The Loving Cup (49 page)

'And how deluded they would be!'

'Not at all! You cannot - should not - be mock-humble to me, Ross.'

'Well, regarded in any sort of perspective, it is not mock-humble at all. I have married and raised a family, and owned a mine or two, occupied a rotten parliamentary borough f
or a decade and a half and gone
on a few missions that others could have done as well. There is nothing exceeding great and good about that. It would have been different, perhaps, if I had been Wilberforce with his dedication to the abolition of the slave trade, or even Cobbett with his - his equal dedication to universal suffrage and parliamentary reform.' He scratched his nose and stared out at the coming day.
I
'm not sure I recognize goodness when I see it, m'dear, but I know greatness.'

There was a long silence, and she lay back again, stretching her legs. 'What shall you do today?'

'Today? First, go over the cost books with Zacky. I presume all is well?'

'With Leisure - oh, yes. Wheal Grace you know
...'

'Is Ben come good now?'

‘I
t was a thought difficult when Clowance was over, but they met twice and the awkwardness passed.'

'After I've seen Zacky I've promised to take Bella a ride across the beach.'

'Put her off if it's raining. I have never known anyone get so thoroughly wet as she does. Sometimes when she comes in she might have been in the sea!'

'Perhaps she has. I wouldn't put it past her. Demelza
...'

She looked at him but did not speak, observing his strong bony face in the pallid light.

'While I was in London I had another proposition.' He. told her of his visit to Major Cartwright's, of the men he had met there. She let out a slow breath. He finished:

'But if I had devoted my life to
them
and to their cause, I might feel a little more persuaded of my right to some king's honour.'

if you had devoted your life to them and to their cause,' said Demelza, 'a King's honour is the one thing you would
not
have got!'

Ross smiled grimly. 'Very true. Perhaps I did not realize how true until this time.' 'Why?'

I
told you, didn't I, that Lord Liverpool seemed well informed about me. He was too well informed, for he knew about nfy visit to Major Cartwright, that it was a supper party with many of the best known "agitators" there.'

'However did he know that?'

'He hinted to me that he thought it would be "unfortunate" if I allowed my sympathy for their aims to lead me into active cooperation with them. I told him warmly that I very much resented being followed in this way. He said on the contrary, I had not been followed; it was Cartwright and his group who were "watched", and usually the Government arranged for an "observer" to be present at their parties, just "to keep their activities in view."'

'But that's spying!' said Demelza. 'That's like being at
war.
But with one's own people. I did not know it could go on in England!'

'Oh, it does.'

'But
are
they dangerous ? And if so, who are they dangerous to?'

'Liverpool gives me the impression of being a well balanced man, but he has a phobia about revolution.' 'What does phobia mean?'

'A fear. A morbid aversion. He told me -1 didn't know before - that he was in Paris in
1
789
and actually witnessed the storming of the Bastille. He also lost a number of friends in the Terror
...
And then, of course, it is not so long since his predecessor was assassinated in the House of Commons. That cannot often be absent from his mind, night or day. Bellingham, as far as I know, had no connection with any agitators, but the death of Perceval gave great delight to the mobs in the Midlands and the North
...
Therefore harmless groups of reformers now get spied on and run the risk of imprisonment.'

'And if you joined them you would run that risk?'

'Perhaps. It is an interesting speculation. They are all free at present - technically free
...
I did not, as you will suppose, take kindly to Liverpool's advice. The very fact of being warned off something gives one a greater incentive for joining it.'

Demelza's mind picked a wary way through the pitfalls of the situation. The last thing she wished to do was to copy Lord Liverpool's mistake.

‘
I
see you have had a very interesting trip.'

'Stimulating, certainly.'

'Shall you discuss it with Dwight?'

'Some of
it.
But first I am discussing it with you.'

'Thank you, Ross.'

'Now do not be mock-modest in your turn. There is no one so important as you, and I shall be much influenced by your feelings. Now have we time for another sleep?'

'No, my lover. Bella will be singing any moment.'

'God's my life, what are we to do with her?'

'Just let her sing. She's young. Tis lovely, I think.'

'Not at six o'clock in the morning.'

‘I
t is much past that. You forget it is December.'

He put his hand out to reach his watch but she stayed him. He rubbed his nose against her arm.

She said: 'Yours is cold too
...
Ross, we must discuss all this very seriously. How long before we have to make up our minds?'

I
expect France will settle down and that will make up our minds for us. In any event, I have agreed to wait on Lord Liverpool in early February with my reply. So we have weeks before any decision has to be reached. Let us enjoy Christmas first.'

I

A few days later, a terrible storm struck England and lasted nine days without a break.
The
British
Queen,
a packet boat, was lost on the Goodwin Sands with sixteen drowned, another nine died in a wreck off Folkestone, a brig and a galliot were torn to pieces at Dunkirk. The city of Bristol came to a standstill with five feet of snow in the streets, Dartmoor became a waste land of isolated farmers and dying sheep. Mail coaches were overturned and children froze to death.

Cornwall suffered with the rest, and there was the usual rash of small wrecks around the coast, though nothing to approach the tragedy of the previous January when the
Queen
transport came to shelter from a south-easterly gale in Falmouth, parted her cables, was dashed upon Trefusis Point, to sink in twenty minutes with a loss of more than
200
lives. Indeed this December the entire West Indian fleet , of near
300
sail was able to make the protection of Falmouth in time and rode out the succession of heavy gales with insignificant damage. The
Chasse
Marie,
carrying timber and granite for the new harbour at Porthleven, was embayed and eventually ran aground at Mullion and nearly became a wreck; only the desperate efforts of her crew saved her.

So Christmas came and with unwelcome speed was gone. Those who could enjoyed it. The newly married Warleggans gave a party and were themselves entertained, at Nampara and at Killewarren. Only Trenwith was dark. The newly married Poldarks were to have spent several days at Nampara, but even though the weather relented, Stephen pleaded work on the
Chasse
Marie,
and sent his wife in company with the Blarneys for the celebrations.

Jeremy too was absent. Demelza had hoped against hope that he would turn up on Christmas Eve just as he had done for the wedding. For her it was the one thing missing.

Yet he did come, and in the most timely way possible, on New Year's Eye, and with the best possible news.

After the paroxysms of the middle of the month, the weather had fallen into a fit of idle good behaviour, with an easterly breeze, cloudless skies, and a globular sun like a Chinese lantern appearing and disappearing through-the winter mists. The sea lumbered and thundered unceasingly on the hard beach, throwing up its wild heads but no longer amounting to much when the dde cam
e in.

Ross was walking back from Wheal Leisure when he saw a figure dismounting at the door and at once recognized the black cloak, the red tunic, the lanky shape. Jeremy saw him at much the same time and instead of knocking at the door vaulted the enclosing wall of Demelza's garden and ran to meet his father. They clasped each other, putting cheek to cheek.

"Wel
come.
So you have come to bring in the New Year! You're looking
well,
boy. Flanders must suit you!'

'Not so much as coming
home
!
Or the news I bring! Have you
heard
it, Father? Have you heard it?'

'No? What news? What has happened?'

'Peace with America!'

'What!'

'It is in the paper I bought in Truro! They signed the preliminary treaty on Christmas Eve! It waits to be ratified but that is surely only a formality!'

'By the Lord, that is - is
good
!’
Ross took his son by the shoulders again. 'Of course peace was only a matter of time, for we have little to dispute over; but men and governments are so pig-headed, I had feared perhaps another twelve months. And once pride and prestige are engaged
...'

‘
I
know
...
Incidentally the next war we engage in
must
be in Brittany, for the journey home this time was outrageous. Half my leave has gone!'

'We must tell your mother. Instantly. I believe she is at Caroline's.'

'And the children?'

'Bella is walking with Mrs Kemp and pushing Harry. I don't know which way they went but they are liable to explode upon us at any moment.'

Jeremy took his father's arm. 'Let us go to Killewarren. It will only take you a moment, won't it, to saddle a nag?'

'Less than a moment.' Ross turned and ran round to the stables.

So soon they were off up the valley, leaving Jeremy's pack dumped in the hall as nodce that he had arrived. And they found Demelza and Caroline playing with a new pug puppy Caroline had just bought called Horace the Third. The women squeaked with delight, and Jeremy hugged them bo
th, and apologized for his bristl
y chin but he had been in such hast
e to get home he had not paused
to shave.

'Half my leave has
gone
’
he complained again. 'We were in Ostend a
week
waiting for the gales - one week
wasted
and-'

'Does it matter with the news you've brought?' Ross said. 'Where is Dwight? We must tell him as soon as possible.'

‘
I
must be back by the seventeenth and no excuses —

‘I
t does not
matter
now,' said Demelza, hugging him.

'Sophie and Meliora are brave, I hope?'

'Brave and well,' said Caroline, smiling.

'Brave and well as we all shall be now!'

He looks different, thought Deme
lza. Or may be it is just that I
think he looks different now. But he has filled out, grown stronger in the shoulder and the thigh, more of a soldier, with that long hair, more like his father; yet totally
different
from his father. Ross would never have
...
Ross's nature is less oblique, less devious - is it
my
family that has brought this complexity to Jeremy? God knows I was not aware of it; but then there was Joshua Poldark. Thank God the last final war is over. Now if he stays in the army for a while
...
But perhaps he will come home. He
must
come home.

They arranged a party for that evening, to celebrate the peace and to let in the New Year. Could anything be more fitting? In six hours they did celebrate it, in Nampara library, with Bella singing her songs and Demelza playing her piano, leading them all in communal singing. All the indoor staff were invited to join in: John and Jane Gimlett, Mrs Kemp, Betsy Maria Martin and the rest. The evening did not break up until
3
a.m. when Dwight, much recovered over the autumn but pleading an early rise, dragged Caroline and his sleepy daughters away. Even then talk and j
ollity went on in the family unti
l the crisp, half frosty dawn of January the first,
1
8
1
5
was not far away.

II

Jeremy slept late, as he was enti
ded to after his arduous journey, and when he came down at eleven all the others had gone about their business. In the dining room he ate a plate of porridge, two eggs and some cold ham, part of a rabbit pie; with a pint of small beer. The newspaper he had brought with him had been much read by the others and he opened its two sheets at the centre page, where the leading article was to be found. It was headed 'Peace' and ran,
The sword being now unanimously sheathed, we may reasonably look forward without compl
aining to a considerable diminuti
on of our burdens. We have borne much and we have su
ffered much in the way of privati
on - our struggles have been long and our exertions unremitting. The result has been happy, and we therefore confidently hope that in a short time our shoulders will be eased from a considerable part of the weight beneath which we have bent so long, and that a series of
years of Peace and Plenty will
repay the unexampled expenditures of the last astonishing contests.

'The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower,' and to that we have fled, and there we have been safe.

A slightly less elevated and more cynical note was struck by the actual news item which began: 'To the disappointment
of some, the gratification of many, and the surprise of all, a provisional treaty of peace with America was signed at Ghent on Christmas Eve.'

Jeremy was about to turn over to the back page when his eye caught something on the sideboard. He got up, picked it up, stared at it, twisted it round, read the inscription.

As he was about to put it back, Demelza came in.

'Morning, my lover. I trust you slept well. Jane has been looking after you?'

He kissed her. He had flushed at being found holding the piece of silver, and he looked closely into her eyes as if seeking the answer to a mystery. He did not find it. Demelza could be as disingenuous as anyone when she chose, and her eyes were as clear as undisturbed pools.

He said:
I
slept well. By God, it is good to be back; I wonder I ever left.'

I
wonder too.'

'Perhaps I was trying to escape from myself, and you can't ever do that, can you.'

I
have never tried
...
But we are being too serious! A Happy New Year to you again!'

'Thank you, Mama. It should be.' He flipped the newspaper. 'And shall be. You hav
e lost weight since I was last h
ome.'

‘I
t is nothing. I'm brave. We have a lot to tell you. And a lot to listen to -1 hope!'

'Well, a soldier's life is not one of great variation - except when he is fighting - and they have kept me out of that! But I will try.' He looked down at the little cup he was holding. 'What is this? Is it new?'

I
found it,' Demelza said.

'Where?'

'On the beach.'

'Do you mean - just loose, lying there?' 'No, it was in a small sack.' 'At the tide mark?' 'Thereabouts.'

He turned it round again,
I
wonder how it came there.' She did not speak. A cow was lowing behind the stables.

'Was it like this?'he asked. 'Like what?'

'Well - bright and shiny.' 'No, I cleaned it up.'

'It's pretty. This inscription.
Amor
gignit
amorem.
Do you know what it means?'

'Love
creates
love,
I believe. It is a - a loving cup, they say.' 'Who says?'

'Oh, only your father and Uncle Dwight.' 'Have you shown it to anyone else?' 'Who is there to show it to?' Jeremy nodded.

‘I
t is very small. I thought a loving cup was bigger.'
I
have never seen one before.' is it silver?'

'Oh, yes. The mark underneath will tell you where it was made and when.'

He put the cup back on the sideboard. The flush was still in his face, would not go.

'Mother...'

'Yes?'

'Someday, sometime - not now - perhaps when
we are both a few years older -I
would like to talk to you.' She smiled at him. 'Don't leave it too late.'

III

Jeremy spent almost all the first day at Wheal Leisure. The engine was working satisfactorily, all parts shiny and well-tended, but the engine house could do with a thorough clean out: there was too much greasy deposit on the non-working parts, and too much coal dust in crevices of wall and floor. Of course, steam engines of their nature were not clean to work; but one should make an effort. He said nothing at the moment, being occupied with other thoughts as well as the welfare of engines. Ben Carter went over the mine with him, and he greeted
the miners and chatted to
them as he went by. The produc
ing levels were mainly on the
30
fathom,
45,
and a new
80,
all of which were yielding well. The
30
- that which led to and consisted of the old Trevorgie workings - was still the most profitable, but the
80,
which had only been begun in June, was already into high-grade copper ore.

In the afternoon Jeremy went for a walk on his own along the cliffs. In the early evening he called on the Kellows at Fernmore. At first there were the family greetings, during which Daisy was noticeably and understandably cool; but later Paul walked back with him in the total blackness of a cloudy moonless December night.

Jeremy said: 'When were you last down Kellow's Ladder?'

'Oh
...
it must be six or seven weeks ago.'

'And what did you find?' 'How d'you mean, find?'

'Well, was it the same as when you were there before?' 'Yes, I think so. Why?
’