The Dark Stranger (21 page)

II

He was late home that evening and they sat down to dinner before there had been any opportunity for Tina to see him alone. He sat at the head of his table, his face dark and inscrutable in the lamplight, attending courteously to their needs, apparently unconscious of the long silences. Brownie seldom spoke until she had finished what was on her plate but Belle was unusually quiet and sometimes she sent Tina little meaning glances, reminding her that later she had a duty to perform. Tina, rather thankfully, thought there would be little opportunity to plead Belle
’
s case tonight, but as they all left the dining-room Craig
said unexpectedly:

“
You
’
ll both excuse us, I hope, but Tina and I have things to discuss. We
’
ll be in my study.
”

Tina watched the two women cross the hall, Brownie with a nod of comprehension, Belle with a backward glance of reminder. They would not enjoy their solitary evening, each with their private thoughts and mutual dislike. T
ina
was aware suddenly that Craig was waiting for her, and she turned with misgiving to accompany him along the short corridor to his own room.

She watched him turn up the lamp with careful precision, made awkward by the unfamiliarity of this room which she so seldom entered. She had never noticed before that the flags were covered by a Chinese carpet which was almost a replica of the one in the parlor, and a little glass cabinet held a collection of sea shells so frail and delicately colored that they looked out of place in such masculine surroundings.

“
Have you never seen my shells before?
”
Craig asked and she became aware tha
t
he was at his old habit of watching her unobserved.

“
No,
”
she said, glad of a diversion, and bent over the cabinet, tracing on the glass the outlines of its contents. There were fan-shaped shells, thin and translucent, shells with spiral tracery and linings of mother-of-pearl, and tiny rosy petals of shells arranged in the shape of a flower.

“
How surprising,
”
said Tina,
“
to find them here.
”

“
It is? Yes, I suppose so. They were my mother
’
s collection really, but I used to find them for her when I was a small boy,
”
he answered, and she looked up at him questioningly. Was it the same nostalgic desire to please which she had known herself that had made him collect shells for the mother who had preferred the elder son, and kept the collection ever since?

His eyes were a little mocking.

“
My shells have shocked you, Tina, like your discovery that I could appreciate verse,
”
he said.

She smiled uncertainly.

“
You told me only the other day that I didn
’
t know you very well,
”
she said.

“
Well, that
’
s a thing we hope to change, isn
’
t it? When you
’
ve been engaged to me for a little while you may alter some of your views of the Pentreath men,
”
he replied, then, as she made no answer, he added with raised eyebrows,
“
You hadn
’
t forgotten we were engaged, had you?
”

“
Craig
”
—she began—
“
I—I don
’
t know what you expect of me.
”

He still made no move to touch her or even to ask her to sit down. He was like, she thought, an employer interviewing a new applicant.

“
If you mean by that do I expect the recognized privileges of an engaged man, I told you last night that I wouldn
’
t take advantage of the situation or make things harder for you than I have to. You needn
’
t be afraid I shall make love to you,
”
he answered.

“
Oh,
”
she said,
“
I see.
”

“
I doubt if you do,
”
he countered a little dryly.
“
However, first things first. I brought you in here to choose your ring. Afterwards we can talk.
”

He opened a safe in the wall and tossed a collection of old jewel cases on to his desk.

“
Take your pick,
”
he said and began opening the cases and shaking their contents carelessly into the circle of lamplight. Pentreath loot, thought Tina, her eyes hypnotized by the glittering pile, and as if he read her thoughts he remarked sardonically:
“
Come by quite honestly, I assure you. It
’
s all family stuff.
”

Tina leaned against the desk and began to laugh. Had any girl, she wondered, been asked to choose her engagement ring in such a haphazard fashion? Had any man expected so little, or perhaps so much from a bargain?

“
The situation amuses you?
”
he inquired gravely and she looked abashed.

“
No, not really. It
’
s just—I
’
m sorry, Craig.
”

“
Never mind. Make your choice then I can lock them all up again.
”

“
I don
’
t know,
”
she said a little helplessly. To her the jewels looked clumsy and heavy in their old-fashioned settings and she knew nothing about precious stones.

“
Perhaps you
’
d better let me choose for you,
”
he observed with a glance at her dismayed face, and picked
out a fine
cl
uster of emeralds, rubies and sapphires set in a flower design which was unusual and rather charming.

“
My mother was specially fond of this,
”
he said holding it up to the light.
“
She had the stones set to her own design. Do you like it?
”

“
Very much,
”
she said.

She slipped the ring on to her finger. It was a little loose but not uncomfortably so and without further comment he locked away the other jewels in the safe.

“
Now,
”
he said.
“
Sit down and tell me why you ran away yesterday.
”

She sat by the fire, staring at the ring on her finger and wondering how best to explain the reason for her flight without appearing ungrateful for his kindness.

“
I didn
’
t know till yesterday about the money,
”
she said shyly.

“
What money?
”

“
The money I thought was father
’
s. I didn
’
t know that you had been paying for everything all the time.
”

“
So Belle told you that, did she? You weren
’
t ever meant to know.
”

“
It put me in an impossible position, so—when I realized work would be difficult to find and—and understood Adwen was willing to marry me, I thought—well, it seemed the best way out.
”
Even as she spoke it sounded a foolish, not very convincing reason and she was not surprised when he said with a touch of hauteur:

“
Was it so much more preferable to be beholden to my rather unscrupulous cousin than to me?
”

“
I didn
’
t, she said, flushing
_;
“
consider marrying someone as being beholden to them.
”

“Then since you are now engaged
to me, perhaps you
’ll
oblige me by applying the same principle.
”

“
That
’
s different,
”
she replied.
“
This—this engagement only adds to the debt.
”

“
I fail to see how.
”

“
Because you were getting me out of a jam.
”

“
Not entirely, my dear. My own good name is important to me, too. I don
’
t choose to be compromised with my Polrame cousins through a member of my own household.
”

“
But when in the end we don
’
t marry, it will surely be worse for your good name?
”

“
There is no suggestion, as far as I
’
m aware, that the engagement will ultimately be broken,
”
he said.

The room was very quiet. The whole house seemed to be suddenly wrapped in silence and outside there was now no vestige of last night
’
s storm.

“
But you said the engagement was a lie I would have to put up with for the time being,
”
Tina said, twisting the ring absently off her finger into her lap.

“
It was you who called it a lie, Tina, not I,
”
he said.
“
It was not entirely a gesture of expediency, you know. I
’
ve often thought of marrying you. Last night simply precipitated matters.
”

“
Well
!”
said Tina, indignation driving out dismay.
“
The Pentreaths certainly do follow their own extraordinary whims with a most complete disregard for other people
’
s feelings!
”

He observed her curiously, aware that for the moment she had lost her self-consciousness with him.

“
What makes you think I disregard your feelings?
”
he asked.

“
What makes you think I want to marry you?
”
she retorted, a bright spot of color on each cheekbone. Unexpectedly he laughed.

“
I don
’
t suppose you do, though I flatter myself I
’
m one better than my cousin Adwen,
”
he said.
“
Believe me, Tina, I
’
m quite aware that you
’
ve had little occasion so far for considering me in the light of a possible husband, but is there any reason why you shouldn
’
t start now?
”

“
Belle once said the Pentreaths expected their money
’
s worth,
”
she said, not looking at him.
“
Was it your idea to treat me as—a kind of investment that might eventually pay dividends?
”

His eyes narrowed and when he
next spoke the amusement had gone from his voice.

“
If it lessens your sense of obligation to believe that, you can. Marrying me is as good a way as any other of repaying a debt, don
’
t you think? After this, don
’
t let
’
s have any more talk of charity between us. You can rest assured that true to Pentreath legend I shall make sure that I—how did you put it?—get my money
’
s worth.
”

He seemed a stranger again, the dark stranger of her fortune who, so astonishingly, was carrying out the gipsy
’
s prediction. Had he told her himself he wanted her, that even though he did not love her, he needed her, she could have taken what he had to offer with the belief that the future might hold something better for them both. But she saw only in his adamant eyes the right to choose as he wished, and instinct warned her that now was the moment to meet him on his own ground and bargain with him.

“
Very well,
”
she said, sitting straight as a wand in her chair, the long throat and lifted chin motionless in profile.
“
I
’
ll think of it that way, but there
’
s a condition.
”