Snare of Serpents (30 page)

“Thank you,” he said. “You see, I have a child …”

“Yes, I did hear that.”

“Paul. He is named after a very distinguished man whom his mother greatly admired. Of course, she couldn’t give the child the name exactly … rather too ponderous, one might say. Stephanus Johannes Paulus … so she was contented with simply Paul. After Kruger … the great man over there. If the child had been a girl I’ve no doubt it would have been Paula. People do that sometimes … turn the male into the female and vice versa.”

Why did he say this? I was Davina; my father had been David. It was almost as though he were hinting at something. He was a disturbing man; I was sorry that he was the one from whom we had to take help.

I said quickly: “How old is the boy?”

“Nine, coming up to ten.”

“You will be pleased to be home with him.”

“I shall be pleased to be back, yes. I shall be starting a new life. It is no use living in the past, is it? We have to realise that.”

He gazed at me intently and I rose.

“I must be going,” I said. “Lilias … Miss Milne … will be so glad to have the address. I can’t tell you how grateful we are. This has made such a difference.”

“It has been my pleasure,” he said. “Don’t forget, either of you: I shall be there … if you need me.”

He took my hand and pressed it.

“Well,” he said. “You’ve saved me a journey to the vicarage, and it was so pleasant to have a little chat with you in the graveyard, Miss Grey.”

I went back to the vicarage, trying hard to shake off that feeling of uneasiness which he aroused in me.

I
THOUGHT
I
OWED
a letter of thanks to Ninian Grainger, after all the trouble he had taken, to tell him of the progress we had made. I wrote:

Dear Mr. Grainger,

Miss Milne and I are so grateful for your help. As I told you, we went to see Mrs. Crown and shall be calling on her again shortly, we hope.

It is our great good fortune that a Mr. Roger Lestrange, who is here on business and staying at the big house in the neighbourhood, comes from South Africa and he is helping us considerably. He knows of a school and it seems that Miss Milne and I may be able to work together there. This is a wonderful piece of luck because, as you can imagine, we were somewhat apprehensive as to how long it would be before we were able to find posts in a foreign country. We feel much happier now and are awaiting confirmation from South Africa. When this comes we shall be very relieved.

I hope all goes well with you and thank you once more for all the help you have given us.

D.

I had, of course, written to Zillah.

She wrote back and said how sorry she would be when I had gone, but she quite understood why I wanted to go.

Your Mr. Lestrange sounds an absolute darling and I should love to meet him. Your Mr. Grainger continues to call. I wonder why! South Africa seems a very long way away. I shall come down to see you off. I must do that. I suppose you haven’t any dates yet? Still … let me know when you have.

I’m going to hate it when you’ve gone. True, you’ve been away for some time, but I know you are not far-off.

Keep in touch.

Your loving Z
ILLAH

The wedding day had arrived. I went to the church and heard Lilias’ father pronounce Myra Ellington and Roger Lestrange man and wife.

Afterwards we went to the reception to which Mrs. Ellington had graciously invited us and in due course the couple left for their honeymoon.

Myra looked very happy and I remarked—with fervour—to Lilias that I hoped she would remain so.

“You sound doubtful,” said Lilias.

“Do I? Well, they do say that marriage is something of a lottery. You have to draw the right number or whatever it is.”

“You’ve become a cynic.”

She was full of hope now, and I understood how frustrating those months at home must have been for her.

The honeymoon was still in progress when we received a letter from South Africa. It was signed by a Jan Van Der Groot. He said he was pleased to hear from Mr. Roger Lestrange that we contemplated coming out to South Africa to teach. There had been only one teacher in the school in the past, for it was very small. But if we liked to come and share the salary, there would be room for us both, for the living quarters which were part of the school would certainly be big enough. The place had been shut up for some months, but it would be made ready for our arrival.

We read it together.

“One salary,” said Lilias.

“It’s yours. I have my own money. I shall be all right.”

“It’s a little disappointing …”

“It’s not, Lilias. We’ll be together. It’s a chance to make a fresh start.”

“But the money … and I have to pay back …”

“There’s nothing to worry about. I don’t need to work. I’ll be all right. We’ll make that school grow, Lilias. It’s a challenge … a way out.”

Her spirits revived. It was not all that we had hoped for, but it was more than we could expect.

Everything moved quickly after that.

We went to see Mrs. Crown once more. We had decided. We were going to South Africa. We already had employment waiting for us.

“Congratulations!” said Mrs. Crown. “You’ve been lucky. We’ll get you a passage as soon as possible.”

And this is what she did.

We were to sail on the
Queen of the South
to Cape Town and from there make the journey across the country to Kimberley.

Kimberley

Outward Bound

THE TIME for our departure was approaching. In less than a week we were to sail. Acting on the advice of Mrs. Crown, we had sent the bulk of our luggage to the docks; and after the harassed preparations of the last few days we had come to a lull when there seemed to be nothing to do.

Lilias and I were sitting in the garden going over, for at least the hundredth time, all the things we had to do before we left, asking ourselves if we had packed all we needed in the little luggage we were taking with us. We were to leave the vicarage the day before we sailed, spending a night in a hotel near the docks which Mrs. Crown had arranged for us. Zillah had been helpful and had sent those possessions which I had wanted to take with me straight to the docks; this was a great help and it had meant that I had not had to return to Edinburgh which would have been very painful for me.

Now everything was settled and there was nothing to do but wait.

As we sat there Jane came out.

“There’s a young man who has called to see you, Diana,” she said. “His name is Mr. Grainger.”

I felt myself flush. I was tingling with pleasure. All I could say was: “Oh … so he’s come …”

Lilias, to whom I had talked of him and confessed something of my feelings for him, and who, perhaps, guessed a little more, said: “He’ll want to talk to you. I’ll go in.” Then: “Bring him out, Jane. They can talk in the garden. It’s pleasant out here.”

Ninian came to me and, taking both my hands in his, held them firmly.

“I felt I had to come and see you before you left,” he said.

“That is very good of you.”

“It’s a big step you are taking.”

“Let’s sit down. A big step? Yes. But we have thought a good deal about it and in the circumstances it seems a good thing.”

“I’m so glad Miss Milne is going with you.”

“Yes, that is a great piece of luck for me.”

“Tell me about this Mr. Lestrange.”

“He’s a friend of the Ellingtons who live in the big house here. He’s engaged in big business and I think Mr. Ellington has some connections in it. I don’t really know much about it. But I expect it has something to do with diamonds. He lives in Kimberley, you see, and when he came over Myra Ellington and he fell in love and married.”

“It sounds like a whirlwind romance.”

“It was. He was a widower. I gathered his wife died … not long ago. He probably came to England to get away from it all … and he met Myra Ellington.”

“So it all turned out well for him.”

“The fact of the matter is that they are going back to Kimberley. I believe they will actually be sailing on the same ship.”

“I’d like to meet Mr. and Mrs. Lestrange.”

“I don’t suppose you will. Are you going back tomorrow?”

“I thought I’d come and see you off.”

“Oh!” I was amazed but inordinately pleased. I kept thinking how strange it was that he should continue to show such interest. I had told myself many times that it was because I was still
smarting from Jamie’s rejection … but it was something beyond that. I hated to confess it, but one of the reasons why I regretted leaving England was because I should never see him again. That was quite foolish, I knew; I constantly reminded myself that all I meant to him was an interesting case which had brought him quite useful success.

“I’ve booked in at the Royal Oak,” he said. “I thought I could travel down to Tilbury with you and be of some help.”

“What a lovely idea! But can you spare the time?”

“Just about,” he said.

“Are you comfortable at the Royal Oak?”

“Very comfortable.”

“That’s good, because it is the only hotel around here.”

“I’m glad it’s so near. Tell me about the school.”

“I don’t know much except what I have told you already. I am sure we shall be able to manage all right. Lilias is a wonderful teacher, and I shall try to follow in her footsteps.”

“And this has all come about through Mr. Lestrange. What do you know of him?”

“Only what I’ve told you. He’s engaged in the diamond business; he’s apparently wealthy; he’s a widower with a son named Paul; he is considered to be very attractive and is a good match for Myra Ellington.”

“What about Myra herself?”

“I don’t know much about her either. She is very pleasant and quiet … not like her mother. She’s very good at … doing what she is told. I could never understand why she has not married long ago. I should not have thought Mrs. Ellington would have been the sort of woman to allow her daughter to remain unmarried. But I suppose most of them want to ensure their daughters’ financial security … and with Myra, Mrs. Ellington does not have to consider this. It seems that she is quite well off in her own right.”

“Perhaps I shall meet them.”

“Perhaps. But everyone’s very busy. Mrs. Crown has been very good. She has arranged everything for us. We are spending our last night in England in a hotel called Harbour View,
which speaks for itself, and we shall be right on the spot for the day we sail.”

“I’ll book in there.”

I must have shown my surprise, for he said: “I feel responsible for you! After all, I introduced you to Mrs. Crown.”

“It was the best thing you could have done.”

“I do hope so,” he said fervently.

Daisy came out with some coffee.

“Miss Jane thought you could do with this,” she said.

There was a small table under a tree and she set the tray on this; and we drew up our chairs.