Warleggan (15 page)

Absently he took note of the smart private coach waiting
outside, the man in green livery on the box, the gaping urchins,
the citizens, too who had stopped to stare. If the girl had
plenty of money, why should he exert himself to dissuade her? Th
ere'd be difficulties enough.

`There are difficulties
in your suggestion which would
be not at all of my making, Miss Penvenen. For one thing, I do not think the present owner of the bill
would
be willing to
s-sell it
'Why not? He wants the money, doesn't' he?'

`There is more than money involved.'

'Oh, ye
s, the Warleggans, of course; I
have heard something of it. But is there not a way round that difficulty?'

`Not by offering to purchase the bill. At the very least they would, I think, demand some extorti
onate premium on it which would
put it quite out of your reach.'

'You don't know my reach, Mr. Pascoe.'''

`Possibly not. But allow me at least to advise you on the most economical way of going about the business'' He came, b
ack to the table and sat down,
picked up his pen in some irritation, and made a few' figures. `Obviously, if you are quite set on doing this, the best thing is to lend Captain Poldark the fourteen hundred pounds personally to discharge the bill and have him sign a new bill for this amount'

For the first time Caroline looked a little confused. 'I'm afraid that's impossible. That's what I haven't told you yet. . He mustn't on any account know who has
advanced the money'

Pascoe considered her dryly. 'I see. But I'm afraid it is unavoidable. I don't
think there is any other way. I don't
think you have the least
chance of persuading Mr.
Cary Warleggan to part with the bill, at any price. You have no doubt read The Merchant of Venice.'

There was silence for a few moments. Caroline said ; 'I don't for a moment thi
nk Captain Poldark would accept the money from
me.'

'Hm...,' No, it's possible. You're a friend of his of course? But a woman. I see your point'

Caroline got up:
She
was as tall as the banker, and her slightness made her look taller. She folded her gloves carefully, not looking at him. But something in the shape of her face made
him aware of what the look in
her eyes was likely to be.

`Well, thank you for seeing me. I shall have to go elsew
here. I can expect you to tell n
o one of my call?'

`I shall tell no one. But don't
be in t-too
great a hurry. I think I have a suggestion to make which might help us to overcome this difficulty'

`Yes?'

“P
ray, sit down again. Give me
a
moment or two to work this out'

Caroline resumed her seat. Through narrow long-lashed eyes she watched Mr Pascoe open his snuffbox. She waited, patient now, for him to make his suggestion.

Lobb the Sherborner had spent the night locally, so a letter was delivered to Ross just as he was leaving the house for the mine. He broke the seal and read what H
arris Pascoe had to say, hardly
certain that
the slanting December sunlight
was not in some manner distorting what he read. Having come through it twice with the same interpretation,
he moved quickly round, to the
stables and began to throw a saddle over Darkie. Gimlett heard him and stopped his work and came into the stable.

`Can I help, ee, sir?'

`No. I, can do it. Oh, Gimlett, where is your mistress?' `Gone looking for, Garrick, who ra
n off after a stray cat,' `Tell
her
I've
been called
to Tuna on business, will you?

‘
I hope to be back in time for tea,' 'Yes, sur.'

Before eleven Ross was dismounting outside the banking premises of
Messrs.
Pascoe, Tresize, Annery, and Spry. He dropped his reins over
the post,
lifted the latch of the bank door, and went purposefully in. Harris Pascoe was not engaged
, nor indeed surprised to see h
is visitor, though the swift response was several hours earlier than he had expected. He looked up speculatively at Ross's expression as he was shown in
Ross sat down and crossed his long legs and rubbed a finger carefully across his upper lip.

`Good day to you, Harris.!

"Good day.' You're an early caller this
morning.

'Not earlier than I wish' to be. This letter, a Ross took
it from his pocket.

'Oh, yes.
You received it s-safely. I imagine the contents
would come as a surprise to you
’

"Surprise is not an overstatement'

The banker smiled at his ledgers. `Naturally I was happy to be the sender of such tidings,'

'No happier than I was to receive them. What is, the explanation?' '

`You already have the explanation in the letter.'

'N
ot one that satisfies me. After
trying d
esperately to raise
the wind for six weeks, I feel a little sceptical that it has suddenly decided to raise itself. Who is this anonymous person who
has suddenly come forward as you say and placed this money at
my disposal?'

'I'm not at liberty to give you the name! 'Is it you?'

Pascoe looked up and met the unquiet eyes.
'No? ' 'Is it a friend of mine -
someone I know?' 'I can't tell you.'

'If I know no more than this, how can I accept it? On
what conditions is it loaned me?'

'You have them in the letter. A new promissory n-note on
the same conditions as the old, but at a, lower rate of interest.' `And whom do I promise to pay?' ' 'It will be left blank. The note won't leave my keeping
anyway unless you d-default'

Ross
got up, put his finger tips on the enormous desk.

'It's monstrous, Harri
s, It really is. Have you been
deluding
some poor fool into thinking me a better risk than I really am?' 'No.'

`So it is a friend. Damn it, it still suspect you. I can't think
’

He stopped and pushed a hand through his hair,

'I'd
be gl
ad to take the credit. But in m
y position as a
banker I was
not able to lend the money, Had I been
able to, I should have advanced it weeks ago and saved you
the anxiety.

`Well, I really can't accept this money blindfold, it's asking
too much,'

'Of whom?' said 'Pascoe politely.

Ross subsided in his chair. It was the chair Caroline had occupied five days ago. He picked up his crop and turned it round 'in his bony fingers. His finances these last years reminded him often of a man deprived of air, choking, but again and again reprieved at the point of
death. But never before had
he come so close to the end, of things as this December. Even now he felt very little sense of relief. He couldn't at all believe it. He stared at the man opposite. Pascoe was about to sneeze, but the sudden stare stopped it and he had
to content himself with a sniff.

`It is none of the Warleggans? No swopping of horses without betterment or accepting some favour from George at Cary's expense?'

'It is none of them.'

`Can they do anything to stop, this; I mean can they retain, the bill they have?'

'Not, this way. With your permission I shall go over tomorrow and redeem the bill. The, money is immediately available when you sign this new note.'

Ross stared
at the
piece of paper as if by doing so he would penetrate the secrets that were being withheld from, him. 'Is it Mr. Trencrom?'

`I cannot tell you anything more.' `You can't give me even a hint?'

`I'm afraid not'

`But you, knowing the person, advise me to accept the offer?'

'I, knowing the person, advise you to accept. You'd be criminally foolish if you did not!

'That was enough. Ross dipped
th
e quill in the pat and slowly signed his, n
ame, '.Are you in
communication with this bashful gentleman?'

'I may be from time to time.'

"Well, would you convey my compliments to him and tell him I shall not lie easy till I know his name. I'm in his debt literally and figuratively for a greater amount than I have been to anyone else ever in my life. As to the monetary sum, I shall
feel
as

much constrained to pay it as f it were a debt of honour; and for the personal obligation, perhaps the occasion may occur when I may pay that too.'

`I'll t-tell the gentleman,' said Pascoe, fixing his spectacles more firmly on his nose. `I'm sure your acceptance will make
pleasant hearing to him. It's plain that he has your welfare, at heart.'

'I have his also,' said Ross

Garrick chased the cat up a tree, so Demelza tied him securely at a distance and then tried to entice th
e cat down, This didn't work so
she looped up her skirt and, climbed the tree herself. It was from the vantage point of the topmost branches, swaying; dangerously, that she saw Ross riding up the valley. She coo-ed but he didn't hear, and she retrieved the cat and climbed down in an apprehensive frame of mind. Sudden changes of plan o
n Ross's part always betokened
bad news.

Gimlett's story of a letter confirmed her suspicions; and she spent the day
in some foreboding, hiding her
worst fears in a flurry of work. In the afternoon, with Jeremy plucking at her skirts and getting into all. sorts of trouble, she made butter, putting the scalded cream she had saved i
nto her stone bowl and beating
it regularly round with her hand. But today, it would not turn, and she began to have fears either that
the
cow, was sick or that this was some sort of omen. Sir Hugh Bodrugan had been over last week, pressing her to see a cow of his that would not calve, convinced beyond all reason that she was capable of white witchery. She had refused. Two lucky coincidences had given her a name, and the only way
to retain it was not to tempt
fate any
more.

Prudie Paynter had had some doggerel she used for making butter turn when she was a servant here, and Demelza tried it over now, but perhaps Ross's scepticism. had infected her, for nothing h
appened, The afternoon was very
cold, her hands were very cold, and she found it hard to keep up an even, un
h
urried motion.

The day had been still, no a
ir moving and quiet except for
the roar of the surf. Often the sea was, a continual unperceived noise, but on days such as this it overcame the mind's defences and life moved to its beat. It was as if a great army of heavy vehicles was passing near the house, and now and then the air tremored on one's ears: A faint mist drifted, inland from the breaking waves, greying the edges of the cliffs and sand dunes. In the garden the birds pecked at the hard ground, and seagulls circled the upper air.

The Carnbarrow Hunt was to meet at Werry House next week, and Sir Hugh bad invited her over. Demelza wondered
if her refusal -had, been right. She knew
Ross's
views, but she still felt Sir Hugh might be persuaded to help them
-
at a price. She had coaxed a concession out of him once before and come to no hurt. Surely she might do so again.

The cream began at last to turn, and after a few minutes she went out
and drew a pitcher of ice-cold
water from the pump to wash away the buttermilk. She had done this and was patting the bu
tter into shape when Ross came
.

She didn't stop to carry her board out to the stillroom, but slid through the house, nearly upsetting Jeremy, who lurched suddenly into her path.

Ross was already in, an unusual thing, ha
ving left his mare by the door.
His expression was hard to reads alm
ost always she knew, but this time it didn't conform
to any of the recognised: patterns.

'There's going to be a
hard
frost,' he said. 'Some of the shallower pools
are freezing already.'

`Yes, I thought the same,' she said. `There's all the signs. Tha
t sky,
Jeremy, darling, where did you get the jam!'

The little boy had come tottering in carrying a large jar from the lip of which a dark crimson streak was already beginning to escape. On the very verge of dropping it he was able to present it to his father before it slipped from, his hands. Then he sat down with a Grump on the floor and said, `Gar !'

'Thank you,' said Ross, 'a very friendly gesture. . . He put the jar on
the table. 'He's
more forward than Julia was, isn't he? I can't remember at this age.. .

`She was fatter and more
content to stay in one place. We shall have to watch his legs.... Ross, why did you go into Truro?'

'Some extra-business
to do with Pascoe. A matter of
small importance.

She knew then from some glint in his eye that the news was not bad.

What is it? What's to do? Tell me if it is something better. I have been thinking all
day. "

He sat down and warmed his hands at the fire. Gimlett had come out and was leading Darkie past the w
indows. `Pascoe was agreed that
there was likely to be a frost.'

'No, Ross.' She went over
to him- 'Don't play now, t
his is too important, Tell me, Please

He looked up at her eager face.

"Someone
-
some anonymous person,
has chosen very fool
ishly to take over my debt, my
promissory note which. the Warleggans hold. It means
–
that
-
for the time at least
-
the urgency to find the money is, gone. Of course, it will still have to be found some day. But not this Christmas,'

Demelza stared at him. 'D'you mean that you won't have to default
-
that there's still a chance?

'There's still a chance. Just that.'

'Oh, my dear.' She sat abruptly in a chair. After a moment Jeremy sprawled towards her and she picked him up and covered him with kisses of relief. 'Oh, Ross, I can't hardly
believe that. After, all this worry it's beyond belief...:

'You describe it exactly. It's beyond belief. All the way, home I've been telling myself that things are just as black, as they ever were before this threat blew up-that we are still poverty stricken to the last edges of pauperdom - that in a month or so the mine must close-that we have practically nothing to live on. But just, at the moment those things don't mean anything at all'

'And it's true ! It's true ! Oh, thank God!,? She suddenly set Jeremy down and ran, across and kissed him on the cheek. 'I'm that glad for you, Ross ! But glad isn't the word ! There must be a better. I wish I knew a better! What is anonymous?'

He pulled her down till she was sitting :on his knee. 'No name. We don't know our benefactor.'

'Some friend?'

'Some friend. To whom I owe one thousand four hundred
pounds. The percentage
of interest is also halved, so that after this year I shall only pay him two hundred, and eighty pounds each Christmas.',
"God bless him whoever he is ! '

`Amen,, I say to that.'

'Have; you no idea?'

'Vague speculations on the way, home. Ea
ch seems more unlikely than the
last.'

There was sile
nce for some minutes. He said: ‘
Where were,
you when
I left?'

`After a stray cat Garrick was chasing. 'Twasn't fair, for the creature had a bad leg and I've told him oftentimes not to touch cats. Might it not mean now that, the mine could go on a little longer?'

'Where is the cat now?'

'In the kitchen in a basket.'

'I' thought so.' Ross
stretched down to a bag at his
feet. Demelza, a bit unused to this situation nowadays, made a move to rise but he would
not let
her. `I've bought you a pound of Soachong tea. It is better than the stuff we get through Trencrom. I thought you'd like to try it.'

`Thank you, Ross. That's kind of you.... Now perhaps in a short time we shall not need to do anything for Mr. Trencrom. D'you think it possible? Then we should be
really
free, ou
t in the open, able to breathe
again!"

`And I brought you a new brush and comb. I thought it a good thing to have one in reserve before you broke the present one.'

Demelza took the articles handed to her, turned them over in her hands. The comb had a twisted h
andle, like a plait of hair. "
Very--extravagant,' she said indistinctly.

`Very. I also got two pairs of w
orsted stockings each for the Gimletts. They
were
not dear -
two shillings a pair. They've had little enough of late. And I have here a bonnet for, Jeremy and a pair of knitted gloves. I thought he might be jealous if he was left out. I'm not sure as to the size. I suspect they will smother him.

Demelza got up. The light was going, and over the hill the winter's day was infinitely remote. Everything was still except for the muffled roar behind the house, and this was less dominant for the time because the tide was out. Already the secret spell of frost had been cast over the valley.

`They
look a good fit. That's clever to have guessed. And what did you buy yourself?'

Ross said : `I was in doubt between a silk cloak and a j
ewelled sword, so I put it off till next time. This was my
last purchase.'

He got up too and handed her, a pair of women's garters. They were very fancy.

`For me?' said Demelzaa

`I notice you've been
wearing no stockings often this
winter, and can only suppose you were in some straits to keep them up.'

Demelza burst into tears.

'Oh, come, come, 'I meant no offence. It was just a passing thought. If you'd prefer not to have them-
‘
'It isn't that,' she said. `You know very well it is not that.'

She put her hands to her
face. `It is the relief.
And then buying all these things.'

`They were none of them extortionate.' He put his arm round her, but her breakdown was checked by a sudden howl frown Jeremy, who, unused to seeing his mother in tears, was moved to copy her. Demelza knelt over him and comforted him, wiping his eyes as well as her own. After a few seconds she glanced up at Ross.

`I'm sorry. It was the relief. You see
-
I love you so much.
”

Ross stared down at them both, moved himself and happy. Th
e light from the window glinted
, on her hair, on the curve of her back, on Jeremy's clutching, hands.

'I must put them' on,' he said.

Demelza looked up. `You mean Jeremy's bonnet and gloves?'

`What else,' rejoined Ross, smiling grimly.

With the usual sort of difficulty, Jeremy was invested with his new regalia. It all fitted pretty well
, and should have done, since the shopkeeper
had tried them on her own child first. Presently he went tottering off, the bonnet at a rakish angle, one glove not properly tied.

She had known that Ross hadn't meant that. She held the garters in her hand, a
nd he took them from her, so
she sat down uncertainly. She was wearing stockings tonight, old ones, but they were black and her skin above them glistened like
ivory. He put the garters on with a good deal of care. It was months, almost years, since there had been this sort of thing
between them, that
odd fusion of desire and affection for which there is no substi
tute; Her eyes in the gathering darkness glowed at him.
They stayed for a while hardly moving, he kneeling and she leaning; back in the chair. His hands were cool on her legs. Remember this, she thought. In the times of jealousy and neglect, remember this.

He said : `So you are not to be rid of me, my love.'

'I am not to be rid of you, my love,'

Over in the corner by the door Jeremy thumped down and began methodically to pull off his gloves.