ALICE, ELIZA AND Hugo Trevelyan set off for the Cornishman’s home after lunch on Saturday. The handsome cavalry officer was in a jocular mood, urging the pony to a speed that had his two passengers clinging to their seats, but on this occasion Alice did not encourage him in his recklessness.
She told him firmly that he had given the pony more than enough exercise on their last outing and warned him that unless he drove in a more sedate manner she would take the reins and he could continue the remainder of the journey in the saddle of his horse, which was already showing signs of rebelling against the unaccustomed manner in which it was travelling behind the pony and trap.
Much to Eliza’s surprise Captain Trevelyan meekly accepted Alice’s ultimatum and slowed the pony’s pace to one that was far more comfortable for the two women. Somehow, his meek capitulation made Eliza even more uneasy than if he had disputed Alice’s warning.
It proved to be a lengthy journey, along lanes and roads that were, at best, indifferent, especially when their route took them across the bleakness of Bodmin Moor, where there was a wind that Hugo said was present for much of the year, day and night, his statement verified by the branches of the few trees that existed here bowing low in an acute angle, in deference to the power of the moorland wind.
Alice had never ventured this far from Trethevy during all the time she had been living there and she knew little of the moor, but she found the feeling of lonely space here awesome. ‘Is it as bleak as this where you have your house?’ she asked Hugo, somewhat nervously.
‘Good Lord, no! Helynn Manor is in a beautiful valley beside the River Lynher and well sheltered from the wind. There has been a manor house there for almost eight hundred years. Those who built it knew exactly what they were doing and studied the elements well before building something as substantial as a manor house.’
‘Is it a very large house?’ Alice queried.
‘Large enough,’ Hugo replied, ambiguously. ‘Far too large for my father to be living in on his own, especially since my sister is no longer around to look after him.’
‘You have a sister?’ Alice had never thought of Hugo as having brothers or sisters. His behaviour had led her to believe he was an only child, used to having his own way since boyhood. ‘Where is she now?’
‘Sadly she died while I was in India.’
‘Oh, I am so sorry! What was the cause of her death?’
‘According to my father she died of a broken heart, badly let down by a young naval officer from a good family near Lostwithiel.’
Apparently concentrating on guiding the pony through a flock of sheep grazing on either side of the narrow moorland track, Hugo spoke without turning his head to look at Alice, but Eliza believed he was fully aware that he had her employer’s immediate interest.
After a few moments silence Alice asked, hesitantly, ‘This naval officer … What is his name?’
Still not looking at her, Hugo replied, ‘Kendall. Lieutenant Kendall.’
‘Not Lieutenant Jory Kendall?’
‘Why yes, I’m sure that’s his name.’ Appearing surprised, he added, ‘Do you know him?’
‘Yes. At least, David and I – and Eliza – know a Lieutenant Jory Kendall, he is a naval man but was with the Coast Guard service when we first met with him.’
‘That must be him, he certainly spent a great deal of time on land for a naval man. Long enough to court poor Isabella and lead her to believe he would marry her, only to change his mind and forsake her in a most heartless manner. My sister’s death had a serious effect on my father, which is partly why I returned from India. I am his only son and am most concerned for him.’
Alice was only half-listening to what he was saying about his family affairs. She found it difficult to equate what Hugo Trevelyan had said with the Jory she knew, but Jory did come from Lostwithiel and, although she was aware he had four brothers, he had once told her in conversation that he was the only one of the brothers to leave home and join the navy.
‘Are you alright, Alice?’ Hugo was looking at her in apparent concern.
‘Yes.’ She made a great effort to pull herself together, she did not want to let him know she was upset, or that it was because of what he had said about Jory. Changing the subject abruptly, she asked, ‘How far are we from your home now? It feels as though there might be rain in the air and it would be nice to reach the house before it becomes any worse.’
Seated behind Captain Trevelyan and Alice in the trap, Eliza had listened to their conversation with utter disbelief. Of all the men she had ever met, Jory Kendall was the one she most trusted and respected. She refused to believe he was guilty of deceiving any girl to the extent that she would die of ‘a broken heart’.
She remained quiet for the remainder of the journey, thinking of what had been said.
*
Helynn Manor was not what either Alice or Eliza had been anticipating. It was large, certainly, but there was an air of neglect about the house and gardens that both women found disconcerting. It looked as though nobody cared about the house any more and, hemmed in by hills and tall trees, it seemed as if it was trying to hide from the world.
The manor was older than Alice had imagined it would be, much of the present building dating from the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries. The architectural style, coupled with the close proximity of surrounding trees gave the house a gloomy, overshadowed feel.
The interior did nothing to dispel this image. Dim light entering the house through small diamond-paned windows disclosed heavy, ageing furniture that echoed the neglect of the house as a whole.
Hugo Trevelyan entered the house ahead of the women and, walking behind with Alice, Eliza whispered, ‘It’s creepy!’
Alice was of the same opinion but in a bid to bolster her own sinking feelings as well as Eliza’s she replied, in an equally low voice, ‘It is old, Eliza. It must be one of the oldest manor houses in Cornwall, but I am surprised that Captain Trevelyan’s father has not come out to greet us.’
‘And where are the servants? Eliza questioned.
Entering the hall, her question was partially answered when a grey-haired and frail woman dressed in sombre black appeared from one of the doorways set around the large, irregularly shaped entrance hallway.
A stern glance taking in the new arrivals, she addressed Captain Trevelyan, ‘We expected you home a week ago, and who are these…?’ She indicated Alice and Eliza with a movement of her head without looking at them.
Extending a hand towards Alice, Hugo said, ‘This is Miss Kilpeck, sister of the rector of Trethevy and her maid, Eliza. Alice, meet Miss Grimm, she has been housekeeper at Helynn since before I was born.’
Eliza thought the housekeeper’s name was most apt, but the housekeeper was talking to her. ‘It’s a good job you’re here, girl, we don’t pay servants unnecessarily at Helynn and with only Mr Trevelyan in the house I can do all that’s needed but with Captain Trevelyan and an uninvited guest in the house you will be earning your keep. The sooner you get out of those fancy clothes of yours and go into the kitchen, the better, although what you are going to feed to everyone I don’t know.’
Hardly able to believe the attitude of the gaunt housekeeper, Alice said sharply, ‘Eliza is here as my personal maid and companion, she is not here to take on a house servant’s duties at Helynn!’
Aware that Alice was still upset at what Hugo Trevelyan had said about Jory Kendall and anxious that her employer should not become embroiled in an argument with the rude and eccentric Miss Grimm, Eliza said hastily, ‘I don’t mind helping out in the kitchen if they are short-staffed, Miss Alice.’
‘It sounds more as though there are no other servants, Eliza, and you will tend to my needs before considering any other duties.’
Turning to Hugo who had listened to the exchange in silence, she said, ‘Perhaps you will be kind enough to show me to my room, Hugo, while Miss Grimm shows Eliza where she can obtain some water. I would like to freshen up after the journey. While I am doing that with Eliza’s help you might like to sort out whether we should stay, or return to Trethevy.’
Leaving the tight-lipped housekeeper standing in the hall, Hugo led the way upstairs and on the way said, ‘I must apologise for Miss Grimm. She has been here so long she feels she is in a position to dictate everything that goes on at Helynn – as she actually does! My father is in his dotage and has always left her to run the household. He has frugal tastes and Miss Grimm has always kept a tight grip on the purse strings. There is a butler somewhere about, but he is much the same age as my father. There are servants who come in to clean and carry out household duties, but it is Miss Grimm who dictates when they work and she obviously felt they were not needed today – but here is your room. Settle yourself in. I will find the butler and have him fetch water, while I sort out Miss Grimm and have her show Eliza to her room.’
It was not the butler but Eliza who brought water to Alice’s room and, as toiletries were being laid out on a marble-topped table in a corner of the bedroom, Alice sat on the edge of the bed and with a gesture of despair, said, ‘What sort of an establishment have we come to, Eliza? It started off as such a happy day, but first there was what Captain Hugo said on the way here about Lieutenant Jory, and now this!’
For the first time in the three years she had been working for Alice, Eliza saw tears well up in her eyes. It made her very unhappy and she said vehemently, ‘I don’t believe what Captain Trevelyan said. Lieutenant Jory just isn’t that sort of man – and I know how much he thinks of you. He made that very clear to me when he called at the rectory and wrote you a letter while he was there.’
For a moment Alice’s spirits rose, but then she said despondently, ‘No, Eliza, Captain Trevelyan had no reason to lie to me, he was not even aware that Lieutenant Jory is known to me. It must be true.’
‘Something might have been said about who it was brought the fish you had for dinner the other night,’ Eliza persisted.
Alice shook her head unhappily, ‘It wasn’t even mentioned. Had it been Captain Trevelyan would no doubt have commented on the name then. I am as sceptical as you, Eliza, possibly more so, but I fear it must be true, even though it is painful to think about.’
Eliza knew better than to continue to argue with her mistress, but she did not trust Hugo Trevelyan – and she refused to believe ill of Lieutenant Jory Kendall. Either the Indian army cavalry officer was deliberately lying, or there was an explanation for what Jory Kendall was supposed to have done.
‘Your room isn’t too bad but I dread to think what mine will be like. Miss Grimm said it needed to be got ready and she’d call me when it was done, but I don’t suppose she’ll be in any hurry to do anything.’
‘Whatever the room is like make no comment on it, you’ll not be sleeping there. As soon as she has shown it to you and gone away bring your things down here. We’ll make up a bed for you on the chaise-longue. I doubt if either of us will sleep very soundly but I would rather not be alone in this house at night.’
Eliza was tidying her employer’s toiletries and as she worked, Alice said, ‘I wonder what Captain Trevelyan’s father is like? It’s strange that he hasn’t appeared to greet a house guest.’
‘Perhaps he’s taking an afternoon nap and nobody likes to wake him,’ Eliza remarked. ‘There doesn’t seem as though there’s very much to stay awake for around this place. We haven’t seen anything of the butler, either. I hope he’ll prove a bit more helpful than Miss Grimm.’
Just then both women could hear the sound of slow footsteps on the stairs and Eliza commented, ‘Perhaps this is him coming up the stairs now.’
It was the butler and he introduced himself to Alice as ‘Jenkins’. Not only was he probably older than Miss Grimm, but he was also profoundly deaf. When Alice asked him where his master was he gave a toothless grin and replied, ‘I haven’t been out today, so it could be raining, but you needn’t worry about it, the roof doesn’t leak on this side of the house.’
Having imparted this piece of information, he said, ‘When your maid has finished here she can use the servants’ stairs at the far end of the passageway to go up to her room, it is the first on the left. I’ll go up there now and check for myself that she has everything she is likely to need. It’s a duty that is usually carried out by Miss Grimm, but the stairs are steep and she has trouble with her knees. I hope you will enjoy your stay at Helynn manor, Miss, it is a long time since we last had a visitor.’
Giving Alice just the hint of a bow, Jenkins turned and left the room.
Seating herself heavily on the bed, Alice said, ‘So much for finding the butler more helpful than Miss Grimm. He is as deaf as a post! What do you make of the situation we have found ourselves in, Eliza?’
Assuming the round-shouldered posture of the aged butler, Eliza replied, ‘I haven’t been out today, Miss Alice, so it might be raining, but the roof doesn’t leak in this part of the house.’
After a few moments of surprised silence, Alice began to giggle and the tension and foreboding that had taken charge of both women since their arrival at Helynn Manor began to crumble – but the respite would be short-lived.