The adulteress

I liked Isabel Forster very much. She was the sort of woman in whom I could confide. It was strange how my fate seemed wrapped up in Enderby. I half wanted to go and half wanted to stay away, for I couldn't enter the place without remembering that day when Gerard had said he would show me the house. I wondered whether the brocade curtains still enclosed the four-poster bed or whether Isabel Forster had changed the inside of the house as much as she had outside. I felt if I went to sleep I would dream of that house ... lying in the bed there with my lover beside me ... while the sounds of the nearby fair echoed in my ears. Then I would long to be back in time. I was never going to forget.

So I lay thinking of long-ago adventures, of my own sweet daughter in whom I fancied I sometimes saw something of Gerard. Oh, it was long ago. It must be forgotten as he surely would forget. I wanted to go home. There was very little I could do here. Uncle Carl was in his doctor's hands. If he grew very much worse they could let me know. He might go on for years in this state ... and it was clear that Jessie—with the help of the doctor—would do everything in her power to keep him alive.

I dozed. Then I was awake. I wondered what Dickon was doing now. He was hardly likely to be in bed. Would he try to see Evalina? I could imagine what would happen if he did. But I didn't want to think of Dickon. I was just angry that he had dared to follow me here, pretending that it was his mother and mine who had insisted that he come. As if anything would ever get Dickon to do what he did not want to.

No, he was fascinated by Eversleigh. Perhaps he wanted to see Evalina again. I was sure the fact that she now had a husband would have little effect on his plans.

I had dozed again and awakened startled.

I had been dreaming and my dream had been vivid. I was in the room. It was the night which had just passed. Jessie was at the bedside and so was Dr. Cabel. I was looking down at my uncle and his hand was lying on the coverlet.

I was staring at his hand—at the signet ring with the unmistakable Eversleigh crest on it. But it was his hand which held my attention. It was pale, unblemished. Where the flowers of death had been there was just plain white skin.

I sat up in bed.

No. I was imagining it. But I had it so clearly in the dream. Why should I dream that? I could really believe that the hand I saw in my dream was exactly as I had seen it that night. Had a faint surprise come to me then? It had been disturbed by the sudden realization that Dickon was in the room.

No. It was just imagination. I had just not noticed.

I lay down and tried to sleep, but it was a long time before I was able to.

When I got up next morning the imaginings of the night seemed not worth thinking of for a moment. My main concern was to avoid Dickon. I went for a walk almost to the sea and back. I was hoping I would meet someone from Enderby but I thought it was too soon to call yet—which I should have liked to do.

We met for the midday meal. Dickon was in high spirits. He told us he had explored the house and called on Amos. He had ridden out with Amos for about an hour and he was delighted to be back.

"Eversleigh!" he cried. "What a mine of treasure! Well, I suppose it has been collected through the centuries. I couldn't find one or two of my favorite pieces from last time I was here. I suspect you, Mistress Jessie!" He paused and wagged a finger at her. She blanched and I saw her fingers catch at the table. "Yes," he went on, "I suspect you of that female habit of changing things round."

She relaxed a little. "Well, I like a bit of change ... now and then."

"Don't we all," said Dickon. "Variety adds flavor to the monotony of the day. When I was last here I was very taken with the jade collection. Uncle Carl traveled a great deal and picked up some pieces, as they say. I reckon his jade is worth a good deal."

"He acted a bit strange before his seizure," said Jessie.

"That's not unusual," put in the doctor. "You did tell me something about that. Didn't he have an obsession about being short of money and talk of selling some of his possessions ... pictures, I thought you said."

"I wasn't sure," said Jessie. "He'd have people to the house ... and then perhaps you'd notice something wasn't there... . You'd just find it gone. But he used to hide things. Put them in different places."

"How very disconcerting," said Dickon. "Well, there is that piece of jade I missed. I'll go hunting. I expect he's put it somewhere. It'll be a pleasant exercise. I do hope he didn't sell the incense burner. That was a very special piece, I believe, ..and a great favorite of mine."

"It's very likely here somewhere," said Jessie. "You must describe it to me and I'll get the maids to look. It's very likely hidden away in some place you'd least think to find it."

"We'll have a new game ... hunt the jade," said Dickon. "By the way, I hope he wasn't upset last night."

"Well, he was a little disturbed," said the doctor.