The Winding Stair

by Jane Aiken Hodge

  Juana slid the secret panel shut. One more meeting. It was more than time that she made up her mind. She would tell Gair everything when he came next day. Somehow, in doing so, she felt she would come to a decision.

  She made an excuse, next morning, not to go down to the Pleasant Valley, where the vintage was almost finished. When Gair arrived, she would suggest they ride down there together. In the meantime, she sat with Daisy and Teresa in the Ladies’ Parlour and pretended to learn a new speech from Shakespeare’s plays: ‘If it were done when ’tis done …’ Daisy had suggested it: ‘If you can do that, with all its “t”s and “d”s, you can do anything.’

  But it was hard to concentrate today, knowing that Junot was with the French army ready to strike. Or might they not have marched already? It must have taken the leader some little time to get back from Bayonne. How did she know the French had not been close behind him?

  Elvira drifted into the room; ‘I hear the sound of galloping hoofs. Danger threatens—’

  ‘You’ll never rhyme with that,’ said Teresa cheerfully.

  ‘Someone is coming!’ Daisy jumped up and ran to the window that overlooked the central courtyard. ‘It’s Pedro and Roberto!’

  ‘At last.’ Teresa joined her at the window. ‘But they’re not coming up here.’

  ‘They’re going to their father’s rooms,’ Daisy said. ‘I wonder what that means.’

  ‘So do I.’ They exchanged a long glance.

  Time ebbed and flowed and still there was no sign of the two young men. At last, Daisy rose and left the room. Returning: ‘I’ve been round the cloisters,’ she said. ‘There’s a terrible argument going on up in Uncle Prospero’s rooms. You can hear them from the courtyard; all of them; shouting. What do you think it’s about?’

  ‘Us, I hope,’ said Teresa.

  Juana hoped so too, but could not help being afraid they were talking about her. Suppose Dom John had revoked his certificate of citizenship … Or, more likely, suppose the others had come round to Miguel and Vasco’s way of thinking: had decided it was worthless. Any minute, they might appear and press her for a decision. And Gair had not come. She had not made up her mind.

  ‘Here they come,’ said Daisy. ‘Is my hair tidy?’ She joined Teresa at a big tarnished looking-glass.

  ‘Miguel’s with them,’ said Teresa. ‘I can hear his voice.’

  The four men entered the Ladies’ Parlour and Roberto and Pedro went straight to Teresa and Daisy. Prospero looked red with anger, Juana saw, and Miguel even paler than usual. ‘What is it?’ she asked.

  ‘Bad news,’ Miguel told her. ‘Roberto has secret information that the French army of invasion has marched from Bayonne, with Junot at its head. The moment of decision has come, Juana. And God has sent you His warning. Do you remember the day the earth shook?’

  ‘Yes, indeed.’ It had been a very small earthquake, but had panicked Manuela and Estella.

  ‘That was the day Junot left the Tuileries to join the army. It is the writing on the wall. Portugal is doomed. There is nothing left but prayer.’

  ‘That’s not what my sons think.’ Prospero had calmed down somewhat. ‘Juana! These ridiculous boys want to get married at once. What do you think of that?’

  How odd it was to be consulted as if she were a power in the family. She was aware of Daisy and Teresa anxiously watching her. Prospero had spoken in Portuguese, but doubtless their lovers had explained the situation. ‘It seems a good idea to me,’ she said, in English.

  ‘We must,’ said Pedro. ‘I have to go to Spain tomorrow on my mistress’s errand. I cannot leave things here like this.’

  ‘And God knows when I’ll be able to get away from Mafra again,’ said Roberto.

  ‘But if Dom John knows the French have marched?’ Juana asked in Portuguese. ‘Won’t he do something? Come to Queluz at least?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Roberto too spoke in Portuguese, then translated quickly into English for Teresa. ‘He’s keeping the news secret. For my sake you must say nothing about it. And it seems to make no difference to him. Only God knows what will become of us all.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Miguel, ‘so let us trust in God.’

  ‘But let us act for ourselves,’ said Pedro. ‘Daisy agrees.’

  ‘So does Teresa,’ said Roberto. ‘It will be a strange sort of wedding, my poor love, since I must ride back to Mafra this afternoon, but at least you will have the protection of my name.’ He turned to Juana. ‘Where is Father Ignatius?’

  ‘Father – ?’ She looked at Pedro. ‘He never came back.’

  ‘If you really insist,’ Prospero seemed to have given in. ‘We must send to Sintra for a priest.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Miguel. ‘And, while you are sending – if this madness is toward – Juana, why not send for Senhor de Mascarenhas?’

  ‘Send?’ She was appalled at the suggestion.

  ‘For your cousin. Pedro and Roberto are right, you know. I may not approve, but I understand. This is the way to safety for you Englishwomen. Junot is not a man to be trifled with, Juana. He’s a man of the people, rough, determined. No use showing him a piece of paper and saying in your singer’s voice: “But I’m Portuguese.” He would kill himself laughing; kill you, very likely, and take the castle. And where does that leave the rest of us?’

  Where indeed? Juana caught Roberto’s eye fixed anxiously on her. She had made him promise to tell no one of her plan to share the estate with him and Pedro, and thought he had kept his word, but could well understand that he must think this the time to come out with it. And after all, why not? She no longer deluded herself that there was any hope of her grandmother’s recovering. The old lady was dwindling from day to day. It could only be a question of weeks now. And Senhor Gonçalves had said, even before this illness, that he did not think a new will would stand, if she should decide to make one.

  She looked around. They were her family. She could not really understand why she had not told them sooner. It would simplify everything. If she could sign a document, now, making over her rights in the castle to her cousins, the question of her marrying Vasco need, not enter into it. She could decide about him purely, selfishly even. The castle would be safe, and she a free agent. ‘Uncle,’ she spoke to Miguel, who had kept his pale gaze fixed on her, ‘it’s not like that. There’s something I ought to tell you – should have told you sooner, perhaps.’ She had meant to consult Gair before she decided anything. It was too late now. She plunged into her explanation, in Portuguese, with a parenthetical apology for Daisy and Teresa: ‘I can’t d … d … I can’t manage in English.’ Concluding, she turned from Miguel to Prospero: ‘So if we send for Senhor Gonçalves at once,’ she said, ‘I’m sure he can draw up some kind of document that will protect us all.’

  Miguel’s voice drowned Pedro’s and Roberto’s as they translated rapidly for the girls’ benefit: ‘Have you consulted Senhor de Mascarenhas about this?’

  ‘No. Why should I? I shall tell him, of course, when I see him.’

  ‘I think you should tell him first,’ said Miguel.

  ‘I would if I could.’ She wondered if this was true. ‘But he’s away. I have not had an answer yet to the letter I wrote him. And you yourself say there is no time to be lost.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Prospero. ‘If you really mean this, Juana, I think we should act on it at once. I must say, it’s a most generous …’

  She missed the rest of his speech of thanks because Daisy and Teresa flung their arms around her neck to kiss and thank her. The little scene was interrupted by Jaime, announcing Gair Varlow.

  ‘Goodness,’ said Daisy. ‘You’ll need to tell him too, Juana.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Teresa, ‘but he was courting Juana before there was any question of the castle.’ She laughed and shook her blonde curls. ‘What a dark horse you are, Juana.’

  Miguel had been giving quick orders to Jaime. ‘I’ll write a note to Gonçalves,’ he said. ‘The priest from Sintra will get here first, but you had bes
t delay your marriages until the lawyer arrives.’

  ‘Marriages?’ Gair Varlow had followed Jaime into the crowded room. ‘Who am I to congratulate?’ He could be relied on to speak English when Daisy and Teresa were present.

  ‘Me,’ said Daisy.

  ‘And me,’ said Teresa.

  ‘Or rather, my brother and I,’ said Roberto. ‘Perhaps you will stay, Senhor Varlow, and honour us with your presence at our joint wedding?’ And then, to Prospero, ‘As for the lawyer, we will wait as long as possible, but I must get back to Mafra tonight.’

  ‘And I to Ramalhao,’ said Pedro. ‘I leave for Spain tomorrow.’

  ‘You are indeed marrying in haste,’ said Gair.

  ‘Not, I hope, to repent at leisure,’ broke in Teresa.

  ‘No, indeed.’ Roberto’s quelling look reminded the others that they must not speak of the French invasion.

  ‘I wonder,’ Gair pursued the point. ‘Does this mean that there is some truth in the story I have heard that your master, Dom John, is about to sign a decree closing Portuguese ports to English ships?’

  ‘You are well informed, senhor.’ Roberto looked relieved. This was a question he could answer. ‘Yes, I’m afraid it is true, the order will be signed any time now. That is partly why I am here today. It is the moment of decision for the few English who remain in this country. Fortunately my cousin Juana need no longer be considered as English, since my master has declared her Portuguese.’

  ‘You think it will hold?’ Gair asked.

  ‘For an individual, yes. For the owner of an immense property, I’m not sure. But, cousin’ – he turned to Juana – ‘have I your permission to tell Senhor Varlow of your most generous offer?’

  ‘Why not?’ She realised, with bitter amusement, that Daisy and Teresa were all agog to see how Gair would take the discovery that she was not to be an heiress after all. How much more comic it would be if they knew he was not her suitor, that all the courtship of this long year had been nothing but an elaborate, intolerable charade. Still, at least, he had wooed her – pretended to woo her – for reasons of state, not for sordid considerations of money and land. It brought her up suddenly against the question of Vasco. Had she been foolish not to think that he might be courting her partly (wholly?, asked a voice at the back of her mind) for the castle? Had Gair’s pretended courtship blinded her to the possibility of another one?

  But she must get Gair alone to tell him the news of last night’s meeting. For once, this proved easy enough. He had agreed to stay and witness the weddings and since there was no chance of the lawyer arriving before dinner time she was able to suggest, as she had planned, that he ride down the Pleasant Valley with her.

  ‘The French army has marched,’ she told him as soon as they were out of earshot of the castle. ‘Under Junot. The Sons of the Star had the news last night; Roberto brought it this morning. Apparently Dom John knows, but means to keep it a secret. God knows why.’

  ‘I can imagine plenty of reasons,’ said Gair. ‘None of them to his credit. But, Juana, it makes me more anxious than ever about you. And this handing over the castle to your cousins: do you think that was wise?’

  ‘Why not? It safeguards me better than anything, doesn’t it?’

  ‘I don’t know. There’s something special about the Castle on the Rock – something I’ve never quite understood. More, I’ve thought, than its connection with the Sons of the Star. Your grandmother said something one day – if only she could speak. Is there any hope?’

  ‘None, I’m afraid. It’s only a question of time now. But, Gair, about the castle. Maria told me something odd the other day. She and Iago are very thick these days – I’m sure he must have told her. You know how superstitious he is. Anyway, she told me, quite seriously, that this was the last place the lost King Sebastian visited before he sailed for Morocco. She and Iago think he’ll come here first when he returns to save Portugal. You know the story?’

  ‘Of course. But why here?’

  ‘There was a lady, Maria says. He visited her last thing and will come to her when he returns. Maria thinks she is asleep somewhere in the caverns below the castle, waiting for him. He’ll come sailing out of the mist, she says, and land in the cove down there. Really, when she was telling me, and staring out at the sea mist – you know what these October mornings are like – she almost had me convinced that we’d see a sixteenth-century galleon come sailing into the cove. Or would he have got himself a modern ship, do you think?’

  ‘God knows what they expect. But it’s no laughing matter, Juana. It’s not only Maria and Iago who believe this foolishness.’

  ‘I know. Maria told me. They all believe it down in the Valley.’

  ‘Yes, and elsewhere too. Up and down the country the peasants are waiting for Sebastian to come again and save them from the French. We’ve had reports from all around. It’s not natural. Someone must have revived the old superstition for their own ends, but why? That’s what we can’t find out. But I had no idea there was a connection between Sebastian and the Castle on the Rock. That puts a new complexion on things. His mistress is supposed to be sleeping somewhere down in the caverns, you say?’

  ‘That’s what Maria says. Do you think there can be a connection with the Sons of the Star?’

  ‘That’s what I’m wondering. But what would it be? They’ve never mentioned Sebastian?’

  ‘No. There’s nothing exactly superstitious about them. It’s just a lot of ritual and mumbo-jumbo.’

  ‘Don’t underestimate them, Juana. It’s too dangerous. And, of course, they’d use Sebastianism if it suited their book. Which it well might, if only to keep the country quiet while the French take over. If the Portuguese are waiting for a supernatural saviour … And he’s to come here to the castle first? I don’t like that. Have you thought what might happen when the English squadron arrives as, please God, it will any day now. Suppose the peasants think it’s Sebastian to the rescue? Anything might happen. Juana, if Dom John closes the ports, this week’s Falmouth packet will be the last one. I think you must be on it. Lord Strangford will get you a passage.’

  ‘But, Gair, the next meeting? It may be vital.’

  ‘Your safety is more so. And, besides, I’ve thought of that. We’re of a height, you and I. Remember Viola and Sebastian. And you say voices aren’t recognisable in the cavern. What’s to stop me dressing in your robes and acting, that once, as Handmaiden of the Star? You can show me the way down before you go, and teach me the words.’

  ‘Gair, you’d do that for me?’

  ‘Of course. After all, you’ve done it for me all this time.’

  ‘Not at all. I’ve done it for my grandmother. And that’s the difficulty, Gair. I don’t see how I can leave her now, sick as she is.’

  ‘Nonsense. Your step-sisters can look after her. After all, they’re marrying into the family.’

  ‘Yes, that’s true.’ Was she making excuses again? ‘When does the packet sail?’

  ‘Tomorrow or the next day. You must decide quickly, Juana. I will have to make the arrangements at once. Believe me, it’s the only thing to do.’

  ‘Gair, it’s too soon. I can’t.’

  ‘Why not? You admit that your step-sisters can look after the old lady. You’ve given up your inheritance here, and I respect you for it. You’ve often said you were homesick for England. Now’s your chance to go home. You must see, Juana, that when the Sons of the Star find themselves betrayed they are going to look everywhere for the traitor. I tell you, it’s not safe for you to stay.’

  ‘But if they are destroyed?’

  ‘You’re not thinking. What chance have we of destroying them all? With luck, and a detachment of Royal Marines, we may be able to deal with their headquarters here before the French arrive, but that still leaves the branches in the rest of the country. And, remember, the French will protect them.’

  ‘Yes. They think the French are going to hand over the government to them.’

  ‘They w
on’t, of course.’ It was time to turn back up the Pleasant Valley. ‘But either way you are in danger. If it’s a question of what to do when you get back to England, Vanessa will be really glad to have you. I had another letter from her by the packet. Forland’s obviously very far from well … and there’s the child on the way … She wants you to name your own terms—’

  ‘I shan’t be entirely penniless, you know, if I decide to go. I’m not touched in the head. I shall take an income from the estate here. That’s one of the things the lawyer will have to arrange.’

  ‘You’ll hardly get that when the French take over.’

  ‘You keep talking as if they are bound to.’

  ‘I’m afraid they are. It’s not like you to refuse to face facts, Juana. The best we can hope for now is that the royal family get safe away to Brazil to act as a rallying point for the future.’

  ‘And that, it seems, the Sons of the Star intend to allow. It’s even what they want.’

  ‘Yes. Don’t you see, it’s possible that our best plan would be to let the Sons of the Star continue … to let them find out just how hollow Napoleon’s promises are. Who knows? In a year’s time, they themselves may provide the backbone of the revolt.’

  ‘You mean, there may not be a detachment of Marines at their next meeting?’

  ‘Nothing’s decided yet. We don’t even know when the British squadron will get here. That’s why you must leave on the packet, Juana.’

  They were back where they had started from. ‘But I can’t. There’s someone I have to see first.’

  He pounced on it. ‘Now we are coming to it. Who do you have to see that is more important than liberty, than life perhaps?