He said suddenly: “Do you propose to call on Mrs. Pardell again?”
“We are not really on visiting terms. In due course I might be allowed to see if the plant is flourishing. That is all.”
A slight smile touched his lips.
“If you go,” he said, “be careful on that path. The way round the top road is much longer and you’d have a steep descent to reach the cottage.”
“Thanks. I think I’ll risk the path. But I shall have to wait until the plant has taken root, or whatever it has to do.”
He smiled. “You certainly don’t sound like the dedicated gardener.”
“No, I am not.”
He was looking at me with a quizzical expression. I knew he was asking himself how I had managed to insinuate myself into Cliff Cottage. It must seem like a very calculated operation to him, and he must be wondering why I should take so much trouble merely to talk to Mrs. Pardell.
He said: “I shall have to leave you here.” He looked at his watch. “I have to meet someone in five minutes.”
“Goodbye,” I said.
As I walked back, I thought it seemed rather a strange encounter, but I had spoken to him more during it than I had all the time I had known him.
That afternoon I met Jowan Jermyn in the field at the spot where the tree had fallen.
It was clear that he was delighted to see me.
Dorabella had been feeling very tired and was resting, otherwise it would not have been easy to get away. I had been out all the morning.
I did not tell her about my adventure with Mrs. Pardell. I was not sure how she felt about that first marriage of Dermot’s, and I did not want to upset her in the slightest way.
She did not protest when I went off. I think she was content because my mother and I were there and if she wanted us, one of us would be at hand.
She would be amused when I told her about my meeting with Jowan Jermyn, for she was already taking an interest in him and was intrigued by the manner in which we had met.
He had been waiting for me.
“Right on time,” he said. “I do like punctual ladies.”
“I am always punctual, unless, of course, something unforeseen happens to prevent it. We were brought up to believe that it was the height of rudeness not to be. My mother used to say that to be late implied that you were not very eager to come.”
“What an excellent doctrine! And your sister…she is the same?”
“Well…”
He laughed. “And how is she?”
“A little tired, I think. My mother will be there if she wants company.”
“That is nice. Now, away to the moors and the Horned Stag.”
“It sounds rather ferocious.”
“Wait till you see the creaking sign over the door—a venomous beast—enough to drive customers away rather than entice them in. But it is a cosy spot and there isn’t another inn for some miles.”
I was fascinated by the moor. There was something rather eerie about it. I could see no sign of human habitation. Here and there great boulders stood out among the grass and away in the distance was a ring of stones which looked like figures.
“The moor!” announced Jowan. “What do you think of it?”
“Strange. Uncanny in a way.”
“You’re not the first to think of that.”
“Those stones…one could think they were people.”
He brought his horse close to mine.
“At certain times of the year,” he said in a tone of mock awe, “they say they come to life, and woe betide anyone who sets eyes on them.”
“What?” I cried.
He laughed. “You look scared. Don’t worry. They won’t come alive for you. They did once—so they tell me—for poor old Samuel Starky. That was fifty years ago. Poor Samuel, he came into the Horned Stag crying, ‘They’m all alive. The Stones have come to life! Death and destruction is to come to Bandermoor!’ That’s the name of the little village which I’ll show you later. ’Twill be destroyed this night.’ You see, the grocer’s wife had run off with the postman, and the grocer had taken a woman into his house. Sodom and Gomorrah had come to Bandermoor, and the Stones had come to life to wreak vengeance.”
“And what happened to Bandermoor?”
“Oh, it went on in its peaceful way and the Stones remained. Oddly enough, people still think there is something supernatural about them. Well, this is the Horned Stag. Take note of the animal. Isn’t he fearsome?”
“I think it is because the paint round his eyes has become a little blurred.”
“What a practical young lady you are! Practical and punctual. I like it. Come along.”
We first took our horses to the stables and then went in. The inn parlor was almost a replica of that of the Smithy. Tankards of cider were brought to us.
“I believe you are getting quite a taste for the stuff,” he said.
“It’s certainly very pleasant.”
“Tell me,” he said, “when shall you be leaving us?”
“The day after tomorrow.”
He grimaced. “So soon? But you will be here again?”
“I should think so.”
“Your sister is quite well?”
“I think everything is going according to plan.”
On a sudden impulse I told him I had met Mrs. Pardell.
He was surprised.
“Really? She has not a reputation for making friends easily.”
“I would not aspire to friendship.”
I told him about the cutting.
He was amused. “What a devious plan!” he said. “I can see you are a mistress of diplomacy. Why were you so eager to meet her?”
“I have to admit that I am by nature curious.”
“Curious, practical, and punctual,” he murmured. “The last two are virtues. I am not sure about the first. Why were you so curious to meet the lady from the North?”
“Naturally because of her daughter. I was taken aback when my sister told me there had been a previous marriage, but I did not know who the first wife was until you told me.”
“And then you wanted to know more about her?”
“It was a natural feeling, wasn’t it?”
“Indeed, yes. I daresay your sister would want to know.”
“I don’t think she cares very much. She never liked anything that might be…uncomfortable. She likes everything to go smoothly, and if they don’t, push them out of the way where they can be forgotten.”
“But you are not like that?”
“No. I want to know everything, no matter what it is.”
“I understand perfectly. But what did you think you would get from the lady?”
“I thought I might hear something about the girl…Annette. What she was like, how it all happened.”
“I doubt you got much from Mrs. Pardell.”
“Nothing at all.”
“Too bad after such a clever plot with the plant. But congratulations on a piece of imaginative strategy. Pity it was wasted.”
“Not entirely. I am to go again next visit to see whether the thing has flourished.”
“Clever! I’m overcome with admiration. What profit do you hope to get from all this?”
“The more you know of people, the more you understand them.”
“Are you anxious about your sister?” he asked searchingly.
I hesitated. Was I? I had always been a sort of watchdog for us both. I remembered our first day at school—her hand tightly clasping mine, myself trying not to show her the trepidation I felt; seated together at the little desk. Dorabella close to me, reassured because I was there, the strong one; and she did not know that I was only pretending, as much for her sake as my own.
I was certainly uneasy about her. I could not rid myself of the feeling that there was something not quite right at Tregarland’s. It was a strange notion, but there seemed to be something slightly unreal about the people there.