"You know by now that you were forced on me. I had not employed a companion before you came."
"Then you will have no objection to my leaving immediately."
She had obviously come to the conclusion that the new turn in my fortunes meant that I would no longer be a good object for oppression and she decided I should go at once, but she pretended to consider this.
That I was Sir Ralph's daughter was, I am sure, no surprise to her. In fact I think his behavior towards me had convinced her of our relationship and it was for this reason that she had been particularly unpleasant to me. But that Tybalt should have asked me to marry him was something which puzzled her. She had wanted Tybalt for her own daughter and the fact that Theodosia had married Evan Callum and I had won the prize was galling to her.
"I hear you are shortly to be married," she said, her lip curling.
"You have heard correctly," I told her.
"I must say I was surprised until ... er ..."
"Until?" I said.
"I know that Sir Ralph confided a great deal in Sir Edward. They were close friends. I've no doubt he told him the position and it was for this reason that er . . ."
"You have always been very frank in the past, Lady Bodrean," I said. "There is no need to be less direct now that we meet on an equal footing. You are suggesting that Sir Tybalt Travers has asked me to marry him because I am Sir Ralph's daughter?"
"Sir Ralph was eager for a union with that family. Of course he would have preferred his true daughter to have made the match—instead of which she must go off with this penniless schoolteacher."
"As I may now presume to correct you, something which was beyond my range before my true identity was discovered, I must remind you that Professor Callum is far from penniless. He holds a good post in one of the country's foremost universities and the term schoolteacher is hardly the correct one to apply to a lecturer in archaeology."
"He was not the man Sir Ralph wished his daughter to marry. She was foolish and flouted us—and it seems to me that Sir Ralph then decided that since Theodosia had been so foolish he would offer her chance to you."
"My future husband is not a prize packet on a dish to be offered round."
"One might say that there was quite a prize to be offered to him. I am surprised at the manner in which my husband has left his fortune. I would say it is a victory for immorality and extravagance."
I would not let her see that she had scored. This suggestion that I was being married for my money was not a new one.
However, I said goodbye to Lady Bodrean and left her with the understanding that our association as employer and employee was terminated.
I went back to Rainbow Cottage which would be my home until my marriage.
We were to be married very soon. Tybalt insisted. Dorcas and Alison thought it was somewhat unseemly to have a wedding so soon after a funeral; and I had to remember that that funeral had turned out to be my father's.
When I put this point to Tybalt he said: "What nonsense! You didn't know it was your father until afterwards."
I agreed with him. I was ready to agree with him on anything. When I was with him, I forgot all my misgivings. He was so eager for our wedding, and although he was by no means demonstrative he would look at me in a way which sent me into a state of bliss, for I knew that he was contemplating our future with the utmost pleasure. He took me into his confidence completely about his plans. This bequest of Sir Ralph's was a boon. Such a large sum of money suitably invested would bring in an income which could be entirely devoted to those explorations in which Sir Ralph had always delighted.
He talked a great deal about that other expedition which had ended abruptly and fatally for Sir Edward. He made me see the arid countryside, feel the heat of that blazing sun. I could visualize the excitement when they had found the door in the mountainside and the flight of steps leading down to corridors.
When he talked of ancient Egypt a passion glowed in him. I had never seen him so enthralled by anything as he was by his work, but I used to tell myself that our marriage was going to be the most important thing that ever happened to either of us, even more so than his work. I would see to that.
I was often at Giza House. It seemed different now that it was to be my home. Tabitha welcomed me warmly. She told me at the first opportunity how pleased she was that Tybalt and I were to marry.
"At one time," she whispered, "I greatly feared that it might be Theodosia."
"That seemed to be the general idea."
"There was a great deal of talk about it. I suppose because of the friendship between Sir Ralph and Sir Edward. And they died within a short time of each other." She looked very sad. "I am sure you are the one for Tybalt." She pressed my hand. "I shall never forget how you used to come and borrow the books. Those were not very happy days for you I fear."
I told her that nothing that had gone before was of any more importance. In the last weeks life had given me all that I had ever hoped for.
"And you dreamed your dreams, Judith!" she said.
"I was a great dreamer. Now I am going to live."
"You must understand Tybalt."
"I think I do."
"At times you will feel that he neglects you for the work."
"I shan't because it's going to be my work too. I'm going to join him in everything he does. I'm as excited as he is about all this."
"That's as it should be," she said. "I hope when you become mistress of Giza House you will not wish me to leave."
"How could I? We're friends."
"I have always been a close friend of Tybalt and his father. If I may continue here in my role as housekeeper I should be very happy. On the other hand if you should prefer . . ."
"What nonsense!" I cried. "I want you to be here. You're my friend too."
"Thank you, Judith."
Tybalt said he would show me the house but when he did we didn't get farther than that room in which the sarcophagus had once stood because he would show me books his father had written and plans of sites they had excavated. I didn't mind. I was just so happy to be with him, to listen and be able to make intelligent comments.
It was Tabitha who showed me the house and introduced me to the staff. Emily, Ellen, Jane, and Sarah were the maids, normal girls all four of them and so like others of their kind that it took me some time to know which was which. But there were three strange people in that house.
I had seen the two Egyptian servants, Mustapha and Absalam, strange, alien, and, I had heard, even sinister; I had listened avidly to the stories I had heard of them in the village.
Tabitha explained that Sir Edward liked them to look after him. They would cook him exotic dishes such as she knew nothing of. He had employed them on digs in Egypt and for some reason had taken a fancy to them; he had kept them with him and brought them to England.
She said they had been desolate but fatalistic about his death. They were certain it had come about because he had incurred the Curse of the Pharaohs.
"They are very concerned because Tybalt plans to carry on where his father left off. I think if it were possible for them to dissuade him they would do so."
When I was presented to them as the future Lady Travers they eyed me with suspicion. They would have seen me some years before racing up the path or round the garden.
I was prepared for them. Janet Tester was another matter. She was the old woman who had been nurse to Tybalt and Sabina, after fulfilling the same role for their mother; but she remained with them after Lady Travers's death. I remembered Sabina's saying that Old Nanny Tester went off into "funny fits," and her chatter about the old woman had been so interspersed with other matters—in Sabina's habitual manner—that I had not really taken a great deal of notice, because there was so much at Giza House to concern me. I had seen Nanny Tester on one or two occasions and had thought her a peculiar old woman, but as there was so much that was strange in Giza House, she did not seem so unusual as she would have elsewhere.
"I must explain Janet Tester to you," said Tabitha, before she took me up to introduce us. "She's a strange woman. She is really quite old now. She came as nurse to Sir Edward's wife, to whom of course she was devoted. She stayed on to look after Tybalt and Sabina; but when Lady Travers died she was almost demented. We have to be a bit careful with her, and treat her gently. Her mind wanders a bit. Sir Edward would have pensioned her off but she didn't want to go. She said she'd always been with the family and wanted to stay. There was the ideal apartment at the top of this house, completely shut off from the house. Janet was struck with it and asked to have it. She keeps to herself, although of course we keep an eye on her."
"What an unusual arrangement."
"You'll find you're marrying into an unusual family. Tybalt is like his father, far from conventional. Sir Edward never wanted to be bothered with everyday things. He brushed them aside and took the easy way out. Tybalt is very like him in that and lots of ways. It was either a matter of having Janet Tester here or sending her to some sort of home. That would have made her really unhappy. Tybalt goes up to see her, when he remembers her existence. Sabina comes in quite often. That keeps her happy. Sabina is her pet. It used to be Tybalt but since he's following in his father's footsteps she's turned to Sabina."
We mounted the stairs. What a silent house it was; our feet sunk into those thick carpets which covered every space of floor.
I commented on them and Tabitha said: "Sir Edward could not endure noise while he was working."
The house was a tall one, and Janet Tester's apartment consisted of several attic-type rooms above the fourth story.
I was unprepared for the white-haired, gentle-looking woman who opened the door when we knocked. She wore a crisply laundered sprigged muslin blouse and a black bombazine skirt.
Tabitha said: "Janet, I've brought Miss Osmond to see you.
She looked at me and her eyes were misty with emotion. "Come in, come in," she said.
It was a charming room with its sloping roof, and it was prettily furnished with handmade rugs on the floor and lots of embroidered cushion covers. There was a fire burning and the kettle on a hob was beginning to sing.
"You'll take some tea with me," she said, and I replied that I should love to.
"You've heard of me then?" I said.
"Why bless you, yes. Tybalt told me and I said to him 'Now you tell me what she's like, Tybalt,' and all he could say was 'She's enthusiastic about the work.' How like him! But I knew. I've seen you often tearing about down in the gardens there. What a one for mischief you were! I'll make the tea."
"Shall I do that," asked Tabitha, "while you and Miss Osmond have a chat?"
The expression in the gentle old face changed startlingly. The eyes were almost venomous, the lips tightened. "I'll do it, thank you," she said. "I'll make my own tea in my own room."
When she was making it Tabitha gave me a glance. I imagined she was preparing me for the strangeness she had mentioned in Janet Tester.
The tea was made. "I always stir it," she told me, "and let it stand five minutes. It's the only way to get the right brew. Warm the pot, I used to say to Miss Ruth . . ."
"That's Lady Travers," explained Tabitha and this remark brought forth another venomous glance.
"And the tea must go into a dry pot," went on Janet Tester. "That's very important."
She purred as she poured out the tea.
"Well, I hope you'll be happy, my dear," she said. "Tybalt used to be such a good boy."
"Used to be?" I asked.
"When he was a little one he was always with me. He was his mother's boy then. But when he went away to school and started to grow up he turned to his father."
She shook her head sadly.
"Tybalt had a natural bent for archaeology right from the start," explained Tabitha. "This delighted Sir Edward, and naturally Tybalt had so many advantages because of his father."
Janet Tester was stirring the spoon round and round in her cup. I could sense an uneasy atmosphere.
"And now you're going to marry him," she said. "How time flies. It seems only yesterday I was playing peekaboo with him."
The thought of Tybalt's playing peekaboo was so funny that I couldn't help laughing. "He's come a long way since then," I said.
"I hope it's not on the road to ruin," said Janet Tester stirring fiercely.
I looked at Tabitha who had lifted her shoulders. I decided then that Tybalt's and his father's profession was not a happy subject so I asked about his childhood.
That pleased her. "He was a good boy. He didn't get into all that much mischief. Miss Ruth doted on him. He was her boy all right. I've got some pictures."
I reveled in them. Tybalt sitting on a furry rug all but in the nude; Tybalt a wondering two year old; Tybalt and Sabina.
"Isn't she a little pet?" doted Nanny Tester.
I agreed. "Such a little chatterbox. Never stopped."
I remarked that it was a trait which had remained with her.
"Little minx!" said Nanny Tester fondly.
There was a picture of Tybalt, standing beside a rather pretty woman with a lot of fluffy hair who was holding a baby on her lap. "There they are with their mother. Oh, and here's Tybalt at school." He was holding a cricket bat. "He wasn't good at sports," said Nanny Tester in a disappointed voice. "It started to be all study. Not like Sabina. They all said she couldn't concentrate. But of course he walked off with all the prizes. And then Sir Edward who'd scarcely noticed the children before, started to prick up his ears."
She conveyed her feelings by so many gestures—the tone of her voice, a contemptuous flick of the hand, a turning down of the lips, a half closing of the eyes. I had been with her a very short time but I had learned that she disliked Tabitha, and Sir Edward; she had adored Miss Ruth and while Tybalt, the child, had qualified for her devotion I was not so sure how she regarded the man.
I was interested—greatly so—and I did get the impression that had Tabitha not been with me, I should have understood so much more about Janet Tester.
I sensed Tabitha's relief when we could politely leave; Tabitha went on ahead of me and Janet suddenly caught my hand in hers when we were in the little hall. Her fingers were dry and strong.
"Come again, Miss Osmond," she said, and whispered: "Alone."
As we descended the stairs I said: "What a strange little woman!"
"So you sensed that."
"I thought she was not exactly what she seemed. At times she was so gentle—at others quite the reverse."
"She has a bit of an obsession."
"I gathered that. Miss Ruth, I suppose."
"You know what these old nurses are like. They are like mothers to their charges. Far closer to them than their own mothers. She disliked Sir Edward. I suppose she was jealous and because her Miss Ruth had no interest in his work she blamed him for doing it. Very illogical as you can see. Tybalt's mother wanted him to go into the Church. Of course he was quite unsuited to that profession and from an early age had made up his mind to follow his father. Sir Edward's delight more than made up for Lady Travers's—and Janet's —disappointment. But they bore a grudge against Sir Edward for it. I'm afraid Lady Travers was a rather hysterical woman and I've no doubt she confided a great deal in Janet who could see no wrong in her. It was a disastrous marriage in many ways—although Lady Travers brought a big fortune with her when she married."
"Money again," I said. "It's odd how that subject seems to crop up continually."
"Well, it's a very useful commodity, you must admit." "It seems to have a big part to play in certain marriages." "That's the way of the world," said Tabitha lightly. "It's good to be out of Jane
t's rooms. They stifle me."
Later I thought a good deal about that encounter. I understood Janet's dislike of Sir Edward, but I did wonder why she felt so strongly—and her attitude had betrayed to me that she did—about Tabitha.
The weeks before my wedding were flying past. Dorcas and Alison wanted quite a celebration. They seemed so relieved that they no longer had to preserve the secret of my birth that they were almost like children let out of school. Moreover, anxieties for the future had been swept away. The cottage was theirs; I was going to give them an allowance; my future was settled although—in spite of their efforts to hide this—they had misgivings about my bridegroom. Tybalt had little to say to them and their meetings were always uneasy. When I was present I would keep the conversation going but when I went out of the room and returned I would be aware of the awkward pauses when none of them had anything to say. Yet they could chatter away to Oliver naturally about parish affairs and with Evan would talk of the old days and the pranks we used to get up to.
Tybalt was always so relieved when he and I were alone. I was so besottedly in love, always making the affectionate gesture, that his lack of demonstrativeness was not so noticeable as it might have been. Sometimes we would sit close together looking at plans, his arm about me while I nestled close and asked myself whether this was really happening to me; but the conversation was almost always of the work he and his father had been doing.
Once he said: "It's wonderful to have you with me, Judith." And then he added: "You're so absolutely keen. I never knew anyone who was so exuberantly enthusiastic as you."
"You are," I said. "Your father must have been."
"But in a quieter way."
"But very intense," I said.
He kissed me then lightly on the forehead. "But you express yourself so forcefully," he said. "I like it, Judith. In fact I find it wonderful."
I threw my arms about him and gathered him to me as I used to Dorcas and Alison. I hugged him and cried: "I'm so happy."
Then I would tell him about how I had decided to hate him when Sabina had spoken of him in such glowing terms. "I imagined you stooped and wore spectacles and were pale with lank greasy hair. And then you burst upon us, in the mummy room, looking fierce and vengeful like some Egyptian god come to wreak vengeance on one who had desecrated the old sarcophagus."
Curse of the Kings Page 12
