Sylvia Andrew – Eleanor (страница 10)

‘What are you trying to say, Mama?’

‘Not even you can claim that this house is comfortable to live in. Not in its present state. It is old, dark and damp. And we don’t have the resources to change it. I have done what I must.’

Eleanor’s throat was dry. She said in a strained voice, ‘Mama, what have you done?’

Mrs Southeran looked at her with pity in her eyes. ‘You will not like it, Nell, but it was for us both. I seized an opportunity which came out of the blue, and I cannot be sorry. I have sold Stanyards.’

For a moment Eleanor sat in stunned silence. Then she whispered, ‘No, no! It’s not true!’ She threw herself down by her mother’s sofa and her breath caught on a sob as she pleaded, ‘Tell me it’s not true, Mama! You can’t have s-sold it!’

Mrs Southeran’s face was troubled as she gazed at her daughter. But she said steadily, ‘It is true, Eleanor. In two weeks Stanyards will have a new owner.’

‘How could you? How could you, Mama? You must cancel the sale at once!’

‘I did it for us both, Nell,’ repeated Mrs Southeran. ‘And I will not change my mind.’

Eleanor got up. Without looking at her mother she said, ‘I feel…I feel sick, Mama. Excuse me, please.’ She ran out of the room.

Chapter Four

Eleanor could never afterwards remember what she did for most of that day. For the first time in many years she had no thought for her mother, nor for the duties which needed her attention. She wandered through fields and woods, over stiles and ditches, unseeing and deaf. It was a miracle that she ended the day unscathed. She finally came to herself on the top of the hill which overlooked Stanyards, and stood there for a long time staring down at her home. At one point she imagined she might take hold of it, and she stretched out towards it, but then she let her arms drop hopelessly to her sides. Stanyards was lost, and she felt as if a stone had settled on her heart. She stood there for a little while longer and then stirred and turned away. Old habits reasserted themselves—she must go back—her mother would be worried about her. Slowly she set off down the hill.

But Eleanor could not bring herself to talk about the coming move, and spent a great deal of the next day going about her ordinary duties in silence. Finally her mother sought her out and took her firmly to task.

‘We have much to do, and I cannot do it alone, Eleanor. I know you feel strongly—’

‘You are wrong, Mama. I do not feel anything.’

‘What nonsense!’ Mrs Southeran looked at her daughter’s wan cheeks and heavy eyes and said more gently, ‘You have suffered a great shock, I know that. But do you think it is easy for me to leave my home?’

‘I would not have thought so.’

‘Eleanor, my dear, you must know in your heart that we could not have continued as we were!’ Mrs Southeran paused, but when Eleanor merely turned away and looked out of the window she sighed. ‘Perhaps I should have said that I could not have continued as I was? Perhaps I have made you pay too great a price for my own selfish comfort?’

Eleanor could not hold out against the note of uncertainty in her mother’s voice. She ran to her and held her tight. ‘Forgive me, Mama! I don’t wish to hurt or worry you. It was a shock…but I will honestly try to understand your reasons, and of course I will help. How could I possibly do otherwise?’

‘Believe me, Nell, I would not have done it if I had thought for one moment that it was not better for both of us.’

‘Yes, yes. Anyway, it is all finished now.’ Eleanor paused, and then said more cheerfully, ‘I haven’t yet asked you where we are going to live. Somewhere near?’

‘Somewhere very near,’ said her mother with a smile. ‘In the Dower House.’

‘But that is part of the Stanyards estate!’

‘We have a lease on it. It was agreed in the sale.’

Eleanor got up and walked about the room. She was not sure what to think about this. On the one hand she would still be part of Stanyards, still have her friends and the countryside she loved so much within easy reach. On the other, how could she bear to be part of Stanyards and yet not part? She continued to pace the room, conscious of her mother’s anxious gaze. The Dower House. Compared with the main house, it was modern and well-equipped—her mother could be very comfortably established there, with her friends also close at hand. She wondered about its state of repair—it had been empty for years. And, though no expense had been spared in building it, its rooms were pretty rather than large. ‘What would we do with Father’s books? There isn’t a room that would hold them in the Dower House.’

‘They…they are included in the sale. I expect the new owner will keep them where they are.’ Her mother sounded apprehensive, but Eleanor could see the force of this. Her father, and his father and grandfather before him, had all been keen book collectors and one of Stanyard’s largest rooms had been made into a handsome library some sixty years before.

‘Shall I tell you about Stanyards’ new owner?’

‘No!’ said Eleanor violently. In reply to her mother’s look of astonishment, she went on, ‘Thank you, but I do not wish to know anything about the man, not even his name. I cannot at the moment tolerate the thought of strangers in what was my home, Mama.’

‘But, Nell, you will have to know more! Or are you going to refuse to meet him? That would be extremely difficult—the two houses are within a stone’s throw of each other. I assure you he is a man of honour and integrity—he will do well by Stanyards—’

‘No, Mama!’

‘I cannot allow you to bury your head like this…’

‘I know,’ said Eleanor nervously, but with determination. ‘Please be patient with me. I will come round, you’ll see, but I need time. Give me a day or two, then you may tell me all you wish about the usurper!’ Eleanor gave a slightly tremulous smile as she said this. Only she knew how much the effort she was making was costing her. Only for her mother would Eleanor have made this attempt to reconcile herself to losing Stanyards.

The Dower House lay a short distance from Stan-yards itself, at the end of a branch from the main drive. It had been built about a hundred years before for the widow of an earlier and more prosperous Southeran. It was on a small scale but very pretty, built of brick, which was a rare luxury in this stone-based countryside, with a miniature pediment and sash windows. Behind was a small stable block and a path, decorated with ornamental urns and benches, which connected it with the main house. Here Eleanor and her mother were to live.

Having promised to do all she could, Eleanor threw herself into preparations for the move. She would normally have been out and about the estate, catching up with all the tasks which had fallen to her since the two men in the family had died. But now she stayed at home and directed the servants, supervised the packing of china and linen, consulted her mother on what should go and what should stay, all without once displaying the slightest interest in Stanyards’ new owner.

Apart from her mother, no one seemed to know very much about him anyway. The negotiations had been concluded surprisingly swiftly—few had even caught a glimpse of the mysterious stranger who had apparently won Mrs Southeran’s trust so easily.

One thing Eleanor could not help noticing. The Dower House was being given a thorough renovation, and its garden, which had become a wilderness, was being restored to flowerbeds and lawns. Even the small stable block, which had been out of use for years, was being made ready for occupation. She could not help knowing that a vast amount of money was being spent on all this refurbishment, and asked her mother about it.

‘I cannot tell you!’ said her mother with a small twinkle in her eye. ‘The new owner is doing it all, and you do not wish to know about him!’

Eleanor was obstinate enough not to ask further. Later, of course, she wished she had.

A day or two before the Southeran’s move to the Dower House, Eleanor, who had been inspecting yet more cupboards there, was making her way towards the path back to Stanyards. A large black dog, hardly more than a puppy, bounded round the corner from the stables and greeted her with all the warmth of an old friend. The dog was a complete stranger.

‘Down, Becky! Down, I say! You must forgive her, Miss Southeran. She has yet to learn her proper place in life, I’m afraid. Did she frighten you?’

Eleanor had recognised the voice at once, of course. Who could mistake those deep, resonant tones? But she still stared at Mr Guthrie as if he had been conjured up by the devil himself.

‘Miss Southeran? Are you all right? Becky hasn’t an ounce of harm in her, I assure you.’ He sounded concerned, and Eleanor made an effort to find her voice.

‘It’s not the dog! Why are you here?’ she croaked.

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘Why are you here?’ she repeated in a stronger voice.

‘No, no, Miss Southeran! Even in the Colonies we know better than that. You must bid me “Good morning”, say that it is pleasant to see me and then ask if I had a comfortable journey from London. Only then do you work round, by devious methods, to finding out why I am here. However, I should have thought you would know that.’