But she was not the son, and so it was Matthew.”

” Hagar is Simon Redvers’s grandmother?” I asked.

Sarah nodded. ” She thinks the world of him.” She came close to me.

” She’d like to see him here … but she won’t now, will she? There’s the child … and there’s Luke too … both before Simon. The child first…. I shall have to get some more silks.”

” You’re thinking that my child will make his appearance on your tapestries.” lOt ” Are you going to call him Gabriel?”

I was astonished, and I wondered how she had guessed my thoughts. She was studying me, her head on one side; now she looked infinitely wise as simple people sometimes do.

” It may not be a boy,” I said.

She merely nodded as though there was no doubt of it.

“Little Gabriel will take big Gabriel’s place,” she said ” Nobody can stop him, can they?” Her face puckered suddenly. ” Can they?” she repeated.

” If the child is a boy he will take his father’s place.”

” But his father died. He killed himself … they said so Did he kill himself?” She had caught my arm and held ii tightly.

“You said he didn’t. Who did? Tell me, please tell me.”

“Aunt Sarah,” I said quickly, “when Gabriel died I was distraught.

Perhaps I did not know what I said. He must have killed himself. “

She dropped my arm and looked at me reproachfully.

” I’m disappointed in you,” she said, pouting. Then her mood changed at once.

“We all sat at that table. Hagar the cleverest of us all—and the eldest—so you see it would have been best…. Then Simon would have been…. Our governesses did not like her though. They all liked Matthew He was the favourite. All women liked Matthew. I was the stupid one. I could not learn my lessons.”

” Never mind,” I soothed. ” You could draw beautifully; and your tapestry work will be here for years and years after we are all dead. “

Her face lightened. Then she began to laugh. ” I used to sit here, Matthew there … and Hagar at that end of the table Our governess was always at the other end. Hagar said she should sit at the head of the table because she was the eldest She could do everything … except drawing and needlework. I beat her there. Hagar was a tomboy. You should have seen her on horseback. She used to ride to hounds with our father. She was his favourite. Once she climbed up to the window nearly at the top of me Abbey tower. She could not get down and they had to send two of the gardeners with ladders. She was sent to her room for a whole day on bread and water; but she did not care. She said it was worth it.” She came close to me and whispered: “She said:

“If you want to do something, do it and then think about paying for it afterwards—and if you’ve done it, you must not mind what you have to pay for it’”

” She was a forceful character, your sister Hagar.”

” Our father liked to take her round the estate with him. He was sorry when she married John Redvers. Then the trouble started with Matthew.

He was sent down from Oxford. There was a young woman there. I remember that day. The girl came here to see Father. I watched them from where they couldn’t see me; I heard it all. “

” From the minstrels’ gallery,” I said.

She giggled. ” They did not think to look up there.”

She sat down at the table in that place which she had occupied to learn her lessons; and I knew that the reason for her youthfulness in this part of the house was due to the fact that here she relived her youth.

I was sure that all her memories of the past would be flawless; it was only in the present that she was uncertain whether she was talking to Catherine or Claire, Gabriel’s or Matthew’s wife.

” Trouble,” she brooded, ” always trouble about women. He was well into his thirties before he married, and they went more than ten years without a child. Then Ruth was born. All that time Hagar thought it would be her son Peter who’d be master of Revels. Then Mark and Gabriel were born. Poor little Mark! But there was still Gabriel left.

Then Luke was born . so you see Hagar was not happy about that. ” She rose from the table. She took me to the cupboard and showed me the marks on the wall there. There were three lines marked with the initials H. M. and S. ” Her Majesty’s Ship,” I murmured.

” Oh no,” said Sarah earnestly. ” Hagar, Matthew and Sarah. Those were our heights. Matthew shot up past her after that, and then Hagar wouldn’t measure any more. I want to show you the night and day nurseries.”

I followed her from the schoolroom and with her explored that part of the house which had been the children’s domain through the centuries.

I noticed with satisfaction that all the windows were barred. In the day nursery was a great oak chest, and this Sarah opened. In here were stored the Rockwell christening robes and she brought them out reverently for my inspection.

They were beautifully made of white silk and lace which I guessed were priceless.

” I must examine them,” she said. ” I may have to mend part of the lace. The last time they were used was for Luke. That’s nearly eighteen years ago. He was not a good baby. None of our babies were good babies. I shall take these to my room. I shall allow no one to touch them except myself. I shall have them ready for you when you need them.”

“Thank you. Aunt Sarah.”

I looked at the watch pinned to my bodice and saw that it was four o’clock.

” It’s tea time,” I said. ” I had no idea. How quickly the time passes when one is interested !” She did not answer me; she was clutching the christening robe to her breast, and I believed that in her imagination she was already nursing the baby—or perhaps some other baby from the past—Ruth, Mark, Gabriel or Luke.

” I am going down to tea,” I told her; but she did not answer me.

It was some days later when Ruth came to my room with a letter.

“One of the servants from Kelly Grange brought this over,” she said.

“For me?” I asked, astonished.

” Undoubtedly for you. Mrs. Gabriel Rockwell’—it says it distinctly on the envelope.”

Ruth was smiling as though she were amused when she handed this to me, and as she did not attempt to go I murmured, ” Excuse me,” and read it.

It was formal; almost like a command.

If Mrs. Gabriel Rockwell will call at Kelly Grange on Friday at 3. 30

Mrs. Hagar Rockwell-Redvers will be pleased to receive her.

Because I had already crosed swords with Mrs. Hagar Redvers’s grandson, I was prepared to do so with her. I flushed faintly with annoyance.

” A royal command?” asked Ruth with a smile.

I passed the invitation to her.

” It’s characteristic of my Aunt Hagar,” she said. ” I really believe she’s of the opinion that she is head of the family. She wants to inspect you.”

” I have no intention of being inspected,” I retorted rather sharply.

” The inspection in any case would be rather useless at this stage.”

“She’s very old,” said Ruth apologetically.

“She’s older than my father. She can’t be far off ninety. You have to go carefully with her.”

I said quickly: “I have decided that I shall not go to call on Friday.”

Ruth shrugged.

“The servant’s waiting,” she said.

“My aunt will expect a reply.”

” She shall have that,” I answered; and sat down at my writing-table and wrote:

Mrs. Gabriel Rockwell regrets that she is unable to call on Mrs.

Hagar Rockwell-Redvers at Kelly Grange on Friday at 3. 30. Ruth took the note from me. She was clearly amused.

I stood at my window watching the messenger from Kelly Grange ride away, and I thought: So it is from his Grandmother that he gets his arrogance.

Early the following week I was on the front lawn when Simon Redvers rode up to the house.

He leaped from his horse, lifted his hat to greet me, then shouted to one of the grooms as though he were the master of this house and its servants.

” Mrs. Catherine,” he said, ” I am pleased to find you at home because it was to see you that I have ridden over from the Grange.”

I had not seen him since my return and I thought he looked larger, and more arrogant than ever. I endeavoured to look as dignified as possible as I said: “Pray tell me what your business is with me.”

As soon as his horse was taken from him he came towards me; he was smiling almost ingratiatingly.

” May I say that it is a great pleasure to see you here again?”

” You may say it if you wish to.”

” You are still angry with me.”

“I have not forgotten certain remarks you made to me before I left.”

” Do you harbour resentments then?”

“If they are as insulting as those you made, yes.”

” I am sorry about that because I have come to apologise.”

“Indeed!”

“Mrs. Catherine, I am a forthright Yorkshireman, and you are a Yorkshire woman, and therefore forthright also. We are no dandified southerners to wrap up our thoughts in pretty phrases. I cannot pretend to possess the manners and style of a gentleman of London.”

” I am sure it would be useless for you to make such a pretence.”

He laughed. ” You have a sharp tongue, Mrs. Catherine.” I was not altogether displeased by his method of addressing me. I found Mrs.

Rockwell formal, and naturally I did not wish him to use my Christian name alone.

” I can only hope that it will be a match for yours on those occasions when we are obliged to meet.”

” I hope those occasions will be many, and that while we sharpen our tongues we shall also sharpen our wits.”

” What did you wish to say to me?”

” I wished to ask your pardon for certain unmannerly remarks I made at our last meeting. I have come to offer my congratulations, and to wish you good health and happiness.”

“So you have changed your mind concerning me?”

” I hope I shall not do that, because I always admired you. But I sincerely ask your pardon. May I explain my feelings? Let us say that I was angered by the loss of one who was as my brother. I am the type who loses control of his tongue in anger, Mrs. Catherine. One of my less worthy traits, of which I fear there are many.”

” Then let us say no more of the incident.”

” So you will forgive and forget?”

” Forgiveness is so much easier to grant than forgetfulness. I promise you the first. The second … I hope will come.”

” You are gracious, Mrs. Catherine, beyond my deserts. Now I am going to ask a favour of you.”

“Ah!” I said.

” Not for myself,” he added hastily, ” but for my grand mother. She has asked you to visit her.”

” It was scarcely a request.”

He laughed. ” You must forgive her methods. She is used to authority. It is a great grief to her that she has not seen you, and it would give her much pleasure if you would pass over the manner of her asking and remember that she is a very old lady, rarely able to leave the house.”

” Did she send you to give this second command?”

” She has no idea that I have come. She was hurt by your refusal of her invitation and I am going to ask you to allow me to take you there to-morrow. I will drive over for you and take you to her. Will you allow me to do this?”

I hesitated.

” Oh come,” he urged. ” Remember she is old; she is lonely; she is greatly interested in the family and you are now a member of it.

Please say yes. Please, Mrs. Catherine. “

He suddenly seemed attractive; his eyes, screwed up against the sunlight had lost their boldness; I noticed his strong teeth which looked very white against his sun-bronzed skin. He was a little like Gabriel without any of Gabriel’s delicacy; and as I looked at him I found myself relenting.

He saw the change in my mood immediately. ” Oh, thanks,” he cried, and his face was creased in smiles such as I had not seen there before.

He’s really fond of that old grandmother, I thought; and I almost liked him because he was fond of someone other than himself.

He went on exuberantly: ” You’ll like her. You can’t fail to do so.

And she will like you . though she may be a little chary of showing it at first. Like you, she’s a Strong character. “

This was the second time a man had refered to my strength, and I felt weakened suddenly. There was even a prickle in my eyes which suggested tears. I was horrified at the idea of shedding tears, particularly before this man!

I said hurriedly to hide my embarassment: “Very well. I will come.”