Curse of the Kings (9 page)

oue become a scholar, Hadrian,I said.

oue become a flatterer. And a companion I To my aunt. How could you, Judith!

t very easily explained. If one does not inherit money one needs to earn it. I am doing precisely that.

ut you a companion! Cutting roses I bet you always cut the wrong ones!

ow right you are! These red ones, I am sure, should have been yellow. But I have the consolation of knowing that had I picked yellow, red would have been the chosen color.

y aunt a tyrant! I know. I don think it right that you should be doing this. Who suggested it?

our uncle. And we have to be truly grateful to him for had he not arranged that I should come here, I should be cutting roses or performing some such duty for some other tyrant possibly miles from hereo I shouldn be chatting with you, nor have seen Evan and er

t a shame,said Hadrian hotly. nd you of all people. You were always such a bully.

know. It just retribution. The bully now bullied. Hoist with her own petard. Still, it pleasant to know that some members of the household don regard me as a pariah now that I have to perform the humiliating task of earning a living.

Theodosia came into the garden. She was in white muslin with pale blue dots and she wore a white straw hat with blue ribbons. She grown quite pretty, I realized.

was thinking that it like old times now wee all together,said Hadrian. van and Tybalt I noticed that Theodosia blushed slightly, and I thought of Jane words. It was true then. No, it couldn be! Not Tybalt and Theodosia. It was incongruous. But she was almost pretty; she was suitable; and she was an heiress. Surely Tybalt would not marry for money. But of course he would. It was the natural order of things. Sabina had not married for money, for Oliver as rector would have little of that useful commodity. How we had changed, all of us. Frivolous Sabina becoming the rector wife; plain Theodosia to marry my wonderful Tybalt; and myself, the proud one, the one who had taken charge of the school room, to be the companion whose daily bread was service and humiliation.

van, Tybalt, myself, you, Judith, and Sabina and Oliver in their rectory,Hadrian was saying.

es,said Theodosia. She looked at me rather shyly apologetic because she had seen so little of me since I had come to Keverall Court. t it nice to have Judith here.

s it?I said.

ut of course. You were always one of us, weren you?

ut now I am the companion merely.

h, youe been listening to Mamma.

have to. It part of the job.

amma can be difficult.

ou don have to be with her all the time,comforted Hadrian.

here seems very little time when I not.

el have to change that, won we, Theodosia?

Theodosia nodded and smiled.

These encounters lifted my spirits. It was to some extent a return to the old ways.

There was a great deal of talk about the coming ball.

his will be the biggest wee had for years,Jane told me. iss Theodosia coming out.She gave me her wink. imed, you see, when all these people are here. Lady B. is hoping therel be an announcement before they go off to Egypt.

o you think that Mr. Travers would take his bride with him?

here won be time for that by all accounts. Therel have to be the sort of wedding that takes months to prepare for, I reckon. Her ladyship wouldn stand for anything else. No quiet little wedding like Sabina and the new rector had. Lady B. wouldn let her only daughter go like that.

ell,I said, e haven got them betrothed yet, have we?

ny day now, mark my words.

I began to believe she was right when I talked to Theodosia, who since the return of Hadrian was seeing far more of me than she had before. She seemed as though she wanted to make up to me for previously keeping out of my way.

The only time Lady Bodrean was the least bit affable to me was when she talked of Theodosia coming out ball; I knew at once that she was hoping to make me envious. Theodosia could have had all the balls she wanted if she had left me Tybalt.

ou might go along to the sewing room,Lady Bodrean told me, nd give Sarah Sloper a hand. There are fifty yards of lace to be sewn onto my daughter ball gown. And in an hour time I shall be ready for the reading and don forget before you go, to walk Orange and Lemon.

Sarah Sloper was too good a dressmaker to allow me to put a stitch into her creation. There it was on the table froth of soft blue silk chiffon with the fifty yards of pale blue lace.

Theodosia was there for a fitting, so I helped get her into the dress. She was going to look lovely in it, I thought with a pang. I could imagine her floating round the ballroom in the arms of Tybalt.

o you like it, Judith?she asked.

he color is most becoming.

love dancing,she said. She waltzed round and I felt we were back in the schoolroom. I went to her and bowed. iss Bodrean, may I have the pleasure of this dance?

She made a deep curtsy. I seized her and we danced round the room while Sarah Sloper watched us with a grin.

ow delightful you look tonight, Miss Bodrean.

hank you, sir.

ow gracious of you to thank me for the gifts nature has bestowed on you.

h Judith you haven changed a bit. I wish

Sarah Sloper had jumped to her feet suddenly and was bobbing a curtsy for Sir Ralph was standing in the doorway watching us dance.

Our dance came to an immediate halt. I wondered what he would say to see the companion dancing so familiarly with his daughter.

He was clearly not annoyed: ather graceful, didn you think, Sarah?he said.

hy yes, sir, indeed, sir,stammered Sarah.

o that your ball dress, is it?

es, Father.

nd what about Miss Osmond, eh? Has she a ball dress?

have not,I said.

nd why not?

ecause a person in my position has no great use for such a garment.

I saw the familiar wag of the chin.

h yes,he said, oue the companion now. I hear of you from Lady Bodrean.

hen I doubt you hear anything to my advantage.

I don know why I was speaking to him in that way. It was an irresistible impulse even though I knew that I was being what would be termed insolent from one in my position and was imperiling my job.

ery little,he assured me, with a lugubrious shake of the head. n fact nothing at all.

feared so.

ow do you? That a change. I always had the impression that you were a somewhat fearless young lady.His bristling brows came together. don see anything of you. Where do you get to?

don move in your circles, sir,I replied, realizing now that he at least bore me no malice and was rather amused at my pert retorts.

begin to think that rather a pity.

ather, do you like my gown?asked Theodosia.

ery pretty. Blue, is it?

es, Father.

He turned to me. f you had one what color would it be?

t would be green, Father,said Theodosia. t was always Judith favorite color.

hat said to be unlucky,he replied. r it was in my day. They used to say reen on Monday, Black on Friday.But Il swear Miss Osmond not superstitious.

ot about colors,I said. might be about some things.

oesn do to think youe unlucky,he said. therwise you will be.

Then he went out, his chin wagging.

Theodosia looked at me with raised eyebrows. ow why did Father come in here?

ou should know more about his habits than I do.

believe he quite excited about my ball. Judith, Mrs. Grey was saying that you were reading books, some of which had been written by Sir Edward Travers. You must know quite a lot now about archaeology.

nough to know that I very ignorant about it. We both have a smattering, haven we? We got that from Evan Callum.

es,she said. wish I knew more.

She was animated. going to start reading. You must tell me what books youe had.

I understood of course. She was desperately anxious to be able to talk knowledgeably to Tybalt.

The invitations had been sent out; I had listed the guests and ticked them off when the acceptances came in. I had helped arrange what flowers would be brought from the greenhouses to decorate the ballroom, for it was October and the gardens could scarcely supply what was needed. I had compiled the dance programs and chosen the pink-and-blue pencils and the silken cords which would be attached to them. For the first time Lady Bodrean seemed pleased and I knew it was only because she wanted me to know what care went into the launching into society of a well-bred girl. She may have noticed that I was downcast at times and this put her into a good humor so that I wanted to shout at her: care nothing for these grand occasions; Theodosia is welcome to them. My melancholy has nothing to do with that.

I went to Rainbow Cottage when I had an hour or so to spare. Dorcas and Alison always made a great fuss of me; they tried to keep my spirits up with griddle cakes which I used to be rather greedy about as a child.

They wanted to hear all about the ball.

t a shame they don ask you, Judith,said Dorcas.

hy should they? Employees are not asked to family balls surely.

t different in your case. Weren you in the schoolroom with them?

hat, as Lady Bodrean would inform you, is something for which to feel gratitude and not an excuse for looking for further favors.

h Judith, is it really unbearable?

ell, the truth is that she is so obnoxious that I get a certain delight in doing battle. Also she is really rather stupid so that I am able to get in quite a lot of barbs of which she is unaware.

f it is too bad, you must leave.

may be asked to. I must warn you that I expect dismissal daily.

ell, dear, don worry. We can manage here. And you find something else very quickly I sure.

Sometimes they talked about village affairs. They worked a good deal for the church. Having done so all their lives they were well equipped for the task. Sabina was not really very practical, they whispered, and although she could chatter away to people, a little more than that was expected of a rector wife. As for Oliver he was quite competent.

I reminded them that they used to say he had carried the parish on his shoulders when their father was alive.

That was true, they agreed grudgingly. I knew they found it hard to forgive poor Oliver for not marrying me and even more difficult to forgive Sabina for being the chosen one.

It was comforting to remember that they were there in the background of my life.

There was a great deal of coming and going between Giza House and Keverall Court. As Sir Ralph was not feeling very well, Tybalt and his father visited him frequently. They were going into the details of the expedition. I quite shamelessly tried to be where I might catch a glimpse of them. Even Sir Edward knew me now and would give me his absent-minded smile.

Tybalt exchanged a word or two with mesually asking what I was reading. I longed to hear from him about the expedition but naturally I couldn ask him about that.

Two days before the ball a most extraordinary thing happened.

When I emerged from Lady Bodrean apartment and was about to go for my daily walk I found Theodosia in the corridor. I fancied she had been looking for me.

She looked excited.

ello, Judith,she said, and there was a little lilt in her voice.

ere you waiting for me?I asked.

es, Ie something to tell you.

My heartbeats quickened; my spirits sank. This is it, I thought. Tybalt has asked her to marry him. The engagement will be announced at the ball.

She slipped her arm through mine. et go to your room,she said. ou will never guess what it is,she went on.

I thought: I can bear it. Ie imagined it so many times, but I know I can bear it. Il have to go away at once. Il go and tell Dorcas and Alison and then Il get a post far away and never see any of them again.

I stammered: know. You youe engaged.

She stopped short and flushed hotly, so I knew that although this might not be the surprise she had for me now, it was coming soon.

ou always thought you knew everything, didn you? Well, clever Judith is wrong this time.

Clever Judith was never more delighted to be wrong.

She threw open the door of my room and walked in; I followed shutting the door behind me. She went to my cupboard and opened the door. Hanging there was a green chiffon evening dress.

hat is it!I cried in astonishment.

t your ball dress, Judith.

ine! How could it be.I went to it, felt the lovely soft material, took the dress down and held it against me.

t absolutely right,declared Theodosia. ut it on. I long to see you in it.

irst, how did it get there?

put it there.

ut where did it come from?

h do try it on first and Il explain.

o. I must know.

h, youe maddening! I long to see that it fits. Father said you were to have it.

ut why?

e said: inderella must go to the ball.

eaning the companion?

ou remember he saw us dancing. That day he said to me, hat girl Judith Osmond, she to go to the ball.I said, amma would never hear of it,and he said, hen don tell her.

I began to laugh. I saw myself at the ball dancing with Tybalt. ut it impossible. She will never allow it.

his is my father house, you know.

ut I am employed by your mother.

he won dare go against him.

hat an unwelcome guest I should be.

nly by one. The rest of us all want you to go. Myself, Evan, Hadrian, Tybalt …

ybalt!

ell,of course he doesn know yet, but I am sure he would if he did. Hadrian knows though. He very amused, and wee all going to have a lot of fun hiding you from Mamma, if that possible.

don suppose it is for a moment. I shall be ordered out of the ballroom within an hour.

ot if you come as my father guest, which you will do.

I began to laugh.

knew you enjoy it.

ell me what happened.

ell, Father said you always been a lively girl, and he wished I show more of your spirit. He was afraid you didn have much of a life with Mamma and he wanted you to go to the ball. That why he wanted to know what color dress. It was secret with Sarah Sloper. I chose the material and Sarah used me as a model. Youe a bit taller than I and just a little thinner. We worked on that. And I absolutely sure it a perfect fit. Do put it on now.