The Dark Stranger (7 page)

“
Well, don
’
t try and ingratiate yourself with my wealthy cousin that way. I don
’
t like little girls w
ho
make mischief, and neither, if he finds you out, will he.
”

The wide-set eyes were suddenly bright.

“
I
’
ve never tried to make mischief, Belle. I
’
ve hardly spoken to Cousin Craig since that first day when he came to fetch me in to tea. I had to explain about the lunches, because he asked me, as a joke, if
I’d
been starved. He
was joking all the time—at least, I imagine he must have
been.”

“Really? What else did he say?”

“I don’t remember. It was weeks ago.”

Belle smiled without mirth.

“
All right, my dear, but be careful in future. If you blacken my name too much, you know, we may find ourselves back in those cheap hotels by the end of the summer.
”

Tina
’
s eyes were clear and grave.

“
But Cousin Craig can
’
t be expected to keep us here indefinitely,
”
she said.

Belle yawned. She had satisfied her desire to wound and now felt ready for bed.

“
Can
’
t he?
”
she said provocatively.
“
Perhaps I have other plans, Tina. Take care you don
’
t upset them.
”

II

July was a hot month. The bracken grew breast high, strong and luxuriant like tropical vegetation, and the stream on Tudy Down was little more than a trickle of water. In the groves of flowering shrubs which dwelt in perpetual shadow giant blooms sprang up in lavish abundance, but the petals of the magnolia by the little ruined temple were already turning brown. Only in the house was there coolness, and the flagged floors were delectable to bare feet as Tina discovered, kicking off her shoes when no one was about.

It was Brownie who showed her the old albums and she would turn the stiff cardboard pages with their faded photographs until she felt she knew all the Pentreaths; Zion as a young man, with his wife and Belle
’
s mother before she married, family groups which included Brownie as a plain young woman, Keverne in his last year of public school, Craig in his working clothes on his first day at the mine.

“
He looks terribly young,
”
Tina exclaimed and Brownie turned the page with dispassionate care.

“
Much your age,
”
she replied.
“
He had to take
Keverne
’
s place while he was abroad.
”

“
But
Keverne
had finished his education. Surely there was no need to cut short Cousin Craig
’
s?
”

“
Do you think, then, miss, that Craig is lacking in education?
”
Brownie
’
s voice was as dry as withered leaves.

“
Of course not, but
—”

“
Then there
’
s naught to regret, is there? If
Keverne
had lived you
’
d have found Craig the better man for having to stand on his own feet early.
”
Brownie sighed and shut the album.
“
Keverne
was a disappointment to his father. He hadn
’
t his brother
’
s guts, and if Belle had married him she
’
d have had him out of the cannery and into something more genteel before you could look round and Zion knew it.
”

“
Belle?
”
Tina
’
s high forehead creased in perplexity.
“
Do you mean
Keverne
wanted to marry her?
”

Brownie
’
s expression was a trifle sour.

“
Didn
’
t she tell you that? Oh, yes, Keverne wanted to marry her, but he wasn
’
t good enough for her, even with the Pentreath fortune.
”

Tina fished under the chair for her shoes.

“
That
’
s surely to her credit,
”
she said gently.
“
Why do you dislike her so much, Brownie?
”

“
It might have been to her credit if she hadn
’
t thought part of the money would come to her anyhow,
”
Brownie replied, then meeting the clear, troubled eyes, she added
gruffly;
“
Well, I suppose I
’
ve no business to be discussing your stepmother
’
s private affairs with a child like you. Mind and finish that darning I set you, Tina. I had to unpick the last lot, so badly did you do it.
”

Tina wandered thoughtfully down to the ruined temple. If Belle had once turned the elder brother down, she reflected, that would explain the Pentreath hostility in the past. They were a clannish lot from all accounts and Belle made a mistake if she thought that her cousin Craig was making anything but a courteous gesture for old time
’
s sake in inviting them to Tremawvan. She remembered her stepmother
’
s expression when she had stood beside her bed that night and said:
“
Perhaps I have other plans
...
take care you don
’
t spoil them.
”

“
No!
”
she said aloud, violently and absurdly, and did not know why the possibility that Belle might be scheming to marry her cousin should disquiet her.

She was surprised and a little nonplussed to find upon reaching the temple that
Craig was there, smoking a pipe and contemplating the little flower bed she had dug in the shade of the magnolia tree.

“
Hullo,
”
she said uncertainly,
“
I didn
’
t know you would be back so early.
”

“
Too hot for work,
”
he replied calmly.
“
Am I trespassing?
”

“
Oh,
no!
”
she cried, the color staining her cheeks.
“
It—it all belongs to you anyway.
”

He smiled faintly.

“
Still, no one ever comes here but you. You like to think it
’
s your own domain, don
’
t you, Tina?
”

“
I like to pretend it is,
”
she answered.
“
When you live in hotels, you see, you have nothing of your own.
”

“
I suppose not. I see you
’
ve started a garden.
”

“
Yes. I hope you don
’
t mind. Zachary says it
’
s too late
to sow much, but next year
—”
She stopped, aghast at
what she had said. Was it possible that already she had accepted the illusion of permanency which Tremawvan offered so unthinkingly that she had forgotten she was only a guest?

“
Yes? Next year?
”
asked Craig gently and she turned away.

“
I wasn
’
t thinking,
”
she said.
“
Of course next year no one will want to sow seeds here. It—I—Belle always says I take too much for granted.
”

“
Does she, indeed?
”

“
It comes, I expect, from always moving around. She doesn
’
t understand that if one didn
’
t take things for granted perpetual change would be very disturbing.
”

She turned then and found that vivid blue gaze directly upon her.

“
Your mind is really extraordinarily mature, isn
’
t it?
”
he said.
“
Come and sit down, Tina, and tell me why you avoid me when you can.
”

“
But I don
’
t,
”
she replied, embarrassed.

“
I think you do. Does Belle still tell you to keep out of my way?
”

“
N-no, not exactly, but—well, I think I once said something you misunderstood and she thought I
’
d been telling tales.
”

“
H
’
m
...
well, in future I must be careful not to betray confidences, musn
’
t I? Now, forget the Pentreath awkwardness of approach and come and talk to me.
”

She sat down on the steps of the temple with a little sigh, wondering whether he, too, was sometimes lonely for companionship.

“
Brownie
’
s been showing me the albums,
”
she said,
“
I didn
’
t know Belle might have married your brother.
”

“
Didn
’
t you? I shouldn
’
t pay too much attention to Brownie
’
s gossip, if I were you.
”

“
She doesn
’
t like Belle, does she? But you wouldn
’
t hold anything against her, would you, Cousin Craig?
”

“
It depends,
”
he answered, observing her with speculative eyes.
“
But Pentreath should understand Pentreath. We
’
re all very much alike, you know.
”

“
I don
’
t think you are,
”
she said shyly.
“
Cousin Craig—did you mind leaving school before it was time?
”

“
Well, did you?
”

She pulled her short skirt carefully over her knees and pressing her chin in her hands stared frowning at the magnolia tree.

“
Yes, I suppose so. It isn
’
t the book-learning side that matters—anyone can make that up later. It
’
s being part of something traditional, being—guarded and secure while your ideas are still unformed. It sounds silly, doesn
’
t it? But one
’
s mind is incomplete, somehow—a kind of inequality with others. There
’
s nothing to fall back on.
”

“
Did you ever talk to Belle like this?
”

“
I don
’
t think she would understand. Anyway, as it was a question of money, it didn
’
t really arise.
”

“
But your father had money set aside for your education.
”

“
Yes, but there was very little else, and as Belle said, it seemed silly to spend it on an expensive school when if we didn
’
t we could both live in a little more comfort. Father, I
’
m afraid, had a very poor business head.
”

“
He had,
”
said Craig a little grimly.
“
He should have tied the money up.
”

She turned to look at him, observing the sunlight on his bare throat and arms and how deeply his dark skin had tanned with the summer days. Belle, she knew, was at
this moment on the terrace, acquiring the same rich color with oil and careful exposure.