The Black Swan

Everything seemed different now. I was looking forward to being home. We had to make plans and decide how we were going to live. I wanted to keep Manor Grange and why should we not? It would be difficult to find a more attractive house. I had seen what he called his pied-à-terre in London. It was a narrow house with two rooms on each floor-there were eight in all, and that included two in the basement. “It seemed quite enough for Phillida and me while we were up here,” he explained, “and we saw no reason to change.”

He had recently sold the country house in Yorkshire, he told me. “That was about a year ago. It seemed the wise thing to do. We could not get there very often. We were never very happy there after our parents died. We should have sold it long ago. When I am in Yorkshire now I stay at an hotel in Bradford.”

So the pied-à-terre was his only home.

“Phillida and I never cared much about possessions,” he explained. “In that case, we’ll make Manor Grange our home, and when you have to be in London there will be the pied-à-terre.”

“Yes. Perhaps it is best to leave it like that for a while. Let’s see how it goes.

We’re together. That’s all that matters.”

There was a great welcome for us at Manor Grange.

Phillida was in the hall, her eyes wide with excitement. She hugged us both. “I’m so glad to see you,” she cried. “I’ve missed you so much. I’ve just been counting the days. My goodness, you look well... both of you. You’ve had too much sun. You have to be careful of foreign sun.”

“It’s the same old sun, you know,” said Roland.

“Yes, but at a different angle or something. However, I must say you look well.”

She looked a little anxious for a moment. “And you have had a wonderful time.” It was almost as though she were urging us to tell her so that she could be reassured that everything had gone well. I thought what a delightful person she was to care so much for us.

“We have had a wonderful time. We’ve seen Naples,” I told her.

“Don’t they say ‘See Naples and die’?”

“That means it’s so wonderful you must see it before you die.”

“It’s an odd way of expressing it, don’t you think, Lucie? ‘See Naples and die.’

“ She laughed as though it were a great joke.

Roland said rather sharply, “It was all wonderful. We’ve had a most thrilling time.”

“And now you’re back, and it is lovely to see you. I’ve had a hot bottle put in your bed.”

“Was that necessary?” I asked.

“I thought it might be a little damp. And I told them to light a fire. It’s chilly in the evening.”

“How have you been getting along?” I asked.

“Splendidly. I love it here. It’s a wonderful old house.”

We went to our room. It looked comfortable and inviting. I resisted the temptation to go to the window. Roland would know why I did it, so I desisted. Roland left me alone to unpack and while I was doing this there was a knock on the door and Mrs. Emery came in.

“I trust everything is satisfactory, Miss Lucie. Oh ... I suppose I mustn’t call you that anymore. It’s Mrs. Fitzgerald I suppose now.”

“You may call me what you like, Mrs. Emery. I think it is going to take a little time to get used to Mrs. Fitzgerald. Everything is fine.”

“Oh.” She nodded, but I could see that something was wrong because of the pursed lips and the tilt of the head. I was on the point of asking but I decided to postpone it, for there was little time now as dinner would be served in half an hour. I said, “We’ll have a little chat tomorrow, Mrs. Emery.”

“Yes,” she replied. “Thank you, Miss Lucie. I’d appreciate that.”

“It’s good to be home.”

“I hope it was a happy honeymoon.”

“It was wonderful.”

“Emery will be glad to hear of that... and so am I.”

“Tomorrow then, Mrs. Emery, we’ll have our little chat.”

She was satisfied temporarily, but I was faintly disturbed. What could be wrong? However I did not give a great deal of thought to the matter for I knew that, good housekeeper that she was, she easily took offense if she thought her authority had been flouted.

Phillida chattered throughout dinner-in fact, she scarcely stopped.

“My tongue is running away from me,” she said. “I can hear Roland saying, ‘Nothing extraordinary about that,’ but I am so glad to have you back. I’ve spent the time thinking about what I could do to make things comfortable for you. Oh, I don’t mean that this isn’t a comfortable house... and the servants are just wonderful... but, you know what I mean... that extra something. I put flowers in the room. I hope you liked them, Lucie.” I said indeed I did and I thanked her. It was true that I had noticed them in passing but I had been so eager to unpack and, when Mrs. Emery had come in nursing some grievance, I had forgotten about the flowers.

“I thought they would be a little extra welcome home.”

“They were,” I replied. “It was thoughtful of you.”

“I do want to be useful here. You see, Lucie, this is your house....”

Both she and Roland were looking at me anxiously.