Dwight said suddenly: 'Did you say you slept at Ashburton?'
'Yes. I've been farther afield and am on my way home. Sit down and I'll tell you of it'
Dwight warmed his hands at the fire and accepted the glass he -was offe
red. Ross went on talking, his
long strong fingers running along the edge' of the mantelshelf, curiously purposive, Dwight thought, though the , conversation was idle enough,
`You said you had been farther afield,' Dwight prompted as
the servant curtsied and went out.
'Yes. To London. I saw, Caroline.'
Dwight did not move. When he was sure of his voice, he
said : 'You went to see h
er about the loan, I suppose.'
'Yes, in the main. I went to thank her. Of course we had a
considerable conversa
tion on general matters also.'
'Indeed.'
'I found she was not engaged to marry anyone.'
"But her uncle said,
'No. I asked her about that. The report was premature. She
had not come to any definite decision.'
Dwight frowned miserably
at the fire. `It's hard to understand that
.’
‘
We discussed you. I hope you didn't mind.' 'Naturall
y not,' he said in a voice that
showed he did.
What she said convinced
me that it was worth while your
meeting again. In fact, I tried to persuade her to come back
with me, officially to visit her uncle, and to stop in Plymouth
one night on the way.'
'Which she
refused to do.'
'Which she refused to do. How well you understand each
other! I visited her on Monday and used all my persuasion
in vain. But on Tuesday I went to see her again. Posssibly the
effe
ct of twenty-four hours
reflection and the somewhat overbearing tone
-
I used
-
had the effect of persuading her different.
’
‘
The fact that her uncle
.
’
Dwight got up. `What do you mean?'
`The fact that her uncle was ill did, I, think, make the
project savour of respectability'
Dwight said 'Ross, what do you mean?'
Ross' said: 'I mean she is here, Dwight. The servant has
gone for her.'.
'Good God,
She has come to see me? But I
-
' Dwight had gone pale.
'She has com
e, but very reluctantly. Very reluctantly,
and with, I think,
quite a new and sober attitude of mind. Let me emphasis
e that there's no settled idea
of reconciliation in her mind, yet the fact that she has come, makes reconciliation at least a pos
sibility. The next move is with
you, Dwight And, i
f I may offer, advice
-
'
Ross broke off. Someone, had tapped at the door.
Ross said: `I have been explaining to Dwight
that
you are on your way to visit your uncle, are spending one night in Plymouth, and are here now at my invitation, I strongly feel you should both meet once
more
as friends. It may be the last chance you'll have of
meeting
for years
-
or the last
ever, Sit down, will you? Here, Caroline.... You there, Dwight.'
He had the authority to impose his will on them as perhaps no one else could have done. Neither spoke. After
a single
glance they didn't for some
tim
e look at
each
other.
Caroline
sat down by the fire and smoothed cut the skirt of her travelling dress like a bird spreading its wings to the warmth. The tensions of the moment had given her back, her
colour.
Ross said; 'Believe me, I'm not by choice a tomfool meddler in other people's lives, especially in affairs which touch you
both so
close as this. The last thing... But, sometimes, however mistaken, one conceives it one's duty to meddle, and this is such a time. So far as I know you have never talked over your differences quiet-minded and, without haste
or
anger or recrimination. I think you owe that much to each other and in a degree to your friends. It took time to bring Caroline to my view. She positively felt that such a move on her part would be misinterpreted, and
I undertook to explain to you -
as I have done, Dwight
-
that this meeting is to be taken only for what it is, a gesture of common good-will
before you lea
ve England. Of c
ourse, I believe it to be the
only neighbourly way
to behave.'
Dwight, looked up, and met a
glance that wasn't in keeping with all this politeness. But in fact he was not inclined
to disagree. H
is throat was dry.
'Nothing
would give me greater pleasure than to dine with Caroline to talk with her again.'
Caroline looked at the table. 'You're staying, Ross? The meal is only set for two.'
'It was meant
for two. I shall dine elsewhere. But I'll be back. You'll both wait here for me?'
It was an insidious request, ruling out as it did any angry breakup. After a second Dwight nodded and Caroline gave a little acquiescent shrug.
Dwight said: "You have not been well, Caroline?'
'I am in good health,
thank
you.'
`I thought
..’
'My complexion has always been poor. I am going off rapidly.'
`No, no; your uncle said you'd
been
ill.'
`Oh. I'm recovered. But I have found the prospect of this interview trying.'
It was plain that having been brought alm
ost forcibly to make this first
big move Caroline, being Caroline, would be defensiv
e and prickly to begin. Dwight had started off on the
wrong foot. She looked cool enough, a little disdainful, far more collected than Dwight, but Ross knew she was not. It was time Dwight discovered that. If he did not, he was lost and all would be wasted.
She had come
, in too soon, before he could
say any of the things to Dwight that he had hoped to say. Ross wondered now whethe
r to, try to help still more or go,
leaving, them to
struggle alone. He poured out
a glass of sherry for Caroline and moved to take it to her. But Dwight quickly intercepted him. Ross watched him hand it to her and her quick, cool upward glance which b
etrayed nothing at all.
But something in Dwight's look encouraged Ross. In ten months Dwight had suffered a lot. It had matured him in a new way.
Ross said
"Before I go, I suggest that we take a glass of wine together. Nothing formal: No more than a friendly gesture. That's if you both still regard me as a friend.'
They drank. Caroline said: `I do not know how Ross behaves to his own wife, but if he treats her one half so cavalierly as he has me this week, I shall
call her, very
downtrodden!
'You comp
liment me
too highly,' Ross said. 'And yourself too little:
Their
eyes met. They had come to an understanding o
f each other, these two, among t
he conflicts of the last few days.
Ross said: `But since You mention my wife, I'll mention her too, for she wou
ld have views on the situation tonight,
though different in some particulars from ours. She would argue
that if a man and a woman care
for each other, then the obstacles, which keep them apart must be
substantial
otherwise they are pretentious end unworthy or are, contrived, by one or the
other with insufficient reason and should be disregarded, She puts emotion above intellect; and the result is what you'd
expect.'
No one challenged him.
`I do not wholly agree with her; there's something to be said for both sides. But I think her s
ide is worth the consideration
along with any other. She would say that a man was a fool and a woman was a fool ... that they were cowards too. She'd say life holds only two or three things worth the having, and if you possess them the rest don't matter, and if you do not possess them the rest are useless.' He went to the door. `If you look round you, I suppose you would have to confess th
at her view works out in the maj
ority of cases. It is sentimental; but by and large we're creatures of sentiment and cannot escape. Nor is it always wise to want to. You see people every day who take a chance and damn the consequences. Many of them suffer for it, but I do not think they come off worst.
The people
who come off worst are the people
who
draw back, at the last moment and . spend the rest of their lives regretting it. No, don't get up, Dwight, I'll see myself out;'
Christmas Day
was on a Wednesday, and the Tuesday came without any word
at
Nampara from Ross. Not that Demelza expected a letter, since letters travelled no faster than people; but she had hoped he would be back before this. She had not spent a Christma
s
alone
at
Nampara before, and this of all Years would be most
uncomfortable
to bear.
Being in constant expectation of his
coming was being on
the constant qui vive, so she spent much of the day indoors, the first part of it tasking some
beer
which they had brewed. Almost, every footfall caused her to
turn
her head; but in the end she was out
when he came,
having gone to see Prudie Paynter, who was laid up with her leg and bitterly complain' of Jud's neglect and misbehaviour.; When she came back
, he was already in the parlour
and she walked in unsuspecting.
She gave a squeak as he turned. `Why, Ross, I didn't know. I was up
at Prudie's, How did
you come?'
He smiled as he kissed her
-
it was just a formal salute between them. `On four legs and then two. Should I have brought the carol singers?'
`You're an hour or so early: they don't belong to be here before dark, When did you leave London?'
`Last Tuesday. In snow. They manage things
more
seasonably up there. I stopped at Plymouth and saw Dwight and
left there yesterday afternoon.' Conversation was broken by the arrival of Jeremy - but he
helped to ease the constraint which now was sought by neither of them. Ross had brought him presents, and some he gave him now and some he saved until tomorrow. Over Jeremy's head, punctuated with squeals and shouts, he told her some details of the journey; but twenty minutes passed
before: he was able to say what
he should have said at the start.
`Have
, you three extra bedrooms you could get ready for tonight?'
`Three? ...
Why, who is co
ming? What have you arranged?'
`I have brought Caroline back with me. Caroline and her maid.'
Demelza opened her eyes. `Where is she?
Do you mean at her uncle's?'
'She is with him now. But I
i
nvited her
here to supper, and I want you to put her and her maid up over Christmas.!
'
Over Christmas? Gladly I'd lay
special carpets for her if I had them. But it's awful
short notice, Ross and
I don't
quite understand-'
We stayed a night in Plymouth and then came on. The
story of her
engagement was overhasty. There was no truth in it, When I heard that, I felt most of our old misgivings
should be set aside and I tried my hand
as matchmaker. Of course I hadn't your skill, and at first she would, have, none of it. But on my second visit she decided to nibble at the bait. We saw Dwight in Plymouth.'
`Yes?'
`I believe they have made it u
p. He travelled back with us and, if we can fix him in, will stay here too,'
'They have? Oh, Ross, I'm very glad!
More than glad, The longer
I have thought of it.... But how did you contrive it?
Can he 'get out of the Navy?'
`How did I contrive it? I thought, wh
at would Demelza do, and I did
it. That was all. It was really not very difficult once the first resistance was
overcome'
'And Dwight?'
`He's at the Gatehouse. There's been delay in commissioning his ship. The captain arrived only yesterday morning. He gave
Dwight
three more days ashore. That means he must leave here after dinner tomorrow and be in Plymouth Thursday evening. What's that on your wrist?'
She, had put up her hand, and the white bandage showed.
`It's nothing; a
scratch. Ross, I'm delighted for what you
did. Above all, 'twas common sense. There
is so little
of it in this
world
!
What time are
they
coming? I
must fl
y. If
you'd
–‘
As she went past him,' he took her arm and lifted the lace back from her sleeve again.
`It's nearly healed. What can I give them for supper?'
Don't worry, I bought a goose in Truro and some ribs of
beef and a fillet of veal. I have never known you tie up a
scratch
in your l
ife: ' Who put this bandage on?' 'Jane. To tell the truth, it wasn't exactly a cut.' `Then what was it?'
`Garrick bit me
by accident,
like. I must tell Jane at
..’
`Garrick bit you? Nonsense. What are you, trying to hide?
`It is the truth. Last week something happened to excite him. I'll tell you of it later. Just an unpleasantness. What time are they coming? Do you think it will work out right this time, Ross?'
`Right' Ross still held her arm and, was now untying the
bandage. Seeing no way
out, she suffered it without complaint, not entirely unflattered by his refusal
to
be put off. 'Yes, I think it will work out this time. It is a great pity they have no longer. At the best it can only be a reconciliation before he leaves.'
He took off the last bandage and the lint. The bite was healing cleanly, but the marks left, no doubt as to what it had been. Ross looked up:
Where's Garrick?'
`I left him asleep,, in the
kitchen. You're not going to
'
`I don't know. How long is it since this happened?'
`Yesterday sennight.'
Ross was silent a moment. The dreaded rabies was ruled out. `Has he been quiet since? Even if he is, I don't think we can run risks, for Jeremy's sake.'
`No. No, it's not that at all.' In defence of her beloved Garrick she found herself forced to tell him what had happened, though she toned
it all
down until it sounded like the merest accident for which no one was in the least to blame.
'Then the b
andage was tied again, she said
: 'Ross, which bedrooms shall they have? We have only
two nice rooms, and I dearly
wish they were not so shabby., And I cannot well get out of my own in so short a, time, with Jeremy already settled there. I do not suppose Dwight will heed where he sleeps. But
..’
He went across and put on two fresh pieces of wood. `You, had best prepare her my room.'
`Yes,' she said after a moment. 'There are new curtains in there. And Dwight we can, give the room over, though it is in poor shape.'
`You can set up my bed in the little room behind if you like.'
'Whatever you say.' Demelza fingered the bandage and glanced at him. When she pushed back her hair, the candles made of her movements a mystical confused replica on the ceiling. `Jane and I could carry my new dressing table down. It would be nice for Ca
roline. And I'll fetch out the lace bedspread-‘
'I'm sure she will appreciate anything you do. But I'm also sure that her pleasure will not turn on
the newness of the furnishings
Demelza, it's not yet six-thirty. I thought to go out for an hour. You'll have a free hand
then, and I shall be back well
before our visitors arrive.'
`Will you go far?'
He smiled at her. `I want just to drop over and see George.'
`I was afraid of that
! ' she said. `Ross, you must not! You'll come back with your head all bloody-if you come back at all Ross, I tell you, no!'
`Don't fret this time. I shall go in peace.'
`So you may, a
s you have before. But have you
ever left in peace? It is very
well for you to go to talk to h
i
m
, but
You know you will get thrown off his land
-
at the very
least
! Something worse happens every time you me
et! You cannot mean to create
more ill will just because of a silly mistake on the part of his gamekeepers! George as good as apologised for them when he came up.'
He did not answer,' but she felt no awareness of victory.
She said : 'We have Dwight and
Caroline
coming, I do not wish to be bandaging your broken head, or
-
or talking to them, trying to be nice to them, and all the time waiting for your return. It's
a season of good will. Let us be content for today and tomorrow.'
The new wood was hissing as flames discovered the moisture within it. Occasionally it sputtered a protest. Ross pushed one piece farther on with his boot.
'George seldom
seeks violence
-
I introduce the violence, not he. As for his servants - th
ey are nothing. I shall talk to
him and come away. 'I'm very sorr
y, my dear. I very much want to please you tonight, I
hope still to do so. But this is something ... It is not wholly because of your brush with him, I have, been thinking about him a good deal on the journey.
’
George and Elizabeth supped
at seven. It was early but a convenient hour for them both.
Immediately after Christmas they were to settle in town until after t
he baby was born.
The one thing that irked George about his new country house was that no turnpike road existed. You could get a coach through the last five miles, so long as the mud was not too deep, but it was a crazy lurching journey which shook
y
ou up more than travelling on horseback.
Elizabeth had kept well
since her marriage,
except for one or two diplomatic indispositions is, In a
looped-up polonaise gown of yellow brocade
she looked as lovely tonight as she
had ever done in her life, the
fulln
ess
in her cheeks softening the fine-drawn classic oval of jaw and chin
-
that ultimate beauty of bone which would never fade. At Trenwith -
they always supped alone: George had let it be known early that he wanted his evening meal in the company of his wife, so the Chynoweths ate in their sitting-ro
om upstairs. The winter parlour
had been transformed; much of the panelling ripped out and the walls hung with expensive
flock paper.; a new dining table with such a polish on it that the slightest thing left a mark; twenty extra, candles; a liveried footman to wait on them. At the opposite end of the table George sat, full-bodied, self-possessed, w
ell groomed. In the summer they
would dine in the hall. George had plans for the hall.
Elizabeth had found life with her second husband a mass of contradictions. He lived, she found, more genteelly than the people of her own kind. Although he was putting on weight, he ate considerably less than Francis had done or her father did. Accustomed to a society in which men considered, the courtesies observed if they didn't slide under the table before the ladies left, she found his sobriety attractive. H
e drank but never got the worse
for drink. He never spat or blew his nose in her presence. His courtesy towards her was unchanged whether they were in company or alone.
But of course it was impossible to treat him as she had treated Francis. He was not one quarter;
so malleable, so mercurial, so
easy to understand. She missed Francis's dry-humour, and
w
easy sophistication. Somehow she never seemed able
to meet George on equal terms.
While she was absolute mistress of the small things, she found him absolute master, of the large. She did not love him; she w
as not even sure that he loved
her; but she felt herself to be a treasured possession
, cared for and considered in
every way.
Often it
was delightful to be so treated. It was what she had, longed for during her widowhood. Occasionally she found it Oppressive.' He kept all his other feelings under as good a control as his feelings for his wife. It seemed as if in climbing; the ladder of society he had been so afraid of betraying the wrong emotions that he had grown afraid of showing any at all. He was
morbidly, sensitive about his
humble beginnin
gs,
though even that he was clever enough to keep from her for some months. Then one day she made a remark that could be taken two ways, and she saw the inst
ant resentment before he could
hide it. After that she walked carefully, watching her own, word
s when necessary so that
no hint of condescension could be gathered from them.
Tonight in the first part of dinner they talked, about the news which had just come through to Falmouth of the fall of Toulon. Its surrender to the British last August, together
with thirty battleships and great quantities of nava
l stores, had looked like the
end of the war. Lord Hood in, grateful astonishment had taken possession and had sent an urgent a
ppeal for forty thousand troops
to consolidate this
magnificent o
pportunity. The government had sent two thousand British soldiers, some Piedmontese, and a few Spaniards. Now in December the Republic, freed of its other preoccupation, had sent a large force and reduced the town, led by a new young general
of whose name the Falmouth
news-sheet had three different spellings in the length of a column but of whose ability no one seemed in doubt,
George had , always been for war as
against Revolution. The Warleggans were founding their dynasty within the framework of a settled and
ordered society. Anything which
might undermine that society was to be resisted and condemned. War was far the lesser of the evils:
`... small forces,' he was, saying, `which we re
duce to complete incompetence
by
distributing
to