I was trying to shake off these thoughts as I came through the solarium, and as I did so I had the eerie feeling that I was not after all alone in the house. How is it that one is aware of a presence? An unexpected movement? A footstep? The creaking of a door? Was it being stealthily opened?
These thoughts crowded into my mind as I went to the peep in the alcove and looked down on the hall.
It looked the same as usual. There was the long table at which Oliver Cromwell’s soldiers had sat when they came searching for the King; the weapons on the wall which had been used by Cadorsons long since dead; the family tree spreading out on the wall … everything that I had seen many times and grown up with.
And yet there was that uncanny feeling that someone was there. Then I saw him. From beyond the screens he came stealthily, looking about him with a kind of wonder: Digory.
What was he doing in the house?
I watched him for some time. He examined the family tree; then he came to the wall and very reverently touched the weapons; he turned to the table and picking up one of the pewter goblets, examined it closely, put it down and stood for a moment staring rapturously at the vaulted roof. Then he began to tiptoe cautiously up the stairs.
I was at the top of the staircase when he reached it.
“Hello, Digory,” I said.
He stared at me silently, a look of blank dismay on his face. Then he spluttered indignantly, “Why don’t ’ee be at the Fair?”
“Because,” I said, “I remained at home. I had no idea, of course, that you intended to pay a visit.”
He turned and was about to dash down the stairs but I caught his arm.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “You looked as though you liked the place.”
“I weren’t doing no wrong.”
“I didn’t say you were. Why aren’t you at the Fair?”
He looked contemptuous.
“You preferred to come to Cador,” I said. “You do like it, don’t you?”
“It ain’t bad at all.”
“I remember in the woods you used to ask me about it. You wanted to know all the details.”
I saw the shadow cross his face and I reproached myself. He would probably be remembering that in those days he had a granny and a home.
I said gently: “I’m glad you like this house, Digory. I’m glad you came in. I’m going to take you round and show you everything.”
He looked at me suspiciously.
“It’s all right,” I assured him. “You know I’m your friend … Jacco too.”
He relaxed a little.
I said: “Do you like working in the stables?”
He shrugged his shoulders.
I remembered a bird I had once seen. Jacco had found it when it fell from its nest. We fed it. I kept it in a cage. It seemed content for a while; then it started to flap its wings against the bars. I opened the door and set it free. Digory was like a caged bird. He was well fed, he was safe, but he was not free.
“I’m going to show you the house,” I said.
He tried not to look excited but he could not hide his feelings from me.
“Come on,” I said. “We’ll begin at the bottom and go right to the top.”
“All right,” he said.
“There’s a dungeon down there. Would you like to see it?”
We came through the kitchens and descended a short spiral staircase.
“It’s very cold down here. Mrs. Penlock uses it as a place to store things. That’s very different from the old days.”
We made our way past shelves upon which stood jars and bottles, and we came through a narrow passage to the dungeon with its iron gate.
“You can look in,” I said.
“There’s nobody in there,” said Digory as though disappointed.
“Of course not. People don’t put their enemies in dungeons nowadays.”
“Some might,” he retorted grimly; and again I saw the memory of that night in his eyes.
“Not now,” I insisted firmly and I thought: I was wrong to bring him down here.
“Let’s go up,” I said. “It’s cold down here.”
So we went through the kitchens, past the ovens which had done service for hundreds of years, past the roasting spits and the great coppers, through the buttery to the laundry rooms. Then up to the great hall.
I talked to him about the wars which had beset the country and told him what part my family had played in them. I took him to the dining room and explained what the tapestries on the walls were depicting. He listened in rapt attention, which surprised me. I talked of the Wars of the Roses and the Great Rebellion, that conflict between Cavalier and Roundhead which had rent the country. I felt like Miss Caster giving a history lesson, but he was interested; he wanted to know.
I showed him the solarium and peeps, which fascinated him; he stood, for a long time, looking down into the hall and then the chapel. I took him to the turrets and we went out and walked along the battlements. I would not have believed that a house could have made such an impression on him. But then it was a wonderful house; it had been kept in good order over the centuries; it had been loved and cherished; and although it had been restored from time to time, there had been great care not to destroy the antiquity. That now seemed all around us. Perhaps it was due to the fact that we were alone in it, but as I talked to him I had the feeling that we were two young people walking back through the centuries.
He had had no schooling; I suppose he had never heard of the events to which I referred before, but he was fascinated by them; and now and then would ask a pertinent question.
We stood for a while looking out to sea.
“Just imagine, Digory,” I said, “from out there Cador would have looked just the same five hundred years ago. Isn’t that wonderful?”
“How do you know?” he demanded. “You wasn’t here.”
“No. But it hasn’t changed so it must have been the same.”
He looked steadily at me and said: “You’ve got the Devil’s kiss on your forrid.”
I put up my hand. His was there before mine. He touched the side of my temple just beside my left eye. I knew what he meant; it was a little mole. My father called it my beauty spot.
I had never thought very much about it.
“What do you mean—the Devil’s kiss?” I asked.
“They do say that’s how it be when the Devil kisses ’ee.”
“What nonsense. I have never even met the gentleman—let alone been kissed by him.”
“He do come in the night when you be sleeping.”
“What a horrible thought! It’s a mole. My father likes it. He says it’s attractive. Who says it is anything to do with the Devil?”
“Them,” he said; and again there was that look of hideous memory in his eyes. “Them says as how it’s the Devil as does it.”
“I’m not afraid of them.”
Again I had spoken rashly. He had been afraid of them; and so should I have been in his place on that terrible night.
I felt very sorry for him. I put a hand on his shoulder. “Listen, Digory,” I said. “We’ve got to forget all about that. It’s over. It was cruel. It was horrible. But it’s done and nothing can be done to change it.”
He was silent, staring ahead, seeing it all, I knew; and I was seeing it with him. I could almost smell the burning thatch.
“We’ve got to go on from there, Digory,” I said. “You’ve got to get used to the stables. You’re fond of the horses and it’s good to work with what you love. Ferry is kind to you, isn’t he? My father insists that he should be. It’s a better way of life … to be part of a household like this … better than running round stealing fish. You could get caught.”