My mother said it was the way the light of the setting sun caught one of the windows, and it could, to anyone who was looking for strange sights, appear to be a light.
However, the rumours grew.
I had mentioned the faulty floorboard and it had been repaired, but I did not say anything about the buckle because it involved Belle and I thought it would remind my parents of the unfortunate incident which had led to the dismissal of the Rooks.
I saw them now and then, and their attitude towards me was always a little truculent. When I asked Mary if she had settled in at Grasslands she replied with relish: “Oh, yes, Mistress Damaris, me and Jacob has never been so well served. We’m in clover.” Which was her way of telling me that it had been a change for the better and a good day for them when my father had sent them packing.
Elizabeth said they seemed over anxious to please and were really very good servants. I noticed that the servants at Grasslands always regarded me with a special interest and I wondered what stories the Rooks told of our household.
Carlotta had always said that servants were like spies for they knew too much about the private lives of their masters and mistresses. She said: “One should never forget them; they are there watching and chattering together, seeing much and making up what they don’t see.”
I wished more than ever that I had not told them where I had found Belle.
Belle herself had become obsessed by some sort of treasure hunt since she had found the buckle. She kept it with her. Once we thought she had lost it; then we discovered she had buried it in the garden with a bone.
She had suddenly become interested in the land where she had been caught in the trap. Up till now she had refused to go near it. Whenever we had come near the fence she would cringe away from it and keep very close to us. We knew she was remembering her experiences in the trap.
Then suddenly, when we were passing that way, we missed her. We called and called and she did not appear.
We knew that the house fascinated her because she was always trying to get into it. And when we passed it she would sometimes sit down at the gate and look at us appealingly.
“Oh, come, Belle,” Matt would say, “there aren’t any more buckles.”
She would put her head on one side and give that little murmuring whine which was meant, I think, to plead with us.
But up to that time she had never wanted to go over the fence.
On this particular day when we lost her and called and called, Matt said: “I wonder if she has got into the house? Someone may have left something open.”
And just at that moment she was squeezing under the gate looking rather shamefaced.
We were astounded. It was the last place we expected her to be in view of her previous reluctance.
She leapt up at Matt, wagging her tail.
“What have you been doing?” he asked. “You’re covered in mud.”
It was the next day when we could not find her at all. We were in the same spot. It was surprising how often we walked that way. I think it was because Belle led us there and we just followed her without thinking very much where we were going.
It might seem that we, like everyone else, were obsessed by Enderby.
On this day we could not find Belle. We called and called but she did not come.
I turned pale suddenly. “You don’t think Jacob Rook has defied my father and set another trap?”
Matt stared at me.
“And Belle caught in it! Oh, no! Once caught never again. She’s intelligent enough to recognise that sort of trap when she sees it. And Jacob wouldn’t set a trap. He’s no need to. He lives in the house now and wouldn’t want a hare or a rabbit for his pot.”
“No. But I have a feeling that Belle might be in there. She has been acting rather strangely lately.”
With Matt’s help I clambered over the gate. He joined me on the other side.
“Belle!” we called. “Belle.”
In the distance I heard the answering bark but she did not come bounding towards us as she would normally have done.
“This way,” said Matt and we penetrated farther into the undergrowth.
“I can’t think why your father doesn’t use this land,” he added.
“He has a great deal to do at the moment. He’ll come round to it.”
Then we came across Belle. She was digging and had made a considerable hole in the ground.
“What are you doing, Belle?” cried Matt.
“We must get her out of here,” I said. “My father gets really angry if anyone comes here.”
“Yes, come on, Belle.”
She paused and looked at us with sorrowing eyes. “What is the matter with you?” asked Matt.
She then picked up a ragged object from the ground and laid it at Matt’s feet.
“What is it?” I asked.
It was very dirty, covered in mud and there was a green lichenlike patch on it.
“It was a shoe at one time, I think,” said Matt.
“Yes … so it was.”
“Another find, Belle!” said Matt. “But you can’t bring this one into the house, I promise you.”
He threw it from him into the bushes. Belle immediately leapt forward and retrieved it.
“You’re a strange collector, Belle,” I said. “Matt, do let’s get out of here. If anyone saw us and reported it to my father he’d be angry. He hates people to come here. He’s made it strictly private.”
“You heard that, Belle,” said Matt. “Come on. Drop that dirty object.”
Belle dropped the shoe immediately.
“Home,” said Matt.
As we came to the gate, Belle, who had lingered behind, caught up with us.
Matt said: “Look what she’s brought.”
It was the old shoe.
Matt took it from her and threw it back into the undergrowth. Belle gave a little protesting whine and then, realising that it was her master’s will that we went, gave in with resignation and we went into Grasslands.
Elizabeth said: “I am going to give a little party. We’ll have charades and a lot of fun. I shall invite your family of course and a few others. I feel it is time I did a little entertaining. You must help me, Damaris.”
I said I would with pleasure but I was not much good at that sort of thing. Parties had never been very enjoyable occasions to me. I had always been too shy, and when there was dancing I had often been one of those who was without a partner. However I had changed lately. It was due to my friendship with Matt. He had made it so clear that he enjoyed my company and we were together a great deal. We were always discovering interests in common. In town, where he looked so much the dandy, I found him a little formidable but here in the country he seemed like a different person. Of course I knew all this was transient. He would go away soon. He was always saying he would have to return to his estates in Dorsetshire and also he had commitments with the army. I was not sure what, and he never seemed to want to talk about them. I was very much in harmony with him. I think it was because I could understand his moods and respected them.
I was brought face to face with the change in myself when Elizabeth’s suggestion of this party excited me instead of filling me with apprehension.
My grandmother was very interested in the proposed charades. She said it took her back to the days when she and Harriet were young.
“Harriet was very clever at that sort of thing,” she told me. “It was due to her being an actress. I expect Elizabeth Pilkington will be too. That’s why she wants to do it I suppose. We always want to do what we do well.”
However, I was at Grasslands frequently and we worked out our charades and went through trunks of clothes which she had had for the theatre.
It was great fun dressing up and trying on the various wigs and things she had brought with her from her acting days.