A Dinner of Herbs (The Bannaman Legacy)

by Catherine Cookson

  The answer had been simple: there was no need for them to know who he was. His name was Benedict Fraser Hamilton. She could marry him tomorrow and be Mrs Fraser Hamilton. The Bannamans were all dead and gone, all of them that is except the grandmother. She was in America and a very old lady and no threat. She had been silly to worry. The day after tomorrow she would go up there and fetch him home.

  She rode out on the Thursday and was late coming back. They were finishing the meal when she walked into the dining room, and they all turned and looked towards her. Her face was flushed, her eyes were bright. She had taken off her hat and her hair looked tousled. Going up to the table, she looked at her mother and said, ‘I’m…I’m sorry I’m late.’ And Mary Ellen, looking up into her face, said quietly, ‘I put the pie back into the oven.’

  ‘I’m…I’m not hungry. I’ll just have some bread and cheese…Mam.’

  ‘Yes, lass?’

  ‘Would…would it be all right if my friend came to tea on Sunday?’

  The room was enveloped in silence, until Mary Ellen said, ‘Certainly, lass, certainly. He’ll be welcome.’

  She now looked towards Hal and she said, one word, ‘Dad?’

  Hal, swallowing the remnants of a mouthful of food, covered his surprise by being jovial. ‘Well, I don’t know. Will he bring his own bait?’

  The men all laughed, and Florrie laughed, only Maggie’s face was straight. Then Hal said, ‘Whoever you bring here, lass, is welcome.’

  ‘Thanks, Dad.’ She sat down now at her place at the table, and when John handed her the platter with the remains of a crusty loaf on it, he looked into her eyes and smiled.

  It was Maggie who next spoke, ‘I can’t wait,’ she said flatly. And Florrie, ever quick to pour oil on troubled waters, piped in brightly, ‘Nor can I Kate. Charles says he’s a splendid fellow and very intelligent, being widely travelled.’

  ‘Oh, my godfathers!’ Gabriel now was pretending to choke, and he said, ‘I’ll stay in the cow byres, and you two better keep me company’—he nodded at his elder brothers—‘because we’d never be able to pass ourselves.’

  He was smiling at Kate as he finished, and she, coming back at him said, ‘Oh, don’t worry, Gabriel, he’s met a lot of idiots in his time. He’ll understand that you’re not responsible for your low mentality. One cannot help how one is born.’

  This retort brought laughter again, yet it wasn’t whole-hearted. Their Kate was different somehow. No one of them could put his finger on it. Perhaps John came nearer to it as he looked at her, thinking, She’s not aware of herself any more. It’s as if her looks and size no longer matter to her. Or perhaps she’s put a true value on them. Whatever it is, she’s changed and is happier. That’s all that matters.

  Ten

  Kate did not ride out to meet her friend on the Sunday afternoon. He was to arrive at three o’clock and the house had been agog since early morning; in fact, it could be said it had been agog for the past two days, because Mary Ellen had made as much preparation for Kate’s friend’s visit as she had for Kate’s father.

  The chores in the farmyard had been got through early and the men were in their Sunday best, as were Mary Ellen and the girls. But Maggie had added an extra touch: she was wearing a brown velvet band around her neck with a tiny locket dangling from the middle of it, and in her hair, which had been arranged in loose rolls on the top of her head, she had inserted a matching bow, and she brought with her a strong aroma of lavender water. Kate’s attire in comparison looked utterly plain, yet her grey poplin sat on her figure as if moulded to it. And evidently she had been conscious of this, for she placed a pale blue sash high up on her waist below her breasts.

  The men were in the sitting room, all definitely ill at ease. Even Gabriel was finding nothing funny to say at the moment. And when, just on three o’clock, Mary Ellen, Florrie and Maggie entered the room, Hal stopped his pacing up and down between the windows and, turning to Mary Ellen, said, ‘Three o’clock, she said, didn’t she? Well, where is he?’

  ‘It’s only ten to.’

  ‘Where’s she?’

  ‘She’s in the hall. And sit yourself down and try to act as if it was an everyday occasion.’

  ‘Huh!’ The quiet exclamation from Maggie brought her mother’s eyes sharply on her, but she said nothing. And now, turning her attention to her eldest sons, she said, ‘You two are sitting there like stuffed dummies. Why can’t you read the newspaper?’

  ‘You forget they don’t know how to read, Mam.’ Gabriel’s revival to lightness caused a little titter.

  Then a flurry of movement affected everybody in the room as Hal jerked himself round from the windows, saying, ‘Here he comes…’

  Kate walked out of the front door and across the gravel to where Ben was dismounting, and, as if it hadn’t been arranged, Terry ambled up and took the visitor’s horse, saying, ‘I’ll see to him, sir.’

  As Terry led the horse away, Kate and Ben faced each other for a moment; then in an undertone, he said, ‘How’s things going?’

  ‘All very stiff and proper. They’re sitting in there as if for a church meeting. Now Ben’—her voice changed, dropping low—’you’ll be careful, won’t you?’

  ‘I’ll be careful. I am one Benedict Fraser Hamilton. I had forebears by the name of Fountain, which,’ he added, ‘is perfectly true. I shall not mention having bought Rooklands Farm. But what I shall do before I leave is to ask your father for your hand in marriage.’

  ‘Oh, Ben. I’m…quaking inside.’

  Ben bent his head towards her, saying in an undertone now, ‘That is a very good lead up to a conversation. I understand there’s a sect in Allendale who go under that name.’

  ‘Don’t joke.’

  They were walking towards the front door now, as he said, ‘I’m as nervous as you.’

  She cast a quick glance at him, saying, ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes’—his voice was serious now—‘because I feel I’m here under false pretences. If I had my way I would…’

  ‘Please, please, Ben.’

  ‘All right, all right, as we arranged.’ He smiled at her now. And then they were in the hall, and there were Mary Ellen and Hal coming towards them, and Kate found herself chattering, as Maggie or any self-conscious girl would have done, saying, ‘You’ve already met my mother and father, but…but this is Mr Hamilton.’

  ‘Mr Hamilton, is it?’ Hal’s hand was extended, and Ben shook it, saying, ‘I’m very pleased to make your better acquaintance, Mr Roystan. And…and yours too, Mrs Roystan.’ He was now shaking hands with Mary Ellen who didn’t speak, merely inclined her head and watched as he looked about him and then won her over immediately by saying, ‘What a fine hall.’

  Now she said, ‘Yes, yes, it is a nice hall. Will…you come and meet my family?’

  ‘It will be a pleasure.’

  The men were standing when they entered the drawing room, only Maggie and Florrie remained seated, as they had been taught to do by the dame at the school. Ladies never rise at the entry of gentlemen, had been her advice.

  It was Mary Ellen who was making the introductions: ‘These are my eldest sons, John and Tom,’ she said.

  ‘How do you do?’ Ben held out his hand, and it was shaken vigorously by the twins.

  ‘And this is my youngest son, Gabriel.’ And then she made a joke that broke the formality. ‘He was named after an angel,’ she said, ‘but I felt it was a mistake from the beginning, and time and again I’ve been proved right.’

  ‘Aw, Mam. Mam.’ Gabriel was laughing at the visitor, and Ben was laughing at him as he said, ‘Well, the fallen angel often comes out on top. But you know what they say, God is good with advice but the devil pays in cash.’

  Amid the laughter, Hal said, ‘Well, I’ve never heard that afore. Anyway, say hello to my two girls here, and you’ve seen them afore an’ all, then settle down and make yourself at home.’

  As Ben bowed, first towards Florrie, and then towards Maggie, saying
each time, ‘My pleasure. My pleasure,’ they inclined their heads towards him, and Maggie’s smile was sweet and her eyes lingered on him, and he appraised her for a moment before turning to Hal and saying, ‘You have a very fine family.’

  ‘Aye, well, they’re not bad. Are you from a big family?’

  ‘No, unfortunately…’ He had only just stopped himself from saying, ‘fortunately’, and went on, ‘I was the only one.’

  ‘They tell me you are doing a kind of book on this part of the country. Were your forebears from here?’

  ‘Yes, hereabouts.’

  ‘What name?’

  ‘By the name of Fountain.’

  ‘Fountain.’ Hal screwed up his eyes as if trying to recollect the name, and he said, ‘I seemed to remember that name, but there’s no Fountain hereabouts. Horse troughs but no fountains.’

  There were a number of groans and ‘Oh, Dad,’ from around the room. And now he cried at them, ‘Well, I’m allowed to have a joke. And I’ve got Mr Hamilton laughing, if not you lot. By the way, have we got to call you Mr Hamilton?’

  ‘I’d rather you called me Ben.’

  ‘Short for what?’

  ‘Benedict.’

  ‘I’m in good company.’ They turned and looked at Gabriel now, and he, grinning, said, ‘Another one from the Bible.’

  During all this time, Kate had been sitting opposite to Maggie and Florrie. She had her hands folded on her lap and it wasn’t evident that her nails were pressing into her flesh. She kept telling herself that nothing could happen, he would make no slips. The name Bannaman would not be mentioned, at least not by him. Yet, she could not help but feel uneasy, and she kept looking at Hal. If he only knew who the visitor really was, his anger could be such that he would do something terrible, were her thoughts.

  ‘What is your line of business?’ It was Tom speaking now, and Ben said, ‘My father’s business was coach-building, a firm owned by his father. My father died before my grandfather, who eventually sold out. I stayed on for a time with the company, but my heart wasn’t in it. I…I decided to travel a bit before settling down to another occupation.’

  ‘What kind of occupation?’

  He turned to Hal and shrugged his shoulder before he said, ‘Quite candidly, I haven’t as yet made up my mind. It would be very nice to say farming, but I know nothing whatever about farming. It may be writing, I don’t know yet.’

  ‘Well—’ Hal hunched his shoulders, saying, ‘if you’re in a position to keep yourself without working, well and good. Of course, it won’t cost you much up there in the wilds, in that but and ben. How did you last out the winter?’

  ‘I really don’t know. Sometimes I didn’t think I would make it.’

  ‘Then why did you stay?’ asked Hal bluntly.

  Ben glanced towards Kate. Her face looked anxious. Then he lowered his head before he said, ‘It’s a long story, but I went through a very traumatic experience some time ago, and I needed a period of recuperation, to be on my own and…well, work things out. Do you know what I mean?’

  Hal didn’t really know what the fellow meant. One thing he did know, he was puzzled why this man who talked and acted like an educated gentleman was living under conditions that a drover would scorn. There was something here that wanted sorting out. It was just as well that Kate and he were merely friends, for a bloke with no livelihood would be no good to her. And here they had been for the past two days, skiting from one end of the house and the land to the other, as if getting ready for a visit from the lord of the manor. And here was a fellow without a job, living practically rough, yet…Wait a minute. He had said, living practically rough. Look how he was dressed. You didn’t buy that kind of suit in Allendale or Hexham. And he had a gold chain hanging across his waistcoat, likely a similar quality watch on the end of it. And his boots, they were spanking leather. There was something fishy here. He was a good-looking bloke altogether. He was the kind of fellow, he imagined, that could get any woman he set his mind to. So why this friendship talk with their Kate? Not that Kate wasn’t worth the best. He’d have to get to the bottom of it or he wouldn’t be able to sleep the night.

  He got to the bottom of it sooner than he expected.

  When Annie unceremoniously pushed open the sitting-room door and said in no small voice, ‘The tea’s ready,’ Mary Ellen, rising quickly to her feet, said, ‘Well, that’s something we’re all ready for and I’m sure you could do with a cup, Mr Hamilton.’

  ‘He said to call him Ben.’ Hal was getting to his feet, and he cast a sidelong glance at Kate saying, ‘That’s right, isn’t it? We are to call him Ben?’

  When she returned his glance but said nothing, he thought to himself. She’s worried, she’s on edge.

  On entering the dining room, Ben once again paused and looked around him, saying now, ‘I suppose it’s very bad manners of me, but these are such lovely rooms, and so tastefully furnished.’

  Hal drew in a long breath. The fellow was a little too polite for his fancy, but, making light of it, he looked at Mary Ellen, saying, ‘Be on your guard, lass, he’s after something.’ Whereupon Ben, looking at Mary Ellen, answered quietly, ‘He’s quite right, ma’am, I am. And I’ll come to that shortly.’

  The whole family paused and turned their full attention on him and he let his gaze slip over them, and when it came to rest once again on Mary Ellen, he said, still quietly, ‘But what I would like now is that promised cup of tea and some of the delectable eatables.’ And he indicated the table with the movement of his hand. Then a moment later, seeing that Kate was about to sit next to him, he held the chair out for her, and when she was seated, she lowered her gaze for a moment, thinking. They won’t understand him. He doesn’t speak their language…delectable eatables. And his courtesy will be foreign to them. Even this part of it is not going to work out.

  But as the meal progressed it seemed that she could be wrong, for he caught their attention with his description of the vast areas outside the towns of Houston and Galveston. Even as she listened to him she could see the vast stretches of country, much of it inhabited by Indian tribes with names like Comanches, Kiowas, Apaches, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes. And when Gabriel asked if it was true that the Indians painted themselves and raided homesteads and villages, he touched on it lightly, out of consideration, she thought, for the women present, saying now, ‘The Rangers have things pretty much under control.’ Then on Gabriel’s further enquiry he described the type of men who became Rangers.

  ‘Have you ever ridden out after Indians?’ Tom was smiling at him, and he returned his smile with a grimace as he said, ‘Me ride out after Indians! More like running the other way. I’m a peaceful man, which is only another name for a coward.’ The men laughed. All except Hal, who, looking down the table from under his brows, thought again, he’s too smooth. He’s too clever, making out he takes to his heels when faced with danger. He didn’t have that impression at all of the fellow, not with that shaped jaw and eyes as black as chiselled coal…

  The meal lasted for nearly an hour. Three times Annie rose from the table and refilled the big brown teapot and the silver hot water jug. The plates that had held slices of pork and ham, meat pies, fruit pies, conserve tarts, seed cake, rice loaf, and an outsize loaf, were almost denuded now. And the atmosphere was relaxed: even Maggie was showing her better side, and had been for some time now, putting quite intelligent questions to the guest, and listening most attentively to his answers, her long lashed lids flapping, as Annie said later, like aspens in the wind.

  Maggie’s play was not lost on Kate, and she guessed what was in her mind, that if she herself was merely a friend of Ben’s, there was every chance of someone else becoming closer to him, and why not her? Indeed, why not her? For was she not pretty and vivacious? And she wondered what Maggie’s reaction would be when Ben stated the reason for his visit here today. And she hadn’t to wait much longer. It began with Hal saying, ‘Well, now, here’s one who must get out of his Sunday togs and continue
the business of the day. And that goes for you three weaklings an’ all.’ He nodded towards his sons. ‘And what about you, eh?’ He was now addressing Ben. ‘Would you like to come along with us, and see how things are run on a farm?’

  ‘I should indeed. Thank you very much.’

  Hal made as if to rise, then sat back, saying, ‘But before we go about our several businesses, there was something you were going to ask of us. Well, would you like to ask it now; or is it a private matter?’

  Ben did not answer for a moment, but, turning towards Kate, he took her hand and, lifting it up onto the white tablecloth, he held it there, saying quietly now, ‘It was to be a private matter, yet it concerns all your family, because I hope to take Kate’—he glanced at Kate’s almost white face now—‘away from you all. I’ve asked her to marry me, and she has done me the honour of accepting. Now all I want is your blessing.’ He had not said, consent.

  There was not a murmur or a movement around the table, for nothing he could have said would have surprised them more. Here was this fellow, a foreigner plainly from the way he talked, and a bit dandified into the bargain, but it came over more in his manner, like the way he was holding Kate’s hand now in front of them all, not on the table any more, but against his chest. Then look at the difference between him and her. All right, Kate was a fine woman, none better, but sitting there, they looked like chalk and cheese: him as flat and as lean as a stripped willow, and Kate…well, she was a big wench, there was no doubt about it, she was a fine big wench.

  It was Hal who seemingly got his breath back first, for now getting to his feet and thrusting the armchair aside, he said, ‘Aye, I think it should have been done in private. There are things to say, young fellow, things I want made clear, and now.’