I was afraid that she would … which showed, of course, that I had my suspicions about the fascinating creature.
The next day the messenger went off with our letters. I stood at the watch window in one of the towers so that I could see him for as long as possible.
It was a small room, rarely used, with a long narrow slit of a window; the only furniture was an old table and chair. There was a seat cut into the side of the aperture where one could sit while looking out.
As I turned to leave, the door opened and Harriet came in.
“I saw you come up,” she said. “I wondered where you were going.”
“I was just watching the rider.”
“Going away with all those letters you have written to your family.”
“We look out for arrivals now and then and hope that they will be our parents. But the messenger with letters is the next best thing.”
She nodded.
“He brings and takes,” she mused. “And you give them all the news?”
“Some of it.”
“You have told them I am here?”
“But of course.”
“They’ll want me to go.”
“Why should they?”
“A player. An actress. They won’t like that.”
“I didn’t tell them that you were an actress.”
“What, then?”
“Oh, I said you came with a party of people and because of the snow you had to stay here. You hurt your ankle and stayed on and then said you would help teach the children for a while. That’s how it happened, wasn’t it?”
“So you didn’t tell them everything.”
I did not meet her eye. “I told them no lies,” I defended myself. “And I said how fond the children are of you and that they are attending to what you teach them and how we did our little play.”
She laughed suddenly and threw her arms about me.
“Dear Arabella!” she cried.
I extricated myself with some embarrassment. I felt I was growing a little like her. I was no longer the innocent girl I had been, always so natural with my parents.
“Let’s go down,” I said. “What a gloomy old place this is. Imagine a man sitting up here all day watching to see who was coming, and giving the alarm if it was an enemy.”
“They must have had a lot of enemies to make watching a full-time occupation.”
“Oh, he watched for friends as well. And he composed songs while he watched. Watchers were always minstrels so I heard.”
“How interesting!” She slipped her arm through mine as we went to the top of the spiral staircase. “Nice of you to give a good account of me,” she went on. “You would have aroused their fears had you told them I was an actress who contrived to remain here. Good. Now we shall not have to put a watcher at the tower to look for anxious parents. Sometimes it is helpful to tell a little of the truth when the whole could be disturbing.”
We went downstairs.
I was a little uneasy. Yet I knew that I should be very unhappy if my parents had wanted to send her away.
That night she came to my room for another of our talks. I think the letter I had written to my mother made her more sure of me than she had been.
She took her seat near the mirror; her hair hung loose about her shoulders. I thought her very lovely. I could see myself reflected in the mirror. My thick, straight brown hair was also loose, for I had been about to brush it when she knocked at my door. I was very like my mother and I knew she was an attractive woman. I had inherited her vitality, her finely marked brows and deeply set, rather heavy-lidded eyes, but I felt my brown hair and eyes were insipid beside Harriet’s vivid colouring, but then, I consoled myself, most people would seem colourless in comparison.
She smiled at me, seeming to read my thoughts. That was disconcerting in Harriet. I often felt she knew what was in my mind.
“Your hair suits you loose like that,” she said.
“I was just about to give it a brushing.”
“When I disturbed you.”
“You know I enjoy talking to you.”
“I came to say thank you for your letter to your
The next day the messenger went off with our letters. I stood at the watch window in one of the towers so that I could see him for as long as possible.
It was a small room, rarely used, with a long narrow slit of a window; the only furniture was an old table and chair. There was a seat cut into the side of the aperture where one could sit while looking out.
As I turned to leave, the door opened and Harriet came in.
“I saw you come up,” she said. “I wondered where you were going.”
“I was just watching the rider.”
“Going away with all those letters you have written to your family.”
“We look out for arrivals now and then and hope that they will be our parents. But the messenger with letters is the next best thing.”
She nodded.
“He brings and takes,” she mused. “And you give them all the news?”
“Some of it.”
“You have told them I am here?”
“But of course.”
“They’ll want me to go.”
“Why should they?”
“A player. An actress. They won’t like that.”
“I didn’t tell them that you were an actress.”
“What, then?”
“Oh, I said you came with a party of people and because of the snow you had to stay here. You hurt your ankle and stayed on and then said you would help teach the children for a while. That’s how it happened, wasn’t it?”
“So you didn’t tell them everything.”
I did not meet her eye. “I told them no lies,” I defended myself. “And I said how fond the children are of you and that they are attending to what you teach them and how we did our little play.”
She laughed suddenly and threw her arms about me.
“Dear Arabella!” she cried.
I extricated myself with some embarrassment. I felt I was growing a little like her. I was no longer the innocent girl I had been, always so natural with my parents.
“Let’s go down,” I said. “What a gloomy old place this is. Imagine a man sitting up here all day watching to see who was coming, and giving the alarm if it was an enemy.”
“They must have had a lot of enemies to make watching a full-time occupation.”
“Oh, he watched for friends as well. And he composed songs while he watched. Watchers were always minstrels so I heard.”
“How interesting!” She slipped her arm through mine as we went to the top of the spiral staircase. “Nice of you to give a good account of me,” she went on. “You would have aroused their fears had you told them I was an actress who contrived to remain here. Good. Now we shall not have to put a watcher at the tower to look for anxious parents. Sometimes it is helpful to tell a little of the truth when the whole could be disturbing.”
We went downstairs.
I was a little uneasy. Yet I knew that I should be very unhappy if my parents had wanted to send her away.
That night she came to my room for another of our talks. I think the letter I had written to my mother made her more sure of me than she had been.
She took her seat near the mirror; her hair hung loose about her shoulders. I thought her very lovely. I could see myself reflected in the mirror. My thick, straight brown hair was also loose, for I had been about to brush it when she knocked at my door. I was very like my mother and I knew she was an attractive woman. I had inherited her vitality, her finely marked brows and deeply set, rather heavy-lidded eyes, but I felt my brown hair and eyes were insipid beside Harriet’s vivid colouring, but then, I consoled myself, most people would seem colourless in comparison.
She smiled at me, seeming to read my thoughts. That was disconcerting in Harriet. I often felt she knew what was in my mind.
“Your hair suits you loose like that,” she said.
“I was just about to give it a brushing.”
“When I disturbed you.”
“You know I enjoy talking to you.”
“I came to say thank you for your letter to your
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