They had swung off the motorway on to the road to Ede, running through wooded country. ‘We’ll do no such thing. Tell me about your family.’
She began a little reluctantly, but he put skilful questions from time to time, so that she told him a good deal more than she had intended, although she stopped herself just in time from telling him just where her home was. She tried in her turn to ask questions too, without any success at all; his bland replies told her nothing; he had a mother, she knew that, but other than that she knew nothing about him and it was obvious that he had no intention of telling her; he kept the conversation strictly about herself and her own family until they arrived at Scherpenzeel.
De Witte Holevoet was an attractive inn, quite small but already almost full of people dining. The professor whisked Britannia inside, waited while she disposed of her coat before being shown to their table and then sat back in his chair to look at her. ‘You’re getting admiring glances from all the men in the room,’ he assured her. ‘It must be that pink thing—irresistible, isn’t that the word?’
She answered him seriously, although her cheeks were as pink as her dress. ‘That’s what Mother always says.’
‘And that is why you packed a pink dress to come to Holland?’ His voice was bland, although she thought that he was amused.
She said defiantly: ‘Yes.’
He smiled at her with a charm to melt her bones. ‘I feel more hopeful. What would you like to drink?—we’ll order presently.’
And from then on he kept the conversation light and impersonal, and she, cautious at first, presently realised that he wasn’t going to talk about themselves at all—he had been joking about persuading her to marry him—she quenched quite unreasonable disappointment and followed his lead.
The meal was delicious; Britannia, who enjoyed her food, ate her way through lobster mousse, Poulet au Champagne and a lemon sorbet, helped along by a claret which even she, who knew very little about such things, realised was very fine. It was when they had finished their meal and she was pouring their coffee that she asked suddenly: ‘Have you a dog?’
‘Two—you didn’t see them at my home because they were in the kitchen having their meal. Why do you ask?’
She handed him his coffee. ‘Well, I just wanted to know something about you…’
‘You will have every opportunity of knowing everything about me when we are married.’ He was smiling at her and she didn’t suppose that he was serious.
‘What sort of dogs?’ she persisted; anxious to seem as lighthearted as he, she smiled back at him.
‘A Bouvier and a Corgi. They’re the best of friends.’ He added, still smiling: ‘My housekeeper has a cat, and the gardener’s children have rabbits and a tortoise.’
‘Where does the gardener live? I saw a dear little house up against the wall when I cycled there…’
He nodded. ‘That is his home. Marinus and Emmie—the housekeeper—and his wife, live in the house, so do a couple of maids. The laundrywoman lives in the other cottage.’
Her eyes were round. ‘The laundrywoman—that sounds quite feudal! She surely doesn’t do all the laundry for that great place.’
‘Lord, no—just the personal things. I don’t allow anyone else to iron my shirts.’
‘Why, you are feudal!’
His smile mocked her. ‘Disapproving? There are a great many things you don’t approve of, aren’t there, Britannia? But none of them matter, you know, and if you think about it, it’s fair enough—old Celine does my shirts, and when she’s ill, I look after her.’
She had to admit that that was true enough and he added in a wheedling tone: ‘I’m quite a nice chap, really.’
‘That isn’t what you said in London. You told me that you were rich and something of a hermit and you didn’t need to please anyone.’
‘Ah, I wanted you to know the worst first.’
She laughed at that, but he didn’t say any more, but began to tell her about the nearby castle of Scherpenzeel. ‘It’s owned by a family with the impressive name of van der Bosch-Royaards van Scherpenzeel, but no one lives there. It’s neo-Gothic and I think rather nice.’
‘Not as nice as your house. What is it called?’
‘Huize van Thien.’
She asked meekly: ‘May I know something about it?’
He passed his cup for more coffee. ‘The oldest part is thirteenth-century, the whole of the front was added in the eighteenth century. The round tower at the back is fifteenth-century, its rooms are furnished, but we only use the sitting room on the ground floor.’
‘Who’s we?’
‘You remind me of a schoolteacher examining her class! Myself, my mother when she is staying with me and my three sisters when they pay me a visit.’
‘Three sisters?’ repeated Britannia, much struck with this homely piece of information. ‘You’re the eldest, of course.’
‘Yes.’ He went on blandly, ‘I prefer the newest part of the house; they built roomily in the eighteenth century and their enormous windows let in the light. Tell me about your home, Britannia.’
She really had no choice after all her questions, and anyway, there would be thousands of small houses like her own home, there would be no fear of him discovering where it was. ‘It’s very small, a late Georgian cottage, built of stone with a slate roof. There’s quite a big garden, though, with some rather ramshackle outbuildings. There are woods all round us and it’s very peaceful, even in summer; the tourists don’t come near us, only if they lose their way, and the village is so small there isn’t even an hotel, just a pub.’
‘I like your English pubs,’ said the professor idly. ‘What’s this one called?’
‘The Happy Return.’ She hadn’t meant to tell him that, she would have to guard her tongue, though it was a common enough name, and besides, why was she worrying? Once she had gone, he wouldn’t come after her; he would see, as soon as they had parted, that the whole episode was just a pleasant little interlude. She had thought it so often that she almost believed it herself.
They lingered over their coffee and returned by a different road, across the Veluwe and a good deal further round, but as the professor pointed out, it was a charming route once they were through Barneveld, taking them through the National Park along a minor road which, he assured her, was quite delightful in daylight. So they didn’t arrive back at the Veskes’ villa until well after midnight, to find the house in darkness excepting for a welcoming light shining from the hall window. The professor got out and walked round the car to open her door. ‘You have a key?’
‘Yes.’ She gave it to him and as he put it in the lock, said: ‘Thank you for a lovely evening. I did enjoy it.’
He didn’t open the door. ‘We shall have many lovely evenings and enjoy them too, Britannia.’
She didn’t know how beautiful she looked under the dim light streaming from the hall. She stared up at him and said earnestly: ‘Please, Jake—I’m only a passing fancy.’
His face darkened. ‘So I’m to be preached at again, am I? I don’t know why I stand for it; how can you know what I want and what I think, and who are you to tell me what I must do and not do? I’ll tell you: you’re a sharp-tongued obstinate woman who thinks she knows best and spends her time poking her nose into my affairs so that I lose my temper.’
He opened the door and held it wide. ‘In with you.’ His voice was a muttered roar as she went past him and heard the door shut behind her. She had gone perhaps six paces when the door-knocker was thumped and she flew back to open the door before the whole house was roused.
‘Such a noise!’ she told him severely. ‘You’ll wake everyone, it’s long past…’
‘Not another word,’ he said softly. ‘I forgot something.’
He caught her close and kissed her slowly. Presently he loosened his hold a little. ‘Will you come out to dinner with me tomorrow, Britannia?’ And when she hesitated: ‘You go home the day after. I’ll behave exactly as I ought and we will say goodbye very correctly.’ His voice was gentle, but she had the strange idea that he was laughing too, although when she looked up into his face it was serious enough. She found it quite impossible to say no, and indeed, she had no wish to say it. She nodded her head without speaking and he kissed her again, this time very gently, and pushed her just as gently into the hall and shut the door. She heard the car slide away a few seconds later.