The Dark Stranger (29 page)

“
You and me—we
’
ve both had Pentreath charity,
”
said Tina softly. She had forgotten Craig and only this shrivelled, elderly woman with the trembling hands was real in the room for her.
“
I can only repay my debt if you stay and help me, Brownie. This is your home far more than mine and I—well, I should hate it without you.
”

Brownie took the girl
’
s face between her hands for
a
moment and her eyes held tenderness.

“
You
’
re a good child, Tina,
”
she said.
“
A good child
...
I
’
ll talk to Craig later.
”

“
W-ell!
”
drawled Belle.
“
What a touching scene! I hope you
’
re flattered, Craig, that you
’
re being married for your charity. Me, I should want a little more.
”

“
You always have wanted a little more than your due, haven
’
t you, Belle?
”
he returned suavely, but the blue of his eyes held a sudden icy anger as he rose, leaving his tea unfinished, and went out of the room.

They were all thankful when the day came to an end. Belle had been waspish at dinner, letting fall little pleasantries designed to embarrass Craig if she could, and Tina, almost certainly. Brownie, who seemed her usual self again, spoke her mind freely on the subject of manners and Craig at the head of the table was silent and abstracted. As they left the dining room Tina thought with longing of her solitary bedroom with its sprigged paper and faded hangings. Was it only this morning that she had arranged her belongings in threes as a hostage to fortune?

“
And look where it
’
s got me!
”
she remarked aloud, disgustedly, and Craig raised his eyebrows.

“
Look where what
’
s got you?
”
he inquired.

Belle and Brownie were already in the living room and she had not heard him across the hall behind her.

“
Nothing—at least, only something silly. I arranged all my things in three when I got up this morning—as a kind of charm,
”
she said.

“
And the charm didn
’
t work? Is that what you meant?
”
He was approachable again, quizzical and gently mocking as she used to remember him and all at once she could talk to him naturally.

“
It worked the wrong way,
”
she said obscurely.
“
You see, Craig, when I was a child, three was my lucky number. I used to take chances with it—sort of determine my fate by it. So, you see, I was sure Adwen would come on the third
’
night because there were three more statues left and that
’
s why I was watching to warn him before you caught
him.
”

“
I see, Not a very logical piece of reasoning, I hardly feel.
”
His lips twitched slightly but his eyes were grave.

“
Well, you made sure of warning him all right, but your actions might have led to the damaging of the precious skin you were so anxious to protect.
”

She stamped her foot with impatience, no longer afraid of him.

“
Oh, Craig, you are
stupid!
”
she cried.
“
I wasn
’
t bothering about Adwen
’
s skin. It was the trouble
you
might get yourself into that was worrying me. I
’
m sorry I interfered, anyway. He was only going to paint the cupids red, white and blue and I wish I
’
d let him. They would have looked very funny.
”

He laughed then, and taking her by the wrist, drew her into the book room. Once there, he held her firmly between his hands and looked into her eyes.

“
Have I made a fool of myself?
”
he asked with unexpected humor.

She laughed.

“
Oh, Craig, I wouldn
’
t ever know with a Pentreath!
”
she said.
“
They don
’
t behave like other people.
”

“
I
’
m not collective, a sort of composite whole of the family bad traits,
”
he answered a little dryly.
“
I think you
’
ve come to confuse me with Belle and Adwen and my father and even those pirate ancestors you insist on saddling me with.
”

“
Perhaps I do,
”
she admitted,
“
but it
’
s understandable. You have the Pentreath anger and that always confuses me. It
’
s so sudden, so without reason while it lasts. You—you even kissed me in anger.
”

The room was very quiet. It had the slightly musty smell of old bindings and the varnish which covered the pitchpine shelves, a smell reminiscent of the schoolroom. She looked up at Craig, blinking a little nervously as she spoke, and he let her go abruptly as he answered:

“
Better that than not kissing you at all, perhaps.
”

She wandered round the shelves, pulling out volumes at random, anxious to occupy her hands, and he stood with his back to the fire watching her.

“
Will Brownie stay?
”
she asked.

“
Of course. She has no other home but this. She came to keep my mother company when I was four years old, and has remained ever since.
”

She turned the pages of a book unseeing, remembering Jessie Pentreath who had been unhappy. Would Brownie, she wondered a little sadly, prove company for yet another Tremawvan wife whose husband could not love her?

He had come up behind her and taken the book from her hand before she was aware of him, and he read aloud from the page of which she had been quite unobservant:

“
See with eyes shut.

Look seldom behind thee.

In secret of selfship

Free thee, not bind thee
...
”

“
Worth remembering, Tina,
”
he said.
“
The secret of happiness, perhaps. It was nice of you to make Brownie feel she was wanted. Do you expect me to do something for Belle when she leaves?
”

His abruptness was typical of his alternating moods and no longer disconcerted her.

“
No,
”
she replied.

“
But she has hopes, hasn
’
t she? Aren
’
t you even going to try and persuade me to be generous?
”

“
No,
”
she said again.
“
I don
’
t think you owe her anything. We have both, Belle and I, had far more than the accident of kinship demands.
”

“
For which you
’
re obliging,
”
he said curtly.
“
As Belle pointed out it
’
s scarcely flattering to be married for one
’
s charity.
”

“
You told me at the time that marrying you was as good a way as any other of discharging a debt,
”
she reminded him.
“
You said it might lessen my sense of obligation.
”

So I did, but you needed persuading, if I remember. Wasn
’
t there also some odd talk about getting my money
’
s worth?
”

“
Yes,
”
she said.
“
But I don
’
t think you have yet, have you, Craig?
”

His smile was a little grim and he thrust the volume back on the shelf with a sharp, impatient movement.

“
I
’
ve made a beginning,
”
he said and suddenly pulling her into his arms, bent his black head to hers. He kissed
her with the same hard urgency he had displayed earlier, but now the savage anger was absent and because she could not remain passive under his lips she stretched up her hands to his shoulders and offered him what acceptance she knew.

“
Well!
”
he observed, holding her away from him.
“
This is better than I hoped for so early on. I can see my restraint of the past weeks was rather misplaced.
”

His voice was sardonic, and his eyes a little mocking, reminding her unhappily of Adwen, who gave only passion and expected little in return.

“
I
’
d like to go to bed now, if you don
’
t mind,
”
she said, weariness suddenly in every line of her young body.

There was a little pause while he watched her and the room returned to familiarity again with its musty smell, and its ticking clocks and the lamp which threw a curious shadow across Craig
’
s face.

“
Of course,
”
he replied with a strange expression.
“
It was thoughtless of me to keep you up. Good night.
”

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

I

IT seemed to Tina that all Pentreath decisions were adamant and never suffered the delay or postponement to circumstances of other people
’
s. The date was fixed for the first day of spring as Craig said it would be, the exact time he proposed to be away from the cannery carefully checked and agreed upon, the number of guests to be asked to the wedding and their precise claims to Tremawvan hospitality. Even Tina
’
s wedding dress was decided on by Craig.

“
But I thought,
”
she said, bewildered,
“
we would be married quite quietly. Men usually hate a fussy wedding.
”

“
There
’
s no occasion for it to be fussy,
”
he replied.
“
But white will be expected by the workers, and our guests, mostly consist of them. Get something young and filmy, like that gauzy affair Brownie made for your Speech Day.
I always liked it.
”

“
But where shall I get
i
t?
”
she asked, but did not add and who will pay for it? It would, she supposed, be Craig again, and it seemed to her a little shameful that a man should have to buy his bride
’
s wedding gown.

“
Consult Belle, for heaven
’
s sake! She can send to London if necessary,
”
he replied impatiently.

But in the end Brownie made it for her.

“
If he likes the style of the white then tulle is the thing,
”
she said.
“
And that
’
s better made up at home with no skimping of material and the work properly hand done. We
’
ll send to Truro for patterns.
”

Belle thought the idea typical of her stepdaughter
’
s lack of ambition, but Tina felt happier. The cost would be reasonable and the pleasure given to Brownie very real.

So soon it seemed, it was March and less than three short weeks stretched ahead, dwindling to the day when her life began again. Three times that would have happened since Belle had married her father, Tina thought with surprise. Three times she had been thrust over a gap in time, forward when Belle took her from school, backward when Craig sent her back and now forward again into these realms of maturity which neither growing up nor her sudden engagement had prepared her for. The mystic number
...
she reflected as she thought these things out in Jessie Pentreath
’
s ruined temple. Was it an omen that since fate had sent the dark stranger to alter her life, the third phase would somehow prove the best
?
She did not look for more than kindly tolerance in her relations with a husband, but she solemnly made three circuits round the magnolia tree to make sure even of that.

Craig caught her doing it.

“
What
’
s that for?
”
he asked.

She felt a little foolish at being observed at such
a
childish practice, but she answered seriously:

“
It was a kind of charm I was making—for the future.
”
He did not laugh at her, but came and stood behind her, drawing her slight body against him.

“
Were you making a wish for the future—three times three?
”
he said.

“
No, a charm,
”
she answered.
“
It
’
s different
.
”

He turned her round in his arms and his face was
gentle.

“
My cautious Tina,
”
he said.
“
Don
’
t you ever make wishes in case they don
’
t come true?
”

“
No,
”
she said,
“
it
’
s a waste of time.
”

He drew her head against his breast and she rested against him passively, no longer startled by his touch. He could still disconcert her by an unexpected attack for which she was not prepared, but here in the little clearing by the temple and the magnolia tree he was always different, gentle, undemanding, and often tender. It was as if, in Jessie
’
s private haven, he recognized Tina
’
s right to sanctuary and sometimes sought release himself.

“
Do you remember I once threatened to wall you up in the temple?
”
he said, and she smiled.

“
Yes, you did. Now you
’
ll just wall me up at Tremawvan instead.
”

“
Is that how you think of our marriage?
”

She looked up quickly, disturbed by the graver note in his voice.

“
No, of course
n
ot. I was joking as I thought you were, but I do remember Brownie once telling me that what the Pentreaths have they hold, if it means building a hedge to keep it.
”

“
That
’
s true,
”
he replied unsmilingly.
“A
thing to remember, perhaps, Tina. It will be too late to wake up one morning in a month
’
s time and decide you
’
ve made a mistake. The hedge will be built then and there
’
s no escape.
”

She shivered, aware suddenly of the chill March air.

“
Is that a warning?
”
she asked, puzzled that he should be offering her a way out, if indeed he was.

“
If you need a warning it
’
s one, but I don
’
t think you do. I
’
ve captured you twice already.
”
He spoke with the dark, arrogant look of his pirate ancestors.

“
And the third time?
”
she said.

“
If there was a third time,
”
he answered a little grimly,
“
you would remember it with rather more discomfort than the other two. The Pentreaths keep their wives whether they are happily or unhappily married. You
’
re getting cold. Better come back to the house.
”

Belle did not speak of her own arrangements; indeed, watching her indolent passage about the house, Tina doubted if she had troubled to make any.

“
Belle, the time
’
s getting on,
”
she said as the first week of March drew to a blustery dose.
“
Oughtn
’
t you to be making plans?
”

“
I
’
ve made my plans,
”
Belle replied lazily.
“
Don
’
t be in such a hurry to get rid of me, darling. It
’
s not at all filial.
”

“
It was only thinking of you,
”
Tina said gravely.
“
What are you going to do?
”

Belle shrugged and lit one of her Turkish cigarettes.
“
That depends. Has Craig mentioned anything about a settlement?
”

“
Belle, I told you I can
’
t ask him for any more. There really
isn
’
t
any reason why he should keep you for the rest of your life.
”

Belle
’
s smile was mocking with a hint of malice.

“
I was speaking of a marriage settlement, my dear, not a pension. Craig
’
s a rich man. You should be provided for independently. I shall speak to him about it.
”

“
Oh, please
—”
Tina
began, then walked away.
So
long ago she had learned the lesson never to argue with Belle. Craig was well able to look after his own interests.

She was unprepared, however, when the next day, he asked her abruptly to rid herself of the idea that when he married her he would make her independent of him.

“
No doubt you think a handsome marriage settlement is customary and only generous,
”
he said,
“
but the Pentreath women have never lacked for money when they liked to ask for it. I don
’
t believe in that kind of independence.
”

“
It wasn
’
t I who thought it,
”
said Tina, flushing.
“
It was Belle, as you might have known. She didn
’
t say so, but I think her idea was to draw on me from time to time.
I
wouldn
’
t have your horrible settlement if you offered it to me on a golden plate. I
’
m used to being dependent.
”

He smiled.

“
You look exactly like an angry little girl,
”
he said, then his face was grave again.
“
I
’
m glad you
’
re beginning to see through Belle at last. I didn
’
t like to think you were being used as an excuse to screw money out of me.
”
At
the look on her face, he stopped, and observed her thoughtfully before he spoke again.

“
I
’
ve been clumsy over the whole thing, haven
’
t I, Tina?
”
he said a little wearily.
“
I should remember this crushing sense of obligation you ha
v
e. My old-fashioned principles will have to change, I think. You
’
ve been dependent on me for so long that once we are married I shall have to rectify it. I can
’
t have you coming to me for every penny with that stricken look of guilt on your face.
”

“
What do you mean?
”

“
Only that of course you shall have your settlement, or allowance or something to make you feel less beholden, on a golden plate or not, as you please, only don
’
t tell Belle.
”
She ran to him spontaneously and kissed him quite naturally on the cheek.

“
Thank you, Craig,
”
she said softly, touched by his consideration for her raw feelings.
“
I shan
’
t want it, but thank you very much for understanding.
”

It should not have surprised her, she thought later. Long ago he had understood why she had minded leaving school, he had understood too about it not being safe to become fond of places until you were sure. He had called her cautious in her emotions, but did he not know that people were not the same as places. You became fond in spite of warnings, because affections must be laid somewhere. Would he understand that when he knew, and offer her anything of himself in return? She sighed, puzzled afresh by his changes of mood. The moments of tenderness seemed so few and as time went on he became more engrossed with matters at the mine and cannery which necessitated his attention in view of his approaching absence, and when he came home there seemed a dozen small distractions to occupy his evenings.

He consulted Tina over very little, but he took her upstairs one afternoon to show her what bedroom he thought should be theirs, and asked her if she would like to have the room done up.

She looked at the unfamiliar furniture, the big presses, the draped dressing-table and the enormous tester bed with its sombre hangings, and felt depressed. But the walls were papered in the same sprigged design as her own room, and she said gently:

“
No, Craig, it
’
s very nice as it is.
”

Had Jessie Pentreath slept there, she wondered
as she
followed him downstairs, poor unloved Jessie dreaming
of her Greek temple and her magnolia tree? But it was Brownie she asked in the end and felt unaccountably relieved when she replied:

“
Dear me, no. Zion and Jessie had the room Craig
’
s got now. Both the boys were
born
there. The room that will be yours has never been a bride
’
s room. You
’
ll be the first.
”

She was fitting Tina
’
s half-finished wedding dress in the work-room, pinning and tacking with a neatness it was difficult to imagine her swollen fingers could achieve.