POVERTY'S PRIDE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (Part Two)

                        CHAPTER THIRTEEN (Part Two)

‘Will Mama be at dinner, Roz?’

     Rosalind tied the last ribbon in Pricilla’s long golden hair as she prepared the girl to go down to dine.

     ‘I’m sure she will,’ Rosalind said. ‘Your uncle and aunt, too.’

     Pricilla turned to look at her and Rosalind saw her eyes were shiny with as yet unshed tears. ‘I’ve seen so little of her since she came home, Roz.’ She checked a sob. ‘It’s almost as if she doesn’t want to be with me.’

     Rosalind stroked the girl’s hair. ‘I’m sure that’s not true, Pricilla. Your mother is under...a strain.’ She was going to say under a cloud but thought better of it. ‘It must be difficult for her coming back after what happened.’

     ‘What did happen?’

     Rosalind felt awkward. How could she explain such a thing to a child? ‘You must ask your father, I think,’ she said.

     To her relief the dinner gong sounded.

     ‘Come along,’ she said more cheerfully to Pricilla. ‘We mustn’t be late.’

     Leaving the girl’s room they went along the passage towards the staircase passing Melissa’s room as they did so. The older girl’s door stood ajar and Pricilla went in.

     ‘Are you ready, Mel? The gong has sounded.’

     Melissa was seated before her vanity table, staring at her own reflection in the mirror.

     ‘Mel?’

     Melissa turned at their entry and Rosalind saw she had been crying. She looked so woebegone Rosalind’s heart was touched.

     ‘I don’t understand why Mama is so cold to us, Pricilla,’ Melissa said, her voice ragged. ‘I don’t think she loves us anymore.’ She put both hands over her face and burst into tears again.

     Rosalind went to her and hesitantly put an arm around her shoulders uncertain how her act of comfort would be taken. To her surprise Melissa grasped her hand eagerly.

‘I’m sure that’s not true, Melissa,’ she said gently. ‘It has taken great courage for her to return to Cliff House after...’

‘I heard her quarrelling with Papa earlier,’ Melissa said in a rush. ‘She sounded so contemptuous of him.’

‘You shouldn’t have been eavesdropping, Melissa,’ Rosalind said. ‘Their conversation was private.’

Melissa turned up her tear-stained face. ‘I didn’t mean to listen, Rosalind. I went along to Mama’s room hoping she would see me but Papa was already there.’

‘Melissa, you are old enough to know that feelings will be strained at present,’ Rosalind said. ‘You mustn’t expect things to be as they once were.’

‘She’s going to leave us again,’ Melissa said wretchedly. ‘I heard her say so.’

‘Oh no!’ Pricilla sat on the bed and began to cry.

‘Come along now, the two of you,’ Rosalind said hastily. ‘Wash your faces. We must go down to dinner. Your grandfather will not like it if we are late.’

She poured some water from a china jug into a bowl. ‘You first Melissa and then Pricilla. We must keep up appearances for your father’s sake.’

Having made them more presentable, Rosalind held the hand of each girl as they descended the staircase into the hall.

Cynthia Trevellian, Richard Whillowby and Lady Daphne appeared making their way towards the dining room.

‘Mama!’ Pricilla cried out and would have rushed down the remaining stairs had not Rosalind held her back firmly.

At that moment the door of Sir Leopold’s study was thrown open violently. All heard Sir Leopold bellowing like a maddened bull.

‘I’ll not sit at table with that strumpet of a wife of yours,’ he stormed. ‘In fact I’ll not have her under my roof.’  

Cedric stood in the doorway looking back into the room, his shoulders tense. ‘Father you are unreasonable!’

‘This is my house and she is not welcome,’ Sir Leopold stormed. ‘Whillowby can take her back to the gutter where he found her. I want her out of my house tonight.’

Over his shoulder Cedric cast a dismayed glance at those who stood in the hall and then went back into the study closing the door behind him.

Everyone looked stunned for a moment. Cynthia Trevellian moved first. She walked quickly to the staircase and began to climb.

‘Daphne, have your maid Phoebe pack my things,’ she said calmly as she went.

‘But Cynthia...’

‘I hate this house anyway,’ Cynthia said bitterly. ‘I shall repair to the cottage. That has always been my refuge anyway.’

She passed them on the staircase her head held high and stiff, ignoring her daughters as she did so. Rosalind, still holding the girl’s hands could feel them each trembling. At that moment she despised Cedric’s wife for her cruelty to her children.

Whillowby and Lady Daphne still stood like statues in the hall. There was fury in Richard’s face and dismay in Lady’s Daphne’s.

     Rosalind decided to act. ‘Come along girls,’ she said steadily. ‘We must dine as usual.’

     She led them to the dining-room, conscious that Lady Daphne and Richard Whillowby followed. They took their places around the table and Linda and Maggie began to serve the first course.

     Neither Sir Leopold nor Cedric made an appearance at table, and the meal was eaten in an icy silence. Even Pricilla, who usually chattered throughout dinner, was subdued.

     Cliff House was already under a dreadful pall with the impending funeral of Jonathan the following day. But now with Sir Leopold’s bitter enmity towards his daughter-in-law erupting unrestrained Rosalind could feel the wretchedness and misery like a great weight on her head.

     Despite her growing tender feelings for Cedric Trevellian, not for the first time, Rosalind wished she had never set foot in the house on the cliff.