you all about him. He is her favorite topic. By the way, we call him Edward now. We thought it best to anglicize him.”

“What an excellent idea!” He turned to me. “I am so glad Mademoiselle is with you. She is so happy.” He smiled across at her.

“Oh, I am,” she said fervently.

My father was talking to Aunt Hester about her sons, Harold and George. George had been going into the army in any case, but Harold had immediately joined up. “Of course, he is rather young,” said Aunt Hester.

“We’re going to need all the men we can get,” said Marcus, and then the talk turned to the war.

After dinner, when we had all retired to the drawing room, Marcus was beside me once more.

He asked about Annabelinda. I told him she was in Hampshire with her family and, as he had joined the army, I had not seen her brother since my return to England.

“He’s training on Salisbury Plain,” I added.

“It must be the Royal Field Artillery.”

“Yes, it is. I expect he’ll come and see us as soon as he can.”

“He’s a favorite of yours, is he?”

“Oh, yes. He’s one of the nicest people I know.”

He nodded. “I did not expect to see Miss Carruthers here tonight.”

“She is going to teach me. My parents think I need a governess for a while.”

“Yes, of course. You are very young.” He grinned at me. “Don’t be downcast on that account. It is something which will quickly be rectified, you know.”

“I suppose you will be going away soon?”

“At any moment, by the look of things.”

“I heard the Germans were close to Mons. How close…do you know?”

“Only that it is too close.”

“It’s hateful. I can’t stop thinking of Madame Rochère. What will she do? She will be so haughty and unrelenting.”

“I daresay she will have to submit to the conquerors. She would have been wise to get away.”

“I can’t believe she will ever leave
La Pinière
of her own free will. Just imagine how it must be for her! Losing her home.”

“Still, better than losing one’s life.”

I was somber and he put a hand over mine. “Don’t be sad, Miss Lucinda. I hate to see you sad.”

“It’s a sad time for so many.”

“Nothing is entirely bad, you know. There is always some little bit of good lurking among the troubles. Just think! But for all this, we should never have met.”

I smiled at him and he went on. “I hope you will think of this meeting as one of the good things in all this.”

“My mother has told you many times how grateful we all are to you, so I won’t repeat it. But I mean it just the same.”

“You overrate what I did. Never mind. I like it. I shall take the first opportunity of coming to see you again.”

“Oh…shall you?”

“It is what I shall look forward to most.”

“What of your family?”

“Ask me what you want to know.”

“Where do they live? Have you a big family? Have you a wife?”

“Sussex. Parents, brother and sister. Not yet.”

I laughed. “You’re very laconic.”

“You asked for answers and you got them.”

“Why did you say ‘not yet’ about being married? It sounds as though you might soon.”

“I shall have to wait until I find the perfect woman…and then would she have me?”

“I feel sure she would.”

“Nothing is sure in this life, but it is nice of you to say so. I fear the perfect woman would look for a perfect man.”

“When people are in love, the ones they love seem perfect in their eyes.”

“How comforting. But the imperfections come to light later. Perhaps after all, perfection is a sort of compromise.”

“Are you a little cynical?”

“Me? Never for a moment. I am a romantic. An optimist. Probably a very unwise man.”

“Well, I hope you find the perfect woman.”

“I shall. Even if I have to wait until she grows up a little.”

He was looking at me, smiling, lifting his eyebrows a little in a quizzical way. I was disconcerted but happy.

Andrée was coming toward us.

“Major Merrivale,” she said. “I have heard the Germans are advancing across Belgium and that they are almost at the borders of France. Is it true?”

“It is not wise to listen to rumors, Mademoiselle Latour. But I fear the advance is rapid.”

“Shall you be going overseas again soon?”

“In a few days, I expect.”

“How I wish it were all over!”

“You can be sure we are all with you in that.”

Miss Carruthers joined us.

“It has been such a pleasure to see you, Major Merrivale,” she said. “I shall never forget how you looked after us.”

“Like the good shepherd,” added Andrée.

“Don’t say that,” I protested with a laugh. “It makes us all sound like sheep. I always think that ‘shepherd’ in that respect is not a very good analogy. After all, the shepherd looks after the sheep to prepare them for the slaughter house.”

“Some die of old age,” said Miss Carruthers.

“But even they are kept just for their wool.”

“What about the Pied Piper?” suggested Miss Carruthers, with a rare look of roguishness.

“Well, he led the children into the mountainside, didn’t he?” I said.

“Ladies,” said Marcus. “I am no shepherd and no piper…just an ordinary fellow who was overjoyed to be of service to you. What I did was something anyone could have done.”

“Well, I think you were very resourceful in a difficult situation,” declared Miss Carruthers. “It was an experience I shall never forget and will always be grateful for.”

My mother joined us with Aunt Hester and the conversation became general.

I was sure that everyone thought it was a successful evening, and after it was over Marcus Merrivale remained in my thoughts. I was discovering that I liked him very much. I noticed that even the servants were impressed by the charm he extended to them. He had stepped into our lives as a hero. He was the kind of man who seemed to care about other people’s feelings, and he had a smiling consideration for everyone; and I was beginning to think that there was something special in his attitude toward me.

The next day Uncle Gerald called to say good-bye.

The news was bad. The Germans were on the outskirts of Mons and a great battle was in progress.

“We’ve got to hold them,” said Uncle Gerald. “We’re stepping up the movements of men and ammunition. The regiment’s leaving tomorrow at dawn.”

“Major Merrivale will be with you, I suppose,” said my mother.

“Oh, yes. Nice fellow, isn’t he?”

“Most attractive, and of course, we are especially grateful to him. And to you, naturally.”

“You’ve made that plain. I knew he could be trusted to do the job. Rather dashing, don’t you think? Popular with the ladies.”

“That does not surprise me,” replied my mother.

“Good family, too. Branch of the Luckleys. The duke would be a second cousin, I believe. Army tradition in the family. Marcus will go far. He’s got the flair and the background.”

“He seemed to get on well with Lucinda,” said my mother. “I suppose when something like that happens, it brings people close together. I hope we shall see more of him.”

“He’ll have his hands full while this goes on. And so will most of us.”

“It’s got to be over sometime.”

“The sooner the better. But I think it may be later than sooner. There’s a lot of determination on both sides. I have a notion it might be rather a long struggle.”

“People seem to think it will be over by Christmas.”

“That’s what the press tells them, and they repeat it like parrots. Well, I suppose it is a good thing, to look on the bright side.”

“Bring that nice major to see us when you can,” said my mother. “You can trust me to do just that,” replied Uncle Gerald.

Annabelinda arrived in London with her mother.

“We have some shopping to do,” said Aunt Belinda. “I said to Robert, we can’t allow this dreadful war to stop everything. We’ve got to get on with our lives, haven’t we?”

“So you have left Robert behind?”

“There’s so much to do, he said. What with young Robert in the army and some of the people on the estate joining up…”

“I suppose it makes things difficult. However,
you
are here.”

“How’s that nice major? Robert knows the family.”

“Gerald said he was connected with the Luckleys.”

“I’m impressed,” said Aunt Belinda. “Annabelinda told me what a charmer he is. I hear he is coming to dinner. I’m looking forward to seeing him again.”

“I’m afraid not. He has been to dinner. We had to put it forward…because he and Gerald were going overseas earlier than they thought.”

Annabelinda’s face darkened. “Oh,” she murmured. “But Lucinda told me there was to be a dinner party. I’ve got a special dress.”

“I’m sorry,” said my mother. “But never mind. It couldn’t be helped. They had to leave earlier than they thought at first. Things are rather bad over there.”

I could see how bitterly disappointed Annabelinda was. The thought crossed my mind that she had persuaded her mother to come because of this dinner party. I was certain of this that evening.

She burst into my bedroom, her face distorted with anger.

“You sly, deceitful creature,” she said. “You did it on purpose. I understand why.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“You…and Marcus. You knew he wasn’t coming on the twenty-third but earlier, and you didn’t let me know.”

“Why should I?”

“Because I should have been there.”

“You weren’t invited.”

“Of course I wasn’t. You saw to that.”

“I didn’t think about it. If you had been here, of course you would have been. But you weren’t. We don’t invite you every time we have a dinner party. You’re too far away anyway.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about the change of dates?”

“It didn’t occur to me that I should.”

“You didn’t want me there, did you?”

“You would have been there if you had been in London.”

“You told me that the party was to be on the twenty-third when you knew it was the nineteenth.”

“When I mentioned in my letter that the party was going to be on the twenty-third I thought it was.”

“And when the date was changed you deliberately held that back.”

“I did not hold it back deliberately. The date was changed after I had written to you and I did not think it necessary to tell you of the alteration.”

“You were afraid I would come up. You didn’t want me to. You were afraid that if I were there he wouldn’t take any notice of you.”

“I thought no such thing.”

“Oh, yes you did. You were jealous. It’s always the same. You were trying to make him notice you, and you were angry because he showed clearly that he liked me better. You like him, don’t you? You try to attract him. Well, let me tell you, he is more interested in me than in you…and that’s why you didn’t want me here.”

“You’re talking the most arrant nonsense. I thought nothing of the sort. You think everybody is in love with you. Just because…”

“Because what?”

“Because of Carl Zimmerman.”

Her face darkened. I thought she was going to hit me.

“Don’t you ever mention him again!”

“Well, please don’t talk nonsense to me.”

She looked stricken suddenly. I had hated her a few minutes before. Now I felt that old affection stealing over me.

She said quietly, “That was mean of you, Lucinda.”

“I didn’t think to remind you of the dinner,” I said. “And it never occurred to me to attract his attention. If you had been here you would have come to the party. It wasn’t very grand.”

“You’re so
young
,” she said. “And it really seemed as though you were trying to keep me out. He’s a man of experience. He wouldn’t be interested in a schoolgirl. I’d hate to see you make a fool of yourself, Lucinda.”

“
I
was not the one to make a fool of
my
self. I’m not likely to over a man.”

“You throw yourself at him. You must let
him
do the chasing. The fact is, he is quite interested in
me
. I know it. One does know these things. I know how you feel about him. He really is rather fascinating, but you know absolutely nothing. He thinks of you as a child. He told me so. You mustn’t start thinking…”

“Thinking what?”

“That he likes you particularly. You’ll only get hurt.”

“As you did?” I could not help retorting. “Are
you
the one to give advice, Annabelinda?”

“Yes. If one is experienced, one is.”

“You are certainly experienced.”

“You should have let me know he was coming. However, it’s done and he is not over there…fighting, I suppose. I daresay he was terribly disappointed not to see me. Did he ask after me?”

“You were mentioned.”

“What did he say?”

“He just asked how you were.”

She nodded slowly. She said, “All I want to do is look after you, to stop you from getting hurt.”

“I don’t need looking after, and remember, you were the one who got hurt.”

“You do need looking after. Don’t get romantic thoughts about Marcus Merrivale. I know he is charming to everybody, but he is a man of the world. He’s got a reputation with women. Don’t go imagining him as the romantic lover, because you simply don’t know anything about such things.”

She left me soon after that, and I lay thinking about what she had said.

The weeks passed slowly. We settled down to a routine. My father was often away on what my mother called “House business,” by which she meant the House of Commons. One did not ask questions about such business.