Then I looked about me. There was a door. I went to it. Perhaps I could find someone who would show me the way back to the schoolroom and Miss York.
I opened the door and looked cautiously in.
A voice said, "Who is there?"
I advanced into the room. I said, "It is Drusilla Delany. I came to tea and I am lost."
I went forward. I saw a high-backed chair and in it an old lady. There was a rug over her knees, which I felt showed she was an invalid. Beside her was a table strewn with papers. They looked like letters.
She peered at me and I looked back boldly. It was not my fault that I was lost. I had not been treated as a guest should be.
"Why do you come to see me, little girl?" she asked in a high-pitched voice. She was very pale and her hands shook. For a moment I thought that she was a ghost.
"I didn't. I'm playing hide and seek and I am lost."
"Come here, child."
I went.
She said, "I have not seen you before."
"I live in the rectory. I came to tea with Lavinia and this is supposed to be a game of hide and seek."
"People don't come to see me."
"I'm sorry."
She shook her head. "I am reading his letters," she said.
"Why do you look at them if they make you cry?" I asked.
"He was so wonderful. It was ill fortune. I destroyed him. It was my fault. I should have known. I was warned ..."
I thought she was the strangest person I had ever met. I had always sensed that extraordinary things could happen in this house.
I said I should have to go back to the schoolroom. "They will wonder where I am. And it is not very polite for guests to wander about houses, is it?"
She put out a hand which reminded me of a claw and gripped my wrist. I was about to call for help when the door opened and a woman came into the room. Her appearance startled me. She was not English. Her hair was very dark; her eyes deep set and black; she was wearing what I learned later was a sari. It was a deep shade of blue, rather like the fan, and I thought it beautiful. She moved very gracefully, and said in a pleasant sing-song voice: "Oh dearie me. Miss Lucille, what is this? And who are you, little girl?"
I explained who I was and how I came to be here.
"Oh, Miss Lavinia ... but she is a naughty, naughty girl to treat you so. Hide and seek." She lifted her hands. "And in this house ... and you find Miss Lucille. People do not come here. Missie Lucille likes to be alone."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
She patted my shoulder. "Oh no ... no ... it is naughty Miss Lavinia. One of these days ..." She pursed her lips, and putting the palms of her hands together, gazed up at the ceiling for a moment. "But you must go back. I will show you. Come with me."
She took my hand and pressed it reassuringly.
I looked at Miss Lucille. The tears were slowly running down her cheeks.
"This part of the house is for Miss Lucille," I was told. "I live here with her. We are here ... and not here ... You understand?"
I didn't, but I nodded.
We went back by way of the gallery and then through parts which I had not seen before and it seemed to me some little time before we reached the schoolroom.
The woman opened the door. Miss York and Miss Etherton were deep in conversation. There was no sign of Lavinia.
They looked startled to see me.
"What happened?" asked Miss Etherton.
"They play hide and seek. This little one ... in a house she does not know. She was lost and came to Miss Lucille."
"Oh, I am sorry," said Miss Etherton. "Miss Lavinia should have taken better care of her guest. Thank you, Ayesha."
I turned to smile at her. I liked her gentle voice and kind black eyes. She returned my smile and went gracefully away.
"I hope Drusilla didn't, er ..." began Miss York.
"Oh no. Miss Lucille lives apart with her servants. There is another ... both Indian. She was out there, you know. The family has connections with the East India Company. She is a little ... strange now."
Both governesses looked at me and I guessed the matter would be discussed further when they were alone.
I turned to Miss York and said, "I want to go home."
She looked uneasy, but Miss Etherton gave her an understanding smile.
"Well," went on Miss York, "I suppose it is about time."
"If you must ..." replied Miss Etherton. "I wonder where Miss Lavinia is. She should come and say goodbye to her guest."
Lavinia was found before we left.
I said, "Thank you," in a cold voice.
She said, "It was silly of you to get lost. But then you are not used to houses like this, are you?"
Miss Etherton said, "I doubt there is another house like this, Lavinia. Well ... you must come again."
Miss York and I left. Miss York's lips were pursed together, but she did say to me, "I should not care to be in Miss Etherton's shoes from what she told me ... and the boy is worse." Then she remembered to whom she was talking and said it had been really quite a pleasant visit.
I could hardly call it that, but at least it had held elements of excitement which I should not easily forget.
Although I was not eager to visit the house again, its fascination for me had increased. Whenever I passed it I used to wonder about the strange old lady and her companion. I was consumed with curiosity, for I was by nature inquisitive; it was a trait I shared with Polly.
I used to go down to my father's study on some days when he was not busy. It was always just after tea. I almost felt I was one of those things like his spectacles which he forgot about from time to time; it was when he needed his spectacles that he looked for them and when a sense of duty came over him he remembered me.
There was something lovable about his forgetfulness. He was always gentle with me and I was sure that if he had not been so concerned about the Trojan Wars he would have remembered me more often.
It was quite a little game talking with him, the object being for him to get onto some classical subject and for me to steer him away from it.
He always asked how I was getting on with my lessons and whether I was happy with Miss York. I thought I was doing quite well and told him that Miss York seemed satisfied.
He would nod, smiling.
"She thinks you are a little impulsive," he said. "Otherwise she has a good opinion of you."
"Perhaps she thinks I am impulsive because she is not."
"That could be so. But you must learn not to be rash. Remember Phaeton."
I was not quite sure who Phaeton was, but if I asked he would take possession of the conversation, and Phaeton could lead to some other character from those old days when people were turned into laurels and all sorts of plants, and gods became swans and bulls to go courting mortals. It seemed to me such an odd way of going on and in any case I did not believe it.
"Father," I said, "do you know anything about Miss Lucille Framling?"
A vague look came into his eyes. He reached for his spectacles as though they might help him to see the lady.
"I did hear Lady Harriet say something once ... Someone in India, I think."
"There was an Indian servant with her. I saw her. I got lost playing hide and seek and I found her. The Indian took me back to Miss York. It was rather exciting."