The pool of St Branok

"Well, your father wouldn't have it. He has insisted on paying Peter what was owed to him and the house is now yours. You need have no qualms because it is part of the money which would have been yours in any case. But it was generous of Peter to offer. He is a strange man. He has always been kind to me. My mother hated him. There are shady aspects of his life, but he has good points."

"Most people have two sides to their natures. No one is entirely good ... no one entirely bad, it seems to me."

"Perhaps so. I thought you would like to know about the house. I think Morwenna will probably be coming to Cornwall. The Pencarrons have been talking to us about the future. They have been so wretched ... missing Morwenna so much, Mr. Pencarron will make a very tempting offer to keep Justin down there."

"You mean to work with him?"

"After all, it seems sensible. All they have will pass to Morwenna one day and that will mean Justin. I am sure Mr. Pencarron wants it all for the generations to come and young Pedrek to take over in due course. That's the sort of man he is. I thought it would be nice for you to have Morwenna near. It will be like old times. Oh, Angelet, I am so happy to have you back. It is desperately sad that Gervaise is not with you ... but let's be thankful for what we have."

Thankful for what we had! That was what I intended to be.

Morwenna told me that Justin had agreed to go to Cornwall and work for her father.

"It has made me so happy," she said. "I hated being away from Pa and Mother ... and they adore Pedrek. It has all worked out so well for me. If only it could have for you, Angelet."

"I'll be all right," I said. "I have my family around me ... and wasn't it a wonderful welcome home? And there is always Rebecca."

So I came back to Cador.

Everything had been done to make me happy. There was my old room looking as though I had never left it.

There was a cradle in it. "I thought at first," said my mother, "that you would like to have Rebecca with you. We'll get busy when you like, fitting up the nursery. Several of the girls are hoping to be the one selected to look after her. I thought about getting in touch with Nanny Crossley. She was very good with you and Jack."

"Could we have a little time for a while to think about it?" I asked. "Rebecca is very young yet. I looked after her in Australia ... with the help of the local midwife at first ... and with all the assistance I get here ... I can manage. And later on, we'll decide."

"You feel unsettled as yet, I know," said my mother. "It's natural. Your father says you need time to settle after all you have gone through in Australia."

My brother Jack seemed to have grown up while I was away. His welcome was no less warm, if less emotional, than that of my parents. He was now helping a great deal on the Cador estate which would one day be his.

He was very interested in Australia and asked all sorts of questions while my parents listened anxiously, afraid that so much talk would open up old wounds.

Morwenna came to Cador often and I went over to Pencarron. She was very happy. Justin was settling in and her father thought that he was quite an astute business man. Pedrek was an adorable two-year-old ... a year older than Rebecca; and they played together happily.

I could not resist going to the pool. It still seemed eerie and the memory of what had happened there was as vivid as ever. I stood on the brink of those dark waters and tried to probe their mystery. All this time he had lain down there at the bottom of the pool which was said to be bottomless.

I rode along the shore to the old boathouse; I went to the town and down to the quay. Nothing seemed to have changed much. The fishing smacks were dancing on the waves; the men were gutting fish and one of the older men was sitting on the stones mending his nets. Mrs. Fenny was at her door. "Good day to 'ee, Miss Angel. So you be back eh? And brought a little 'un with 'ee. It were a terrible thing what 'appened to that 'usband of yours. Don't 'ee fret, me dear. 'Tis well you'm back. Going to foreign parts never done no one no good." There was Miss Grant, crocheting away in the wool shop, coming to call a greeting as I passed. "Nice to see 'ee back, Miss Angelet." There was old Penny leg and his barman rolling barrels down to his cellar. "Welcome 'ome, Miss Angelet." There were furtive looks of commiseration for the widow who had lost her young husband so tragically, and nobly.

I said to my mother, "Nothing changes in the Poldoreys. Here it seems just the same as it ever was."

"Yes. People die and get born... . You remember old Reuben Stubbs in the cottage near Branok Pool?"

I started as I always did at the mention of that place.

"Old Reuben, of course. He was quite a character, and what of his daughter? Jenny, wasn't it?"

"That's what I am going to tell you. Reuben died before you were married."