Page 105 of The Christmas Retreat
He looked at me rather searchingly, then said, ‘OK.’
‘There’s something I want to do,’ I elaborated and, as soon as I could, went back up to my room.
There, I made myself a cup of tea and then settled down to read the last of Arwen’s letters to Milly, notes hand-delivered while her friend and her brother were staying in St Melangell.
I expected they’d be mainly concerned with the escape plan that had taken Arwen to safety.
Friday 25 July 1919
Dear Milly and Edwin,
I wanted this little note to greet you on your arrival at the Star and Stone, and only wish I could see you straight away, but that is impossible. Also, I expect you are tired from the long journey.
You will find an invitation from Maudie awaiting you, Milly, to take tea at Triskelion tomorrow afternoon. Edwin is not included, since I have told them he will be pursuinghis own interests during your stay in St Melangell. We must both be on our best behaviour.
Also, Milly, since the idea of my coming into contact with any young man seems to drive Cosmo into a fit of jealous rage, it would be a good idea if you reinforce the story I have told them about Edwin only consenting to drive you up here because he had friends nearby he wished to spend time with.
Cosmo usually takes his tea into the study with him, even when there are visitors, but since he ordered Maudie to invite you so he could see for himself if you were a suitable companion for me, he may linger. If so, you could ask him if he would allow me to visit you at Christmas, which should allay any remaining suspicions that I am still planning to escape.
I hope to meet you on the cliff path as I suggested at six tomorrow morning – if you can bear to get up that early! We can get off the path a little where no one will see us, although the only person likely to pass that way at that time in the morning is Efa, and I have already sworn her to secrecy about my movements and who I meet when out.
If you recall my telling you, it was she who warned me about Wykes, the chauffeur, who spies on me and brings back the gossip from St Melangell, for he goes there to drink in the pub most evenings and also has a woman friend there, so he learns all the gossip. It was he who told Cosmo who I had met and where I had been on my two trips into St Melangell.
I have so much to say to you and also, I want to hear news of all our friends and, of course, about Cosmo’s exhibition!But most pressingly, I want to hear your plan for my escape without implicating either of you in the process. I really can’t think how it can be done. I will hardly sleep tonight!
Your affectionate friend,
Arwen
Saturday 26 July 1919
My dearest Milly,
It was wonderful to see you both early this morning – and how sweet of Edwin to give us some time together first, before he joined us!
But I found it hard to comprehend the news you brought me, that several paintings you were certain were mine were being displayed as Cosmo’s work in his exhibition. Yet I must accept it, for you know my style and also have my descriptions and sketches. Nor is it any mistake on the part of the gallery, if they are indeed signed with his distinctive back-to-back C monogram!
But I simply can’t understand how any artist of integrity could appropriate the work of another, and the more I think about it, the angrier I become and the more resolved to face Cosmo with it!
However, I’ll have to do this in a way that conceals that you and Edwin are aware of what he has done. I can manage this by saying you described some seascapes in the exhibition that were such a departure from his usual style and palette, that I recognized them as my own work. Since he doesn’t know of our early meeting, I’ll let him think you told meabout his exhibition after tea this afternoon, when I walked with you up to the oak grove and Mab’s Grave.
That was an unlooked-for pleasure, which I am sure would not have been allowed had Edwin been with you. But since you were alone, it would have been hard for Maudie to forbid my escorting you part way home, especially since Lily Trimble was also at tea and would have thought it very odd. I am glad you like her. All the sisters are very good company, as you will see tomorrow afternoon when we all meet again for tea at the vicarage, a kind invitation to a stranger on Lily’s part. I’ll see you at church before that, however, if you really do mean to go.
It was so difficult facing Cosmo in the studio this morning after I had learned of his perfidy, but luckily Mr Jones was there, since Effie is still posing in her role as St Melangell.
Cosmo did comment that I seemed quiet and not myself, although I have held him in reserve ever since that horrible kiss when I realized the misapprehension he was under about my feelings for him. I said I had a headache and after lunch would lie down, so could escape to my room until you arrived later.
Despite all my inner turmoil, it was so hard whenever I caught your eye during tea, not to burst out laughing, for listening to Maudie uttering inanities while eyeing your short hair and skirt disapprovingly, and Bea trying to pump you for the latest London fashions, in which you have little interest, almost overset me.
I think Bea was disappointed not to meet Edwin, my supposed ardent suitor. But she is also rather cast down by the news that Mark Prynne and Lesley Stretton are engaged, even though she can see that she and Mark would no longersuit each other. Her desperation to escape Triskelion by some other means is now as great as my own, even if for entirely different motives.
I’m glad you shared my delight in the ancient oak grove and Mab’s Grave, with its strange markings and the view of sky, sea and distant mountains gained from it. There is a magic about this place that touches me, but I long for the broader canvas of Cornwall, which I am sure, from your descriptions, I will adore.
Despite my trepidation about facing Cosmo with what he has done, I am determined to do it and so will follow him to the terrace over the ballroom after dinner tonight, where he goes to smoke a cigar every evening. Fury will make me brave.
He must surely be ashamed when he realizes I know what he has done. Or will his overweening sense of self-importance make him think I should be pleased and flattered by it?
But whatever transpires, this has only made me the more determined to get away, although I can’t accept Edwin’s kind offer to marry me! I can see that once the deed was done Cosmo couldn’t do anything about it, but I won’t ask it of him. The first part of your plan, however, is masterly.
