Seven for a Secret (16 page)

I thought back.

“It was really most about the Lanes,” I said.

“He is interested in them and he wanted to know what I thought about Flora.”

“He really is very good to them,” said Aunt Sophie.

She sat sipping her milk, looking back in her mind to those days at Cedar Hall when, I supposed, the partners came to my mother and not to her.

1 agreed with Lily that they were indeed silly young things.

And I loved Aunt Sophie more than ever.

The Elopement

The day after the ball Tamarisk and I were invited to tea at the Bell House. I could never enter the place without marvelling at the change in it. I had the impression that the object had been to remove all trace of its previous occupant. There was only the grim stable door to remind me. It was locked, I saw, and I wondered whether anyone even went in there now.

I was soon immersed in conversation. Tamarisk told us of her triumphs.

The ball had been a great success; her mother was delighted. She had said it was quite like old times and they must do it again.

Tamarisk had danced six times with Gaston Marchmont. Wasn’t it a shame, though, he was going off that very day to Scotland to deal with his estates there.

“Will he ever come back, I wonder?” I said.

Both Tamarisk and Rachel looked at me in amazement.

“Of course he will!” cried Tamarisk.

“He must,” said Rachel.

Daniel came in while we were having tea. He sat down near Rachel and I asked if he had enjoyed the ball.

“I believe it went off very well,” he replied cautiously.

“Everyone seemed to think so.”

“It was a great success,” Tamarisk assured him.

Aunt Hilda came in and I kept thinking of her as she used to be, with that apprehensive look on her face, without the pretty dress and the comb in her hair. How different Mr. Grindle must be from Mr. Dorian.

Crispin was right. What was good for so many people could not be wrong.

I noticed Tamarisk was cool with Daniel. She could not forgive him for paying more attention to Rachel than he did to her.

Jack Grindle joined us. He told us he had driven Gaston Marchmont to the station and had seen him on the train to London.

“He’ll be going straight to Scotland,” he said.

“There seems to be some business up there which he has to settle.”

“He’ll be back,” put in Tamarisk confidently.

“I imagine he’s a very busy man. He says he’ll come again and stay awhile. He enjoyed his stay very much,” went on Jack, ‘and it was fun having him. He livened us all up a bit. “

“He certainly did,” agreed Tamarisk, with a smile.

I wondered if she knew more about Gaston Marchmont’s plans than the rest of us.

Perhaps she did, for three weeks later Gaston Marchmont did return. He went to the Grindles’ farm and asked if he could stay for a bit. If it were not convenient, he could of course put up at an hotel but he had so enjoyed staying with them before, so perhaps for a little while he could be with them.

Jack said they would be delighted and certainly he must stay with them. They would be quite hurt if he did not.

It was some five days since Gaston Marchmont had returned. I had seen very little of him during that time. I was helping Aunt Sophie in the garden when I heard the sound of horse’s hoofs and the next moment Lily came running into the garden.

“Mr. St. Aubyn’s here,” she said.

“He wants to see Miss Fred.”

Crispin was already coming into the garden.

“Tamarisk has gone,” he said.

“Have you any idea where?”

“Gone!” cried Aunt Sophie.

“Gone where?”

“That’s what I want to find out.” He was looking at me.

“Do you know where she might be?”

“I? No.”

“I thought she might have told you.”

“She hasn’t told me anything.”

“Well, she is not at home. She must have left late last night. Her bed hasn’t been slept in.”

I shook my head.

“I saw her yesterday and, yes, she did seem excited.”

“Didn’t you ask her what about?”

“No. She usually told people if there was something going on, so I didn’t think much about it.”

He was clearly anxious and, realizing that I could not be of any help, he left.

We talked about it all through the morning.

This is a funny business,” said Aunt Sophie.

“I wonder what’s happened. She’s up to something, I reckon.”

We speculated on where she could have gone without coming to any reasonable conclusion. I expected her to turn up later. She might have left in a fit of pique. Perhaps she had quarrelled with her mother.

Then Jack Grindle reported that Gaston Marchmont had also gone. He had not just disappeared as Tamarisk had. He had left a note to say that he had been called away on urgent business and would explain when he returned, which he hoped would be shortly.

People immediately linked the disappearance of Tamarisk with that of Gaston Marchmont and speculation was rife.

1 walked over to the Bell House to see Rachel. Aunt Hilda told me she was in the orchard. The garden of the Bell House consisted of some two acres. There was a sizeable lawn, which, if there was some reason why the church garden parties and fetes could not be held at St. Aubyn’s, had on those rare occasions provided a substitute. Parts of i33

it were quite wild and trees grew thick near the orchard which was a favourite haven for Rachel, I knew.

I found her there and as I approached I called out: “Have you heard the news?”

“News? What news?”

“Tamarisk and Gaston Marchmont have disappeared. They must have gone together.”

“Oh no!” she cried.

“It is rather a coincidence, both going off like that at the same time.”

“They can’t be together!”

“Why not?”

“He wouldn’t…”

“He danced with her more than anyone else at the ball.”

“That was because he had to, because the ball was given at St. Aubyn’s.

He had to dance often with Tamarisk. “

7 believe they are together. “

“We’ll know when Gaston comes back. I’m sure he will come back.”

“But they are both missing. Together!”

“There must be some explanation.”

She was staring into the little stream which ran through the orchard.

Her expression was one of intense apprehension. It might have been desolation.

She was right. He did come back and with Tamarisk.

Tamarisk was radiant. There was a gold ring on the third finger of her left hand. Life was wonderful, she declared. She was Mrs. Gaston Marchmont. She and Gaston had eloped and gone to Gretna Green where you could get married without any fuss; and that was how she and Gaston had wanted it to be. They had not wanted to wait for the preparations necessary for a conventional ceremony. They wanted to be together without delay.

Harper’s Green was in a state of great excitement. It was the most dramatic event since Josiah Dorian had hanged himself in the Bell House stable.

“The things that happen in this place!” said Lily.

“It makes you wonder what’s coming next.”

Aunt Sophie said it was an odd business.

“Why did they have to elope? If he’s all he makes out to be there wouldn’t be any objection. Planning a grand wedding would have been a real tonic to Mrs. St. Aubyn, and I can’t believe that Tamarisk wouldn’t have liked that. It looks a bit fishy to me, as though the gentleman might not want too much probing.”

Gaston Marchmont stayed at St. Aubyn’s with the bride. That was to be until he had sorted out his affairs and they could get a home of their own.

The day after their return, I met Crispin riding back from Devizes. He stopped when he saw me and dismounted.

“Are you sure,” he asked, ‘that you didn’t know of Tamarisk’s plans?

”

“Absolutely sure.”

“So she gave you no hint?”

“Of course not.”

He was looking very angry.

I said: “I think she is very happy, isn’t she? It was what she wanted.”

He stared ahead, his mouth grim.

“She is completely ignorant,” he said.

“This is an impulsive act which could ruin her life. She is just out of school.”

I felt my indignation rising. That was what he thought of me. A child just out of school.

“But they are in love!” I said.

“In love!” he retorted scornfully.

“You may not believe it but some people do fall in love.”

He looked at me impatiently.

“If she gave you a hint of what was in her mind, you should have warned me, or someone.”

“She didn’t, I keep telling you, and if she had, why should i35

I have reported it to you? You would have tried to spoil it for them.

”

I walked away. I felt very upset. He did not care for people’s feelings. I had begun to think that he was interested in me only mildly though but I supposed it was only due to the fact that I visited Lucy and Flora Lane. He was still the same man who had said in my hearing, “Who is that plain child?”

I had not seen Rachel since Tamarisk’s return and one afternoon I called at the Bell House.

I found her where I had expected, in the orchard by the stream. I was horrified by her air of dejection.

I sat down beside her and said, “Rachel, what is it?”

“You have heard that Tamarisk and Gaston are married?”

“Everyone is talking about it.”

“I just could not believe it, Freddie. When they went away together”

“I suppose we might have guessed it was something like that.”

She was silent, and I said: “Rachel, were you in love with him?”

I put an arm round her and she shivered.

I went on with sudden inspiration: “And he let you believe …”

She nodded.

“I never thought he was sincere,” I said.

“He talked in that extravagant way to all the girls, or for that matter to Aunt Sophie and Mrs. St. Aubyn. One just knew it didn’t really mean anything.”

“It meant something to us,” said Rachel.

“Do you mean … ?”

“He told me he loved me and all the time it was really Tamarisk.”

“He danced a lot with her at the ball and they had supper together.”

“I thought that was just because …”

“Didn’t you realize that all those flattering compliments didn’t mean a thing?”

“It wasn’t like that, Freddie, not with us. It was some thing serious.

And then he just went off and married Tamarisk. “

“Poor Rachel. You didn’t understand. It didn’t mean anything.”

“It did! It did! I know it did.”

“Then why … why did he marry Tamarisk?”

“I suppose it is because she is who she is. She’s rich, isn’t she? She is bound to be. She’s a St. Aubyn.”

“Well, if that’s the reason, you’re well rid of him. He’s not like Daniel. Daniel really loves you, not anything you can bring him.”

“You talk like an old aunt, Freddie. You don’t understand.”

“I understand that he led you to think he was in love with you and then went off and married Tamarisk.”

She said desperately: “Yes, yes. That’s what he has done.”

“Well then, you are well rid of him. It is Tamarisk whom we should be sorry for.”

“I would do anything to be where she is.”

“Be reasonable. Daniel loves you. You like him. He’ll be a good husband, because he is a good man. Oh, I know he doesn’t dance well and travel around and know how everything should be done in top circles. That doesn’t count for much. It’s goodness … fidelity.”

“Don’t go on like that, Freddie. It’s like some sermon. I can’t bear it.”

“All right,” I said.

“But I’m glad it wasn’t you he married. Actually, 1 think Tamarisk has made a big mistake. Crispin St. Aubyn thinks so too.”

I have reported it to you? You would have tried to spoil it for them.

”

I walked away. I felt very upset. He did not care for people’s feelings. I had begun to think that he was interested in me-only mildly though but I supposed it was only due to the fact that I visited Lucy and Flora Lane. He was still the same man who had said in my hearing, “Who is that plain child?”

I had not seen Rachel since Tamarisk’s return and one afternoon I called at the Bell House.

I found her where I had expected, in the orchard by the stream. I was horrified by her air of dejection.

I sat down beside her and said, “Rachel, what is it?”

“You have heard that Tamarisk and Gaston are married?”

“Everyone is talking about it.”

“I just could not believe it, Freddie. When they went away together .

”

“I suppose we might have guessed it was something like that.”

She was silent, and I said: “Rachel, were you in love with him?”

I put an arm round her and she shivered.

I went on with sudden inspiration: “And he let you believe …”

She nodded.

“I never thought he was sincere,” I said.

“He talked in that extravagant way to all the girls, or for that matter to Aunt Sophie and Mrs. St. Aubyn. One just knew it didn’t really mean anything.”

“It meant something to us,” said Rachel.

“Do you mean … ?”

“He told me he loved me and all the time it was really Tamarisk.”

“He danced a lot with her at the ball and they had supper together.”

“I thought that was just because …”

“Didn’t you realize that all those flattering compliments didn’t mean a thing?”

“It wasn’t like that, Freddie, not with us. It was something serious.

And then he just went off and married Tamarisk. “

“Poor Rachel. You didn’t understand. It didn’t mean anything.”

“It did! It did! I know it did.”

“Then why … why did he marry Tamarisk?”

“I suppose it is because she is who she is. She’s rich, isn’t she? She is bound to be. She’s a St. Aubyn.”

“Well, if that’s the reason, you’re well rid of him. He’s not like Daniel. Daniel really loves you, not anything you can bring him.”

“You talk like an old aunt, Freddie. You don’t understand.”