Saraband for Two Sisters

My deepest love as ever, MOTHER I kissed the letter. How like her. So calm, so reasonable. It was not what she had planned. Of course it wasn’t. Who would have believed Bersaba would have fallen ill and I should come to London and find my husband there? But she accepted it. It was life, and she remembered the time when she and my father were young and how dearly she had loved him!

And from Bersaba: DEAR ANGELBT, So you are to be married. Fancy! I always thought we’d be married together. I hope you will be happy.

You will see a great change in me when we meet. I have been so ill, as you know, but you can’t know what a change there is in me. I have to rest a great deal, and there are you going to balls and meeting interesting people and now you are going to be married. I want to see you, Angelet, so much. There is such a lot I want to say. I can’t write more now because I am so tired and they are waiting to take the letters.

Do come home and bring your future husband. I long to see you both.

Your loving twin, BERSABA It was the first letter she had written to me in her life because we had always been together and she had been too weak to write before.

Try as I might I could not imagine her languid in her bed, she who had always been so vital in her somewhat secret way.

But I confess I was too excited to think very much about my home. My future was here.

Richard rode over and was closeted with Sir Gervaise and after a while he came to the parlor where I was waiting for him.

“This is good news,” he said. “We have your mother’s consent and she assures us that she speaks for your father. There is nothing now to prevent our betrothal.” He took my left hand and put a ring on the third finger. It was a strange ring-a twist of gold very elaborately engraved with a square-cut emerald set in it. It seemed to fit me perfectly.

“A good omen,” he said. “It’s the family ring, always worn by the brides of the eldest son.”

I admired it. It was certainly unusual.

Then he kissed me very solemnly.

He supped with us and he and Sir Gervaise talked at length about the insurrection in Scotland and the covenant the Scots had entered into which was against the government. “There could be trouble there,” said Richard, “and we have to be ready to meet it.»

“There is a great deal of unease everywhere,” admitted Sir Gervaise. ‘What do you think will be the outcome?”

“I can’t say of course, but if this trouble goes on I should be prepared for... just anything.”

Sir Gervaise nodded gravely.

Carlotta clearly found this conversation boring and changed it to matters more agreeable to herself, which was the affairs of people she knew and what entertainments were planned in the future, which Richard-I was gleefully aware-found as trivial as she found his interests dull. I wondered how she could ever have thought that he was interested in her. I wanted him to know that I would be happy to learn the serious side of the country’s affairs and would listen enraptured while he talked to me of the hazards of government.

After Richard had left I retired to my room and I had not been there very long when there was a knock on my door and Carlotta entered.

She threw herself onto my bed and looked at me quizzically. “What a bore!” she cried. “I fancy you are not going to have a very lively life with the brave General.”

“It is the life I have chosen.”

“My dear girl, you can hardly call it a choice. There was no one else to choose from, was there?”

“I didn’t need anyone else.”

“Your first proposal and you accepted. I can’t tell you how many I had before I took Gervaise.”

“I knew of my cousin Bastian, of course.”

“Oh, that was never serious.”

“It was to him.”

“A country boy! He just did not understand. That could hardly be called my fault.”

“I should call it that.”

“Oh, dear, you are giving yourself airs. It doesn’t become you, Angelet. You got your General by that little-girl manner ... someone whom he can mold. I can see his thinking that he’ll train you like a recruit in his army to go weak at the knees every time the General appears. Don’t you think you should consider a little and not rush into this?”

“I have considered.”

“Now that my mother has left I feel responsible for you.”

“You surprise me.”

“You are after all a guest in my house.”

“I feel that Sir Gervaise is my host.”

“You have a hostess too, my dear, and you only knew Gervaise when he came briefly to Cornwall, but you and I are a kind of cousin, aren’t we? Not blood relations but ... my mother and your mother brought up as sisters. So I feel I can talk to you as poor Gervaise couldn’t.”

“I feel complete confidence in poor Gervaise.”