At the end of this room was another flight of stairs; there was no door leading to them, merely a heavy brocade curtain which Mrs. Polgrey drew aside, and when we had mounted these stairs we were in a gallery, the walls of which were lined with portraits. I gave each of them a quick glance, wondering if Connan TreMellyn were among them; but I could see no one depicted in modern dress, so I presumed his portrait had not yet taken its place among those of his ancestors.
There were several doors leading from the gallery, but we went quickly along it, to one of those at the far end. As we passed through it I saw that we were in a different wing of the house, the servants’ quarters I imagined, because the spaciousness was missing.
” This,” said Mrs. Polgrey, ” will be y<? r’part of the house. You will find a staircase at the end of this corridor which leads to the nurseries. Your room is up there. But first come to my sitting room and we’ll have that tea. I told Daisy to see to it as soon as I heard Joe Tapperty was here. So there shouldn’t be long to wait.”
” I fear it will take some time to learn my way about the house,” I said.
” You’ll know it in next to no time. But when you go out you won’t go the way I brought you up. You’ll use one of the other doors; when you’ve unpacked and rested awhile, I’ll show you.”
” You’re very kind.”
” Well, I do want to make you happy here with us. Miss Alvean needs discipline, I always say. And what can I do about giving in to her, with all I have to do! A nice mess this place would be in if I let Miss Alvean take up my time. No, what she wants is a sensible governess, and ‘twould seem they’m not all that easy to come by. Why, Miss, if you show us that you can look after the child, you’ll be more than welcome here.”
” I gather I have had several predecessors.” She looked a trifle blank and I went on quickly. ” There have been other governesses.”
” Oh yes. Not much good, any of them. Miss Jansen was the best, but it seemed she had habits. You could have knocked me down with a feather.
She quite took me in! ” Mrs. Polgrey looked as though she thought that anyone who could do that must be smart.
“Well, I suppose appearances are deceptive, as they say. Miss Celestine was real upset when it came out.”
” Miss Celestine?”
” The young lady at Widden. Miss Celestine Nansellock. She’s often here. A quiet young lady and she loves the place. If I as much as move a piece of furniture she knows it. That’s why she and Miss Jansen seemed to get on. Both interested in old houses, you see. It was such a pity and such a shock. You’ll meet her sometime. As I say, scarcely a day passes when she’s not here. There’s some of us that think. Oh, my dear life! ‘twould seem as though I’m letting my tongue run away with me, and you longing for that cup of tea. “
She threw open the door of the room and it was like stepping into another world. Gone was the atmosphere of brooding antiquity. This was a room which could not have fitted into any other time than the present, and I realised that it confirmed my impression of Mrs. Polgrey. There were antimacassars on the chair; there was a ” what-not ” in the corner of the room filled with china ornaments including a glass slipper, a gold pig and a cup with ” A present from Weston” inscribed on it. It seemed almost impossible to move in a room so crammed with furniture. Even on the mantel-piece Dresden shepherdesses seemed to jostle with marble angels for a place. There was an ormolu clock which ticked sedately; there were chairs and little tables everywhere, it seemed. It showed Mrs. Polgrey to me as a woman of strong conventions, a woman who would have a great respect for the right thing which would, of course, be the thing she believed in.
Still, I felt something comfortingly normal about this room as I did about the woman.
She looked at the main table and tutted in exasperation; then she went to the bell rope and pulled it. It was only a few minutes later when a black-haired girl with saucy eyes appeared carrying a tray on which was a silver teapot, a spirit lamp, cups and saucers, milk and sugar.
” And about time too,” said Mrs. Polgrey; ” Put it here, Daisy.”
Daisy gave me a look which almost amounted to a wink. I did not wish to offend Mrs. Polgrey so I pretended not to notice.
Then Mrs. Polgrey said: ” This is Daisy, Miss. You can tell her if you find anything is not to your liking.”
” Thank you Mrs. Polgrey, and thank you. Daisy.”
They both looked somewhat startled and Daisy dropped a little curtsy, of which she seemed half ashamed, and went out.
” Nowadays …” murmured Mrs. Polgrey, and lighted the spirit lamp.
I watched her unlock the cabinet and take out the tea canister which she set on the tray.
” Dinner,” she went on, ” is served at eight. Yours will be brought to your room. But I thought you would be needing a little reviver. So when you’ve had this and seen your room, I’ll introduce you to Miss Alvean.”
” What would she be doing at this time of day?”
Mrs. Polgrey frowned. ” She’ll be off somewhere by herself. She goes off by herself. Master don’t like it. That’s why ‘e be anxious for her to have a governess, you see.”
I began to see. I was sure now that Alvean was going to be a difficult child.
Mrs. Polgrey measured the tea into the pot as though it were gold dust, and poured the hot water on it.
” So much depends on whether she takes a fancy to you or not,” went on Mrs. Polgrey. ” She’s unaccountable. There’s some she’ll take to and some she won’t. Her was very fond of Miss Jansen.” Mrs. Polgrey shook her head sadly. ” A pity she had habits.”
She stirred the tea in the pot, put on the tea cosy and asked me: ” Cream? Sugar?”
” Yes, please,” I said.
” I always do say,” she remarked, as though she thought I needed some consolation, ” there ain’t nothing like a good cup of tea.”
We ate tea biscuits with the tea, and these Mrs. Polgrey took from a tin which she kept in her cabinet. I gathered, as we sat together, that Connan TreMellyn, the Master, was away.
” He has an estate farther west,” Mrs. Polgrey told me. ” Penzance way.” Her dialect was more noticeable when she was relaxed as she was now. ” He do go to it now and then to see to it like. Left him by his wife, it were. Now she was one of the Pendletons. They’m from Penzance way.”
” When does he return?” I asked.
She looked faintly shocked, and I knew that I had offended because she said in a somewhat haughty way: ” He will come back in his own time.”
I saw that if I was going to keep in her good books, I must n be strictly conventional; and presumably it was not good form for a governess to ask questions about the master of the house. It was all very well for Mrs. Polgrey to speak of him; she was a privileged person. I could see that I must hastily adjust myself to my own position.
Very soon after that she took me up to my room. It was large with big windows equipped with window seats from , which there was a good view of the front lawn, the palm trees and the approach. My bed was a fourposter and seemed in keeping with the rest of the furniture; and although it was a big bed it looked dwarfed in a room of this size.
There were rugs on the floor, the boards of which were so highly polished that the rugs looked somewhat dangerous. I could see that I might have little cause to bless Mrs. Polgrey’s love of polishing everything within sight. There was a tallboy and a chest of drawers; and I noticed that there was a door in addition to the one by which I had entered.
Mrs. Polgrey followed my gaze. ” The schoolroom,” she said.
“And beyond that is. Miss Alvean’s room.”
” I see. So the schoolroom separates us.”
Mrs. Polgrey nodded.
Looking round the room I saw that there was a screen in one corner and as I approached this I noticed that it shielded a hip bath.