Curse of the Kings (18 page)

My frank admission of my devotion amused him and at the same time I fancied made him rather uneasy. Again he stressed that he lacked my powers of expression.

ou must not think, Judith,he said, hat because I do not constantly profess my love for you that it isn there. I find it difficult to speak easily of what I feel most deeply.

That satisfied me.

I shall never forget the inn in the little moorland village. The sign creaking just outside our window gabled one, for the inn was three hundred years old; the sound of the waterfall less than half a mile away sending its sparkling water over the craggy boulders and the big feather bed in which we lay together.

There was a fire burning in the grate and as I watched the flickering shadows on the wallpaperreat red rosesand Tybalt arms were about me, I was completely happy.

Breakfast was served to us in the old inn parlor with the brass and pewter on the shelves and hams hanging from the rafters. Hot coffee, bread fresh from the oven, ham and eggs from the nearby farm, scones and homemade strawberry jam with a basin of Devonshire cream the color of buttercups. And Tybalt sitting opposite me, watching me with that look almost of wonder in his eyes. If ever I was beautiful in my life I was beautiful on that morning.

After breakfast we went out onto the moors and walked for miles over the short spring turf. The innkeeper wife had packed a little hamper for us and we picknicked by a tiny trickling stream. We saw the wild moorland ponies, too scared to come near us; and the only human beings we encountered on that day were a man driving a cartload of apples and pears who raised his whip to us and called a greeting, and another on horseback who did the same. A happy idyllic day and then back to the delicious duckling and green peas and afterwards the cozy bedroom and the flickering fire.

The next day we caught the train to Dorset.

Of course I was fascinated by the Roman site, but I wanted only one thing in my life at that time and that was to love and be loved by Tybalt. The hotel at which we stayed was full of people who were with the working party, which made it rather different from our Dartmoor haven. I was proud of the respect with which Tybalt was greeted and, although it was brought home to me that I was an amateur among professionals and I was constantly bewildered by technicalities, I was as eager as ever to learn fact which delighted my husband.

The day after we reached the hotel, Terence Gelding, Tybalt best man, arrived. He was tall and rather lean with the same serious and dedicated expression I had noticed among so many of Tybalt associates. Rather aloof, he seemed a little nervous of me, and I imagined he was not altogether pleased about Tybalt marriage. When I mentioned this to Tybalt he laughed.

ou have such odd fancies, Judith,he said; and I remembered how often Alison and Dorcas had said the same of me. erence Gelding is a first-class worker, trustworthy too, reliable. Just the kind of man I like to work with me.

He and Terence Gelding would talk animatedly for long periods, and try as I might to follow their conversation it was not always easy.

When there was a possibility that an amphitheatre may have existed close to the site the excitement was great and a party went out to examine certain finds which might have proved an indication that this was correct. I was not invited to go.

Tybalt was apologetic.

ou see, Judith,he explained, his is a professional affair. If I took you, others would expect to take people.

I understood and I determined that in a very short time I should have learned so much that I would be considered worthy to join in on such occasions.

Tybalt kissed me tenderly before leaving. l be back in a few hours. What will you do while I away?

ead a book Ie seen here dealing with Roman remains. Very soon I going to be as knowledgeable as you are.

That made him laugh.

I spent the day alone. I would have to be prepared for this sort of occasion, I reminded myself. But, interested as I was in this absorbing subject, I was a bride on her honeymoon, and an early Roman floor, even if it was a geometric mosaic, could not really compare with the springs and boulders of Dartmoor.

After that he was often at the site with the workers. Sometimes I went with him. I talked to the more humble members of the party; I studied maps; I even did a little digging as I had in Carter Meadow. I watched first-aid methods in the restoration of a plaque on which was engraved the head of a Caesar. I was fascinatedut I longed to be alone with Tybalt.

We were two weeks on the Roman site. I believe Tybalt was reluctant to leave. On our last evening he spent several hours closeted with the director of the expedition. I was in bed when he came in. It was just after midnight.

He sat on the bed, his eyes shining.

t almost certain that there an amphitheatre,he said. hat a discovery! I think this is going to be one of the most exciting sites in England. Professor Brownlea can stop talking of his luck. Do you know theye found a plaque with a head engraved. If they can discover whose, it will be a great find.

know,I said, e seen it being pieced together.

nfortunately there is quite a bit missing. But, of course, the floor mosaics are most exciting. I would place the date of the black and white at round about 74 a.d.

sure you be right, Tybalt.

h, but one can be sure not unless there is absolute proof. Why are you smiling?

as I?I held out my arms to him. erhaps because I was thinking that there are exciting things in life other than Roman remains.

He came to me at once and for a few moments we embraced. I was laughing softly. know what youe thinking. Yes, there are more exciting things. But I imagine the tombs of the Pharaohs win by a head.

h, Judith,he said, his is wonderful to be together. I want to have you there with me when we leave.

f course. It was for that reason you married me.

hat and others,he said.

ell, we have discussed that now let us consider the others.

I amused him. My frank enjoyment of our love was something which I am sure would have completely shocked Dorcas and Alison. But then so many people would have considered me bold and brazen.

I wondered if Tybalt did. I asked him. ou see,I explained, t has always been almost impossible for me to pretend.

He said: don deserve you, Judith.

I laughed, completely happy. ou can always try to be worthy,I suggested.

And I was happy. So was he. As happy as he was on his mosaic pavement or with his broken plaque or ruins of his amphitheatre? Was he? I wondered.

It was foolish of me to have these niggling doubts. I wished that I could forget the Cassandra-like faces of Dorcas and Alison, the hints and innuendos, the fanatical eyes of old Pegger in the porch. I wished that Sir Ralph had not left me a fortune; then I could indeed have been sure that I had been married for myself.

But these matters could be forgotten temporarily. And I promised myself that in time I would banish them altogether.

Then we returned to Giza House.

It was the first week of November when we arrived in the late afternoon, and a dark and gloomy one. The October gales had stripped the trees of most of their leaves; but as the carriage brought us from the station the countryside seemed unusually silent for the wind had then dropped. It was typical Cornish November weatherarm and damp. As we pulled up at the wrought-iron gates of Giza and descended from the carriage, Tabitha came out to greet us.

ot a very pleasant day,she said. ou must be chilled. Come in quickly and wel have tea at once.

She was looking at us searchingly, as though she suspected the honeymoon had not been a success. Why did I get the impression that everyone seemed to have come to the conclusion that Tybalt and I were unsuited?

Imagination! I told myself. I looked up at the house. Haunted! I thought; and remembered teasing Theodosia and frightening her by making her run up the path. I thought of Nanny Tester probably peering out from a top window.

iza House always intrigued me,I said as I stepped into the hall.

t your home now,Tabitha reminded me.

hen we get back from Egypt, Judith may want to make some changes in the house,said Tybalt slipping his arm through mine. He smiled at me. or the time being we must concentrate on our plans.

Tabitha showed us our room. It was on the first floor next to that room in which I had seen the sarcophagus. Tabitha had had it redecorated while we were away.

oue very good,said Tybalt.

In the shadows I saw Mustapha and Absalam. I noticed their dark eyes fixed intently on me. They would be remembering me of course as the rowdy child and afterwards the ompanionfrom Keverall Court who came to borrow books. Now I was the new mistress. Or did Tabitha retain that title?

How I wished people had not sown these misgivings in my mind with their sly allusions.

Tabitha conducted me first to our room and left me there to freshen up while she returned to the drawing room with Tybalt. One of the maids brought hot water and when I had washed I went to the window and looked out. The garden had always been chock-a-block with shrubs and the trees made it dark. I could see the spiderswebs on the bushes, glistening where the light caught the globules of moisture as so often I had seen them before at this time of year. The curtains were deep blue edged with gold braid in a Greek key pattern. The bed was large, a fourposter canopied and curtained. The carpet was thick. Bookshelves lined one side of the wall. I looked at these. Some of them I had borrowed and read. They all referred to one subject. It occurred to me that this had been Sir Edward bedroom before he had left for that fatal journey, and it seemed then that the past was enveloping me. I wished that a different room had been chosen for us. Then I remembered that I was the mistress of the house and if I did not like a room I could say so.

I changed my traveling clothes and went down to the drawing room. Tybalt and Tabitha were sitting side by side on the sofa examining some plans.

As soon as I entered Tabitha jumped up. ea will arrive immediately,she said. daresay you are ready for it. Traveling is so tiring.

Ellen wheeled the tea wagon in and stood by while Tabitha poured.

Tabitha wanted to know how we had enjoyed the honeymoon and then Tybalt began a long explanation of the Roman site.

ou must have had a very interesting time, Tybalt,said Tabitha smiling. trust Judith found it equally so.

She looked at me slightly apprehensively and I assured her that I had enjoyed our stay in Dorset very much.

nd now,said Tybalt, e must begin to work out our plans in earnest. It astonishing how the time flies when there is so much to do. I want to leave in February.

So we talked of the trip and it was pleasant sitting there in the firelight while the dark afternoon faded into twilight. I could not help thinking of those occasions when I had dreamed of sharing Tybalt Life.

happy,I assured myself. e achieved my dream.

My first night in Giza House! One of the maids had lighted a fire in the bedroom and the flickering flames threw their shadows over the walls. How different from those of the Dartmoor cottage; these seemed like sinister shapes which would assume life at any moment. How silent the house was! There was a door behind a blue velvet curtain. I opened this and saw that it led into the room where the sarcophagus had been.

I had entered in advance of Tybalt; and the room in firelight with only two candles burning in their tall candlesticks on the dressing table seemed alive with shadows.

I started to wonder about Sir Edward and his wife who had never lived in this house, for she had died before they came here. And in the attic apartments of this house was Nanny Tester, who would be aware that Tybalt and I had returned from our honeymoon. I wondered what she was doing now and why Tybalt was so long. Was he talking to Tabitha, telling her things which he did not want me to know? What an idea! I must not be jealous of the time he spent with Tabitha.

It the house, I said to myself. There something about this house. Something evil. I felt it right from the first before they came here when I used to frighten Theodosia.

Tybalt came into the room, and the sinister shadows receded; the firelight was comforting; the candlelight, I remembered, was becoming.

hat,he asked, re you doing in that room?

found this door. It the room where the sarcophagus was.

He laughed. ou weren thinking of dressing up as a mummy were you to frighten me?

ou frightened of a mummy! I know you love them dearly.

ot,he replied, s dearly as I love you.

On the rare occasions when Tybalt said things like that, my happiness was complete.

o you like the room I had prepared for you?asked Tabitha next morning. Tybalt had gone to his study; he had a great deal of correspondence to deal with concerning the expedition.

t a bit ghostly,I said.

Tabitha laughed. y dear Judith, what do you mean?

always thought there was something rather haunted about Giza House.

t all those trees and shrubs in the garden, I daresay. That room is the best in the house. That why I had it made ready for you. It used to be Sir Edward.

guessed it. And the room which leads from it is where the sarcophagus used to be.

e always used that room for whatever he was working on. He often worked late at night when the fancy took him. Would you like to change the room?

o, I don think so.

udith, anything you want you must do, you know. Youe mistress of the house now.

can get used to being the mistress of anything.

ou will in time. Youe happy, aren you?

have what Ie always wanted.

ot many of us can say that,she replied with a sigh.

nd you, Tabitha?

I wished that she would confide in me. I was sure there were secrets in her life. She was youngish widow I supposed. Life was by no means over for her and yet there was about her a resignation, a subtle secrecy which was perhaps one of the reasons why she was so attractive.

She said: have had my moments. Perhaps one should not ask for more than that.