Aunt Sabrina looked pleased. 'Well, then,' she said, 'I propose that Pocket drive you to Colchester immediately after luncheon. The purpose of your trip, of course,' she added, 'must be private, between us.'
'Of course,' Kate murmured.
Aunt Sabrina straightened. 'In the meanwhile,' she said, 'I believe that your aunt Jaggers wishes you to speak with her.'
'Yes,' Kate said with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm, and stood.
Aunt Sabrina put her hand on Kate's arm. 'Kathryn, one more word, please.'
Kate sat back down, regretting that she had not concealed her feelings. She and Aunt Jaggers had not gotten off to a good beginning. But Aunt Jaggers was as she was, and there was nothing to be done about her unpleasantness. It was not fair to Aunt Sabrina to so openly reveal her feelings that discomfort was created between them.
Aunt Sabrina's mouth tensed, then relaxed, as if she were forcing herself to speak calmly. 'Your aunt-I speak in confidence, of course-is a deeply unhappy woman. She married very young, against your grandfather's wishes. He was a man with a great concern for the appearance of things, and denied her any share in his estate. She was widowed some years ago, and left with nothing, a situation that she quite naturally resents. At… ah, my suggestion, she returned here, to our family home. At her wish, she manages this household.' Aunt Sabrina shifted uncomfortably, as if she were speaking of something that gave her pain. 'My sister relieves me of domestic responsibilities I do not relish. In gratitude for her
willingness to undertake these chores, I have given her a free rein belowstairs.' She hesitated. 'Too free a rein, perhaps. I daresay I bear some guilt in that unpleasant business last spring.'
Kate said nothing, but the situation was coming clear. With Aunt Sabrina deeply engaged with her own interests and disinclined to involve herself in belowstairs matters, Aunt Jag-gers was free to do as she liked. But what was the business about last spring?
Aunt Sabrina turned the letter opener in her fingers, continuing with evident discomfort. 'I trust, Kathryn, that your aunt will not seek to impose a strict discipline on you, as she does on the servants. If this occurs, please discuss the matter with me.'
'Thank you, Aunt Sabrina,' Kate said, quite sincerely. She sensed again, as she had yesterday, the complexity of the relationship between the sisters. If Aunt Jaggers was so profoundly disliked, perhaps even feared, why was she permitted to stay at Bishop's Keep?
'Do remember, Kathryn,' her aunt said, and the words were clearly a warning. 'Come to me, first.'
'I shall,' Kate murmured. But as she rose to leave the room, she told herself sternly that she would not trouble Aunt Sabrina to intervene. Whatever difficulties Aunt Jaggers posed, she would deal with them herself.
14
'Remember, that whatever your situation be, housemaid, or through-servant, or nursemaid, your mistress will expect you to obey her orders. The first and chief or your duties is, to do what you are desired to do.'
Aunt Jaggers's suite of rooms lay in the west wing of the house. When Kate answered the summons to enter, she stepped into a dim and crowded twilight. Aunt Jaggers obviously adhered to the principle that a room was not quite furnished unless it was full. This one held no fewer than nine chairs, a Chesterfield settee and a chaise, four occasional tables, a red lacquered Japanese cabinet and a mahogany cupboard, a large burnished gong, and a tall green vase filled with dyed pampas plumes and peacock feathers. The fireplace mantel was elaborately draped in wine-colored velvet, and not another vase or bowl could have found a place on the mirrored mantelshelf. In the corner, a red-and-green parrot clacked and complained in a tall bamboo cage half-hidden behind ferny fronds.
'Mind that dog.' Aunt Jaggers spoke sharply from her chair beside a fire that made the room unbearably hot. She was knitting what appeared to be a black wool muffler.
Kate lifted her skirt and looked down. At her feet stood a
small terrier, plump as a piglet. It bared yellow teeth and growled.
'Nice doggie,' Kate said nervously. She had never gotten on with dogs.
The parrot gave a malicious squawk. 'Step to it, men!'
'The dog bites,' snapped Aunt Jaggers. Her knitting needles clicked ferociously. 'Don't provoke him.'
'I'll try not,' Kate said, moving to the red velvet settee. The terrier flopped on the hearth, chin on paws, and regarded Kate with red-eyed suspicion. She sat, feeling very much like Alice with the Red Queen, wondering when Aunt Jaggers would cry out, 'Off with her head!'
Aunt Jaggers did not look up from her knitting. On the wall behind her hung a large multisectioned picture of the Plagues of Egypt. 'I have asked you here to ensure that you understand the rules of the household. If you are staying, that is,' she added waspishly. 'Perhaps you have reconsidered your rash decision to accept employment from my sister.'
Kate pressed her lips together. 'I have not.'
'More's the pity,' Aunt Jaggers remarked, her eyes still fixed on her knitting. 'You will find, when you involve yourself with that unspeakable Temple of Doris-''
'Horus, I believe it is called,' Kate said diplomatically.
Aunt Jaggers's shoulders went rigid with disapproval. 'Its name is of no importance. As I have said to my sister very often, what matters is that its work is of the devil-seances, incense, astrology, cards, magic.' Her voice became shrill. 'Should you become an apprentice to these sorcerers, Niece Kathryn, you will endanger your immortal soul. As does my sister.'
'Thank you, Aunt,' Kate murmured. 'I appreciate your concern. I shall strive to guard my soul.'
'Don't be sarcastic, miss! It is unbecoming. You will not get on in the world that way.'
' 'No, Aunt,'' Kate said humbly.
'To your post,' snapped the parrot. 'Attention!' These military orders were followed by a silence, broken only by the furious clicking of needles and the terrier's asthmatic wheezing.
After a moment, Aunt Jaggers dropped her knitting into her lap. 'My sister has expressed her belief that your Ar-dleigh kinship raises you above the level to which your occupation consigns you. I do not concur, but my opinions clearly have no weight. You should nevertheless be aware of the conditions of service in this household. God has given the young and malleable hearts of the servants into my trust,' she added with passionate intensity, 'and it falls to me to see that they perform the duties for which He has fitted them.'
'Damnation,' the parrot remarked amiably. 'Rule Britannia.'
Aunt Jaggers got up and threw a velvet drape over the parrot's cage. The bird subsided with a surly cluck. Sitting down, she said, 'We observe the Sabbath strictly. No hot meals, no hot water, fires only in winter. Prayers each morning of the week at six-thirty in the back parlor. No jam, butter, tea, sugar, and most especially beer are permitted to the servants. In these practices, I am supported by The Young Servant's Own Book, which warns against excessive eating and drinking.' She reached for a well-worn book on the table beside her, opened it to a marked page, and began to read. ' 'Eating too much is bad for the health, and drinking too much leads to misery. It is not wise for servants to accustom themselves to drink strong tea with a great deal of sugar; for, should they have to buy for themselves, they will find it very expensive to do so.' ' She shut the book and turned to Kate, her eyes feverish with passionate intensity. 'You see, by guarding those in our employ against their own wicked desires, we do them a service for which they will be grateful in later years.' She dipped her hand into a box of candy on the table beside her and put a chocolate into her mouth.
'I see,' Kate said thoughtfully. Was Aunt Jaggers's severe guardianship the reason for Amelia's fear and Mudd's warning? Somehow, she thought not. Her own earlier employer had been almost as strict, without any noticeable effect on the servants. No, if the servants' fear and bitterness were directed at Aunt Jaggers, it flowed from some other source, darker and deeper than mere resentment.
The terrier had fallen noisily asleep, and Aunt Jaggers's
