the care of Jack Trewinnard, the elder by half an hour, he walked to Nampara and saw to the fireback.
It was a simple fitting and one, Drake would have thought, any handyman could have managed; but he fixed it, and then drank tea with his sister in the old parlour which remained, in spite of alterations and extensions, the life centre of the house. Demelza was looking very well and specially pretty - she bloomed at regular intervals like a perennial flower - and the children clambered all over Drake for a while and then were gone. Ross was still up at the mine.
Drake said: 'A fine pair of children you have, sister.'
'Grufflers,' said Demelza .
'Please?'
'Grufflers. That's what Jud calls them,'
Drake smiled. 'Th ey have a betterer start than we had.'
"Their father is a small matter different.'
'And their mother.'
'You never knew Mother, did you?'
'Not so's I recall. You was - you were always mother to the six of us’
'I knew her till I was eight. Then I - came in for her family. When you're young like that you don't think, you don't compare, you don't wonder. As you get older it's different. Oft I've puzzled since why she ever wed Father. She was an orphan -I beli eve she was a love-child - but her aunt brought her up on their farm. She used to send me to sleep when I was little talking about the ducks and the hens and the gecsc. She was pretty. At least I think so. Till she was dragged down with all us children and all that poverty. I never knew Father came home in the evening till he'd drunk what he'd made.' 'Father ever good-looking, was he?'
'Tis hard to say for sure, isn't it? It's hard to see wh en people are old. Was Dr Choake e ver good-looking? Was Tholly Tre girls? Or Jud?'
D rake laughed. ‘I must go, sister. Thank e e for the tea. Will Jeremy go away to school soon?'
Demelza wrinkled her eyebrows at the thought. 'I am trying to teach him what I know and then he can maybe have a tutor for a while. I shall never hold him in if he has the wish to go away, but at seven or eight it is savage for a boy to be torn from his home. Ross did not go till after his mother died, when he was turned ten,'
'Of course,' Drake said, 'and Geoffrey Charles, he was eleven when they sent him to Harrow.'
This was such a sore subject that for a few moments neither spoke.
'Here's Ross now.'
Then there was pleasant talk for a space, while Ross refused fresh tea and gulped a cup from the old pot standing up and asked Drake to come to the mine one morning, for they had recentl y received a consignment of tools, screws, nails and wire from Bristol, and he suspected the quality was inferior but was not sure enough to be able to complain.
Drake said he would come next Monday at seven, and was edging his way towards the door, when Demelza said:
'I believe Rosina Hoblyn is just leaving. D'you know her, Drake? She's from Sawle and lives with her family. She does n eedlework and millinery for me.’
Drake hesitated. 'I expect mebbe I seen her about.'
'I've given her a stool - you know the old one, Ross, that was in the box bedroom. It will be useful for her at home, but as she is a little lame it is a long way to carry it.' Demelza went to the door and called. 'Rosina.'
'Yes, ma'am.' Rosina came to the door, needle in hand. When she saw the two men she looked surprised.
'Are you ready to go? That must be near finished.'
'Oh, it is. I was but adding a stitch or two, here and there, waiting for you to come see twas right and proper.'
'D'you know my brother, Drake Carne? He's going your way; he lives at St Ann's, so it'll not be out of his way at all, and he can carry the stool.'
Rosina said: 'Oh, ma'am, I can manage that. Tis no great weight; and I'm used to fetching and carrying water and the like.'
'Well,' Demelza said, 'Drake is going that way and is about to leave. You do not mind, Drake?'
Drake shook his head.
'Then go get your bonnet.'
The girl disappeared, and soon came back, carrying her work-basket and the
It was a simple fitting and one, Drake would have thought, any handyman could have managed; but he fixed it, and then drank tea with his sister in the old parlour which remained, in spite of alterations and extensions, the life centre of the house. Demelza was looking very well and specially pretty - she bloomed at regular intervals like a perennial flower - and the children clambered all over Drake for a while and then were gone. Ross was still up at the mine.
Drake said: 'A fine pair of children you have, sister.'
'Grufflers,' said Demelza .
'Please?'
'Grufflers. That's what Jud calls them,'
Drake smiled. 'Th ey have a betterer start than we had.'
"Their father is a small matter different.'
'And their mother.'
'You never knew Mother, did you?'
'Not so's I recall. You was - you were always mother to the six of us’
'I knew her till I was eight. Then I - came in for her family. When you're young like that you don't think, you don't compare, you don't wonder. As you get older it's different. Oft I've puzzled since why she ever wed Father. She was an orphan -I beli eve she was a love-child - but her aunt brought her up on their farm. She used to send me to sleep when I was little talking about the ducks and the hens and the gecsc. She was pretty. At least I think so. Till she was dragged down with all us children and all that poverty. I never knew Father came home in the evening till he'd drunk what he'd made.' 'Father ever good-looking, was he?'
'Tis hard to say for sure, isn't it? It's hard to see wh en people are old. Was Dr Choake e ver good-looking? Was Tholly Tre girls? Or Jud?'
D rake laughed. ‘I must go, sister. Thank e e for the tea. Will Jeremy go away to school soon?'
Demelza wrinkled her eyebrows at the thought. 'I am trying to teach him what I know and then he can maybe have a tutor for a while. I shall never hold him in if he has the wish to go away, but at seven or eight it is savage for a boy to be torn from his home. Ross did not go till after his mother died, when he was turned ten,'
'Of course,' Drake said, 'and Geoffrey Charles, he was eleven when they sent him to Harrow.'
This was such a sore subject that for a few moments neither spoke.
'Here's Ross now.'
Then there was pleasant talk for a space, while Ross refused fresh tea and gulped a cup from the old pot standing up and asked Drake to come to the mine one morning, for they had recentl y received a consignment of tools, screws, nails and wire from Bristol, and he suspected the quality was inferior but was not sure enough to be able to complain.
Drake said he would come next Monday at seven, and was edging his way towards the door, when Demelza said:
'I believe Rosina Hoblyn is just leaving. D'you know her, Drake? She's from Sawle and lives with her family. She does n eedlework and millinery for me.’
Drake hesitated. 'I expect mebbe I seen her about.'
'I've given her a stool - you know the old one, Ross, that was in the box bedroom. It will be useful for her at home, but as she is a little lame it is a long way to carry it.' Demelza went to the door and called. 'Rosina.'
'Yes, ma'am.' Rosina came to the door, needle in hand. When she saw the two men she looked surprised.
'Are you ready to go? That must be near finished.'
'Oh, it is. I was but adding a stitch or two, here and there, waiting for you to come see twas right and proper.'
'D'you know my brother, Drake Carne? He's going your way; he lives at St Ann's, so it'll not be out of his way at all, and he can carry the stool.'
Rosina said: 'Oh, ma'am, I can manage that. Tis no great weight; and I'm used to fetching and carrying water and the like.'
'Well,' Demelza said, 'Drake is going that way and is about to leave. You do not mind, Drake?'
Drake shook his head.
'Then go get your bonnet.'
The girl disappeared, and soon came back, carrying her work-basket and the
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