interested in putting in a bid. She deserves something different from that!'
Dwight laughed. 'So you see, Caroline.'
His wife said: 'I see nothing but an obstinate misunderstanding of my meaning. Of course Poldarks are unique and to themselves, apart. No, no, I intend no irony. No one could see you or Ross pursuing the conventional rounds, as it were. It would be a perversion of all you stand for in the county. Nevertheless, daughters - and sons for that matter - should be given the opportunity of seeing a fair sample of the opposite sex before they choose. And, since I see you are both against me, I can only add that it was my wide acquaintanceship with the landed youth of Oxfordshire that made me all the more instantly aware of the sterling qualities of Dr Enys.'
'Landless and penniless as I was,' said Dwight. 'I don't really believe calculation or deep perception entered into it with either of us, Caroline. We saw each other. And when we'd done that we'd eyes for no one else.'
'There you put your finger on it all,' said Demelza, helping herself to port and trying to convince herself. 'Of course it is better that every daughter and every son should meet as many as possible of their own age. But who's to say the twenty-third man you meet has anything to commend him over the third? If with the third the fire has been lighted, no extra numbers can put it out. And if in all you only have six to choose from . . . will the choice be any worse? I don't know. I saw only one. But then I was different. I was beyond measure lucky.'
'Consider Ross,' said Caroline. 'The luck didn't run just one way.'
Demelza patted her hand. 'We can argue about that.'
'Well,' said Caroline, 'it is good for old friends to have something to argue about at twenty minutes before one o'clock on the first of January, eighteen hundred and eleven. I'm tired of toasting "Death to the French", for I've been doing it for nearly two decades. So let us toast to ourselves - and absent friends.'
II
Early January was fine and still in Cornwall, with the ground soft and damp and no bite to the air. All the unrelenting savagery that the weather and the sea were capable of was withdrawn, held in abeyance, scarcely to be considered as a serious threat. No sun came through; the days passed under grey, mild, still skies. Compared with two weeks before, a little daylight seemed to have crept into the afternoons.
One day Stephen Carrington said to Clowance: 'This house. This Trenwith House that you say is near and belongs to your cousin - which way is it?'
'Just past Grambler. You know, the village. About four miles.'
'Could we walk there? They tell me it is more than two hundred years old, and I am interested in old buildings.'
Clowance hesitated. 'Well, officially it belongs to my cousin Geoffrey Charles Poldark, but his stepfather, Sir George Warleggan, actually takes care of it for him, and Sir George does not encourage visitors.'
'Does he live there?'
'Oh no. Just two gamekeepers who care for the place for him. But he is not friendly with our family, and my mother has forbidden me to go there again.'
Stephen thrust a hand through his thick hair. 'Well, I have the greatest respect and admiration for Mrs Poldark, and I should be the last to encourage you to disobey. She is a very beautiful woman.'
'Who? My mother? Yes, I suppose so ...'
'Had you not noticed? Perhaps not, for you are very like her.'
'I think I am very un like her - different colouring, bigger bones, different shaped face ...'
'No, no you take me wrong. I mean that Mrs Poldark for a beautiful woman is the least conceited about it that ever I've met. Almost unaware - after all these years still a little surprised when a man's eyes light up with - with admiration. It is in that I mean you are like her. You are ... unaware.'
'If that is intended as a compliment,' said Clowance , 'then I'm obliged to you.'
'The more I struggle the deeper I flounder,' said Stephen. 'So let me say again, I
Dwight laughed. 'So you see, Caroline.'
His wife said: 'I see nothing but an obstinate misunderstanding of my meaning. Of course Poldarks are unique and to themselves, apart. No, no, I intend no irony. No one could see you or Ross pursuing the conventional rounds, as it were. It would be a perversion of all you stand for in the county. Nevertheless, daughters - and sons for that matter - should be given the opportunity of seeing a fair sample of the opposite sex before they choose. And, since I see you are both against me, I can only add that it was my wide acquaintanceship with the landed youth of Oxfordshire that made me all the more instantly aware of the sterling qualities of Dr Enys.'
'Landless and penniless as I was,' said Dwight. 'I don't really believe calculation or deep perception entered into it with either of us, Caroline. We saw each other. And when we'd done that we'd eyes for no one else.'
'There you put your finger on it all,' said Demelza, helping herself to port and trying to convince herself. 'Of course it is better that every daughter and every son should meet as many as possible of their own age. But who's to say the twenty-third man you meet has anything to commend him over the third? If with the third the fire has been lighted, no extra numbers can put it out. And if in all you only have six to choose from . . . will the choice be any worse? I don't know. I saw only one. But then I was different. I was beyond measure lucky.'
'Consider Ross,' said Caroline. 'The luck didn't run just one way.'
Demelza patted her hand. 'We can argue about that.'
'Well,' said Caroline, 'it is good for old friends to have something to argue about at twenty minutes before one o'clock on the first of January, eighteen hundred and eleven. I'm tired of toasting "Death to the French", for I've been doing it for nearly two decades. So let us toast to ourselves - and absent friends.'
II
Early January was fine and still in Cornwall, with the ground soft and damp and no bite to the air. All the unrelenting savagery that the weather and the sea were capable of was withdrawn, held in abeyance, scarcely to be considered as a serious threat. No sun came through; the days passed under grey, mild, still skies. Compared with two weeks before, a little daylight seemed to have crept into the afternoons.
One day Stephen Carrington said to Clowance: 'This house. This Trenwith House that you say is near and belongs to your cousin - which way is it?'
'Just past Grambler. You know, the village. About four miles.'
'Could we walk there? They tell me it is more than two hundred years old, and I am interested in old buildings.'
Clowance hesitated. 'Well, officially it belongs to my cousin Geoffrey Charles Poldark, but his stepfather, Sir George Warleggan, actually takes care of it for him, and Sir George does not encourage visitors.'
'Does he live there?'
'Oh no. Just two gamekeepers who care for the place for him. But he is not friendly with our family, and my mother has forbidden me to go there again.'
Stephen thrust a hand through his thick hair. 'Well, I have the greatest respect and admiration for Mrs Poldark, and I should be the last to encourage you to disobey. She is a very beautiful woman.'
'Who? My mother? Yes, I suppose so ...'
'Had you not noticed? Perhaps not, for you are very like her.'
'I think I am very un like her - different colouring, bigger bones, different shaped face ...'
'No, no you take me wrong. I mean that Mrs Poldark for a beautiful woman is the least conceited about it that ever I've met. Almost unaware - after all these years still a little surprised when a man's eyes light up with - with admiration. It is in that I mean you are like her. You are ... unaware.'
'If that is intended as a compliment,' said Clowance , 'then I'm obliged to you.'
'The more I struggle the deeper I flounder,' said Stephen. 'So let me say again, I
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