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“It’s a long time,” I agreed.
“I know exactly how they feel.” Her eyes had that glazed look which they had when she looked back into the past. Then she was right back in the present looking straight at me. “The greatest happiness, Li
Suddenly she put her arms about me and held me close to her for a few moments. I knew she was thinking that I should marry soon and have children of my own.
And the thought had been put into her head by the arrival of Captain Fe
By the time Trade Winds sailed out of the Sound, my father had arranged that there should be a further meeting with the Landors. Whether my mother had persuaded him or whether he had been impressed by Fe
I was delighted and I believed my mother was too when an invitation came for us to join the party.
“What women have to do with trade, I fail to see,” growled my father.
My mother retorted: “Of course a woman should know what kind of business her husband is involved in. In any case the invitation is for me and I shall accept it on behalf of Li
My father had gone off on a short trip and Jacko was with him, so it was arranged that my mother and I, accompanied by her maid Je
It was early November when we set out; warm, damp and misty; the hedgerows were festooned with glistening cobwebs and the bare branches of trees made a lacy pattern against a grey sky. A touch of colour was supplied here and there by patches of golden gorse which was always with us. I remember my father’s once saying that the only time a man should not make love to a woman was when the gorse was not in bloom, the implication being that the gorse bloomed all the year round.
I was excited. I was sure there was something in the air that day which told me that I was on the verge of adventure. It must have something to do with Fe
“What a gloomy day,” said my mother, as we rode along side by side.
“Do you find it so?” I replied; and she laughed suddenly. She seemed very happy. I read her thoughts. I was eighteen years old, marriageable. Every mother wants to see her daughter married; she dreams of grandchildren. My mother wanted that for me and she had decided that Fe
Yes, I was in high spirits that morning. Adventure was in the air, discoveries, marriage, children, the right of every woman to love and reproduce. There might have been some warning in the mist, but I could not sense it. Nor did my mother, for she was as eager for what was awaiting us as I was.
The road took us through country lanes with high green banks and hedges in which a few wild flowers lived on as a reminder of the riot of colours they had offered at different times of the year—some campion, dead-nettle and shepherd’s purse and every now and then we would have a glimpse of the sea, greyish, silent on this still windless day. We met few people, only a party on horseback like ourselves who called a greeting, a pedlar whose pack we stopped to examine, a farmer at work on his land. We had made good progress on that first day and before darkness fell we reached an i
In spite of the excitement which possessed me, I slept soundly and so did my mother and we were up early and ready to continue at dawn.
The second day was like the first. The country changed a little though; the coast was more rocky, the countryside stark; it lacked the lush greenery of our Devon scenery; and on that night we came to The Traveller’s Rest.
The host came to the door to welcome us; bowing low, recognizing us I suppose as what he would call “the quality”. Yes, he had a room for us and he would have a fire lighted in the fireplace and a warming-pan put in the bed. He rubbed his hands together. He had a sucking-pig on the spit; he had beef and mutton and great pies. In fact he had everything to tempt hungry travellers. If we would sit awhile in the i
“So, my ladies, if our gracious Queen should ever pass this way we could give her comfort such as she’d rarely find outside her own palace and castles.”
It was a warm welcome. The landlord continued to rub his hands with glee at the prospect of such profits that would come his way. Two ladies and their maid and two grooms! I wondered how many passed this way and how often he could be sure of as many customers.
We sat in the i
My mother said: “We will tell him we will stay here on our return, which will be in a week or so, for I doubt we should overstay our welcome at Trystan Priory.”
Je
“We will come down at once,” said my mother, “for I must confess I am ready for it.”
It was then that I was aware of the noise below, someone was shouting in a loud and imperious voice: “Don’t tell me that, man. Take me there. I tell you this, no matter who has the Oak Room they must vacate it. Do you think I’d take one of your poxy little rooms?”
I heard the landlord, all unctuous pleasure departed: “But my lord … if I had known … It was not more than an hour or so … A party of travellers …”
“It matters not,” came the shout. “They can take another room. By God’s life, host, have I not slept these many times in your Oak Room and what other room have you to suit me? Tell me that!”
“None worthy of your lordship, ’tis true, but …”
“Stand aside.”
I stood there, holding a candle in my hand. I heard the heavy tread on the stairs.
Then he came into sight and saw me standing on the threshold of the room. He stopped short, looking up at me. I was surprised to see that he was young, by which I meant he was reaching up to thirty. His eyes were dark, large and lustrous; his hair looked blackish in the candle light. What struck me most was the size of him. He must have been all of six feet six inches tall. I had rarely seen such a tall man. His shoulders were broad and his padded jerkin made of satin and velvet with its puffed slashed sleeves made him look even broader. His bombasted breeches were of fine material and his jornet, a loose travelling cloak, was thrown back over his shoulders. This arrogant man who, I gathered, was demanding the room already let to us was a dandy.