Kirkland Revels

Chapter 2

The honeymoon was over. During the last day we had both been a little on edge. Gabriel had been silent and I had been a little exasperated with him. I could not understand why he could be gay one day and moody the next. Perhaps I was-although I would not admit this—a little nervous of facing the Rockwell family. Friday sensed our mood and lost some of his exuberance.

“There are three of us now, that’s what he’s telling us.” I said to Gabriel; and that did seem to cheer him.

The journey across the North Riding was long because we had to change; and the afternoon was over by the time we reached Keighley.

A carriage was waiting for us—rather a grand one; and when the coachman saw me I fancied he was startled. I thought it rather strange that he should not have heard of Gabriel’s wedding and surely he had not, for if he had why should he be surprised when a bridegroom arrived with his bride?

Gabriel helped me into the carriage while the coachman dealt with our luggage, taking covert looks at me as he did so.

I shall never forget that drive from the station. It took about an hour and before we reached our destination dusk had fallen.

So it was in the half light that I first saw my new home.

We had passed over the moors which were wild and eerie in this light; but these moors were very like those which had been close to Glen House, and I felt at home on any moor We had climbed high and, although it was June, there was a sharpness in the air. The peaty smell was in my nostrils and I felt my spirits rise in spite of my growing apprehension I pictured myself riding on these moors—Gabriel and myself together. Now we were descending and the country was less wild although there was still the moorland touch about it. We were coming near to the hamlet of Kirkland Moorside, close by which was my new home, Kirkland Revels.

The grass was more lush; we passed an occasional house; there were fields which were cultivated.

Gabriel leaned towards me. ” If the light were better you might be able to see Kelly Grange from here my cousin’s place. Did I mention him Simon Redvers?”

” Yes,” I said, ” you did.” And I strained my eyes and thought I saw the faint outlines of a house away to the right.

On we went over the bridge; and it was then that I caught. my first glimpse of the Abbey.

I saw the Norman tower, the outer shell of which was pre served ; the walls clustered about it, so that it was impossible to see at this distance that it was a mere shell. It looked grand yet forbidding although I wondered in that moment whether it was really so or whether the moods of my husband had made me imagine there was something to be feared.

We were driving along a road which was bordered on either side by massive oaks, and suddenly we were in the clear and there before me was the house.

I caught my breath, for it was beautiful. The first thing that struck me was its size. It looked like a massive oblong of stone. I discovered later that it was built round a courtyard, and that although it was of Tudor origin it had been restored through the later centuries. The windows were mullioned and about them were fantastic carvings of devils and angels pitchforks and harps, scrolls and Tudor roses. This was indeed a historic baronial hall. I thought then how small Glen House must have seemed to Gabriel when he had visited us About a dozen stone steps, worn away in the centre, led to a great portico of massive stone carved in a way similar to the space round the windows. There was a heavy oak door decorated with finely-wrought iron; and even as I began to mount the steps the door opened and I met the first member of my new family.

She was a woman in her late thirties or early forties and her resemblance to Gabriel told me at once that she was his widowed sister, Ruth Grantly.

She looked at me for a few seconds without speaking, and her glance was cool and appraising before she forced some warmth into it.

” How do you do? You must forgive us if we’re surprised. We only heard this morning. Gabriel, it was perverse of you to be so secretive.”

She took my hands and smiled; although it was a baring of the teeth rather than a smile. I noticed that her eyelashes were so fair that they were almost invisible. She was just that little bit fairer than Gabriel; and what struck me at once was her coldness.

” Come along in,” she. said. ” I’m afraid you’ll find us unprepared.

It was such a surprise. “

I said: ” It must have been.”

I looked at Gabriel questioningly. What could have been the point in not telling?

We stepped into the hall in which a log fire was blazing, and I was immediately struck by the air of antiquity about the place. I could see that this had been preserved and was cherished. The walls were hung with tapestry which doubtless had been worked by members of this family centuries ago. In the centre of the hall was a refectory table and on it were laid utensils of brass and pewter.

I looked round me.

” Well?” said Ruth.

” It’s so … exciting to be here,” I said.

She seemed a little gratified. She turned first to Gabriel ” Gabriel, why all this secrecy?” Then to me as she spread her hands deprecatingly: ” He seems to have no reason for keeping us in the dark until this morning.”

” I wanted to surprise you all,” said Gabriel. ” Catherine, you’ll be tired. You’d like to go to your room.”

“Of course you would,” put in Ruth.

“And meet the family later. I can tell you we’re all very eager to make your acquaintance.”

Her eyes glittered as her somewhat prominent teeth were bared once more. Friday barked suddenly.

” A dog too?” she said. ” So you are fond of animals …

Catherine?”

“Yes, very. I’m sure everyone will be fond of Friday.” I was aware of a movement high in the wall and I looked up quickly to the gallery.

“That’s the minstrels’ gallery,” Gabriel explained.

“We sometimes use it when we have a ball.”

“We adhere to old customs here, Catherine,” said Ruth. ” I hope you’re not going to find us too old-fashioned.”

” I am sure I shall enjoy old customs very much ” ” I hope so. When there are traditions …”

I fancied her voice was a little sardonic and I wondered whether she was suggesting that I could not possibly under stand the traditions which belonged to a family such as theirs.

Ruth’s cool welcome was increasing my apprehension and I wondered afresh what Gabriel’s reason had been for withholding the news of our marriage.

A manservant appeared, to ask about our luggage, and Gabriel said: “

Take it up to my room, William.”

” Aye, master,” was the answer.

He mounted the stairs with my trunk on his shoulder and Gabriel took my arm and we followed him. Ruth came after us and I could feel her eyes on my back, taking in every detail. I was never more pleased with Uncle Dick than at the moment. My smart travelling costume of dark blue gaberdine gave me confidence.

At the top of the flight of stairs was a door and Gabriel said: “

That’s the door to the minstrels’ gallery.” I hoped he would throw it open and that I should see whether someone were there, because I was certain that I had seen a movement in the gallery, and I wondered what member of the household had preferred to hide there to take a glimpse of me instead of coming down to welcome me.

It was a wide staircase of great beauty, but in the light of oil-lamps it seemed full of shadows. I had an uncanny feeling as I went up that all the members of this family who had lived in the house over the last three hundred years were watching me with disapproval the girl whom Gabriel had brought into the house without consulting his family.

” My rooms,” Gabriel told me, ” are at the top of the house. It’s a long climb.”

” Will you keep those rooms now that you have a wife?” asked Ruth from behind me.

” I certainly shall. Unless of course Catherine does not like them.”

” I feel sure I shall.”

” There are others to choose from if you are not satisfied,” Ruth told me.

We had climbed to the second floor when a young man appeared. He was tall and slim and very like Ruth. He had cried: ” Are they here yet.

Mother? What’s she . ” before he saw us. He paused, not in the least embarrassed, laughing at himself, while his eyes went to me.

” This is Luke … my nephew,” said Gabriel.

” My son,” murmured Ruth.

“I am delighted to meet you,” I said, and held out my hand.

He took it and bowed over it so that a lock of his long fair hair fell forward over his face.

” The delight then is mutual,” he said with a faint drawl. ” It’s amusing to have a wedding in the family.”

He was very like his mother, and that meant that he was like Gabriel too. The same rather prominent, aristocratic features, the delicate fairness, the almost languid air.

” What do you’ think of the house?” he asked eagerly.

” She has been in it less than ten minutes and has not seen a tenth of it and what she has seen has not been in day light,” his mother reminded him.

” To-morrow I will take you on a tour of inspection,” he promised me, and I thanked him.

He bowed once more and stood aside for us to pass; but when we went on he joined the procession and accompanied us to the rooms on the third floor which I gathered had always been Gabriel’s.

We came to a circular gallery, and the feeling that I was being watched was stronger than ever; for here were the family portraits, life-sized; three or four roze-quartz lamps were burning and in this dim light the figures had the appearance of reality.

” Here we are,” said Gabriel, and I felt the pressure on my arm; I heard Friday in his basket then; he whimpered faintly as though reminding me of his presence. I believed that Friday sensed my moods and knew that I felt as though I were being enclosed in an alien prison, and that I was resented here. Of course, I reminded myself, it was due to the fact that we had arrived in the twilight. It would have been quite different if we had come on a bright and sunny morning.

There was too much atmosphere in these ancient houses ; and at nightfall the shadows came to plague those whose imaginations were too vivid. I was in an extraordinary position. I was eventually to be the mistress of this house, and three days ago no one in it had been aware of my existence. No wonder I was resented.

I shook off the uncanny feeling, turned my back on the portraits and followed Gabriel through a door on the right and into a corridor. We went along this until we came to a door which Gabriel threw open. I gave a gasp of pleasure for I was standing on the threshold of a charming room. The heavy red damask curtains had been drawn across the windows; a fire was burning m the big open fireplace and, on the mantelpiece which was of beautifully carved white marble, candles in gleaming silver candlesticks were burning and throwing a soft light about the room. I saw the four-poster bed with the curtains to match those at the windows, the tall boy, the chairs with tapestry backs worked in gold and red; there were red rugs which seemed to be flecked with gold, and the general effect was of warmth. On a table was a bowl of red roses.

Gabriel looked at them and flushed. Then he said: ” Thank you, Ruth.”

” There was too little time to do much.”

” This is a beautiful room,” I said.

She nodded.

“It’s a pity you, can’t see the view from the window.”

” She will in an hour or so,” put in Gabriel. ” The moon will be up then.”

I felt my fears evaporating.

” I’m going to leave you now,” said Ruth. “‘I'll have hot water sent up; and could you be ready to dine in three- quarters of an hour?”

I said we could; and she and Luke left us. As the door shut on them Gabriel and I looked at each other in silence.

Then Gabriel said: “What’s wrong, Catherine? You don’t like it, do you?”

” It’s so magnificent,” I began. ” I didn’t imagine …” Then I could not restrain my resentment. ” Why on earth didn’t you tell them you were getting married?”

He flushed and looked distressed, but I was determined to know the truth.

” Well, I didn’t want any fuss….”

“Fuss!” I interrupted.

“But I thought you went back to tell them.”

” So I did.”

” And you found you couldn’t … when it came to the point?”

“There might have been opposition. I didn’t want that.”

” You mean they wouldn’t have thought me worthy to marry into their family?” I knew that my eyes were flashing;

I was both angry and miserable; this was such a disappointing beginning to my life in this house. I was hurt with Gabriel, and very depressed because I was realising that the fact that my marriage had to be kept a secret until it was a fait accompli meant I was not going to live on very easy terms with my new family.

” Good heavens, no!” cried Gabriel emphatically. He caught me by the shoulders, but somewhat impatiently I freed myself. ” They’ll be delighted … once they know you. They don’t like change, though.

You know what families are. “

” No,” I retorted, ” I don’t. And they are distressed, which is natural. The idea of having me suddenly produced as a new member of the family! I can understand how they feel.”

” But you don’t understand, Catherine,” Gabriel said pleadingly.

“Then tell me,” I flashed at him.

“Explain. Why does there have to be this mystery?”

He looked very unhappy. ” But there is no mystery. It’s simply that I didn’t tell them. I didn’t want fuss and bother. I wanted to marry you as quickly as possible so that we could be together and make the most of all the time that’s left.”

When he spoke like that all my anger disappeared. Thai softness, that desire to make him happy because he was afraid of something in life (perhaps it was of death) enveloped me. It was because of this desire that I had married him. I vaguely understood then that he was afraid of something in this house, and that he wanted an ally. I was to be that ally. I knew because, although I had been in Kirkland Revels less tuan half an hour, I was catching that fear.

” Friday’s still in his basket,” I said.

” I’ll take him outside.” He opened the basket and Friday jumped out, barking his pleasure to be free. There was a knock and I turned sharply for the sound did not come from the door by which we had entered. I noticed then that there were two doors in this room.

A voice in a broad Yorkshire accent said: “Hot water, master.”

The door was shut before I had a chance to see the owner of the voice.

“That’s the old powder-closet,” said Gabriel, indicating the door. ” I use it for my ablutions. You’ll find it useful. Lock both doors before you disrobe. One of the servants might come in.”

He fastened the leash on Friday. ” You don’t want to lose yourself on your first evening, Friday,” he said. And when he had gone I went into the powder-closet and there I saw the big hip-bath, the cans of hot water, the soap and towels. A big mirror in an ornate gilded frame was fixed to the wall, and attached to this frame were two gilded candlesticks in which candles burned.

I looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes appeared to be more green than usual, and I found that they quickly strayed from my reflection and were looking over my shoulder, probing the shadowy corners of the powder-room.

Old houses in twilight. Was it possible that in such places the presence of those long dead lingered?

What ridiculous thoughts for a sensible young Yorkshire woman to entertain.

I took off my costume and began to wash the stain of travel from my person. To-morrow, in daylight, I should laugh at nay fancies.

We dined that night in a pleasant room on the first floor.

Gabriel had explained that on ceremonial occasions dinner was served in the hall. That was because the hall had been used for that purpose when the house had been built. ” The refectory table down there is as old as the house itself. But we have a small and more comfortable dining-room for the family,” he added.

It was a large room by Glen House standards; the curtains were drawn when I entered and there were candles on the table. I could see that living here was going to be a somewhat formal affair.

There were six of us at dinner. This was the family. Ruth and Luke I had already met. I now encountered Gabriel’s father. Sir Matthew Rockwell, and his aunt. Miss Sarah Rockwell; they both seemed very old, being in their eighties As soon as I met Sir Matthew I began to feel happier because he was quite obviously pleased to see me. He had been very tall but stooped a little; his hair was plentiful and quite white; his face was ruddy but too much of the port wine shade to be healthy; and his blue eyes, embedded so deeply in folds of flesh that they had almost disappeared, were bright—one might say jaunty.

” Gabriel’s lucky to have such a beautiful wife,” he said. Surely this was flattery for I was not beautiful and could not seem so even to old men of eighty. He kept my hand in his and then kissed it lingeringly.

I guessed that he was not too old for gallantry; he gave the impression that he had enjoyed his life and hoped the young members of his family would follow his example.

” You must sit beside me,” he said. ” I want to look at you and hear you tell me what you think of your new family.”

So I sat beside him at the dinner table and every now and then he would lean towards me and pat my hand.

Aunt Sara was quite different although I recognised the Rockwell features and fairness. Her blue eyes were vacant and she had an air of strain as though she were desperately trying to understand what was going on about her and could not quite catch up with it all.

I imagined her to be even older than her brother.

” Sarah,” shouted Sir Matthew, ” this is my new daughter.”

Sarah nodded and gave him a smile that was sweet in its innocence. I wished I had met these older people first. Then I should have felt I was being warmly welcomed. ” What is your name?” she asked.

” Catherine,” I told her.

She nodded; and whenever I looked up, I found her eyes upon me.

Sir Matthew wanted to hear about our meeting and the suddenness of our decision to marry. I told him about Friday.

” Gipsies,” he said. ” They can be brutal to their animals. I won’t have them on my land. I must say it was a lucky day for Gabriel when he rode that way.”

Luke said: ” He was always going away … riding off … and we never knew when he was coming back.”

” Why not?” said Gabriel. ” It’s the way to take a holiday. I hate making plans. You anticipate the pleasures of getting away and it invariably disappoints. No. Go as the spirit moves you … that’s my motto.”

“And look how well it turned out!” pointed out Sir Matthew, smiling at me.

” I must show Claire my tapestry. She’d like to see it,” said Sara.

There was a brief silence. Then Ruth said quietly: ” This is Catherine, Aunt. Not Claire.”

” Of course … of course …” murmured Sara. ” Are you interested in tapestry, dear?”

” I admire it, but I don’t excel at it. I’m not very handy with my needle.”

” I should think not,” retorted Sir Matthew. ” You don’t want to strain those fine eyes of yours.” He leaned towards me, his hand caressing mine. ” My sister is a bit forgetful. She wanders at times into the past.” He grimaced. ” No longer young … like myself alas!” They talked of the house, of the country surrounding it, of the stables which I was glad to hear were well stocked of their neighbours, friends, county hunts and life generally in Kirkland Moorside; and I felt then that they were doing their best to make me welcome, and that perhaps it was the strangeness of Gabriel which had made me doubt this in the beginning.

Ruth said that before the end of the week there would be a dinner party to celebrate our marriage, and that she would have arranged it for this evening had there been time.

” There are certain people you must meet,” she said. ” They will be most eager to meet you.”

“Whom do you propose to ask?” Gabriel put in quickly.

“Well … Simon, I suppose. After all, he’s part of the family. We shall have to ask Hagar too, but I doubt whether she’ll come. And I thought perhaps the vicar and his wife, and of course the Smiths.”

Sir Matthew nodded. Then he turned to me. ” We want you to feel at home, my dear, without delay.”

I thanked him and when the meal was over Ruth, Sara and I retired to a nearby drawing-room, leaving the men to their port. I was glad that they did not leave us long, for I felt uncomfortable with Gabriel’s sister and aunt.

Gabriel came to my side immediately and remarked that I looked tired.

” No doubt it has been a busy day,” murmured Ruth, ” We shall all understand if you retire early.”

I said good night to the members of my new family and Gabriel and I went up to our room at the top of the house.

Friday came out of his basket to greet us as we entered the room. It was clear that he, too, was finding it difficult to adjust himself to his new surroundings.

” Well,” said Gabriel, ” the worst is over. You’ve met the family.”

” Not all, apparently.”

“The rest are on the fringe. These are the ones you’ll have to live with. Before we retire I want to show you the view from the balcony.”

” Oh yes … your balcony. Where is it?”

” At the end of our corridor. Come now.”

He put his arm about me and we left the room and went to the end of the corridor where there was a door. He opened this and we stepped out on to the balcony. The moon was high in the sky and it shone its light on the scene about us. I saw the Abbey mins like a great ghost of its former self. I saw the dark river winding through the grassland and the black hump of the bridge, and beyond, away in the distance, the shadowy outline of the moor.

” It’s beautiful,” I breathed.

” When I’m away from here I dream of this view.”

” I’m not surprised.”

” Every night I come and look. I always have done since I was a child.

It was a fascination for me. ” He looked down suddenly. ” Two of my ancestors threw themselves over parapets—not this one. There are three others in the house. “

I felt a shiver run along my spine and I looked down into the dimness below.

” We’re at the top of the house,” said Gabriel. ” It was certain death to leap over on to the flagstones below. The only two suicides in our history … and both chose the same method.”

” Come along in,” I said. ” I’m tired.”

But when we entered the room I felt my fear returning Those moments on the balcony had done that, those chance words of Gabriel’s. I was certainly strung up, which was unusual for me. But all would be well to-morrow, I promised myself.

During the next two days I explored the house and the surrounding country. I was fascinated—at times enchanted, at times repelled. I enjoyed being in the house during the day-time, and I was continually losing my way in it; but when dusk fell—I am ashamed to admit—the habit of looking furtively over my shoulder when I was. alone persisted.

I had never stayed in such a large or ancient house; when one was alone the present seemed to merge into the past; it was because so much of the furniture had been in the house for centuries and one could not get away from the idea that this was exactly how it had looked hundreds of years ago, when other footsteps, other voices had been heard, other figures had made those long shadows on the walls.

It was absurd to be influenced by such fancies when the people in the house were normal enough; I had them all clearly docketed in my mind within those first days: Sir Matthew, jolly old squire fond of good food, wine and women, a typical country squire of this or any other century; Aunt Sarah, the spinster who had always lived at home, somewhat innocent, remembering the birthdays, the triumphs and failures of every member of the family, and only now that she was growing old forgetting to whom they had happened and thinking now and then that Gabriel’s new wife was her sister- in-law, Claire, long dead wife of Sir Matthew; there was Ruth who had been mistress of the house since her mother had died, and naturally enough mildly resented the intruder; there was Luke, a young man absorbed in his own affairs as most young men were. A normal family similar to those which were to be found in many households throughout the country.

I had tried to make myself pleasant and I was sure I was succeeding.

Ruth of course was the most difficult to reassure:

I did want her to know that I had no intention of ousting her from her position. Heaven knew this house was large enough, for us to live our separate lives in. Sir Matthew was master of the house and she was his daughter, who had been mistress of the place since she came of age, had continued to live here after her marriage, and naturally had remained when she became a widow. I wanted her to know that I considered she had more right to be the chat elaine of Kirkland Revels than I had.

She told me of the dinner party she was planning, and I candidly replied that she must go ahead with her plans, for I had come from a very small household and had done no housekeeping, having but a short while before my marriage been at school.

This seemed to please her and I felt happy.

During the first morning Gabriel was with his father;

I guessed there were certain business matters concerning the estate which had to be discussed, particularly as Gabriel had been away from home so long. I assured him that I was well able to take care of myself.

I planned to take Friday for a walk, for I was eager’ to explore the country and in particular to have a look at the Abbey ruins. But on my way downstairs I met Luke. He grinned at me in a friendly way and stooped to have a word with Friday. Friday was delighted to be taken notice of and there was no doubt that he took a fancy to Luke right from the first.

” I like dogs,” Luke told me.

“You have none?”

He shook his head. ” Who’d look after them when I am away? I was often away … at school, you know. Now I’m in the transistory period.

I have left school and shall shortly be going to Oxford.”

” Surely there are plenty of people to look after a dog while you’re away?”

” I don’t see it. If you have a dog it’s your dog and you can’t trust anyone else to look after it. Have you seen the house yet?” he asked.

” Not aH of it.”

” I’ll take you on a conducted tour. You ought to know it. You’ll get lost if you don’t. It’s so easy to take the wrong turning. Shall I show it to you?”

I was anxious to be friends, and I felt it was best to accept his invitation. Moreover, I was eager to see the house, so I decided the walk could wait until the tour was over.

I had no idea of the size of the house. I reckoned there must be at least a hundred rooms. Each of the four parts which made up that rectangle of stone was like a house in itself, and it certainly was easy to lose oneself.

” The story goes,” Luke told me, ” that one of our ancestors married four wives and kept them in separate houses; and for a long time none of them knew of the existence of the other three.”

” It sounds like Bluebeard.”

“Perhaps the original Bluebeard was a Rockwell. There are dark secrets in our history, Catherine. You’ve no idea what a family you’ve married into!” His light eyes regarded me with amusement which was not untinged with cynicism; and I was reminded of Gabriel’s decision not to tell the family that he was going to marry me. Of course they regarded me as a fortune-hunter, for not only would Gabriel inherit this house, but also the means which would enable him to live in such a place, as well as the title which, as the only son of his baronet father, would be his when the old man died.

” I’m beginning to learn,” I told him.

I went through those rooms in a state of bewilderment there were so many, and all had the high windows, the lofty ceilings often decorated with exquisite carving, the panelled walls, the furniture of another age. I saw the great cellars, the kitchens, where I met some of the servants who also seemed to eye me with a certain suspicion; I saw the other three balconies so like that near our own room; I examined the massive stone pillars which supported them, and the faces of gargoyles which seemed to grimace at me from everywhere.

” How fond they seemed to be of these devils and grotesques,” I said.

” They were to scare off intruders,” Luke told me. ” You must admit they’re somewhat scarifying. Keep off,” they seem to be saying. The devils of Kirkland will get you if you don’t look out. “” ” Surely they sometimes wanted to welcome visitors,” I murmured lightly.

” We must have been an inhospitable crowd, sufficient unto ourselves perhaps.”

When we reached the gallery he took me round, explaining who the subjects were. There was the first Sir Luke who had built the place, a fierce-looking gentleman in armour. There was Thomas, Mark, John, several Matthews and another Luke.

” We always have biblical names,” he said. ” It’s a feature of the family. Always Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Peter Simon, anything you can think of … even down to the Angel Gabriel. I often call him Angel, though he doesn’t like it much. I think that was going a bit too far. A nice down-to- earth Mark or John would have been so much better. Now that Sir Luke … he died young. He jumped over the balcony in the west wing.”

I stared at the young man in the picture; they were all so lifelike, those pictures, that the lips seemed to move as I watched.

” And that,” went on Luke, ” Is John who, about a hundred years after, decided he’d die the same way. He jumped over the balcony in the north wing. Strange, isn’t it. Although I think he got the idea from that Luke,” I turned away. This talk made me feel uneasy. I was not sure why.

As I moved towards a woman in a feathered Gainsborough type hat, I heard Luke’s voice at my elbow. ” My great-great great-grandmother.

Only I’m not sure of the number of greats. ” I went on walking along the gallery.

” Oh, and here’s your father-in-law himself,” he added.

A younger Sir Matthew looked back at me; his flowing cravat was the essence of elegance as was his green velvet jacket; his complexion was ruddy, rather than port wine, his eyes slightly bigger than they were now, and I was sure that I had not been mistaken when I had judged him to have been something of a rake in his day. And beside him was a woman whom I knew to be his wife; she was beautiful in a frail way and there was an expression of resignation on her face. Gabriel’s mother, I thought, who had died soon after his birth. And there was a picture of Gabriel himself, looking young and innocent.

“You’ll be beside him,” said Luke.

“You’ll be captured like the rest and held prisoner on canvas … so that in two hundred years’ time the new lady of the house will come to look at you and wonder about you.”

I shivered, and was conscious of a great desire to escape from him, to get out of the house, if only for half an hour, because the talk of suicides had oppressed me.

” Friday is impatient for his walk,” I said. ” I think perhaps that I should take him now. It is very good of you to have taken so much trouble to show me everything.”

” But I have not shown you everything There is a great deal more for you to see.”

” I shall enjoy it more another time,” I replied firmly.

He bowed his head.

“When,” he murmured, “it will be my pleasure to continue with our tour.”

I went down the staircase and, half-way, turned to look back. Luke was standing by the portraits watching me, looking as though he had but to step up into one of those frames to become one of them.

The rest of the day I spent with Gabriel. We went for a ride in the afternoon, right out on to the moors; and when we came back it was time to change for dinner, and the evening was spent like the previous one.

Before we retired for the night Gabriel took me out to the balcony, and as he stood for a while admiring that superb view I remarked that I had not yet visited the Abbey ruins and decided that I would do so the next day.

During the morning which followed, Gabriel was again with his father and I wandered on with Friday; this time I went to the Abbey.

As I approached those ancient piles I was struck with wonder. It was a sunny morning; and here and there the stone glistened as though it had been set with diamonds. I could have believed that this was not a ruin, for the great tower was intact and so was the wall which was facing me; it was not until I came close that I realised that there was no roof but the sky. The Abbey nestled in the valley close to the river and I guessed that it would be more sheltered from the storms than the Revels was. Now I saw clearly the high Norman tower, the ancient buttresses and the nave which, like the tower, was almost intact, apart from the fact that there was no roof. I was surprised at the vastness of the ruins and I thought how interesting it would be to make a plan of the Abbey and try to rebuild it in the imagination.

Friday was running to and fro in great excitement as though he shared my emotions about the place. Here, I told myself, was a shell; yet there were enough stones to indicate which parts were the kitchens for instance, the cloister, the nave, the transept, the monks’ quarters.

It was necessary to tread warily, for here and there stones jutted dangerously out of the ground. I lost Friday for a moment and was immediately conscious of a panic which was quite ridiculous; equally so was my relief, when after I had called to him, he came running back to me.

I wondered from what part of the Abbey the stones had been taken to build the house. I wanted to learn something of the history of this house and the family to which I now belonged. I laughed at myself.

There was so much I did not know about my own husband. Why was he so secretive with me? Why was there this constant feeling that he was hiding something from me?

I sat down on a ridge of stones, obviously all that was left of a room of some sort the monks’ dorter, I hazarded and I told myself then that I had not thought enough of Gabriel since I had arrived here.

Naturally Gabriel would be full of odd fancies; he was a young man who was afflicted with a disease of the heart which threatened his life.

It was for that reason that he was moody. He was afraid of death and I had thought it was something in the house, something in these old ruins which had disturbed him! How should / feel if Death were round the corner, waiting for me? That was something which one could not imagine until it happened to one.

I would make Gabriel happy. Moreover, I would not accept the inevitability of death as he seemed to. I would take such care of him that he would live on.

Friday’s barking startled me out of my daydream. I called:

” Friday! Friday!”

And as he did not come to me I went to look for him.

I found him in the hands of a strange man; be was struggling and, if he had not been so expertly held, he would have bitten those hands which imprisoned him.

” Friday!” I called. Then the man who held him turned to look at me.

He was of medium height and I was struck by his brilliant dark eyes and olive complexion.

He released the dog when he saw me and, taking off his hat, bowed.

Friday ran to me, barking furiously and, as I came forward, stood between me and the stranger as though to protect me.

” So the dog is yours, madam,” said the man.

“Yes, what happened? He’s usually so friendly.”

” He was a little annoyed with me.” I noticed the flash of very white teeth in that dark face.

“He didn’t understand that I probably saved his life.”

” How was that?”

He turned and pointed to what I saw now was a well.

” He was perilously perched on the edge, looking down. If he had decided to explore farther, that would have been the end of him.”

” Then I have to thank you.”

He inclined his head, ” This was the monks’ well. It’s deep and probably not very sweet down there.”

I peered over into the darkness. I was looking down the narrow well, to what might have been water at the bottom.

” He’s rather inquisitive,” I said.

“I should put him on a lead when you bring him here again. And you will come here again, won’t you? I can see this place intrigues you.

You have a look in your eyes which betrays your interest. “

” Surely everyone would be interested.”

” Some more than others. May I introduce myself? I believe I know you. You are Mrs. Gabriel Rockwell, are you not?”

” But how did you know?”

He spread his hands and smiled again; it was a warm, friendly smile. “

A simple deduction. I knew you were due to arrive and, as I know almost everyone in these parts, I put two and two together and tried to guess.”

” Your guess was correct.”

“Then welcome to our community. My name is Devere Smith. Doctor. I am at the Revels almost every day, so we should have met sooner or later.”

“I have heard you mentioned.”

“Pleasantly, I hope?”

” Very much so.”

” I’m an old friend of the family as well as the doctor; and of course Sir Matthew and Miss Rock-well are no longer young. They both need my services rather frequently. Tell me, when did you arrive?”

I told him and he listened gravely. I thought there was a foreign look about him but his name was as English as it could be; I supposed he seemed so dark because of the extreme fairness of my new relations.

He said: ” I was going to call at the Revels to-day. Shall we walk back together?”

We did so and he made me feel that I had found a new friend.

He talked familiarly of the family, and when he spoke of Gabriel there was an anxious note in his voice. I knew what that meant and I wanted to speak to him about Gabriel’s health, but I refrained from doing so.

Later, I promised myself. He would be easy to talk to.

He told me that he had been invited to dine at the house on Saturday.

” My daughter and I,” he added.

I was astonished that he should have a daughter old enough to be invited to a dinner party. He saw my surprise and I liked him no less because he appeared to be pleased by it. I had thought he was somewhere in his mid-thirties, but decided he must be older than that.

” I have a seventeen-year-old daughter,” he said. ” She enjoys parties. My wife is not well enough to attend them, so she and I go together.”

” I shall look forward to meeting her.”

” Damaris is looking forward to meeting you.” He smiled.

” Damaris! That is an unusual name.”

” You like it? It’s from the Bible. Just a brief mention … but it’s here.”

I remembered what Luke had said about biblical names, and I wondered if it was a custom in this part of the world to take names from the Bible.

I was about to mention this ; then I remembered that Madame la Directrice had said that my impetuosity often verged on bad manners, so I restrained myself.

We went into the Revels together. The doctor sent one of the servants to tell Ruth he had arrived; and I went up to my room.

-I wore a white gown on the night of the dinner party. It was the only real evening ore that if entertaining at the Re scale. I should have some white chiffon and lace, very si:

I had no qualms about it bee I had were perfectly cut an company. I did my hair in liked so much; and I was < dress, for time was passing.

As he did not come, I we and I went on to the balcony He was nowhere in sight, b coming from the porch.

I was about to call out an’ ” I heard a deep masculine You have not taken to our little. I drew back, feeling the li I knew that listeners are said i Fanny had told me that oft el when you overhear yourself ingly, to refrain from listen ” It’s early yet,” answered There was a laugh. ” I’ve easy prey. “

I did not hear Ruth’s reply ” Why did you let him stray so to find some little fortune-hu I was furiously angry. I v and tell whoever was speakin, him ; I wanted to tell him that position when I had married. I stood still, my eyes blazi; a little, and by leaning over I was light brown and he see mi a resemblance to the Rockw stepped forward suddenly into I hated him, whoever he was I was trembling as I went was already there. He was on hurrying.

” I forgot the time,” he said. Where have you been? Why It was on the tip of my heard, but I changed my mil was breathless now. No, I would fight my own battles; I should have to teach this relative, whoever he was, a lesson. So I helped Gabriel dress and when we went down I met my enemy.

He was Simon Redvers, the cousin; he looked less broad when seen on the level. He was very tall, a fact I had not fully realised looking down at him.

Gabriel introduced me, and when he took my hand those cynical eyes looked straight into mine and I knew exactly what he was thinking. His eyes were light brown and his skin deeply bronzed; his mouth was smiling slightly but his eyes were not. I knew my own were flashing with anger, for I had never found it easy to restrain my feelings and I could not get the sound of his words out of my ears.

” How do you do?” he said.

” I am well, thank you,” I answered.

” I suppose I should congratulate you.”

” Pray do not, unless you wish to.”

He was faintly amused, and I could not resist saying: “I believe we have met before.”

” I am certain we have not.”

” You may not have been aware of the meeting.”

” If it had taken place, I am convinced, I should remember.”

I matched my smile with his. He was puzzled and he said:

“It is the Rockwell resemblance, no doubt. You’ll find it again and again in these parts.”

I guessed he was referring to the amorous proclivities of his ancestors, and I thought this indelicate so I turned away.

There was, fortunately, a diversion created by the arrival of Dr.

Smith and his daughter.

The doctor was already a friend. He came over to me and greeted me warmly. I was pleased to give my attention to him, but the girl who accompanied him immediately claimed it, and, I imagine, that of everyone in the room.

Damaris Smith was one of the loveliest creatures I had ever seen. She was of medium height and very dark her hair smooth and silky with that blackness which has a sheen of blue in it, like a bird’s wing. Here eyes were black, long and languorous, her skin olive; and the shape of her face was a perfect oval; her lips were delicately formed yet sensuous; her teeth white; her nose almost aquiline, giving dignity as well as beauty. But it was not merely her face which caught and held the attention. It was her slim, lissome body also ; all her movements were full of grace. She was a joy to look at. Dressed in white, as I was, she wore a gold belt about her tiny waist and in her ears were gold Creole earrings.

There was silence as she entered—the silence which was homage to her beauty.

I asked myself: Why did Gabriel marry me when there was such a goddess on his very doorstep?

The effect she had on everyone was apparent. Her father obviously adored her, for his eyes rarely left her; Luke, I imagined, was less nonchalant than usual; Simon Redvers seemed to watch her almost speculatively. Already I disliked him intensely, seeing in him a type I could never tolerate. He would be a man to scorn sentiment; he would be practical in the extreme; he would be unimaginative, believing everyone else looked at life with the same calculating gaze; there was great virility there. His personality was overpowering so that it dominated the company in its masculine way as Damaris’s beauty did in the feminine. Sir Matthew’s admiration was apparent; but then he admired all women, it seemed ; and during the dinner party he divided his attention between myself and Damaris.

Damaris herself I did not fully understand; she was a quiet person who had a smile for everyone and did not seek in the least to call attention to herself, which was, of course, unnecessary. The first impression she gave was that she was merely an innocent girl; I don’t know what made me feel that that smooth, rather expressionless perfection was a mask.

The dinner was in honour of Gabriel and myself, and our health was drunk. Apart from the family there were the Smiths, Simon Redvers, the vicar and his wife and two other local people, neighbours, I gathered, rather than great friends.

I was asked what I thought of the house and the countryside, and Simon Redvers wanted to know how it compared with that part from which I had come. I answered that when not at school I had lived as close to the moor as they did, so that the change was not very great. I believe a note of asperity came into my voice when I addressed the man, that he noticed it and it amused him.

He, who was sitting next to me at dinner, leaned to me and said: ” You must have your portrait painted so that it can be added to those in the gallery.”

” Is that necessary?”

” Indeed, yes. Have you not seen the gallery? All the masters of Kirkland Revels are painted and hung with their wives beside them.”

” There’s plenty of time for that.”

” You’ll make a good subject.”

” Thank you.”

” Proud … strong … determined.”

” So you read character?”

” When it is there for me to see.”

” I had no idea that I had such a legible face.”

He laughed. ” It’s unusual in one so young. Don’t you agree that as one grows older fate … life … whatever you call it … is like a mischievous artist, gradually etching the lines of betrayal?” He gazed along the table; I refused to follow his gaze, but looked down at my plate. I though his manners too candid, and I wanted him to know this.

“I believe you doubt my word,” he insisted.

” I believe what you say to be true, but is it not a little embarrassing even impertinent to test the theory on toe present company?”

” You’ll discover that I’m a blunt Yorkshireman; and they are not noted for their tact.”

” Why speak of the future? I have already made the discovery.”

I saw the smile touch his lips again; I thought it rather a brutal smile. He enjoyed baiting me because I was a worthy opponent. At least I had the satisfaction of knowing that, even if he did consider me a fortune-hunter, he did not find me a simpering one. I came to the conclusion in that moment that he had a grudging admiration for me, partly because he believed I had endeavoured to catch Gabriel, as he would put it, and had achieved my object. There was a ruthlessness in him which would always admire success.

I said impulsively: “You are Gabriel’s cousin, or second cousin, are you not? Yet how unlike him you are! You are absolute opposites.”

He gave me that cool, appraising smile again. I was telling him that I did not like him; and he was retaliating by implying that I would not have caught him as I had caught Gabriel. As if I should have wanted to! As if there had been any ” catching ” in our marriage!

” Talking of faces,” he said, ” you’ve looked at the gallery. What a splendid example of the revelations of physiognomy. You can see old Sir John who went on fighting for his King to the fury of Cromwell. He lost us the Revels for a while, that one. You can see his obstinate idealism in his face. Then there’s Sir Luke, the gambler who nearly gambled away our inheritance. And then there’s that other Luke, and John … the suicides. If you look long enough you can read their histories in their faces. Take that Luke, for instance. You see the weakness of the mouth. You can imagine him, finding life too difficult and standing there on the west balcony, and suddenly … over …”

I realised then that the others at the table had become silent and were listening to Simon.

Sir Matthew leaned forward and patted my arm. ” Don’t listen to my nephew,” he said. ” He’s telling you about our disreputable ancestors.

Simon’s annoyed because he’s a Rockwell on the distaff side . and the Revels is not for him. “

I saw that inscrutable gleam in Simon’s eyes and said:

” I dare say you have a pleasant residence of your own.”

” Kelly Grange!” Sir Matthew almost spat out the words. ” The Redvers family were always jealous of the Revels.” He pointed to Simon. ” His grandfather married one of my sisters but she wouldn’t stay away from the Revels. She was always coming back and bringing first her son, then her grandson, with her. Don’t see you here so often now, Simon.”

” I must remedy that,” said Simon; and he was smiling ironically at me.

There was a deep chuckle from Sir Matthew which seemed to shock the vicar and his wife.

So the conversation progressed and, in spite of my dislike of my neighbour at the dinner table, I was a little sorry when it was over;

I enjoyed a battle, and I was enjoying mine with him although it was merely one of words. I told myself that I particularly disliked those people who were ready to be critical before they knew the truth. I was sure Simon Redvers was one of these.

After dinner the ladies retired to the drawing-room and I tried to get to know Damaris; but it was not easy; she was pleasant, but so reserved that she made little effort to help with the conversation, and I decided that a blank mind lay behind that lovely face. I was pleased when the men joined us; and when Simon Redvers kept at Damaris’s side rather to the chagrin of Luke I was glad and gave myself up to conversation with the vicar, who told me how the grounds of the Revels were used for the church annual garden party and that he and his wife were trying to arrange to do a miracle play or pageant in the Abbey ruins next Midsummer Night’s eve. He hoped that I would support his endeavours, and I told him that I should be delighted to do all I could.

It was shortly after dinner that Sir Matthew was taken ill He lay back in his chair, his face a deeper purple than usual. Dr. Smith was immediately at his side, and with the help of Simon and Luke took Sir Matthew to his room. The incident naturally broke up the party, but when Dr. Smith rejoined us he told us that Sir Matthew would be all right. He was going back to his home for leeches. Sir Matthew always insisted on being bled in such a manner as his father had before him.

” He’ll be about again in a day or so,” the doctor assured us before he left.

But the party spirit had gone and we sat on talking desultorily.

When Gabriel and I retired it was about eleven-thirty. He put his arms about me and told me that I had been a success and he was proud of me.

” I’m not sure that I was very popular with everybody,” I said.

” Who could fail to be charmed?”

” That cousin of yours for one.”

” Oh, Simon! He was born a cynic. He is jealous. He’d throw away Kelly Grange for the Revels any day. You wait till you see the Grange.

It is not half the size of the Revels- it’s an ordinary old manor house.”

” I don’t understand why his desire for the Revels should affect his attitude to me.”

” Perhaps he’s jealous of me for more reasons than one.”

“How absurd!”

At that moment Friday ran to the door and began barking furiously while he leaped at the door as though he would break it down.

” What on earth’s the matter with him?” I cried.

Gabriel had turned pale. ” Someone’s out there,” he whispered.

” It’s evidently someone Friday doesn’t like.” I turned to Friday. “

Be quiet, Friday.”

But Friday for once ignored me; he continued to bark and jump frienziedly up at the door.

I picked him up and opened the door.

“Who’s there?” I called.

There was no answer, but Friday was struggling out of my arms.

“Something has disturbed him,” I said.

“I’m going to put him on his lead. I don’t want him jumping over the balcony.”

Still holding him I went back to the room for his lead and slipped it on; and when I set him down he tugged at it with all his might.

He dragged me along the corridor, but before we reached the balcony door he leaped at another to the left of it. I tried this and it opened easily. It was a large empty cupboard, and Friday ran into it and began sniffing around.

I opened the balcony door, and there was no one on the balcony either.

” You see, Friday,” I said. ” It’s nothing. What is it that’s bothering you?”

I returned with him to the bedroom. Gabriel had his back to me as I entered the room. When he turned I saw how pale he was; and a terrible thought came to me then: he was afraid of what was out there and he had let me go alone. Was the man I had married a coward?

It was a horrible thought which I discarded almost as soon as it entered my head.

” Much ado about nothing,” I said lightly.

Friday appeared completely to have satisfied himself ; when I took him off the lead, he leaped into his basket and curled up there.

As I prepared myself for bed I wondered what Gabriel had been so disturbed about.

Then I remembered the conversation at dinner and I asked myself whether Gabriel had thought it was a ghost prowling out there. The balcony certainly had a morbid attraction for him.

But in a house like this fancies came easily.

It was late during the next afternoon when I discovered that Friday was missing. I remembered then that I had not seen him since the morning.

It had been a busy morning, for the guests of the previous night all paid duty calls to give conventional thanks.

I saw Simon Redvers ride up on a magnificent grey horse, and I decided to stay in my room until he had left; I did not see him leave and was afraid that I should find he was staying to luncheon; however, when I went down he had gone. Dr. Smith and Damaris had ridden over in his brougham-the doctor to see how Sir Matthew was after his attack, Damaris to pay her duty call. With all the guests arriving it seemed like a continuation of the party.

It was just before dinner when I began to be anxious about Friday’s absence. / Dinner was a solemn meal that evening and there was little conversation. Sir Matthew was still in his room and I guessed that everyone was worried on his account although they assured me that such turns were frequent.

When the meal was over and there was still no sign of Friday, I was really alarmed. I went up to our room; his basket, with the folded blanket, was neat and had clearly not been used by him. Was it possible that he was lost?

I wondered if he had been stolen, and when I thought of the ill-treatment he had received at the hands of the gipsy woman I felt sick with worry. It was possible that there were gipsies not far from Kirkland Moorside, for the moor was always an attraction to them.

I slipped on a light coat and went downstairs, intending to ask Gabriel to come with me to look for him, but as I could not find him I went out alone, calling Friday as I did so.

I found my footsteps wandering towards the Abbey. At any other time I might have found it awe-inspiring; on this evening my thoughts were all for Friday.

I kept calling his name, straining my ears for an answering bark.

There was nothing.

It was an uncanny experience to stand there among those ruins . alone.

It had been a glorious day and there were signs of a fine day to follow. The old saying came into my head: Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight.

Then suddenly the fear came to me. I felt that I was not alone; that through those narrow slits, which had once been windows, eyes watched me. The glow from the sky touched the stones so that they looked rosy; and the ridiculous fancy came to me that life was being breathed into them.

I did not know what had happened to me, but I expected to hear the chanting of monks as they walked down the nave. I felt my heart hammering as I looked up at the arches through which I glimpsed the blood-red sky. I imagined that somewhere, not far distant, I heard a stone dislodged and, following that, a footstep.

” Who’s there?” I called; and the hollow sound of my own voice startled me.

I looked about me. There was nothing but those piles of stones, those half-walls, those rectangles of brick within which the grass grew. Here a community of men had lived long ago and I could almost believe that I was moving back in time, that the half-walls would become walls in their entirety, that a roof would appear to shut out the sky and this nineteenth century.

I began to call Friday again, and I noticed that it had become considerably darker than when I had first entered the ruins. Evening skies change rapidly, and the red was now streaked with grey. The sun had disappeared and soon darkness would descend upon me . and the Abbey.

I tried to leave by the way I had come at least I thought it was the way I had come, but after a few minutes I realised that I was in a section of the ruins which I had not visited before. I saw part of a staircase, leading down to darkness;

I turned and hurried away; I tripped over a ridge of stone and only saved myself in time. I had a horrible fear of breaking an ankle and being forced to spend the night here . a prisoner. I began to feel faint at the thought of it.

This was most unlike myself. What is this? I demanded. Nothing but bricks and grass. Why be afraid? But what was the use? I was afraid.

I blundered on. My one thought, my great desire, was to escape from the ruins of Kirkland Abbey.

It was only now that I had lost my way that I became fully aware of the vastaess of the place; and there was a time during that nocturnal adventure when I thought I should never find my way out of the maze of stone. With every passing second the light was fading and I was so anxious to get away from the place that I panicked and lost my sense of direction.

At length when I did escape I came out on the far side of the Abbey and it was now between me and the house.

Nothing would have induced me to go back the way I had come, which would have been difficult in any case, for I should have lost myself in that pile of stones. I ran on swiftly until I found a road. This I took and, guessing my direction, I hurried on, now and then breaking into a run.

As I came to a clump of trees through which the road wound, a figure emerged and for a moment I knew terror. Then it took on a familiar shape and a voice I knew said:

” Hallo! Have you got the devil at your heels?”

The note of mockery in that voice set annoyance swamping my fear.

” I lost my way, Mr. Redvers,” I said. ” But I think I’m on the right road now.”

He laughed. ” You are, but I can show you a short cut .. if you’ll allow me.”

” Doesn’t this road lead to the house?”

” It does … eventually. But if you cut through the trees here you come out about half a mile nearer. Will you allow me to escort you?”

” Thank you,” I said stiffly.

We walked side by side and he fitted his step to mine.

“How did you come to be out alone at this hour?” he asked.

I told him that my dog had been out all afternoon and evening, and I was anxious.

” You shouldn’t wander too far alone,” he reproved me ” You see how easy it is to lose yourself.”

“Had it been day I should easily have found the right road.”

” But it was not day. As for the dog, doubtless he has found a little companion somewhere. Dogs will be dogs.”

I did not answer him; we had come through the trees and I saw the house. In five minutes we were there.

Gabriel, Ruth, Luke and Dr. Smith were in the grounds They were all looking for me. The doctor had come in to see Sir Matthew and had heard that I had disappeared.

Gabriel was so anxious that he was almost angry with me for the first time in our lives.

I breathlessly explained that I had been looking for Friday, had got lost among the ruins and met Simon Redvers on the way back.

” You shouldn’t have gone out alone at dusk,” said Dr. Smith gently.

” One of us would have gone with you!” Luke reproved me.

” I know,” I said and smiled with relief because I was so happy to be back. I turned to Simon Redvers. ” Thank you, Mr. Redvers,” I went on.

He bowed ironically. ” Such a pleasure,” he murmured.

” Has Friday come home?” I asked Gabriel.

He shook his head.

” He’ll turn up to-morrow,” Luke put in.

” I do hope so,” I answered.

Gabriel put his arm through mine. ” There’s nothing else we can do to-night. And you look exhausted. Come along in.”

They all seemed to be watching us. I turned and said;

“Good night.”

There was an echoing answer as Gabriel drew me into the house.

” I’ve never seen you look so white and tired,” he told me.

I thought I should never get back. “

He laughed and put his arm about me. He said suddenly:

” Wasn’t that honeymoon of ours wonderful. But it was very short. We ought to have a longer one. I’ve often thought I’d like to go to Greece.”

” The Isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece ! Where burning Sappho loved and sung,” ” I quoted, and my voice had a high pitch to it.

Although I was worried about Friday, I was very relieved to be safe, which seemed unaccountably foolish.

” I’m going to tell them to bring you some hot milk. It’ll make you sleep.” said Gabriel.

” Gabriel. I can’t stop wondering about Friday.”

” He’ll turn up. You go to your room and I’ll go to the kitchen to tell them to bring that milk.”

I went on up, thinking how gentle he was, how considerate to the servants. They had so many stairs in a house of this nature to contend with.

When I reached our room, the first thing I noticed was Friday’s empty basket and I felt very unhappy.

I went into the corridor and called him once more. I tried to comfort myself that he was hunting rabbits. It was a favourite pastime of his and I had known him forget everything when pursuing it. It might be that in the morning he would come home.

I did realise there was nothing more I could do that night, so I undressed and got into bed.

So exhausted was I that I was almost asleep when Gabriel came in. He sat by the bed and talked about our trip to Greece he seemed really excited about it. But soon one of the servants came in with my milk on a tray.

I did not really want it but I drank it off to please Gabriel, and in a few minutes I fell into a deep sleep.

I was awakened by a banging on my door. Reluctantly I awoke; rarely had I slept so deeply. I sat up in bed to find Ruth standing in the room. Her eyes looked enormous, her face was the colour of white paper.

“Catherine,” she was saying.

“Wake up! Wake up, please And I knew something terrible had happened.

I looked for Gabriel but there was no sign of him.

” It’s Gabriel,” said Ruth. ” You must prepare yourself for a shock.”

” What … has happened to Gabriel?” I asked as though I found the greatest difficulty in getting out the words.

” He is dead,” she said. ” He has killed himself.”

I did not believe her. I felt as though I was struggling out of a fantastic world of dreams.

Gabriel . dead? It wasn’t possible. Why, only a short while ago he had sat by my bed watching me drink my milk, talking of our trip to Greece.

” You’ll have to know,” she said, looking at me steadily; and was it with a hint of accusation in her eyes? ” He threw himself over the parapet of the balcony. One of the grooms has just found him.”

” It can’t be true.”

” You’d better get dressed,” she said.

I stumbled out of bed; my limbs were trembling; one thought kept hammering in my brain. This is not true. Gabriel did not kill himself.