Mummy.'
'No. You've had more than your share today.'
`Can I go out and play until Papa comes?'
`No, darling. You can play until your supper's ready. Don't be far away when I call you. . . . And put on your cap!'
Geoffrey Charles galloped from the room, and Elizabeth looked up at the clock. It was nearly half past six.
Chapter Seven.
Ross was back just before eight He found Demelza upstairs repairing for the fifth time the curtains over the north windows of their bedroom. She hadn't heard him come.
`Why, Ross! You're earlier than I expected. Have you supped?'
'Sufficiently. What are you doing?'
`A little tear that Jeremy made this morning. He dearly likes something to cling to for support.'
`Soon you'll have made new curtains with your stitches.'
`Not quite so bad. What was in your letter?'
He sat in a chair and began to pull at his boots; then as she came over, he let her pull them off instead. It was a relic of their old days which for some reason she liked to preserve. While she was doing it, he told her what the letter said.
'And it was true, about the mortgage, I mean?'
He nodded. `True enough. When I borrowed the money; my first concern was to get it; I didn't greatly care how, It was Pearce when I went to him who first spoke of a second mortgage. The next day he produced the money and I signed the paper for it.... I accepted this as a form of mortgage, though in fact it was a promissory note. I suppose I knew, but I paid no heed to it at the time. Nor should I have needed to if Pearce had kept possession of it, as any friend and honest man would, I went to visit him. D'you think me a bully, Demelza?'
`Were you rough with Mr Pearce?'
`I didn't put a finger on him, but I suppose I was rough in manner; I thumped his table and broke the lid of his snuffbox. He quivered like a jelly, all fat and no backbone; but the damage is done. The bill has been passed on as Pascoe said, and Cary Warleggan now possesses it. So we have to face that.'
'You didn't go to see him?'
`I called at his house, but he was away. I think it was the truth, for the blinds were down.'
`And what now, Ross?'
`The Warleggans can do nothing until November. Then they can give me a month to redeem the note. In December I must find fourteen hundred pounds or default.'
She put his boots beside the chair but remained; kneeling, her elbows on his knees, looking not at him but into space.' `Can we borrow no money elsewhere?' `I don't know.'
What shall you do?'
`There are seven weeks before the notice 'can be' given. I have Pascoe to thank for that. And four more after that before it takes effect.'
She did not much like the look on his face, and she, wriggled her knees round and got up.
She said: `Are you sure Cary will do this, will demand repayment?'
Would you not if you felt as they do for me?' `Have I ever seen Cary?'
`At that party. A man of fifty-odd with small ey es and an uncomfortable way of using them. George, though I detest him, has certain principles - at least I think so. Cary has none. 'He's the moneylender of the family, the scavenger. George is accepted in most circles of society. So on he will be in all. That will impose some standards on him. Nicholas, his father, of, course, is reputable enough. Uncle Car y, the best hated of them all.'
She shivered; `I w ish I could earn money, Ross. I wish I could help you in some way. All I do is - is mend your, curtains and bear your child and see after the farm and cook your meals and –“
`I should: have thought that one person's work.'
'But there's no money in it! Not even a gold piece. O ne thousand four hundred pounds ! I'd steal it if I could, turn highwayman or bank thief! Harris Pascoe would, never miss it. Why does; he not lend it you?'
Ross looked at her gravely, wryly, `This Is a new phase. Always before you've been pressing me to keep within the law He stopped as there - was a knock on the door. It was Gimlett to say, that Tabb was below and wanted to know
'No. You've had more than your share today.'
`Can I go out and play until Papa comes?'
`No, darling. You can play until your supper's ready. Don't be far away when I call you. . . . And put on your cap!'
Geoffrey Charles galloped from the room, and Elizabeth looked up at the clock. It was nearly half past six.
Chapter Seven.
Ross was back just before eight He found Demelza upstairs repairing for the fifth time the curtains over the north windows of their bedroom. She hadn't heard him come.
`Why, Ross! You're earlier than I expected. Have you supped?'
'Sufficiently. What are you doing?'
`A little tear that Jeremy made this morning. He dearly likes something to cling to for support.'
`Soon you'll have made new curtains with your stitches.'
`Not quite so bad. What was in your letter?'
He sat in a chair and began to pull at his boots; then as she came over, he let her pull them off instead. It was a relic of their old days which for some reason she liked to preserve. While she was doing it, he told her what the letter said.
'And it was true, about the mortgage, I mean?'
He nodded. `True enough. When I borrowed the money; my first concern was to get it; I didn't greatly care how, It was Pearce when I went to him who first spoke of a second mortgage. The next day he produced the money and I signed the paper for it.... I accepted this as a form of mortgage, though in fact it was a promissory note. I suppose I knew, but I paid no heed to it at the time. Nor should I have needed to if Pearce had kept possession of it, as any friend and honest man would, I went to visit him. D'you think me a bully, Demelza?'
`Were you rough with Mr Pearce?'
`I didn't put a finger on him, but I suppose I was rough in manner; I thumped his table and broke the lid of his snuffbox. He quivered like a jelly, all fat and no backbone; but the damage is done. The bill has been passed on as Pascoe said, and Cary Warleggan now possesses it. So we have to face that.'
'You didn't go to see him?'
`I called at his house, but he was away. I think it was the truth, for the blinds were down.'
`And what now, Ross?'
`The Warleggans can do nothing until November. Then they can give me a month to redeem the note. In December I must find fourteen hundred pounds or default.'
She put his boots beside the chair but remained; kneeling, her elbows on his knees, looking not at him but into space.' `Can we borrow no money elsewhere?' `I don't know.'
What shall you do?'
`There are seven weeks before the notice 'can be' given. I have Pascoe to thank for that. And four more after that before it takes effect.'
She did not much like the look on his face, and she, wriggled her knees round and got up.
She said: `Are you sure Cary will do this, will demand repayment?'
Would you not if you felt as they do for me?' `Have I ever seen Cary?'
`At that party. A man of fifty-odd with small ey es and an uncomfortable way of using them. George, though I detest him, has certain principles - at least I think so. Cary has none. 'He's the moneylender of the family, the scavenger. George is accepted in most circles of society. So on he will be in all. That will impose some standards on him. Nicholas, his father, of, course, is reputable enough. Uncle Car y, the best hated of them all.'
She shivered; `I w ish I could earn money, Ross. I wish I could help you in some way. All I do is - is mend your, curtains and bear your child and see after the farm and cook your meals and –“
`I should: have thought that one person's work.'
'But there's no money in it! Not even a gold piece. O ne thousand four hundred pounds ! I'd steal it if I could, turn highwayman or bank thief! Harris Pascoe would, never miss it. Why does; he not lend it you?'
Ross looked at her gravely, wryly, `This Is a new phase. Always before you've been pressing me to keep within the law He stopped as there - was a knock on the door. It was Gimlett to say, that Tabb was below and wanted to know
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