‘You don’t really intend to put a spoke in Garnet’s wheel? But why? He is, after all, your son.’
‘I can’t forgive Blue for marrying Parsifal, who is worthless,’ said Maria, changing the subject slightly.
‘Oh, I don’t think that’s true, Maria. He can’t help being poor.’
‘He is a weakling and a failure. She could have done much better.’
‘I begin to see you as madre’s daughter.’
‘Oh, well, perhaps I do understand mother’s point of view about my marriage. Also, I can’t forgive Blue for adopting Gamaliel. It was her idea, you know. Parsifal had nothing to do with it. I ought to have had proper grandchildren, and obviously there’s no chance of that now. But what about you and Ruby? What do you mean?’
‘If you have indeed queered everybody’s pitch, as you claim, except for myself and Ruby, Ruby’s wishes will have been fulfilled. She is not really after madre’s money as such. What she wants is to complete her music studies and be given her chance.’
‘As a singer?’
‘Of course.’
‘I want to talk to you, Fiona,’ said Romula, coming downstairs at eleven.
‘I thought you wanted these letters to catch the post. They need your signature.’
‘Oh, there’s time for all that.’
‘Very well, although perhaps I ought to remind you that there is only one postal collection each day from the village.’
‘Oh, if that is all, you can drive into Truro this afternoon and post the letters there. An outing will do you good and you could do a little shopping. Perhaps I will come with you and Lunn can drive the car. He has far too much time on his hands. In fact, I am thinking of dispensing with Mattie and getting him to look after the horses as well as the car.’
‘That won’t suit either of them.’
‘Why not? She can still live in his cottage. I should make no objection to that. But I don’t want to talk about the Lunns. Have you spoken to Maria this morning?’
‘Yes, of course. I always do.’
‘You are misunderstanding me wilfully. Don’t be impertinent. What did she have to say?’
‘Are you deliberately driving her out of this house?’
‘Is that what she said?’
‘Not in so many words. It amounted to that, I thought.’
‘Is she really going?’
‘Such appeared to be her intention when she left me.’
‘I am not driving her away. She is in a mood. I think she is angry because I did not disclose the contents of my Will last night. Why should I?’
‘Well, when you began to speak, I think we all expected to hear something about it. I must say that you gave me to understand as much when you told me to issue the invitations. We all concluded that that was the reason for calling us all together.’
‘Yes, well, I had some such intention in mind, but, over dinner, I abandoned it.’
‘With Gamaliel in mind, one assumes.’
‘You have no right to assume anything of the kind, Fiona. Where did you sleep last night?’
‘Oh, so that is what you wanted to see me about, and not Maria’s doings at all.’
‘I should like an answer to my question.’
‘It is an impertinent one and I do not feel disposed to answer it. However, if you want to know, I slept in my own room, as usual.’
‘With whom?’
‘I had very little choice so I slept with Rupert. I think you knew I would when you agreed to his spending the night here.’
‘He will get a divorce, I suppose.’
‘What about his children? Divorce would come hardest on them and neither he nor I would want to cause them distress. Children, for all their nuisance value, are helpless and should be shown mercy.’
‘Those particular children would be better away from their parents, it seems to me—from both parents.’
‘Oh, you know about Diana and Garnet, as well as about Rupert and me, do you? Can none of us keep our indiscretions a secret?’
‘I did not know, but I know now. Fiona, you had better leave my house. What Diana and Garnet get up to is their business, but I will not condone your goings-on and under my roof.’
Chapter 4
Campions and Seawards
« ^ »
‘But we can’t have both of them,’ said Parsifal, his long-lipped camel-face lengthening lugubriously. ‘Will they pay us anything?’
‘If they don’t, we truthfully plead poverty and say they simply must.’
‘Are you prepared to tell them that?’
‘Perfectly. Why not? It is not our place to support them, even if we could afford to do so.’
‘We had better find out what Garnet thinks about it all. This house is his.’
‘Like me, he can hardly refuse point-blank to have our mother here. Fiona is a different matter entirely. I think we must tell her she will have to share mother’s room. That should put her off.’
‘Could we suggest she goes to stay at Campions for a bit?’
‘Diana wouldn’t like that. She wouldn’t agree.’
‘She doesn’t know anything about Fiona and Rupert.’
‘Don’t be too sure about that.’
‘You surely don’t think she does know!’
‘She not only knows; she condones it because of herself and Garnet. Rupert’s misdeeds are a cloak for her own and, of course, a welcome one.’
‘There ought to be a divorce, then Rupert and Fiona could marry and so could Diana and Garnet. A divorce would settle everything.’
‘Except the fate of Rupert and Diana’s children.’
‘Each party could take one of them.’
‘There speaks a childless man! Besides, what would Gamaliel do without his foster-son?’
‘His what?’
‘Oh, have you not fathomed the relationship between Garnet and Gamaliel? Gamaliel has adopted my twin brother. I am thankful it is nothing worse than that.’
‘Even supposing a divorce did take place, I am sure that Diana would never tolerate Gamaliel as a member of her household.’
‘Isn’t that what I’m saying? Anyhow, although the sighting-shots regarding mother and Fiona have been fired, nothing is settled yet. There is another thing, Parsifal. If we have my mother and Fiona here, we can say goodbye to anything grandmother may have decided to leave us in her Will.’
‘That Will is a will o’ the wisp. We have discussed it so often that I have abandoned all belief in it. I thought we were to hear something at the dinner party, but, beyond vague hints and what I took to be undertones of warnings, nothing tangible emerged.’
‘I think grandmother likes playing cat and mouse with our hopes. Wealthy people can be very cruel.’
‘All power leads to cruelty and the power of wealth is very great. Do you think she took a fancy to Gamaliel? Not that I would wish our future to depend on him.’
‘Oh, it will not. Gamaliel is well-meaning and amiable, but he is also the complete egoist. If our interests clashed with his, ours would go to the wall. Besides, why should he benefit us? We adopted him for our own reasons, not for his.’
‘That is the reason people have children, their own or by adoption. The child has no choice in the matter, and Gamaliel had none.’
‘Suppose grandmother wanted to take him to live in her house?’
‘Then he would be old enough to have a choice, and rightly so. We could hardly stand in his way.’
‘So long as we are agreed upon that.’
‘But if he should find favour and should decide to benefit us, you would not refuse his bounty, would you?’
‘Anything she leaves him will be held in trust for him, I expect. She would see to it that he could not touch it until he comes of age. By that time he would be off our hands and would (rightly) have no further use for us.’
‘That is in two years’ time, but she is not dead yet. I don’t think we need count any chickens.’