‘You don’t have anything against Paul, do you?’
‘Oh no, not at all!’ she said. ‘Still, it’s better not to be in debt.’
‘But Freddie! He’s my best friend! I’m not afraid of owing him a little money.’
‘Indeed. He’s very kind, but the sensible thing to do is to pay him back, don’t you agree?’
He agreed. Yet again she felt annoyed with herself. There she was, meddling in other people’s affairs again! They would both start hating her if she wasn’t careful. But Etienne did not hate her at all, on the contrary, he adored her for doing his packing for him.
‘There: shirts, collars, socks. Well, you can find the rest for yourself. I’ll go and look for Paul — at least, if you will advance me the money.’
She was prepared for this, and reached into her pocket to hand him the required sum.
‘Thank you. We are leaving early in the morning, I gather. Oh yes, would you tell Willem to wake me up in good time? Bye for now.’
He made to leave, but she took his head in her hands and kissed him.
‘I’m really glad you’re coming to De Horze with us. Mama will be thrilled. And so will Theodore, especially when he hears of your studious intentions,’ she concluded sweetly.
He was delighted that they had made up, and a moment later she heard him whistling as he ran down the stairs.
. .
The following evening Theodore van Erlevoort and Klaas the coachman drove to the railway station at Elzen to collect the party of visitors, and at about nine o’clock the old covered wagon rumbled up the oak-lined drive to De Horze. Marianne, who had returned from her final term at boarding school, came running to meet them, with Edmée and the two Van Stralenburg toddlers close at her heels. The little ones frolicked like young puppies, trying to keep up with the wagon amid shrieks of ‘Hello, Gran! Hello, Aunt Tilly! Hello, Aunt Freddie! Hello, Uncle Etienne!’ in complete disregard of Marianne’s frantic efforts to restrain them.
Between the pillars of the veranda stood Truus beside Suzanne and her husband, Arnold van Stralenburg. After a grand, rattling sweep around the pond, the wagon drew up by the entrance to disgorge its passengers on all sides. For a few moments pandemonium reigned in the mêlée of happy reunion, with the children hugging and kissing everyone in sight and Theodore’s large hunting hounds barking and bumping the littlest ones off their feet.
Madame van Erlevoort was the last to alight, and was promptly stormed by her high-spirited grandchildren, who squeezed past the long legs of their uncle from Zwolle to fling their short arms about her.
Truus, Mathilda and Suzanne allowed the children to play for a while, but before long Miss Frantzen and the two other nursemaids came to fetch them. They were served sandwiches and then unceremoniously bundled off to bed. Mathilda went after them to make sure they were all well settled.
They had not seen each other all winter, and the air was filled with questions to catch up on everybody’s news. Madame van Erlevoort glanced around, as though missing someone.
‘Where is Hetty? And where are the boys?’ she asked eagerly.
‘Still at school, Mama dear; the holidays haven’t started yet,’ replied Truus, smiling at her mother-in-law’s disappointment.
‘Hetty is doing very well in Bonn; she writes long letters home. Cor was in Buenos Aires recently, with his ship.’
‘And Miss Voermans has left, hasn’t she?’
‘Yes she has; the dear old soul took her leave with tears in her eyes. But she was no longer needed, and we couldn’t afford to keep her on for old time’s sake, more’s the pity. Theodore is having trouble enough with his tenants as it is.’
Overhearing this, Theodore assured them that he had no reason to complain, especially now that his dear kinfolk had arrived. ‘Why, Freddie! You look remarkably well! Prettier by the year! Look, Truus, what a fine-looking young lady she is! Wouldn’t you love to have a sister like that?’
He placed his hands on her waist, displaying her to his wife, who responded with a warm smile.
‘And how is your heart faring? All well I hope?’ he whispered in her ear. ‘Anyone making it beat faster yet — pitter-patter, pitter-patter?’
Freddie’s laugh was as clear as a bell.
‘Oh no, no one yet! Don’t fret, it won’t happen for a while.’
‘So you send all your suitors packing, do you?’
‘Oh yes, I keep them at a distance. A long distance!’ she chuckled. ‘I haven’t found anyone I care for, no one at all.’
‘Ooh, Little Miss Sharp!’ he retorted. ‘You’ll frighten them all away if you’re not careful.’
She laughed more merrily than ever. How lovely she was when she laughed! She reminded him of the goddess Diana, a young, mocking Diana, lithe and strong with her proud head thrown back defiantly as she fixed him with her shining, challenging eyes. Despite her playful manner there was in her beauty a sense of truth and sincerity, a certain dignity telling him that she was not being coquettish, but that she possessed a sense of pride.
‘Ah, so that’s how you feel!’ he continued. ‘Well, I can’t say I’m sorry. It just goes to show that you have a sense of breeding.’
And he looked at her once more, gratified to see in her a true Van Erlevoort.
‘And what do you think of Etienne?’ gushed Madame. ‘He has come to study for his exams!’
‘It is indeed a most pleasant surprise!’ said Theodore, bowing deeply.
Frédérique began to laugh again.
‘Oh, he’s such a card!’ she said to Van Stralenburg. ‘Just imagine, Arnold, he very nearly forgot to take his study material! He turned up with a great stack of books at the very last minute, so there was some legal treatise or history book tucked away in almost every one of our suitcases!’
‘You can’t expect me to think of everything!’ said Etienne defensively.
‘No, of course not! You have so much on your mind already, don’t you?’ quipped Arnold, narrowing his eyes. ‘All that correspondence to see to, all those conferences and consultations!’
He was in the habit of teasing his young brother-in-law at every opportunity, and Etienne was quick to rise to the bait, which often resulted in volleys of comic repartee followed by mock sparring matches.
‘Now, Arnold, don’t you start squabbling with Etienne!’ cried Suzanne. ‘Tell them to stop it, Mama, or they’ll be at each other’s throats again!’
‘Uncle Arnold and Etienne are always at each other’s throats!’ tittered Marianne.
Arnold, however, declared that the sheer joy of this family reunion had completely undermined his combative spirit, and with a theatrical flourish, he spread his long arms to welcome Etienne. Locked in their embrace, they swayed from side to side a long moment until, without warning and utterly straight-faced, Etienne forcibly pushed Arnold’s head down and vaulted over his stooping frame. As though by design, without a word or the slightest hesitation, Arnold proceeded to vault over Etienne and vice versa, in a succession of leapfrogs provoking hilarity all around.
‘When they’re not at each other’s throats they’re just like clowns!’ shrieked Marianne. ‘Just like clowns!’
. .
Frédérique and Marianne, who called each other by their first names despite being aunt and niece, shared a vast, high-ceilinged room, in which stood a monumental, old-fashioned oak bedstead with a dark-brown canopy. The doors were likewise made of oak, as was the wainscoting; the ceiling was decorated with a large medallion within which disporting nymphs and cupids could still be faintly discerned.
‘I am so glad we’re sharing a room,’ said Marianne as they were getting ready for bed. ‘Oh, I couldn’t bear to sleep here alone! I’d be terrified, wouldn’t you?’
‘I don’t expect so; I’m not that easily frightened,’ replied Freddie.