"I was taking a walk."

"It seemed so strange that you should be there, and then in the train and on the boat... and now here."

"I am here because I saw it was on my route and I thought I would drop in to see you."

"On your route to where?"

"To my home."

"So you live in England."

"I have a place in Switzerland. I suppose I would say my home is in England."

"And you are on your way to it now. Why, I don't even know your name."

"Was it never mentioned?"

"No. In the forest ..."

"I was just a passer-by then, wasn't I? It would not have been comme il faut to exchange cards."

"Then on the boat ... you were just there."

"You were rather sleepy, I think."

"Let's end the mystery. What is your name?"

He hesitated and I fancied that he did not want to tell me. There must surely be some reason why. He certainly was an enigma.

Then he said suddenly: "It is Edward Compton." "Oh ... then you are English. I wondered whether you were entirely. Where is your home?" He said: "It is Compton Manor."

"Oh ... is it far from here?"

"Yes. In Suffolk. In a little village you will never have heard of."

"What village?"

"Croston."

"No. I have never heard of it. Is it far from Bury St Edmunds?"

"Well ... that would be the nearest town." "And you are on your way there now?"

"Yes, when I leave here."

"Are you staying in Canterton for a while then?"

"I thought I would ..."

"For how long?"

He looked at me intently and said: "That depends ..."

I felt myself flush a little. It depended on me, he was implying. The girls had said that I was the one in whom he was interested, and I had instinctively known this from our first meeting in the forest.

"You must be staying at the Three Feathers. It is small but has a good reputation for being comfortable. I hope you will fend it so."

"I am comfortable," he said.

"You must come to meet Aunt Patty."

"That would be my pleasure."

"I should be getting back now. It grows dark so early."

"I'll walk with you to the Manor."

We left the wood and took to the road. The Manor was before us. It looked beautiful in the already fading light.

"I can see you admire it," I said.

"It is sad that you have to let it go," he answered. "I haven't really got used to the idea but, as Aunt Patty says, it isn't bricks and mortar that make a home. We shouldn't be happy there worrying all the time because we couldn't afford it, and she says that renovations would have to be done soon or it would be falling about our heads."

"How frustrating."

I stopped and smiled at him.

"I'll leave you here, unless you would like to come in with me now."

"N ... no. I think it better not. Next time perhaps."

"Tomorrow. You might call for tea. Four o'clock. Aunt Patty makes rather a ritual of tea. She does of all meals. Come just before four."

"Thank you," he said.

Then he took my hand and bowed.

I ran into the house without looking back. I was excited. There was something about him which was so intriguing. At last I knew his name. Edward Compton of Compton Manor. I imagined it ... redbrick essentially Tudor rather like our own Manor. No wonder he was interested in Grantley and genuinely shocked because we were having to sell. He would understand what it meant parting with a fine old house which had been one's home for a long time.

Tomorrow I would see him again. I would write to all the girls and tell them about this exciting meeting. There hadn't been time on the boat to tell Lydia that I had seen him again there. I doubt whether she would have listened much. We had been so intent on disembarking and meeting those who had come to fetch us.

Perhaps in time there might be more to tell her. I was very fascinated by the mysterious stranger.


When I returned to the house Aunt Patty was in a state of excitement.


"I have just had confirmation from Daisy Hetherington who is coming to see us. She is arriving at the end of the week on her way to her brother's for Christmas. She will stay a couple of nights."

I had heard her mention Daisy Hetherington many times and always in tones of great respect. Daisy Hetherington owned one of the most exclusive schools in England. Aunt Patty couldn't stop talking about her.

"Aunt Patty," I cut in. "The most extraordinary thing has happened. There was a man whom I met at Schaffenbrucken and he happens to be in Canterton. I've asked him to tea tomorrow. That will be all right, won't it?"

"But of course, dear. A man, you say?" She clearly had her mind on Daisy Hetherington. "That will be nice," she continued absently. "I've told them to get the tapestry room ready for Daisy. I really think it is the nicest room in the house."

"It certainly has lovely views ... but they all have."

"She'll want to hear about the move. She always likes to know everything that's going on in the scholastic world. Perhaps that is why she is so successful."

"Aunt Patty, you sound just the tiniest bit envious, which is unlike you."

"Not me, my dear. I wouldn't change places with Daisy Hetherington for Colby Abbey Academy itself. No, I'm content. Glad to give up. It was time.

There is only one regret and that is you. I'll confess I wanted to hand on a fine and flourishing business to you ..." Her eyes began to twinkle. "But you never know what is waiting to turn up. Cordelia, I think it will be a little quiet for you in that country village of ours. You've been to Schaffenbrucken and you're fully qualified. You see Daisy Hetherington's Colby Abbey Academy for Young Ladies-to give it its full title-has a reputation which we never had. Colby is synonymous with Schaffenbrucken ... or almost. I was just wondering ..."

"Aunt Patty, did you ask Daisy Hetherington to stay here or did she ask to come?"

"Well, I know how much she hates staying at inns. I said it was scarcely out of her way and she might as well stay here for a couple of nights. I have a few pieces she might find useful. There's that roll top desk and some of the girls' desks too and books. She was quite interested and she would like to meet you. I have told her so much about you."

I knew her well. I could see those rather mischievous lights in her eyes when she was planning something.

"Are you asking her to find a place for me in her school?"

"Well, not exactly asking her. And in any case it would be for you to decide. It is something you will have to think about carefully, Cordelia. How will you like country life? I mean village life centred round the church. It is all right for old birds like Violet and me, but for a young girl who has been educated with a view to using that education...? Well, as I said it will be for you to decide. If Daisy likes you ... I know she will like your qualifications. Daisy is a good woman ... a little stern ... a little aloof and very, very dignified ... in fact the opposite of your old Aunt P, but a shrewd business woman, one who knows where she is going. You'll see for yourself. If she took you in, after a while you might have a very good position there. I was thinking of a partnership. Money? Well, I'm not destitute and I'll be comfortable enough with what I have and what I'll get for Grantley. It's a very good price. Colby Abbey breaks up for Christmas a week before we do... so I've asked her here. It's not a bad idea that she should come when the girls are breaking up for Christmas. Then she won't be able to criticize our methods of teaching which I am sure she would. You'll admire her. She possesses those qualities which I lack."

"I shall certainly not admire her for that."

"Oh, you will. I wasn't the right type to run a successful school, Cordelia. Let's face it. None of the girls is in the least in awe of me."

"They love you."

"There are times when respect is more important. I can see my mistakes ... looking back. Nothing very clever about that, I suppose. But at least I'll admit to them and there is a certain wisdom in that. My plan is this, Cordelia. You have a choice ... that is, if Daisy goes along with us, which I intend she shall. If she offers you a post in her school, and if in five or six years time you have wormed your way in and poor Daisy isn't getting younger and I have a little capital on the side ... see what I mean? That is why Daisy's visit is so important. And here are you, fresh from Schaffenbrucken. I happen to know she hasn't anyone there with that special brand of polish on them. If she likes you-and I can't see how she could fail to-there's a chance. And, Cordelia my dear, I want you to think very hard about taking it. It was the one thing which made all this acceptable to me and I can see that if it works as I plan, everything that has happened is going to be a blessing in disguise."

"Aunt Patty, you are an old schemer. Just suppose she liked me and agreed to take me ... I shouldn't be with you."

"My love, that little house will be waiting for you. School holidays will be our red letter days. Dear old Vi will give an extra polish to the brass-she has a fetish about that brass of hers-I shall be in a whirl of excitement. Just imagine the rejoicing in the house, "Cordelia is coming home". This time next year I can see it all so clearly. We'll all go to the carol service in the church. The rector is such a nice man. In fact it is a very friendly place."

"Oh, Aunt Patty," I said. "I was so looking forward to being with you. After all, in three years I have seen very little of you."

"You will see more of me when you are in Devon. Not just Christmas and summer. There is a station about three miles from the house and we'll have the little dog cart. I'll come to meet you. Oh, I am so looking forward to it. And if you were at a school like Colby Abbey, where believe me the nobility send their daughters, you'd be getting into the right genre ... if you know what I mean. We had a knight or two, but let me tell you, Daisy Hetherington has earls' daughters and the odd duke's."

We were laughing as it was always so easy to do with Aunt Patty. She had the unique gift of making any situation amusing and tolerable.

My thoughts were in disorder. I had wanted to teach; in fact I had felt I had a special vocation for it; it was what I had been brought up to expect for years, but I did feel this situation was too much for me to take in all at once: the removal from Grantley; the prospect of a new home with Aunt Patty and Violet, and then to be presented with the possibility of a career in my chosen profession with a hope of my own school at the end of it! But in the forefront of my thoughts was Edward Compton, the man who had a habit of appearing mysteriously in my life and was at last taking on what I thought of as a natural image.

Before, he had been like a fantasy, nameless, and I could not fit him into a home. Now I knew. He was Edward Compton of Compton Manor and he was coming to tea with us tomorrow afternoon. Sitting with Aunt Patty and Violet he would shed that aura of make-believe, and I wanted him to do that.

He excited me. He was so handsome with those beautifully chiselled features and that exciting look of another age, which had fallen from him a little in the wood. When he had said his name-with the slightest hesitation so that it had seemed as though he was unwilling to give it-he had become like a normal human being. I wondered why he had been a little reluctant to tell me. Perhaps he knew that coming upon us in the forest, and again on me on deck, he had created an aura of mystery and he wanted to cling to it.

I laughed. I was looking forward to seeing him more than I would care to admit to Aunt Patty; and he dominated my thoughts even to the extent of the coming of Daisy Hetherington and the effect this might have on my future.


My disappointment was so bitter next day when Edward Compton did not appear that I realized how deeply I had allowed my feelings to become involved.

Aunt Patty and Violet were ready and waiting for him. I had expected he would arrive a little before four o'clock as tea was served at that hour, but when at four thirty he had not appeared, Aunt Patty said we should start without him. And this we did.

I was listening all the time for his arrival and gave rather absent-minded answers to Aunt Patty and Violet who talked continuously about Daisy Hetherington's visit.