Warleggan

Warleggan

WINS
TON GRAHAM

A Novel of Cornwall
1792-1793

Collies

FONTANA
BOOKS

Book One

In that coastal
triangle
of Cornwall lying between
Truro,
St. Ann's, and St. Michael,
social life did
not
extend far
in the 1790s. There
were
six big houses - or six inhabited by gentlefolk
-
but circumstances did not encourage intercourse between
them.

Into one of these, '
Mingoose House,' the oldest and most easterly, Ruth
Treneglos, n
e Teague,
- had done her utmost to bring a new social zest; but childbearing had cramped her style of
l
ate
,
her rough-booted husband John was interested only in hunting, and her father-in-law was too deaf and scholarly to care
who
came and
went in his front
rooms. In Werry
House,
the largest
and most
disreputable, Sir Hugh Bodrugan
sprawled and belched
like a lecherous volcano
while
Constance
,
Lady Bodrugan, his stepmother,
who
was young enough
to
be his
daughter,
bred dogs and
fed dogs
and
talked dogs
most
of her
waking hours.

On the other and western
side
of the triangle Place House,
an
unbecoming Palladian residence put up in the early
years
of the
^,
century, was occupied by
Sir
John Trevaunance, a
widowed
and
childless
baronet; and Killewarren, which was not much more than
a
glorified farmhouse, by Mr. Ray Penvenen, who was
richer
and
even
more
cautious
than his neighbour,
To the two houses
in
between, one actually on the coast, the other near it, it would have come natural
to
look for more enterprise, not only because they were where they were but because each was occupied by a young married couple of whom social occasions might have been expected. Unfortunately, neither household had any money,

Between Sawle and St. Ann's, on high ground but protected by trees, Trenwith House, Elizabethan and mellow and beautiful, was occupied by Francis Pold
ark and his wife Elizabeth and t
heir son, who was nearly eight years old, and
Francis's, great-aunt, Agatha, who was so old, that everyone had forgot ten to count. Three miles to the east was the, sixth
and smallest of the houses, Nampara, Georgian
and utilitarian
and never properly completed but not without a certain iny dividluality and charm, which was characteristic too perhaps
of its owners. Ross Poldark lived here and his wife
Demelza; and their son Jeremy
had just passed his first birthday.

So of the six houses, the first two were preoccupied with dogs and babies; the second two had the means to entertain but not the will; the last two the will only. Therefore some surprise and speculation were caused when, in May 1702, five of the households
received an
invitation from the owner of the sixthh to a supper party on the
twenty-fourth of the month
Sir John Trevaunance wrote that he was taking the opportunity while his sister was staying with him and while his brother
Unwin
, a Member of Parliament for
for Bodmin
, also was down.

This seemed such
a poor reason f
or breaking with the habit of ye
ars that everyone
cast about
for
a stronge
r motive. Demelza
Poldark at least had
no difficulty in finding one,
When
the letter was delivered, Ross was up
at the mine; the new mine wher
e he spent nearly all his time nowadays, and
Demelza waited impatiently for his retana.

A
s she laid things
for the light meal t
hey would have
, s
upper was not until eight
-
Demelzu. wondered what the outcome woul
d be of this
latest
and probably last gamble. Wheal Leisure, the mine on
the cliff, which Ross had started in company with six other venturers inn '87, continued to
prosper; but last year
he had sold half
his holding inn, it and had, sunk the money in this much more speculative enterprise.

The result so far had been failure. The fine new pumping engine, designed by two young
engineer
s from Redruth, had been set up and all the claims made out for it had been con
firmed.
But the thirty-fathom level, which was as deep as the old men. had go
ne, offered nothing but worked-out gun
nies; and the new fort
y an
d fifty-fathom levels they were
driving to strike the lodes again
had been most unproductive, yielding poor stuff where there was any yield at all. The engine might work
wit
h the greatest possible efficiency; it still used coal; and while things stayed as they were, every day brought nearer
the day when silence would fall on the valley and the engine begin to rust.

As she
glanced up through the win
dows she saw Ross coming across
the garden in company with his cousin and partner Francis. They were talking attentively, but Dernelza could see that it
was over no sudden discovery.
Often she watched Ross's face as he came in.

She picked, up Jer
emy, who in his efforts to walk was threatening to
pull the cloth off the
table, and with him
in her arms went to the front door to meet them. The wind billowed the skirt of her green-striped dimity frock.

When they were near enough, Francis said

`Demelza, you never grow up; you look
seventeen. I hadn't
intended
to

co
me today, but damn it, I feel
revived for the air; I think tea with you
might complete the cure.'

She
said: `Is this your first time out of doors? I
hope you
haven't been down the mine.'

My
second, And I have not. Ross has been exploring on his own again, with the usual measure of success. Jeremy boasts another tooth, I believe, I fancy there were only three last time I looked?

'Seven!' said Ross.
`You're on dangerous ground.'

They laughed and went indoors, The early part of tea Jeremy made sure was devoted to him; but presently Mrs. Gimlett
came in to bear him away, and
the adults went allowed some peace
. Demelza, a little breathless an
d with a curl rakishly over one eye, poured herself a second cup of tea.

`And are you truly better, Francis? The fever is quite gone?'

`It, was
just the influenza,' said Francis. 'We all had
it, but I the worst. Choake bled me and gave me Peruvian bark, 'Out I recovered nevertheless.'

Ross stretched himself, easing his long legs
. Why do you not have Dwight En
ys?
He's keen and u
p-to-date and has a knowledge of the latest physical ideas.'

Francis grunted - Tom
Choa
ke has always looked after us, Personally I think th
ese medical
jock
eys
are much the same Anyway, our friend Eny s is in a little trouble himself over old John Ell
ery, -
I under
stand.'

`What's the matter with him
?'

`It seems he had a
toothache
and Enys
took out thre
e teeth
but dug for the roots, as is his fashion. Choake contents himself with twisting off the crowns, as you know. But this time something has gone wrong with Dwight's methods and Ellery has not been out of pain since.'

Demelza said : `I thought Dwight looked a small matter worried when he called yesterday.'

'He takes his failures too much to heart,' said Ross. `I should
think it a great disadvantage in his profession.'

'It is a great disadvantage in any profession,' said Demelza,
carefully not looking at him.

Francis raised an ironical eyebrow, In, the brief silence that followed, and to cover it, Demelza took down her envelope from the mantelshelf.

`We have an invitation, Ross! Just think of it in these bad times. Have you
had one, Francis? I
suppose it will be quite a big affair. I wonder if we should dress. What does Elizabeth say of it?'

`From the Trevaunances?' said Francis while Ross read it. `Yes, we had a note today. The old man has grown extravagant with his grey
hairs:
I feel there's' some motive in his madness, though, knowing Sir John.'

`Ah,' said Demelza, "twas much the same thought came to
me.'

`What motive?' asked Ross, looking up from the letter.

Francis glanced' at Demelza, but she was waiting for him. He
laughed.
`We're uncharitable, Ross, your wife and Ray Penvenen's niece, Caroline, is an heiress in her own right. Unwin Trevaunance has been stalki
ng her for two years. This may
well be to announce the kill.'

'I did not know the girl was back again.

`She returned from' Oxfordshire,
I believe, last
week.'

`B
ut
then,' said Demelza, 'should
it not be
-
if it were to announce an engagement
-
should it not be Mr. Penvenen who give the, party? I thought that was the way.
Ross, you promised once to buy
me a book on etiquette, but you never did so.'

`You behave better without it. I like a wife who is natural
and n
ot stiffened up with all manner, of artificial observances.'

Francis said
“
Anyway, Ray Penvenen would never give a party even to celebrate his own engagement, so that need
n
ot discourage us from the speculation.'

'You will go of course?' asked Demelza.

'I think Elizabeth had her visiting look on when I left her this afternoon.' Ross said: `I hope if they
intend to join up t
hose two,
they'll be sharp about
it. If Caroline Penvenen is to
be in the neighbourhood for long, it is likely to unsettle Dwight. I'd be glad to see her safely tied to Unwin.'

'I
heard there was something between her and Enys last time she was down, but I should think he's
wise enough not to get himself
entangled there'

Demelza said:
`It seems to me no man is wise
enough if the woman is not wise enough.'

Ross glanced up good-humouredly. `That's an acute remark. D'you speak it from personal experience?'

She
met his eyes. `Yes, Ross, from personal experience. Think how foolish Sir Hugh Bodrugan would be over me if -
I let him.'

Not until he spoke had lie see
n the
latency of what he said, which might even refer to their own marriage, and he was glad that she had taken it in the right way. He did not reflect that two years ago he would never have any doubts on the point,

At about the time Francis and Ross walked, down from the mine to tea, George Warleggan was dismounting from his horse outside Trenwith House.

To look at him one would not have thought him
the grandson of a blacksmith, the
first generation of his
family to be genteelly educated
-
unless the clothes he wore? told the tale they were intended to disguise. No country squire would have dressed
so well for an afternoon call,
even had, he wanted to impress the lady of the house, as George did.

When Mrs Tabb showed him in
and, rather in a flurry, went to look for Mrs. Poldark, George strolled about the hall tapping his boot with his crop and staring up at to ancestral pictures. This was a. different pov
erty from the poverty he might h
ave seen at Nampara House three miles away. Francis and Elizabe
th might be no better off
t
han their cousins, but you do n
ot reduce a mellow Elizabethan house to delapidation in a few years. George was staring at the magnificent window with its hundreds of small panes of glass when he heard footsteps and turned to see Elizabeth skimming down the stairs.

She slowed as soon as she
saw
him and came
down the last
steps hesitantly.

'Why
, George when Mrs. Tabb said - I couldn't quite believe”

'That I had really ventured to come.' He bowed over her band politely. 'I was passing near, so brought my godson a birthday present. I thought perha
ps I might be permitted that
much.'

Still uncertain, she took som
ething that he handed her. `But
it isn't Geoffrey Charles's birthday, for months.' 'Last year. I'm late, not early:
”

`Does Francis :..'

'Know I'm here? No. But if he does? Surely this rather childish enmity has
gone on
too long. Really, Elizabeth, it
gives me such pleasure to see you again. Such pleasure
She smiled at him, not flushing as she would have done a few years ago, but warming all the same to his admiration. She did not know how much of George was genuine, but she knew this was. She thought he had grown more stocky since they had last met, so that one saw in his greater bulk
the-shadow of the middle-aged
man he would become. But however he had behaved to Ross
-
and that she certainly resented he had never been anything but scrupulously fair with Francis and unfailingly charming to her.

In the winter parlour she unwrapped the small parcel he had brought, and found it was a gold watch. She tried to return it to him, troubled and feeling him overgenerous, but he would have nothing to do with that.

`Drop it in a drawer for a while if you feel he's too young. The
quarrel surely doesn't, include
him. By the time he's old enough to carry it, perhaps we shall all be friends again.'

She said: 'The quarrel was not of my
seeking.
We are very quiet
here nowadays, and I should be
glad of all my friends. But you. know Francis as well as I do. He is wholehearted in his feelings, and if he were to come in now the-our friendship might come to worse hurt than ever before,'

'In other words he would try
to kick me out,' George said pleasantly. `Well, no doubt you'll think me overdeliberate in all things, but I have posted my, manservant on the rising ground near Sa
wle Church. If he sees Francis
coming, he can give me good warning, so you needn't fear, a brawl.'
He hunched
his shoulders. 'I should have hesitated to do so
if I believed there was risk of your thinking me a coward.'

Elizabeth sat down on the window seas and looked out over
the herb garden. George watched her carefully, like a business
deal to be negotiated.

Elizabeth said: 'Before anything else. I., want to thank you for your kindness to my mother and father. My mother is still so unwell, and to ask them to your
home ,
`I
told
them especially not to tell you.'

'I know; Father said so. But he wrote of
it all
the same, and of all your, kindness while they were there.'

'It's of no moment. I
hav always admired
your mother, and think her so brave in her eye trouble. I wonder they don't sell
their house and live with you h
ere.'

'I have thought of it my
self sometimes. But Francis doe
s not believe it would be a good ar
rangement-' She checked herself
,
George sat down and put the silver end of his riding crop against his teeth. `Elizabeth, I don't expect; you to be in any way disloyal to
Francis's views of me and this
quarrel, but don't you personally think it time it was forgot? W
hat good is it doing, any of
us? Francis is cutting off his own hand. 'You know as well as I do that, were there any malice on my side, I could bankrupt him tomorrow. To you it's not a pleasant thing to say, but can you doubt it?'

'I don't doubt it,' Elizabeth said, flushing now.

'I my wish it were different. I should like to help to make it different. But
while this feud continues I
should like you to help me heal it.'

She unloosed the catch of the window and opened it a
few inches to let
in a gentle breeze. Her profile was clear cut like a cameo against the brown of the curtain.

You say you’ll not ask me to
be d
isloyal and then press me to tak
e sides-'

Not at all. To mediate.'

''Do you t
hink my mediation would have so much effect? George, you know Francis's mind just as well as I do. He
believe
s
you to have been behind the proscution of Ross, to have
..’

`Oh, Ross
,
’

As soon as he spoke, he saw
he had said the wrong t
hi
ng; but he went on, keeping th
resentment out of his voice.

'I know you have a vast affection for Ross, Elizabeth. I
wish I could enjoy the favour in your eyes that he does. But let me put this clearly to you. Ross and I have never seen eye to eye sine we were at school. It
is
something
fundamental. We do not like
each other overwell. But on my side
it is no more than that. On
his it is a disease. He plunges headlong from one misfortune to another and blames me for them all as they come upon
him
!
’

Elizabeth had got up. 'I wish you wouldn't say this. It isn't fair to ask
me to listen’

She might have walked away across the room, but he didn't move aside and she found herself at close quarters with
him
and not quite; able to get out of the window bay.

"Don't you hear Ross's side? Why is it unfair to hear mine? Let me tell you of his position and what he has done to
extricate
himself.'

She said nothing more. Aware that he had overcome the first hurdle, George. went on: `Ross is impulsive, over stiffne
cked, rash. You can't blame me
for
that. It
is the fault of being born with money,
coming
from generations of people who have always had money. But no one need behave as he has behaved. Four years ago he began this ill-conceived plan for smelting copper in Cornwall. He blames me for its failure, but it was doomed to failure from the start. Then, when he was hard set as a result, he was too proud to go to his friends for assistance; and so, added to his other debts, he signed a bill for a thousand pounds at a usurer's rate of interests
-
it has but now come into my uncle's hands, that is how I know
-
and Ross has been paying this interest on it ever
since. Nor is he satisfied
with this, but he last
year sold
the half of his interest in a profitable mine and induced Francis to go into partnership with him in this white elephant, Wheal Grace, which his father exhausted twenty years' ago! When he ultimately beggars himself and you as well, no doubt he'll blame me for having stolen the copper out of his ground overnight!'

At last she escaped and walked across the room. He was overstating his case,
but the truth might lie
somewhere midway between his argument and Francis's. Her feeling for Ross had never quite been definable to herself, and there was some grain of perverseness which tools pleasure in seeing the other side.