"Are you sure?" I said. "There are four of us."
"That's nothing for Forest Hill. The old place can take twenty without cramping. What do you say?"
I said: "It sounds ... inviting ..."
Everybody laughed and then we were making excited plans to go to the Markhams' place on the borders of the forest.
The week we spent at Forest Hill was one which would remain in our memories for a long time to come.
I thought often of Jason Verringer and wondered how he was faring on the Continent in his search for Fiona. But I did wonder what he would do if he found her. If she were married he would not very Well bring her home. It did occur to me that when he returned he might come to Moldenbury and I did not want him to arrive when we were at Epping, so I wrote a brief note, saying that I hoped he had found satisfactory information about Fiona and that I should not be at Moldenbury as we were visiting friends.
There was a great deal of bustle getting ready for the visit. Violet insisted on doing a minor spring clean, "Just in case anything should happen. I wouldn't want people coming in and finding the place all at sixes and sevens."
"What do you mean ... anything?" I asked.
Violet pressed her lips together and wouldn't say, but being Violet she had thought of accidents on the railway in which we were all killed or some such dire event. In any case the house must be as it would for a special visit.
We let her get on with it. Teresa and I packed our bags discussing interminably what to take for a week on a farm. Aunt Patty had three hat boxes each containing two hats. We did not comment on that, knowing that Aunt Patty and her hats were inseparable.
John Markham met us in London and ail went down together, and from the moment we arrived we loved the place.
Because of the hot summer, harvest started early and we played our part in it. Anxiously we watched the sky for signs of rain; Teresa and I took out bottles of cold tea and bread and cheese to the workers. We sat down with them in the shade and listened to their talk.
Teresa and I went off for rides through the forest. Sometimes we walked. The forest was beautiful but the trees were already beginning to show the tints of autumn and the beeches, elms, birches and sycamores were tinged with yellow; and the oaks were turning reddish brown. I remember the smell of the honeysuckle which grew profusely round the door of the farmhouse. Even now it brings back to me a memory of peace.
At night I would lie in my room and savour the pleasures of being physically tired and intoxicated with sunshine and fresh air. I slept better than I had since I had received the anonymous letter and I was amazed to realize that ail through the day I had not thought of it and the rumours and scandals; so tired was I, so full of the impressions of the day that I could not feel the same apprehension and horror that I had known previously. I felt that I was being healed.
We ate the midday meal at the big wooden kitchen table with the windows wide open to the smell of new mown corn, and we listened and joined in the talk of the harvest.
"It's a pity you won't be here for the harvest home," said John. He seemed so different from the immaculate gentleman who had called on us at Moldenbury. I felt-and I knew the others did too-that I had known him for a very long time.
"Perhaps we could be," said Teresa hopefully.
"Teresa," I said, "we have to go back to school soon."
"Don't talk of it," replied Teresa gloomily.
John told us about the harvest home and the festival. "It's the best time of year. The children make the corn dollies when it is ail gathered in."
" `Ere the winter storms begin,'" quoted Violet.
"And we hang them on the walls. They are talismans in the hope of getting a good harvest next year."
"We used to do that in my home," said Violet. "It's a universal custom," added John. "And I think it goes back to the Middle Ages."
"I like to see the old ways kept up," said Violet.
I think she was the one who amazed us most. She was really enjoying being at Forest Hill. She had taken over the kitchen. The manager's wife, who usually looked after the household when the family was there, was only too pleased to pass over the responsibilities, and Violet was in her element. She grew quite sentimental talking about her childhood.
In spite of the happy time we had I could not get Lydia out of my mind and when John told me: "You have Lydia's bedroom!" I seemed to sense her there and I dreamed of her once or twice.
I thought I heard her voice in my dreams. "You mustn't worry about me, Cordelia. I'm dead."
I woke up with the words echoing in my ear. The light curtains were blowing outward, for the wind had arisen and the window was wide open. Startled from my sleep, I thought it was a ghost standing there.
"Lydia!" I cried and sat up in bed.
Then I saw what it was and, getting out of bed, half shut the window. It seemed quite chilly.
I went back to bed but not to sleep. I kept going over days long ago, remembering Lydia.
But in the morning I forgot her and was out in the fields laughing with the rest of them.
John came with us to London. He was going to Kensington which he did after putting us on the train to Moldenbury.
"It was a wonderful week," said Teresa. "Oh, I do like John."
The holiday was coming to an end. The next day Teresa and I would leave for Colby.
On that last night, after everyone else had retired Aunt Patty came to my room for one of her chats.
"It was a very happy holiday after all," she said. "I like the Markhams."
"Yes, what a happy family. I think they are all feeling the loss of Lydia."
Aunt Patty was silent for a few seconds. Then she said: "I think John Markham is half way to falling in love with you, Cordelia."
"Oh, Aunt Patty, I've known him such a short time. You're very romantic."
"I know you think I'm an ignoramus in these matters because I am an old spinster living in the country. But I do send to Mudies for my three-volume novels and the goings on in them is something of an eye-opener, even to a silly old spinster like me."
I put my arms round her and kissed her. "I don't allow disparaging remarks about you, even when you make them yourself."
"It was such a lovely house." She looked a little wistful. "I often think of your being married and having babies. Do you know, I should love some babies."
"Oh, dear Aunt Patty. I'm sorry I can't oblige."
"You will one day, I don't doubt. I just thought what a lovely household that was... how friendly and easy to get on with. I think John Markham is such a good man. You could put your trust in him. You'd know that he would always be there when needed ... to do what was best."
"I'm sure he's all that."
"I daresay we shall be seeing more of him."
I laughed. "You're weaving dreams of romance, Aunt Patty."
"Do you think they are only dreams? I know the signs. You smile. That is because you are considering my lack of experience in such matters. I am not wholly ignorant. I might have married once... only it went wrong."
"You never told me."
"It was not worth telling. He met someone else."
"What a fool he must have been."
"He was very happy, I believe. Life is a matter of taking the right road at the right time. Time is the important thing ... opportunity too ... and they must come together. The important thing is to recognize the opportunity while there is time. Cordelia, when the time comes, you must make the right choice. Good night, my dearest child."
She held me tightly against her.
"I was always comforted when you held me like that," I said. "You did, the first time we met. I remember the hat and the smell of lavender ... and it was just the same then."
"It will always be, Cordelia," she said.
Then she kissed me and went out.