“There is the one of the housemaid who hanged herself because the pantry man deserted her. Only she does not appear to you. How do you say? She knows her place.”
Maria, flushing, muttered: “Margot talks such nonsense.”
“Do let us play hide and seek,” pleaded Margot.
“It’s hardly fair to Minella,” protested Sybil.
“She doesn’t know the house.”
“Oh, but it’s only up here that we play. It would be frowned on if we went below and ran into guests. I shall go and hide now.”
Margot’s eyes were dancing with anticipation of pleasure, and this astonished me. But the thought of exploring the house even though I was confined to the top floor was so exciting to me that I forgot my surprise in Margot’s unexpected childishness. After all, Margot was always unpredictable and I supposed she was not really so very old.
Maria was grumbling.
“It’s such a silly game. I wonder why she wants to play it. Guessing games would be so much more suitable. I wonder where she goes. We never find her. And she always has to be the one to hide.”
“Perhaps we’ll find her this time, with Minella’s help,” said Sybil.
We left the schoolroom and went on to a landing. Maria opened a door;
Sybil opened another. I went into the one with Sybil. It was furnished as a bedroom and I realized that this was where Maria and Sybil slept.
There were two beds with half canopies in separate corners of the room, as far away from each other as possible.
I stepped back on to the landing. Maria was not there and an irresistible urge to explore by myself came to me. I stepped back into the solarium. It seemed different now that I was there alone. That was how it was with great houses;
they changed when people were there. It was as though there was something living in them.
How I longed to wander about the house, exploring it! How I wanted to know all that was happening in it now and what had happened in the past.
Margot might have understood. The Derringham girls never would. They would have thought it was the schoolmistress’s daughter being overwhelmed by her surroundings.
I was not interested in Margot’s childish games. It was obvious that she was not in the solarium. There was now her that I could see for her to hide.
I heard Maria’s voice on the landing and I stepped briski across the room. I had discovered another door in the solarium and I opened it and went through. A spiral staircase faced me On impulse I descended it. It wound round and round an seemed to go on for a long way before it came to an end. was in another part of the house. Here the corridor was wide There were heavy velvet curtains at the windows. I looked through one of them. I could see the lawn with the sun-dia and I knew that I was in the front of the house.
There were several doors along the corridor. Very cautiously I opened one. The blinds were drawn to shut out the sun an it took a few seconds for my eyes to become accustomed to th dimness. Then I saw the sleeping figure on the chaise-longue. I was the Comtesse, Margot’s mother. I quickly but very quietly shut the door. Suppose she had been awake and seen me! should have been in disgrace. My mother would have been hurt and bewildered and I should never have been invited ti Derringham Manor again. Perhaps I never should in any case as this was the first time I had been asked.
It was the on time most likely. Then I must make the most of it.
My mother often said that when I wanted to do something which was of questionable behaviour, I would make excuse why it was right to do it. What excuse could I make for wandering about the house . prying . for it was nothing more? Joel Derringham had been pleased that I liked the house. I was sure he would not mind. Nor would Sir John And it might be my only chance.
I went along the corridor. Then to my joy I discovered that one door was slightly ajar. I pushed it further and peeped into the room. It was very like that in which the Comtesse lay or her chaise-longue except that there was a four-poster bed ir it hung with rich curtains.
I noticed the beautiful tapestries which adorned the walls.
I could not resist it. I tiptoed in.
Then my heart leaped in terror, for I heard the door shut behind me. I had never felt so frightened in all my life, Someone had shut the door. My position was unbearable embarrassing. In such situations I was quick at finding excuses and could generally rely on being able to extricate myself from awkward places, but in that moment I was really frightened. We had talked of the supernatural and I felt as though I could be in the presence of it.
Then a voice behind me said in accented English: “Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
I turned sharply. The Devil Count was standing against the door, his arms folded; his eyes-very dark, almost black-were boring into me;
his mouth curved in a smile which matched the rest of him and which I could only call diabolical.
I stammered: “I’m sorry. I appear to have intruded.”
You seek someone? ” he asked.
“It is not my wife, I know, for you rejected her after you had looked into her room. Perhaps you search for me?”
I realized then that the two rooms were connected and he had been in that one into which I had peeped on the sleeping Comtesse. He had no doubt hastily come into this room and opened the door to lure me in in order to trap me when I had entered.
“No, no,” I said.
“It is a game. Margot is hiding.”
He nodded.
“Perhaps you should sit down.”
“No, thanks. I should not have come down here. I should have stayed upstairs.”
I walked boldly to the door but he did not move away from it and I stopped short looking at him helplessly and yet fascinated, wondering what he was going to do. What he did do was step forward and take my arm.
“You must not go away so soon,” he said.
“Now that you have visited me, you must stay awhile.”
He was studying me closely and his scrutiny embarrassed me.
“I think I should go,” I said as easily as I could.
“They will be missing me.”
“But it is Margot who is hiding. They will not find her yet. It is a big house for her to hide herself in.”
“Oh, but they will. It is only the top floor …” I stopped foolishly. I had betrayed myself.
He laughed triumphantly.
“Then what are you doing down here.
Mademoiselle? “
“It is my first visit to the house. I lost my way.”
“And you were looking in these rooms to find it?”
I was silent. He drew me to the window and pulled me down beside him.
I was close to him, deeply aware of the linen that smelt faintly of sandalwood and the large signet ring with the crest which he wore on the little finger of his right hand.
“You should tell me your name,” he said.
“I am Minella Maddox.”
“Minella Maddox,” he repeated. I know well. You are the schoolmistress’s daughter. “
“I am. But I hope you will tell no one that I came down here.”
He nodded gravely.
“So you have disobeyed orders …”
“I was lost,” I said firmly.
“I would not like it to be known that I was so foolish.”
“So you are asking a favour of me?”
I merely suggest that you do not mention this trivial matter. ” ” It is not trivial to me. Mademoiselle. “
“I do not understand you. Monsieur Ie Comte.”
“So you know me?”
“Everyone in the neighbourhood knows you.”
“I wonder how much you know of me.”
“Only who you are and that you are Margot’s father and that you come from France to visit Derringham from time to time.”
My daughter has talked of me, has she? “
“Now and then.”
“She has told you of my many … what is the word?”
> “Sins, do you mean? If you would prefer to speak in French …”
“I see you have formed an opinion of me. I am a sinner ,i who does not speak your language as well as you speak mine.” He was talking in rapid French, hoping, I knew, that I should not understand, but I had had a good grounding and my fear was deserting me; moreover, although I knew that I was in a difficult situation and he was the sort of man who would not be chivalrous enough to help me out of it, I could not suppress a certain exhilaration. I replied in French that I had thought the word he was searching for was the one I had supplied and if he was thinking of something else would he give it to me in French and I was sure I should understand.
“I see,” he said, still speaking very quickly, ‘that you are a spirited young lady. Now let us understand each other. You seek my daughter Marguerite, whom you call Margot. She is hiding on the upper floor of the house. You know this yet you seek her down here. Ah, Mademoiselle, you did not seek Marguerite but to satisfy your curiosity. Come, admit it. ” He frowned in a manner which was, I was sure, calculated to strike terror in those who observed it.
“I do not like people to tell me untruths.”
“Well,” I said, determined not to be browbeaten, ‘it is my first visit to a house of this type and I do admit to a certain curiosity. “
“Natural, very natural. You have very pretty hair. Mademoiselle. I would say it is the colour of the corn in August. Would you agree?”
“You are pleased to flatter me.”
He put up a hand and caught a strand of my hair which my mother had curled carefully and which was tied back with a blue riband to match my dress.
I felt uneasy, yet the exhilaration persisted. I was forced to move closer to him as he pulled at my hair. I could see his face very clearly, the shadow under the luminous dark eyes, the brows thick, yet finely marked. He was the most striking-looking man I had ever seen.
“And now,” I said, “I should go.”
“You came at your pleasure,” he reminded me, ‘and I think it only courteous that you should leave at mine. “
“As we are concerned with courtesy you will not detain me against my will.”
“But we are discussing the courtesy you owe me. I owe you none, remember. You are the intruder. Oh, Mademoiselle, to peep into my bedchamber! To pry so! Shame on you!”
His eyes were sparkling. I remembered Margot’s talk of his unpredictability. At the moment he was amused, hi a short time he might not be.
I jerked my hair out of his hand and stood up.
“I apologize for my curiosity,” I said.
“It was most ill-mannered of me. You must do what you think fit about the matter. If you wish to tell Sir John …” I thank you for your permission,” he said. He was beside me, and to my horror he put his arms about me and held me against him.
Then his finger was under my chin lifting my face.
“When we transgress,” he went on, ‘we must pay for our sins. This is the payment I ask. ” He took my face in his hands and kissed me on the lips not once but many times.
I was horrified. I had never been kissed in such a way before. I wrenched myself free and ran.
The thought uppermost in my mind was that he had treated me as a serving girl. I was horrified. Moreover, it was my own fault.
I stumbled out of the room. I found the spiral staircase and as I started up it I heard a movement behind me. For a moment I thought it was the Comte in pursuit and I felt numb with terror.
Margot said: “What are you doing down here, Minelle?”
I turned. She was flushed and her eyes were dancing.
“Where have you been?” I demanded.
“Where have you" She put her fingers to her lips.
“Come on. Upstairs.”
We went up the staircase. At the top, she turned to me and laughed. We went into the solarium together.
Maria and Sybil were already there.
“Minelle found me,” said Margot.
“Where?” demanded Sybil.
“Do you think I’m telling?” retorted Margot.
“I might decide to hide there again.”
That was the beginning. He had become aware of me and I was, certainly not going to forget him in a hurry. During the rest of the afternoon I could not get him out of my mind. As we sat in the solarium and played a guessing game I was expecting him all the time to come to denounce me. More likely, I thought, he had told Sir John. I was most uncomfortable thinking of the way he had kissed me. What interpretation had he put on that?
I knew that it was my mother’s constant concern that I should remain virtuous and make a good marriage. She wanted the best possible for me. A doctor would be suitable, she had once said, but the only doctor we knew had remained un married for fifty-five years and was hardly likely to take a wife now; and even if he had decided to and offered to bestow the honour on me, I should have declined.
“We are midway between two worlds,” said my mother, meaning that the villagers were far beneath us and the occupants of the Big House far above us. It was for this reason that she was so eager to leave me a flourishing school. Though I must say the thought of spending the rest of my life teaching the offspring of the nobility who were to visit Derringham Manor in the years to come held no great charm for me.
It was the Comte who had set my thoughts in this direction. I realized angrily that he would not have dared kiss a young lady of good family in this way. But would he? Of course he would. He would do whatever his inclination moved him to. Of course, he might have been very angry. He might have told Sir John that I had come peeping into his bedchamber. Instead of which he had treated me like a . like a what?
How could I know. All I did know was that if my mother was aware of it she would be horrified.
She was eagerly waiting for me when I returned.
“You look flushed,” she scolded tenderly, and a little reproachfully.
She would have preferred me to look cool as though taking tea at Derringham Manor was an everyday occurrence in my life.
“Did you enjoy it? What happened?”
I told her what we had had for tea and what the girls were wearing.
“Sybil presided,” I said, ‘and afterwards we played games. “
“What games?” she wanted to know.
“Oh, just a childish sort of hide and seek and then guessing towns and rivers.”
She nodded. Then she frowned. My dress was decidedly grubby.
“I should like to get you a new dress,” she said.
“Something pretty. Velvet perhaps.”
“But, Mama, when should I wear it?”
“Who knows? You might be asked again.”
I doubt it. Once in a lifetime is enough for such an honour. “
I must have sounded bitter for she looked sad and I was sorry. I went to her and put my arm about her.
“Don’t worry, Mama,” I said.
“We’re happy here, are we not? And the school does very well.” I remembered then what I had forgotten until that moment.
“Oh, Mama, when I was going in I met Joel Derringham.”
Her eyes lit up. She said: “You didn’t tell me.”
“I forgot.”
“Forgot … meeting Joel Derringham! He’ll be Sir Joel on day.
Everything will be his. How did you meet him? “
I told her, repeating word for word.
“He sounds charming, she said.
“He is-and so like Sir John. It’s amusing, really. You could say: That’s Sir John . thirty years ago. “
“He was certainly very pleasant to you.”
“He could not have been more so.”
I could see plans forming in her mind.
It was two days later when Sir John came to the schoolhouse and a Sunday so there was no school that day. My mother and I had just dined and we had sat over the table as we often did on Sundays until nearly three o’clock discussing the next week’s lessons.
A
lthough my mother was normally the most prosaic o women, where her heart was involved she could dream a romantically as any young girl. I knew that she had made u] her mind that I was to have many invitations to the Manor am there I should meet someone perhaps he might not be o too exalted a rank but at least he. would be able to offer mi more than I could reasonably hope for if I spent my days ii a schoolhouse.
Previously she had decided that I must havi the best possible education to provide for my future as i schoolmistress. Now her thoughts had escaped to wild dreams of fantasy, and because she was a woman accustomed to succeed, they knew no bounds.
Through the window of our little dining-room she saw Si:
John tethering his horse to the iron bar which had been put there for that purpose. I felt myself turn cold. It immediately occurred to me that the malicious Count had decided ti complain against me. I had left him abruptly and shown bin quite clearly that I deplored his conduct. This might be hi revenge.
“Why, it’s Sir John,” said my mother.
“I wonder …”
I heard myself say “Perhaps a new pupil…”
He was ushered into our sitting-room and I was relieved to see that he was smiling as benignly as ever.
“Good day to you, Mrs. Maddox … and Minella. Lad:
Derringham has a request to make. We are short of a guest for the soiree and supper which is to take place this evening. The Comtesse Fontaine Delibes is confined to her room and without her we shall be thirteen. There is, as you know, a superstition that thirteen is unlucky and some of our guests might be uneasy. I was wondering if I could persuade you to allow your daughter to join us. “
It was so like one of the dreams my mother had been conjuring up during the last two days that she accepted it calmly as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
“But of course she will join you,” she said.
“But, Mama,” I protested, “I have no suitable dress.”
Sir John laughed.
“That had occurred to Lady Derringham when the matter was suggested. One of the girls can lend you something. That is a simple matter.” He turned to me.
“Come to the Manor this afternoon.
You can then choose the gown and the seamstress can do any necessary alterations. It is good of you, Mrs. Maddox, to lend us your daughter. “
The Devil on Horseback Page 2