The Silk Vendetta (10 page)

I had repulsed him; and because of my humble birth he had objected fiercely to that—and he was teaching me a lesson.

I prayed again to the statue of the Virgin and the Child. I sat down on the lowest step and resisted the urge to run up to the top and shut out the sight of that gloomy chamber with its statues and remains of the dead. I noticed the moisture trickling down the walls and saw two drops running parallel as though in a race. How could one notice such things at such a time?

I thought: Shall I die down here? Suppose they never find me. I remembered the bride who on her wedding day had hidden in a chest; the lock clicked and she could not escape. The players hunted for her … but she was not found … not until years later when someone opened the chest and found the remains of her in her wedding gown.

The story had always intrigued me. Poor bride! How had she felt when she could not get out? At least my case was not quite so hopeless.

He will come back, I assured myself. This is just to tease me. He will leave me here for perhaps an hour and then he will come and unlock the door and laugh at me.

How long had passed? I had no way of knowing. When one was in this state one was unaware of time.

Silence … that terrible silence. I listened, my ears strained for some sound … some indication that someone was near. I longed to hear a sound … any sound.

There was nothing.

I walked back to the stairs. I felt I was being watched by a ghostly unseen presence. There was still light coming through the gap. It must be fairly sunny outside. So it was not night yet.

When it was quite dark something would happen.

I sat on the lower step in despair.

Was it an hallucination or did I hear the barking of a dog? I was alert listening. Yes … faintly … in the distance. It was coming from outside. I went across the chamber and stood immediately below the gap.

“Help! Help!” I cried. “I’m in the mausoleum … locked in.”

There was silence.

Then I heard the dog again. This time more distinctly and I shouted with all my might. I fancied a shadow crossed the gap.

“Help! Help! Get me out of here.”

The shadow was gone.

I stood for some time straining my ears. But now I could hear nothing.

I felt limp with despair. Had someone really been there or had I imagined it? Perhaps in my present state I had heard what I wanted to.

The silence was back and I was in despair. I was shivering, whether with cold or fear, I did not know.

No one will come this way, I told myself. If they did they would not hear me. I would stay here for the night unless Charles came back. He must.

Time was passing. I felt faint. My feet were numb; so were my hands. I could feel the cold from the stones penetrating through my clothes.

Grand’mere would be unaware as yet. She would be busy in the workroom. That always absorbed her. When she knew that I was missing she would be frantic. She would insist on their searching everywhere. But who would think of the mausoleum?

Then suddenly I heard a noise. The stairs seemed less dark. It was the scrape of the key turning in the lock. There was a shaft of light as the door was flung open.

Then a voice said: “Lenore, are you there?”

I heard the barking of a dog. I stumbled up the stairs. I was caught in someone’s arms.

“Drake …” I murmured. “Drake …”

Drake said: “It’s all right now. My God, you’re frozen.”

The dog was barking and I was pulled through into the open. The fresh air seemed intoxicating. I felt dizzy. I thought I was going to faint.

“It’s all right now. It’s all right now …” It was Drake’s voice. I saw Willie then … and I heard the dog again.

“I’ll get you back to the house,” said Drake.

Then I found myself sliding to the ground.

When I regained consciousness I was sitting on the step outside the gate and Drake was forcing my head between my knees.

“That’s better. You poor, poor child. How did it happen? Never mind. It’s all over now.”

“Drake,” I said.

“Yes, it’s Drake.”

“You’ve saved me.”

“Come on. I’m going to get you back quickly. You want a warm bed and something to soothe you. Can you stand up?”

I did so totteringly. I was aware of Willie who was looking on in amazement.

“Not very steady,” said Drake. Then he lifted me up.

“You can’t…”

“But I can. You’re as light as a feather. Come on. No time to lose.”

We went across to the house. I said: “Charles … he told you …” “Charles?”

“Charles locked me in.”

Drake did not speak; he just walked on in silence. As we came into the hall he said: “That was fine, Willie. You did well. Thank you. Miss Cleremont will thank you when she gets better.”

“So it was Willie,” I said.

”He heard you calling and had the sense to come to the house. I saw him and he told me, so I got the key and came at once.” I felt such relief that I could not speak. I saw Mrs. Dillon and Clarkson.

“My goodness gracious me,” said Mrs. Dillon. “Whatever next?”

And there was Grand’mere.

She took charge at once. I was to be taken up to my bedroom. In a short time I was lying on my bed, covered with blankets and a hot water bottle pressed against my feet. Grand’mere was seated by my bed. I slept fitfully. I kept waking and thinking I was in the mausoleum. I cried out in fear. Grand’mere was there beside me all through the night. She gave me a soothing drink with herbs. And finally I passed into a peaceful sleep, confident that she would not leave me, so that if I woke in terror, I should be comforted by her presence.

The next morning I felt better, but Grand’mere insisted that I stay in bed. I had been chilled to the bone, she said, and I had had a terrible fright.

I told her about it, beginning with the episode at the party.

“It was his revenge on me, you see, Grand’mere,” I explained.

”Mon Dieu,” she murmured,’ “to think that he could do such a thing! He is one to beware of. But at least, ma petite, we now know the man we have to deal with. I wish I could get you away from here. Philip is a gentle, kindly boy … so different. But this one. Malevolent… that is what he is. But, ma cherie, it could have been worse. When I think of you alone in that place and what he might have done … I have always wanted to tell you about the dangers. You are not such a little girl now. You will catch the eyes … as you have done with Charles. I thank the good God that this was not worse. Oh, I know of your ordeal … of your terror. How could you not be afraid … to be shut up in that place? But this … it is over. It is a bad, bad dream… . But when I think of what a man of his nature might have done … Then there would have been the great damage. That would have been something for, which I could have killed him. But for this I would too … but for that other …”

I knew what she meant and I knew that I had something for which to be thankful.

“There must be no more of him,” went on Grand’mere. “He will be away soon and we shall be free of him. I cannot be happy while he is in the house.”

“He hates me, Grand’mere.”

“For wounding his vanity, for refusing him. Yes … he is a montagne of deceit, that one. He thinks he is handsome and irresistible. One must beware of such men. But at least we know what we have to deal with. It is a warning. Once you have recovered from this, you will forget it. It will fade. It is like a nightmare that happened to be real. But it sometimes is good to know the nature of people who live close to us. So … something good comes out of evil. We now know what we have to consider in this Charles.”

“And we shall be together, Grand’mere.”

”While I am wanted, I am here. When you are older you will have a husband and children … and grand’meres … they are not then of such importance. Never mind. It is natural and right that this should be so. But for the time… we are together, eh? And while I am with you I will watch over you … and you will tell me when you are afraid. I know that in time you are going to be happy. I want you to have all your mother missed, She was thoughtlessly happy … too trusting. Well, that is in the past and this is the present, and we must live in that.”

I woke up next morning with a terrible fear for a moment that I was in the mausoleum. Then the familiar objects in my room began to take shape. Grand’mere came to my bed.

“You have had a good night’s sleep,” she said.

“You’ve been here all the time.”

“I was quite comfortable dozing in the chair. Now I am going to get you something nice and soothing. Some porridge, I think … a little bread and butter. Mrs. Dillon suggested the porridge. She said it was soothing. They are all very anxious to help. Clarkson is annoyed because Charles took the key without asking him for it.”

I ate the breakfast and said I wanted to get up but Grand’mere thought I should rest for a while.

“You were frozen to the marrow. I don’t want you catching a cold.”

I felt limp and unreal and was not averse to agreeing to stay in bed. She brought me Jane Eyre to read. I had read it before but I had enjoyed it so much and always felt so sorry for Jane that it made me feel how fortunate I was.

I told Grand’mere that she must not sit with me all day. It made me feel like an invalid, and if she were in the workroom, 1 knew that she was close.

“You’ve had a big shock,” she said. “I feel that is more to be considered than the cold you endured in that place. You were there for three hours. Enough to chill anyone’s bones … but the fact of your being there was probably the worst. So now you will rest.”

Cassie came to see me. She stood by my bed looking at me with a kind of wondering tenderness.

“It’s all right, Cassie,” I said. “I’m not there now.”

“I can’t tell you how I felt when I heard that you were there for three hours. I should have died.”

“I thought I was going to die there.”

“Your hair hasn’t changed a bit.” She was peering at me, “There’s no white … and it should show … your being so dark.”

“I think I’m getting over it now … though I dreamed of it last night quite a lot and when I woke up I had a terrible feeling that I might still be there.”

“I can imagine nothing more horrible.”

“There are more horrible things.”

“You are very brave, Lenore.”

“You should have seen me shivering … thinking of all sorts of horrors … watching for the ghosts … I was far from brave.”

“There has been a lot of trouble,” she said. “It has been terrible. Mama is most distressed. She is in her room with the curtains drawn and no one but Miss Logan is to go near her.”

”What happened then?”

“Drake … and Charles … they fought. It was all about you. Drake got Charles on the ground and made him tell about locking you in the mausoleum. Charles said it was his affair and he was only teaching you a lesson. You needed to be taken down a peg or two because you gave yourself too many airs for a servant.

”Drake shouted at him and said he was a cad … and worse than that. He said he had sent that stable boy to get you in the place so that he could lock you in. Charles said he didn’t deny it and what business was it of Drake’s? Drake said it was every decent-minded person’s business and as he was so fond of giving lessons he was going to get one himself. We couldn’t believe it. They were quite different from what they are normally. Drake being bigger than Charles was able to pick him up as though he were a dog, and he just shook him. At the end he threw him into the lake. Julia was crying. I was near to it. I have never seen anything like it.”

“What about Charles in the lake?”

“He walked out. He wasn’t very far in but by that time Drake had gone back to the house. He packed his bag and presented himself to Mama and said he had to leave. He was called away suddenly. Mama was in a terrible state. But, of course, she had to say goodbye to Drake, and he came out and asked one of the stablemen to drive him to the station

… and then he was gone.”

“How … awful! What about Charles?”

“He’s going tonight. He won’t say where … except that he is going to stay with a friend and he will go straight on from there to the University.”

“So … they’ve both gone … and it was all because of me.”

”Drake couldn’t stay in a house where he had had such a fight with his host. As for Charles, perhaps he is ashamed of what happened. Philip is very worried about you.”

“Philip has always been kind to me.”

“I think he will be along soon. He wanted to see you last night but Madame Cleremont said it was best you were not disturbed.”

“What a dreadful end to the holiday!”

“I don’t suppose anything like this has ever happened before, do you?”

“I should think it would be very rare.”

When she left me I lay back thinking about Drake coming into the mausoleum, picking me up and bringing me back to the house. I should probably never see him again. He certainly would not come to The Silk House as Charles’s guest. They must hate each other. I felt a mingling of feelings. I was gratified that he had defended me; it was almost like fighting in the lists or in a duel. It made me feel important and after the humiliation Charles had inflicted on me, I needed that. But I was sorry that I should not see Drake again.

Philip came to see me.

“My dear Lenore,” he said, “this is most upsetting. What a terrible time you had!”

“It is good of you to come to see me,” I answered. “You might have felt you didn’t want to after all the trouble this has caused.”

”You’ve heard then about Drake?”

“Cassie told me. …”

“I ‘m so ashamed of my brother, Lenore.”

“I always knew he was not as kind as you are.”

“I think he is rather arrogant… going through a phase just now. He wants to assert himself. I’m sure it will pass. He is not such a bad sort really.”

I smiled at Philip. He was one of those people who mean well towards the whole world and think everyone else is like themselves.

“How are you feeling now?”

“I’m being cosseted by Grand’mere, and everyone seems to be very kind. Even Mrs. Dillon said I must eat porridge.”

He laughed, then he was sober. “It must have been very frightening for you.”