Her grandson rose and rang it.
“You can take the ham, Hollander,” she said to the middle-aged manservant who answered it. “Your breakfast is late this morning.”
“We have not eaten or drunk to-day, ma’am,” said Hollander, in a tone without expression, as none was needed.
“I said your breakfast was late. You need not repeat it in another form. When a staircase is being repaired you would expect to meet a difference.”
“It was by dint of an effort that your breakfast was served as usual, ma’am. The matter was urgent as danger might have supervened.”
“I heard it had done so.”
“Yes, in the large house, ma’am. A housemaid fell on the broken wood and might have sustained injury if she had not saved herself,” said Hollander, his tone recognising her indebtedness to no one else. “As it is the doctor has been called.”
“And has come and gone and will come again?”
“Well, ma’am, he is in charge of the case.”
“It is not good news. It is most tiresome for Lady Heriot.”
“Her vigour may not return in a moment, ma’am,” said Hollander, making no change of protagonist. “Owing to its already being used to its limit.”
“I might go across and sympathise with Lady Heriot,” said Jocasta to her family. “We never seem to know them any better.”
“There is no question of return to duty, ma’am,” said Hollander, more insistently, as if his meaning had not been clear.
“Well, you can take the ham. Some of the fat may have to be cut away.”
“Yes, ma’am, to put the edible portion at disposal,” said Hollander, standing with his eyes on it.
“I suppose the carpenter has a meal before he goes?”
“It would be assumed, ma’am. If the saying is true, and appearances are deceitful,” said Hollander, leaving them with a faint smile on his lips.
“Amy, are you still asleep?” said Jocasta, making no response in kind. “The trap will soon be here. I want to know if Miss Murdoch will be in this afternoon. I may be able to call. I have some questions to ask.”
“Oh, she will not, Grannie,” said Amy, no longer asleep. “She is very busy just now. There is a good deal to be done.”
“She will be free for tea. I will go at that time. Remember to take the message.”
“But I never see her, Grannie. She has her tea taken to her room. She is arranging things with the new headmistress and has no time.”
“New headmistress? Is Miss Murdoch giving up?”
“No, but she is taking a partner. And they are planning things together. There is to be a good deal of change.”
“Oh, I remember the letter now. It seems that a partner is needed. I hope she will serve her purpose. Do you know her name?”
“Oh, it is the name of the people whose housemaid had the accident.”
“Heriot? It would hardly be that. It is not a usual name.”
“It is the one in question, ma’am,” said Hollander, now moving round the table. “The eldest Miss Heriot has gone into a school as a partner. The carpenter heard when he went to mend the stair.”
“What can be the reason of it? I wonder Sir Robert either allowed it or afforded it. Are you going to do nothing this morning, Osbert?”
“Yes, I am, Grannie. The office is closed to-day.”
“Is there nothing in the world but lawyer’s work?”
“Not much, as it is coming to seem to me.”
“Are you also doing nothing, Erica?”
“Well, what do I generally do?”
“You are too much your father’s children. He made no effort and has left no mark. You should take warning by him.”
“It seems disrespectful to take warning by a parent.”
“Respect has to be earned,” said Jocasta, resting her eyes without expression on her other son. “Will you be in for luncheon, Hamilton?”
“Not in person, Mamma. In thought I shall be with you. And with my mind’s eye see you at the table with your young group about you. And so enjoy a phantom companionship.”
This group, when it gathered, would have been glad for companionship to be of this nature. Jocasta was in the state of nervous strain that occurred in her at intervals without warning or apparent cause.
“No words, if you please!” she said as she came to her seat. “We can eat and drink without them. I have seen it many times.”
“So our companionship will be phantom,” murmured Erica.
“Let it be,” said Jocasta, lifting her hand as if to ward off some hostile force. “Let there be no sign or sound.”
This condition prevailed and did its work, and later in the day Jocasta left her house and crossed the road to the larger one. Returning, swift and upright, satisfied with herself, she found the world had changed.
“So, Osbert, you have touched the height of humour.”
“The words are yours, Grannie. I hardly like to agree.”
Whether Osbert agreed or not, someone else did, as Amy’s mirth testified.
“Where did you get that skirt? It must have been from my wardrobe.”
“Well, yes, that is where it was. Where would a skirt be?”
“That is one of my widow’s caps. You must have opened a drawer.”
“Well, yes, it is what I do with drawers.”
“It ought not to be. There might be something you should not see. People are entitled to their private lives.”
“I should have thought they were the last things they were entitled to. I could not think of your having one.”
“Is this behaviour typical of your personal life?”
“No, it is an isolated instance.”
“I wonder if that is the truth.”
“Grannie, do you doubt my word?”
“Well, this surreptitious folly is not so straightforward, is it?”
“Oh, Grannie, have I been dishonourable? The thing I thought I could not be, even in jest.”
“Jests can reveal people as much as anything else.”
“So they can. Think how mine has revealed me. And how other people’s might reveal them. Or rather, keep your thoughts away from it.”
“I hope you did not crush the cap?”
“No, no, I treated it with great respect.”
“What have you to do this evening, Amy?”
“Oh, I have just to write an essay.”
“Just!” said Osbert. “Suppose we all had to write one! Perhaps we can all write this one.”
“What is the subject matter?” said Erica.
“Oh, how to spend a day of leisure,” said Amy, consulting a notebook.
“How to prevent its being one is what is meant.”
Amy did not acknowledge the assistance but gathered her materials and moved away.
“How much have you written?” said Jocasta, after a while. “Come and show me.”
Amy sat up and put her hand over the page, her eyes dilating.
“Oh, it is nothing, Grannie. You would see it was. There is nothing there.”
“It is enough,” said Jocasta. “There can be great silences.”
Chapter IV
“Here is a mild surprise for you,” said Eliza. “Old Mrs. Grimstone has called. Ostensibly to sympathise about the accident. Really to get a step further with our family. She wants you as friends for her grand-children. And it may do you no harm to know them better.”
“Have we to know her better too?” said Angus. “That would do us harm.”
“I know what you mean. One does not forget her presence. And there is the usual coincidence. Her grandchild goes to Hermia’s school, and she was struck by the name and asked me about it. Hermia’s scheme is going beyond itself. It was inherent in it.”
“That need do no one harm,” said Madeline. “It may even be good for the school. There is no point in keeping it obscure.”
“I am not so sure. It can’t be too obscure for me. I wish it would fade away. It will always be raising its head. I have just had it thrust in my face. We have done the thing in the best way. But it remains what it is.”