not?”
“Well, dear, we have to face facts, don’t we? You’re what they call of a marriageable age.”
“Well?”
“Young men … particularly young men who meet you in romantic places …”
“In those squalid wynds! You call them romantic?”
“Romance springs up everywhere, dear child. Those streets may not have been romantic, but the rescue was. And then seeing each other every day … looking at each other in such a charming way … well, that tells a good deal … especially to an old warhorse like me.”
“Oh, Zillah, you are very funny.”
“I’m glad I amuse you. To be able to amuse people is one of the gifts from the gods.”
I thought how she changed. I wondered if my father ever saw Zillah as the woman she was now.
“So,” I said, “you want me to ask my father if he can come to tea? This is my home. Surely I can have my friends here?”
“Of course you can and of course you shall. I was merely commenting that your father wouldn’t like it. Let us ask the young man to tea. We won’t worry your father with telling him. That’s all.”
I looked at her in astonishment. She smiled at me.
“I understand, dear. I want to help you. After all, I am your stepmother—only don’t call me that, will you?”
“Of course I won’t.”
I wondered what my father would have said if he had known she was in league with me to keep Jamie’s visit to the house a secret.
Jamie came. It was a very happy time. There was a great deal of laughter and I could see that Jamie enjoyed Zillah’s company.
I saw him the next day. It was easier to arrange our meetings now that Zillah knew and clearly wanted to make things easy for us. He told me how kind he thought her and it was wonderful that she was so helpful.
As for Zillah, she said he was a charming young man.
“He dotes on you,” she said. “He’s clever, too. I am sure he is going to pass all those exams and become a judge or something. You are a lucky girl, Davina.”
“My father doesn’t know we’re meeting,” I reminded her. “I don’t think he will approve of Jamie … not for Jamie himself, but because he isn’t rich like … like …”
“Like Alastair McCrae. Now, there is a fine man and, as we used to say, ‘well padded,’ which in the vernacular of the halls, my dear, means that he has a nice little fortune stacked away. I have to admit that your father would approve of him … most heartily.”
I looked at her in horror. “You don’t think … ?”
She lifted her shoulders. “Fond parents will plan for their daughters, you know. Your future is very important to him.”
“Oh, Zillah,” I said. “He mustn’t. Jamie and I …”
“Oh, he has spoken, has he?”
“Well, it’s all very much in the future.”
She nodded gravely and then a smile curved her lips.
“If my father objected,” I said fiercely, “I wouldn’t let that stand in the way.”
“No, of course you wouldn’t. But don’t you worry. It’ll all come right in the end. Don’t forget you’ve got me to help you.”
Alastair McCrae came to dinner with other friends of my father. He was seated next to me as before and he and I chatted in a very friendly way. He was quite interesting and less dignified than my father and he seemed to want to hear all about me.
The day after he called he asked us to spend the weekend at his country house.
Zillah told me that my father had agreed that it would be an excellent idea to accept.
It was a very pleasant weekend we spent at Castle Gleeson. I was rather taken with the place. It was small as castles go, but because it was of ancient grey stone and had a battlemented tower I thought it worthy of the name. It faced the sea and the views were spectacular. There was a sizeable estate and Alastair was quite proud of it. That was made clear when we drove through it in the carriage which took us from the station to the castle.
He was frankly delighted that we were paying this visit. It was the first time my
“Well, dear, we have to face facts, don’t we? You’re what they call of a marriageable age.”
“Well?”
“Young men … particularly young men who meet you in romantic places …”
“In those squalid wynds! You call them romantic?”
“Romance springs up everywhere, dear child. Those streets may not have been romantic, but the rescue was. And then seeing each other every day … looking at each other in such a charming way … well, that tells a good deal … especially to an old warhorse like me.”
“Oh, Zillah, you are very funny.”
“I’m glad I amuse you. To be able to amuse people is one of the gifts from the gods.”
I thought how she changed. I wondered if my father ever saw Zillah as the woman she was now.
“So,” I said, “you want me to ask my father if he can come to tea? This is my home. Surely I can have my friends here?”
“Of course you can and of course you shall. I was merely commenting that your father wouldn’t like it. Let us ask the young man to tea. We won’t worry your father with telling him. That’s all.”
I looked at her in astonishment. She smiled at me.
“I understand, dear. I want to help you. After all, I am your stepmother—only don’t call me that, will you?”
“Of course I won’t.”
I wondered what my father would have said if he had known she was in league with me to keep Jamie’s visit to the house a secret.
Jamie came. It was a very happy time. There was a great deal of laughter and I could see that Jamie enjoyed Zillah’s company.
I saw him the next day. It was easier to arrange our meetings now that Zillah knew and clearly wanted to make things easy for us. He told me how kind he thought her and it was wonderful that she was so helpful.
As for Zillah, she said he was a charming young man.
“He dotes on you,” she said. “He’s clever, too. I am sure he is going to pass all those exams and become a judge or something. You are a lucky girl, Davina.”
“My father doesn’t know we’re meeting,” I reminded her. “I don’t think he will approve of Jamie … not for Jamie himself, but because he isn’t rich like … like …”
“Like Alastair McCrae. Now, there is a fine man and, as we used to say, ‘well padded,’ which in the vernacular of the halls, my dear, means that he has a nice little fortune stacked away. I have to admit that your father would approve of him … most heartily.”
I looked at her in horror. “You don’t think … ?”
She lifted her shoulders. “Fond parents will plan for their daughters, you know. Your future is very important to him.”
“Oh, Zillah,” I said. “He mustn’t. Jamie and I …”
“Oh, he has spoken, has he?”
“Well, it’s all very much in the future.”
She nodded gravely and then a smile curved her lips.
“If my father objected,” I said fiercely, “I wouldn’t let that stand in the way.”
“No, of course you wouldn’t. But don’t you worry. It’ll all come right in the end. Don’t forget you’ve got me to help you.”
Alastair McCrae came to dinner with other friends of my father. He was seated next to me as before and he and I chatted in a very friendly way. He was quite interesting and less dignified than my father and he seemed to want to hear all about me.
The day after he called he asked us to spend the weekend at his country house.
Zillah told me that my father had agreed that it would be an excellent idea to accept.
It was a very pleasant weekend we spent at Castle Gleeson. I was rather taken with the place. It was small as castles go, but because it was of ancient grey stone and had a battlemented tower I thought it worthy of the name. It faced the sea and the views were spectacular. There was a sizeable estate and Alastair was quite proud of it. That was made clear when we drove through it in the carriage which took us from the station to the castle.
He was frankly delighted that we were paying this visit. It was the first time my
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