The India Fan (16 page)
Authors: Victoria Holt
Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Historical, #General, #Suspense
shall invite you,said my father.
Then they took their leave.
My father said what a delightful evening it had been and
Colin Brady agreed with him. Mrs. Janson was not displeased.
Her verdict was that the Framlings were just like anybody else - and she wasn afraid of him. As for the other one, he was a perfect gent and no one could take objection to him.
I felt I had come through the evening tolerably well, although I had had certain qualms when they began to talk about Lindenstein.
I was growing excited about my coming visit to London. The prospect of seeing Polly again always filled me with joy, and now there was the baby as well as Eff. I went down to the town, which was about a mile out of the village. I had a pleasant morning shopping and bought a little jacket and bonnet and a pair of bootees for Fleur and a pair of bellows for Polly and Eff, because I could see they had had some difficulty in getting the kitchen fire to draw up.
As I was coming out of the shop a carriage drove by. I knew it was from Framling, because I had seen Fabian driving it around. It was drawn by two spirited grey horses and he liked to go at great speed.
I saw Fabian in the driver seat and to my surprise he pulled up.
iss Delany.
h hello,I said.
ou have been shopping, I see.
h yes.
l drive you back.
h, that is not necessary.
f course Il take you back.
He had leaped down from the seat and taken from me the bag that contained my purchases. As he did so the contents fell out, and there on the pavement were the bellows, the baby jacket, the bonnet and the bootees.
h dear,he said, stooping to pick them up. hope no harm is done.
I flushed hotly. He stood there with the bootees in his hand.
ery pretty,he commented, nd they are all safe.
eally,I stammered, here no need to take me home.
ut I insist. I like to show off my horses, you know. They really are a superb pair. You can sit beside me. Then you can see the road better. Youl enjoy it.
He carefully put my purchases in the carriage and helped me up.
ow,he said. ff we go. I shall not take you directly home.
h, but
gain I insist. Youl be home just as soon as you would if you had walked. And you will have the pleasure of seeing Castor and Pollux in action.
he heavenly twins I murmured.
hey are as like each other as twins only to look at. Pollux has a bit of a temper and Castor is inclined to be lazy. But they know the master touch.
The horses broke into a gallop and he laughed as we gathered speed.
ust cling to me if youe scared,he said.
hanks,I replied. ut I not.
nd thank you for the compliment. It is well deserved in fact. I know how to manage my horses. By the way, I haven seen you riding lately.
ot since I returned.
hy not?
e don have a stable at the rectory.
ut you used to ride regularly.
hat was when Lavinia was at home.
y dear Miss Delany, you don have to ask permission to use a horse from the Framling stables. I thought you understood that.
t was different when Lavinia was here. I rode with her.
here is no difference at all. Please, whenever you wish, ride the horse you have always had.
hank you. That is very good of you.
h no. After all, you are a great friend of my sister. Do you envy her, preening in London?
don think I should greatly care for the process.
o, I dare say not. But please ride when you want to.
ou are very kind.
He gave me a sideways, rather sardonic smile.
ell me about Lamason,he said.
h, it is supposed to be a very fine school.
here they turn hoydens into young ladies.
think that is the idea.
nd do you think they have done a satisfactory job on you and Lavinia?
cannot speak for Lavinia. You should ask her.
ut yourself?
hat is for others to judge.
o you want to hear my judgement?
ot particularly. It could not be a true one because you scarcely know me.
feel I know you very well.
can think why. I have so rarely seen you.
here have been significant moments. Do you remember when you took the peacock fan?
n your orders, yes. Tell me, how is your Aunt Lucille?
he has grown very feeble. She is lost to this world and exists only in her own.
oes she still have the Indian servants?
he does. They would never leave her, and she would be completely lost without them.
sorry,I said.
There was a brief silence; then he said, ou will be going to London soon.
The carriage lurched and I fell against him, clutching his coat.
He laughed. ll well. I told you you were safe with me.
really think I should be home. I have a great deal to do.
ou have to prepare for your visit to London.
es, that and other things.
ow long shall you stay?
h about a week.
ou are very fond of your old nurse.
he is not really old. Polly is one of those people who never will be.
our loyalty does you credit.
s it so very creditable to express one true feelings?
o, of course not. There. You see how docile I am. Il have you at the rectory door in three minutes.
hank you.
He pulled up sharply at the grey stone house, leaped down and helped me out. He took my hands and smiled at me.
hope the gifts are acceptable.
hat gifts?
he bellows and the baby clothes.
To my annoyance I flushed again.
I took the bag he handed me, said hank you,and went into the house.
I was disturbed. He had always disturbed me. It was a pity he had seen my purchases. I felt he had looked at them cryptically. I was wondering what he had thought.
My father asked if it were wise of me to travel to London alone.
y dear Father,I replied, hat harm could befall me? I shall get on the train under the eyes of Mr. Hanson, the stationmaster, and Mr. Briggs, the porter. Polly will be waiting for me at the other end. I am grown up now, you know.
till said my father.
shall be all right.
At last he agreed that I could come to no harm and I set out, with my case containing the gifts and the little bit of luggage I was taking with me.
I sat in the carriage by the window and closed my eyes while I contemplated the pleasure of a reunion with Polly and seeing Eff and the baby again.
The door opened. Fabian was getting into the carriage.
He grinned at me. had to go to London unexpectedly. This is fun. We can travel together. Why, you don look very pleased to see me.
hadn expected to
urprises are pleasant, don you think?
ometimes.
He sat opposite me and folded his arms.
am sure your father would be pleased. I believe he is a little anxious about your travelling alone. Young ladies don usually, do they?
am of the opinion that we are not so fragile as some try to pretend.
wonder why?
h, it is a masculine idea meant to show the superiority of men.
o you really believe that?
The train was beginning to move out of the station.
elieve what?I asked.
n masculine superiority.
ertainly not.
hey are inferior then?
did not say that.
hat is gracious of you.
o just common sense. The sexes are meant to complement one another.
oesn it say that in the Bible? But I believe there are some occasions when the subservient role of the female is expressed. St. Paul
h, St. Paul! Wasn he one of those who found women a temptation and blamed them for being that?
id he? I think your Biblical knowledge is greater than mine. It all comes of being such a polished young lady.
hank you.
ow long shall you be staying in London?
week, I think. I do not like leaving my father longer.
e was very ill in the winter, I believe. I understand your anxiety. The curate is a very worthy young man, I gather.
e is very helpful and popular with the parishioners, which is very important.
t is important for us all to be popular.
ut particularly with someone in his position. For instance, I don suppose you care very much whether you are popular or not.
do where some people are concerned.He smiled at me in the quizzical manner with which I was familiar.
He sat back, still smiling. his is really a pleasant way of travelling. Usually I regret the time spent on it.
ou will be doing a good deal of travelling, I daresay.
h, you mean India, where I shall be going at some time.
oon, I suppose.
robably at the end of the year. Carruthers will go, too. You see, our families are connected with the East India Company.
had heard.
rom Carruthers, I suppose. I know he is a frequent visitor at the rectory.
e gets on well with my father. They have shared interests.
e have been brought up with the idea that we shall eventually go into the Company. My uncle my father brother has offices in London. I go there now and then gleaning experience, you might say.
t must be interesting.
he Company oh yes. It is part of history, of course. It goes back years and years. As you know, trading with India started when Vasco de Gama discovered the eastern passage and cast anchor off Calicut. But the Portuguese never started a trading company; they left that to us. Did you know that Queen Elizabeth granted us a charter to trade? It was on the very last day of the sixteenth century. So, you see, we have our roots in the past and it is obligatory in the family to carry on.
ou must be very proud of your ancestors.
e do have our share of sinners.
ll families have that.
ome more than most. Now I imagine yours is very worthy just the occasional peccadillo perhaps.
t might be better not to enquire.
am sure you are right, but with a family like ours it all seems to be recorded. We know that an ancestor was one of those who founded the Company and we know something of the lives of those who followed him. People are unexpected, don you agree? Those who appear so virtuous often have their secrets and the villains often a grain of goodness.
I said, ell me about the merchandise. What commodities do you deal in?
e send out bullion, woollens, hardware and such things to India and we bring back silks, diamonds, tea, porcelain, pepper, calico, drugs and so on.
see. You are traders.
xactly. But we have become very powerful. You see, we were not content with trading. We wanted to rule, and we have taken part in quarrels between Indian princes, supporting one against another. We have gained power, and some would say that the East India Company is the true ruler of India.
o the Indians resent this?
aturally, some of them do. Others see the advantages we have brought them. The French had an East India Company, too. That is the reason for the trouble between our two countries.
t seems to me that this ambition for power causes a great deal of trouble.
He nodded. ou see why, do you not, that it is a family tradition.
es, I do,I said, ith a family like yours.
ell, enough of the Company and my family. What of you? What do you propose to do now you are home?
o? What could I do?
ou tell me.
t the moment I am helping to run the rectory and look after my father. There are a great many duties that fall to the rector family. I suppose that is what I shall continue to do.
ou have no plan no ambition? To travel perhaps? You have already been to France and Lindenstein.
I replied hurriedly, suppose one waits to see what happens.
ome of us are impatient and prod fate. Are you one of those?
hat is something I have to find out. Up to now I have never done any prodding. Have you?
He leaned towards me. am continually doing it. If I want something I make an effort to get it.
t is all that ambition and lust for power. It is because you belong to the Framlings and the East India Company.
ot entirely. It is my pushing nature.
I laughed and he said, ow different you are when you laugh. Did you know that you look a little severe in repose?
did not know I was particularly so.
erhaps it is only when you see me.
can think why you should induce solemnity.
erhaps because you disapprove of me?
hy should I?
can think of a few reasons.
hen I don know them.
on look expectant. I am not going to tell you. I should not be so foolish as to increase your disapproval.
he disapproval is entirely of your imaginings. How could one disapprove of someone one did not know?
erhaps through ill repute.
know nothing of that.
here! Now you are severe again. I feel we are getting to know each other well on this journey.
hy should being in a train do that which all the years living as neighbours has failed to do?
here is something very intimate about trains.
s there?
on you feel it?
suppose we have talked together more than we ever did before.
here you are, you see. You can get away from me.
or you from me.
h, but I don want to.
I laughed. think we must be near our destination.
ive more minutes,he said. las! What a short journey it has seemed. Most enlivening. How fortunate that we had a carriage to ourselves. I will tell you something. It wasn luck. I had the foresight to tip the guard.
hy?
bvious reasons. I thought it would be interesting to get to know each other. People would have spoilt our little tete-a-tete.
can understand why you took the trouble.
take a lot of trouble to do what I want. Didn I tell you that I a prodder?
I was a little startled and faintly alarmed. I did not know what was in his mind. It seemed to me that he might be preparing to indulge in a little light flirtation. No doubt he thought that I was an innocent maiden ready to fall into the arms of the all-powerful lord of the manor. If Lavinia had learned little from her experience, I had learned a great deal.
