“Why do you look at me like that?”
Jenny said, “Because I’ve seen you before.”
“Where? When?” He had never seen her before, he was prepared to swear to that.
“All my life. You’re the portrait in the hall-the picture of Richard Alington Forbes.”
He caught his breath and said,
“But that’s my name.”
He saw her colour rise, not as colour, but as a shadow, because they were all black and white in the moonlight. He could only just catch the tremor in her voice when she said,
“Is it?”
“Yes. What’s yours?”
“I’m Jenny Forbes. I’m from Alington House.”
It was the first time she had given her name as Jenny Forbes-the very first time. She had been Jenny Hill all her life, but she wasn’t Jenny Hill any more. She was Jennifer Hill’s daughter, but she was Richard Forbes’ daughter too-Richard Alington Forbes. She was their lawful daughter. She held her head up and looked Richard Forbes in the face and said his name.
Something in that straight look of hers got through. He said in a puzzled voice,
“I don’t understand. I thought the sons were grown up, but the daughters-they’re little girls, aren’t they?”
“Yes. I don’t belong to that family. I’m the daughter of Richard Forbes, the one who was killed at the beginning of the war. They said he wasn’t married to my mother. She was ill. There was an air raid-it was the day my father was killed. Her head was hurt-she didn’t talk. She came down here to Garsty.” She went on looking at him straight. He had never seen such truthful eyes. “Garsty had been her governess. She came to her because that was her home-she hadn’t any other. That’s how she met my father. But no one knew they were married. I only found out last night.”
“What did you find out?”
She had put down her case on the ground. She put out her hands with the little shabby bag in them and said,
“Don’t you believe me? I’m telling you the truth because you’re Richard Forbes. I wouldn’t tell about this to anyone else-I wouldn’t really. But you are different.”
That struck home in a most curious way. He felt it with every nerve of his body. And he felt it because it was true. There was a deep relationship between them-kinship, and something more than kinship. They were two of a kind. That was the difference which she spoke of.
She was speaking again.
“I’ll tell you-because you’re Richard Forbes. I was upstairs in the schoolroom, and Mac came in and his mother.”
“That’s the eldest son?”
“Yes. I was behind the window curtains. The room was dark. I’d been crying because of something that had happened, and I didn’t want to see anyone, or anyone to see me… Where was I?”
He said gravely, “Mac had just come into the schoolroom.”
She nodded.
“Yes. I thought he’d come to see me. I didn’t want to see him, so I stayed quiet. And then Mrs. Forbes came in, and she shut the door and they began to talk. She said, ‘What did you want to say to me, Mac?’ and when he didn’t answer she said, ‘Mac, what is it?’ And he said, ‘All right, you can have it.’ He said he had only known for a week. And then he went on, ‘It’s Jenny.’ And then he said, ‘She’s legitimate. He married Jennifer Hill.’ Mrs. Forbes said, ‘What do you mean?’ And he said, ‘I’m talking about Jenny.’ And she was angry-she was very angry. She said, ‘You’re talking nonsense! There was no marriage!’ And he said, ‘There was a marriage. And I’m not asking you to take my word for it. I’ve seen the certificate at Somerset House.’ ”
“What!”
Now that it was said, Jenny felt better. It was like a calm after the storm. She said,
“They went on talking. There was a letter from my father. Garsty talked about it when she was dying. She said it was in a little chest. She said my father called my mother his wife. She said she didn’t read any more but she kept it for me. Poor Garsty-she loved me so much-she was so good to me. She wasn’t sure about the marriage, and she didn’t like to make sure because she was afraid that I should be taken away from her. That was how it was. You didn’t know Garsty. Nobody who didn’t know her could tell how good she was. She died ten days ago, and I went up to Alington House to look after the little girls. That was how I came to be there in the schoolroom. So I waited till they would all be asleep and came away.”
There was a long, long pause. She stood there waiting. Waiting for him to make up his mind. If he helped her, it wouldn’t end with his giving her a lift to wherever she wanted to go. He was quite sure about that. This wasn’t a light-hearted adventure, it was deadly serious. His brows drew together in a frown.
“Where do you want to go?”
She answered without any hesitation.
“I don’t mind. I want to get away.”
“Have you any money?”
“Oh, yes, I’ve got nearly ten pounds. I thought they’d take me in at a cottage, and I could look for something to do-something with children. I like children.”
He said reluctantly-he was surprised to find how reluctantly,
“Look here, don’t you think you had better go back and do things properly? If you are really Richard Forbes’ daughter, they can’t make any bones about it. They’re bound to acknowledge you, and it will save a lot of talk.”
She shrank back, and then checked herself. She said,
“I can’t do that.”
“Why can’t you?”
Jenny caught her breath.
“I can’t.” The colour rose in her cheeks.
He said a little impatiently,
“It’s the sensible thing to do.”
“I can’t do it. Oh, you don’t understand.”
“I can’t understand if you don’t tell me.”
“It’s because of what he said-Mac. He said-he could marry me. He said it just like that. When his mother said, ‘No-no,’ he laughed, and he said, ‘You don’t suppose I want to marry the girl, do you?’ And he went on to say worse things. He said he would marry me, and they would hold their tongues. If it ever came out it would be just too bad, but there would be nothing to be done about it. They didn’t know, and I didn’t know. Once we were married it didn’t really matter. That’s what Mac said. He said, ‘I shall be the noble cousin who married her when she was the illegitimate poor relation.’ ”
Jenny had said her say. She had said it quietly. If it had come out, as it might have done, in a storm of sobs, it would not have been nearly so convincing. As it was, he was convinced. And something more. He was swept by such an insensate fury against Mac that it took him all he knew to fight it down. He said shortly,
“All right, get in. We’d better be on our way.”
Chapter XII
They drove along without speaking. He had to swallow his anger, and that wasn’t easy. It was in fact quite surprisingly difficult. Surprisingly? Yes, that was it. Why should he have flashed into that sudden state of anger with Mac? He had a hot temper, but it very seldom got away with him like this-not since he had learned to control it. Jenny sat beside him quite quiet. He was glad she didn’t chatter. Instantly, indignantly, the thought came pushing up-she wouldn’t. He stopped being angry in his surprise. What did he know about her to be sure what she would or wouldn’t do? He had a quick answer to that, a factual answer. He did know. He knew her as she had known him. There was kinship between them, and something more than kinship. He drove on in silence, thinking.
Jenny did not say a word. It all seemed quite natural, as things feel in a dream. She had put her case in at the back. It was a comfortable car. She was very lucky to have found a cousin. She felt as if she knew him quite well-as if she had known him always. It was very strange, but in a way there was nothing strange about it. It had just happened.