I laughed and he laughed with me.
"There is a soufflé. You must eat up every scrap, otherwise there will be rebellion in the kitchens."
"Dare anyone rebel against you?"
"No," he answered. "It would be a private rebellion. In any case they know I should never be guilty of such a heinous offence as to reject their excellent handiwork. It is you who will receive their condemnation."
"Then I will do my best to avoid it."
"I am sure you would always do your best."
The soufflé was indeed delicious and I had to admit that I had had an excellent meal-very different from the plain, though very good, fare we had at the Abbey.
He talked about the school, the history of the Abbey and how it came into his family soon after the Dissolution.
"My ancestor had performed some service to the King ... somewhere abroad I believe, and for services rendered was allowed to buy the Abbey lands-and what remained of the Abbey itself- for a pittance. I think it was two hundred pounds .. . although perhaps that was not such a pittance in those days. He built the Hall and set himself up as a nobleman. He prospered, but people in the surrounding country never took kindly to the family. They looked upon us as usurpers. The Abbey had always done so much for the poor. There was always a meal for wanderers and a place to sleep. When the abbeys went, the roads were full of beggars, and robbery increased. So you see, the Verringers were a poor exchange for the monks."
"I wonder they didn't try to surpass them."
"You mean judging from the actions of this scion of the old race. Well, they were so busy setting themselves up as lords of the neighbourhood, and that didn't necessarily involve becoming its benefactors. There are some rogues among us. I must show you the portrait galleries. Our villainies are written on our faces and I think take precedence over the virtues. But you shall see and judge for yourself."
We had finished the soufflé and I said: "I think perhaps I should make sure that Teresa is all right."
"And mortally offend Mrs. Keel! She is zealously guarding the girl. If you went up now she would suspect you didn't trust her. Come into the court-yard. It is quite pleasant out there when it gets dark and the candies are lighted. They are in niches cut into the stone. We don't get many nights when we can sit in the courtyard, so we do like to make the most of them."
I had risen and he was beside me. He took the crook of my elbow in his hand and led me through the door.
There was a white table in the courtyard and two chairs beside it on which cushions had been placed.
The air was still and silent and I felt an excitement grip me. I thought about school. Supper would be over and the girls would soon be settled for the night. I should be on my rounds if I were there and wondering whether Charlotte or Eugenie would make some difficulty.
"We will have coffee if you would like it and perhaps a Little port ..."
"Coffee please, no more wine."
"There must be something you would like. Brandy?"
"Coffee will be enough for me, thanks."
We sat down and the drinks were brought out.
"Now," he said, "we shall not be disturbed."
"I was unaware of being disturbed before."
"We live surrounded by servants," he said. "One is inclined to forget that they are a race of detectives.
One should be wary of them."
"If one has something to hide perhaps?"
"Who has not something to hide? Even excellent young ladies from Schaffenbrucken may have their secrets."
I was silent and he poured out wine for himself. "I wish you would try a little," he said. "It is ..." "Vintage port, I am sure."
"We are proud of our cellars, my butler and I." "And I am sure you have much in them of which to be proud."
"And we like others to share in our treasures. Come, just a little."
I smiled and he half filled my glass.
"Now we can both drink to each other."
"We have done that already."
"We can't have too much good fortune. To us, Miss Grant ... Cordelia. You are looking aloof. Do you not care for me to use your Christian name?"
"I think it is rather ... unnecessary."
"I think it is a most suitable name. You are Cordelia from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. I could not imagine you as anything but Cordelia and even without your permission I am going to use it. Do you not find the air of Devon delightful?"
Yes."
"I am always glad that our Abbey was a Devon one. It might have been in the bleak, bleak north. They have some fine ones up there. Fountains, Rievaulx ... and others."
"I have heard of them."
"I don't think any of them surpasses ours ... or even equals it. But perhaps that is what is called pride of possession. We are a ruin, are we not ... as they are, but we are also young ladies' Academy. Who can compare with that?"
"It seems a strange place for a school."
"In the midst of all that antiquity. What better place for young people to learn about the past?"
"That is what Miss Hetherington always says."
"She is a fine woman. I admire her. I am glad she has her school here. It is so convenient for my wards, and without it I should not be sitting here enjoying one of the most delightful evenings of my life."
I laughed lightly. "You are a master of hyperbole." He leaned forward and said earnestly: "I mean it."
"Then," I retorted, "you cannot have had a very exciting life."
He paused for a while. Then he said; "The darkness is beginning to descend. We won't light the candies yet. Look. The stars are beginning to come out. Why do people say the stars are coming out, when they are there all the time?"
"Because they only accept what they see."
"Not discerning like you, Cordelia. You and I do not have to have everything made blatantly obvious, do we?"
"To what are you referring?"
"To life," he said. "You will not judge me from what you are told by others, will you?"
"It is not for me to judge."
"Perhaps I put that wrongly. You will not assess my character from the gossip you may hear." "I will repeat that it is not for me to judge."
"But you do ... without thinking you are. You hear something about a person and if it is not contradicted, you believe that against him or her." "What are you telling me?"
"That I know there is a great deal of scandal circulating about me. I don't want you to believe it all. At least I want you to understand how it came about."
"Why should it affect me?"
"Because after tonight you are going to be my friend, are you not?"
"Friendship is not put on like a hat or coat. It develops ... it grows ... It is something that has to be proved."
"It will develop," he said. "It will be proved." I was silent for a while.
"I daresay," he went on, "I have done a good many things during my life of which you would not approve. I would like you to understand a little about my family. Do you know we are said to have descended from the Devil?"
I laughed.
"Ah," he went on. "You think that is very likely, don't you?"
"On the contrary. I think it is very unlikely." "Satan takes on many forms. He doesn't have to be a spirit you know, with cloven feet."
"Tell me how the Devil became one of your ancestors."
"Very well. It was the third generation of Verringers. The old Queen had died and Scottish James was on the ,throne. Do you know it has been the curse of our family that we cannot get male heirs? I know it is a bit of an obsession with many families who can't. But it was our particular problem, and in those days when a family was new to the nobility it had to be built up on a firm foundation. You see, even now I have no son to follow me; and my brother had two daughters. They like the direct fine and the family name to be there because it belongs and not because one of the daughters has obliged her husband to take it. Well, this particular Verringer of Colby Hall could only get a daughter and she was the plainest creature ever to be seen in Devonshire ... so plain that, in spite of her fortune, no husband could be found for her. Now she must get a child, and to do that she must marry and the husband must keep the sacred name of Verringer. Time went on. She was thirty years old and did not grow any more attractive with the passing of the years. Her father was desperate, and one day he sent a band of his servants, armed, to hide in the woods and to bring home to him any traveller who was moderately handsome, in good health and looked as though he might be capable of begetting children." "You are making this up."