The Black Benedicts (7 page)

“
Thank you,
”
she said again, and escaped from the room while he held the door open for her. When she was outside in the corridor she hastened to her own room, glad that no one was about to see her, and she thought that as a family these
Benedicts were to from being ordinary. They were very much the reverse—they were completely unusual...

CHAPTER
SIX

T
he
next day and the following two days were very busy ones for Mrs. Carpenter, who gathered together her team of underlings for the purpose of turning out the drawing-room and the other main rooms of the house in preparation for the expected house-party. The bedrooms were already prepared, and Mallory had her first glimpse of the yellow guest chamber when she and Serena returned from their walk—this time confined to the formal gardens—on the morning after the master of the place had left for London.

Mrs. Carpenter, with the assistance of Rose, was reverently removing a dust-cover from a striped satin-covered settee when Serena, seeing the door standing open, burst in to satisfy her curiosity. Mallory followed her, and then stood
s
till, just inside the room, much more than struck by its appointments.

For the first time in her life she stood upon an all-black carpet, and the effect was a little strange. The walls of the room were golden, like a tea-rose, and the curtains and the coverlet on the low French bed were of tea-r
o
se coloured
moir
é
silk. The dressing-table stood in a petticoat of yellow satin, and the bathroom adjoining glowed like the smooth sides of a peach. It was the sort of bedroom that belonged to a film-set, and not an En
glish
country house. Mallory felt that so strongly that
she
could only gaze about her in obvious astonishment.

Serena looked at her with a kind of triumph when she saw how taken aback the governess was.

“
Isn
’
t it a wonderful room?
”
she demanded.
“
Wouldn
’
t you love to sleep in it?
”

“
Quite candidly,
”
answered Mallory, to her disappointment,
“
I would not. It
’
s a room for a princess.
”

“
But Sonia
is
a princess,
”
the child declared emphatically.
“
Isn
’
t
she, Mrs. Carpenter? Isn
’
t she, Rose? She
’
s the most beautiful person in the world, and she dances divinely. I
’
ve seen her—I
’
ve seen her as the
‘
Sleeping Beauty
’
and as a dying swan, and as an ice maiden. Uncle Raife thinks
she
’
s beautiful, too, and that
’
s why he
’
s had this room got ready for her. It
’
s
her
room—nobody else would be allowed to sleep in it
...
”

“
You talk too much, Miss Serena,
”
Mrs. Carpenter said disapprovingly.
“
And you
’
re getting in our way up here, so stop fingering that crystal bowl, and put those brushes back on the table, and go downstairs with Miss Gower. Haven
’
t you any lessons to learn?
”

“
I can
’
t learn any lessons,
”
Serena flung back at her with pleased defiance,
“
because we haven
’
t got any books for me to learn from, except dull old books from the library. And Uncle Raife
does
think Miss Martingale beautiful
...
”

“
Serena!
”
Mallory exclaimed, in a voice which caused her pupil to swing round reluctantly and follow her, pouting a good deal, from the room. But outside
o
n the landing she had the last word.

“
Well, just wait until you see her,
and
her
cl
othes! You haven
’
t got any like them—not even a little bit like them
...
”

“
My dear child,
”
Mallory reminded her gently,
“I’
m only a governess.
”

Serena had the grace to look faintly ashamed. She slipped a repentant hand into Mallory
’
s.

“
All the same, I like you,
”
she said.
“
I like you even better than Miss Martingale!
”

Two days later, it being the first day of March, which had come in like a lamb, the master of Morven Grange returned to his home in Herefordshire about four o
’
clock in the afternoon. The old house looked peaceful and mellow in the declining daylight; every window shone, and smoke ascended into the fading blue above the twisted chimneys. In the drawing-room there were banked-up sheaves of lilac, and every bowl and vase was filled with a positive blaze of spring flowers, which brought the freshness of the out
-
of-doors into the elegant and beautifully-furnished room, centrally as well as electrically heated, so that the wide white Adam fireplace was flower-filled also.

Phipps, in his best black, waited on tenterhooks in the hall for the sound of car wheels on the drive, and the moment when he could swing wide the front door. And when that moment arrived Mallory, who with Serena beside her, had watched from the great window at the head of the stairs for the cars to draw up—there were actually three—made her escape to the school-room, dragging a most unwilling Serena with her.

After all, argued the child, they were missing all the fun of the arrival, and why did they not go downstairs into the hall to welcome the vis
i
tors as well as her uncle? She knew Miss Martingale—she
h
ad had tea with her in the drawing-room when she came to Morven before, and had gone down often after dinner to be made a fuss of and entertained. Her un
cl
e liked having her downstairs...

But despite all these coaxings and arguments, Mallory remained firm, and her edict was that t
h
ey must remain out of sight in their own quarters until such time as they were sent for, or Serena was sent for. And in the end Serena was won over to good humour and acquiescence by the promise of being allowed to stay up and have dinner with Mallory in her own sitting-room, after which there were no further attempts at persuasion so far as going downstairs was concerned.

Their meal was served to them more than an hour before the main meal in the dining-room downstairs, and during that time, while they sat cosily at Mallory
’
s little gate-legged table, and Rose brought up special tit-bits from the kitchen with which to tempt Serena, there was a great deal of coming and going in the corridors outside, and the whole house had a different atmosphere because it was now filled with visitors.

Mallory thought of Mrs. Carpenter
’
s lament that her peace ended when visitors arrived, and she was inclined to agree with her. For the opening and shutting of doors, the rustling movements outside her own sitting-room, the little bursts of low-toned conversation and occasional snatches of laughter—masculine as well as feminine—made her feel that the house had been taken over by an unseen army.

They were enjoying their sweet when the door suddenly opened, without any warning knock such as Rose tactfully always gave, and Raife Benedict walked in. He was already dressed for dinner, and Mallory
’
s first impression of him, received in the midst of sudden confusion, was that he was almost start
l
ingly handsome, with his white shirt front throwing into prominence his dark and swarthy skin, and
hi
s sleek blade hair. Her second was that for the first time she saw him in a thoroughly amiable mood, and that
his strange brown eyes actually held little dancing points of laughter, and his white teeth—very hard, strong, and perfect teeth—gleamed in a smile.

“
Well, well,
”
he observed, as he took in the fact that they were obviously enjoying a meal, and that Serena was plainly quite content,
“
you seem to be very comfortable, both of you! Had you forgotten that you possessed an un
cl
e, my infant, and that he was coming home to-day? I looked for you downstairs when we arrived.
”

Serena let forth a delighted shriek and simply flew at him. To Mallory
’
s considerable amazement he allowed her to wind both slim arms about his neck and almost strangle him with her hug, and she even found herself holding her own breath lest his immaculate neckwear should come to any harm.

“
Oh, Uncle Raife!—dearest, belov
ed
est Uncle Raife! Miss Gower wouldn
’
t let me come downstairs and she said I could have dinner with her in here instead.
”

“
Did she, indeed?
”
He managed to free himself from the
cli
nging arms, and then inserted a careful finger inside his collar and made sure that his beautifully tied bow-tie was not seriously disarranged.
“
And I take it that you prefer having dinner with Miss Gower in her sitting-room to coming and finding out whether I still exist? Incidentally, Sonia has been asking after you, and she wants to see you after dinner, if Miss Gower will bring you down.
”

He crossed over to an arm-chair beside the fire and dropped into it, stretching his long legs out before
him
as if he was tired and glad to relax. He rested his dark head against the cushions, and Mallory could see how the light from the shaded lamp on the table was reflected in the polished waves of his hair. His eyes regarded her smilingly, but also she thought a trifle mockingly.

“
So Miss Gower conquers! Miss Gower is already Favourite No. 1.
”

“
Nothing of the kind,
”
Mallory returned quite seriously, feeling the situation should be clarified.
“
I was not at all sure whether you would want us downstairs, but Serena was keen enough to see you. Too keen,
”
she added truthfully.
“
I had difficulty in keeping her up here.
”

“
Nevertheless, you succeeded, and Serena is an impetuous young woman, and accustomed to having her own way. You must be dealing very competently with her.
”

“
Thank you,
”
Mallory replied to this, with her customary rather deceptive demureness.
“
But Serena is
not
all that difficult
.”

“
I am relieved to hear you say so,
”
he told her.
“
I have been accused so many times of all but ruining my niece, and it is a load off my mind to know that I have not entirely done so.
”

He held out a hand to the niece concerned,
w
ho instantly clambered like a responsive kitten on to the arm of his
ch
air.

“
I have a present for you, Infant, and you shall see it when you come downstairs after dinner. I wonder whether you can guess what it is?
”

Serena looked thrilled and made excited guesses.
“
Another big bottle of perfume from Paris? Or chocolates!
”
she cried.

“
I haven
’
t been to Paris, as you very well know, and your consumption of chocolate is already far too high for the welfare of your teeth.
”
He produced a cigarette-case and offered it to Mallory.
“
You smoke, Miss Gower?
”

“
Thank you.
”
She accepted a cigarette, and as he came slightly nearer to hold his lighter to the end of it she could feel, rather than see, his eyes, with those strange, mocking, darting lights, boring into her own. His brown, strong-fingered hand held the lighter very firmly, and she did not need to take more than one quick, slightly nervous puff.
“
Thank you,
”
she repeated.

He lay back in his chair again, drawing lazily at his own cigarette, and his eyes roved appreciatively round the room.

“
You are very cosy in here. There is a nice, homely atmosphere,
”
he observed, and he certainly sounded as if he meant it.

“It
is a very nice room indeed, and so is my bed-room,
”
sh
e said, thinking that perhaps she ought to thank him for them.
“
I am very comfortable here, Mr. Benedict. Mrs. Carpenter has done all that she can to make me so.
”

“
Has she?
”
He sounded quite casual.
“
Well, that
’
s a good thing, anyway. You won
’
t be tempted to desert us suddenly.
”

“
I don
’
t desert when it is my job,
”
she told him, resenting that slight, sarcastic slur in his voice which was seldom absent from it for long—when he addressed her
,
anyway.

“
Excellent!
”
he exclaimed, approvingly, but again she was afraid he mocked.

Serena was catching at his arm and trying to attract his attention again.

“
What is my present, Uncle Raife? Tell me,
”
she coaxed.
“
Please do tell me!
”

But he merely laughed and shook her off and rose and said he must be going.

“
The gong will sound any minute now, and I mustn
’
t keep my guests waiting. After dinner you will not only be told but see your present.
”
He looked across at Mallory again, noting that she was wearing a simple dark dress unrelieved by any ornament, but that she managed to look remarkably attractive in it just the same.
“
Let Serena wear something pretty to-night, and dress yourself up, too, if you feel like it. I have quite a few friends downstairs, and you will probably get some entertainment out of the evening.
”