The Secret Woman

by Victoria Holt

  She smiled. It was. I was not in the least put out. I had intended to clean my room in any case and now I could do it without any fear of giving offense.

  “It is a large house. There are thirty rooms. It is square in shape, or it was when my husband first built it, but then he built on. That is why he called it Carrément. Square you see. Thirty rooms and only three servants. It is not enough. There is Jacques, Suka, and Pero. And Pero is young and not experienced, and island people are not energetic. It is the climate. Who can blame them? Oh, the climate! It is not good for much. It ruins the house. It breeds the insects. The weeds and bushes are everywhere. The climate, it is always the climate, they say. I have lived my life in it and I am used to it. But for some it is trying.”

  “I understand, Madame.”

  “I am glad. Now I must see Nurse Loman. Oh, we shall take our meals together. It’s less trouble that way, and it’s cheaper to prepare a dish for us all. Jacques and Suka cook and Pero waits. You know the household now. We eat at eight o’clock. The Captain will join us tonight. He will wish to spend as long as possible with his wife and son.”

  I wondered if she noticed my heightened color.

  “And now,” she said, “if Nurse Loman is ready I will see her.”

  I went to Chantel’s room. There were one or two pieces of good furniture in her room, both French.

  I said: “I have just had an illuminating interview with Madame. Your turn now. We have certainly come to a strange household.”

  Eighteen

  Darkness came quickly on the island. There was no twilight. It was daylight, and then a moment or so later it was night.

  At a quarter to eight, Chantel came to my room. She had changed into a black lace dress which suited her coloring to perfection. She clicked her tongue when she saw me. I was wearing a black dress too.

  “That won’t do, Anna,” she said. “I always hated that dress. To tell you the truth—it’s drab.”

  “I’m not expecting to go down to a banquet.”

  Her eyes were dreamy. “Anna,” she said, “the Captain is dining here tonight. Perhaps he will dine here tomorrow night, and then he’ll go away. He’ll remember you as you are tonight so don’t let it be in that unbecoming old thing.”

  “Chantel, please…”

  She laughed and started to unhook my dress.

  “You seem to forget that he has a wife,” I said.

  “She won’t let me forget it. The Captain must have a pleasant memory to take away with him.”

  “No, it would be better…”

  “If you were to make yourself ugly? How unromantic you are!”

  “Should one be romantic about someone else’s husband?”

  “One should always be romantic, and there is something very romantic about love that cannot be fulfilled.”

  “Chantel, please, don’t joke about this.”

  “I’m not. If you only knew how much I want you to be happy. And you’re going to be even if it is not with the Captain and it isn’t going to be with the Captain, Anna.”

  Her eyes flashed and she looked like a prophetess. I said, “I wish you would stop talking about this.”

  “I’m going to talk about it,” she said. “He’s not for you. He’s not good enough for you, Anna, as I’ve told you before. All the same I do think you should put on something pretty tonight.” She had taken out a blue silk dress and held it up to her. “There. It’s one of your best. Please, Anna.”

  I slipped out of the dress and put on the blue one. Whatever I said I wanted to look my best tonight.

  I looked at myself in the mirror in the blue dress. With the color in my cheeks I was not unattractive, I decided.

  Chantel was watching me intently and I said, to change the subject: “Pero brought these candles in. She said they never light them until it’s impossible to see without them. Candles are very expensive on the island.”

  “Surely they can’t be as poor as all that. I think our Madame has a mania for saving money. You look pretty now, Anna.”

  “It’s this expensive candlelight. It hides the faults. Everyone knows it softens the features and brightens the eyes.”

  “I’m surprised that we are to eat at the family table—being only nurse and governess.”

  “It’s cheaper if we eat together, she told me.”

  “She told me that too.”

  Chantel began to laugh.

  “Oh, Anna, what sort of a madhouse have we come to?”

  “We shall have to wait and see.”

  She went to the window and opened the shutter.

  “Come here. You can see the ship.”

  There it lay in the bay, as The Secret Woman must have done.

  “It gives you a feeling of security,” I said.

  “How will you feel, Anna, when it is no longer there?”

  I shivered. “That,” I said, “remains to be seen.”

  “Never mind, it’s only for two months.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She smiled at me. “I’m positive. I shall not stay here for longer.”

  “You’ve already made up your mind?”

  “I just know it in my bones,” she said. “I shall not stay here for more than two months.”

  “Prophetic!”

  “If you like.”

  “I should not want to stay here alone.”

  “‘Whither thou goest I shall go.’ And on that biblical note, let’s go down to dinner.”

  Chantel opened the door so that the light from the oil lamp in the corridor could show us the way. I closed the shutter and blew out the candles. The room looked eerie in darkness.

  But through the shutters I could see the ship in the bay and I guessed that Redvers was below. I was glad he was here for our first night.

  ***

  There was a candelabrum on the table which was strikingly beautiful. In spite of the strangeness of everything I noticed it immediately; a young goddess supported the torchère on which the candles stood. Priceless, I thought. And French like most of the valuables in the house. It was worthy to have stood on one of the tables in Versailles. The light from the candles threw flickering shadows round the room. We were a large party tonight. I wondered what it would be like when there were only four of us.

  At the head of the table sat Madame de Laudé. Red was on her right; at the other end was Monique, breathing fairly easily; on her right was Ivor Gregory and her left Dick Callum; Chantel and I faced each other.

  Pero and Jacques waited on us; I imagined Suka was in the kitchen.

  There was fish which I could not identify; it was probably caught in the bay, a dish of beans and vegetables followed and after that delicious fresh pineapple. We drank a French red wine which although I was no connoisseur I guessed to be good.

  Conversation ran smoothly. We talked of the voyage and of our fellow passengers. Every now and then I would be aware of Red’s eyes upon me, and turning would find Dick Callum watching me too, while Chantel flirted daintily with Ivor Gregory. Monique talked a great deal, and her mother watched her indulgently I thought.

  Madame de Laudé was very dignified and I believed that in the past she had entertained frequently. I could imagine this room filled with guests and all the lovely pieces of furniture like that magnificent candelabrum being used for these occasions.

  “Do you think, Captain,” she said, “that Nurse Loman and Miss Brett will be happy here?”

  “I hope they will,” he replied uncertainly.

  “They will find it very different after England. It is very different, is it not?”

  “It’s a little warmer here,” said Redvers lightly.

  “I was very anxious for them to come when I knew that Lady Crediton had engaged them. I have heard how very useful they have been…during the voyage. I hope they will w
ant to stay.”

  “They have been very useful,” said Monique. “Nurse Loman bullied me outrageously.”

  Chantel retorted, “Madame Laudé will know it was done for your own good.”

  Monique pouted. “She made me keep to my diet and sniff that beastly stuff.”

  “Doctor’s orders,” said Chantel. “Confirmed by Dr. Gregory here.”

  “I think, Madame,” said Dr. Gregory, “that Mrs. Stretton was lucky to have so efficient a nurse to look after her.”

  “Nurse Loman looked after me, and Miss Brett looked after Edward. Edward was constantly seeking his Papa’s company, and that meant that Miss Brett was too.”

  I heard myself say in an aloof voice, “It was only rarely that Edward was allowed on the bridge, naturally, and then he was most eager to learn everything possible.”

  Monique looked from me to Chantel. I believed that she was bent on mischief; I wondered what she had already told her mother.

  “It seems to be the general impression that when there are passengers on board it’s the Captain’s duty to entertain them,” said Red. “This, alas, is not so, for I am sure it would be very pleasant. The Captain’s job is to navigate the ship. That’s so, isn’t it, Callum?”

  Dick Callum said indeed it was. And the ship’s officers’ first care had to be the ship.

  “But there is some social life?” asked Madame.

  “There are occasions when we are free to mingle, but they are not as frequent as we could wish.”

  “So the Captain’s wife is often left alone,” said Monique. “It is sad, is it not?”

  “And do you think the voyage has been beneficial to my daughter, Doctor?”

  “I think it has,” said Ivor Gregory.

  “Before you leave the island you must have a word with our doctor here. He is very old…failing, alas. But the best we have. We will have a young man—one of our islanders—coming out soon. He is in England now at one of the hospitals in London where he is learning to qualify.”

  “I’ll go along to see him tomorrow,” said Ivor, “and give him Mrs. Stretton’s dossier.”

  “Dossier!” cried Monique. “It sounds as if I am a prisoner who has done wrong.”

  There was polite laughter and Madame said the coffee would be served in the salon. Would we like to adjourn there?

  The salon was a long room with French windows opening onto a balcony. Through the french windows I could see the unkempt lawn; there was a rocking chair on the balcony, a table and two straw basket chairs. The shabby parquet of the floor showed between the brilliantly colored native-made mats. The table caught my eye immediately. I thought it was a Georges Jacob. It was beautiful with an ebony veneer and dentil ornament round the edges. I could not resist running my fingers over that ebony surface. There was dust on it. It seemed sacrilege to treat such a piece so. There were a few chairs of a slightly earlier period with spirally fluted legs; the brocade with which they were upholstered was stained, but that could easily be remedied; the beautiful framework and marguerite decorations proclaimed them to be valuable.

  Pero had brought in the coffee and placed it on the Jacob table. The cheap tray looked incongruous there, but the coffeepot and cream jug, the sugar basin and tongs were decidedly English Georgian.

  Madame de Laudé sat on the brocade upholstery of one of the chairs and asked how we liked our coffee. As she poured graciously I kept thinking how different it must have been in this house when her husband was alive. And now she was battling with poverty, saving on candles when she was surrounded by pieces of furniture which in aggregate must be worth a small fortune.

  The lamps had been lighted. There were only two of them, one at each end of the room, and they were far from adequate. The room was gloomy. I thought how I would like to rearrange the furniture and what use I would make of that lovely candelabrum in the dining room. I would have others of the same period about the room.

  Monique was mischievous that night. She was talking about Rex Crediton. Madame de Laudé was eager to hear of him, for she betrayed a great desire for news of all the Creditons. Was she hoping that through her marriage Monique was going to rescue her from penury?

  “I should have liked to have met your half brother, Captain,” she said.

  “His business took him to Sydney,” Redvers explained. “He’s a very busy man.”

  “He was very busy during the voyage.” Monique looked at Chantel and laughed. “Now he will be busy courting Miss Derringham.”

  “A young lady he met on the ship?” asked Madame de Laudé.

  “Oh no. She was in Australia. I think that was why he went out. They are very rich, the Derringhams. Are they as rich as the Creditons, Redvers?”

  “As I am not a member of the Derringham company I don’t see their balance sheets,” said Red coolly.

  “They have many ships, just like the Creditons. And Lady Crediton thinks it will be so good for them to link up…in marriage.”

  “Lady Crediton is a very wise woman I know,” said Madame de Laudé. “And when these two marry and there is a…how do you say…?”

  “An amalgamation,” said Dick.

  “Then they will be very rich indeed.”

  Her eyes glistened. The thought of riches softened her. She talked of money as though she were speaking of a lover.

  “It is very romantic,” she said. “And romance is always charming.”

  “One could call it golden, in this case,” said Dick, his lips curling slightly.

  “He knew how to amuse himself during the voyage.” Monique’s eyes had come to rest with seeming innocence on Chantel, who sat very still. Poor Chantel! I felt sad for her.

  “He is a man who likes to amuse himself?” asked Madame.

  “What man does not?” asked Monique laughing in Redvers’s direction.

  “There is no sin in amusement, surely,” said Redvers. “In fact it’s more intelligent to be amused than bored, to be interested rather than indifferent. I can tell you, Madame, that my half brother is an extremely intelligent man. He has his wits about him, very necessary in his position.”

  “You are fond of him I know,” said Madame de Laudé.

  “My dear Madame, we were brought up together. We are brothers. We never bothered about the ‘half.’ We were in the nursery together. He is now a man of affairs. There’s very little about the Lady Line that Rex doesn’t know.”

  “Oh yes, he knows a great deal about the Lady Line,” said Monique laughing immoderately. Chantel watched her anxiously; she was always alert when Monique laughed too much. It could end in a struggle for her breath.

  Chantel had risen. For a moment I thought she was going to betray her emotions which I was sure existed. I could not believe in her indifference to Rex.

  She was looking at Dr. Gregory. “Should I give Mrs. Stretton ten drops of belladonna?”

  “I should,” said Ivor.

  “I’ll get it now.”

  “What for?” demanded Monique.

  “You are getting breathless,” said Chantel.

  “Just a precaution,” added the doctor.

  “You are going to your room?” asked Madame de Laudé. “You will need to be lighted up.” She picked up a figure from a small table and rang it. It was surprising what a noise it made.

  Pero came running in, looking frightened. “Light Nurse to her room.”

  When the doctor and Chantel had left, Monique said: “I am treated like a child.”

  “My darling,” said Madame, “they are concerned for you.”

  “You know it is better to ward off an attack than to deal with it when it comes,” said Redvers.

  “I don’t believe I am going to have an attack. I don’t believe it. It was to stop me because I was talking about him. She never thought he’d go to Sydney and marry Miss Derringham. She thought she wa
s irresistible.” She began to laugh.

  Redvers said sternly, “Stop it. Don’t say another word about matters of which you know nothing.”

  He had spoken in such an authoritative tone that we were all a little startled. It was as though a new man had stepped out from behind the mask of urbane charm. Monique sat back gripping the arms of her chair.

  Dick Callum said: “I have already gathered that this has been a record year for coconuts, and we shall be taking a good cargo of copra back to Sydney.”

  It was the cue to turn the conversation; to try to restore normality, to change the sultry atmosphere to one of pleasant conviviality.

  “Sugar is not in such a fortunate position.” Madame shook her head mournfully. “But we are forgetting our duty. It is long since we entertained. You would like a brandy, a liqueur? I can promise you a very good cognac. My husband left a good wine cellar; and we don’t have much opportunity to make use of it. Fortunately its contents don’t deteriorate with age.”

  Chantel and the doctor returned, Chantel carrying a glass which she proffered to Monique who pouted and turned away.

  “Come along,” said Chantel, very much the efficient nurse, and Monique took the glass like a sulky child and drank the contents.

  She sat back in her chair scowling. Her mother watched her anxiously. I saw Redvers looking at her, and on his face was an expression of hatred mingled with weary exasperation. It alarmed me.

  After that the talk became desultory, with several conversations going on at the same time. Dick Callum, who was near me, said that we must see each other (by which he must have meant alone) before The Serene Lady sailed. I replied that I thought there would be no opportunity for this.

  “You must make one,” he said. “Please.”

  Chantel was discussing Monique’s treatment with Ivor Gregory.

  “I think the tincture of belladonna is a good substitute for nitrite of amyl,” she was saying.

  “It’s effective, but as it’s taken internally you must be more watchful. Make sure that she doesn’t have more than the ten drops. During an attack the dose could be repeated…say every two or three hours. Have you a supply?”