The Youngest Bridesmaid (23 page)

II

Lou awoke to an impression that the storm had abated. The sea seemed to break with less savagery against the rocks, and today it might be possible to get out of doors. I
f
she could escape from the confines of these four walls for a time she might be able to sort out her unhappy problems or at least reach a compromise with herself. It had not occurred to her as yet to fight for her happiness, for had not Piers
on his own showing, confessed to a realization of his mistake, and in admitting his folly would lose no time to rectify it?

She slipped out of the house before Melissa was down, and for a moment staggered against the porch as she met the force of the wind. But she had learnt the island
’
s geography by now and knew where the sheltered places lay. The rough scrub which was Rune
’
s principal vegetation had been to
rn
up and scattered in wanton profusion and some of the cottage windows were crudely boarded up where the glass had been blown out, but along the shore, in the lee of the cliffs, there was
s
ufficient shelter to make walking possible and it was good to smell again the salt and the seaweed and feel the sting of wind and
spray.

Forget it or throw it away ... forget it or throw it
away
... the waves seemed to beat out monotonously, and a curious change came over Lou. Last night
’
s sad acceptance of the end of her fairy tale began to give way to a sense of outrage. She was Piers
’
wife in law, whatever the circumstances, and the law was on her side. Until she was convinced in actual fact that it was Melissa Piers wanted, she was not going to help him to jump out of marriage as quickly as he had jumped into it.

B
rave resolve, she thought, turning homewards, or only wishful thinking? But her old doubts returned as she entered the house again and experi
en
ced the familiar sensation of trespass. Piers and Melissa were chatting companionably over pre
-
luncheon drinks, and Lou might have imagined that they paused long enough in their interrupted conversation to make her feel she was intruding. She di
d
not, however, imagine the sudden constraint in Piers
’
manner, reminding her that last night
’
s bitter interchange between them was still unresolved.

Becoming conscious of
both her cousin
’
s possessive ease and her impeccable grooming, Lou was tempted to turn tail and do something about her own dishevel
m
ent, but instead she demanded a drink. Piers looked surprised, for she seldom drank spirits, but he poured her a gin and tonic without comment except to suggest with unnecessary point that it might be better if she went upstairs to tidy.

“
Presently, when I
’
ve had my drink—possibly two drinks,
”
she replied calmly, and Melissa gigg
l
ed.

“
Darling, you are breaking out!
”
she said.
“
Piers is right, though—you can
’
t imagine what a little scarecrow you look in those dirty old slacks, with your hair standing on end.
”

“
Personally, I think she looks rather charming,
”
Piers observed unexpectedly.
“
No one dresses up on Rune.
”

Lou was grateful for the polite snub, but Melissa pouted.

“
Is that meant for me?
”
she asked plaintively.
“
You used to be both observant and critical of your girl-friends
’
appearances, Piers. Why, only just now you were saying that poor Lou—
”

“
I
’
m not aware that we were discussing Lou,
”
Piers interrupted on a cool, warning note, and Melissa lowered her long lashes an
d
smiled up at him through them. She did not contradict him, but Lou thought there was a world of meaning in the look and the smile, and, ungratefully, she now felt angry with Piers for his defence of her. They had quite obviously been discussing her, and it was the
fi
rst time she had known Piers to be a little embarrassed.

“
Well—mud in your eye, and here
’
s to holy wedlock!
”
she said with sudden defiance, gulping down her drink and holding out the glass for more.

“
And what do you suppose you mean by that? I think you
’
re a teeny weeny bit tiddly already,
”
Melissa said, but Lou thought Piers gave a faint grin. He refilled the glass and returned it to her gravely, advising her to drink more slowly.

“
You should get out of doors, Melissa,
”
Lou said with her new-found composure.
“
It
’
s not too rough today to walk, and tomorrow it might even be safe for the launch to put out, mightn
’
t it, Piers?
”

He made no reply, observing her thoughtfully, but Melissa, recognizing a new, unsuspected quality in her cousin, said quickly:

“
Dear Lou, you sound in a most unflattering hurry to get rid of me. Have you been consulting the oracle?
”

“
The oracle?
”

“
The voice in this phoney cave Tibby
’
s always talking about. It
’
s supposed to warn you of impending doom or something.
”

“
Y
o
u didn
’
t go to the cave, did you?
”
Piers asked sharply, and Lou looked bemused, her small advantage already lost.

“
No,
”
she replied.
“
What did you mean, Melissa? Piers says the cave legend is just superstition.
”

“
Of course, it is, but Tibby believes—and Sam,
”
Melissa said carelessly.
“
Was it really a temple, Piers?
”

“
Very probably—though whether the Druids had anything to do with it is a moot point. I
’
ve told you,
Lou, to keep away.
”
Piers spoke so curtly that both girls looked at him with surprise.

“
I haven
’
t been there since that first time,
”
Lou assured him, and Melissa said, with a small gurgle of laughter.

“
I think you must believe in it too, Piers. Well, well, imagine the hard-boiled, worldly-wise Piers Merrick succumbing to local superstition! That
will
be a laugh when we all get back to civilization.
”

“
If it amuses you to jeer, you
’
re welcome,
”
he retorted.
“
The cave has a bad name, that
’
s all. A girl drowned there.
”

“
But you said the cave never filled except in times of storm,
”
Lou began, her eyes wide and startled at this unexpected evidence that
her own feelings about the cave had not been misplaced, and Tibby, entering the room with her usual soft-footed secrecy to announce that lunch was ready, chipped in as if she had been part of the conversation.

“
And it
’
s a time of storm now, missis,
”
she said.
“
It was a time of storm when that other maid died—too afraid to live with her own conscience, so they say.
”

“
Why? What had she done?
”
Lou asked, repelled yet fascinated by the gaunt old woman
’
s Cassandra-like utterances.

“
She had stolen another woman
’
s mate,
”
Tibby replied, with a long, piercing stare at Lou, and Piers rose angrily from his chair, knocking over his glass with a careless gesture of annoyance.

“
Keep your bedtime stories for Sam or anyone silly enough to listen, Tibby,
”
he snapped.
“
If one were to believe all the grisly legends that Cornwall boasts we
’
d be drowning in pools or jumping off cliffs from
sheer
suggestion. Take that dazed look off your face, Lou, and go and get tidy. What
’
s for lunch, Tibby?
”

“
Starry-gazey pie,
”
Tibby replied, making the dish sound as sinister as a dose of poison, and Melissa uttered a little squeal.

“
What, for pete
’
s sake, is that?
”
she exclaimed.
“
Some local recipe guaranteed to lead us to the pearly gates?
”

For the first time Tibby
’
s mouth tightened with displeasure for Melissa, who was openly mocking her, and Piers, in no mood either for smart cracks at local customs, said tersely:

“
A Cornish dish, certainly. Merely pilchards with their heads sticking through the pie-crust, if you must know.
”

“
Oh, God! Fish again!
”
Melissa groaned rudely, and helped herself to another drink without being asked.

Piers went out immediately after lunch, and Melissa, once the need to appear gay and amusing had been removed, poured out an incessant flow of grumbles and ill temper. She needed a hair-do, she was sick or fish and those endless stodgy soups and puddings, the battery of her transistor set was nearly finished and without it life could not be endured, and she was out of cigarettes. No one would believe, she concluded waspishly, that the gilded Piers Merrick enjoyed playing at the simple life in such discomfort.

“
Rune isn
’
t a game, It
’
s real for Piers.
”
Lou said, but her cousin made a rude noise.

“
Don
’
t kid yourself. He
’
s only a little boy playing king-of-the-castle,
”
she retorted.
“
But enough
’
s as good as a feast, as you will find out.
I
would soon have talked him out of that caper.
”

“
Would you, Melissa? But you tried, didn
’
t you? That was the quarrel that proved your undoing.
”

“
It proved something else, too—that my quiet, mousy little cousin wasn
’
t above rushing in for the
kill.
”

Lou was sewing a button on one of Piers
’
shirts, aware that this wifely chore annoyed her cousin unduly, but she was irritated herself now; and bit off a thread with a sharp little snap of the teeth which told Melissa she had scored a hit.

“
Well, you did, didn
’
t you? Very clever, darling—all that lovely lolly just for the taking.
”

“
You should know by now that Cousin Blanche scarcely has patience with girlish scruples, and the lovely lolly was important to her.
”

“
You
’
re saying she pushed you into it—so what? Blanche was scared. If she hadn
’
t lost her head she
’
d have tried to find me, or at least given me the red
light.”

“S
ince you stated in your note that love was the only
thing
that counted, she might be forgiven for
not understanding that you were only out for kicks,
”
Lou said crisply.
“
Besides, Piers wouldn
’
t wait. If I hadn
’
t agreed he
’
d have found someone else.
”

“
So what have you gained, Cinderella? Not very nice, surely, to be picked at random, and you
’
re hardly the type to hold a man who
’
s married you out of pique. You can see for yourself he
’
s come back to me already.
”

“
Don
’
t call me that,
”
Lou said sharply, then she laid down her work. The morning
’
s walk had sharpened her wits if
it had not entirely cleared her thoughts; now was as good as any time to have things out with her cousin.

“
I don
’
t know what you mean to imply by that, Melissa, and I don
’
t want to know,
”
she said,
“
but I think it
’
s time we understood each other. You
’
re trying to take Piers away from me, aren
’
t you?
”

Melissa shrugged. If she was surprised that mousy Cousin Lou was prepared to do battle she was quite unperturbed. It might be amusing to see how far the silly little thing would go to fight for her imagined rights.

“
You can
’
t take away something that
’
s never been possessed,
”
she retorted a little cruelly, and had satisfaction in knowing from Lou
’
s sudden wince that that remark had struck home.

“
First blood to me,
”
she observed mockingly.

For a moment Lou
’
s innate honesty nearly defeated her intentions. It was only too true that there was no physical bond between herself and Piers, and last night he had all but admitted his mistake.
Pretend in your make
-
believe a little longer,
he had said, and that, surely could have meant only one thing.

“
You
’
re in no position to know what
’
s been between us since we married. Men can make do with substitutes better than women can,
”
she said with a gallant attempt at pretence, but Melissa simply laughed derisively.

“
Tell that to the marines, darling!
”
she scoffed.
“
I
’
ve seen
your virginal couch, don
’
t forget, and in any case one can always tell. Besides, Piers confides—and more than that, he takes what he wants where he can get it. Too bad, my sweet—but you have grounds for divorce if you want.
”

For the second time since Melissa had come to the island Lou wanted to slap her, and this time she did. She slid forward quickly to the edge of her chair and without further thought caught her cousin smartly across the cheek with the flat of her hand. For a moment Melissa said nothing, but her blue eyes held an ugly expression. Temper had drained the color from her face and the red mark of the blow stood out angrily on her cheek.

“
You
’
ll be sorry for that,
”
she said then in a soft, deliberate voice.
“
You
’
ll be very very sorry, you little bitch—you little thief!
”

She left the room before Lou could stammer out an apology, and presently she could be heard talking in high tones to Tibby in the kitchen. She was enlisting Tibby
’
s sympathy, Lou supposed, just as
,
later, she would certainly enlist Piers
.

Lou sat on disconsolately, aware that all the headway she might have made the reasoned things she had meant to say, were defeated by that ill-considered slap. She observed with sadness that Piers
’
flowers, which she had arranged in such loving expectation only a few days ago, were already dying, and all at once she felt too tired to fight any longer. There was no sense in clinging to
w
hat you had never possessed, and if Melissa was what Piers wanted then let him have her. It had, after all, just been make
-
believe, an impossible dream; the sort of dream any little wide-eyed bridesmaid might have while envying the lucky bride. It was time and more to wake up.