The Mask of the Enchantress (31 page)

She said: id you see your father?

I nodded.

nd Miss Anabel? There was a slight tremor in her voice as she said that and then I knew, for from the first she had seemed vaguely familiar. She was the one who had brought the food when we went on the picnic and who had driven the dogcart for us, the one who, Anabel had told me, always said what she meant, who couldn tell a lie and rarely said anything good about anything. I struggled a few moments to bring out her name from the recesses of my memory. Then I thought, Janet! It must be Janet, but I was not going to fall into the trap of using her name until I was sure.

es,I said, saw them both.

ere they

I said fervently: hey were happy together. My father was doing wonderful work on the island.

ee only just got the news about the explosion or whatever it was.

t was a volcanic eruption.

hatever it was, it killed them both. Miss Anabel she was a wayward one but she had a sweet nature.*

oue right,I said.

Again that sharp look in my direction. Then she shrugged her shoulders. ught never to have done it.

She turned and we went on our way. She paused by a door, tapped on it and a voice called, ome in.Janet turned to me and put her fingers to her lips.

I heard the voice say: s that you, Janet?

t is, Mrs. Mateland.

I was right. It was Janet. I felt I had made some progress.

iss Susannah home, Mrs. Mateland.

I went into the room.

So this was Emerald, the wife of David whom my father had killed in a duel. She was sitting in a chair away from the light She was evidently a tall woman and very slender; her expression was resigned, her face pale and her hair turning gray.

usannah she said.

I heard myself say: h, Aunt Emerald, it is good to see you.

thought you were never coming.Her voice sounded peevish.

here were things to settle,I said, and kissed her papery cheek.

his terrible thing,she began. smond

know,I murmured.

t was sudden. That fearful illness. He was well the week before and then he suddenly sickened and was dead in a week.

hat was it?

ome sort of fever gastric fever. If only Elizabeth were alive now. She would have been such a comfort. Malcolm is so practical. He arranged everything. Oh, my dear Susannah, we must mourn together. I know you were going to marry him, but he was my son my only son. All I had. There no one now.

e must comfort each other,I said.

She gave a strange little snort.

hat a bit incongruous, isn it?

I patted her hand because I was not sure what to reply.

ell,she went on, e shall have to try and get along now. I take it you don want to turn me out of my home.

unt Emerald! How can you suggest such a thing!

ell, I suppose I haven the same rights now that Esmond has gone. As his mother, it was naturaloh, never mind now. What is to be will be. It all so upsetting.

didn intend to disturb anyone,I assured her. want it to be the same.

our travels have done you good, Susannah.

h, you mean Ie changed.

don know. I suppose it seeing you again after all this time. You seem different somehow. I suppose all that traveling would change a person.

n what way, Aunt Emerald?I asked anxiously.

ust a feeling. I thought you seemed less well, I always felt you were hard, Susannah. I don know.

ell me about your eyes, Aunt Emerald.

heye getting steadily worse.

an nothing be done?

o, it an old complaint. Lots of people have it. Ie just got to endure it.

am sorry.

here! That what I mean. Youe got gentler. You sound as though you really care. I didn think you ever gave my eyes a thought.

I turned away. She was thinking my concern for her sight was purely altruistic. I was sorry for her, but I couldn help seeing this affliction of hers as something to my advantage.

She went on: ould you like some tea? Or would you like to go to your room first?

A sudden thought had come to me. I must discover which was my room. If I waited until my bags were put in it I should be able to identify it by them.

I said: wonder if my bags have come yet.

ull the bell rope,she said. l get them to bring some tea and they can let us know when your bags arrive.

Janet came back.

sk them to send up some tea, Janet,said Emerald.

Janet nodded and went out.

anet doesn change much,I ventured.

anetoh. She too forward if you ask me. Seems to think she is in some special position. I was surprised she stayed after your father went all those years ago. She came with Anabel from her home, you know. You must have seen Anabel with your father.

es.

n that ridiculous island. Sometimes I think there a streak of madness in the Matelands.

ery likely,I said with a little laugh.

hat awful affair. Two brothers Il never get over it. I was glad that Esmond was too young to know what it was all about. And then Joel going off to that island and living there like some nabob or something. Your father always was so flamboyant. So was David for that matter. I married into a strange family.

ell, that was a long time ago, Aunt Emerald.

any weary years ago. There must be a lot you have to tell me about them and everything.

ometime I will,I said.

Tea was brought in.

usannah, will you pour?she asked. can see very well. I apt to slop the tea over into the saucer.

I sat down, poured out and took a cup to her. There were some little cakes on a plate and some bread and butter.

smond was very restless after you gone,she went on. eally, Susannah, need you have stayed away so long?

t was so far away, you see, and having made that long journey, I felt I had to stay a little while.

rust you to find out your father hiding place! And then you went back to Sydney and while you were away the whole thing blew up. What a climax to all that secret melodrama. Fitting in a way.

t was horrible,I said vehemently.

ut you were well out of it, Susannah.

ometimes I wish

She was waiting. I must be careful. I must not show my feelings too intensely. I had a feeling that Susannah had never felt deeply about anything that did not concern herself.

wish,I finished lamely, hat they had accompanied me to Sydney. Tell me of Esmond.

There was a brief silence, then she said: t was a return of that mysterious illness he had before you went away. Do you remember?

I nodded.

e was ill then desperately ill. As you know, we thought that was the end but he recovered. We thought he would the second time. It was a great blow. Malcolm took over estate matters. He very friendly with Jeff Carleton.

h, is he?I said.

es. I believe Jeff thinks the place should have gone to Malcolm after Esmond. In fact I thought it might. But your grandfather always had a prejudice against Malcolm because of his grandfather. They hated each other, those two brothers. I never knew such a family for feuds.

I felt a tremor of uneasiness. I should know these people. I was skating on very thin ice and I must inevitably come to a spot where the ice was too thinnd then would be disaster.

dare say Jeff Carleton will be wanting to see you soon. He a bit uneasy about things, but of course that natural.

f course,I replied, desperately searching in my mind for some clue received in the past which would tell me who Jeff Carleton was.

e hoping everything will be run in the same way. I don suppose youl want to change anything. I always thought dear Esmond was a trifle too easygoing.

I nodded. I was building up a picture of Esmond. Quiet. Easygoing.

think he gave Jeff rather a free hand and I dare say Jeff is hoping that will continue.

dare say,I said.

here was always such a fuss about the estate and I suppose when David died Jeff assumed authority. He got a taste for it, Esmond being so young.

nd easygoing,I added.

She nodded.

I drank some of the hot tea. It was reviving, but I could eat nothing. I was too overwrought.

Emerald continued to talk and desperately I floundered, trying to catch at some thread and comment sensibly. It was exhausting and when there was a knock on the door and Janet entered to say that my bags were now in my room I rose with alacrity. I was looking forward to a few hours in which to assimilate what I had learned.

I rose and said I would go to my room.

ee you at dinner,said Emerald.

I went out. Now was the moment to look for my room. I guessed it would be on the next floor. I looked over my shoulder furtively. It was important that no one see me. I hurried up the stairs. As I reached the top a figure emerged from the far end of the corridor. It was Janet.

ust going to your room, Miss Susannah?she said.

r yes,I replied.

ell, your bags are there. I went up with them to make sure everything was all right.

h, thank you.Go away, I wanted to shout. What are you hanging about for? It was almost as though she knew what a quandary I was in and wanted to catch me.

I walked past her and she started towards the stairs. There was a window in the corridor. I went to it and loitered as though looking down on the scene belowt the green lawns and the woodlands in the distance.

I thought she had gone and turned towards the first door. I was about to open it swiftly when I heard her voice. o no I shouldn, Miss Susannah. I shouldn if I were you.

She had come back and was standing behind me, her hand on my arm.

t would be too painful for you. It just as he left it. His mother wouldn let us change it. I think she comes up here sometimes. It not easy for her to get up. I think she just sits there and broods, grieving because he gone.

Esmond room! I thought. What a lucky escape! She thought I was going in to brood.

I wanted to get rid of her. I said with what I felt was the right amount of emotion: have to go in, Janet.

She sighed and stepped into the room with me. It was very neat. There was his bed, the line of bookshelves along one wall, the bureau in the corner, the armchairs, the bronze-colored curtains with a chrysanthemum pattern on them.

Janet was behind me. e died in that bed,she said. is mother won have anything changed. But I wouldn advise you to stay in here, Miss Susannah. I don know. It eerie. Not good for you.

I answered: want to wait here awhile, Janet. I want to be alone.

ll right then. You do what you want to.She went out and shut the door.

I sat down on a chair and it was not of Esmond that I was thinking but of Janet and how I was to find my room without her knowing that I was seeking it.

After a while I cautiously opened the door and looked into the corridor. All was quiet and deserted. Stealthily I made my way along the corridor, opening one door after another and looking for my bags.

There were several bedrooms. Cautiously I opened the door right at the end of the corridor, and I found the room which contained my bags.

Strained and nervous, I went in and sank onto the bed.

And this was just the first few hours.

While I was unpacking there was a knock on the door.

ome in,I called, my heart starting to pound as it did when I was about to encounter some fresh trial.

It was Janet again.

an I be of help?

o, thanks. I can manage.

s there anything theye forgotten to put in your room?

don think so.

race, that new maid she a bit scared of you.

hy should she be?

h, she heard of you and your tantrums. And now youe the mistress, so to speak.

I laughed uneasily.

re you going to put these things in the drawer? All neatly folded. That not like you, Miss Susannah. I never knew anyone so untidy. Things always scattered over the floor. Now youe turned tidy. Is that what travel done for you?

ou might say it is. When youe packing and unpacking you realize you have to keep things in some sort of order.

She nodded. want to say something to you.She lowered her voice. t about Anabel.

es?I asked uneasily.

ou saw her on that island place. How was she?

he was well and happy and seemed satisfied with life.

Janet shook her head. t was a terrible blow to me when she went away. She was like one of my own. She ought not to have left me like that.

he could hardly have taken you with her.

hy not? I came here with her from the vicarage. I belonged with her not here.

ell, you stayed here.

was fond of her,mused Janet. he was a bit of a minx up to tricks you never knew what it would be nextbut she had a sweet nature.

I could not speak. I feared to betray my emotion.

nd they were happy there her and that Mr. Joel?she went on. l never forget that night. All the rushing to and fro all the noise and chatter and then finding him out there. I remember them carrying him in on a stretcher. It didn seem like real life somehow. But the thing about real life is that it can sometimes be like what is unreal. Oh, my poor Miss Anabel!

I thought: There is a purpose in all this. She is suspicious. She is testing me. It means something.

here was a little girl,she said. saw her once. A nice little thing. I wonder what became of her.

he was there with them,I told her.

ell, bless me! I might have known. Miss Anabel wouldn have gone away and left her.

o, she didn.

nd you would have seen her on this island then, Miss Susannah.

es, I saw her. She was Suewellyn.

hat right. They had a picnic once. I was there.

id they?My heart was racing now. I feared it would betray my agitation.

es. A nice bewildered little thing. I could see she was a Mateland. What became of her?

I could feel Janet eyes on me and I said quickly: he was on the island when it happened. She went with them.

oor mite. She reminded me of you when I saw her. About the same age the same build and that something about her which made you say, o doubt what stable she came out of!It a terrible tragedy and a mercy you were not there when it happened. Funny what made you go over to Sydney just at the right time.