The English Tutor (8 page)

He looked at her curiously.

“
But wouldn
’
t you rather be treated like a daughter?
”
he asked gently.
“
It
’
s your privilege, you know.
”

“
No,
”
she said quickly and passionately.
“
Kilmallin has no use for women, and neither have I.
”

He smiled, but not unkindly.

“
You
’
re a queer little girl,
”
he told her,
“
but I
’
ve no doubt you
’
ll change when you grow up.
”

“
I
’
m not a child,
”
she said coldly, and he smiled again. She sat picking a thread out of her skirt, then asked abruptly:

“
Are you going to stay?
”

He threw his cigarette-end into the fire and looked at her thoughtfully.

“
I don
’
t know,
”
he said then.
“
I told your father I would decide in the morning.
”

“
I suppose,
”
she said with an effort,
“
you could stop on and teach Brian. After all, he
’
s really the important one and he seems to like you.
”

“
Unfortunately your father insists that you are included, too.
”

“
If Kilmallin has a fixed idea in his head,
”
she told him with a sigh,
“
you may as well make the best of it.
”

“
Oh, I don
’
t think so,
”
he replied mildly.
“
There was evidently a misunderstanding. If I
’
d realized you were a girl and not a boy, I wouldn
’
t have agreed to the job in the first place. I can always go back to England again.
”

“
In spite of Kilmallin?
”

“
Certainly in spite of your father. I
’
m under no obligation to him, you know.
”

“
Kilmallin wants you to stay, doesn
’
t he?
”
She was not looking at him, and he studied her thin, mobile little face afresh. The firelight softened the planes and sharp contours, and he found a curious sensitivity there, and a hint of maturity which he had not at first noticed.

“
Yes, I think he does,
”
he replied.

She raised her eyes to his, wide and smoky and grave under the strongly marked brows, and quite suddenly he felt he wanted to know her better, wanted to see if he could teach her.

“
What do you think you
’
ll do?
”
she asked.

He stood up and began to search through his pockets for his keys.

“
That all depends on you,
”
he said lightly, and
s
tooped to unlock a suitcase.

She got to her feet and made a face at his back.

“
Oh, well, then, it
’
s practically settled,
”
she said cheerfully, and started for the door.

He straightened up, and turned to look at her across the width of the room.

“
Is it?
”
he said politely.

“
Of course. I don
’
t want to work for you, and you don
’
t want to teach me. Kilmallin will just have to start again, that
’
s all.
”
She smiled at him quite amicably.
“
There
’
s duck for dinner
and
velvet creams all in your honour. See you later.
”

She disappeared, banging the door behind her, and he could hear her footsteps echoing on the stone stairs with a lightness and buoyancy which made him suddenly smile.

K
evin did his utmost to make the first evening a pleasant one. He brought up a bottle of his finest claret and turned the whole occasion into a celebration. He could, when he chose, play perfectly the part of the typical Irish country gentleman, courtly and amusing and generously openhanded. He had taken just enough whisky before dinner to make, him feel on top of his form and he was determined to captivate the Englishman and ensure his co-operation.

He tried to draw his son out, passionately wanting Brian to be viewed in his best light by the stranger, but the boy, as always when his father focused too much attention on him, became nervous and shy. Mark observed that Kevin
’
s manner towards his two children was entirely different. With the boy, he was gentle and patient to the point of embarrassment, but with Clancy he showed at once a rough tolerance, and an odd impatience of the very qualities he was for ever seeking in his son. Once or twice, Mark surprised a flash of disappointment in the girl
’
s face, a fleeting hurt in her eyes, and he thought how perverse life was. Clancy clearly admired her father, but he doubted whether the boy felt anything more than an uneasy respect for him.

Mark had yet to meet Agnes, and after dinner Aunt Bea suggested that Clancy and Brian should take their new tutor up to the old nursery. It was very necessary to humour Agnes, who could be a disruptive force in their lives, and she had not taken kindly to the idea of a tutor for her delicate nursling.

“
Let Brian take him,
”
Kevin said, hoping that once they were alone the boy would have more to say for himself. Clancy, who had no wish to do more for the guest than the bare rules of hospitality demanded, acquiesced cheerfully and remained in the library with her aunt and her father.

Brian, released from his father
’
s restraint, became much more talkative, and insisted on showing Mark the schoolroom before they went to see Agnes. Here, in his own domain, he seemed more normal, and watching him move about the room, displaying his treasures, Mark could detect very little sign of the delicacy which Kevin had stressed so much.

On the blackboard was a crudely chalked drawing of an old man
’
s head. He was quite bald, with a solitary hair which stood up like a question mark on the top, and a beard sprouted from his chin in rich profusion. Underneath was written in an unformed hand:
“
Down with the English.
”

“
Who is the artist?
”
asked Mark, his eyes twinkling.

Brian took a duster and rubbed the drawing out.

“
Clancy did it,
”
he said.
“
It
’
s supposed to be you. You see, we thought you would be an old professor. Conn said you would.
”

“
I see. Who, exactly, is Conn?
”

“
He
’
s Conn Driscoll, and he breeds horses,
”
said Brian, looking slightly surprised that someone like Conn should have to be explained.
“
He lives the other side of the loch and he
’
s Clancy
’
s friend.
”

“
I see,
”
said Mark again.
“
Were all your gove
rn
esses old?
”

“
Most of them,
”
said Brian indifferently.
“
Except one. But Agnes said she set her cap at Kilmallin, so Aunt Bea got rid of her. She was nice,
”
he finished a little wistfully,
“
but Agnes didn
’
t like her.
”

“
Do you think you would like to have a man to teach you?
”
Mark asked curiously.

“
I don
’
t know,
”
Brian replied doubtfully.
“
Agnes says you will work me too hard.
”

“
Oh, I expect you can do much more than you think,
”
said Mark.

“
That
’
s what Clancy says,
”
Brian replied.
“
Shall we go and see Agnes now?
”

The old nursery still retained its name, although it had been Agnes
’
s own domain for years. It was a pleasant room, still furnished with the original nursery pieces with the addition of an extra easy chair, and numerous snapshots and mementoes with which she had filled every available space.

Agnes herself was sitting by the fire, knitting, and she rose with a certain amount of reluctance as they came into the room and looked Mark over with a speculative eye. She immediately began reciting a long list of the things Brian was not supposed to do, finishing up by saying that she would brook no interference with regard to the boy
’
s health.

Mark listened politely, amused at first, and then slightly irritated. It was plain that Agnes had ruled the governesses.

“
I shouldn
’
t dream of interfering in matters outside my province,
”
he told her courteously.
“
That is, if I stay at a
ll
.
”

Agnes
’
s little eyes snapped open with astonishment.

“
An
’
why should you not be staying?
”
she demanded truculently.
“
There
’
s many a young felly would like to be in your shoes, let me be tellin
’
you.
”

“
I dare say you
’
re right,
”
Mark replied imperturbably.
“
But you see I wa
s
under the impression I was to take charge of two boys.
”

Agnes relaxed.

“
Och, is it Clancy?
”
she said with a shrug.
“
She
’
s just thrown in with the other. You don
’
t need to trouble yourself about her. It
’
s this boy here that matters. Kilmallin sets such store by him, as you will have noticed for yourself, an
’
so do we all, don
’
t we, Brian, me doty child?
”

Brian went to her, and rubbed his cheek against her shoulder like a kitten.

“
I like Mr. Cromwell,
”
he said unexpectedly.
“
I hope he
’
ll stay.
”

The old woman gave Mark a look of distrust.

“
You look pale, boy,
”
she said, turning Brian
’
s face round to the lamp.
“
Have you a miscomfort anywhere?
”

“
I think I
’
ve got a pain in my stomach,
”
said Brian who, until that moment, had been feeling perfectly well.

“
It
’
ll be too rich food,
”
Agnes said, holding him to her.
“
Was it wine you drank as well?
”

“
A little. Clancy had two glasses.
”

“
Och, that one
’
s never a thought for her little brother! You cannot do the same as Clancy, so I
’
m always telling you—she hasn
’
t the fineness of you. Let you go back to the others, sir. I
’
ll see this boy goes to bed,
”
Agnes finished, turning to Mark who had stood watching them both with an expressionless face.

“
Very well,
”
he said after a moment
’
s hesitation.
“
Good night.
”

He reflected a little grimly as he went down the stairs that they were making a ninny of the boy. Kevin had promised that if Mark stayed there would be no interference from him, but that had applied to the girl. He wondered very much if his dealings with Brian would be so free as was implied.

The library door was open, and he could hear their voices distinctly. Kevin was saying, an exasperated note in his voice:

“
I
’
m telling you, Clancy, I want him to stay. He
’
s the very man for Brian, and I think he
’
s taken to the boy.
”

“
He doesn
’
t want to teach me, Kilmallin,
”
replied Clancy
’
s clear tones.
“
And I shouldn
’
t think even you can make him do what he doesn
’
t want to.
”