“I gather,” he said, ‘that you had no one else in mind?
“In mind?”
“Let’s talk plain English. You haven’t a lover … you weren’t contemplating marriage with someone else?”
No. “
Then it’s fairly straightforward, I could get a special licence; I think . in view of Ben’s illness. We could be married very shortly. ”
I replied: “What of you? Were you contemplating marrying someone else?”
“I was not,” he said.
"You seem to take all this in your stride. “
How else could I take it? I see what Ben feels. He had a fixation on your mother. It was not only herself . it was all this . the stately mansion, the family tracing itself back to the Conqueror . and he wants the families linked. He has the house, but he hasn’t got the blood. If you and I married, our offspring would have a modicum of the blue-blood variety through you, and with the generations to come the family could be rather proud of itself. ” He laughed cynically.
I was scarcely listening because I had been caught up in what he had said about offspring. That was too much.
I said sharply: “I’m afraid I never could.”
He looked straight at me, and it was as though he were probing my innermost thoughts. I felt very uncomfortable because I knew that he understood what had alarmed me.
There’s a great deal at stake,” he said.
“Ben means what he says. I know him well. He’s set on this and he knows that the only way he could get us married at such short notice is to threaten what will happen to us if we don’t. He can be ruthless, our Ben.”
“I know that. ” He’s told me a great deal about you. That family of yours . your life here . how stultifying it is. He’s sentencing you for life to the Dower House unless you marry me. The devil or the deep blue sea.
That’s your choice. And for me: The loss of command of the Company which I have helped to a build up as surely as Ben has. I have some shares in it, but Ben Has the major noiamg and he’s threatening to pass them to someone else. It would mean if I stayed with the Company I’d be there in a minor capacity. He knows very well I never would. So he has netted me.
He knows I’d accept anything rather. “
“Even me?”
“Even marriage. Which for thirty-two years I have successfully eluded.”
“So there have been those who have angled for you? ” Countless numbers. “
“Perhaps they came in time to regard their lack of success as good fortune.”
They wouldn’t realize that. The lost prize is always more desirable than that which is won. Did you know that? “
“I don’t believe it’s true-but that’s beside the point.”
“You’re quite right. We don’t want to be side-tracked into frivolous discussion when there is something so much more important to occupy us. We are both faced with a dilemma. If we marry we benefit considerably. We both have a great deal to lose if we don’t. I know what it will mean to me. You must have realized that too.”
I was contemplating going back to the old life before I had known Ben older now, knowing a little more of how exciting life could be, and I knew I should hate it.
“So,” he went on, “I’ve made up my mind. I’ll marry you immediately, so all you have to do is say you’ll marry me.”
He put an arm about my shoulders, and I drew back in dismay. Again he gave that brief laugh.
“All right,” he said.
“I’ll make it easy for you. We’ll marry and it’ll be, as they say, a Marriage In Name Only. That’s until both parties want it otherwise. What about that?”
I was silent, and he went on: “I sense your relief.”
I said: “Ben may not agree to those terms.”
“They would be a matter for us to decide, surely. ” I’m not sure. It’s grandchildren he wants. “
“He can’t have it all his own way. Listen to me. We’ll marry and go our own ways. You will escape from the Dower House, and I shall have the full command of the Company. Now you must admit that does seem a way out.”
I stood up suddenly. He did the same, towering above me. There was an amused twitch to his lips as he laid his hands on my shoulders.
“Negotiations seem to be progressing favourably,” he said.
“Shall we go and tell Ben ?”
“ Not yet. I’m undecided. “
“All right. But don’t delay too long. At least it’s just a matter of indecision and not a blank refusal.”
I turned and left him, going back over the stream to the Dower House.
I went to see Ben. I was glad that he was alone. He looked a little better and I commented on this.
“Yes, I’m determined to live until I see you two married. Tell me, Jess, have you thought any more about it?”
“I have thought a great deal.”
“Of course you have. You’re going to wake up and live now. You’ll have to keep your eyes on Joss. He’s a favourite with the women.”
“It’s too much to ask, Ben. Now then, are you going back to the Dower House life? I’d rather go to the penitentiary, that I would. That grandmother of yours … she’s like vinegar now. What’ll she be like in ten years’ time … gall, bitter aloes … She’s not like a wine that’ll improve with age.
You’ll love the excitement of it. The Company . Fancy Town . It’s in your blood. You’ll come back here to Oakland now and then . It’ll be a wonderful life. “
I was silent, and he went on: “Look, Jess, you’ve got to grow up … if you’re going out there. Lite’s lived in the raw there. But it’s life. That’s the great thing. I can see you at Peacocks. Has Joss talked to you of Peacocks?” I shook my head.
“He will. He loves the place. This will be yours, too. Just think of that. When you come to England you’ll be the lady of the manor. I wonder what the old lady of the Dower House is going to say to that! I’d like to see her face .. that I would. Just think of your little ‘uns … playing on these lawns, in the copse, just as you would have done if you’d had your right There’s one thing I have to tell you, Ben. If I did marry him, I couldn’t … I couldn’t live with him as his wife, and that means that your idea of the little ones on the lawn would simply not be possible.
I’m sure that in these circumstances the whole thing falls through.”
I had expected dismay, but there was nothing of the sort. Ben laughed so much that I feared he would exhaust himself.
“You know, Jessie,” he said when be had recovered from his laughter, ‘you’re enlivening my last days, you are. You never fail to please me.
So you’ve made up your mind to marry him, have you? “
“I didn’t say that. I’ve just told you why it’s impossible.”
“Listen. I want you two married. I knew Joss would agree. There was too much to lose. I could only rely on the pride of my Peacock. As to the other little matter, well, I’m ready to leave that to Joss.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Ah, danger signals! I’ll leave it like this. I’ll see you married, and I’ll die hoping that one day you two are going to see what’s staring you in the face and that is that you were meant for each other. It’s the looker-on that sees the best of the game, and I’m a very observant looker-on. I’ve lived every minute of the days God gave me. I’m like a cat that’s had nine lives. I’m coming to the end of my ninth now, but I’ve picked up a lot in those lives and I know what I am talking about. So it’s settled, is it? I accept your terms and you’ll accept mine. I want a nice wedding in the church … so that everyone knows.”
That will take a little time. “I reckon I’ve got that little time left to me. I just won’t go until I’ve seen you and my boy Joss joined together in holy matrimony.”
“Ben,” I said, ‘if you love us, how can you ask so much of us? “