Victoria Holt (5 page)

I passed the woods and noticed that there were plenty of berries on the holly this year. The girls would be picking it very soon now for the last week of term would be given over to Christmas jollity. They had already decorated the Christmas tree in the common room and put the presents they had bought for each other under it. Then there would be a concert and carol singing in the chapel. The last time…What a sad phrase that was.

A pale winter sun momentarily showed itself between the clouds. There was a chill in the air but it was mildish for the time of year.

There were not many people about. I had not met anyone since I had left the Manor. I glanced toward the wood and wondered whether the girls would find much mistletoe this year. They usually had to hunt for it, which made it seem precious, and made a great show of fixing it in those places where they could be caught and kissed—if there were any males about who might be tempted to do so.

I hesitated by the woods. Then as I was deciding that I would skirt them and go as far as the town without actually going in, I heard a footstep behind me. I felt a rush of emotion and told myself afterwards that I knew who it was going to be before I turned around.

“Why?” I cried. “You…here?”

“Yes,” he said with a smile. “You told me you lived in Canterton so I thought I would have a look at it.”

“Are you…staying here?”

“Briefly,” he replied.

“On your way to—”

“Somewhere else. I thought I would call to see you while I was here, but before doing so I was hoping to meet you so that I could ask if it would be correct for me to call. I passed the Manor. It is a fine old place.”

“You should have come in.”

“First of all I wanted to find out whether your aunt would receive me.”

“But of course she would be delighted to receive you.”

“After all,” he went on, “we have not been formally introduced.”

“We have met four times, if you count the time on the train.”

“Yes,” he said slowly, “I feel we are old friends. Your welcome home was very warm I gather.”

“Aunt Patty is such a darling.”

“She is clearly devoted to you.”

“Yes.”

“So it was the happiest of homecomings?”

I hesitated.

“Not?” he asked.

I was silent for a few seconds and he looked at me with some concern. Then he said: “Shall we walk through the forest? I think it rather beautiful at this time of year. The trees without their leaves are so beautiful, don’t you think? Look at the pattern that one makes against the sky.”

“Yes, I have always thought so. More beautiful in winter even than in summer. This is hardly what you call a forest. It’s more of a wood…just clumps of trees which don’t extend for more than a quarter of a mile.”

“Nevertheless let us walk among the beautiful trees and you can tell me why your homecoming was not as usual.”

Still I hesitated and he looked at me with a slight reproachful air. “You can trust me,” he said. “I will keep your secrets. Come, tell me what worries you.”

“It was all so different from what I expected. Aunt Patty had not given a hint.”

“No hint?”

“That everything was not…as it should be. She…she has sold Grantley Manor.”

“Sold that beautiful house! What of the flourishing establishment?”

“Apparently it did not flourish. I was astounded. I suppose one takes these things for granted. There was no reason why I shouldn’t. Aunt Patty had never as much as hinted that we were becoming poorer.”

There seemed to be a sudden chill in the forest.

He had stopped in his walk and looked at me tenderly. “My poor child,” he said.

“Oh, it isn’t so bad. We’re not going to starve. Aunt Patty thinks it is all to the good. But then everything that happens seems to her all to the good.”

“Tell me about it…if you wish to.”

“I don’t know why I am talking to you like this…except that you seem so interested. You just seem to appear, first in the forest, then on the ship and now…You are rather mysterious, you know.”

He laughed. “That makes it all the easier for you to talk to me.”

“Yes, I suppose it does. I was going to avoid going into the town because I didn’t want to talk to people there who have known us for years.”

“Well, tell me instead.”

So I told him that Aunt Patty had had to sell the Manor because it was too expensive to keep up, and that we were going to a small house in another part of the country.

“What shall you do?”

“I don’t know…We have this little house somewhere in the Midlands, I believe. I really haven’t heard much about it yet. Aunt Patty makes it seem…not so bad, but I can see that Violet—that’s her very special friend who lives with us—is very disturbed.”

“I can imagine so. What a terrible blow for you! My deepest sympathy. You seemed so merry when I saw you with your friends in the forest, and I fancied they were all a little envious of you.”

We walked across the stunted grass and the wintry sun glinted through the bare branches of the trees. The smell of damp earth and foliage was in the air and I couldn’t help feeling that something significant would happen because he was with me.

I said: “We have talked about me. Tell me about yourself.”

“You won’t find that very interesting.”

“Oh, but I shall. You have such a way of…appearing. It is quite intriguing really. The way you came upon us in the forest…”

“I was taking a walk.”

“It seemed so strange that you should be there, and then in the train and on the boat…and now here.”

“I am here because I saw it was on my route and I thought I would drop in to see you.”

“On your route to where?”

“To my home.”

“So you live in England.”

“I have a place in Switzerland. I suppose I would say my home is in England.”

“And you are on your way to it now. Why, I don’t even know your name.”

“Was it never mentioned?”

“No. In the forest…”

“I was just a passer-by then, wasn’t I? It would not have been
comme il faut
to exchange cards.”

“Then on the boat…you were just there.”

“You were rather sleepy, I think.”

“Let’s end the mystery. What is your name?”

He hesitated and I fancied that he did not want to tell me. There must surely be some reason why. He certainly was an enigma.

Then he said suddenly: “It is Edward Compton.”

“Oh…then you
are
English. I wondered whether you were entirely. Where is your home?”

He said: “It is Compton Manor.”

“Oh…is it far from here?”

“Yes. In Suffolk. In a little village you will never have heard of.”

“What village?”

“Croston.”

“No. I have never heard of it. Is it far from Bury St. Edmunds?”

“Well…that would be the nearest town.”

“And you are on your way there now?”

“Yes, when I leave here.”

“Are you staying in Canterton for a while then?”

“I thought I would…”

“For how long?”

He looked at me intently and said: “That depends…”

I felt myself flush a little. It depended on me, he was implying. The girls had said that I was the one in whom he was interested, and I had instinctively known this from our first meeting in the forest.

“You must be staying at the Three Feathers. It is small but has a good reputation for being comfortable. I hope you will find it so.”

“I am comfortable,” he said.

“You must come to meet Aunt Patty.”

“That would be my pleasure.”

“I should be getting back now. It grows dark early.”

“I’ll walk with you to the Manor.”

We left the wood and took to the road. The Manor was before us. It looked beautiful in the already fading light.

“I can see you admire it,” I said.

“It is sad that you have to let it go,” he answered.

“I haven’t really got used to the idea, but as Aunt Patty says it isn’t bricks and mortar that make a home. We shouldn’t be happy there worrying all the time because we couldn’t afford it, and she says that renovations would have to be done soon or it would be falling about our heads.”

“How frustrating.”

I stopped and smiled at him.

“I’ll leave you here, unless you would like to come in with me now.”

“N…no. I think it better not. Next time perhaps.”

“Tomorrow. You might call for tea. Four o’clock. Aunt Patty makes rather a ritual of tea. She does of all meals. Come just before four.”

“Thank you,” he said.

Then he took my hand and bowed.

I ran into the house without looking back. I was excited. There was something about him which was so intriguing. At last I knew his name. Edward Compton of Compton Manor. I imagined it…redbrick, essentially Tudor rather like our own Manor. No wonder he was interested in Grantley and genuinely shocked because we were having to sell. He would understand what it meant parting with a fine old house which had been one’s home for a long time.

Tomorrow I would see him again. I would write to all the girls and tell them about this exciting meeting. There hadn’t been time on the boat to tell Lydia that I had seen him again there. I doubt whether she would have listened much. We had been so intent on disembarking and meeting those who had come to fetch us.

Perhaps in time there might be more to tell her. I was very fascinated by the mysterious stranger.

When I returned to the house Aunt Patty was in a state of excitement.

“I have just had confirmation from Daisy Hetherington, who is coming to see us. She is arriving at the end of the week on her way to her brother’s for Christmas. She will stay a couple of nights.”

I had heard her mention Daisy Hetherington many times and always in tones of great respect. Daisy Hetherington owned one of the most exclusive schools in England. Aunt Patty couldn’t stop talking about her.

“Aunt Patty,” I cut in, “the most extraordinary thing has happened. There was a man whom I met at Schaffenbrucken and he happens to be in Canterton. I’ve asked him to tea tomorrow. That will be all right, won’t it?”

“But of course dear. A man, you say?” She clearly had her mind on Daisy Hetherington. “That will be nice,” she continued absently. “I’ve told them to get the tapestry room ready for Daisy. I really think it is the nicest room in the house.”

“It certainly has lovely views…but they all have.”

“She’ll want to hear all about the move. She always likes to know everything that’s going on in the scholastic world. Perhaps that is why she is so successful.”

“Aunt Patty, you sound just the tiniest bit envious, which is unlike you.”

“Not me, my dear. I wouldn’t change places with Daisy Hetherington for Colby Abbey Academy itself. No, I’m content. Glad to give up. It was time. There is only one regret and that is you. I’ll confess I wanted to hand on a fine and flourishing business to you…” Her eyes began to twinkle. “But you never know what is waiting to turn up. Cordelia, I think it will be a little quiet for you in that country village of ours. You’ve been to Schaffenbrucken and you’re fully qualified. You see, Daisy Hetherington’s Colby Abbey Academy for Young Ladies—to give it its full title—has a reputation which we never had. Colby is synonymous with Schaffenbrucken…or almost. I was just wondering…”

“Aunt Patty, did you ask Daisy Hetherington to stay here or did she ask to come?”

“Well, I know how she hates staying at inns. I said it was scarcely out of her way and she might as well stay here for a couple of nights. I have a few pieces she might find useful. There’s that roll-top desk and some of the girls’ desks too and books. She was quite interested and she would like to meet you. I have told her
so
much about you.”

I knew her well. I could see those rather mischievous lights in her eyes when she was planning something.

“Are you asking her to find a place for me in her school?”

“Well, not exactly asking her. And in any case it would be for you to decide. It is something you will have to think about carefully, Cordelia. How will you like country life? I mean village life centered round the church. It is all right for old birds like Violet and me but for a young girl who has been educated with a view to using that education…Well, as I said it will be for you to decide. If Daisy likes you…I know she will like your qualifications. Daisy is a good woman…a little stern…a little aloof and very, very dignified…in fact the opposite of your old Aunt P., but a shrewd businesswoman, one who knows where she is going. You’ll see for yourself. If she took you in, after a while you might have a very good position there. I was thinking of a partnership. Money? Well, I’m not destitute and I’ll be comfortable enough with what I have and what I’ll get for Grantley. It’s a very good price. Colby Abbey breaks up for Christmas a week before we do…so I’ve asked her here. It’s not a bad idea that she should come when the girls are breaking up for Christmas. Then she won’t be able to criticize our methods of teaching which I am sure she would. You’ll admire her. She possesses those qualities which I lack.”

“I shall certainly not admire her for that.”

“Oh, you will. I wasn’t the right type to run a successful school, Cordelia. Let’s face it. None of the girls is in the least in awe of me.”

“They love you.”

“There are times when respect is more important. I can see my mistakes…looking back. Nothing very clever about that, I suppose. But at least I’ll admit to them and there is a certain wisdom in that. My plan is this, Cordelia. You have a choice…that is, if Daisy goes along with us, which I intend she shall. If she offers you a post in her school, and if in five or six years’ time you have wormed your way in and poor Daisy isn’t getting younger and I have a little capital on the side…see what I mean? That is why Daisy’s visit is so important. And here you are, fresh from Schaffenbrucken. I happen to know she hasn’t anyone there with that special brand of polish on them. If she likes you—and I can’t see how she could fail to—there’s a chance. And, Cordelia my dear, I want you to think very hard about taking it. It was the one thing which made all this acceptable to me and I can see that if it works as I plan, everything that has happened is going to be a blessing in disguise.”