“There is ginger pudding with custard, and apple and blackberry tart with cream, and blancmange. I’ll say the apple and blackberry tart.”
“I’ll say that, too.”
When it arrived he said: “There is something I wanted to talk to you about. It’s Tamarisk. You don’t see so much of her now, do you?”
“I am working and she is married.”
“Of course. I am a little uneasy about her. Well, perhaps more than a little.”
“Why?”
“I fancy everything is not going well.”
“In what way?”
He frowned.
“I think her husband is not all he made himself out to be.”
“What do you mean?”
“Perhaps I should not be talking to you of this, but I think you might help.”
“How?”
“She might confide in you. You were schoolgirls together.”
“She used to talk a great deal about herself, but recently …”
“I believe she would again. See her and find out how she is feeling.
I fancy everything is not as we hoped. In fact, f know . ” I I waited for him to go on and after a pause he said: ” You and I have been through that experience of which a short time ago we were talking. Am I right in thinking it makes a special bond between us? “
“I think it might.”
“I am sure it does. You see, there are so few of us who knew. Your aunt, you and I were the only ones. It was right that the secret should be kept. It is always right for secrets to be kept when a lot of good can be done through j secrecy. And for those who are involved, there is a special i feeling.” “Yes?” , “You and I…” He smiled at me warmly, almost I appealingly. I said quickly: “You can trust me with a confidence.”
“Very well. I said I was unhappy about this marriage. In the first place I did not like it. I saw no need for all that haste. I thought it was just romantic nonsense. He was out to impress her with an elopement and so on. Now there seems to be a different aspect. The fact is that I have been making inquiries. There were no estates in France or Scot land. I doubt whether his name is Gaston Marchmont. I have not checked this out fully yet, but I believe him to be a George Marsh. He is an impostor … an adventurer.”
“Poor Tamarisk. She was so proud of him.”
“She is a foolish girl. She has been easily duped. Well, now she is married to him. He is a liar and a cheat, and, alas, her husband. He knew that I should make inquiries so he arranged the elopement before I could discover the truth. Now she is married and we have to accept him. Of course, it may be that he will settle down. We’ve got to give it a chance. If she is happy with him …” He shrugged his shoulders.
“That is something I am eager to know. I fancy she is not entirely happy. It may be that she is realizing he is not the fine gentleman he tricked her into believing he was. But if he is prepared to turn over a new leaf, settle down .. ” You will find him work on the estate? “
“That’s what it might come to. But I should be very wary about that. I should have to be sure of his intentions first. As you can guess, in my eyes he would be wide open to suspicion. It is an uneasy situation.
That is why I want you to sound out Tamarisk. Discover what her feelings are. Is she really in love with him? We have to find a reasonable way out of this miserable situation. “
I wondered what he would say if he knew that Gaston Marchmont was the father of Rachel’s child who was soon to be born. I could not tell him. That was Rachel’s secret and not mine to divulge.
I said: “I am not sure that Tamarisk would confide in me.”
“You can try. I think it is very necessary to find out exactly how things are going. I am very much afraid there might be unpleasantness.”
“I will do what I can,” I promised.
“Thank you.” He sat back in his chair and smiled at me.
“This,” he said, “I feel sure, has been a very satisfactory morning’s work.”
The next day I went to see Tamarisk.
“How are you?” I asked.
“Wonderful,” she answered.
“Everything is perfect.”
“And Gaston?”
“He’s as marvelous as ever.” She laughed as she spoke and I wondered whether she were telling the truth.
“And you are working,” she went on.
“Doing something called ” Tenant Relations”. It sounds very important. And are you getting on well with James Perrin?”
“Who told you that?” There’s no need to look guilty, or is there? You know how things get round in a place like this. You are seen together a good deal, they tell me. “
“We work together.”
“It sounds very pleasant.”
“It is. But tell me about yourself. You really are enjoying married life?”
There was a slight pause which I did not fail to notice before she said: “It’s blissful.”
I knew then that I was not going to get any confidences. If anything was wrong she was not prepared to admit it yet.
“I suppose you will soon be getting a place of your own,” I said.
“Yes, of course. But we’re comfortable here for the time being. My mother adores Gaston. He knows just how to please her. She would make a great fuss if we suggested going.”
“Where do you propose to live when you do?”
“We’re thinking. Perhaps we’ll travel first. Gaston wants to show me Europe. Paris, Venice, Rome, Florence and all that.”
“It sounds wonderful. So married life really is good?”
“I’ve told you, it’s wonderful. Why do you keep going on about it?”
“I’m sorry. I just wanted your assurance.”
“Are you thinking of embarking on it yourself?” she asked archly.
“The thought had not entered my mind, for obvious reasons,” I said tersely.
I came away depressed. There was a change in Tamarisk. She was not quite natural and instinctively I knew she was not the light-hearted girl who had been so confident that everything in the world would come right for her.
I knew now that Gaston Marchmont was a philanderer.
He had completely bemused both Tamarisk and Rachel. He was a plausible rogue. Crispin knew him for what he was, but the knowledge had come too late. Poor Tamarisk! At least Rachel was loved by a good man, but I feared she was not completely happy either.
I went back to the estate office by way of the old cottages, my thoughts filled with Tamarisk and Crispin’s anxieties about her.
As I approached the row of cottages, to my surprise I saw Gaston himself. He was standing by the Gentrys’ cottage, talking to Sheila.
As I approached he came towards me.
“Hello,” he said jauntily.
“Good afternoon,” I replied.
“I’ve just been with Tamarisk.”
“Good. That will please her. And how are you? A busy lady these days, I hear. It suits you. You look blooming.”
“Thank you,” I said coolly.
“May I walk with you?”
“I am just going to the office.”
“Been playing truant, have you?”
“By no means. My hours are flexible.”
“That’s the best way of working. I was just passing when I saw the little girl. I think she lives here. I was asking about her father.”
“Oh, is he indisposed?”
“I thought I heard he was ill, but it seems to have been someone else.”
I felt uncomfortable to be with him. I knew too much about him to be able to talk normally; and I was glad when I reached the office.
It was time for Rachel’s baby to arrive and I visited her frequently.
For some weeks she had seemed to be in that state of serenity which I had noticed before in pregnant women, and she thought of little but the baby and was longing for its arrival.
But now that the time was coming very close, I was aware that a certain apprehension had come to her.