The Secret Woman

by Victoria Holt

  But I was wrong. Two small rush lights were burning in this room. I caught my breath because it was arranged like that walled space I had seen out of doors. In the center of the room was a figure and round it a ring of glittering stones. One stone, larger than the rest, twinkled in the rush light; it seemed alive with red fire. But perhaps I was still seeing that nightmare outside. I felt as though I were impelled forward. The figure in the center was different from the one which I had seen outside; there was a look of familiarity about it.

  I went close to it, stepping over the ring of stones. I knew it well. I had seen it many times. I had first discovered it in the escritoire which had come from Castle Crediton; I had kept it in my room; I still had it. It was the figurehead of The Secret Woman; only this was no replica. This was the real thing.

  Her face was bland and smiling; her hair long as though flowing in a breeze and on her robes were the words “The Secret Woman.”

  I could not believe that this was really so. A crude wooden stand had been made to support the figurehead and the surrounding stones sparkled with red and blue fire.

  Then a blinding understanding came to me.

  These were the Fillimore diamonds.

  ***

  In the early morning we came back to Carrément. I was longing to tell Chantel about my find but I must wait until we were alone. She was in an exalted mood because she believed she had saved that boy’s life, and undoubtedly it was her prompt action which had enabled her to beat out the flames. She talked of him. Everything had happened so quickly; he was not really so badly burned; his legs and arms would carry the scars through his life and he was very shocked, but she was certain that he would recover.

  “Chantel,” I said, “you were magnificent.”

  “I was ready,” she said. “I knew it was going to happen. No one could perform such a dance without the certainty that he was going to succeed; and that boy was afraid.”

  “I sensed that too, but I was not prepared.”

  “In fact,” said Chantel, “I was ready with the rug. That was why I reached him so soon, but I think when anything like that happens one acts without thought. What a sight…that poor child a mass of flame!”

  “I shall never sleep tonight,” I said, “or what is left of it.”

  “Nor I,” she replied.

  When we reached the house Madame was waiting for us.

  “What of the boy?” she asked.

  “We think he’ll recover,” said Chantel.

  “He will owe his life to you,” she said. “It is something he will never forget.”

  Chantel smiled. “He’s shocked,” she said. “I’ve got him sleeping now. I shall go over and see him in the morning. The doctor will be there then.”

  “But it was you…”

  “I had drunk no Gali.”

  “You must be very tired,” said Madame.

  Chantel did not deny it. We said good night to her.

  “I must speak to you, Chantel,” I said. “Something fantastic has happened.”

  I lighted the candles and turned to look at her. I thought she had never looked so beautiful and in spite of my excitement I could not help pausing for a few seconds just to gaze at her.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “You look…elated.”

  “It’s having succeeded against death. I feel I’ve snatched that boy from death tonight.”

  “What a night. But something happened to me too, and I must talk of it.”

  I told her of my discovery.

  She gasped. “Those diamonds? Are you sure?”

  “I feel certain. It was the figurehead. I had seen a replica of it. In fact I have one. And the name was on it… And those stones were all round it.”

  “They may not have been diamonds.”

  “I feel certain they were. You see, Chantel, if they really are the diamonds it means that Redvers will be cleared of this suspicion. So many people thought he had stolen them.”

  Her face had hardened a little. I could not imagine why she disliked him so much. Did she know something which she had kept from me? It seemed strange.

  “You can’t be sure,” she said. “There are a lot of weird figures around and stones, well… They sound too big to be diamonds. They’d be worth a fortune.”

  “The Fillimore diamonds were worth a fortune. Chantel, what can we do?”

  “It looks to me as if they treat it as though it were some sort of goddess. That could well be. They have this story about coming from the Fire Country. It may be it has something to do with that. Diamonds flash fire.”

  “I am sure they attach some significance to this but the point is what shall I do? Shall I go and tell them? Shall I ask them how the figurehead came into their possession with the stones?”

  “They’d probably be furious because you’d seen it. You were after all wandering about their house unknown to them.”

  “Yes, and I’d trespassed before.” I told her about the day when I wandered into the grounds. “Perhaps you could do something. They’ll be grateful to you.”

  She was silent.

  Then I cried suddenly: “We will do nothing until the ship comes. I will tell the Captain then. I will leave it to him.”

  She did not speak for a while; her mood of elation seemed to have passed.

  I felt it had something to do with her dislike of Redvers.

  ***

  The next weeks were the hardest to live through. I was in a fever of impatience, terrified that something would happen to the diamonds—for I was sure they were the diamonds—before the ship came home. I studied the calendar with greater eagerness than Edward did. Even the thought of Redvers’s letter in the hands of Suka or Monique was pushed to the back of my mind.

  The whole household knew that we would be returning to Sydney. There was an unpleasant scene with Monique when she demanded to know what I was going to do. Chantel managed to quieten her; since the flame dance incident Chantel had acquired a new authority. I had seen both Suka and Pero look at her with special respect; when we went out I was aware that people watched her in a different way. Some of the European residents congratulated her and wondered why they had not met her before. But the fact was that we were at Carrément where Madame de Laudé lived like a recluse. Chantel was delighted with this attention, I could see. I thought: What a wonderful Chatelaine of the Castle she will make. I told her that when she was as old as Lady Crediton she would be every bit as formidable. This amused her.

  I said to her once: “Chantel, it’s a mystery about that letter. Nothing has happened.”

  “It’s a good sign. Perhaps it wasn’t stolen after all. What if it fell into your wastepaper basket and was lost that way. It’s probably been destroyed by now.”

  “But I was sure that someone had been in my room.”

  “Guilty conscience, Anna,” she said.

  I protested. “But there is nothing…”

  She gave me a quick peck on the nose. “I like to think that you are just a little guilty, Anna. It makes you more human. But stop worrying about the letter. It’s lost.”

  I had finished the inventory and had calculated that there were several thousand pounds worth of treasures in the house. I told Madame that I would see that the account of them was sent to dealers, and I was certain that some business would result.

  She was delighted; she became quite animated contemplating what a difference it would make.

  There was a big scene with Monique one evening and I wondered then whether she had the letter and was holding it for some purpose.

  She was going back on Serene Lady, she said. She was not going to stay when we left. And Edward was coming too.

  It was necessary to call in the doctor and he and Chantel between them managed to calm her.

  Edward believed that he
was going with us. I said to Chantel: “But what of Madame Laudé. She will not want Monique to go surely?”

  “Madame is thinking chiefly of the fortune you promised her. Edward is delighted at the prospect of going back. He would have been heartbroken to stay on here. What is there for him but his hysterical Mamma, his parsimonious Grandmamma, and mad old Suka.”

  “Can these matters be so quickly decided? I thought that Monique had come out here to be with her family and because the climate was more suited to her than ours is.”

  “No climate would suit her. She would never be happy. That’s part of her trouble. There are too many tensions in her life. Now she is buoyed up by the Captain’s return. She wouldn’t let him calmly sail away with you, Anna, she’s working up for something. I haven’t told you before because I didn’t want to upset you. She talked of little but you and the Captain.”

  “Then she has the letter.”

  “I’m sure she would have said. And I’ve looked everywhere. She’s even a little quieter than usual, as though she is planning, plotting.”

  “Oh Chantel…it’s rather terrifying.”

  “She is sure you and the Captain are lovers. She said that you were planning to murder her to get her out of the way.”

  “I don’t know what to do, Chantel. There’s Suka watching me as though she suspects I’m going to do Monique an injury. Pero too. Something is building up against me. I believe that is what Monique intends should happen.”

  “She loves drama and of course wants to be in the center of it, but there’s a lot of playacting in it.”

  “What if she were to carry this playacting too far?”

  “How?”

  “Suppose she killed herself and made it seem that I…or the Captain…”

  “No! How could she enjoy the drama if she were dead?”

  “If there were a ship that called here before Serene Lady, Chantel, I think we should be wise to get on it. To go to Sydney, to try to find some post there…”

  “But you can’t just take a berth on a ship like that. And no ship will be calling in any case. You’re here, Anna.”

  “Yes and I feel…trapped.”

  “I thought you wanted to stay to tell your Captain you think you have cleared his name?”

  “I do but I’m afraid, Chantel. There is something menacing hanging over us.”

  “A wild hysterical and passionate woman, a straying husband, and the woman he loves. What a situation and who would have believed it of you, my dear calm practical Anna!”

  “Please don’t joke about this, Chantel. It’s a very serious matter.”

  “A very serious matter,” agreed Chantel. “But don’t worry. I’m here, Anna, now as I was before. Is that a comfort?”

  “It’s a great comfort,” I assured her fervently.

  ***

  As the days passed, Monique’s condition worsened. The attacks were more frequent and one followed another. They were not severe attacks, Chantel told me; but she was alarmed for her patient’s health. She never left her and when she was bad I know she often sat up during the night. She was a wonderful nurse.

  She told me that Suka sat in the room watching her with great mournful eyes. “I’d like to get rid of her but it upsets Monique when I suggest she go and I mustn’t upset her when she’s in that state. The old lady’s furious at the prospect of losing her Missy. I believe she blames you. I heard her mutter something. She thinks that if you didn’t exist Monique wouldn’t be jealous and would be content to let her husband go without her. Be careful she doesn’t slip something into your mint tea. I’m sure the old witch has a store of poisons, tasteless in Gali, coffee, and the aforementioned mint tea. Tasteless and deadly. The two necessary attributes.”

  I shivered and she said: “It was a joke, Anna. What’s come over you? You take life too seriously.”

  “It seems to have become serious,” I said.

  “Life is real, life is earnest,” quoted Chantel.

  “‘And the grave is not its goal,’” I finished, and wished I hadn’t spoken. I hated even to mention death.

  “Don’t worry,” said Chantel, “we’ll soon be in Sydney.”

  ***

  Edward was frankly excited. When Serene Lady came we were going to sail away on her.

  How many more days to the red letter day? We counted them, Fourteen, thirteen…and then ten.

  Each morning I awoke wondering what the day would bring. I used to open my door and look out into the corridor. Sometimes I heard her shouting and my name would be mentioned. At others there was silence.

  And in my thoughts too was the precious letter I had lost and the memory of that room in which was the figurehead of The Secret Woman and what I believed to be the Fillimore diamonds.

  Why were the days so long? I was living for the time when I should see Serene Lady in the bay. I would not think beyond that. I just wanted to sail away from the Island and when I reached Sydney I would find some post and reshape my life.

  Tension was mounting. I longed to tell the Captain of my discovery. I should be so proud and overjoyed if I had been the one to find the diamonds. I longed for his return and yet at the same time I feared it.

  Monique grew quieter. A sly calculation had taken the place of unreasoning wildness which was even more alarming and I could not get out of my mind that we were moving toward some tremendous climax. This Island had been but lightly touched by our Western ways. Beneath the veneer there was something deeply savage. These people believed in strange gods; a stone rock to them was a living thing. Curses and spells were commonplace. And I believed that Suka had marked me down as her enemy because she believed that I had come between Monique and the man she loved.

  There was no one to whom I could speak of my deep disquiet. Chantel treated the matter too lightly. She refused to accept it as serious. I believed that her thoughts were far away in Sydney when she would be reunited with Rex. Even the discovery of the diamonds meant little for the clearing of Redvers’s name was a matter of indifference to her. When she talked of the future she never mentioned him. She didn’t trust him. She had plans for me. Dear Chantel! She was concerned for me. I knew she was planning to launch me in society, to make a grand marriage for me. She did not want me to be involved with Redvers. This slipped out in her conversation and although it hurt me in a way I knew it was a measure of her affection for me. She really believed she had to look after me and in her usual determined manner had decided to do it.

  I could not look into the future. I could only wait for the return of Serene Lady. So the uneasy days passed and one afternoon when we had all been resting behind shutters because the heat was intense, I rose, opened my shutters and saw it in the bay—the white gleaming ship.

  I ran to Edward’s room and cried, “Edward. She’s come. Serene Lady is in the bay.”

  Twenty-three

  The events of the days which followed were so dramatic that it is difficult now to remember the exact order in which they occurred. I could scarcely restrain my impatience. I wanted to go out to the ship. I wanted to tell him of my fears, of the lost letter and most of all my discovery of the figurehead and the diamonds.

  But I had to curb myself.

  Chantel came into my room, her eyes gleaming.

  “There’ll be a scene tonight,” she said. “Missy’s working up for it.”

  “She must be delighted that he’s here.”

  “She’s madly excited. But she’s got a devilish look in her eyes. She’s planning something. I wish I knew what was in her mind.”

  I waited in my room. He would come soon. I put on my blue silk dress and piled my hair high on my head. I had worn that dress many times; my hair was dressed in the usual way. Yet I had changed. My eyes shone; there was a faint color in my cheeks. Would others notice the change in me?

  I heard his voice below and
my emotions were almost unbearable. What a fool I was! Was Chantel right? Could I trust him? The understanding came to me that it would make no difference whatever she could tell me of him. I loved him and I would go on loving him forever.

  I opened my door. I wanted to stand there listening to the sound of his voice.

  Then among the shadows I saw the crouching figure. Suka! She was listening too. She had seen me. I could feel rather than see her baleful eyes fixed on me.

  I went back to my room. When I get to Sydney, I said, I must find a post. Perhaps I’ll stay there. Perhaps I’ll find some people who are returning to England. But I must get away.

  Pero was beating the gong in the hall. It was time to go down to dinner.

  ***

  We dined as we had on that first night—Madame, Monique, myself, Chantel, Redvers, the doctor, and Dick Callum.

  Dick had changed. He was subdued and had lost that air of truculence which I had so often noticed. I was aware of Redvers—in fact I was aware of little else. Now and then I would find his eyes on me, but I dared not return his gaze. Monique was watching us, I was sure. I wondered whether she would suddenly talk of the letter. It would be like her to produce it at such a time.

  Conversation was conventional. It centered round the voyage and of course an account of the flame dance.

  As we went through to the salon, I was able to whisper to Redvers: “I must see you. It is very important.”

  Dick talked to me while we drank our coffee but I scarcely listened to him. Madame de Laudé was talking about my discovery of the antiques in her house. Dick was very interested and she asked if he would like to see a French console table which I had declared to be particularly valuable. He rose and I slipped out with him and Madame but instead of following them I went out into the garden and waited in the shadow of the trees. It was not long before Redvers came out.

  He took my hands in his and looked at me but before he could say anything I began to pour out the story of my discovery. I said: “You must go to that house. You must make some excuse to see the figure. I am sure it is the figurehead of The Secret Woman and that the stones are the diamonds.”