that plain child?”
“The cad!” she said.
“You don’t want to take any notice of him.”
5i
“But it’s true. He said I was plain.”
“You’re not. You don’t want to listen to such nonsense.”
“It is true, though. I’m not pretty like Tamarisk and Rachel.”
“You’ve got something more than mere prettiness, my child. There is something special about you. You’re interesting. That’s what’s important. I’m glad you are the one who’s my niece. I shouldn’t have wanted the others.”
“Really?”
“Most certainly.”
“My nose ;’s big.”
“I like a nose to be a nose … not like a bit of putty that’s just been stuck on.”
I couldn’t help laughing and she went on: “Big noses have character.
Give me a big nose any day! “
I said: “Yours isn’t very big. Aunt Sophie.”
“You take after your father. He had a good nose. He was one of the most handsome men I ever saw. You’ve got good eyes. Expressive.
Bright. They show your feelings. That’s what eyes are for-and to see through, of course. Now, don’t you fret. People say things like that when they’re not thinking much. He was in a hurry, that was what it was, and he didn’t look properly. “
“He just glanced at me and that was all.”
“There you are. He’d say that about anyone. If you’re plain, then I’m Napoleon Bonaparte. So there!”
I could not help laughing. Dear Aunt Sophie! She had rescued me once more.
So from Monday to Friday I went regularly to St. Aubyn’s. I used to meet Rachel at the gate of the Bell House and we would walk to the house and go up the drive together. We formed an alliance against Tamarisk and I became a kind of champion to Rachel.
But 1 never forgot Crispin St. Aubyn’s comment. It had made a difference to me. I was not plain. Aunt Sophie had made that clear. I had good hair, she insisted. It was fine but abundant. I brushed it until it shone. I often wore it loose about my shoulders instead of in the severe-looking plaits. I made sure my clothes were never crumpled. Tamarisk was aware of this. She did not comment, but she smiled secretively.
She was friendly towards me. Sometimes I think she tried to woo me from my alliance with Rachel. I was pleased and rather flattered.
I saw Crispin St. Aubyn only rarely and usually from a distance. He was clearly not interested in his young sister and her companions.
Aunt Sophie had said he was ‘a cad’, and he was, I assured myself. He was trying to impress everybody with his importance. He was not going to impress Aunt Sophie or me.
One day when I went to meet Rachel, she was not there. I was a little early. The gate to the Bell House was open so I went into the front garden. There was a seat there and I sat down to wait for her.
I gazed at the house. It was indeed gracious, more charming, I decided, than St. Aubyn’s Park. It ought to be a happy house, a cosy house, yet I was sure it was not. Tamarisk might be neglected by her family and have been brought up by nurses, but perhaps there could be something to be said for that after all. Rachel was not carefree as she was. Rachel was timid . afraid of something. I felt it might be something in that house.
Perhaps 1 was a romancer. Meg said I was a dreamer with my fancies, making up stories about people . and half of them without a trace of truth in them.
I heard a voice behind me.
“Good morning, my dear.”
It was Mr. Dorian, Rachel’s uncle, and I felt that urge to
get up and run away from him as fast as I could. Why? His voice was very kind.
“So you are waiting for Rachel?”
“Yes,” I said, getting up, for he was preparing to sit down beside me.
He laid a hand on my arm and drew me back on to the seat.
He was looking at me intently.
“You like your lessons with Miss Lloyd?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“That is good … that is very good.”
He was sitting very close to me.
“We shall have to go,” I said.
“We shall be late.”
Then I
“The cad!” she said.
“You don’t want to take any notice of him.”
5i
“But it’s true. He said I was plain.”
“You’re not. You don’t want to listen to such nonsense.”
“It is true, though. I’m not pretty like Tamarisk and Rachel.”
“You’ve got something more than mere prettiness, my child. There is something special about you. You’re interesting. That’s what’s important. I’m glad you are the one who’s my niece. I shouldn’t have wanted the others.”
“Really?”
“Most certainly.”
“My nose ;’s big.”
“I like a nose to be a nose … not like a bit of putty that’s just been stuck on.”
I couldn’t help laughing and she went on: “Big noses have character.
Give me a big nose any day! “
I said: “Yours isn’t very big. Aunt Sophie.”
“You take after your father. He had a good nose. He was one of the most handsome men I ever saw. You’ve got good eyes. Expressive.
Bright. They show your feelings. That’s what eyes are for-and to see through, of course. Now, don’t you fret. People say things like that when they’re not thinking much. He was in a hurry, that was what it was, and he didn’t look properly. “
“He just glanced at me and that was all.”
“There you are. He’d say that about anyone. If you’re plain, then I’m Napoleon Bonaparte. So there!”
I could not help laughing. Dear Aunt Sophie! She had rescued me once more.
So from Monday to Friday I went regularly to St. Aubyn’s. I used to meet Rachel at the gate of the Bell House and we would walk to the house and go up the drive together. We formed an alliance against Tamarisk and I became a kind of champion to Rachel.
But 1 never forgot Crispin St. Aubyn’s comment. It had made a difference to me. I was not plain. Aunt Sophie had made that clear. I had good hair, she insisted. It was fine but abundant. I brushed it until it shone. I often wore it loose about my shoulders instead of in the severe-looking plaits. I made sure my clothes were never crumpled. Tamarisk was aware of this. She did not comment, but she smiled secretively.
She was friendly towards me. Sometimes I think she tried to woo me from my alliance with Rachel. I was pleased and rather flattered.
I saw Crispin St. Aubyn only rarely and usually from a distance. He was clearly not interested in his young sister and her companions.
Aunt Sophie had said he was ‘a cad’, and he was, I assured myself. He was trying to impress everybody with his importance. He was not going to impress Aunt Sophie or me.
One day when I went to meet Rachel, she was not there. I was a little early. The gate to the Bell House was open so I went into the front garden. There was a seat there and I sat down to wait for her.
I gazed at the house. It was indeed gracious, more charming, I decided, than St. Aubyn’s Park. It ought to be a happy house, a cosy house, yet I was sure it was not. Tamarisk might be neglected by her family and have been brought up by nurses, but perhaps there could be something to be said for that after all. Rachel was not carefree as she was. Rachel was timid . afraid of something. I felt it might be something in that house.
Perhaps 1 was a romancer. Meg said I was a dreamer with my fancies, making up stories about people . and half of them without a trace of truth in them.
I heard a voice behind me.
“Good morning, my dear.”
It was Mr. Dorian, Rachel’s uncle, and I felt that urge to
get up and run away from him as fast as I could. Why? His voice was very kind.
“So you are waiting for Rachel?”
“Yes,” I said, getting up, for he was preparing to sit down beside me.
He laid a hand on my arm and drew me back on to the seat.
He was looking at me intently.
“You like your lessons with Miss Lloyd?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“That is good … that is very good.”
He was sitting very close to me.
“We shall have to go,” I said.
“We shall be late.”
Then I
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