Mingled With Venom

children were old enough to be sent to boarding-school and she and her husband became more and more estranged, she began a flirtation, which developed into an affair, with Garnet Porthcawl. An affair, however, taken much more seriously by her than by him, for whereas Diana was frustrated and bored, Garnet was contented with his home life, got on well with his sister, loved Gamaliel and looked upon the weak and often peevish Parsifal with tolerance, if not with affection or respect.

Another reason for Garnet’s reluctance to be married was that, although his income was rather more than enough to support himself and contribute towards, the support of his sister, her husband and Gamaliel, he doubted whether he could stretch it sufficiently to support a wife as well, for, married or not, he had no intention whatever of deserting Bluebell and Gamaliel. He knew that Parsifal could do little for them.

Rupert’s estrangement from his wife had begun with her resentment at what had been a difficult birth of the (to her) unwanted twins, followed by the discovery that Romula, Rupert’s wealthy grandmother, far from forgiving him for his illegitimate origins now that he had legitimate children of his own, refused an invitation to his children’s christening and declined to see him when he called to remonstrate with her.

He earned a sufficient although not a considerable income by writing educational books, but his magnum opus was to be a work of the flora of South Cornwall, for which he sometimes enlisted the help of Parsifal, whose poetic wanderings occasionally produced fairly rare specimens of the local plants. To console himself for the breakdown of marriage, Rupert had what was supposed to be a platonic friendship with Fiona Bute. She would have been prepared to marry him if she had not felt that Romula would disown her if she did. Divorce from his wife, however, was not one of Rupert’s priorities.

It was not until they were nine years old that Quentin and Millament became aware of the strained atmosphere of the house. This had nothing to do directly with their actual age, but was due to their having been sent home from school in the middle of the spring term owing to an outbreak of infectious illness.

Suddenly the house was different. During the Easter and summer holidays there were the students, a father who liked children and would take them for walks in the woods, a mother who would put up packets of sandwiches and provide fruit and there were always dogs and puppies about the house and garden. At Christmas their adopted cousin Gamaliel, who had taught them to call him Greg Ubi, always came to stay and they went back with him to Seawards, that mysterious, exciting house, for the New Year and to finish the holiday.

But in the middle of the spring term it was as though a blight had settled on Campions. The weather was cold and wet, so that it was not possible to go out into the woods, there were no puppies to play with, the thoroughbred dachshund sire was out at stud, the bitch was heavy with her next consignment and was more or less in purdah, one of the maids was under notice of dismissal, the others were sullen because they were on her side and against Diana who had sacked the girl in a fit of petulance and knew it but would not retract, and as for Rupert, the children’s companion at holiday times, he was immersed in his writing.

Even Gamaliel’s company was denied them, for he still had to attend school. Moreover, his homework, however carelessly or badly he did it— and he refused to ask for help—occupied his evenings. The twins, however, were resilient. When the next school holidays came round, all was as before, and, at their age, they neither knew nor cared about the sympathies and antipathies of those in the family circle. They knew that they had a great grandmother whom they had never seen and a grandmother who paid occasional visits to Campions and brought sweets. They knew from her that she had fostered their father when Rupert was a boy, and had brought him up with her own two children.

They were well acquainted with Bluebell through Gamaliel, less so with Garnet. Of Parsifal they knew little, for he was not at ease in the company of children and was apt to make himself scarce when they paid visits to Seawards. His, however, was a presence they could easily dispense with. Bluebell, who was an excellent cook, fed them, Gamaliel was their play-fellow and Garnet was sometimes available to join in a game or tell jokes and show them card tricks. Parsifal was, for them, a redundant member of the household and, for his part, was content to be so. Whatever the weather, his daily walks grew longer when Quentin and Millament were in the house.

Chapter2

Family Dinner

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The task of arranging the seating had devolved upon Fiona. Romula had made only two stipulations. She would sit at the head of the table (Fiona had taken this for granted) and facing her at the foot was to be one of the men.

Fiona, in pursuance of her usual policy, sought out Maria for a consultation. ‘There are all sorts of things to consider,’ she said, ‘and I don’t want to boob.’

‘For one thing,’ said Maria, ‘the two children must be placed side by side. They will be shy and awkward. They are at an in-between age. It would be unwise and unkind to separate them. Then their parents had better be near enough to them to tender advice and exercise authority if that is needed.’

‘Yes, I had thought of all that, but I can’t put Rupert and Diana together. I don’t even think it would be a good idea to put them directly opposite one another. The first thing to be settled is which of the men to place at the other end of the table, don’t you think? It is a position of some importance.’

‘It ought to be Garnet. He is her grandson and my son. It is his obvious place. After all, if everybody was given his rights, Garnet should be her heir.’

‘Granted, although I have a feeling it won’t work out that way.’

‘Blood is thicker than water.’

‘Meaning that that marks the difference between us?’

‘Well, let’s not go upon those lines, but there is a difference, I suppose. I’ll tell you what! Let us each take pencil and paper, make our own dining plan and then compare the results. That way there is a basis for rational discussion.’

‘Fine! Let’s do just that.’

In spite of what both saw as a slight passage of arms between the prodigal daughter and the chosen favourite, the two women had no intention of quarrelling. Each made her list and put her point of view and without acrimony a compromise was reached with which both were satisfied.

The invitations had been greeted by their recipients with mixed feelings. There was no doubt in anybody’s mind