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My mother liked our host and hostess very much and there seemed to be a tacit agreement that Fe
That first morning he said he would first show me the house and as after three days’ riding I must be in need of a rest from the saddle he would take me for a walk round the estate so that I could really become acquainted with the place.
The great staircase which led up from the hall to the gallery was very fine indeed, with exquisitely carved banisters; in the gallery were the portraits. I paused before that of Fe
“An excellent likeness,” I said.
There was a space on the wall next to his picture and I knew that another had hung there once. I wondered vaguely why it had been removed.
It was a homely house. Less ostentatious than Lyon Court and so modern when compared with ancient Trewynd Grange. It had its buttery, pastry bolting house where flour was bolted or sifted, and the winter parlour which was much used during the cold weather. The kitchen was large with its great range and spits and ovens. Fe
We walked in the gardens which were beautifully laid out. There were fountains and shady walks and several marble statues; the flower-beds were numerous and charmingly bordered with rosemary, lavender and marjoram. He showed me the enclosed garden with the pond in the centre. Most houses had them and they were pla
Fe
“They will have to carry armaments I suppose,” I said.
“Alas, such is the way of the world. There will be battles on the high seas, doubt it not. Where there is prosperity, where there is profit, there will always be those who envy it and seek to take possession of it through force. Rivalry there must be and I would welcome that … good honest rivalry but it can hardly be hoped that men will suddenly become reasonable. They will still seek to take what is not theirs and to believe that there is more to be gained by robbery than by hard work. There should be plenty of trade for all who are ready to work for it, but you will never get men to see this. There are some who must be grander, bolder, richer than all others. There are some who must exert their power over others …”
I immediately thought then of the man at the i
Fe
“Do not let my father hear you say that.”
“Nor shall I,” said Fe
I realized then that he was a very different man from my father. He was gentle and tolerant. A faint misgiving came to me then and I wondered whether the quality needed to succeed in this rough world was that ruthlessness which men like my father possessed, that single-mindedness which could only see one side of a problem. I was aware that Fe
But Fe
It was very pleasant on that damp November day to walk through the garden with Fe
I found his parents delightful and so did my mother. His father was undoubtedly a man of the sea and that meant that he shared certain characteristics with my own father. He was not the roaring ranting man that Jake Pe
I suppose when two families are of a similar kind and each has a young member of it and these are of the opposite sex there must inevitably be some speculation as to whether or not they might marry. I knew this was in the minds of my mother and Fe
And Fe
It seemed to me in those first few days at Trystan Priory that there was a very good chance that one day I would be mistress of it.
Fe
The canvas was set up on a gigantic frame and on it was sketched the picture she would work. It was attractive. There were the little ships and the great Spanish galleons. There was the King of Spain in his gloomy Escorial and the Duke of Medina Sidonia with his ships. And on the other hand we had our own Queen at Tilbury and Sir Francis playing bowls on the Hoe. And the battle—the fireships which caused such havoc and the broken galleons drifting out to sea.