"You look charming, Katherine," she complimented me. "Let us hope you meet Daniel on your walk and by the way, we are invited for dinner at Treverrick tomorrow evening, child."
My Aunt"s words would normally have filled me with a small dread, but today, I was bursting with happiness inside, so I kissed her on the cheek and said, "I shall look forward to it Aunt."
"There, you are already your old self again, thank the Lord," was her reply, "and hopefully, there will be no more talk of marriage and love, except with a suitable beau." Her words caused me to feel another pang of guilt, which swiftly pa.s.sed as Aggie came into the hall and we set off for Monks Cove. As we stepped outside, I went over to Minnie, my faithful pony and gave her a sugar lump.
As we walked through the gate, I heard my Aunt call from the doorway, "Please be back in time for lunch, young woman."
"I will," I called back to her, raising my hand to wave.
As we reached Monks Cove, I breathed in the sea air and stretched both my arms in the air, for at last, I was free.
"The tide is out, Miss," said Aggie.
"It is indeed," I told her with gaiety in my voice as I linked my arm through hers. We walked along the sand, lingering to throw pebbles into the calm sea as small waves chased each other to the sh.o.r.e. Aggie and I started a game as to who"s pebble would go furthest to sea, among much laughter as Aggie won.
"We best go on, Miss Katherine," suggested the young woman and agreeing with her, we walked arm in arm, from the beach toward the encampment, laughing as we went, but our laughter turned to dismay as we caught sight of the clearing. We both stopped in our tracks, looking at each other and both running towards it, stopping at the edge. Tears of frustration ran down my cheeks, for the clearing was empty, apart from a pile of ash from where the fire had burned. No caravans. No dog. No fire and no Kane.
"Don"t take on so," said Aggie, placing her arm around me. "He said he would return for you."
"I know," I sobbed, "but when? When?" and I repeated the word over and over.
"He"ll be back for you, you know it," said Aggie. "Think of the note he wrote to you."
"You"re right," I said, calming down. "Please walk with me, Aggie, through the meadow."
"But of course, Miss," she said and as we walked through the clearing, all sorts of memories whirled through my mind, brightly painted vardos, Kane"s laugh, us holding hands as we walked, then, as we pa.s.sed the spot where we jumped the besom of flowering broom together, I thought of Kane"s words, "I plight my troth to you" and I stopped to say, "He surely would not desert me, Aggie."
"No Miss, he would not, for if I ever saw love on someone"s face, it was his," she a.s.sured me, and so we walked on through the wood, the sunlight every now and then falling upon us, just as it had that day for Kane and I and as we stepped out of the wood on to the edge of the meadow, my heart ached as I looked at the bright orange poppies swaying gently in the mild summer breeze, which brought to mind the headdress of poppies Maddy had fashioned for me and another lonely tear slipped out of my eye onto my cheek below.
"It is very lovely," commented Aggie, "and I can see now where Maddy got the poppies from." We walked together along the well-trodden pathway until we reached the top of the incline and I turned back to look. The view was the same as the other day, the wood, the grey walls of Treverrick, but no gaily painted wagons and my heart lurched with disappointment.
"We should go back," urged Aggie quietly, "for if we are late for lunch, Mistress won"t let us walk out together again." There was sense in the words Aggie spoke, but I needed to walk to the next field.
"Just a little further," I urged "then we will head back." At the top of the next field, we could just see the sea in the far distance, a sparkling blue in the morning sunlight. I stopped and Aggie did likewise, then we headed back to the poppy meadow, me thinking all the while of Kane, in my mind, seeing his white blouson shirt open at the neck, his tanned skin and coal black hair, but above all, his almost black sparkling eyes looking down at me. As I thought it, a red admiral b.u.t.terfly flew around me, fluttering slowly round and round, transporting me back to that magical day of the b.u.t.terfly dance, when Kane had asked me to marry him. I reached out to the b.u.t.terfly and it landed fleetingly on my hand and then resumed its dance around me. I had a curious thought that Kane had sent it to rea.s.sure me and amongst the poppies, with the b.u.t.terfly around us still, I sobbed in Aggie"s arms when I should have been laughing in Kane"s.
Chapter 6.
"Don"t look so solemn," said Aunt Phoebe to me as we were getting prepared to go to Treverrick the next evening. "You have been quiet all day." I looked in the mirror at my gown, a dress of peach, the skirts of which swirled around me as I moved. Two panels of peach lace had been inserted cleverly in the skirt and the bodice fashioned to appear as if a short sleeved jacket was worn over it. How I wished I was wearing it for Kane.
"Speak to me Katherine," urged Aunt Phoebe.
"I cannot go to the big house this evening, or any evening," I told my Aunt. I had been thinking about it all day and at the last minute, realised that I could not agree to walk with Daniel, for I was a married woman and bound to Kane, in body and spirit.
"I despair of you, child. I take it this is all because of the gypsy Kane, who you would have me believe is your husband?" my Aunt said, the disdain she felt all too apparent in her voice.
"It is because of Kane," I admitted quietly.
"I wish you to get this nonsense out of your head now!" Aunt Phoebe admonished me.
"I cannot Aunt. I am sorry, but I love him," I told her, for what seemed the hundredth time.
"How on earth can you love someone you hardly know and think that you are married to him? It is too preposterous for words," she berated me.
"Whatever you say will alter nothing. You very obviously do not understand." My voice was firm as I spoke.
"Understand?" My Aunt repeated. "Understand what, exactly, that you are married to a gypsy? After all your Uncle and I have taught you about what is right and what is wrong, I cannot believe that you are putting me through this, Katherine. It is as if I were in a nightmare and cannot wake from it."
"I am sorry," I began.
"Sorry?" my Aunt interrupted. "If you were sorry, child, this would all be forgotten, but I can see it is not. I am going down to ask your Uncle to proceed to Treverrick without us and give apologies for our absence, yours and mine and then we are going to have a talk, young lady," with which words, she left my room, leaving me on the brink of tears.
But no, I thought to myself, I will not give her the satisfaction of seeing that I am upset. I walked over to my dressing table and lifted the lid of the keepsake box, which for some reason calmed me. I would like to have reread Kane"s note, but knew I had not the time, so slowly I shut the lid, just as I heard my Aunt call to me.
"Come down please, Katherine, this minute." Knowing there was no escape, I left my room and made my way down the stairs to see my Aunt standing in the hallway below, waiting for me.
"We will go into the drawing room," she said unexpectedly, for this room was normally only used for special occasions and Christmas celebrations. I followed my Aunt through the door and shivered on the threshold, for the room was cold and uninviting without a fire burning in the large black leaded fireplace. Everything was still and unreal, from the settle and armchairs of green coloured velour, to the large gla.s.s fronted china cabinet which held all my Aunt and Uncle"s treasures, things which were never used, such as the porcelain dinner service, decorated with brightly coloured flowers and b.u.t.terflies. At this thought, I had a pang of sadness as I thought again of Kane and our b.u.t.terfly dance.
"Sit down please Katherine, I am not an ogre," said my Aunt impatiently, so I went over and sat on the edge of one of the armchairs and looked at my Aunt. She wore a pale grey dress, the skirts boasting a small train. Black velvet ribbon hung in a bow from the bodice and a jacket of the same material finished the outfit off, with short sleeves decorated with white muslin flounces. Until my birthday, I had looked up to her, but now realised that she was a very harsh woman and had never showed me any affection. At this moment, I despised her, for her total lack of understanding.
She sat in an armchair opposite me and began, "Are you not happy here?" It was a question which I thought unfair, but strived to answer honestly.
"You know as well as I, Aunt Phoebe, that I have always been happy here with you and Uncle Zac. I acknowledge that you have always been good to me and given me a good home, but," here I faltered.
"But what, Katherine? Please go on, for I am interested to know how you feel," my Aunt said in her domineering voice, a thing which had never irked me before, but now jangled at my nerves.
"But," I continued, "there would have come a time and fairly soon, when I would have married and left Northcliffe to live with my husband. It is the normal way of things."
"But this, young woman, I"m sure you will agree, is far from normal." Her voice got louder with each word and she looked at me with eyes of steel.
"Have you ever really loved anyone?" I asked her suddenly, at which question, she looked down at her lap and then raised her head, her gaze steady as she looked at me once more.
"How dare you ask me such a question, Katherine," she said, her voice quivering with anger.
"But I need to know the answer," I persisted.
"And what would you gain from such an answer, tell me, for I am interested to know?" my Aunt said quietly.
"I would gain the knowledge as to how you understand my situation, from the answer you would give me," I said, looking her steadily in the eye, "for if the answer were to be yes, then you would know what I feel for Kane, but if the answer is no, then you would have no notion of how I feel."
"This is getting us nowhere," said Aunt Phoebe, rising from the chair and going to look at the contents of her gla.s.s cabinet.
"I guess, Aunt, that the answer is no," I dared to say and at my words, her whole body swung around so as to look at me.
"You go too far, young woman," she said menacingly.
"I think," I continued, "that Uncle Zac would have more understanding than you."
"How could you, Katherine, after I have raised you from a babe in arms?" Her voice faltered as she spoke.
"And what of my Mother?" The words slipped out, for we had never before spoken of my real Mother, "Your Mother, child, was a harlot and a temptress and it would seem you are to take after her," she flung at me, with spite in her voice.
"So," I said, "I have learned something, you hate my Mother."
"I don"t wish to talk of it any more, do you understand?" she said, a sob catching her voice as she spoke.
"I shall ask Uncle Zac," I warned her.
"No!" The word was emphatic and there was a fear in her voice, which I had never detected before.
"What are you afraid of, Aunt?" I asked her gently.
"Nothing," was her answer, her voice composed once more. "Go. Go to the man you profess to love."
"Does this mean that you give Kane and I your blessing?" I asked.
"Indeed not," she said adamantly. "I shall never give my blessing on such a union, nor accept it either, till the day I die."
"I shall go to my room now, Aunt Phoebe and in a day or two I shall leave Northcliffe, with the hope that one day, you will accept my love for Kane and our marriage," I said, rising from my seat.
"What sort of marriage do you think you have, child, with no priest and you being brought up to attend church and follow the ways of the righteous? I would have thought that you would find it a travesty as well as I." Her words followed me up the staircase and when I reached my room, I set to thinking that maybe my Aunt"s words were true. I sat on my bed for some time, expecting to hear the key turn in the lock of my bedroom door, but it did not. After mulling things over, I decided to seek out Aggie and ask her honest opinion of my marriage at the encampment that day. Thankfully, Aggie was sitting on the chair in the kitchen by the range.
"Whatever is going on Miss?" she asked as soon as I appeared. "Mistress has taken to her bed with a headache and I thought you were all going over to Treverrick, and you looking so pretty and all."
"I could not go, Aggie, for my Aunt wished me to agree to walk out with Daniel and I cannot. You, of all people, must know my loyalties lie with Kane," I questioned.
"I know, Miss. It is all very difficult for you," Aggie said truthfully.
"Tell me, Aggie," I proceeded. "What do you honestly think of our wedding in the clearing that day?"
"It were beautiful, Miss and so romantic," she said dreamily.
"That is so, Aggie, but in all honesty, would you do it?"
"I would if I was to marry someone as handsome as Mr Kane," she said getting up from the chair and indicating that I should be seated.
"But it isn"t legal, is it Aggie?" I asked, knowing I was asking myself the question as much as I was the young woman.
"Maybe not, Miss, but it is the gypsy way," Aggie said, sensibly.
"But my Aunt will not accept it, or give us her blessing. What shall I do, Aggie?" I entreated of her.
"There is a place, Miss," she began.
"A place? What sort of place?" I interrupted.
"A place where you can get married without your parent"s consent, as long as you are over sixteen," she told me.
"And where is this place?" I asked, most intrigued.
"It"s in Scotland, Miss," she enlightened me.
"Scotland!" I exclaimed. "How on earth are we to get to Scotland, if indeed I can find Kane and also, if he would agree to it?"
"He would, if he truly loves you," Aggie said gently, "and it would give you peace of mind and maybe pacify your Aunt."
"How do you know this?" I questioned her.
"Because, our Martha and one of the farm hands eloped there when she was seventeen," Aggie told me.
"And what did your parents think of this?" I asked the girl.
"They had no reason not to accept it as our Martha and Jim had a piece of paper to prove they was wed," she told me.
"And where is this place?" I asked, quite intrigued, for if it was a legal marriage, no one, including my Aunt, could doubt it.
"If my memory serves me right, it was a village called Gretna Green." As she spoke the words, a plan was forming in my mind.
"Thank you, Aggie. All that remains is to find Kane so that I can broach the subject of this village to him and if as you say the wedding would be legal, it may solve our problems." Excitement surged through me at this thought. "How can I find Kane? Please tell me, Aggie, for my heart aches for him."
"He will come back for you," she a.s.sured me. "One day soon, you will be in his arms again."
Back in my room after Aggie and I had shared a cup of tea, I settled myself in bed, praying that Aggie was right. Under my pillow lay the note Kane had written me. I knew the words by heart, words which warmed my heart. "I shall return for you, as promised" and with this thought, I sank into a peaceful slumber.
Aunt Phoebe wasn"t at breakfast next morning, but dear Uncle Zac was.
"Can I feed the hens today, please?" I asked him, "I miss it so much."
"Of course, my dear, while your Aunt is indisposed, there will be no harm done," he agreed.
"Thank you, Uncle." How I wished I could tell this dear man what had transpired between Aunt Phoebe and myself last evening, but then I recalled the fear in my Aunt"s voice and decided against it. I didn"t want to be the one to open old wounds. So, I found myself once more in the sunshine, scattering the corn to the chickens and gazing out to sea.
Aggie and I walked each day to Monks Cove, but no Kane. Every morning we scoured the beach hoping to see him but to no avail and each day, my spirits sank and I went back to Northcliffe with a heavy heart and little optimism.
"Don"t fret, Miss Katherine," Aggie would say, placing an arm about my shoulder, "he will come back, for sure."
So life went on at the cottage. Aunt Phoebe stayed in her room most of the time, instructing Aggie about the household ch.o.r.es and not once, according to Aggie, did my Aunt mention me. What Uncle Zac thought of all this I had little idea, for he seemed cheerful enough and still at ease with me.
Two weeks later, Aggie and I made our way as normal to Monks Cove, when I had a sudden desire to walk on to the clearing.
"Do you think that"s wise, Miss?" the young woman said.
"Wise or not, I need to go." Some inner sense told me I should, so we walked, both very hot in the blazing sun, me carrying a pretty parasol decorated with purple flowers. Eventually we reached the clearing and to my amazement and delight, Tessa"s vardo was once more standing there, the colours more vivid than I remembered, but all was still and quiet causing me to wonder if it were a figment of my imagination.