I washed and changed from my riding habit, and when I went downstairs I could hear the sounds of excited talking and laughter. The others were already in the punch-room close to the dining-room where, I remembered, they assembled before meals. I could hear Claudine’s high-pitched voice and the gruffer masculine ones.
I went in. There was a brief silence and then Dickon said: ‘You remember the twins, Lottie.’
Dickon’s sons! They must be almost twenty. Could that really be possible? I always thought of Dickon as being perpetually young. He must be forty-three. I had a sensation of time rushing past. My father was right. If we were ever going to make a life together, it should be soon.
I remembered David and Jonathan well. They had a look of Dickon and there was a certain resemblance in them which one would expect of twins. Jonathan took my hand first and kissed it; then David did the same.
‘I remember you came here once before,’ said Jonathan.
‘My dear boy,’ said Dickon, ‘she lived here. It was her home.’
‘It must be interesting to come back to a place which was once your home, especially when you haven’t seen it for so long,’ said David.
‘It is very interesting indeed,’ I told him; ‘but best of all to see you and your family.’
‘Don’t talk about my family, Lottie,’ protested Dickon. ‘It is your family as well.’
‘That’s true,’ said Sabrina. ‘Now we are all here, shall we go in? Our cook is a little temperamental and throws a tantrum in the kitchen if we let the food get cold.’
We went to the dining-room with its tapestried walls and oak table lighted by two candelabra—one at each end. It looked very beautiful. Sabrina set at one end of it and Dickon at the other; she had placed me on Dickon’s right hand. Claudine was between David and Jonathan who, I could see, were amused by her bilingual conversation. She could speak English very well, for I had taught her, but she kept forgetting that she was in England and breaking into French with results which the twin brothers seemed to find hilarious. Louis-Charles had always been a young man who knew how to take care of himself and he and Sabrina chatted together in a mixture of bad French from Sabrina and execrable English from Louis-Charles. Dickon devoted himself to me. He was watching me intently, I knew, proud of this gracious dining-room, of the meal which was served, of the fact that I had at last succumbed to his repeated requests to visit Eversleigh.
It was a happy evening and when it was time to retire, Claudine voiced the feelings of us all when she said: ‘It is wonderful for us to be here. But I don’t think I shall ever get to sleep tonight. I am too excited.’
Sabrina insisted on accompanying me to my room. She shut the door and sat down in one of the armchairs.
‘I can’t tell you how happy we are to have you here, Lottie. Dickon has always talked a lot about you and every time he went to France he said he was going to bring you back with him. I gather things are not very happy over there.’
‘There is a good deal of rumour.’
She nodded. ‘Dickon is full of foreboding. He has been saying for some time that you ought to get out.’
‘I know. He has mentioned it to me.’
‘Well … this is your home, you know.’
I shook my head. ‘My home is over there.’
‘I was sorry your father could not come with you.’
‘So were we all.’
‘Dickon says he is a very fine gentleman.’
‘Dickon is right,’
‘But he is getting old, of course. After all, you are English, Lottie.’
‘My father is French.’
‘Yes, but you were brought up here. There was never anyone more English than your mother.’
‘And never anyone more French than my father.’ I smiled at her. ‘You see, that makes me a mixture. I love Eversleigh. I love it here … but my husband was French and my children are. That is my home, over there.’
She sighed and said: ‘I am very sad sometimes. Your grandmother and I were very close, you know.’
‘I do know that.’
‘Now she is gone I miss her terribly.’
‘I know that. But you have Dickon.’
A smile illumined face. ‘Oh yes … Dickon. How I should love to see him completely happy. It was your grandmother’s dearest wish … ’
I interrupted her. ‘Yes, I know. She adored him.’
‘He is a wonderful person. It is a long time since poor Isabel died. People think it is strange that he did not marry again.’
I said with a sudden burst of anger which Dickon could arouse in me: ‘Perhaps a good enough proposition did not arise. He had Eversleigh, Clavering and a great deal, I gather, from Isabel … ’
Sabrina was the same as ever. In her mind, Dickon was above criticism and she did not see it even when it was blatantly expressed.
‘I know why he has never married,’ she said.
‘Well he has two sons. That is one reason why ambitious people marry, isn’t it?’
‘I remember in the days long ago when you were a child staying with us at Clavering—do you remember? You two were always together.’
‘I remember. That was after my mother inherited Eversleigh.’
‘He was so fond of you. We all were. He talked of nothing but Lottie … his little Lottie. And you … to you he was the sun, moon and stars and the whole universe thrown in.’
‘Children get fancies.’
‘It is rather charming when they persist through life.’
I said: ‘Dickon knows that my half-brother disappeared. It is some little time ago now. His body was never found but because of the situation in France we think he was murdered. My father is a very wealthy man. I have heard it said that he is one of the most wealthy in France. Charlot will inherit in time, but it will come to me first when my father dies … ’
She looked blank.
‘Dickon was very interested in the estate. I always remember how he came here to Eversleigh. He was just overwhelmed by it because it was so much grander than Clavering. I imagined Aubigné is much more valuable than Eversleigh, so you see he has discovered a great affection for me.’
‘He admired Eversleigh. Of course he did. Who wouldn’t? But he loved you, Lottie. He truly did. He never ceased to. I think he is unhappy at times. Do you know, my great desire in life is to see him happy.’
‘I know that,’ I told her. ‘Sabrina, you must be the most doting mother in the world.’
She smiled at me and said: ‘Well, I am keeping you from your bed and you must be so tired.’ She rose from her chair. ‘Good night, my dear. It is lovely to have you here. We are going to do our best not to let you go from us, Lottie.’
She paused at the door. ‘By the way, do you remember poor Griselda?’
‘Yes, I do. She kept Isabel’s rooms as they were at the time of her death. She was a little uncanny.’
‘She took a dislike to Dickon and spread tales about him and Isabel. She was so jealous of anyone who came between her and Isabel. We tried to stop her, but she was too old … senile really. It was a happy release when she went.’
‘So she is no longer with us?’
‘It must be all of five years since she died. The rooms have been thoroughly cleaned out and it is all very normal up there now.’
‘As you say,’ I murmured, ‘a happy release.’
She put her fingers to her lips and blew a kiss to me. ‘Goodnight, dear Lottie. Pleasant dreams. Don’t forget we are going to do everything we can to keep you with us.’
As Claudine had said, we were too excited to sleep that night.
I was happy at Eversleigh. I knew I was going to miss it when I went away. There was something about the green fields and the May sunshine that was essentially England and not quite the same anywhere else in the world. I loved the way the sun would rapidly be obscured and if we were out we would have to take shelter from the sudden showers.
It was the end of May and the April showers seemed to be lingering longer than usual this year. The hedges were full of simple wild flowers and I remembered how, when I was very young, my mother had taught me how to make a daisy-chain. I remembered the names of plants like silverweed, bird’s-foot trefoil, and lady’s-smock. I rode a great deal with Dickon and the boys. We were a merry party.