High Master of Clere (2 page)

Mrs.
Lytton fingered the letter nervously, keeping its contents from Verity
’
s sight.
‘
He
’
s been—well,
a—a History don at Oxford for the last four years. And his name—oh dear, children, it
’
s the
oddes
t
thing! Because if it is
—’
Pausing, she removed
her reading-glasses and tapped them against her cheek.
‘
If it is, and it just could be, I suppose
—
he
’
s Daniel Wyatt.
Daniel!
My Daniel—ours
!
You
know?
’

Lance and Verity stared their shock. Verity began,
‘
Not
?
’
and Lance finished for her,
‘
Oh
no! Not that little creep who left you and Father flat after he was evacuated to Canada during the war? What makes you think it could be the same?
’

‘
Because of the name, of course. It isn
’
t a usual one.
’
Mrs.
Lytton added with dignity,
‘
And he was
not
a creep. He was only ten when he went out to this Canadian uncle, and his leaving us with no news needn
’
t have been his fault, as I
’
ve told you often. Let
’
s see—that was when Verity was about one, which makes him now
—’

‘
Around thirty-four,
’
Lance cut in.
‘
And prancing in here as High Master after Father at that age? For pity
’
s sake, no!
’

His mother
’
s lip quivered at his vehemence.
‘
I know, dear. He will be young. But your father wasn
’
t so very much older when he became High. And aren
’
t we going to hate the thought of anyone at all taking his place?
’

‘
Not
anyone.
Obviously we
’
ve got to have a new High. But why couldn
’
t they appoint Old Nick, for instance? Let
’
s face it,
Mrs.
Old Nick takes some swallowing. But they
’
ve been here longer than any other staff, and most of us would settle for him.
’

‘
Perhaps, dear. Though I believe Nicholas Dysart has never wanted promotion. Anyway, this man may not be Daniel. What
’
s the time now, Verity?
’

‘
Ten past three. But look, Mother, in case he is the same, just brief us again about him, won
’
t you? He was sent out to Canada to his father
’
s brother after they—his mother and father—had been killed together in an air-raid, wasn
’
t that it?
’

‘
As if we hadn
’
t had chapter and verse about the little dear fed to us all our lives
!’
murmured Lance.

But
Mrs.
Lytton confirmed,
‘
Yes. Cleo Wyatt and I had been friends since our schooldays, and the four of us, Robert and I, and Cleo and Dick Wyatt, kept up the friendship, even during the years they were abroad on Army service. Dick was a regular officer, you see. Cleo married long before I did, and Daniel was nine or so when they were posted Home at the beginning of the war. They were much better off than we were. Dick had a lot of private means. But it never made any difference, and we had hoped so much that we could care for Daniel after they were killed.
’

Verity, who had heard the story many times before, prompted gently,
‘
Which was why you were so hurt when he just—faded out and stayed out for good?
’

Mrs.
Lytton nodded.
‘
Yes, though I
’
ve never believed the break was his doing. His uncle must have deliberately cut all his ties over here, for some reason best known to himself. We wrote, but Daniel never replied, and Robert thought it best to leave it, even though it broke our hearts
’
—she paused to laugh on a short breath—
‘
Oh dear, how it all comes back! And I
’
ve told you both, haven
’
t I, about our silly joke—Cleo
’
s and mine—about his being just right for you, Verity, when you both grew up? How she and I planned to go into partnership as matchmakers for you when you did?
’

Lance raised resigned eyes to the ceiling.
‘
Told us? We know it by heart!
’

Verity frowned him down, and
Mrs.
Lytton defended,
‘
Well, of course it was sentimental of us! But it was only our fun and we weren
’
t to know
then
—
Anyway, I don
’
t even know what Daniel
went in for after he grew up or whether he could have come back to England. But if he did and he is this man, I can
’
t think of anyone Robert would rather have had to follow him as High.
’

‘
At his age and never having been a Head before? Why he won
’
t have a clue, and
I
don
’
t believe Father would
—’
began Lance passionately, breaking off as the doorbell rang and his mother rose with a fluttering glance out of the window.

Verity said quickly,
‘
Stay here, Mother. I
’
ll go.
’
But
Mrs.
Lytton, on her way to the door, said with dignity,
‘
No, dear. It
’
s my place to welcome Robert
’
s successor to Clere. You do see that?
’
and Verity, recognizing that as the sad little pride it was, nodded and stood aside.

Lance moved over to the hearth where his rhythmic kicks at the kerb made a punctuation to the murmur of voices from the hall.

He said savagely,
‘
It
’
s all very well for you and Mother. You can both be well and truly out of it as soon as she
’
s handed over our quarters to this
man
’
s wife
—’

‘
Lance
!
’

It seemed the pain in Verity
’
s voice got through to him, for he turned.
‘
I
’
m sorry, V.,
’
he muttered.
‘
That was below the belt. I only meant that you wouldn
’
t be here to see him new-brooming all over the place and running everything differently from Father. And I
’
d rather be leaving Clere with you than be forced to watch that and kow-tow to him. What
’
s more, I
’
m not starting my
“
Yes, sir
’
s
”
and
“
No, sir
’
s
”
today. In other words, I
’
m off
—
now.
’

‘
Off? What do you mean?
’
demanded Verity.

‘
Just that. I
’
m going out. You can make my salaams for me and tell Mother I
’
ve taken Nash for a walk.
’

‘
You
’
re doing nothing of the kind. Nash has had his walk. And how would you propose to get out? They
’
re talking in the hall.
’

‘
Who needs the hall? I
’
ll use the window.
’

‘
You won
’
t, you know!
’

‘
And who
’
s going to stop me?
’

‘
I
am.
’
As he brushed past her Verity caught at his arm.
‘
Lance, you can
’
t. You owe it to Mother
—’

‘
To lay out the Welcome mat to this fellow? Just how hypocritical can you get
!’

‘
Just how boorish, you mean! Do you think this is any easier for Mother than for you? If she can put a brave face on it, you can.
’

‘
Mother isn
’
t going to mind so much if he really is her Daniel Wyatt, which I
’
m pretty sure she knows he is. And if that cuts any ice with you too, you
’
re welcome. But it doesn
’
t with me, so let me
go
!’

His hand above Verity
’
s made to thrust it from his arm, and they faced each other, their eyes as hostile as in a nursery brawl, as the door opened to admit
Mrs.
Lytton and her guest.

Mrs.
Lytton said mildly,
‘
Why, children
!’

Then she was introducing them; first Lance, who made a slight insolence of straightening his tie before offering his hand, then Verity, who could only stare as Daniel Wyatt looked past Lance at her and told her mother,
‘
But we
’
ve already met.
’

‘
Met?
When? Where? Oh
—
!
’
As she
thought she took his meaning
Mrs.
Lytton
’
s face broke into a smile.
‘
You mean, Daniel, you
remember
Verity from all that time ago
?
Oh, surely not? She was only a babe in arms! And though she was the prettiest thing from birth, I think you would have died rather than admit you knew she existed. After all, she was too young to tease and not old enough to play with. So you don
’
t have to pretend she made an impression, and even she knows it was only your mother
’
s nonsense and mine that
—’

But on the blush-making indiscretion she saw looming, Verity broke in.
‘
I don
’
t think
Mr.
Wyatt is reminiscing, Mother,
’
she said.
‘
In fact he and I have met today—while I was out on the shore with Nash.
’

‘
You have? Well! Though of course without knowing each other. Because you must have guessed, from the time we
’
ve been gossiping, that he is my Daniel after all? And we
’
re very happy about that, aren
’
t we? Lance—you too?
’

Hoping it escaped Daniel Wyatt that Lance ignored his mother
’
s appeal, Verity agreed quickly,
‘
Of course,
’
adding to their guest,
‘
Mother reminded us all about you when Sir Bonham Pearce
’
s letter came only half an hour ahead of you, giving us no time to check. But did
you
recognize her when you saw her?
’

‘
At once. But I was expecting to, you see. Naturally I heard
Mr.
Lytton
’
s name when the Governors invited me to follow him as High Master here. So it wasn
’
t too difficult for my memory to put two and two together, and I should have been very disappointed
’
—he smiled at
Mrs.
Lytton—
‘
if your mother hadn
’
t proved to have been
my
mother
’
s best friend.
’

Mrs.
Lytton
’
s face lighted with pleasure.
‘
Oh, Daniel, how nice of you! But that you always were.
’
Turning to Verity,
‘
Dear, we must give
Daniel tea before he looks over School. So would
you
?’
She added to Daniel,
‘
We do have one
resident maid, Rosa. Or rather,
you
will have her when you take over, as she goes with the quarters. But it
’
s her afternoon off. Lance, perhaps you would help Verity?
’

In the kitchen Lance
‘
helped
’
by laying a tray with one cup, one saucer, one spoon at a time. Moodily staring at his handiwork, he asked,
‘
How do you mean you met
Mr.
Perfect on the shore? Did he make the pick-up or did you?
’

Verity cut thin bread-and-butter expertly.
‘
Neither of us. Nash did. Then, after we had gone on, I realized he had parked his car right in the path of the Eddies as they
’
re running this month. So I went back to warn him. He didn
’
t seem quite to believe me, so I left him to it.
’