Kirkland Revels (9 page)

I would make Gabriel happy. Moreover, I would not accept the inevitability of death as he seemed to. I would take such care of him that he would live on.

Friday’s barking startled me out of my daydream. I called:

” Friday 1 Friday!”

And as he did not come to me I went to look for him.

I found him in the hands of a strange man; be was 55 struggling and, if he had not been so expertly held, he would have bitten those hands which imprisoned him.

” Friday 1” I called. Then the man who held him turned to look at me.

He was of medium height and I was struck by his brilliant dark eyes and olive complexion.

He released the dog when he saw me and, taking off his hat, bowed.

Friday ran to me, barking furiously and, as I came forward, stood between me and the stranger as though to protect me.

” So the dog is yours, madam,” said the man.

“Yes, what happened? He’s usually so friendly.”

” He was a little annoyed with me.” I noticed the flash of very white teeth in that dark face.

“He didn’t understand that I probably saved his life.”

” How was that?”

He turned and pointed to what I saw now was a well.

” He was perilously perched on the edge, looking down. If he had decided to explore farther, that would have been the end of him.”

” Then I have to thank you.”

He inclined his head, ” This was the monks’ well. It’s deep and probably not very sweet down there.”

I peered over into the darkness. I was looking down the narrow well, to what might have been water at the bottom.

” He’s rather inquisitive,” I said.

“I should put him on a lead when you bring him here again. And you will come here again, won’t you? I can see this place intrigues you.

You have a look in your eyes which betrays your interest. “

” Surely everyone would be interested.”

” Some more than others. May I introduce myself? I believe I know you. You are Mrs. Gabriel Rockwell, are you not?”

” But how did you know?”

He spread his hands and smiled again; it was a warm, friendly smile. “

A simple deduction. I knew you were due to arrive and, as I know almost everyone in these parts, I put two and two together and tried to guess.”

” Your guess was correct.”

“Then welcome to our community. My name is Devere] Smith. Doctor. I am at the Revels almost every day, so we should have met sooner or later.”

“I have heard you mentioned.”

“Pleasantly, I hope?”

” Very much so.”

” I’m an old friend of the family as well as the doctor; and of course Sir Matthew and Miss Rock-well are no longer young. They both need my services rather frequently. Tell me, when did you arrive?”

I told him and he listened gravely. I thought there was a foreign look about him but his name was as English as it could be; I supposed he seemed so dark because of the extreme fairness of my new relations.

He said: ” I was going to call at the Revels to-day. Shall we walk back together?”

We did so and he made me feel that I had found a new friend.

He talked familiarly of the family, and when he spoke of Gabriel there was an anxious note in his voice. I knew what that meant and I wanted to speak to him about Gabriel’s health, but I refrained from doing so.

Later, I promised myself. He would be easy to talk to.

He told me that he had been invited to dine at the house on Saturday.

” My daughter and I,” he added.

I was astonished that he should have a daughter old enough to be invited to a dinner party. He saw my surprise and I liked him no less because he appeared to be pleased by it. I had thought he was somewhere in his mid-thirties, but decided he must be older than that.

” I have a seventeen-year-old daughter,” he said. ” She enjoys parties. My wife is not well enough to attend them, so she and I go together.”

” I shall look forward to meeting her.”

” Damaris is looking forward to meeting you.” He smiled.

” Damaris! That is an unusual name.”

” You like it? It’s from the Bible. Just a brief mention … but it’s here.”

I remembered what Luke had said about biblical names, and I wondered if it was a custom in this part of the world to take names from the Bible.

I was about to mention this ; then I remembered that Madame la Directrice had said that my impetuosity often verged on bad manners, so I restrained myself.

We went into the Revels together. The doctor sent one of the servants to tell Ruth he had arrived; and I went up to my room.

-I wore a white gown on the night of the dinner party. It was the only real evening ore that if entertaining at the Re scale. I should have some white chiffon and lace, very si:

I had no qualms about it bee I had were perfectly cut an company. I did my hair in liked so much; and I was < dress, for time was passing.

As he did not come, I we and I went on to the balcony He was nowhere in sight, b coming from the porch.

I was about to call out an’ ” I heard a deep masculine You have not taken to our little 1 I drew back, feeling the li I knew that listeners are said i Fanny had told me that oft el when you overhear yourself ingly, to refrain from listenn ” It’s early yet,” answered There was a laugh. ” I’ve easy prey. “

I did not hear Ruth’s reply ” Why did you let him stray si to find some little fortune-hu I was furiously angry. I v and tell whoever was speakin, him ; I wanted to tell him that position when I had marriec I stood still, my eyes blazi; a little, and by leaning over 1 was light brown and he see mi a resemblance to the Rockw stepped forward suddenly into I hated him, whoever he was I was trembling as I went was already there. He was on hurrying.

” I forgot the time,” he sai Where have you been? Why It was on the tip of my heard, but I changed my mil was breathless now. No, I would fight my own battles; I should have to teach this relative, whoever he was, a lesson. So I helped Gabriel dress and when we went down I met my enemy.

He was Simon Redvers, the cousin; he looked less broad when seen on the level. He was very tall, a fact I had not fully realised looking down at him.

Gabriel introduced me, and when he took my hand those cynical eyes looked straight into mine and I knew exactly what he was thinking. His eyes were light brown and his skin deeply bronzed; his mouth was smiling slightly but his eyes were not. I knew my own were flashing with anger, for I had never found it easy to restrain my feelings and I could not get the sound of his words out of my ears.

” How do you do?” he said.

” I am well, thank you,” I answered.

” I suppose I should congratulate you.”

” Pray do not, unless you wish to.”

He was faintly amused, and I could not resist saying: “I Oelieve we have met before.”

” I am certain we have not.”

” You may not have been aware of the meeting.”

” If it had taken place, I am convinced, I should remember.”

I matched my smile with his. He was puzzled and he said:

“It is the Rockwell resemblance, no doubt. You’ll find it again and again in these parts.”

I guessed he was referring to the amorous proclivities of his ancestors, and I thought this indelicate so I turned away.

There was, fortunately, a diversion created by the arrival of Dr.

Smith and his daughter.

The doctor was already a friend. He came over to me and greeted me warmly. I was pleased to give my attention to him, but the girl who accompanied him immediately claimed it, and, I imagine, that of everyone in the room.

Damaris Smith was one of the loveliest creatures I had ever seen. She was of medium height and very dark her hair smooth and silky with that blackness which has a sheen of blue in it, like a bird’s wing. Here eyes were black, long and languorous, her skin olive; and the shape of her face was a perfect oval; her lips were delicately formed yet sensuous; her teeth white; her nose almost aquiline, giving dignity as well as beauty. But it was not merely her face which caught and held the attention. It was her slim, lissome body also ; all her movements were full of grace. She was a joy to look at. 59 Dressed in white, as I was, she wore a gold belt about her tiny waist and in her ears were gold Creole earrings.

There was silence as she entered—the silence which was homage to her beauty.

I asked myself: Why did Gabriel marry me when there was such a goddess on his very doorstep?

The effect she had on everyone was apparent. Her father obviously adored her, for his eyes rarely left her; Luke, I imagined, was less nonchalant than usual; Simon Redvers seemed to watch her almost speculatively. Already I disliked him intensely, seeing in him a type I could never tolerate. He would be a man to scorn sentiment; he would be practical in the extreme; he would be unimaginative, believing everyone else looked at life with the same calculating gaze; there was great virility there. His personality was overpowering so that it dominated the company in its masculine way as Damaris’s beauty did in the feminine. Sir Matthew’s admiration was apparent; but then he admired all women, it seemed ; and during the dinner party he divided his attention between myself and Damaris.

Damaris herself I did not fully understand; she was a quiet person who had a smile for everyone and did not seek in the least to call attention to herself, which was, of course, unnecessary. The first impression she gave was that she was merely an innocent girl; I don’t know what made me feel that that smooth, rather expressionless perfection was a mask.

The dinner was in honour of Gabriel and myself, and our health was drunk. Apart from the family there were the Smiths, Simon Redvers, the vicar and his wife and two other local people, neighbours, I gathered, rather than great friends.

I was asked what I thought of the house and the countryside, and Simon Redvers wanted to know how it compared with that part from which I had come. I answered that when not at school I had lived as close to the moor as they did, so that the change was not very great. I believe a note of asperity came into my voice when I addressed the man, that he noticed it and it amused him.

He, who was sitting next to me at dinner, leaned to me and said: ” You must have your portrait painted so that it can be added to those in the gallery.”

” Is that necessary?”

” Indeed, yes. Have you not seen the gallery? All the 60 masters of Kirldand Revels are painted and hung with their wives beside them.”

” There’s plenty of time for that.”

” You’ll make a good subject.”

” Thank you.”

” Proud … strong … determined.”

” So you read character?”

” When it is there for me to see.”

” I had no idea that I had such a legible face.”

He laughed. ” It’s unusual in one so young. Don’t you agree that as one grows older fate … life … whatever you call it … is like a mischievous artist, gradually etching the lines of betrayal?” He gazed along the table; I refused to follow his gaze, but looked down at my plate. I though his manners too candid, and I wanted him to know this.

“I believe you doubt my word,” he insisted.

” I believe what you say to be true, but is it not a little embarrassing even impertinent to test the theory on toe present company?”

” You’ll discover that I’m a blunt Yorkshireman; and they are not noted for their tact.”

” Why speak of the future? I have already made the discovery.”

I saw the smile touch his lips again; I thought it rather a brutal smile. He enjoyed baiting me because I was a worthy opponent. At least I had the satisfaction of knowing that, even if he did consider me a fortune-hunter, he did not find me a simpering one. I came to the conclusion in that moment that he had a grudging admiration for me, partly because he believed I had endeavoured to catch Gabriel, as he would put it, and had achieved my object. There was a ruthlessness in him which would always admire success.

I said impulsively: “You are Gabriel’s cousin, or second cousin, are you not? Yet how unlike him you are! You are absolute opposites.”

He gave me that cool, appraising smile again. I was telling him that I did not like him; and he was retaliating by implying that I would not have caught him as I had caught Gabriel. As if I should have wanted to! As if there had been any ” catching ” in our marriage!

” Talking of faces,” he said, ” you’ve looked at the gallery. What a splendid example of the revelations of physiognomy. You can see old Sir John who went on fighting for his King to the fury of Cromwell. He lost us the Revels for a while, that 61 one. You can see his obstinate idealism in his face. Then there’s Sir Luke, the gambler who nearly gambled away our inheritance. And then there’s that other Luke, and John … the suicides. If you look long enough you can read their histories in their faces. Take that Luke, for instance. You see the weakness of the mouth. You can imagine him, finding life too difficult and standing there on the west balcony, and suddenly … over …”

I realised then that the others at the table had become silent and were listening to Simon.

Sir Matthew leaned forward and patted my arm. ” Don’t listen to my nephew,” he said. ” He’s telling you about our disreputable ancestors.

Simon’s annoyed because he’s a Rockwell on the distaff side . and the Revels is not for him. “

I saw that inscrutable gleam in Simon’s eyes and said:

” I dare say you have a pleasant residence of your own.”

” Kelly Grange!” Sir Matthew almost spat out the words. ” The Redvers family were always jealous of the Revels.” He pointed to Simon. ” His grandfather married one of my sisters but she wouldn’t stay away from the Revels. She was always coming back and bringing first her son, then her grandson, with her. Don’t see you here so often now, Simon.”

” I must remedy that,” said Simon; and he was smiling ironically at me.

There was a deep chuckle from Sir Matthew which seemed to shock the vicar and his wife.

So the conversation progressed and, in spite of my dislike of my neighbour at the dinner table, I was a little sorry when it was over;