I said: “It would be something which we should undertake with some caution, perhaps.”

“Why? If we are going to kick through restrictions, shouldn’t we do it boldly?”

“I am only a guest here, you know. It is hardly for me to blaze a trail.”

“Do you mean you won’t come?”

“Suppose I came for tea? I could do that without having to make an announcement to the household. I do not understand Mr. Tregarland Senior. I think he might be amused. I am not sure of my sister’s husband, nor Mrs. Lewyth…who, I believe, takes a great pride in the family.”

“And your sister?”

“She would be in full agreement with you. She would think such a visit would be interesting and amusing.”

“Well then. Tomorrow afternoon. Three o’clock? Half past two?”

“Half past two,” I said. “My sister rests at that time. I shall tell her. Then she will not be worried if I don’t get back promptly. She does worry about things like that.”

“For instance at the time of the cliff rescue?”

“Yes, that was certainly one time.”

“How is she?”

“Very well, but she still gets a little tired.”

“And the baby?”

“He’s delightful.”

“And you’ve got your old nanny.”

“So you have already heard of her.”

“She seems to be a person of some standing. But she is not Cornish and that is a black mark against her.”

“I can assure you Nanny Crabtree is a match for any.”

“That is what I gathered.”

“You are so well informed.”

“The subject is of particular interest to me.”

I felt light-hearted, as always, with him.

His last words were: “Tomorrow. Two thirty. I shall wait your coming with pleasure.”

When I arrived back I went straight to Dorabella. She was lying on her bed and when she saw me she cried: “Where have you been? What’s happened? You look different.”

“What do you mean…different?”

“Something exciting has happened. I know what it is. You’ve seen that Jermyn man.”

“Well…”

She laughed. “You have…then?”

“Yes…”

“I always know. He must be fascinating. You ought to bring him here.”

“Well, as a matter of fact, I am going to visit him tomorrow.”

She was overcome with amusement.

“I can’t wait to hear the outcome.”

“Oh, it’s nothing much.”

“Nothing much! Right into the enemy’s camp. We won’t say anything about it here. You never know how they’d take it.”

I wondered if they would care. I had seen very little animosity to the Jermyns here and I knew Jowan felt none toward them. The feud was something which was kept going because the families were too indifferent to change it; it was the people around who liked to create a drama where it did not exist.

The next afternoon when I was setting out for the appointment, I encountered Seth in the stables.

“You be wanting Starlight, Miss?” he asked.

I told him I did. He looked at me strangely. I wondered if he had heard where I was going. He could not have done so yet. So far it was between Jowan and myself. It would be after I had visited his home that the gossip would start.

Seth was trying to say something. He stammered: “Don’t ’ee go there, Miss. Don’t ’ee go.”

I was amazed. I thought, Can he really know where I am going?

“ ’Ee don’t want to see ’er again, Miss. It might not be…”

“Go where, Seth?” I asked.

He pointed toward the sea.

“You mean the beach? No, no, I shan’t be going there. I wouldn’t dream of taking Starlight down to the beach.”

“There’s some of them take the horses there. They go along the beach at a gallop.”

“I don’t plan to do that.”

He gave me a sly smile. “Don’t want to tempt ’un, Miss.”

I really wasn’t sure who was to be tempted. I guessed it was the Jermyn ghost who he believed had lured the first Mrs. Tregarland into the sea.

Poor Seth. I was sorry for him. And it was kind of him to be concerned for me.

He patted Starlight’s flank lovingly, and I rode out of the stables.

It was another warmish day, ideal for riding. There was scarcely any wind and inland I could see a faint blue mist settling over the trees.

I turned my horse and rode toward the Jermyn estate. This time I should go straight to the house.

I rode along for about half a mile and there was the house. It was not as ancient as Tregarland’s but impressive. It was built in that silver gray stone which they call Elvan and with which I had become familiar since my arrival in Cornwall.

I went through a gate into a turfed forecourt and facing me was a heavy iron-studded door. I was wondering whether to dismount when the door opened and Jowan stood there.

“I was waiting for you,” he said. “Punctual as usual.”

He patted Starlight as he smiled at me. Then he held me to dismount.

“Charlie,” he shouted, and a man hurried out.

“Yes, sir.”

“Take the lady’s horse.”

He turned to me and took my arm.

“So this is your home,” I said.

“Yes. Do you like it?”

“From what I have seen, it is magnificent.”

“I like it,” he said. “I’m looking forward to showing it to you.”

I stood in the hall and looked around. It was not unlike all such halls. It had a plaster ceiling, the main ribs of which were set on corbels decorated with oak leaves. On one of the walls were the entwined initials J and S.

My eyes rested on it and he said: “Jowan and Sarah. They built the house three hundred years ago, and it was the custom to have such entwined initials. It could become embarrassing if the marriage didn’t work out and there was a second wife, and she had to spend her married life with the constant reminder of her predecessor. I can tell you that is not the only spot where you will find those initials.”

He pointed out the minstrels’ gallery.

“I plan to use that one day for its original purpose, out of respect for old customs. Some of them are worth preserving. Now let me show you the rest of the house and you can tell me what you think of it.”

“It is beautiful,” I said. “You must be proud of it.”

“It has not been long in my possession and I am still a trifle bemused by the fact. But come along. Here are the screens—they lead to the kitchen. That is a part I will leave to your imagination. The servants are there.” He grimaced. “It would make their deductions too easy if I introduced you to them. Let us leave them to their own speculations.”

“They are going to talk about my being here.”

“Let them. But you are not a Tregarland, so perhaps that will modify the betrayal of the past. Now, there are several rooms leading from the hall. This staircase goes to the library and beyond that is the drawing room. That is the old solar. It is the best room in the house. We shall have tea there. It is very light, with semicircular bay windows—of a much later period than the rest of the house. They were put in over a hundred years ago.”

I followed him through the house. The west wing was in a dilapidated state.

“It has been much neglected,” he told me. “My plan is to restore the place completely.”

I could hear the pride in his voice as he pointed out the special features, showed me the restoration work he had already completed, and told me what he planned to do.

He said: “I can’t show you everything on one visit. This is just a cursory look round. We can go into it with more detail at some other time if you are interested.”

“I am,” I said.

“I’m glad because it is something of a passion with me. I want to make this house what it should be and what it was before it was allowed to deteriorate.”

He seemed different from the young man who had sat with me in those inn parlors drinking cider or mulled wine. It occurred to me that people could be very different against their own backgrounds. I felt that I was seeing him as he really was. He was really earnest about the restoration of his own house; previously I thought he could not be serious about anything and that life seemed to him little else but a joke.