“What? Such an old stick-in-the-mud?”
“Of course. The contrast draws attention to my superior charms. Moreover, I shouldn’t like it half as much without you.”
“I’ve said I’ll think about it.”
“Well, go on thinking and tomorrow we’ll talk about what we’ll take with us.” I did think about it. I kept waking up and asking myself why not? Poor Celeste would be lonely; but she did seem to want to be alone. I should miss Belinda. I had felt more alive since she came. I could ask the Greenhams to let me know at once if there was any news, and if Joel came home I could come back immediately. By the morning I had convinced myself that it would be a good idea to go to France with Belinda and her father.
Encounter with a Swan
Belinda greeted my decision with delight. Then she said scornfully, “I knew you’d come to your senses. It will be such fun. Oh, how glad I am I came to England.” Then she started to talk about the clothes she would take. She planned to go shopping that afternoon and she wanted me to go with her.
Celeste thought it would be a good thing for me to go to France. She said, “It has been different, hasn’t it, since Belinda came? She’s good for us, Lucie. She does stop our brooding a little. I am sure you will feel better in France. You see, you’ll get right away from this place and that must be good for you. You know I told you you should get down to Manorleigh for a time, but I suppose there are too many memories there. This will be a complete change. I’ll send Amy up to help you pack.”
“I’m not ready yet.”
“Well... when you need her.”
In spite of myself, during the next few days I was caught up in the excitement. Belinda talked constantly about our trip to France. She was so happy, it was a joy to watch her. I thought how much better she managed her life than I did mine. She had lost her mother not long ago and the man whom she had regarded as a father and of whom she had been fond, yet she was able to cast off the unhappy past and look forward to the future. Perhaps it was a wonderful experience to find a long-lost father-after all, in a way I had known what that meant myself, for I, too, had discovered my father and we had become important to each other. So perhaps it was not so surprising after all.
Preparation for the visit took my mind off constantly wondering what was happening to Joel. I had told myself that there was nothing I could do by staying in London. Belinda’s arrival had caused a great deal of excitement among the servants and I knew she was the main topic of conversation in their quarters. Amy-the girl who was to help me with my packing-was taking the place of one of the parlor maids who was leaving in a month’s time to get married.
She was about sixteen years of age, fresh-faced and pretty; she came from the country, she told me. She was rather loquacious and, I suppose, excited about coming to London. She was getting on very well, she told me. She found the people very friendly. She had been told it would not be like that in London, but she had nothing to complain of.
She had brought in some cases from one of the attics and had set one on the bed. I noticed that she kept glancing toward the window, and I asked if she was expecting to see someone down there.
She blushed faintly. “It... it’s a friend,” she told me.
“Oh. You’ve quickly made friends.”
“This is a special friend, miss. I’ve known him for about three weeks.”
“A young man?”
She blushed deeper and giggled.
“Jack is his name,” she said.
“How did you meet him?”
“It was my afternoon off and I was just going for a walk in the park. He said he was walking that way. So ... we got talking.”
“And you found you had a lot in common, did you?”
“You might say that, miss. He was ever so interesting. I told him where I came from... and he was very pleasant-like.”
“I suppose you’ve been told to be careful of strange men?”
“Oh yes, miss, but he wasn’t like that. He was ever so nice. He said we’d meet again and we did. He’s round this way quite a lot. He delivers things, you see... papers in envelopes... documents, I think he said... from some solicitor. He said people don’t like to trust them to the post.”
“That’s interesting.”
“Do you want to take this skirt, miss? If you’re going to, you’ll want the jacket that goes with it. Oh, here it is. I’ll fold it in tissue, then it won’t get creased.” I went to the window and looked down. A young man was standing on the opposite side of the road in almost exactly the same spot as that other had stood. “There is a young man down there, Amy,” I said.
“I wonder if...” She was beside me. “Oh, that’s him. That’s Jack.”
“Do you want to go down and have a word with him?”
“Oh, could I, miss?”
“Go on,” I said; and she went.
I thought I could easily do the packing myself. It had been Celeste’s idea that I needed help.
I smiled to myself, contemplating Amy and her young man. I expected there would be more; she was an attractive girl.
The day arrived for our departure. Jean Pascal came to the house with the carriage which was to take us to the station.
“I feel honored to escort two beautiful young ladies,” he said gallantly. As we settled into the train Belinda said: “This is an adventure. Not for you, mon pere. You have had too many adventures to get excited about one... if it is an adventure for you which this is not, of course.”
She had decided to call him “mon pere.”
“Father” seemed wrong somehow. She said, you could not suddenly start calling someone father. She thought mon pere more suitable and he seemed to like it. So that was what he had become.
He said now, “I can still get excited about adventures and I do admit that this one is filling me with elation.”
We all leaned forward to wave to Celeste who was standing at the door. As we did so, I caught a glimpse of Amy’s Jack, the deliverer of documents. He was standing on the other side of the road.
“Did you see the young man?” I asked Belinda. “He’s waiting for a glimpse of Amy.” As the carriage moved off I told them about my conversation with Amy. “He delivers documents,” I added.
“An odd occupation,” said Jean Pascal. “I’ve never heard of that.”
“It may be that Amy didn’t get it right or he is trying to impress her.”
“I daresay that was it. What of your sister, Rebecca? What does she think about your coming to France?”
“It was all arranged so quickly. I have written to her, but I am wondering whether she will have received my letter by now.”
“I always had such a great respect for Rebecca. A wonderful lady. And now she is living in my old home. I find that rather amusing.”
“Oh, they love High Tor. It’s a fine old house.”
“I agree.”
“It’s a very special place for me, I believe,” said Belinda somewhat roguishly. Her father chose to ignore that remark and, always alert for his reaction, Belinda did not pursue it.
“Everything looks different this morning,” she said. “That’s because we are leaving London.”
In a very short time we had reached the station. We were in good time but the boat train was already waiting. A porter took our luggage and we were conducted along the platform to a first class carriage.
“I expect you two young ladies would like corner seats,” said Jean Pascal.
“Oh yes, please,” cried Belinda.
She got into the train and I was about to follow her when some instinct made me turn my head. I looked along the platform and, to my astonishment, I was sure a young man I saw not far from us was Amy’s friend, Jack.
No, I thought. We left him near the house. It couldn’t possibly be. What would he be doing here at the boat train?