Ruth was already there talking to William who was busy at the wagon with two of the maids.
" Ah," she said as I came down, " are you feeling better?"
" I am feeling very well, thank you."
" I'm so glad. It would have been unfortunate if you had not felt well to-night. But if you should feel tired before everyone leaves, you must slip away. I'll make your excuses for you."
"Thanks, Ruth."
She pressed my hand; it was the first time I had felt any warmth from her. The Christmas feeling, I told myself.
Hagar was the next to arrive. I watched her sweep down the staircase, and although she had to walk with the aid of a stick she made a magnificent entrance. She was dressed in a velvet gown of heliotrope, a shade which was becoming to her white hair, and a style that had been fashionable twenty years before. I had never seen anyone with as much dignity as Hagar; I felt that everyone must be a little in awe of her, and I was glad that she and I had become such friends.
She was wearing an emerald necklace, ear-rings and a ring in which was a huge square-cut stone.
She put her cool cheek against mine and said: "Well, Catherine, it is pleasant to have you here with us. Is Simon down yet?" She shook her head in affectionate exasperation. " I am sure he is dressing under protest."
" Simon never did like what he calls dressing up for an occasion," said Ruth. " I remember he once said that no occasion was worth all the trouble."
" He has his opinions about such matters," agreed Hagar. " And here's Matthew. Matthew, how are you?"
Sir Matthew was coming down the stairs and I saw Aunt Sarah behind him.
Sarah was looking excited; she had put on a gown with rather extreme decolletage. It was of blue satin decorated with ribbons and lace and it had the effect of making- her appear very young but perhaps that was the excitement one sensed in her.
Her eyes went to the table. " Oh, the presents!" she cried. " Always the most fascinating part, don't you think, Hagar?"
" You will never grow up, Sarah," said Hagar.
But Sarah had turned to me: " You like the presents, don't you, Catherine. You and I have a lot in common, haven't we?" She turned to Hagar. " We decided that we had when ... when ..."
Simon came down the stairs then. It was the first time I had seen him dressed for the evening, and I thought that if he was not handsome he looked very distinguished.
" Ha!" cried Hagar. " So you have succumbed to custom then, grandson."
He took her hand and kissed it, and I, watched the con tented smile on her lips.
" There are times," he said, " when there is no alternative but to succumb."
We were standing together in that candlelit hall when suddenly we heard the sounds of a violin coming from the minstrels' gallery.
There was immediate silence and everyone was looking up. The gallery was in darkness but the violin went on playing, and the tune it played was one I knew well as " The Light of Other Days."
Hagar was the first to speak. " Who is it?" she demanded. No one answered and the wail of the violin filled the hall. Then Simon said:
" I'll investigate." But as he moved towards the staircase a figure appeared at the balcony. It was Luke, his long fair hair falling about his pale face.
" I thought it was appropriate to serenade you all on such an occasion," he called.
He began to sing in a very pleasant tenor voice and to accompany himself with the violin. " When I remember all The friends, so linked together, I've seen around me fall Like leaves in wintry weather;
I feel like one, Who treads alone Some banquet hall deserted, Whose lights are fled Whose garlands dead, And all but he departed. "" When he had finished, he bowed, laid down his violin and shortly afterwards was running down the stairs to join us.
"Very effective!" murmured Simon dryly. " You're like your grandfather," put in Hagar.
" Fond of admiration."
" Now, Hagar," protested Sir Matthew with a laugh, " you were always hard on me."
" I have often said," Ruth put in affectionately, " that Luke should sing more and practise more with the violin."
We sat down at the table and, while William and the maids began to serve us, we looked at our presents. Sarah squealed with delight as a child might have done ; the rest of us opened our gifts decorously and murmured conventional thanks to each other.
There was one present beside my place which held a certain significance. This bore the inscription, " A Happy Christmas from Hagar and Simon Rockwell-Redvers," in Hagar's bold handwriting. I wondered why they had given me a -joini present and my heart sank a little because I imagined that Simon had had nothing for me and that Hagar had probably added his name to hers to hide this fact. But when I opened the box I stared in amazement, for it contained a ring. I knew that it was a valuable one and that it was not new. It was some family heirloom, I guessed a ruby set in a circle of diamonds. I lifted it out of the case and looked from Simon to Hagar. Simon was watching me intently; Hagar was giving me the special smile which usually she reserved for Simon only.
" But this is too ... too ..." I stammered.
I was aware that the attention of all at the table was on me and the ring.
"It has been in the family for generations," said Simon. " The Redvers family, that is."
" But it's so beautiful."
" Oh, we did have some possessions, you know," said Simon. " The Rockwells didn't have everything."
" I didn't mean ..."
" We know what you mean, my dear," said Hagar. " Simon is teasing.
Slip it on your finger. I want to see if it fits. "
It was too small for the middle finger on my right hand, on which I tried it first, but it fitted perfectly on the third finger.
"It looks becoming, does it not?" Hagar asked, glaring round at the rest of the company as though daring them to contradict her.
" It is such a beautiful ring," Ruth murmured.
" The Redvers seal of approbation, Catherine," murmured Luke.
"How can I thank you?" I said, looking at Hagar, for I could not look at Simon then. I knew that there was a significance about this and that everyone at the table was aware of it, although I was not . entirely. But I did know it was a very valuable present and that in giving it to me Simon and Hagar were proclaiming their affection for me; perhaps they meant to tell the person who was persecuting me that he had not only to deal with me but them also.
" By wearing it," Simon answered. 221 " It's a talisman," cried Luke.
"Do you know, Catherine, while you wear that ring nothing can harm you.
It's the old family tradition.
There's a curse on it. no, sorry, a blessing, The genie of the ring will protect you from the powers of evil. "
" Then it's doubly precious," I said lightly. " Since it not only preserves me from evil but is so decorative. I am so grateful to you for giving me such a lovely present."
" Puts the rest of our little gifts to shame, doesn't it," sighed Luke.
"But always remember, Catherine, it is the spirit of the gift that counts."
" It is a good thing to remember," Hagar's voice boomed authoritatively.
Because I was afraid that I might betray the emotion this gift aroused in me, I decided to say no more before the others but to thank both Hagar and Simon privately; so I hastily turned to my soup which William had served, and by the time the turkey, with its chestnut stuffing, was being eaten I was conscious of a quiet peaceful pleasure.
The Christmas pudding was brought in magnificent with it's wreath of holly round the base and the sprig stuck jauntily into the top.
William poured the brandy over it and Sir Matthew at the head of the table set it alight.
" Last Christmas," said Sarah, " it was very different. The house was full of guests. Gabriel was sitting where you are sitting now, Catherine.
" Don't let's talk of sad things," said Matthew. " Remember this is the first day of Christmas."
" Christmas is a time for remembering," protested Sarah. " It's the time when you recall the departed."
"Is it?" said Ruth.
" Of course it is," cried Sarah. " Do you remember, Hagar, that Christmas when we joined the party for the first time?"
" I remember," said Hagar.
Sarah had leaned her elbows on the table; she was staring at the flaming pudding.
" Last night," she said, in a hollow voice, " I lay in bed thinking of all the Christmases of my life. The first one I remembered was when I was three. I woke up in the night and heard the music and I was frightened. I cried, and Hagar scolded me."
"The first of many a scolding from Aunt Hagar, I'm 1 certain," said Luke.
"Someone had to take charge of the family," Hagar 222 Answered serenely. " It might not have done you much harm. Luke, to have encountered a little more discipline."
Sarah was going on dreamily: "Right through them all [ went until I reached last Christmas. Do you remember how we drank the toasts afterwards? There was a special one to Gabriel after his escape."
There was a silence of some seconds which I broke by asking: "What escape was that?"
" Gabriel's," said Sarah. " He might have been killed." She put her hand to her lips. " Just think if he had ... he would never have met Catherine. You wouldn't be here with us to-day, Catherine, if he had died. You wouldn't be going to ..."
" Gabriel never told me about this accident," I said.
" It was hardly worth mentioning," said Ruth sharply. One of the walls in the ruins collapsed; he was close by and there was a slight injury to his foot. It was nothing much . a matter of bruises. "
" But," cried Sarah, her blue eyes flashing almost angrily, [ thought, because Ruth was trying to make light of some thing which she thought important, " just by chance he saw what was about to happen. He was able to escape in time. [f he hadn't seen it.... he would have been killed."
" Let's talk of something cheerful," said Luke. " It didn't happen.
So that's that."
" If it had," murmured Sarah, there wouldn't have been any need to"
" William," said Ruth, " Mrs. Redvers's glass is empty."
I was thinking of Gabriel, of the fear he had seemed to have of his home; I remembered the cloud which had appeared during our honeymoon when he had discovered the coastal ruins which must have reminded him of Kirkland Abbey. Was the falling of the wall really an accident?
Did Gabriel know that someone in the Revels was trying to kill him?
Was that the explanation of his fear? Was that why he had married me so that there would be two of us to flghl against the evil which threatened? Had that evil caught up with Gabriel? If so, it meant that someone wanted his inheritance. That person must have been horrified when, after murdering Gabriel and I had come to the conclusion now that Gabriel had been murdered he found that there was another who might step into Gabriel's shoes: my child.
It was all so clear; and there in the candlelit hall, while we were formally served with Christmas pudding, I realised as 223 I never had before the certainty that the person who had murdered Gabriel was now determined that my child should never be born, in case it should be a boy.
There was one way of making absolutely sure that I did not produce a son--and that was by killing me.
There had been no attempt on my life. No, as Simon had said, that would have been too suspicious in view of Gabriel's sudden and violent death. I began to see a pattern forming I was in danger--acute danger--but I was no longer terrified as I had been. It was not danger which could frighten me so much as the fear that my mind was tainted and that I was imagining all the uncanny occurrences. How strange it was that this actual danger was far more tolerable than something which I might have conjured up in a distorted imagination.
I found myself looking at Luke. With his long fair hair falling about his pale face I thought he looked like a cross between an angel and a satyr. He reminded me of the figures which were carved on the stonework. There was a satanic gleam in his eyes as they met mine. It was almost as though he read my thoughts and was amused by them.
We drank toasts in champagne. My turn came and they all stood, their glasses lifted. I believed that one of those people who were drinking my health might at that very moment be planning to kill me, but it must not be a violent death--it would have to appear a natural one.
The meal over, the table was quickly cleared by the servants, and we were ready to receive our guests. There were more people than I had expected. Dr. Smith and Damans were the first arrivals and I wondered what was happening to the doctor's wife and what she thought of being left alone on Christmas Day.
I asked Damaris and she said that her mother was resting. It was long past her time for retiring to bed and the doctor would not allow Christmas or anything else to interfere with her routine.
The Cartwrights came with several members of their family, including married sons and daughters and their families. That was the extent of the guests, and, like Sarah, I began to wonder about other Christmases--only I thought of Christmases in the future, not the past.
There was no dancing and the guests were conducted to a drawing-room on the first-floor; even the conversation was quiet. Everyone was remembering Gabriel on that day, 224 because it was due to his death that the traditional entertaining had not taken place.
I found an opportunity of thanking Hagar for the ring. She smiled and said: "We wanted you to have it ... both of us."
" It is very valuable. I must also thank Simon for it."
" Here he is." , Simon was standing beside us, and I turned to him. "
I was thanking your grandmother for this magnificent ring."
He took my hand and studied the ring. " It looks better on her hand than it did in its case," he remarked to his grandmother.
She nodded and he continued to hold my hand for a few seconds, his head on one side, regarding the ring with a smile of satisfaction about his lips.
Ruth joined us.
" Catherine," she said, " if you want to slip away to your room I should do so. You mustn't tire yourself. That's the very thing we wish to avoid."
I did feel then so moved by new emotions that I wanted to go to my room, for there was a great deal I had to think about. Moreover, I knew that I should be resting.
" We shall be here to-morrow," Hagar reminded me. " We might go for a drive to-morrow morning the three of us unless you would like to come, Ruth?"
" I dare say people will be calling all the morning," said Ruth. " You know how it is on Boxing Day."
" Well, we shall see," said Hagar. " Good night, my dear. I am sure you are wise to retire. It must have been a long day for you."
I kissed her hand, and she drew me to her and kissed my cheek. Then I gave my hand to Simon. To my astonishment he bent down swiftly and kissed it. I could feel his kiss, hard and warm on my skin. I flushed faintly and hoped Ruth did not notice this.
"Slip away, Catherine," said Ruth.
"I'll make your excuses to everybody. They'll understand."
So I slipped away, but when I was in my room I knew I could not sleep.
I was too excited.
I lighted the candles and lay down on my bed. I turned the ring round and round on my finger. I believed that it was a ring which the Redvers family treasured and that it had been given to me because they wished to imply that they wanted me to be one of them. ka. 225 h I had been lying thus when the monk had come to my room and the strangeness had begun. I kept going over everything that had happened, right from the first, and I was conscious of an urgency.
Time was short. Already I was easily tired and forced to leave the party before it was over. This mystery should be solved . and quickly solved.
If I could find that way into the house . if I could find the monk's robe. We had not really examined the minstrels' gallery thoroughly.
We had found the cupboard, but we had not looked behind the tapestries on the walls. How long, I wondered, was it
since that tapestry had been taken down?
I rose from my bed I had not undressed for I was filled with a great desire to have another look at the gallery.
I went along the corridor. I could hear the sound of voices and they were coming from the drawing-room on this floor; quietly I descended the first flight of stairs to the minstrel's gallery. I opened the door and went in.
Victoria Holt - Kirkland Revels Page 29
