As I stood there with the child in my arms I was aware of a man on horseback watching the scene. The horse looked enormous, so did the man; it was like a centaur or some legendary creature.
An imperious voice said: “Can you tell me the way to Oakland Hall?”
The eldest Jarman present, who must have been about six, shouted: “Up the road there…”
The man on horseback was looking straight at me expecting the only adult to give the answer.
I said: “You go straight up the road, turn to the right and you will see the gates a little way along the road.”
“Thank you.”
He put his hand into his pocket and brought out some coins which he threw at us.
I was furious. I hastily put down the little Jarman and stopped to pick up the coins with the intention of throwing them back at him, but before I could reach them two Jarmans had swooped on them and had run off as fast as they could with their prize.
I looked angrily at the back of the horseman and turned on the small Jarman whose mud-spattered face was lifted to mine, one finger in his mouth while he regarded me with curiosity.
“You dirty little creature,” I stammered. Then I was sorry because it wasn’t his fault.
“All right,” I said. “Go in and get one of your brothers and sisters to dry you. And don’t dare walk into the pond again.”
I strode off to the Dower House. As soon as I reached my room I looked at myself in a mirror.
There was a smudge of dirt on my cheek; my blouse was muddy, my skirt wet at the hem and my shoes saturated.
What a sight I looked! And the man on horseback had taken me for a cottage girl! I guessed who he was. Hadn’t he asked for Oakland Hall? Hadn’t he behaved in a perfectly arrogant manner? Hadn’t he the conceited looks of a peacock!
To think that my first meeting with him should have been like that!
“I knew I’d hate him,” I said aloud.
***
I could not bring myself to go to Oakland Hall the following afternoon. I thought: He’ll be there, and I don’t want to see him. Ben will be all right, I thought jealously. He’s got his precious Peacock. He won’t want me.
I was wrong.
Maddy came knocking at my door. “Hannah gave me a message for you. It’s from Mr. Henniker. He’s asking you to go over there. He wants you particular.”
I had to go then, so I dressed with care. I wore my blue alpaca, which if it was not my most becoming gown gave me an air of dignity.
As soon as I arrived at the Hall I was aware of the change. There was tense excitement in the atmosphere. Wilmot greeted me in the hall, urbane and dignified.
“Mr. Henniker wishes you to go straight up to his room, Miss Clavering.”
“Thank you, Wilmot,” I said.
I knew it was no use asking the questions which came into my mind. Wilmot would be too correct to discuss one visitor with another. But I did see Hannah at the top of the staircase where she was lurking, obviously hoping to catch me.
“Oh, Miss Jessica,” she said in an awestruck voice, “he’s come…the gentleman from Australia.”
“Oh?” I said, waiting.
“My word!” The expression on her face irritated me. Usually sensible Hannah looked quite foolish.
“He seems to have had an extraordinary effect on you,” I said sharply.
“Mr. Henniker’s that pleased. I reckon it’s given him a new lease of life. Joss came into the hall, yesterday it was…You’d have thought he owned the place. Wilmot says it looks like the place could belong to him. I don’t know when I’ve seen such a big gentleman, and he’s got a way of talking too. You can hear him all over the place…one of them carrying voices. My word! I reckon he knows what he’s about. Wilmot seems to think he’s some sort of relation. A son, Wilmot’s heard. Though we didn’t know Mr. Henniker had been married, and he’s a Mr. Madden.”
“I suppose I’m to meet him,” I said, cutting her short, “so I must go and see this”—I was going to say “peacock” but I changed it to “paragon”—“of yours whose huge body and booming voice seems to have bewitched you.”
I went past her, knowing she was thinking I was very touchy today.
I knocked at Ben’s bedroom door and heard him say: “This will be Jessica.” Then loudly: “Come in my dear.”
I went in. Ben was sitting in the chair by the bed in a dressing gown and with a rug about his knees. A tall figure rose and came towards me. I was annoyed because I had to look up so far.
Of course it was the man I had met on horseback outside the Jarman cottage.
He took my hand and kept it too long for me.
“So,” he said, “we meet again.”
“Hey? What’s this?” cried Ben. “Come over here, the two of you. I want to make a proper introduction. This is a very important occasion. I want you two to know each other, and when you do, you’re going to like each other a good deal. I’ve never had any doubt of that. You’re two of a kind.”
I couldn’t help showing the resentment which flared up within me at the thought of being compared with this man. I noticed his eyes then—those deep blue eyes the color of a peacock’s feather; I noticed the rather large nose, slightly aquiline, which suggested the arrogance I was convinced I would find, and the long, rather thin lips, which could have been cynical or sensuous or both. It was not so much a handsome face as distinguished—one that would never be passed in a crowd. Once seen, it would be remembered. The brown velvet jacket and the very white cravat suggested fastidiousness, but the brown riding boots and corded breeches were essentially masculine.
What I disliked most was the mocking expression in his face, which told me that he was remembering the sight of me emerging from a muddy pond with a grubby Jarman in my arms. That was his first impression and it was something he was not going to forget.
“We have met before, Ben,” he said.
“Come and tell me all about it.”
I said quickly: “I went to the Jarmans. Mrs. Jarman has produced again and my grandmother sent me over with some things. As I was coming out of the house one of the children fell into the pond. I got him out and Mr…er…” I nodded towards him.
“You must call him Joss, my dear,” said Ben. “We don’t want any formality. We’re all too friendly for that.”
“But I don’t know him,” I protested.
“We have met before,” said Joss Madden, and I sensed the mockery.
I said firmly: “Mr. Madden came by, asked the way—and paid for the information.” I turned to him. “I can assure you the fee was unnecessary and would have been returned to you had not the children seized whatever it was and run off with it.”
Ben laughed. “Well, fancy that. And you didn’t know each other.”
“Having heard that Mr. Madden was due, I guessed it was he. His actions fitted what I had heard of him.”
Joss Madden laughed. It was a quick bellow of a laugh. It exploded and was over. “I trust that was meant as a compliment,” he said, “because I’m going to take it as such.”
“I will leave you to judge,” I replied.
Ben was smiling as though—I found I was using this simile often in connection with him—he had found the Green Flash.
“It does me good to see you here getting along so well with Jessica,” said Ben. “It’s the best thing that’s happened since my fall. Now, let’s all sit down and get comfortable, shall we? We’ve got a lot to talk about, and I don’t know how much time there is left to us.”
“Don’t say that, Ben,” I cried. “You’re going to be so much better now that, er…Mr. Madden has come.”
“Let’s look the truth straight between the eyes,” said Ben. “It’s always the best way. That’s so, eh, Joss?”
“I believe it to be,” Joss Madden answered.
?
??Now come on…bring the chairs up…one of you on either side of me. There. That’s what I’ve been wanting for a long time. Now I’m going to be sentimental. It’s allowed for a poor old man who hasn’t got much time left to him. There’s two people who mean more to me than anything else in the world, and I’ve set my heart on one thing and that is that I want them to be together…work together…”
I could feel Joss Madden’s eyes on me, assessing me in a way I felt offensive. No man had ever looked at me like that before. It made me strangely aware of myself. I had expected him to be arrogant and offensive, but I had not guessed he would arouse such hitherto unexperienced feelings in me. I found myself remembering that there was a strongish breeze which had made my hair untidy and that my alpaca was not very becoming. I must have looked quite terrible yesterday when I had emerged from the pond.
I heard myself say shrilly: “Work together…! Whatever do you mean, Ben?”
“Well, that’s something I’m coming to. I can see Joss here thinking it’s a bit soon. I reckon he’s thinking you and he ought to get better acquainted first. Is that it, Joss?”
“It may be that Miss Clavering would find the shock too great. Give her a day or two to get used to me.”
“This is all rather mysterious.”
“It’s really straightforward and practical,” said Joss Madden. “Are you practical, Miss Clavering?”
“Now what did I say,” interrupted Ben. “No formality.”
“Are you practical, Jessica?” asked Joss Madden.
“I think I am,” I answered.
“Yes. You have that air. I would say you take a pride in being a sensible young woman.”
“It seems a sensible thing to take pride in,” I retorted.
“Brisk,” he said. “No nonsense. That’s going to be very helpful, I can see.”
“Look here,” said Ben. “I’m rushing things. I begin to see that. I’ll tell you what we’ll do. Tomorrow we’ll have a good talk. The three of us together, eh?”
“That seems a good idea,” said Joss Madden.
“All right then,” said Ben. “That’s settled. We’ll just chat now, eh? Tell me how things are back home.”
“I’ve told you the essentials already,” said Joss with a laugh. “Things are running as smoothly as they can be expected to. There are no dire problems. We struck a rich vein out near Derry Creek.”
“Good black opal, eh? And not too much potch. That’s what I like to hear. Jimson Laud coming along all right?”
“He’s all right.”
“You sound lukewarm.”
“Jimson’s the one who’s lukewarm.”
“Can’t expect everyone to blow hot like you, Joss. Jimson’s a figure man. They don’t get excited—but accounts are important to the business. And Lilias?”
“The same as ever.”
“And Emmeline?”
“The entire family has changed little since you last saw them.”
Ben looked into space, murmuring: “Oh, I’d like to see Peacocks once more before I went. Mind you, I’ve got a pretty clear picture in my mind’s eye. I’ve loved every brick of that place…every blade of grass on those lawns. Not the same as here…of course…that sun, that burning sun…all those months of drought. What was it like when you left?”
“Dry as a bone. There were some forest fires a few miles away.”
“It’s a perpetual danger, Jessica,” said Ben to me. “You’ll find it very different from here. Won’t she, Joss?”
“If she decides to accept your terms.”
“Terms?” I demanded. “What terms?”
“I thought you said it was too soon to talk,” said Ben.
“So it is,” replied Joss Madden. “If we did, I reckon we’d get a blank refusal. You’ve got to give Miss Clavering time…er, I mean Jessica. You’re not the puppet master, Ben, simply because neither Jessica nor I are of the stuff which puppets are made of. Don’t you agree…Jessica? You wouldn’t want to be jerked round on the stage. Go this way…go that way…because that’s the way the master’s twitching the strings.”
“I can assure you that I would not and that you are talking of something of which I know nothing. I think you ought to let me into the secret without delay.”
Ben looked at Joss who shook his head. Then Ben said: “There’s something I have to tell you first, Jessica. Joss knows it already. I’ll tell you when we’re alone, and then you’ll understand.”
I looked at Joss meaningly because their mysterious talk was giving me a burning desire to discover what it was all about.
“I see,” said Joss, “that’s a sort of hint. I’m going to have another look at your stables, Ben. I want to see if there’s anything good enough to ride there.”
“Impertinence,” laughed Ben. “We breed horses here, I might tell you. You’ll find several there as good as that one you hired to arrive on.”
“I hope so. I had to take him because he was all they had. Then shall I leave you? You can have your talk. You and I will meet again soon…Jessica.”
He went out, and Ben turned to me at once. “What do you think of him?” he asked eagerly.
“He’s exactly what I expected.”
“So I gave you a good description of him, did I?”
“I based my judgment on the little anecdotes you told me.”
“And you like him, Jess?”
I hesitated. I didn’t want to hurt Ben by telling him that the more I saw of Joss Madden the less I liked him.
I said cautiously, “I don’t feel I know him.”
Ben shook his head. “You’ll soon get to know him. I wish I’d asked him to come earlier.”
“Ben,” I said, “you were going to tell me what you and he have been hinting at. What is it?”
He hesitated. “I hardly know where to begin. I’ve been very wrong, and I’m sorry for it. But it’s a good thing really. You’ll see that and understand I’m sure. It’s to do with the Green Flash at Sunset.”
“That seems to be at the center of our lives,” I commented wryly.
“That was all true…what I told you about how I won it. I’d got the stone and it made a difference to my life. Funny how the possession of that opal changed everything. It was true that those who had owned it had been dogged by bad luck. I knew that everyone was watching me…waiting for the ill luck to hit me. There were those who wished me well. There were others who had seen it, felt its fascination, and wanted it. Men are strange creatures, Jess. A girl like you…a sensible girl, Joss called you…wouldn’t know about this. And you’ve never seen the Green Flash either. Perhaps if you had seen it you’d understand more. That flashing blue and the red of the sun…it just bewitches you. So where was I? There were those who watched me and others who sought to steal it. I reckon my life wasn’t worth what it was before I had that stone. There were some who would have cut my throat or put a bullet through my heart for the sake of it. I’d got a red hot property on my hands and I was going to burn myself pretty badly one way or another.
“Then there came the day when they were all here and I showed them the stone. This is going to hurt a bit, Jessie. I didn’t want to tell you. I know you have a beautiful picture of your father and his love for your mother, and it’s right for young ladies to have these feelings for their parents. But it wasn’t quite like that. Your mother was a sweet, pretty creature. She was like you…oh very much…but different. You’ve got your feet more on the ground, that sensible quality, eh? She could be gay, a bit willful; she was a bit of a gambler too. It’s in the family. You can’t escape it. I bet you’ll be ready to take a gamble when the time comes. I hope you will be, and I’ll tell you you’re going to come out a winner. I was more than a bit in love with your mother.”
“Yes,” I said. “I know that.”
“I thought it would be nice rounding off
if I married her and brought her back to her old home. I thought we’d have children and my name would be on that family tree in the hall. I couldn’t see her in Australia though…not like I can you. She was more delicate, fragile-like. Well then Desmond came along. A handsome young fellow he was, with what I call the gift of gab. A bit of a rogue too. Oh yes, I’ve got to tell you the truth. He’d roamed the world a bit and learned a few tricks. He was dead serious about his Fancy though, and he’d got opal fever as bad as the rest of us. He was always one for the ladies, and when he came down here to stay for a while to persuade me to invest in the Fancy and we waited for David Croissant to join us, he took up with your mother and in his way he was in love with her. She was innocent and believed all he told her. He might have married her. I reckon he would have, but he couldn’t, the way it turned out.
“I was mad with him…mad for his being young and handsome and having his way with the women. Joss was here as I said before…home from school, agitating about not going back, and he was learning a lot about opals. That brings me to the night when I showed them the Green Flash. I saw the way it had got Desmond. He couldn’t take his eyes from it. He picked it up, and I remember how his fingers curled round it. Desire! There’s no other word for it. Mad, demanding desire…like thirst in the desert, like food to the starving. You look skeptical, Jessie. That’s because you haven’t experienced it. But I saw it and I knew what the result would be, so I was ready. When I went to bed that night I left my door open and I sat fully dressed listening. Then I heard the sound of creeping footsteps so I came down to the study.
“He was there at the safe. He had the Flash in his hands. I said: ‘What are you doing, Desmond Dereham?’ He just stared at me…white as these sheets. I said: ‘You’ve seduced little Jessica Clavering and now you’re trying to steal the Green Flash. And when you’ve got it what would you do? There’s only one thing you could do. Get out of here…sharp…and leave her, eh. You’d desert her, wouldn’t you, for the sake of the Green Flash? Do you know, I reckon you’re not fit to live.’”