I sat in the carriage by the window and closed my eyes while I contemplated the pleasure of a reunion with Polly and seeing Eff and the baby again.
The door opened. Fabian was getting into the carriage.
He grinned at me. "I had to go to London unexpectedly. This is fun. We can travel together. Why, you don't look very pleased to see me."
"I hadn't expected to ..."
"Surprises are pleasant, don't you think?"
"Sometimes."
He sat opposite me and folded his arms.
"I am sure your father would be pleased. I believe he is a little anxious about your travelling alone. Young ladies don't usually, do they?"
"I am of the opinion that we are not so fragile as some try to pretend."
"I wonder why?"
"Oh, it is a masculine idea ... meant to show the superiority of men."
"Do you really believe that?"
The train was beginning to move out of the station.
"Believe what?" I asked.
"In masculine superiority."
"Certainly not."
"They are inferior then?"
"I did not say that."
"That is gracious of you."
"No ... just common sense. The sexes are meant to complement one another."
"Doesn't it say that in the Bible? But I believe there are some occasions when the subservient role of the female is expressed. St. Paul ..."
"Oh, St. Paul! Wasn't he one of those who found women a temptation and blamed them for being that?"
"Did he? I think your Biblical knowledge is greater than mine. It all comes of being such a polished young lady."
"Thank you."
"How long shall you be staying in London?"
"A week, I think. I do not like leaving my father longer."
"He was very ill in the winter, I believe. I understand your anxiety. The curate is a very worthy young man, I gather."
"He is very helpful and popular with the parishioners, which is very important."
"It is important for us all to be popular."
"But particularly with someone in his position. For instance, I don't suppose you care very much whether you are popular or not."
"I do ... where some people are concerned." He smiled at me in the quizzical manner with which I was familiar.
He sat back, still smiling. "This is really a pleasant way of travelling. Usually I regret the time spent on it."
"You will be doing a good deal of travelling, I daresay."
"Oh, you mean India, where I shall be going at some time."
"Soon, I suppose."
"Probably at the end of the year. Carruthers will go, too. You see, our families are connected with the East India Company."
"I had heard."
"From Carruthers, I suppose. I know he is a frequent visitor at the rectory."
"He gets on well with my father. They have shared interests."
"We have been brought up with the idea that we shall eventually go into the Company. My uncle ... my father's brother ... has offices in London. I go there now and then ... gleaning experience, you might say."
"It must be interesting."
"The Company ... oh yes. It is part of history, of course. It goes back years and years. As you know, trading with India started when Vasco de Gama discovered the eastern passage and cast anchor off Calicut. But the Portuguese never started a trading company; they left that to us. Did you know that Queen Elizabeth granted us a charter to trade? It was on the very last day of the sixteenth century. So, you see, we have our roots in the past and it is obligatory in the family to carry on."
"You must be very proud of your ancestors."
"We do have our share of sinners."
"All families have that."
"Some more than most. Now I imagine yours is very worthy ... just the occasional peccadillo perhaps."
"It might be better not to enquire."
"I am sure you are right, but with a family like ours it all seems to be recorded. We know that an ancestor was one of those who founded the Company and we know something of the lives of those who followed him. People are unexpected, don't you agree? Those who appear so virtuous often have their secrets and the villains often a grain of goodness."
I said, "Tell me about the merchandise. What commodities do you deal in?"
"We send out bullion, woollens, hardware and such things to India and we bring back silks, diamonds, tea, porcelain, pepper, calico, drugs and so on."
"I see. You are traders."
"Exactly. But we have become very powerful. You see, we were not content with trading. We wanted to rule, and we have taken part in quarrels between Indian princes, supporting one against another. We have gained power, and some would say that the East India Company is the true ruler of India."
"Do the Indians resent this?"
"Naturally, some of them do. Others see the advantages we have brought them. The French had an East India Company, too. That is the reason for the trouble between our two countries."
"It seems to me that this ambition for power causes a great deal of trouble."
He nodded. "You see why, do you not, that it is a family tradition."
"Yes, I do," I said, "with a family like yours."
"Well, enough of the Company and my family. What of you? What do you propose to do now you are home?"
"Do? What could I do?"
"You tell me."
"At the moment I am helping to run the rectory and look after my father. There are a great many duties that fall to the rector's family. I suppose that is what I shall continue to do."
"You have no plan ... no ambition? To travel perhaps? You have already been to France ... and Lindenstein."
I replied hurriedly, "I suppose one waits to see what happens."
"Some of us are impatient and prod fate. Are you one of those?"
"That is something I have to find out. Up to now I have never done any prodding. Have you?"
He leaned towards me. "I am continually doing it. If I want something I make an effort to get it."
"It is all that ambition and lust for power. It is because you belong to the Framlings and the East India Company."
"Not entirely. It is my pushing nature."
I laughed and he said, "How different you are when you laugh. Did you know that you look a little severe in repose?"
"I did not know I was particularly so."
"Perhaps it is only when you see me."
"I can't think why you should induce solemnity."
"Perhaps because you disapprove of me?"
"Why should I?"
"I can think of a few reasons."
"Then I don't know them."
"Don't look expectant. I am not going to tell you. I should not be so foolish as to increase your disapproval."
"The disapproval is entirely of your imaginings. How could one disapprove of someone one did not know?"
"Perhaps through ill repute."
"I know nothing of that."
"There! Now you are severe again. I feel we are getting to know each other well on this journey."
"Why should being in a train do that which all the years living as neighbours has failed to do?"
"There is something very intimate about trains."
"Is there?"
"Don't you feel it?"
"I suppose we have talked together more than we ever did before."
"There you are, you see. You can't get away from me."
"Nor you from me."
"Oh, but I don't want to."
I laughed. "I think we must be near our destination."
"Five more minutes," he said. "Alas! What a short journey it has seemed. Most enlivening. How fortunate that we had a carriage to ourselves. I will tell you something. It wasn't luck. I had the foresight to tip the guard."
"Why?"
"Obvious reasons. I thought it would be interesting to get to know each other. People would have spoilt our little tete-a-tete."