The Devil on Horseback

II

Margot had suffered not only mental but physical strain after her ordeal. She was easily tired and still fretting for her baby. I had no doubt that she needed me. I was sorry for her because it was clear to me that she felt a little lost among her own family. With such parents it did not surprise me, and I was even more grateful for the love and wisdom of my own mother a greater gift than that which had been bestowed on poor Margot, for all her noble lineage and family wealth.

As for Etienne and Leon, although they had been brought up in the household, they were scarcely like brothers.

Nou-Nou understood Margot’s state for she was one of the few people who were in the secret. She prescribed a stay in bed for a few days on diet of her choosing which contained some of her potions, and these seemed to make Margot sleep a good deal. I was sure this was necessary as she seemed refreshed and in better spirits when she awakened from her rests.

This gave me time on my own and both Etienne and Leon seemed determined to be friendly. I took a ride with each of them and when I looked back, what happened during these rides seemed significant.

On the afternoon of that day when the Comte had taken me round the old part of the castle, Etienne asked me if I would care to ride with him.

He would like to show me the countryside, he said.

I had always enjoyed riding-even on poor little Jenny and I had thought of Dower with longing since I had left her. So I accepted with alacrity. Moreover I had my rather elegant riding habit which my mother had bought for me to impress Joel Derringham, so I was well equipped.

The only question was, which horse to ride, but Etienne assured me that there would be just the right mount for me in the castle stables.

He was right. There was a lovely strawberry roan.

“Not too frisky,” said Etienne.

“Oh, I know you are an excellent horsewoman, but just at first…”

“How you could have learned such a thing I’ve no idea,” I replied.

“In fact I’m just a horsewoman … not a good one.”

“You are too modest. Cousin.”

I noticed the word ‘cousin’ and smiled inwardly. If I was the Comte’s cousin, Etienne would want me to be his. I was beginning to understand Etienne.

His manners were impeccable. He helped me to mount and complimented me on my outfit.

“Most elegant,” he called it.

“I thought so at home,” I told him, ‘but I am not so sure here. It’s strange how clothes can change in different environments. “

“You would look charming in any environment,” said Etienne gallantly.

The countryside was beautiful, for the leaves of the trees were now being touched with autumn tints. We cantered and galloped and I was glad of the practice I had had on Dower. I was touched by Etienne’s care for me, for I noticed how watchful he was and if he thought I was out of my depth-which he did once or twice-he would be beside me ready to make sure that I was all right.

As we were returning to the chateau I think we must have been about two miles from it-we came to a house in a hollow. It was charming, in grey stone over which several kinds of creeper had spread itself. As the leaves of some of this were beginning to turn reddish brown the effect was delightful.

A woman was standing at the gate as though watching for someone. I was struck immediately by her rather flamboyant beauty. She had thick red hair and green eyes; she was tall, inclined to plumpness and very elegant.

“I must present you to Madame LeGrand said Etienne.

“She must be the chateau’s nearest neighbour.”

“You are right. She is,” replied Etienne.

Madame LeGrand had opened the gate. We dismounted, Etienne holding my horse while I did so, then tethering both horses to the post set there for that purpose.

“This is Mademoiselle Maddox,” said Etienne.

Madame LeGrand came towards me. She wore a green gown which became her well and matched her eyes. Beneath the skirt was a hoop which accentuated the smallness of her waist, and panniers of rich material draped over it to fall to the ground disclosing, as it fell apart, a satin petticoat of a slightly darker shade of green. Her hair was elaborately dressed -high, according to the fashion prevalent in France, which had been set by the Queen who needed height on account of her high forehead. The bodice of the green gown was cut low to disclose the whiteness of neck and the beginnings of a well-formed if ample bosom. She was a strikingly beautiful woman.

I had heard that you were at the chateau. Mademoiselle,” she told me, ‘and I was eager to meet you. I hope you will honour me by taking a glass of wine.”

I said I should be delighted to do so.

“Come into the salon,” she said.

We stepped into a cool hall in which had been arranged leaves of varying greens. Green was evidently her favourite colour. It suited her. I saw how attractive were those green eyes with their thick black lashes, particularly in contrast with the burnished reddish hair.

The salon was small, but perhaps it seemed so because I had already become accustomed to the rooms at the chateau. Compared with those of the schoolhouse, it would be called big. The furniture was as elegant as that in the castle and there were beautiful rugs on the floor. The pale green of the drapes toned perfectly with that of the cushions. It was ;j indeed a gracious room. j The wine was brought and she asked me how I was enjoying my stay at my cousin’s chateau.

I hesitated. In spite of everything I could not think of myself as the Comte’s cousin. I replied that I was finding J everything very interesting. “How strange that you should come across the Comte and Marguerite after all those years. You must have been aware of the relationship, though. You must have known that you had these connections.”

Both she and Etienne seemed to be watching me intently, j “No,” I said.

“It was a surprise.”

How interesting I And how did you come across each j other? “

The Comte had said that when you were acting a part it ;

was wise to keep as near the truth as possible.

“It was when the Comte and his family were staying at the home of Sir John Derringham in England.”

“So you were staying there too?”

“No. I lived there. My mother had a school A school? How odd!”

“Mademoiselle Maddox is a highly educated young lady,” said Etienne.

“It was not in the least odd,” I retorted.

“My mother became a widow and had to support herself and her daughter. As she was well equipped to teach, she did so.”

“And the Comte discovered the school,” prompted Etienne.

“His daughter was a pupil there,” “Ah, I see,” said Madame LeGrand.

“And then he discovered that you were related to him.”

“Yes … it was like that.”

“You must find it strange to come from a school … to this.” She waved her hand to indicate the chateau.

“It was. I was very happy in the school. When my mother was alive we were content.”

“I am sorry. That is sad. And then you came to France?”

“Marguerite needed a holiday. She was unwell. So I came with her.”

“And the school?”

It is finished. “

“So you intend to stay here … indefinitely It occurred to me that she was asking too many questions for politeness and I was being foolish in thinking I must answer them.

I said coolly: “Madame, I have made no definite plans, so therefore I am unable to discuss them with you.”

“Mademoiselle Maddox speaks French very well, does she not, Etienne?”

Etienne smiled at me.

“I have rarely heard an English person speak so well.”

“Only the faintest trace of accent.”

“But this is charming,” Etienne added.

Madame nodded and I thought it was time I started the questioning.

“You have a delightful house here, Madame. Have you lived here long?”

“For some nineteen years.”

“It must be the nearest house to the chateau.”

“It is less than two miles away.”

“And you must be happy to own such a delightful residence.”

“I am happy to be here but I don’t own it. Like everything else on this estate, it belongs to the Comte Fontaine Delibes. Mademoiselle, have you often visited France?”

“I had never been here before I arrived with Marguerite.”

“How very interesting.”

I changed the subject and we talked about the beauties of the countryside, the similarities and the differences when compared with that of England; and the conversation stayed in more conventional channels.

After a while we rose to go and she took my hands in hers and expressed the wish that I should find time to call on her again.

“Etienne frequently calls, I’m glad to say. You must bring Mademoiselle again, Etienne, or if you come alone. Mademoiselle, I shall be delighted.”

I thanked her for her hospitality while Etienne untethered our horses.

As we mounted and rode away I said: “What a beautiful woman.”

“I think so too,” he answered.

“Perhaps I am prejudiced.”

I looked at him in astonishment. He smiled and keeping his eyes on my face as though intent on my reaction, he added:

“Did you realize that she is my mother?”

I felt shaken, thinking immediately of her relationship with the Comte. I wondered whether they had deliberately kept her identity from me so that Etienne might surprise me thus.

I was thankful that I could remain calm, remembering my mother’s remarks that an English lady never showed her feelings, particularly in times of stress. Was this stress? It was certainly startling.

I said; “You must be very proud to have such a beautiful mother.”

Yes,” he said, ” I am. “

Was she still his mistress? I wondered. She lived in a house close to the chateau . his house. Did he visit her there? Did she come to the chateau!

It was no affair of mine, I told myself grimly.

It was on the following day that I took my ride with Leon. I found him easier to talk to than Etienne. He was more relaxed, more natural. He saw no reason to hide the fact that he was the son of peasants and I liked him for it.

If he lacked Etienne’s dark good looks he had been more lavishly endowed with charm. Those dark blue eyes were arresting in his brown face. His dark crinkly hair, worn short, fitted his head cap like His clothes were well cut but serviceable and they completely lacked the dash and elegance of Etienne’s.

He rode his horse well as though he and the animal were one. I was on the strawberry roan which I had ridden on the previous day. I felt a little easier with her, and I was sure she did with me.

Leon was gayer by nature than Etienne more lighthearted, I fancied, but, like Etienne, he complimented me on my riding habit and we talked about horses for a while. I told him about Dower and how I regretted leaving her behind and how before I had acquired her I trundled round on Jenny.

I found myself telling him about my mother and it was a relief to be able to talk of her easily and with the certainty that he would understand, though why I should have thought so after so short an acquaintance, I was not sure. It was simply that his naturalness appealed to me. He was frank and open and I could be the same.

“What would your mother think if she knew you were here? ” he asked.

I hesitated. That she would heartily disapprove of the Comte I was well aware. But she would have enjoyed seeing me treated as a guest in the castle.

I replied: “I think she would agree that I was wise to leave the school when I did … before I was in real difficulty with it.”

“And I suppose she would think it was comme il faut to stay with your cousins?”

“I think Marguerite was glad to have me with her,” I said evasively.

He smiled wryly.

“And the Comte is equally glad. He makes that clear.”

“He is merely being a kind host.”

After our previous frankness, the reference to what must be a secret made a momentary barrier between us.

Then he said: I hear you visited Gabrielle LeGrand yesterday. “

“Oh yes ” She is a very great friend of the Comte, as you no doubt gathered. “

“I learned she is Etienne’s mother.”

“Yes. She and the Comte have been friends for years.”

“I understand,” I said.

I remembered the words I had heard him exchange with Etienne and I believed he was warning me. They did not believe in the cousin ship and I was not surprised. I could see that Leon had worked out that the Comte had met me in England, had liked me, had plans for me, and had brought me to France in order that he might carry them out. He must have a poor opinion of me. But how could I tell him that I had come solely because Marguerite needed me?

“I suppose,” he said conversationally, ‘that life in England is very different from what it is here. “

“Naturally … and yet perhaps fundamentally the same.”

“Your Sir John Derringham, would he have his mistress living nearby quite blatantly? And what would his wife say?”

I was startled but tried not to show it.

“No. That would not be acceptable. Sir John, in any case, would never behave in such a way.”

“It is commonplace enough here. Some of our kings have set the example.”

We have had kings who behaved similarly. Charles II for one. “

“He had a French mother.”

“You seem determined to prove your countrymen light in their morals.”

“I think we have different standards.”

“What you are thinking of exists in England, most certainly, but it is less openly done. Whether there is a virtue in secrecy. I am not sure.

But I believe it makes life easier for the people concerned. “

“Some of them.”

“The wife in such cases. It can’t be very pleasant to have a husband’s infidelities flaunted in one’s face. On the other hand for the husband and his mistress to meet openly saves them a great deal of subterfuge.”

“I see you are a realist. Mademoiselle, and much too honest and charming ever to be embroiled in these sordid matters.”

Oh yes, it was clearly a warning. I might have been offended but there was real concern in his eyes and I could not help but be drawn to him.

“You may be sure that I never would be,” I said firmly.

He looked very pleased and, reading his thoughts, I realized that he believed the Comte had discovered his cousin-or if the relationship had been invented it had been without my knowledge-had invited her here with his daughter as her companion and that, having been brought up in a prim English community she had no idea of his intentions.

He was wrong on every point, but I liked him for his concern and assessment.

He seemed to cast aside his anxieties on my account and prepare to enjoy our ride. He began by talking about himself with a frankness I found delightful.

It was a strange fate when everything depended on one incident-like the Comte’s killing of his twin brother.

“Just think,” he said, ‘but for that my life would have been completely different. Poor little Jean Pierre. I often wonder if he looks down on me and says: “There! You owe it all to me.”

“It was a terrible thing, and yet, as you say, it brought good to you.”

“When I go to my old home, I know how good-not only for me but for them all. I am able to help them, you see. The Comte knows of this and is pleased. There is also an allowance for them from him. They have the best house in the village and several acres. They can make a living and are envied by their neighbours. I have heard many of them say that God smiled on them that day when Jean Pierre was run over.”

I shivered slightly.

“Realism, Mademoiselle. It is the strongest characteristic of the French. Had Jean Pierre not run into the road at that precise moment and under the Comte’s horses, he would have lived wretchedly with his family who would have been in a similar plight. You understand their conclusions.”

“I think of your mother. What are her feelings?”

“With a mother it is different. She takes flowers every week to his grave and she grows evergreen bushes there to tell everyone that his memory remains green in her heart.”

“But at least she rejoices when she sees you.”

“Yes, but it reminds her of my twin brother, of course. People are talking of it now as much as they did when it happened. They blame the Comte more and forget what he has done for our family. It is the rising wave of anger against the aristocracy. Anything that can be brought against them is brought.”

T have been aware of that since I came to France, and I heard of it even before. “

“Yes, there are changes coming. I hear of what is brewing when I visit my family. They can be more frank with me than with any who were not of them, as it were. It is a growing tide of resentment. Sometimes there is little reason in it-but God knows at others there is. There are so many injustices in the country. The people are dissatisfied with their rulers. Sometimes I wonder how long it can last. Now it is not safe to travel alone through the villages unless one is dressed as a peasant. Never in my lifetime have I known that before.”

“What will be the end of it?”

“Ah, my dear Mademoiselle, for that we must wait and see.”

As we were nearing the chateau we heard the sound of horse’s hoofs and a man came riding towards us. He was tall, rather soberly dressed and wore no wig over his plentiful reddish hair.

“It’s Lucien Dubois,” cried Leon.

“Lucien, my dear fellow. It is good to see you.”

The man pulled up and took off his hat when he saw me. Leon introduced me. Mademoiselle Maddox, a cousin of the Comte’s now visiting the castle.

Lucien Dubois said he was enchanted to meet me and asked if I was staying long.

“So much depends on circumstances,” I told him.

“Mademoiselle is English but she speaks our language like a native,” said Leon.

“Not quite, I’m afraid,” I replied.

“But most excellently,” said Monsieur Dubois.

“You will be going to your sister,” said Leon.

“I hope you are going to stay for a while.”

“Like Mademoiselle, I will say that so much depends on the circumstances.”

“You have already met Madame LeGrand said Leon to me.

“Monsieur Dubois is her brother.”

I thought there was a resemblance the flamboyant good looks, the distinctive colouring, although the man’s eyes were not as green as his sister’s-but perhaps he had not the art of accentuating their colour.

I wondered what he thought of his sister’s relationship with the Comte. Perhaps as a Frenchman he accepted it. I thought cynically that the Comte’s nobility probably made the situation tolerable. To be a King’s mistress was an honourable position; to be a poor man’s a shameful one. I would not accept the distinction and if it was due to my immaturity and lack of realism, I was glad of them.

“Well, we shall be seeing you before long, I don’t doubt,” said Leon.

“If I am not honoured with an invitation to the castle you must come to my sister’s house,” said Monsieur Dubois. Then bowing to us he rode on.

“There you see a man who is disgruntled with life,” Leon told me. ‘ “Why?”

“Because he thinks it has not dealt him what he deserves. The plaint of many, you may say. All the failures of the world blame fate.”

“The fault is in ourselves not in our stars, as our national poet put it.”

“There are a lot of them about. Mademoiselle. Envy is the most common emotion in the world. It’s the basic ingredient of every deadly sin.

Poor Lucien! He has a grievance. I think he has never forgiven the family of Fontaine Delibes. “

What did they do to him? “

“It is not what they did to him but what was done to his father. Jean Christophe Dubois was incarcerated in the Bastille and died there.”

“For what reason?”

“Because the Comte-the present one’s father-wanted Jean Christophe’s wife-that was the mother of Lucien and Gabrielle. She was a beautiful woman. Gabrielle has inherited her looks. There is such a thing called a lettre de cachet. This could be acquired by influential people and through it they could have their enemies imprisoned. The victims would never know the reason for their detention. The lettre was enough to put them there. It is an iniquitous practice. The very words lettre de cachet can strike terror, into the heart of any man. There is no redress against it. Of course the Comtes Fontaine Delibes had always had a foot in Court circles and those of the Parlement. Their influence and their power was -and is-great. The present Comte’s father wanted this woman, her husband objected and was preparing to take her away. Then one night a messenger arrived at his home. He carried a lettre de cachet. Jean Christophe was never seen again.”

“How cruel!”

The times are cruel. It is for that reason that the people are determined to change them. “

Then it is time they did. “

“It takes more than a few weeks to set right the errors of centuries.

Jean Christophe had a son and daughter. The Comte died three years after he had taken Jean Christophe’s wife and there was a new Comte, Charles Auguste, the present one. Gabrielle was a young widow of eighteen years. She came to plead for her father. Charles Auguste was struck by her beauty and elegance. He was very young then and impressionable. It was too late. Jean Christophe died in prison before his release could be brought about. However, Charles Auguste had fallen in love with Gabrielle and a year after their meeting Etienne was born. “

“I am amazed by the drama which seemed to surround the castle.”

“Where the Comtes Fontaine Delibes are there will always be drama.”

“Gabrielle at least forgave the injury done to her father.”

“Yes, but I fancy it may be different with Lucien. I often think he harbours resentment.”

As we rode on to the chateau I could not stop thinking of the poor man who had been ruthlessly condemned to spend the last years of his life in a prison because another wished him out of the way, and it seemed to me that intrigue and drama which would previously have been beyond my conception was building up around me.

Margot called me to her room. She looked radiant and I marvelled at the manner in which she could change from depression to excitement.

On her bed were several rolls of material.

“Come and look at these, Minelle,” she cried.

I examined them. There was a roll of velvet of the fashionable puce colour with gold lace and another in a beautiful shade of blue with silver lace.

“You are going to have some fine dresses,” I commented.

“I am going to have one. The other will be for you. I chose the blue for you and the silver goes with it perfectly. There is going to be a ball and my father’s instructions are that I look my best.”

I fingered the blue velvet and said: I cannot accept such a gift. “

“Don’t be silly, Minelle. How can you go to the ball in what you have brought with you?”

“I obviously can’t. But there is an alternative. I shall stay away.”

Margot stamped her foot impatiently.

“You will not be allowed to. You are to, go. It is for this reason that you are to have the dress.”

“I did not know when I accepted this post that I was to be a … bogus cousin. I came as companion to you.”

Margot burst out laughing.

“You must be the first person in any post who has complained of being treated too well. Of course you must go to the ball. I need a chaperone, don’t I?”

“You talk foolishly. How could you need a chaperone at a ball which your parents will be giving?”

“One parent. I don’t suppose Mama will be present. She will, as Papa says, have the vapours ready for such an occasion.”

“That is not a kind remark, Margot.”

“Oh, stop being the prim old schoolmistress. You’re not that any more.” She picked up the puce-coloured velvet and, draping it round her, paraded in front of the mirror.

“Is it not magnificent? What a colour! It’s just right for me. Don’t you agree, Minelle? And are you not pleased to see me happier?”

“I am amazed that you can change so quickly.”

“I haven’t really changed. I still mourn in my heart for Chariot.

There is a sadness down here. ” She pointed to her breast.

“But I can’t be sad all the time and loving a ball and a new gown does not make me love my baby any less.”

She threw her arms about me and for a few moments we clung together. I think in that moment, for all my air of worldliness, I was as bewildered as she was.

“I don’t think I can accept the gown, Margot,” I said at length.

“Why not? It’s wages, surely.”

“I have my wages. This is different.”

“Papa will be furious and he has been so good-tempered lately. He personally told me I must choose for us both and then he went on to suggest the colours, which is typical of him. I am sure he would be most displeased if I had ” chosen” anything but what he suggested.”

“I think it would be quite wrong for me to accept this.”

“Annette, our dressmaker, is coming this afternoon to start work.”

I decided that I must see the Comte and also prepare myself to leave.

I had discovered too much about him and his way of life to feel happy in his household. I could not throw off the upbringing of a lifetime in a few short months.

Moreover, I was sure that my mother’s principles of life had more to recommend them than those which I had discovered prevailed at the chateau.

I learned that at this hour the Comte was generally in the library where he did not like to be disturbed. But I decided to brave his displeasure, for if he were displeased with me it would be easier to arrange my departure.

But he seemed far from displeased to see me. He rose immediately and, taking both my hands, drew me into the room. He held out a chair for me. I sat and he sat also but not before bringing his chair closer to mine.

“To what,” he said, ‘do I owe this pleasure? “

“I think it is time there was an understanding,” I began, but although I had felt bold and determined before I entered the room my self-possession was fast waning.

“There is nothing I should welcome more. I am sure that one as perceptive as you must be aware of my feelings towards you.”

“Before you say any more, let me tell you that I cannot accept a ball dress from you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I do not consider it…”

“Right and proper!” He raised his eyebrows and I saw the mocking light in his eyes.

“You must explain to me. I am most ignorant on these matters. Tell me what it is right to accept and what not right.”

“I accept my salary because I earn it as a companion to your daughter, for which post I was engaged.”

“Oh, but you became a cousin … a connection of the family. Surely one member of the family can give another a gift … and how much better to give something which is needed rather than some useless bauble.”

“Please, when we are alone let us drop this farce.”

“Yes, let us. The truth is that I am falling in love with you. You know it. So why pretend otherwise.”

I rose to my feet. He was beside me, his arms about me.

“Please let me go,” I said firmly.

“First tell me that you can love me also.”

I do not find this amusing. “

“Oddly enough, although my emotions are so deeply stirred, I do. You both amuse and enchant me. I think that is why I am so excited by you. You are different from anyone I have ever known.”

“Will you grant me one thing.”

“It shall be my pleasure to give you all you ask.”

“Then will you please return to your seat and let me tell you of my feelings.”

“Your request is naturally granted.”

He sat down and I did the same. I felt I must, for my legs were trembling and I was fearful that he might notice how alarmed I was. I clasped my hands firmly and said: I am not of your circle. Monsieur Ie Comte. “

“Charles,” he reproved.

“I cannot call you naturally by your Christian name. You are the Comte to me and always will be. I have been brought up to accept a different code of behaviour, a different set of morals. My outlook is quite opposed to yours. You would find me excessively boring, I am sure.”

It delights me that we can never agree on anything. That is just an added charm. “

“You are suggesting that I become your mistress. I know that you have had many and that to you this is a natural way of life. Can you understand that it is something I could never accept, and for that reason I have decided to return to England? I had thought I would wait until Margot was settled but I see now that that is impossible. What you have implied has made it so. I wish to make preparations to leave immediately.”

“I am afraid I cannot agree to that. You have been engaged to look after my daughter and I expect you to honour your bond.”

“Bond! What bond?”

“What is it? A gentleman’s agreement? Only this time it is between two of the opposing sexes. You could not leave Marguerite now!”

“She would understand.”

“Would she? You saw that display the other night. But why are we talking of her? Let us talk of ourselves. You would overcome your prejudices. I would show you how. You should have an establishment of your own … anything you wished for should be yours.”

“Do you think you could tempt me with establishments?”

“Not with establishments, perhaps.”

I lowered my eyes before his bold and passionate gaze. I was afraid of him-or perhaps more truthfully of myself.

Tell me one thing,” he said.

“If I were in a position to offer you marriage, and did, would you accept?”

I hesitated just too long. Then I said: “Monsieur, I do not know you well enough …”

“And what you have heard, I’ll warrant, has not always been to my advantage.”

“I do not presume to judge.”

“Which is exactly what you are doing.”

“No, I am trying to say that our lives are far apart. I should go back.”

To what? “

“Does that matter?”

“It is going to matter a great deal to you. What will you do, tell me that? Will you go back to your schoolhouse? With Master Joel likely to come home at any time. Not likely.”

“I have a little money…”

“Not enough, my brave darling. I see I have been too rash. I have spoken too soon. You came and caught me off my guard. God knows, I have curbed myself long enough. What do you think I am made of, ice maiden? You were meant for me. I knew it from the moment you came into my bedchamber and when I saw the rose colour creep up from your neck to your forehead. I like to embarrass you, for then I put you at a disadvantage. I like to quarrel with you. I like our battles of words.

There should be a rich climax to our quarrels. I often think of that.

Since I have known you I have no fancy for anyone else. “

“I hope that has not inconvenienced your mistresses.”

“A little, as you can imagine,” he said with a smile.

Then it is time I went and equilibrium was restored. “

He burst into laughter.

“Dearest Minelle, I often think what a fool young Joel was. He could have offered you marriage. Would to God I could! If I could take your hand now and say: Be my wife, I should be the happiest man in France.”

“Meanwhile you congratulate yourself on your inability to do so and save yourself from an act of such folly.”

You and I together . what joy we’d have. I know it. I know women. ”

“You do not have to assure me of that.”

“I sense those hidden depths. Oh Minelle, my love, we would have sons, you and I. You are made to bear sons. Come down from that pedestal and be happy. Let us take the next best thing.”

I cannot remain to listen to more of this. I find it offensive. Your invalid wife is under this very roof. “

“Much she cares. All she wants is to lie on her bed and complain of her countless ailments to her doting nurse who encourages her.”

“I see you are of a very sympathetic nature!”

“Minelle …”

I went to the door and he did not attempt to stop me. I was half glad, half sorry. I was terrified that he would take me firmly into his arms for when he did I could not but be aware of that potent attractiveness, and could almost imagine myself casting away the teachings of a lifetime. It was alarming. It was the real reason why I knew I must get away.

I ran to my room, shut the door and sat down at the mirror. I hardly recognized myself. My cheeks were flaming red and my hair dishevelled.

I could almost see my mother’s disapproving look and hear her admonition: “I should start packing right away. You are in acute danger. You cannot leave this house too soon.”

She was right, of course. By her standards I had been insulted. The Comte Fontaine Delibes was suggesting that I became his mistress. I would never have believed such a thing possible. Nor could I have believed I should feel this wild temptation. It was that which told me I must get away.

I started to take out my clothes and fold them.

“Where will you go?” asked my practical self.

“I don’t know. I’ll get a home somewhere. I’ll take a post. I have a little money. Perhaps I could go back to Derringham and try to open a school, and start again. I am more experienced of life now. I might make a success of it.”

Then I sat down and covered my face with my hands. It was as though desolation was closing in around me.

There was a tap on my door. Before I could answer, Margot burst in, her face distorted in horror as she flung herself at me.

“Minelle, we’ve got to run away. I won’t stay here. I can’t do it. I won’t.”

What do you mean? What has happened? “

“My father has just told me.”

I looked at her in amazement. He must have sent for her as soon as I had left him.

“The Vicomte de Grasseville has asked for my hand. He is a family equal to our own, and Papa has accepted him for me. At this ball we shall be affianced and married within a month. I won’t have it. I am so miserable, Minelle. The only thing that consoles me is that you are here.”

“I shall not be staying here long.”

“No. You will come with me. You will, won’t you? It’s the only way I would consider it.”

“Margot, I have to tell you. I am planning to leave.”

“What, leave here! Why?”

“Because I feel I must get back.”

“You mean you would leave me }’ ” It’s better for me to go, Margot.”

“Oh!” She let out a long wail and started to weep. Her sobs shook her and she made no effort to restrain them.

“I’m so unhappy, Minelle. If you’re here I can bear it. We can laugh together. You can’t go. I won’t let you.” She looked at me appealingly.

“We’re going to get Chariot back together. We’re going to think of a plan. You promised . you promised. Everything can’t go wrong. If I’ve got to marry this Grasseville, then you’ll be with me.” She started to laugh and that always frightened me; the mingling of tears and laughter could be terrifying.

“Stop it, Margot,” I cried.

“Stop it.”

“I can’t help it. It’s funny… funny …”

I took her by the shoulders and shook her Tragically funny,” she said, but she was quieter. She leaned against me and went on: ” You won’t go yet, Minelle. Promise me, oh promise me not yet. “

To soothe her I said not yet. Then I was committed to stay for a little while.

I wondered then whether he had broken the news to her because he knew what her reception of it would be. He was diabolically clever, I knew, and adept at getting his own way. That was what frightened me, and yet in an odd way-of which neither I nor my mother could approve it exhilarated me.

The dressmaker came but I refused to accept the blue material and said that I would not have it made up. Margot was frantic.

“You must come to the ball,” she cried.

“How can you fail me? I shall be forced to accept this Robert de Grasseville and I know I shall hate him. What shall I do? I can only bear it if you come.”

“I have not a suitable gown,” I said firmly, ‘and I am determined not to accept such a gift from your father. “

She paced up and down, talking of her yearning for Chariot, telling me that life was cruel. was cruel. I knew how wretched she was and I wouldn’t help her.p>

I assured her that I would do anything to help her.

“Anything?” she demanded dramatically.

“Anything that is honourably possible.”

She bad an idea. As I was so proud she would sell me one of her gowns.

We could have it changed and add to it. I could buy some ribbons and laces and make a new gown of it and have the satisfaction of paying for it.

She was immediately gay contemplating it.

“Imagine Papa’s face when he sees you. Oh, Minelle, we’ll do it. It’ll be such fun!”

I gave way to please her. No, that’s not true. To please myself. I too, should like to see his face. He thought he had won a temporary victory, but I should show him that he had not. I would take nothing from him; I was determined to show him that his suggestion was repulsive to me and that I deeply resented it. He must know that I was only staying on Margot’s account. As soon as she was married to her Vicomte I should go.

I did want to attend the ball, though. I knew that it would be more grand than anything I had ever conceived. I wanted to see the Comte among his guests. He would probably not deign to notice me in spite of his protestations. I wondered whether Gabrielle LeGrand would be present.

I entered into the conspiracy of the dress, I must admit, with enthusiasm. At least it kept Margot happy. While she was laughing over the matter and going through her wardrobe making me try on this and that and laughing at the effect of some, she was not thinking of her future.

We found a simple blue silk.

“Just your colour,” she said. The under gown was a gauze dotted with gold and silver knots which gave it a starry look. It was low cut and diaphanous.

“It never suited me,” declared Margot. T fancy that with a little refurbishing it could just get by. It’ll be a little simple for a ball dress. Let’s call in Annette and see what she can do. “

Annette came in, studied me in the dress and knelt on the floor, her mouth full of pins. She shook her head.

“Too large in the waist, too short in the length …” was her verdict.

“You can do it, Annette. You can do it,” cried Margot, clasping her hands together.

Annette shook her head.

“I do not think it is possible.”

“Annette-Pas-Possible!” shouted Margot.

“That’s what we always called her. She always says it’s not possible and goes on to make it gloriously possible.”

“But this. Mademoiselle …” Annette’s face was full of woe.

Take it off the shoulders, Annette,” commanded Margot.

“Mademoiselle Maddox has good shoulders … they slope nicely. So feminine. We must show them. And can you get some more of this starry stuff? We could do with yards and yards more of that.”

T do not think that would be possible,” said Annette.

“Nonsense. I’ll swear you have some of the very stuff tucked away somewhere. You know you always kept the remnants.”

And so it went on, with Annette growing more and more lugubrious and Margot more certain that the dress would be a success.

And it was. I was amazed when it was ready a froth of gauze and blue silk, expertly pressed and adorned with delicate lace. I had a ball dress, and if it was proved-which I knew it would be-very simple in comparison with others, at least it was adequate and would enable me to go to the ball at very little cost to my purse and none to my pride.

The ball was to be held in the ancient hall and the Comte would receive his guests at the top of the great marble staircase. It would be grand even by castle standards, as it was to announce and celebrate the betrothal of his daughter.

I was sorry for Margot. The idea of being presented with a man for the first time and told: “This is your future husband!” If this was the way of aristocrats, I was glad I was not one of them.

The day before that of the ball there was a disturbance in the night.

It must have been early morning when I heard voices on the stairs. I opened my door and looked out.

The noise was coming from the Comtesse’s apartments. I heard the Comte’s voice, rather weary, I thought: “My dear Nou-Nou, we have had this before. You know it is only her nerves.”

“Not so. Monsieur Ie Comte. Not so. She has been in pain. I soothed her with a draught, but it cannot last. This is real pain and I want the doctors to see her.”

“You know you have only to send for them.”

“Then I shall do so without delay.”

“Nou-Nou, you upset yourself unnecessarily. You know you do. And to awaken me at this hour …”

“I know my girl. If others upset themselves a little more now and then it might be better.”

There is no reason why the entire household should share in this crise de nerfs. “

“It is more than that.”

“Now, Nou-Nou. You know that my daughter’s ball takes place the day after tomorrow. So does her mother. She wants to call attention to herself.”

“You are a hard man. Monsieur Ie Comte.”

‘hi the circumstances I have to be. If you showed a little more firmness on these occasions perhaps there would not be the need for them. “

“I shall send for the doctors, then.”

“Do so by all means.”

I realized that I was eavesdropping and went back into my room somewhat ashamed.

Poor Comtesse! She was neglected and sad and perhaps sought to call attention to herself through her delicate constitution. She was using the wrong tactics if she hoped to attract her husband. She should show some spirit . as I had done.

I pulled myself up sharply. What was I thinking? I was being drawn more and more into the affairs of this household. With a man such as the Comte who had married a

f woman such as the Comtesse that could be an alarming involvement.

I knew this and yet I was allowing myself to be ,i more and more caught up in their lives. I saw the doctors arrive that day. Nou-Nou was waiting for j them and took them immediately to her mistress. The Comte was not in the castle but they waited to see him. ‘

Margot and I spent the evening together. She was less exuberant now that the excitement of the dress was over.

“I wonder what Robert will be like,” she kept saying. “It seems strange that you have never seen him.”

“I think I may have done when we were children. His family’s estates are north of Paris. I believe he visited us when we were in Paris once. He was a horrible boy who ate all the gateau and then took the piece of cream I was saving until the last.”

“Not a very auspicious beginning to a lifetime’s union,” I said, but added: “People change as they grow up. The most awful children become the most charming.”

“He’ll be fat with spots, I know.”

“It’s not a bad idea to build up an unpleasant picture. Then you’ll be agreeably surprised.”

She was laughing again.

“You are good for me. You are … what is it astringent? That is what Papa likes in you. He does like you a great deal, you know.”

“As I shall be leaving here when you marry it doesn’t matter very much what he thinks of me, does it?”

“You will come with me, won’t you?”

“Until I have made my plans. But I can’t spend all my life in this sort of situation. You must realize that.”

“I have plans. When I’m married I’m going to get Chariot with me.”

“How?”

That’s for you to work out. “

I should have no idea how to begin. “

“Now you sound like Annette-Pas-Possible. Everything is possible … if you set about it in the right way. And one thing I’m going to do is have Chariot with me. I think of him all the time … well, almost all the time. How do I know what sort of people have him? Think of it… he will be growing up … talking …”

“Hardly yet.”

“He will be calling someone else Maman.* I could see she was working herself up into another fit of hysteria and this was exactly what I wanted to avoid. So I soothed her by making ridiculous plans as to how we should find Chariot. We would go to the inn where he had been taken from us; we would question people and find the trail which led to him.

This was the sort of game she so much enjoyed and we played it for a long time and went into such detail that she really thought it was possible and derived a great deal of comfort from our planning.

Yes, I could see that she needed me.

III

He looked magnificent standing there at the top of the staircase receiving his guests. Margot was beside him flushed and very attractive in her puce velvet. When he saw me his eyes kindled. His glance took in my gown. I had been right in thinking it would be very simple in comparison with others. What I had failed to realize was that its very simplicity made it conspicuous.

In my bedroom, I had looked, as I thought, quite beautiful. I had brushed my hair until it shone and it certainly was, as my mother would have said, my crowning glory. It made a frame about my face and I had dressed it high, padding it a little to make it stand up in accordance with the fashion, with one curl coming forward to hang over my shoulder. I knew I looked my best and Margot had insisted that I wear a tiny black patch-which she provided-at the side of my temple.

“It makes your eyes look bigger and bluer,” she said.

“Besides, it’s the fashion.”

I could scarcely recognize my reflection as myself. What a grand assembly it was! The great hall must have seen many such, but I believed it could never have seen a grander one. Flowers had been brought in from the castle hothouses. There were great pots of them on the high table and urns stood on pedestals, fragrant and colourful. I felt a little bewildered by so much elegance. Never had I seen such magnificent apparel as that worn by the women and men. There must have been a fortune in jewels in the castle that night. Musicians were grouped round the high table and the dancing was most elegant and slightly different from that which we did at home.

In my altered gown, adorned only by the cameo brooch which my mother had treasured and worn about twice in her lifetime, I must have looked like a little moth who had somehow become trapped among gorgeous dragonflies.

If you had accepted the Comte’s gift you could have competed with them, I admonished myself. But of course that would have been out of the question. If I did look like a drab little moth, at least I was a proud one.

Leon discovered me and asked what I thought of the ball.

“I think that I should never have come. I don’t fit in.”

Why not? “

I looked down at my dress.

“It’s charming,” he assured me.

“So many of the people look alike. Blindly they follow the fashion. You can scarcely tell one from the other. You are different. You have a style of your own. I find that pleasant.”

“You are determined to be kind to me.”

“Why should I be otherwise? Shall we join the dancers?”

“I taught dancing at school and my mother taught me. But this is somewhat different.”

“Then we’ll go in and dance our own dance, shall we?”

We did and he fitted his steps to mine. I had always enjoyed dancing and I began to forget the inadequacy of my costume.

“Have you met the prospective bridegroom?” I asked.

“Robert de Grasseville. Yes. He is a pleasant boy.”

“Is he very young?”

“Eighteen or so.”

“I do hope Margot will like him.”

“It’s a good marriage from both families’ point of view. What I mean is she’ll take a good dowry and hell give her a good settlement. It’s supposed to be very desirable when these rich families unite. It makes them bigger and stronger than ever. It will be the marriage of the year. Marguerite is of course the important member of the family.

We’re waiting now to see who will be produced for Etienne. “

“He’ll get a grand marriage too, I suppose.”

“Quite grand … but perhaps there’ll be reservations. There is the bar sinister, remember. I think his marriage is a cause of some contention between his mother and the Comte. It may be that her brother Lucien is here now to discuss just that. What they’re after is to get him legitimized, which the Comte would certainly arrange if he thought he was not going to get a legitimate son.”

“Well, how can he?”

“He’s waiting for the Comtesse to die.”

I shivered.

“Yes,” he went on, ‘it does sound callous, but as I have mentioned to you before, we’re realists. We face the facts . and you can be sure the Comte does. What he would like is to be rid of the Comtesse and marry a healthy young girl and get sons. “

“It’s distasteful to talk like that of the Comtesse while she lies here in the castle.”

“Creaking doors go on creaking for a long time. The very fact that they creak means that they get the best attention and so they go on longer than the strong who aren’t so well looked after.”

I could not bear to talk of the Comtesse, so I changed the subject and said: “So soon there will be a bride for Etienne.”

“Oh yes … but no de Grassevilles for him. Unless he is legitimized, of course. If he were acknowledged as the Comte’s heir it would be a very different matter. You see why his marriage hangs fire.

We used to think that the Comte would have married Gabrielle if he had been free and that would have made things a lot easier. So meanwhile Etienne waits. He would not want a bride with no great prospects and after the marriage find himself heir to a great name and all that goes with it and realize that he had married beneath him. “

“You are cynical. What of yourself?”

“I, Mademoiselle, am a free man. I could choose whom I wished providing she would have me-and none would care very much … unless I chose a lady of a great house and she accepted me. Then there would be trouble from her family. I am sure the Comte would be highly amused. But everyone knows my origins. The lucky peasant. No one will want to marry me but for love.”

I laughed.

“The same would apply to me. Do you know, I

think we are indeed the lucky ones. “

There was a touch on my shoulder. I looked round. The Comte was standing beside us.

“Thank you for looking after my cousin, Leon,” he said. I will take a turn with her myself now. “

It was dismissal. Leon bowed and left me.

The Comte took my hand, surveying my dress while a smile touched his lips.

“I see you, dearest Cousin, attired in your pride,” he said.

“I am sorry if you do not like my dress,” I replied, ‘and if you consider my presence here unsuitable and therefore unwelcome . “

“It is not like you to ask for compliments. You know there is not a guest more suitable in my eyes-or more welcome. The only thing that disappoints me is that we must waste time when there is so little left to us.”

“You speak in enigmas.”

“Which you interpret correctly, and with the utmost ease. Think. We might be together and yet we must’ indulge in this … courtship, would you call it?”

“I certainly would not.”

“What then?”

“Pointless pursuit of which I have no doubt you will soon tire.”

“I assure you I am the tireless hunter. I never give up until I have my prey.”

“There must come a time in the life of every hunter when he suffers his first defeat. This is that occasion for you.”

“Shall we wager on it?”

“I never wager.”

I should love to see you in a glittering gown which I shall have made for you. That is one of Marguerite’s. I recognize it. So you can take from her what you cannot take from me? “

“I bought the dress from her.”

He laughed aloud and I was aware that several people were watching us.

I could imagine the comments.

“Cousin? Who is this cousin?” They would speculate about me in the way I had heard Leon and Etienne doing.

“It was good of you to come to the ball,” he said.

“I’ll warrant Marguerite persuaded you.”

I told her I should shortly be leaving. “

“And she made you change your mind. Good girl.”

“I shall choose the first opportunity to go.”

“I believe you plan to go with her when she marries.”

“She has asked me to but I think I should return to England.”

“Is that gracious after the way we have done everything to try to make you like us?”

“It is you who have made it impossible for me to stay here.”

Oh cruel Cousin! ” he murmured. Then he said: ” You must meet Robert. Come. “

I was eager to do so and when I was presented to a freshfaced young man with a pleasant smile I was agreeably surprised. Marguerite’s description of the greedy little boy had led me to expect a plump self-indulgent young man. Nothing of the sort. Robert de Grasseville was tall and elegant and what pleased me most was the kindly expression on his youthful face.

It occurred to me that he was as apprehensive as Margot and I warmed to him. He talked to me for a while, about horses mainly and the countryside; and Margot was brought to us by her partner in the dance.

She said: “So you have met our cousin. Monsieur de Grasseville?”

It seemed a formal mode of address when they were to be married shortly but it appeared to be correct. He replied that meeting me had been a great pleasure.

The Comte whispered: “I regret I must leave you now. I shall see you later.”

“Let us go in to supper,” suggested Margot. She turned to me. The announcement will be made during it. Minelle, you must come with us.

You and Robert must be friends. “

I was relieved because I could see that she was accepting Robert and prepared to get to know him. I could not, of course, say that they had fallen in love with each other at first sight. That would have been too much to expect; but at least they had not made up their minds to dislike each other.

People were moving towards the new hall where the buffet was laid out, and the elegance of the display again surprised me.

I had never seen food so artistically arranged. There was an abundance of everything and the butlers and footmen in the coloured livery of the Fontaine Delibes household looked as if they were part of the scene, There was wine which I knew came from the Comte’s own vineyards; and I remembered the hungry peasants who were not far away and was relieved that they could not see that table. I looked round for Leon, for I wondered whether the same thought had occurred to him, but I could not see him. I did see Gabrielle, though, with her brother. Gabrielle looked very handsome in a sparkling gown, too flamboyant for my liking, but becoming to her bold good looks. I think Etienne, who was with her, was proud of her.

We sat down at one of the tables near a window. There was Robert, Margot and another young man, a friend of Robert’s.

Conversation was light and easy and I noticed with another rush of relief that Marguerite was not unhappy. Once she had grown accustomed to the idea that a husband would be chosen for her-which she had been brought up to know she must accept-she could not have envisaged a young man more charming than Robert de Grasseville.

During supper the Comte made the announcement. It was received with applause and Margot and Robert went to stand beside him and receive congratulations. I remained at the table talking to my companion, and it was only a few minutes later that a noise behind me made me turn. I was very close to the window and I saw a face there . looking in.

I thought it was Leon’s.

The face disappeared and I was still looking out of the window when a heavy stone struck the glass, shattering it, and came hurtling into the room.

There was a brief silence, then cries of dismay and the sound of breaking glass and crockery.

I stood back horrified. The Comte had rushed to the window and was looking out. Then he shouted to the footman.

“Have the grounds searched. Get out the dogs.”

There was a babel of talk for a few seconds. Then the Comte spoke again.

“It’s apparently nothing much. Some mischievous person at his tricks. Let us carry on as though this tiresome incident had not occurred.”

It was like a command and I was amazed at the manner in which people such as these seemed to obey him without question.

I sat back in my chair. It was the recurring theme, I knew. The dissatisfaction of those who lacked the means to live comfortably, the anger and envy against those who indulged in extravagances.

What was disturbing me more than anything was the memory of the brief glimpse of a face. It couldn’t have been Leon’s.

My companion was saying: They’re making a practice of it. It happened only last week at the DeCourcys’. I was dining there and a stone came right through the window. But that was Paris. “

I saw Leon coming towards me and I felt my heart begin to beat furiously.

“A nasty incident,” he said, taking the chair opposite me.

I glanced at his shoes. They were immaculate. It seemed impossible that a few minutes ago he could have been outside. It had been raining during the day and the grass was still wet, so surely there would have been some sign.

“I hope you were not frightened,” he said to me.

“It happened so quickly.”

“But you were very near the window. In the first line of fire.”

“Who could have done it?” I’ demanded, looking full at him.

“What good could it do?”

“A few years ago one would have said some maniac. Now it is not so.

It’s just another expression of the people’s disapproval. Let us go back to the old hall. They are dancing there. “

I said goodbye to my companion at the table and we went up to the old hall. I felt relieved. I had been mistaken. It could not have been Leon.

I was glad because I was beginning to like him a good deal.

I had retired to my room. My dress lay on the bed and my hair was loose about my shoulders when there was a knock on my door.

I sprang to my feet, thinking for a fearful moment that it might be the Comte.

Margot came in.

“Oh, you are undressed,” she said.

“I had to talk to you, though. I must. I shall never sleep tonight. “

She sat on my bed.

“What did you think of him, Minelle?”

“Robert? Oh, I thought him charming.”

“So did I. It was fun, wasn’t it? I thought he was going to be awful.

You’re right . but of course you are always right, aren’t you. At least you think so. But if you build up a horrible picture you can be agreeably surprised. But I should have liked him anyway. When I was dancing with him I wished . oh, how I wished . that I had never fallen in love with James Wedder. “

“It’s no use wishing that. It’s done and you have to forget it.”

“Do you think I can?”

“Not for ever. It will come back to you sometimes, I suppose.”

“If you’ve made a false step you’ve made it for ever.”

“But it doesn’t do to brood on it.”

“Do you know, Minelle, I think I could forget I had ever seen James Wedder … if it wasn’t for Chariot. What should I do, Minelle? Should I tell Robert?”

I was silent. How could I advise on such a matter? How could I know which would be best for her and Robert’s happiness?

I compromised.

“You should do nothing yet, I think. Wait awhile. In time you and Robert will come to understand each other. Friendship, love, tolerance, all those will grow up between you and when the right times come to tell, perhaps you will know.”

“And Chariot?”

“He is well cared for. I am sure of that.”

“But how can I know? If only I could see him.”

“Well, that’s impossible.”

“You talk like Annette. Nothing is impossible. I shall go to Paris soon. Yes, I shall. I’m going to stay at Papa’s house there and we shall entertain the Grassevilles and then I shall come back here and we’ll be married. You will come to Paris with me. There could be an opportunity then.”

“What are you thinking of?”

“I mean an opportunity of finding Chariot. If I could be convinced that he is well and happy and people are kind to him it would be different.”

“But how could you? You don’t know where he is.”

“We could find out. You and I … we’ll do it, Minelle. Yes, we will.

We will go on a visit to someone . dear old Yvette who used to help Nou-Nou in the nursery. I could go and see her and you could come with me. “

“We should never be allowed to go alone.”

“I have a plan. I have been thinking of it. We could take my maid Mimi and Bessell the groom. Mimi and Bessell are lovers and plan to marry.

I have promised them that when I go to Grasseville, they shall come and they can marry then. They will be so absorbed in each other . that they won’t notice much. In any case they would do anything for me.”

I thought it was a wild plan, but as I had done before, I allowed Margot to go along with her dream. It was on occasions such as this that she could become hysterical and when she did I had noticed that it was almost always where Chariot was concerned.

I would never have suspected Margot of having deep maternal feelings, but she was always unpredictable; and I supposed that even those who would on the surface seem to make the most unlikely mothers, change once a child is born to them.

So eagerly did she discuss the plan that she scarcely mentioned the stone through the window.

“Oh that,” she said eventually.

“It’s happening all over the country.

People take little notice of it. “

At last she went. I felt tired but unable to sleep and when I did I dreamed vague and ugly dreams, but of which Leon’s face, distorted with hatred, kept coming towards me.

The household was now dominated by plans for Margot’s wedding. Annette declared herself to be distracted. She would never, never finish in time, she declared. Materials were not the right colours; nothing fitted as it should and Margot’s wardrobe would be a disaster.

Meanwhile beautiful garments continued to be turned out.

Margot was gleeful parading for me in them. She wanted to give me some of her old garments which Annette could ‘tone up’ as she called it. I bought a few and under Annette’s tuition made some alterations myself.

“You will need some clothes when we go to Paris,” said Margot, and whenever she mentioned the trip her eyes would sparkle and I knew she was thinking of what she called ‘the plan’.

We rode a good deal. She, Leon, Etienne and I. Sometimes the Comte joined us and when he did he always contrived to lose the others so that he and I were alone. They were aware of his intentions and as usual tried to please him. Against four of them I was helpless so I often found myself alone with him.

“And so we go on,” he said to me one day.

“We do not progress very fast, do we?”

“In what way?”

Towards the blissful end which awaits us both. “

“You are in a mocking mood, I see.”

“I am always in an excellent mood when I am with you. That is a good augury for the future.”

“It certainly shows that you can be good-humoured when you wish.”

“No, only when I am happy and that is not always for me to decide.”

“I should have thought a man such as you could control his moods.”

“It is something I have never learned to do. Perhaps you will teach me, because you control yours admirably. Were you disturbed on the night of the ball when the stone came through the window?”

“I was horrified.”

“Some wretched peasant.”

“Have you any idea who?”

“It could have been anyone from the neighbouring villages.”

“Your own vassals.”

“What an expression! Yes, it might well have been one of my own vassals. In fact, I’d wager that it was.”

“And it disturbs you.”

“A broken window is a bagatelle. It is the implication behind it which disturbs. Sometimes I feel as though the entire structure of society is slipping.”

“Can you not do something to make it steady?”

He shook his head.

“Something should have been done fifty years ago.

Perhaps we shall come through this. God knows my country has been buffeted enough over the centuries . yours too. You people are different. Less fiery. It may well be that they would pause long enough to ask themselves what the consequences of revolution would be.

We are more impulsive. You see the difference in our natures . reflected in you and me. You are calm; you hide the tumult within. You are adept at it. I’ll warrant your mother taught you that it was ill-bred to show your feelings. Oh, Minelle, I would give a great deal to go off with you . alone . to some remote spot. out of prance . perhaps to an island somewhere in the middle of a blue tropical sea where you and I would be together . alone. So much to do . so much to talk of . There we could live and love in peace. “

I was deeply touched by his serious mood, but he was right. I had been taught to hide my feelings when my judgement told me it would be wise to do so. I said: “I am sure you would be weary of your island in less than a week. In fact I hardly think you would give it as long.”

“Let us try it and see if you are right. Shall we?”

“Such a question does not need an answer. You must know that I am going to leave here. I am staying only until Margot is happily settled. Then I shall go back to England.”

“And penury.”

“I may be fortunate. I am not without qualifications.”

“No. I am sure you would make a success of whatever you set your mind to. You would have continued with the school but for that stupid oaf Joel. What a fool! Perhaps one day he will realize what he has missed and come back to try again. There is one question I want to ask you, Minelle, and I want a. serious answer. I know that you disapprove of my way of life. Believe me, it is a matter of upbringing. I live as my ancestors have lived. It is the custom of the regime. You have been brought up differently. To you I seem excessively wicked … immoral and ruthless. Admit it.”

“I admit it,” I said.

“And yet, tell the truth, Minelle, you are not without some regard for me?”

I paused and he went on: “Come. You are not afraid to tell the truth, are you?”

“I believe,” I replied, ‘that when a man expresses admiration for a woman, he so appeals to her vanity that it is hard for her not to feel favourably towards one whom-if she is honest-she must admire for his good taste. For there is none who, in her heart, despises herself.”

He laughed again.

“Enchanting as ever, my dearest Minelle,” he said, “So in admiring you I have won a little of your approval. You know the extent of my ” admiration so I deserve a great deal of your esteem. “

“I could never trust you,” I said seriously.

“You have loved many women.”

“Experience is always valuable-no matter in what field and mine teaches me that I have never loved anyone as I love you.”

“The current one is always the most loved,” I said.

“You have become a cynic.”

“No. I am learning to be a realist.”

“Sometimes-life being what it is-it’s the same thing. But you still do not answer my question. I have a wife. I am not free to marry therefore. If I were …”

“But you are not free …”

“I may be … some day. I am asking you to tell me what your answer would be if I came to you with an honourable proposal of marriage.”

“Which you would not offer if you were free to because you must see that a marriage between us would be highly unsuitable.”

“I think it would be the most suitable that was ever made.”

“What! The noble count and the failed schoolmistress.”

“He is in great need of the tuition she will give him.”

“You are laughing at me.”

“No,” he said seriously.

“I want you to teach me how to be humble and human, how to enjoy what is best in life. I want you to show me how to be happy.”

“You have a high opinion of my qualifications.”

“But I am sure I assess them correctly. You see how I dote on you. Do your feelings for me increase as you discover what mine are for you?”

“I am suspicious. I know that you are adept at getting what you want from women. It must be interesting to discover various ways of wooing them.”

“You misjudge me. Moreover I suspect you of evading the question. You do not dislike me?”

“You must know that I do not.”

“I believe you enjoy these encounters, these verbal fireworks. Do you?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Ah. I have wrung an admission from you. I have the impression that you continually seek to evade me which can only be because I am not free to make an honourable proposal of marriage to you and your upbringing would not allow you to accept any other. That’s true, is it not?”

Once more I hesitated too long.

He said: “You have answered me.”

We cantered back to the castle side by side.

IV

“Cousin!”

The voice floated down to me, light, scarcely audible in the evening air. I had taken a short walk out of doors in the castle gardens.

Looking up, I saw the Comtesse stretched out on a chaise-longue on the balcony above me.

“Madame?” I said, standing still and gazing up.

Her pale face looked down at me.

“Could I interrupt your walk? I should like to speak to you.”

“Certainly.”

“Come up. The steps will lead you right up to the terrace.”

I did as she bid me, feeling a little disturbed which was understandable considering the attitude her husband had taken towards me.

I mounted the stone steps. She was right. They did take me to her terrace which jutted out from her bedchamber. This was of course not the medieval part of the castle, but part of the comfortable, luxurious later addition.

“It has been warm today,” she said.

“I thought a little air would be good for me.” She smiled at me.

“It must seem odd to someone as healthy as you are to hear people speak continually of their health.

Do sit down. “

I sat.

“I suppose when one has good health one is inclined to take it for granted and forget about it,” I answered.

“Exactly. How fortunate not to have to worry all the time what effect things are going to have on you. It is easy to see you enjoy good health. Cousin. Tell me, how are you getting on here? Does it seem strange to you after your school? I am grateful for what you are doing for my daughter.”

“It is what I am paid to do, Madame.”

“But may I say you are doing it very well indeed.” She shifted on her couch.

“I think the air has given me a headache. I shall have to ask Nou-Nou to prepare a poultice to lay across my forehead. She has an excellent one made from Jupiter’s Beard. You look puzzled. You are wondering what that is. One can’t live with Nou-Nou without learning about these things. It’s one of her special plants and like so many of them it is said to be a talisman against evil spells. I can see, Cousin, that you are sceptical. Do you not believe in evil spells?”

“I don’t think I do.”

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that a witch is involved with weird incantations and so on. Evil spells can come about in the most natural ways. There are some people who never bring good to anyone. They could be said to give out evil.”

“I suppose that could be true.”

“It is always well to avoid such people. Don’t you agree, Cousin?”

I wished she would not call me “Cousin’. She did it with a certain irony. There was something behind it; something behind her desire to see me.

“Certainly it would be,” I agreed.

“I knew you would share my view. You are such a sensible young woman.

Margot talks a great deal about you. She thinks you are the fount of wisdom. gather that my husband has quite a good opinion of your capabilities. “

“I was unaware of that,” I said.

“Unaware of my husband’s opinion? Is that really so?”

“I… I did not know his opinion of me.”

She smiled slowly.

“I felt sure he had made it clear that he finds your company interesting. He does like the society of women … if they are young, handsome and not without some intelligence. They become flattered and forget his position and that with him it is but a fleeting interest.”

“I could never forget the Comte’s position … nor my own,” I said sharply.

She looked down at her delicate hands.

“He is my husband, after all,” she said.

“That is something he cannot forget, though others might.”

’ should never forget that, Madame;’ I retorted. I was uncomfortable, embarrassed and angry. I wanted to convey that her husband was perfectly safe from me.p>

“I can see you are sensible,” she commented.

Thank you. I shall shortly be returning to England. “

“Ah!” It was a long-drawn-out sigh.

“I think that is very wise of you.” She was silent for a few moments and I had the impression that she regretted having spoken so frankly. She went on conversationally:

“From what Margot tells me it is rather different in England.”

“Yes indeed.”

“I scarcely move from here,” she went on.

“With my husband it is different, of course. It is rarely that I have known him stay in the chateau for such a long time. He is restless. Moreover, it is necessary for him to spend a great deal of time in Paris … while I stay here with NouNou.”

“Who, I know, is a great comfort to you.”

“I can’t think what I should do without her. She is my friend, my companion, my watchdog.” She waved her hand.

“When darkness falls I feel afraid. I always did in the dark. Do you. Cousin?”

“No,” I replied.

“You are brave. I knew you would be. I have often watched you in the garden … you and Margot together. And I have seen you come in from riding with my husband. Well, Margot will soon be married and you will go back to England. That is for the best. Cousin. I am glad you see it so. I should like your adventure in my country to bring you happy memories when you go back to England.” She was looking at me steadily.

A moment ago she had been warning me to keep away from her husband as any jealous wife might. That was reasonable. After all, he was her husband. Now her warning was of a different kind. What had she meant about Nou-Nou’s being her watchdog? The Comte is a dangerous man, she was telling me. Be wary of him. She had no need to tell me that. “Yes,” she repeated, ‘you should go back to your own country. There is nothing good for you here. Oh dear! ” She put her hand to her head.

“My head throbs so. Go into the room and find Nou-Nou. Ask her to make up the Jupiter’s J Beard poultice, will you?”

” It was dismissal. I went through the glass doors into the room.

Nou-Nou came bustling in and I gave the order.

She tut-tutted.

“Called you up, did she? She knows it tires her to talk. And she would go out. I knew it was not good for her. Headache, is it? My Jupiter’s Beard will soon put paid to that. You came up by the garden stairs, I suppose?”

“Yes,” I answered.

“Well, you can go back that way if you like. Tell her I’ll have her poultice in next to no time, and first I’m going to bring her in.”

I went out on to the terrace. The Comtesse was lying back with her eyes closed. It was an indication that she had nothing more to Say to me and I was dismissed.

I was still smouldering with anger and humiliation. When I was with her I had not realized the enormity of what she was hinting. First she had warned me to keep off her husband because he was married to her and not free to dally with me. How insulting I As if I were not aware of that! Then she had changed her mood and warned me against him, which had seemed quite sinister, as though there were some dark forces in him of which I was unaware.

It was very disconcerting and brought home to me more forcibly than ever that I must prepare to go.

I thought a good deal about the Comtesse. If I were uneasy about her she certainly was about me. Perhaps some gossip had reached her. It must have, since she had seen fit to give me her twofold warning.

She was certainly right. Iought to get away. In fact I should not have stayed so long. Nor could I have done, I justified myself, if Margot had not been so unhappy every time I suggested leaving.

I did not want to talk to Margot. I was afraid she would bring up the subject. Not that it was difficult to avoid it.

Margot was too full of her own affairs to want to discuss anyone else’s.

Nevertheless, I had taken to going out alone, usually in the garden, and finding some quiet spot where I could be alone to think.

When I had been with the Comtesse I had felt guilty. Yet I had done nothing to attract the Comte. Nou-Nou had a way of looking at me from under her bushy brows as though I were Jezebel herself. She made me feel that I should get away without delay, even before Margot’s wedding.

It was an impossible situation and had it been presented to me as someone else’s problem a year ago I should have said: “The woman is doing wrong by staying. Any decent person would leave at once.”

Of course it was what I should do. My interview with the Comtesse had brought that home more vividly than before.

I had walked beyond the castle precincts and found myself close to Gabrielle’s house. His mistress! And she lived near the chateau so that they could meet conveniently. I flushed with shame. And this was the man whom I had allowed to take possession of my thoughts!

I was startled by the sound of horse’s hoofs. I went close to the hedge as a rider passed by. There was something familiar about him, although I could not think what.

Gabrielle’s house came into view. The man was tethering his horse to the block at her gate. As I came along he turned and we looked full at each other. He looked a little startled and in that flash it was obvious that we were both thinking that we had seen each other somewhere before.

He opened the gate and went up the park to the house. I walked on.

Then my heart started to thump with apprehension. I had remembered who the man was.

He was Gaston the lover of Jeanne the servant at Madame Gremond’s.

I did not mention to Margot the tact that I had seen Gaston. It could only disturb her. I even tried to convince myself that I had been mistaken. After all, I had not seen a great deal of the man when we were at Madame Gremond’s. This could have been someone who bore a resemblance to him.

There was no real distinguishing feature about him. What should he have been doing at Madame LeGrand Taking letters from his mistress?

Was it possible then that Madame Gremond and Madame LeGrand knew each other? Of course it was possible. Their connecting link would be the Comte. Two discarded mistresses condoling with each other. Or perhaps not discarded? It was becoming more and more sordid every day.

But I could not, of course, be sure of this and I preferred to think I had made a mistake.

While I was pondering on this, Etienne came to me and told me that his mother had expressed the wish that I should call on her again and he wondered whether I would allow him to take me to her.

I said I should be delighted to call and a few days later, one afternoon, I rode with him to her house.

I was taken into the ornate salon where she was waiting to receive me, very elegant but slightly overdressed in pale blue silk and lace.

“Mademoiselle Maddox,” she cried warmly, ‘how enchanted I am to see you. It was good of you to call. “

“I am pleased to be asked,” I replied, glad as I had often been of my well-cut riding habit which my mother had had made for me. The fact that I had ridden over meant that it was quite right for me to be wearing it.

Etienne left us and I realized that this was going to be a teteatete.

She said we should have Ie the because she knew how the English loved it.

“Have you noticed how we in France are imitating the English more and more? It is a form of flattery. But you would not have noticed it here. It is in Paris that it is obvious. In the shops there are signs ” English spoken here” and the lemonade sellers sell Ie Punch. That is English, as you know. The young men swagger round in English coats with capes. The women are wearing English hats and even the racecourse at Vincennes tries to be like your Newmarket.”

“I did not know this.”

There is much you have yet to learn of France, I feel sure. Then there are those tall vehicles they call “Whiskies”

I can tell you we are becoming more and more English every day. “

“That is very interesting.”

“You will see this when you go to Paris. You are going, I believe, with Marguerite.”

“Yes, that is so.”

“Such a good marriage, this. The Comte tells me that he is delighted with it. An alliance between Fontaine Delibes and Grasseville. Little could be better.”

The tea was brought in by one of the lackeys whose livery was very like the chateau colours slightly more muted, slightly less grand with silver buttons instead of gold. I could not help but be amused by the fine distinction.

“Mademoiselle smiled. The tea is to your liking?”

It is excellent, Madame. ” And so it was, served in little dishes of Sevres china, though somewhat unlike our home brew.

Small pastries were served with it They had delicious fillings of some cream concoction.

“I thought we should become better acquainted,” said Gabrielle LeGrand

“I saw you at the ball, of course, but one cannot really talk to people on such occasions. Was it not disgraceful … the stone through the window? I would not care to be in the culprit’s shoes if he were discovered. The Comte would have little mercy on him and he can be a stem man.”

“Do you think they will find him?”

Leon’s face swam before me and I admonished myself:

Don’t be silly. It was an illusion. Of course it wasn’t Leon. How could it have been? He could not have been in the ballroom so soon after, looking so fresh. I seemed to be developing a bent for imagining I saw people when it could hardly be likely that I had.

“I doubt it now. Unless one of his enemies betrays him. That sort of thing is happening all over the country. I don’t know what things are coming to. Are you staying in France, Mademoiselle? “

“I shall be with Marguerite for a while and when she marries return to England.”

She could not hide her relief. She said quickly: “How interesting it must have been to discover your connection with the Comte’s family … however remote.”

I did not answer and she went on: “Do tell me who exactly it was who married into the family. All the time I have known the Fontaine Delibes I have never before heard there was an English connection.”

“You must ask the Comte,” I said.

I see less of him nowadays. ” She sighed.

“There was a time … It was a great mistake he made in his marriage. You have met the Comtesse, of course.”

“Yes,” I answered coolly. I felt she was extremely tactless to mention the Comte’s marriage in this way.

“I ask,” she said, ‘because I know she lives a life of retirement. I gather she sees few’ people Poor Ursule! Anyone should have known how disastrous that would be. He used to confide in me . a great deal.

There is no point in attempting to hide the truth of our relationship when it is obvious for all to see. We have a fine son . our Etienne. And from her there was simply Marguerite. I will tell you in confidence that he has never ceased to regret that he did not marry me.”

“Why did he not?” I asked coldly.

“My family was a good one but of course not to be compared with his. I was a widow.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“He was young then … very young. We both were. I shall never forget those days. How much in love we were!” She laughed.

“I see you are a little shocked. The English do not talk as freely of these matters as we do. Ah, it was a tragic mistake and he was to realize that again and again.”

“These cakes are delicious, Madame. You must have an excellent cook.”

“I am glad you like them. They are favourites of the Comte. But one can never be sure how long he will like something. He is fickle in his tastes.”

“They are so light,” I said.

“They make one quite greedy.”

Then do have some more. Etienne is fond of them. We are planning a marriage for him, but he is in no hurry. “

“It is never wise to hurry when important matters are planned.”

“One of these days … who knows … Etienne has been brought up in the chateau, you know.”

“Yes, I did know.”

“The Comte is proud of him. He is a good-looking young man, do you not think so?”

“Indeed I do. He is very handsome.”

“One day who shall say what his future will be?”

That is something none of us can see . the future. “

I found a certain mischievous pleasure in thwarting her by keeping the conversation on general lines when I knew she was trying to make it personal. I understood her motive well. Like the Comtesse, she was warning me. But her motive was rather different. I believed that the Comtesse was a little concerned for me, while Gabrielle was concerned for herself.

“But we can predict,” she said.

“If one has known someone for a very long time one knows how that person will act in certain circumstances.

Don’t you agree? “

I said I thought one could hazard a guess but as so many people were unpredictable one could never be entirely sure. She nodded.

“It has been a strange life. I met the Comte when I was a very young widow. I came to plead for my father who had been imprisoned by his. The Comte could not do enough for me. My father had died in prison accused of I know not what nor did he.”

“Yes,” I said.

“I have heard of those fearful lettres de cachet.”

“I think one of the reasons the Comte regrets not marrying me is that it would have done something towards righting the wrong his father did to mine. He once said that he wished he could have the opportunity over again and if ever he did …”

I nodded.

“It was a terrible injustice which was done to your father.”

“He is a strange man … Charles Auguste. He has these flashes of conscience. Look at Leon. He has certainly benefited from the harm done to his family. I suppose we shall go on as before. Etienne will, I know, be legitimized. That has been more or less promised … providing of course Charles Auguste doesn’t marry and get a legitimate son. But he can’t do that while he has a wife, can he?”

“It is certainly a very complicated matter,” I said.

“And who shall say how it will end.”

“And you will soon be leaving us and forgetting all about us and our problems.” Her eyes glittered, seeming to look into my mind. It was almost as though she were commanding me to go.

Then she insisted on showing me her treasures, chief among them a beautiful clock of gold and ivory made in the shape of a castle. It was very elaborate but quite beautiful.

“A gift from the Comte when Etienne was born,” she explained. Then she showed me other treasures-all gifts from the Comte.

“A very generous man,” she commented, ‘to those for whom he feels deeply. Mind you, there have been some whose reign has been brief . very brief. Those have been quickly dismissd and forgotten. “

“How sad for them,” I said wryly, ‘unless they were glad to to depart.”

She looked at me in some puzzlement. I could see she did not understand me.

I was relieved when Etienne arrived to accompany me back to the castle.

He said: “I will take you by a way I am sure you have not yet discovered. It is a very private short cut to the castle from the house. The Comte had it made eighteen years ago.”

The pathway led from the garden through a wood and I was astonished how quickly we reached the castle.

“Why is it so little used?” I asked.

“When it was first made the Comte let it be known that it was for his use and my mother’s only. Consequently people kept away. And it has become the rule.”

We had arrived at the castle wall. There was a door through which we went and we were in a courtyard. I had never entered the castle that way before.

It was late afternoon when Nou-Nou came to my room. She gave a sharp peremptory knock on the door and without waiting for permission to enter, did so.

“The Comtesse wishes to see you,” she said, looking at me in a scornful way which was calculated to make me feel uncomfortable and certainly did.

I stood up.

“Not now. At eight o’clock this evening. She has something she wants to say to you.”

I said I would present myself at that time.

“Don’t be late. I like to get her settled down for the night before nine o’clock.”

“I shall not be late,” I promised.

She nodded and left me.

Strange old woman, I thought. A little mad as all people with obsessions were. In her case, though, it was a selfless obsession. I fell to thinking of poor Nou-Nou who had lost her husband and child and turned to Ursule for comfort. There was no doubt that she had found it to a certain extent.

I wondered about Ursule’s childhood before she had become an invalid and how she could be content to live the life she did shut away from the world. It was as though she embraced this life with relish simply because it meant that in doing so she had escaped from her husband.

How she must hate him! Perhaps it was fear more than hatred. What had he done to inspire such terror? Nou-Nou seemed as though she knew something. I had no doubt that Ursule confided in her. That he would neglect her if she did not interest him, I knew. That he would feel cheated because she could not provide the essential son, I could understand. That he took his mistresses openly and even had one living a stone’s throw from the chateau was a fact. But should this make her fear him?

There was so much I wanted to know about Ursule.

A few minutes before eight o’clock I made my way to her room. It was a little early and knowing what a stickler for time Nou-Nou was, I hung back in the corridor looking out of the window waiting for those few moments to pass.

Eight o’clock precisely.

I went to the door which was slightly ajar. I pushed it open and looked in. There was a draught from the door which opened on to the terrace. I was just in time to catch a glimpse of the back of the Comte as he disappeared.

I was relieved that I had not come earlier when I should have met him in his wife’s room. That could have been embarrassing.

I tiptoed to the bed.

“Madame,” I began. Then I paused. The Comtesse was lying back on her pillows, her eyes half closed. She was clearly very drowsy.

“You wanted to see me, Madame?”

Her eyes were completely closed now. She seemed to be asleep.

I felt uneasy and wondered why she had not cancelled our appointment if she was too tired to see me. On the table beside the bed was the usual array of bottles. A glass stood there. I picked it up and smelt it, for there were the dregs of something in the bottom of the glass.

Clearly the Comtesse had taken her sleeping draught which she probably did when she was about to retire. But she must have known how long it took to work, and how strange that she should have taken it in time to send her to sleep when she had asked me to come and see her.

As I stood there I heard a movement behind me. NouNou came in. She looked at the glass in my hand.

“I was to see Madame at eight,” I said, replacing the glass on the table.

Nou-Nou gazed at the sleeping woman and the change in her expression was marked.

“Poor lamb,” she said.

“She was tired out. He has been.

in. I suppose he tired her . as he always does. She must have dropped off to sleep . suddenly. “

“You will tell her when she awakes that I came, will you?”

Nou-Nou nodded.

“Perhaps she will say if she wants to see me tomorrow.”

Nou-Nou said: “We shall see how she feels.”

“Goodnight,” I said, and went out.

The next day lived vividly in my memory.

I awoke as usual when one of the serving maids brought in my hot water and put it into the ruelle. I washed and took the coffee and brioche which was brought to my room.

Margot came as she often did, bringing her tray with her and we took our petit dejeuner together.

We talked of the proposed trip to Paris and I was glad that she did not mention Chariot. It was comforting to know that her coming marriage had helped her when I had so much feared it would have the reverse effect.

While we were chatting together the door opened and the Comte entered.

I had never seen him distraught before, but he certainly was then.

He looked from one to the other of us and then he said:

“Marguerite, your mother is dead.”

I felt a cold horror grip me. I began to tremble and was afraid it would be noticed.

“She must have died during the night,” he said.

“NouNou has just discovered this.”

He did not meet my eyes and I was terribly afraid.

There was tension throughout the castle. The servants were whispering together. I wondered what they were saying. The relationship which existed between the Comte and his wife was well known to them and they must all have been aware of the fact that he wished he were free of her.

Margot came to me.

“I must talk to you, Minelle,” she said. It is terrible. She is dead.

It has suddenly struck me. She was my mother . but I scarcely knew her. She never seemed to want me with her. I always believed, when I was little, that I was the cause, of her illness. Nou-Nou seemed to think so too. Poor NouNou! She is just sitting beside her rocking to and fro. She mutters to herself and then throws her apron over her face. All I can hear is “Ursule mignon ne

“Margot,” I said, ‘how did it happen? “

“She has been delicate for a long time, hasn’t she?” Margot replied almost defensively, and I wondered what she was thinking.

“Perhaps,” she went on, ‘she was more ill than we thought. We believed really that she fancied she was ill all the time. “

The doctors came during the day. They were with the Comte in the chamber of death for a long time.

The Comte asked me to join him in the library and I went full of foreboding.

“Please sit, Minelle,” he said.

“This is an unexpected shock.”

Those words brought me an immense relief.

“I have always suspected that the Comtesse’s illness was imaginary,” he went on.

“It seems I did her an injustice. She was really ill.”

“What was her illness?”

He shook his head.

“The doctors are bewildered. They are not certain what caused her death. Nou-Nou is too distraite to talk. She has been with her since her birth and was completely devoted to her. I’m afraid this shock is going to be too much for her.”

I waited for him to go on but for once he seemed at a loss for words.

Then he said slowly: There will be an autopsy. “

I looked at him in astonishment.

“It is the custom,” he said, ‘when the cause of death is uncertain.

The doctors have formed the opinion, though, that she died of something she had taken. “

“It can’t be!” I cried.

“She looks peaceful,” he said.

“Of one thing we can be certain. She did not die painfully. It seems she went off in a peaceful sleep from which she has not awakened.”

“Was it a draught to make her sleep, do you think?”

“It may be so. Nou-Nou is too upset to speak to us yet. Tomorrow she will have recovered a little and may be able to help. I believe Ursule was in the habit of taking some draught at bedtime.” His eyes did not leave my face. They glittered brightly and I avoided looking directly at him. The fear was strong in me.

“It is going to be rather a difficult time,” he said.

“This sort of thing can be very unpleasant. There will be a great deal of speculation. There always is when anyone dies suddenly. And the circumstances …”

I nodded.

“Nou-Nou will know whether she took a sleeping draught.”

“Nou-Nou would prepare it for her. I am sure when she is able to talk we may understand how this happened.”

“Do you think that the Comtesse …”

“That she did it deliberately? No, I don’t think so. I think there has been some terrible mistake. But we can reach no conclusions through conjecture. This may be unpleasant, as I said, and I should prefer you and Marguerite not to be here. Make your preparations to leave for Paris. I think you should go immediately after the autopsy.” He paused, then went on briskly: “Now, I do not think you should remain here with me long.” He smiled at me wryly, and I knew what was in his mind. His wife had died suddenly and his interest in me was obvious. I could see that we should both be under suspicion.

“Send Marguerite to me,” he added.

“I will warn her

that she must be ready to leave for Paris fairly soon. “

That was a week of nightmare. Suspicion was rife and I was at the heart of it. I wondered what would happen if the Comte was accused of murder . or I was. I could hear accusing voices asking me about my relationship with the Comte. I was his cousin, was I? Would I please explain.

The Comte was less disturbed than I. He was confident that there would be some explanation. There was a distressing scene with Nou-Nou who came to my room one night when I was preparing for bed.

She looked terribly ill. I was sure she had not slept since the death of the Comtesse. She was hollow-eyed and had not brushed or combed her hair, it hung, half up, half down, in straggling grey strands about her face. Clutching a bed-gown about her, she looked like a spectre.

She said to me: “You do well to look guilty. Mademoiselle.”

I replied: “Guilt! I neither look nor feel guilty. You must know that, NouNou.”

“It was her bedtime dose,” she said.

“I used to give it to her when she couldn’t sleep. I knew just how much was needed to send her off.

That night she had had a treble dose. It should have taken an hour to have effect . but she was sleeping when I came in . You were there that night. He was there too. The two of you. “

“She was asleep when I came in. You know that. It was just eight o’clock.”

“I didn’t know enough of what was going on. There was her dose there by the bed. Well, someone added to it, didn’t they? Someone who crept in …”

“I tell you she was asleep when I came…”

“I came out and found you with the glass in your hand.”

This is absurd. I had only just come into the room. “

There was somebody else there, wasn’t there? You know that. “

I felt the blood rushing into my cheeks.

“What… are you suggesting?”

“Doses don’t get into glasses without being put there, do they?

Someone did it. someone in this house. “

For a moment I was too stunned to reply. I kept thinking of that moment when I had seen the Comte slipping out through the french window on to the terrace. How long had he been with her? Long enough to give her the dose . to wait while she drank it? Oh, no, I told myself. I won’t believe it.

I stammered: “You don’t know the cause of her death. It has not yet been proved.”

Her eyes glittered and she looked at me steadily.

“I know,” she said.

She came close to me and, laying a hand on my arm, peered into my face.

“If she’d never married, she’d be alive today. She’d be her bonny self just as she used to be before her wedding. I remember the night before that wedding. I couldn’t comfort her. Oh, these marriages. Why can’t they let children be children till they know what life’s about!”

In spite of the horrible fear which would not leave me, in spite of the shock of realizing how deeply involved I was, I felt sorry for Nou-Nou. It seemed that the death of her beloved charge had unhinged her mind. Something had gone out of her. The fierce dragon guarding her treasure had become a sad creature only wanting to crawl into a corner and die. She was looking round to blame someone. She hated the Comte and her venom was directed mainly against him, but because it was known that he had a fondness for me, she let it fall on me too.

“Oh, Nou-Nou,” I said, the compassion I felt for her obvious in my voice, “I am so sorry this has happened.”

She looked at me slyly.

“Perhaps you think it makes it easier for you, eh? Perhaps you think that now she is out of the way …”

“Nou-Nou!” I cried sharply.

“Stop that wicked talk.”

“You’ll have a shock.” She began to laugh; it was horrible laughter, at times like the cackle of a hen. Then she stopped suddenly.

“You and he plot together …”

“You must not say such things. They are absolutely false. Let me take you back to your room. You need rest. This has been a terrible shock for you.”

Suddenly she started to cry-silently, the tears streaming down her face.

“She was everything to me,” she said.

“My little lamb, my darling baby. All I’d got. I never took to any other. It was always my little mignon ne

“I know,” I said.

“But I’ve lost her. She’s not there any more.”

“Come, Nou-Nou.” I took her arm and led her back to her room.

When we were there she broke away from me.

I shall go to her,” she said; and she went into that room where the body of the Comtesse lay.

They were difficult days to live through. I saw little of the Comte.

He avoided me, which was wise, because there were whispers about him and it was likely that my name was being linked with his.

I rode out with Marguerite, Etienne and Leon and as we passed close to a village a stone was thrown at us. It hit Etienne on the arm but I think it was meant for me.

“Murderess I’ shouted a voice.

We saw a group of young men and we knew the missile had come from them. Etienne was for giving chase but Leon deterred him.

“Better be careful,” Leon advised.

“This could start a riot. Ignore it.”

They need to be taught a lesson. “

“We must take care,” said Leon, ‘that they do not attempt to teach us one. “

After that I felt reluctant to go out.

We could not leave the chateau until after the autopsy and because of the Comte’s position this aroused a good deal of attention. I was terribly afraid because I knew it had already been decided that he had murdered his wife.

I was greatly relieved to hear that I should not be expected to appear. I feared a probing into the reason why I had come to France and what would happen if Marguerite’s indiscretion had come to light?

How would Robert de Grasseville react? Would he want to marry her then? I sometimes felt it would have been better for her to make a complete confession to him but on the other hand I did not consider myself sufficiently worldly to know whether this would be wise.

The Comte returned in due course. The affair was over and the verdict was that the cause of death was the overdose of a sleeping draught which contained opium in excessive quantities. The Comtesse was discovered to have suffered from a disease of the lungs a disease from which it was recalled her mother had died. Doctors had visited her recently and had expressed their certainty that she was suffering from this disease in its early stages. If the Comtesse had known of this she would also have known that later she would have to endure great pain. The most likely verdict was that, knowing this, she had taken her own life by drinking a large quantity of a sleeping draught which she had been taking in small doses for some time, and which when taken thus could produce gentle sleep and be quite harmless.

The day he returned Nou-Nou paid one of her visits to my bedroom. She seemed to take a delight in my discomfiture.

“So,” she said, ‘you think this is the end of the matter, do you.

Mademoiselle? “

“The law is satisfied,” I said.

The law! Who is the law? Who has always been the law? He has . he and his kind. One law for the rich . one for the poor. That’s what the trouble’s about. He has his friends . all over the place. ” She stepped nearer to me.

“He came to me and he threatened me. He said:

“Stop your scandalous gossip, Nou-Nou. If you don’t you can get out.

And where would you go then, tell me that? Do you want to be sent away away from the rooms where she lived . away from her tomb where you can weep and revel in your mourning? ” Yes, that’s what he said. I said to him:

“You were there. You came into the room. You were with her. And then that woman came, didn’t she? Did she come to see if you’d done what you planned together? …”

“Stop it, Nou-Nou,” I said.

“You know I came because she said she wanted to see me. You yourself brought the message. She was already asleep when he left.”

“You saw him go, didn’t you? You came in … just as he was going. Oh, it’s a strange business, I’d say.”

“It’s not strange at all, Nou-Nou,” I said firmly.

“And you know it.”

She looked startled.

“What is it you’re so sure of?”

“I know this,” I replied.

“The verdict has been given. I believe it because it is the only possible one.”

She started to laugh wildly. I took her arm and shook it.

“Nou-Nou, go back to your room. Try to rest. Try to be calm. This is a terrible tragedy, but it is over and no good can come by dwelling on it.”

“It’s over for some,” she said mournfully.

“Life is over for some … for mignon ne and her old Nou-Nou. Others think it is just beginning for them perhaps.”

I shook my head angrily and she sat down suddenly and covered her face with her hands.

After a while she allowed me to take her back to her room.

It was I who found the stone with the paper attached to it. It was lying in the corridor outside my bedroom. I saw first that the window had been smashed and there on the floor was this object.

I picked it up. It was a heavy stone and stuck on it was the piece of paper. On this was written in uneven script: “Aristocrat. You murdered your wife but it is one law for the rich, one for the poor. Take heed.

Your time will come. “

I stood there for some horrified seconds with the paper in my hand.

Perhaps it was wrong of me but I always made quick decisions, though not always the right ones. I decided then that no one in the castle should see that paper.

I put the stone back on the floor and took the paper into my bedchamber. I spread it out and studied it. The writing was uneven but I had a notion that an attempt had been made to convey the impression of near-illiteracy. I felt the paper. It was strong stout stuff. Not the kind which poor people would use to write their letters on, even if they could write. It was of a shade of blue so pale as to be almost white.

There was a bureau in my bedroom and in this were sheets of notepaper headed with the address of the castle in elegant gold letters. The paper was of the same texture as the notepaper used in the castle. It could have been torn off from a piece of this.

There must be something significant in this. Could it be possible that someone in the castle was the Comte’s bitter enemy?

I thought, as I always did at times like this, of my mother. I could almost hear her saying to me: “Get out. There’s danger all around you.

You have already become embroiled in this household and it must stop without delay. Go back to’j England.

Take a post as companion . governess . or; better still open a school. “

She is right, I thought, I am becoming too much affected by the Comte.

He has cast a spell on me in some way. I was trying not to believe that he had slipped the fatal dose into the Comtesse’s glass, but I could not with honesty say that I did not doubt him.

Margot was at the door.

“Another stone has been thrown through a window,” she announced.

“It’s just outside here.”

I rose and went to look at it.

Margot shrugged her shoulders.

“Stupid people. What do they think they are going to achieve by that?”

She was not deeply affected. This sort of thing was becoming a commonplace.

The Comte sent for Margot and me. He looked older, sterner than he had before his wife’s death.

“I want you to leave for Paris tomorrow,” he said.

“I think that would be best. I have had a note from the Grassevilles. They would like you to visit them but I think it better that you stay in my Paris residence. You are in mourning. The Grassevilles will visit you there.

You can shop for what you need. ” He turned to me suddenly.

“I rely on you to look after Marguerite.”

I wondered whether I should tell him of the note which had come through the window attached to the stone but I felt it would only add to his anxieties and I did not care to mention it before Margot. I hoped to see him alone before I left, but I realized that he was aware how closely we were watched. He would know too that it was being said he had escaped justice because he had friends in high places.

I went to my room to make my preparations. I took the piece of paper from the drawer and looked at it, wondering what I should do. I could not leave it and yet what if I took it with me and mislaid it? I made one of my sudden decisions. I tore it into scraps and taking it down to the hall where a fire was burning, I threw it in. I watched the flames curl about the blackened edges. It seemed to form itself into a malevolent face and I was immediately reminded

The Waiting City of that one I had seen outside the window on the night of the ball.

Leon! And the paper which might have come from the castle!

It was quite impossible. Leon would never be a traitor to the man who had done so much for him. I was so upset by recent events that my imagination was getting out or hand.

We left early soon after dawn.

The Comte came down to the courtyard to see us off. He held my hand firmly in his and said: “Take care of my daughter … and yourself.”

Then he added: “Be patient.”

I knew what he meant and that remark filled me with excitement, apprehension and foreboding.