Lady Killigrew had somehow contrived to control her ailment and was at the table in her best gown. She had uncanny powers of recuperation and a will of the same order. She and Mr Killigrew engaged Sir George Fermor in conversation through supper, but even they were talked down by the rasping voice. When it chose to utter, which was frequent, nothing could live with it. In the main it indulged in self-congratulation, but sometimes it dealt with the sloth and evil nature of servants. Thrashing was the only thing good enough for most of ‘em, he said; all his servants were thrashed regular whether they’d offended or not; it kept them up to the mark. While he so spoke he stared meaningly around, leaving no doubt as to his thoughts.
The betrothal was celebrated next morning in the presence of Parson Garrock of St Budock and Parson Merther. The two young people stood in the centre of the hall, with Mr Killigrew on one side of them and Sir George Fermor on the other. Young John was required to speak first, and this he did, faltering over the words:
“I, John Killigrew, do willingly promise to marry thee, Jane Fermor, if God will and I live, whenever our parents think good and meet, till which time I take thee for my only betrothed wife and thereto plight thee my troth. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. So be it.”
Having said this he put a gold ring on the girl’s right hand. Then it was her turn to speak the oath which she did in a deep voice and to give him a ring in return. This done, they kissed and the union was celebrated in rhenish wine. My father was in great spirits, and even Sir George weighed light upon him. Jane, in a tight laced bodice with a green kirtle and a red petticoat edged with lace, looked as dumpy as before. After the plighting she began to talk with the children, not animated still but sober, almost fierce like her father, and Odelia and Thomas were listening to her open mouthed. I drew nearer, thinking what if I were being asked to marry this girl, how would I feel? And I suddenly met her gaze.
She said in her deep voice: “Who are you, fellow?”
I stared back at her, and before I could think what to reply, little Odelia said: “This is our brother, Maugan.”
“Brother?” She looked me over. “If he be not older than John then I’ll eat all the dam’ dogs in this hall.”
“I am older,” I said. “However, your inheritance is safe. My father was not married at the time.”
“My father has seven by-blows to my knowledge, but they’re not kept in the house, fellow.”
“This is a special occasion, girl,” I said, “for which they have let me out of the kennels. If treated well I seldom bite.”
Her smile showed very white, very even, teeth and small hard dimples. “More’s the pity … And this? Another of the same? “
Belemus had come up. “No, I am a cousin, cousin and neither illegitimate nor safe.”
We talked for a few minutes, she over-towered by us both but in no way out of countenance. I had never met a girl of 15 like her. She had a self-possession beyond measure and a determination and vigour in all things.
My father pressed them to stay for the Christmas festivities, but Sir George could not and Mr Killigrew breathed out his relief in private. The money that had come to us from my raid on the Kinsale had helped him to order this week with all the old flamboyance and extravagance, but it could hardly have lasted through the twelve days of Christmas.
On the morning before they left I came on Jane Fermor walking with her maid on the edge of the woods behind the house. I would have avoided her but she beckoned.
“Your name’s Maugan, isn’t it, fellow?”
“Yes, girl.” I suddenly saw that behind her back she held a pipe which she had been smoking.
“Then tell me. I want to know. How many fallow-deer have you on this estate?”
“Two score maybe. And the same of red.”
“A poor number. They should be bred up.”
“No doubt.”
“And shall be. Tell me something more, what are those woods on the hill?”
“Just woods. They lead towards Budock and Constantine.”
“Are there any wild boar or wolves?”
“We have few such animals m Cornwall.”
“No?” She brought her hand round to the front and glanced up with a smile to see if I had noticed. To be quite certain she put the pipe in her mouth and drew on it. “Nor have we many wild animals in Northampton; but sometimes Sir George, my father, purchases a boar and sets it free for the sport. We have woods much taller than these. All these trees are so stunted.”
It was on my tongue to refer to the height of human beings
“We have bear-baiting too,” she said. “With bulldogs most times; but the latest craze is greyhounds. It gives the bear more chance. I’m disappointed not to have seen none here. Do you not ever have it?”
“My father is too fond of his dogs.”
She wrinkled her nose. “So I should think from the stink of ‘em. I’d have half of ‘em thrown in the sea.”
I did not speak.
“You’re a rude sort of fellow, aren’t you?” she said.
“We know little of your polished manners in Cornwall.”
“Have you ever been to London?”
“No.”
“It’s an education which would profit you. I was there last month. I go regular.”
“That must be profitable.”
“Last month I saw a woman scourged naked. Next I’m waiting to see a man.”
“I once,” I said, “saw the entrails of a dead sheep being fought over by seagulls.”
She drew at her pipe and puffed smoke thoughtfully in my face. “Maugan Killigrew. Who was your mother?”
“A woman. Like any other.”
“Maybe she too was scourged naked at Bridewell as a whore.”
“If you go four miles up the river you will find a boy with no front teeth. He lost them for saying less than that.”
“But you can’t do it to me?” She laughed and put a hand on my arm. “But perhaps he meant it while I did not. I was seeking a chink in your armour.”
I moved enough to let her hand fall away.
She said: “When a boy is as hostile as you it’s natural to probe. A girl is not strong enough to wield a sword, so she must use a pin.”
“Oh, you make a great mistake,” I said. “I am not hostile.”
“But you do not approve of me, eh? Do you smoke?”
“No.”
“You should try it sometimes. It soothes the temper.” She patted my arm lightly. “Or perhaps you don’t like seeing a woman to smoke? Sir George, my father, does not, so I must take it out of doors. This is wound-won, of course. Smell it.” She wafted the pipe under my nose. “I cannot afford tobacco at 3s. an ounce while my father holds the purse-strings.”
I muttered something, more embarrassed now by a friendliness that cloyed.
In spite of her crude abrupt way of talking she gave the impression of being greatly concerned what men thought of her; and in spite of her thick figure and big hands and feet she was not without attraction. That surprised me but it was true; and not only for me. I saw Belemus looking at her. John did not seem awakened to those ideas as yet, and he parried all questions about her with an uneasy smile.
The day after they left I went into my father’s study and found him still in good spirits. He roped up the map he had been looking at and tapped me on the shoulder with it.
“Well, Sir Maugan, our troubles are at an intermission perhaps altogether over. At least we shall need to look at this no longer.” He tossed the map into a corner and made the dogs bark.
“What is that, sir?”
“Tell me, what d’you think of our guests?”
“… They are rich?”