Филиппа Карр: The pool of St Branok

"One of those old places, eh?"

"It's my home."

"Tell me about your grandfather."

"Well, he went off with the gypsies and a man who called himself a gentleman attacked a gypsy girl. My grandfather stopped him and in doing so, killed him. It was said to be murder and he was sent to Australia for seven years."

"A light sentence for murder."

"It wasn't really murder. It was a righteous killing. And my grandmother, who was a little girl then, saved him, or she made her father do so. My grandfather served his term, prospered out there and when he came back to England, he and my grandmother were married."

"A happy ending then."

"At first. They had my uncle Jacco and my mother and were very happy, but they all went out to Australia and they were drowned there ... all but my mother. She was the only one left because by chance she hadn't gone sailing with them that day."

"So Australia kept him in the end."

I nodded.

"I've heard some tales of people who have come out."

"Yes, I daresay. It seems to be a place where things happen."

"Everywhere is a place where things happen."

"Well, I'm glad you decided to come here, Ben."

"So am I."

Amaryllis came out with my mother. Amaryllis looked a little nervous of Benedict but he smiled at her without embarrassment. He was quite at home.

He talked for a while about Australia and how he was finding London as exciting as he had thought it would be. He asked if he could ride here. Aunt Amaryllis said that people rode in the Row and she was sure that could be arranged.

"I bet you're a regular horsewoman," he said to me.

"Well," I replied. "I love riding and I do quite a lot of it at Cador."

"Perhaps we could take a ride together."

"I'd love it."

My mother and Aunt Amaryllis looked a little apprehensive and Aunt Amaryllis said that luncheon would be served in half an hour.

I did go riding in Rotten Row with him and Jonnie and Geoffrey. I found it very different from riding in Cornwall. Many of the fashionable people were there and there were continual nods of recognition. I could ride every bit as well as the London boys, but I could see that Benedict was a very fine horseman indeed; and I rather wished that we were somewhere where he could show off his skills.

He talked—most of the time to me. "You ought to see the outback," he said. He described the land. "Scrub and hills," he said, "with the gum trees everywhere."

"And kangaroos?" I asked.

"Surely. Kangaroos."

"They have little babies in their pouches. I've seen pictures of them."

"Little things about half an inch long when they're born."

He told us about Sydney with its wonderful harbor ... all the little bays and inlets, the beautiful foliage and the brightly colored birds.

"And convicts," I said.

"Yes ... still them. But less than we used to have and there are many settlers there now who have come out to make something of the place and they're doing it."

Jonnie came up on the other side of me. Geoffrey was a little way ahead.

"Would you like to go, Jonnie?" I asked.

"Well ... for a visit. I'd rather live here."

"How do you know?" I demanded. "You've never been there. Ben will be able to tell us which is best because he'll have been there and here. What do you think, Ben?"

"I haven't made up my mind yet."

We were able to canter for a while. It was very exhilarating.

I was liking Ben more and more.

Ben was accepted into the household, and as no one seemed to find his presence an embarrassment, it wasn't. This was largely due to Uncle Peter, who behaved as though it was the most natural thing in the world for the result of an early peccadillo to come home to roost. He carried everything before him, as I learned later he had once before when a scandal had threatened to wreck his career—and did so to a certain extent except that he would not allow it to go further, and as he behaved as though it did not exist, in time everyone began to do the same.

Uncle Peter seemed quite proud of Ben. I daresay he recognized in him another such as himself and I think he was rather pleased to discover he had a hitherto unheard-of grandson.

He discussed with my father what should be done with the boy. I heard my father talking about this afterwards with my mother.

"I must say," said my father, "one thing about Peter, he does not shirk his responsibilities. He wants to do everything he can for the boy. He wants to send him to university for a year or so, as he said, to put a polish on him. He thinks he has talents."

"I am sure he has," replied my mother. "He certainly gives me the impression of being a chip off the old block."

They became aware of my attention and changed the subject. Maddening! For myself I was enormously interested in Ben and wanted to hear more of him.

We all went to the Exhibition once more and this time Ben was one of the company. He managed to be near me often which gave me great pleasure; and he was quite knowledgeable about some of the exhibits.

I said to him: "Are you glad you came to England?"

He pressed my hand. "You bet," he said.

"I'm glad too," I answered.

"Oh, it was a good thing all right. My grandfather's a great man, don't you think?"

I said I did.

"I want to be like him."

"You are," I told him.

"In every way. I want to go into business. He's talked to me a lot. First he wants me to go to learn to be more like an English gentleman. Do you think that's a good idea?"

"I think you're all right as you are."

"He doesn't think so. And he's a very wise man."

He grinned at me. There was satisfaction shining in his eyes. He was glad he had come.

I was sorry when it was time to go home. I hated saying goodbye to Ben.

"You'll come here again soon," he said. "Or I might come and see this wonderful Cador."

"That would be lovely," I replied.

He came to the station to see us on to the train and stood on the platform waving.

"You two did seem to take to each other," commented my mother.

"He has a colorful personality," added my father.

"What did you expect ... Peter's grandson and that unconventional life."

"I wonder if he will come to see us."

"He will," I said. "He said he would."

"People don't always keep their word, dear."

"But he meant it."

"But people do mean things when they say them ... and then they forget."

I was sure he would not.

I thought about him for a long time afterwards, and then the memory began to fade.

A year passed. We had heard from Aunt Amaryllis at intervals. Peterkin and Frances had added another wing to their house of refuge; Jonnie and Geoffrey were away at school most of the time. Peter's hopes for Matthew had been realized with the end of Little Johnny's government and the beginning of Lord Derby's ministry and their son-in-law had his post in the Cabinet. Peter's grandson had changed quite a lot. "He is becoming more and more like one of us. He is really quite an English gentleman now ... or almost. Peter is concerned about him. He thought he might like to go in for estate management, and he is going to ask you if you will have him at Cador for a time ... say a month or two ... just to see how he likes that kind of life. Peter thinks he might be rather suited to it."

"Of course he may come and stay a while," said my father. "I daresay it might be just the thing for him. He was brought up on what they call a property in Australia. No doubt he was born to the life."

My mother said she would write to Amaryllis at once; and I felt excited at the prospect of seeing him.

A few days later I saw Grace Gilmore for the first time. I had taken my horse, Glory, down to the beach for I loved to gallop her over the sands at the edge of the water. It was very rarely that anyone came down there at that spot. The stretch of shore was only about half a mile from the harbor and it was part of Cador land, but there was no restriction about people's using it.