Miss Pennifield stared suddenly at Melisande, the glass in her hand shaking so that she spilled some of the precious elderberry. "But, my dear, I see now why you'm quiet!"
Melisande blushed faintly. Had she conveyed her pity for these two, with their few possessions and their desperate longing for security? "I . . . I . . ." she began.
Miss Pennifield went on: "What will 'ee be doing . . . when Miss Caroline do marry ? I mean 'twill be a new place for 'ee then.
Oh, my dear, 'twas careless of me. I didn't think. . . . Here we be laughing and drinking elderberry when you ..."
"I will be very well, thank you," said Melisande. "But it is a kindness to think of me."
"I reckon you'll find a nice place," said Miss Pennifield. "There's many as would be glad to have 'ee, I don't doubt a moment. And being with Miss Caroline, well . . . 'tweren't all saffron cake and metheglin, was it?"
"No," said Melisande with a little laugh, "it was not."
"Though mind you, she be better now. Sir Charles is a good and kind gentleman. He wouldn't turn 'ee out before you was ready to go. 'Tis a pity Lady Gover be satisfied. I wonder if Miss Danes-borough is in want of a companion. There's Miss Robinson at Leigh House. Now you'd be very happy there teaching Miss Amanda . . . if Miss Robinson were to leave."
"It is a goodness to find these places for me. Let us drink. This is a delicious."
Miss Pennifield insisted on refilling her glass. Janet was nodding her sympathy. They were embarrassed, both of them, because they had rejoiced in their good fortune which might so easily turn out to be bad fortune for the little Mamazel.
When she said she must go they did not seek to detain her and she was glad to hurry out into the damp warmth of the November afternoon.
She hesitated at the top of the cliff and looked down into the sandy cove bounded on one side by a formation of rocks and on the other by the short stone jetty.
The sea, silent in the misty light, was like a sheet of dull grey silk to-day. Without thinking very much where she was going she started down the cliff side.
There was a narrow footpath, very steep and stony. Now and then she paused to cling to a bush, and wondered why she had chosen this difficult descent. The path came to an abrupt end and was lost among a clump of thick bushes. She slipped, caught a prickly bush and gave a little gasp of pain. Ruefully she examined her hand and looked back the way she had come. She saw the narrow footpath winding upwards and it looked steeper than ever. She decided that she would continue with the downward climb. The tide was out and she would walk along the shore past Plaidy to Milendreath. It was a long way round, but she wished for solitude.
She looked out to sea. The gulls were swooping and drifting. Their cries were mournful and the thought came to her that they were saying goodbye to her.
The visit to the Pennifield cottage had depressed her. Of course she would have to go away. There would be no excuse for her to stay.
She would have to go to another house—as a companion or a governess. It would all be so different. She thought sadly of Sir Charles's coming to the Convent, of the happy time in Paris. But Sir Charles at Trevenning was a different man from the one she had known in that first week of their acquaintance. As they had come nearer and nearer to Trevenning he had seemed more and more remote.
Perhaps she could ask Caroline or Sir Charles what was to happen to her when Caroline married. And standing there on the cliffs she was aware of a surging anger. Why should her destiny always be dictated by others ? Why should she not manage her own affairs ? Yet how could it be otherwise? She had discovered a little of what happened to the people who were alone in the world. She remembered some of the poor whom she had seen in Paris and London; she recalled the man whom she had seen whipped through the streets of Liskeard; and as long as she lived she would never forget the mad woman chained in the cottage.
"What will become of you?" Fermor had challenged. And he had one solution to offer her.
She could hear his voice:
"I will love you all the day, Every night would kiss and play, If with me you'll fondly stray Over the hills and far away ..."
But where was 'Over the hills and far away' ? Whither would he take her if she put her hand in his and allowed him to lead her?
She was afraid . . . afraid of the pride within her, the desire to mould her own destiny. The Misses Pennifield, shaking their heads over her, had pictured her eagerly trying to please new employers, and there was no mistaking their pity. They knew; and she herself was ignorant. She was in that station of life to which they had been called; but she had received some education and perhaps because of that she found it harder to accept her lot. She had seen Lady Gover's.companion, a sad elderly lady whose face had no animation in it, no love of life. Melisande had seen the same dull, deprecating look in the face of the Leighs' governess.
That was the life of virtue. Fermor was offering another life—the life of sin. And now here alone, with no one in sight, she knew that the nuns had been right to fear for her.
As she stood still considering which way to go, a high-pitched voice suddenly said in perfect French: "Mademoiselle, you cannot get down that way."
"Who is that?" she cried in French, looking about her.
"You cannot see me, can you? I am a bandit. You should be very
frightened, Mademoiselle. If I wished, I could kill you and drink your blood for supper."
The voice was that of a child and she said with a laugh: "I wish you would show yourself.''
"You speak French very well, Mademoiselle. No one else here does . . . except me and Leon."
"I should. I was brought up in France. But where are you? And is Leon with you?"
"No, he is not here. If you can find me I will take you to safety."
"But I can't see you."
"Look about you. You cannot expect to see without looking."
"Are you in that clump of bushes?"
"Go and see."
"It is too high up."
There was a slight movement on her right and a boy appeared. He was small and looked about six years old; his bright dark eyes glowed in his olive-skinned face and he wore a wreath of seaweed round his head. He had an air of extreme arrogance.
"You are not a pisky, are you?" asked Melisande.
He said with the utmost dignity: "No. I am Raoul de la Roche, at your service, Mademoiselle."
"I am glad of that. I need your service. I should be glad if you could show me an easy way down."
"/ know a good way down. / discovered it. I will take you if you like."
"That is kind of you."
"Come this way."
It was difficult to believe he could be as young as he looked. He had such an air of seriousness. He noticed her eyes on the seaweed and took it off.
"It was a disguise," he said. "I was hiding in my cave there, and I wore it to frighten people ... if they should come. / did not wish them to come. / have been watching you. You did look scared. Only / can climb up here."
She was amused by his emphasis on the personal pronoun; it conveyed a certain contempt for the rest of the world and a great respect for Monsieur Raoul de la Roche.
"Do you live here?" she asked.
He led the way, answering: "We are staying here for my health, Leon and I. My health is not good, they say. Are you here for your health?"