Voices in a Haunted Room (16 page)

Sophie said: “What I like about it is that it is apart. One would not feel overlooked here.”

No, I thought, except by ghosts and spirits.

We were in the hall and the atmosphere closed round me. It was like tentacles drawing me in and holding me fast.

“This hall is really quite magnificent,” I said. “Do you propose to hold dances here, Aunt Sophie? I can picture it with the minstrels playing in the gallery.”

“No. I don’t propose to entertain a great deal. But I like the hall, all the same. There is a sense of grandeur and yet it is simple in a way.”

Simple? Yes, I supposed it was, compared with the
château
in which she had spent her childhood.

“Think of all the bedrooms,” I said. “There are twenty of them. And then there are the servants’ quarters at the top of the house.”

“We shall need a few servants,” said Sophie. “Your mother will help us engage them. It may be a little difficult for us… because of the language.”

“I am sure she will be delighted to help. And if there is anything I can do, Aunt Sophie, you know I shall be only too happy.”

“Thank you, Claudine. You’re a good girl. Oh, there will be so much to do. I want to go upstairs. Come on, Jeanne. I can’t wait.”

I followed them up. I noticed the carved banisters and the elegantly moulded ceilings. Once it had been a beautiful house. Would it be so again with Sophie there? No, she was not what it needed. Again I thought this house is crying out for a big and joyous family to laugh and frolic and believe so fervently in the goodness of the world that they drive away all the morbid brooding ghosts.

Sophie would not do that.

I wondered what good, practical Jeanne thought of the project.

I had an opportunity to ask her while Sophie was in one of the bedrooms and I found myself in the corridor alone with her.

I said to her: “My aunt can’t be serious about buying this house.”

“But she is,” said Jeanne.

“You must dissuade her. You must see how unsuitable it is.”

“No,” she said. “I think it is suitable. Have you seen how happy she is? There will be so much to do. It will take a very long time. I have always sought ways of bringing her alive to the world, of making her feel interested… excited even. Putting this house to rights will take a very long time. There will be work to be done, people to see, fabrics to be chosen. I plan to work on it room by room. It will take us several years. As soon as we came into the house I saw how it affected her and I knew it was what I had been looking for.”

I was amazed, but I saw at once that Jeanne, with her usual practical outlook, was right. Sophie needed Enderby. Its very gloom appealed to her. She would not have wanted a house that was full of sunshine and ready for habitation. She liked its gloomy atmosphere, which matched her own, and the prospect of all the work which must be done made it very desirable in Jeanne’s eyes.

“Jeanne!” Sophie was calling to her.

Jeanne smiled at me and immediately went to her mistress. They were in the main bedroom and Sophie was standing by the four-poster bed.

“Just look at this beautiful carving.”

Jeanne said: “It is exquisite. And the furniture is included in the cost of the house.”

“It is a bargain.”

“It does show how eager the owner is to get rid of it,” I reminded them.

“What colour curtains, Jeanne?” asked Sophie; and I had never before seen her so animated.

“We have to think of the rest of the room,” said Jeanne cautiously. “We must decide nothing in a hurry. Let us wait and see what else we shall do.”

I left them. I could not resist going into that smaller room along the corridor which I called the haunted room, the room of the voice.

I stood in the centre listening.

There was no sound at all but the light wind murmuring in the tall bushes.

Now that Jonathan had left the house it seemed a little more normal. David was very interested in Sophie’s desire to buy Enderby. I told him what Jeanne had said and he thought she was right.

“The house could make all the difference to her,” he said. “It will take her away from her own misfortunes. Give her an interest in life, something to be proud of.”

He wanted to see it again and we went over it together. He had a way of making everything seem as it should be. It was hard to imagine I had ever heard—or imagined I had heard—voices, when I was standing in that room with David.

“Its aspect could be completely changed,” he said. “I’ve always said that if those bushes were cut back and a little light let in, and the woodwork repaired, it would make all the difference.”

“There’s a great deal of work to be done.”

“That’s what Sophie has always needed… an interest.”

“Fate has brought her here and led her to Enderby.”

“Fate,” he agreed, “in the shape of Jonathan.”

The very mention of his name affected me. I could not forget that talk in the shrubbery. I shivered.

“Are you cold?” asked David.

“No… no.”

“Just someone walking over your grave, as they say.”

“I hate that expression.”

“I do too. I shouldn’t have said it. One shouldn’t refer to one’s grave when one is very much in the land of the living.” He put an arm around me. “I believe you would like to live in this house.”

“No, David,
no
!”

“I’ve often thought about these big family houses like Eversleigh with the whole family living in it. The sons marrying and bringing in their wives… and their children growing up there. It has occurred to me… in the last few days… that you might not like it and might prefer to get away.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.” I was thinking of it now. Jonathan’s living under the same roof. He had few scruples where his desires were concerned. He was like his father in that. I had heard tales of Dickon’s wild youth. He had reformed not because he considered reformation desirable, but because he loved my mother exclusively. It was purely his own emotions—not a sense of honour—which kept him faithful. Eversleigh had become dangerous to me because it held Jonathan and me in close proximity. But how could I tell David that? And that the one I feared was not so much Jonathan as myself.

“There are houses on the estate,” went on David. “For instance, the manager’s.”

“Occupied by a manager at the moment.”

“Jack Dolland is a good fellow. I don’t know what we’d do without him. It was just an idea. I don’t think my father would like it… but I did wonder whether you did not care for living in the main house. Of course, your mother is there.”

“I am sure she would be most upset if we talked of going anywhere else.”

“Then we’ll stay. In any case, I don’t think it would be feasible just yet. It was just a thought.”

“Why did you bring it up now? Oh… Enderby, I suppose. David, I love Eversleigh. I have since the moment I saw it. I should not want to leave it.”

“Then that’s settled,” he said. “You know, this really is a bargain house.”

“A great deal will have to be spent on renovations.”

“Even so there is some good furniture in it.”

“It will certainly save Sophie’s buying a lot.”

“I believe there is also furniture stored away in the attics at Eversleigh. I expect your mother will go through them and see what can be passed on.”

“It is rather exciting, isn’t it? I mean for us all, not only Sophie. It will be nice to have the place occupied.”

He agreed, and arm in arm we went through the house. It was strange how different it felt with David.

They were pleasant days, though I could not quite recapture the honeymoon spirit. We rode round the estate together; David was welcomed everywhere. So was I.

Sophie and Jeanne spent hours talking about the house, and I told them that Molly Blackett would be able to make the curtains for them.

They discussed materials and colour schemes; and it really was extraordinary to see the change in Sophie.

Jonathan, my mother and Dickon were away for just over a week. The weather had changed and it was less mild than it had been. The damp and the mists had given way to an east wind—the one we knew very well in this south-eastern corner of England. It could be penetrating and fierce, and although we were sheltered a little, being a few miles inland, it was never very welcome.

It turned to the north and that could bring snow. I had been a little anxious for fear the snow would delay their journey, perhaps prevent their getting home, so when I heard the carriage turn in at the drive I ran down joyfully to meet them.

I embraced my mother and we clung together.

“Oh, I’m glad to be home,” she said. “Just look at the sky. Ominous! Those are snow clouds up there.”

“It’s too early for snow,” said Dickon. “It usually comes after Christmas. How have you been getting on without us, Claudine?”

He kissed me. And there was Jonathan, smiling at me, picking me up, swinging me high, holding me tightly and laughing up at me.

“Do you know,” he said, “I forget she’s a married woman now. I see her as little French Claudine.”

My mother laughed and so did Dickon. They were so glad to be home.

Jonathan put me down and kissed me hard on the mouth.

“So you’re pleased to have us home, eh?”

“Of course,” I said, turning away and slipping my arm through that of my mother. “I think Aunt Sophie has really decided.”

“I can’t believe it,” said my mother.

Of course, Jonathan’s being home shattered my peace. He seemed to watch me all the time and I was constantly aware of him. I avoided him. Something warned me. It was that alarming discovery that I was not so much afraid of him as of myself. I was thinking of him all the time.

My mother—once she had recovered from her surprise and misgivings about Sophie’s taking Enderby—threw herself whole-heartedly into the project. She brought in Molly Blackett and they discussed curtains and such things. She went through the furniture in the attics, and the main topic of conversation was Enderby.

Dickon said the sale would not take long to be completed. He had had no difficulty in disposing of a magnificent diamond ring which would be ample for the purchase of the house.

Sophie could not wait to get possession. Meanwhile we had the key of the house and she could spend as much time as she liked there. Molly Blackett had been summoned to take measurements; Sophie and Jeanne went into the town to make purchases. My mother said they should go to London where they would find a great variety of materials to choose from.

Sophie demurred but at last decided it was a good idea.

It was about three weeks before Christmas. The threatened snow had not come as the wind had changed abruptly and we were back to the warmish damp weather again—the kind which was usual at this time of the year in our part of the country.

My mother said she would accompany Sophie and Jeanne to London for they need stay only for a few days; and it was arranged that they should go. My mother had some Christmas shopping to do in any case. Right at the last minute—as I guessed he would—Dickon said he would go with them.

While they were away Molly Blackett was to do some more measuring and take down some of the old curtains to see if anything could be done with them; and also to note what fittings would be needed. I said I would go with Molly and explain what was wanted.

That was how it came about that I was in the house on that December day.

I had arranged with Molly to come at two o’clock, which would give us a good two hours before darkness fell. David would be busy all day on the estate.

I rode over and let myself in.

It was strange to be alone there. The house seemed different—my imagination again—as though it were watching and waiting… waiting to spring something on me.

I was early and Molly had not yet arrived. She had to come from the cottages on the Eversleigh estate, and I was sure she would be there in a few minutes, for she prided herself on her punctuality.

My impulse had been to wait outside for her; but chiding myself for cowardice, I had forced myself to go in.

My footsteps echoed on the stone floor of the hall; I looked up at the gallery and wondered what had induced Sophie to take such a place.

We were going to do the measurements upstairs, and I had a great desire to enter that room where I had heard the voice. I wanted to assure myself that I was not afraid, and that I was not so silly as to be frightened of an empty house.

I left the door open so that Molly could come straight in, and I ran up the stairs.

I went into the room and stood there.

All was silent; and almost immediately I heard the door shut and footsteps in the hall.

“I’m up here, Molly,” I called.

I looked round the room. The blue curtains had already been taken down from the bed and lay in a heap on the floor. They were in good condition and could be beaten and brushed, Jeanne had said, and then they would be as good as new.

I went to the door and stared. It was not Molly who stood there, but Jonathan.

“What are you doing here?” I gasped.

“Looking for you.”

“Molly Blackett will be here at any minute.”

He shook his head. He came on slowly and shut the door, leaning against it.

“What do you mean…?”

“Just that you will have to put up with me instead of Molly.”

“What are you talking about? Molly is coming to do some measurements.”

“She won’t be coming.”

“Nonsense. It has been arranged.”

“It has now been disarranged.”

“What do you mean? Disarranged?”

“By me. I have had a message sent to Molly Blackett to say that you could not see her this afternoon and would make other arrangements. You will be engaged elsewhere this afternoon.”

“You are…”

“Yes, I am, am I not! My methods are Machiavellian.”

“You are most impertinent. How dare you interfere with my arrangements! How dare you send messages pretending they come from me!”

“I am daring by nature. I had to get you alone somehow. It isn’t easy, is it? This seems a heaven-sent opportunity.”

“I am leaving at once.”

He shook his head.