‘You have made Grandma laugh, Mrs Cranmer,’ said Luce, in the tone of one pushing up with an assurance.
‘That shows I have forgotten myself, for I was really out of spirits. I see why the jesters of old were such sad people. If their profession was cheering people who needed it, it would have been unfeeling not to be. They couldn’t have had enough sadness in their own lives to account for their reputation.’
‘Comic actors and writers and all such people are said to be melancholy,’ said Luce. ‘And they do not come in contact with the people they cheer.’
‘Well, it may just be the contrast of their professional liveliness with their normal human discontent. We might say that wrestlers and acrobats are lazy, because they sit on chairs at home. People do give their spare time to complaining. Well, I saw you and your brothers driving with your father to the station, and I said to myself. There are those dear children facing the hardest moments, and here am I, just running the house, that is, giving spare time to complaining. So I have come here to be rejected and unwelcome, because that will give me a hard moment, and I really cannot go on any longer without one.’
‘Mother is laughing now,’ announced Luce. ‘And I did not think that would be contrived today.’
‘I have been a sad, sour woman for a good many hours,’ said Eleanor.
‘Well, you have not been yourself,’ said Hope. ‘So that shows how different you really are.’
‘There is not much in my life that I can look back on with pride.’
‘What an odd thing to think of doing! I thought people looked back with remorse, and thought of the might-have-beens, and how it was always too late. I should never dare to do it at all.’
‘I have had such sad, little faces round me today, and I have not done much to brighten them.’
‘I am quite above minding the number today, my dear.’
‘They will all be six months older before their father sees them again.’
‘Yes, they will, but does that matter? It is not like being ill or an anxiety.’
‘Nevill will be three and a half,’ said Luce, in the same regretful tone.
‘Will that be a disadvantage to him? Is there something about age that I don’t understand?’
‘Their childhood is slipping away,’ explained Luce.
‘Yes, but it won’t do that any more quickly because Fulbert is gone. I expect every day will drag. And doesn’t time always stand still in childhood? I thought it was always those long, summer days.’
‘It has been a chill enough day today,’ said Eleanor.
‘So I have come to bring it a little ordinary warmth. I know it is ordinary; I am not making any claim. I enjoy having a talk with women, and I know you will like to give pleasure to another in your own dark hours, because that would be one of your characteristics. I will begin by saying that Faith is so forbearing that it is impossible to live with her.’
‘You go on managing it,’ said Regan.
‘Another laugh, Mrs Cranmer!’ said Luce.
‘I do it by being always in the wrong. And though that is not much to do for Paul, it is the little, daily sacrifices that count. They are so much more than the one great one.’
‘I wonder if people would recognize that one, if they saw it,’ said Eleanor.
‘There, see how much good I am doing you! It is a healthy sign to see the inconsistencies in others. It seems fortunate that it is almost universal.’
‘Does Ridley make any sacrifices?’ said Regan.
‘Well, he may be waiting for the one great one.’
‘I hope we are not putting too much on him,’ said Eleanor.
‘I don’t think you could have thought I meant that, dear,’ said Hope.
Regan went into laughter and Eleanor looked puzzled for a moment.
‘Fulbert may come back to do his own work,’ said Regan, with a return of grimness.
‘And Ridley will go on waiting,’ said Hope. ‘And I like my stepchildren to be frustrated. I can say it today, because it is to do you good.’
‘Do you know, Mrs Cranmer, it does have that effect?’ said Luce, bringing her brows together.
‘Where is Sir Jesse?’ said Hope. ‘I keep being afraid he will come in.’
‘He is with the boys in the library,’ said Eleanor.
‘I always say people prefer their own sex. It is such a tribute to everyone, when they understand it so well. It means they don’t even mind being understood. I am glad Faith is not here, to look as if I were really saying something uncharitable.’
‘Faith is here, Mrs Cranmer,’ said Luce, in a just audible tone, glancing out of the window and trying to suppress a smile.
‘I suppose she would be by now. So she has come to put me at a disadvantage.’
‘I hardly think that is fair.’
‘No, dear, but I am here to do you good. Being fair would achieve nothing, and being put at a disadvantage may. We will wait for Faith to do her part. If it is for your sakes, I mind nothing.’
Faith looked with gentle inquiry from face to face.
‘I am afraid it is the last of all days to call.’
‘I don’t think you can be, dear,’ said Hope.
‘I feel I must be an unwelcome visitor.’
‘I don’t think you can feel that either.’
Faith brought her eyes to rest on her stepmother.
‘You see it is happening,’ said Hope, fidgeting. ‘But I am only too glad to be of use.’
Faith’s expression became one of inquiry.
‘You must have some errand that you have not said,’ said Hope.
‘I did not like the idea of your walking home by yourself, Mother.’
‘But when we walk together, we can’t keep in step.’
‘I will try and take shorter steps.’
‘And if I do the opposite, we shall meet each other. It is quite a little parable for our daily life.’
‘I am afraid I am rather tall,’ said Faith, looking round with a deprecating smile. ‘But I do not think it at all fair for the shorter person to adapt herself. It is for the taller one to do that.’
‘It must be nice to give out of abundance,’ said Hope.
‘Or bearable anyhow,’ said Regan.
Luce exchanged a glance with Faith, in smiling reference to the attitude of the older women.
‘How are the children?’ said Faith, turning to Eleanor.
‘They have had a sad day, I am afraid.’
‘Perhaps I may go and see them.’
‘Well, it would be very kind.’
‘Do let us go from floor to floor,’ said Hope, incurring a glance from Faith, who had wished to go alone with Eleanor. ‘I should not feel I had been here, if I had not done that. And it would be a pity not to take advantage of my unembittered mood. I must always have seen the children with a jaundiced eye.’
‘I must just look in on my husband,’ said Regan, as they crossed the hall.
‘I see I have no conception of a true union.’
Sir Jesse was engaged on some game of his youth with his eldest grandson, while the second looked on. He had lost his skill with years, and Daniel was being hard pressed to give him play, and at the same time cover his lapses. Graham was pale with the effort of following and supporting the contest.
‘Youth and Age,’ said Faith, looking round with a smile. ‘It makes me wish I were a painter.’
‘That was a picture in words,’ said Luce.
‘Not a very elaborate one, I am afraid,’ said Faith, looking down as she turned to the stairs.
‘We see the older children first,’ said Hope. ‘The higher we go, the younger they get. It seems odd that the smaller ones should have to climb further. We read about little, sturdy legs toiling up the stairs, but why does it have to be like that?’