The pool of St Branok

"Yes, I did. What a lovely family! Fanny is settling in. She was quite sociable, which I gather is something she has learned there. She asked after you. She told me how you and Timothy came and took her away. She seems fond of you ... and Timothy ... and the children, of course. Don't you think that is a wonderful thing to have done?" she added turning to my parents. "And that is just one case."

My mother said it was indeed wonderful.

"I gather you are doing the books," I said.

She laughed. "What a mess they were in! Frances is magnificent ... but accounts are not her line ... and with all the donations coming in and the bills that have to be paid ... Well, it does seem to be a line of work which nobody wants to undertake."

"It's the less glamorous side of the business, I suppose," said my father.

"But very necessary," put in my mother. "So what is happening, Grace? Are you giving them temporary assistance?"

"I've found it useful to have something to do. It won't be figures all the time ... once I've straightened out the books. I should like to do a little bit of social work, too. I think I shall be there quite frequently."

"Frances wants all the helpers she can get," I said.

She smiled at me. There was a certain glitter in her eyes. Or did I imagine that? I could not get the picture of her out of my mind ... going into Lizzie's bedroom ... I saw Lizzie drowsy from a laudanum-induced sleep. I seemed to hear Grace's voice. "Can't you sleep, Lizzie? You must. You need to be fresh for tomorrow ... There is a great deal to do ... Here, another few drops won't do any harm."

Could Justin have been right?

And Lizzie had been in the way. And now ... so was I.

I wanted to think of everything that had happened.

I rode out alone. Memories of the past crowded into my mind and when I remembered the past there was one incident which must always be there. The encounter by the pool ... a child murdered ... and Ben, younger than he was now ... a little uncertain ... acting in such a way as was to affect the rest of our lives. I could not help it. I found myself making my way to the pool. There was the cottage where crazy Jenny Stubbs had held Rebecca captive not so long ago. I was thinking of the dragging of the pool, the discovery of the watch and the remains of the man whom Ben and I had thrown in all those years ago.

Violence had come into our quiet lives and it had had an effect on me which was never forgotten.

I slipped off my horse and tied him to the bush just as I had on that other occasion. It was quiet ... no sound at all but a sudden sighing of a gentle breeze in the weeping willows trailing into the water.

Thus it had been on that fateful day. There was the spot where he had come upon me—the piece of wall exposed now as it had not been on that day before Gervaise and Jonnie had done their excavating; and Jonnie and Gervaise now both dead.

There was so much to remind me.

The eeriness seemed to surround me. I should not have been surprised if I heard the bells—not Jenny Stubbs's bells but the real ones—or the fantasy ones perhaps I should say—and perhaps the sound of monks' singing as they went into their ghostly underground chapel to pray.

I stood by the pool. It looked swollen. There had been a good deal of rain recently, and as the ground about it was flat it had advanced at least a foot.

No sound at all. Nothing but memories and the feeling that here anything might happen.

Someone was coming towards me. I saw that it was Grace. She walked purposefully.

"Hello, Angelet. I guessed you'd be here. Two minds with one thought. I want to talk to you alone. It's why I have come to Cornwall really."

She came and stood very close to me. The ground was slippery. I was aware of her ... very near to me.

"This pool fascinates you," she said. "It's because of what happened."

"Yes," I agreed.

"You've never forgotten. How could you, after what you did with Ben's help?"

I said: "I believe you know a great deal about that man."

"Yes," she answered. "I want to talk to you about it."

"Why to me?"

"Because it concerns you. I knew Mervyn Duncarry. He was a tutor in a house where I was a governess."

"Perhaps I should tell you that I know that."

"Through Justin? I thought he would tell you. He is the reformed character now. Who would have believed it? And he wants to protect you. I know Justin. I know how his mind works. I know how yours works, too, Angelet."

"I should like to know how yours does," I retorted.

"I believe you are afraid of me. There is no need to be."

"What should I be afraid of?"

"That is what you have to tell me. I've just come here to talk to you. I told you that is why I have come to Cornwall. I don't know what is going on in your mind, but I am sure that whatever you are thinking is wrong."

"Why do you think that?"