Free Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt Page B

we were there and when we left it I knew that Alvean and I had entered into a new relationship. She had not accepted me completely that would have been asking too much but I did believe that from that afternoon she knew that I was not an enemy.
    I concentrated on giving her confidence. I made her grow accustomed to sitting her horse, to talking to her horse. I made her lean back full length on Buttercup’s back and look up at the sky; then I made her shut her eyes. I gave her lessons in mounting and dismounting.
     
    Buttercup did no more than walk round that field, but I do believe that at the end of the hour I had done a great deal towards making Alvean lose her fear;
    and that was what I had determined should be the first lesson. I was astonished to find that it was half past three, and I think Alvean was too.
    ” We must return to the house at once,” I said, ” if we are to change in time for tea.” As we came out of the field a figure rose from the grass and I saw to my surprise that it was Peter Nansellock. He clapped his hands as we came along. ” Here endeth the first lesson,” he cried, ” and an excellent one. I did not know,” he went on, turning to me, ” that equestrian skill was included in your many accomplishments.”
    ” Were you watching us, Unde Peter?” demanded Alvean. ” For the last half hour. My admiration for you both is beyond expression.”
    Alvean smiled slowly. ” Did you really admire us?”
    ” Much as I could be tempted to compliment two beautiful ladies,” he said placing his hand on his heart and bowing elegantly, ” I could never tell a lie.”
    ” Until this moment,” I said tartly. Alvean’s face fell and I added: ” There is nothing very admirable in learning to ride. Thousands are doing it every day.”
    ” But the art was never so gracefully taught, never so patiently learned.”
    ” Your unde is a Joker, Alvean,” I put in.
    ” Yes,” said Alvean almost sadly, ” I know.”
    ” And,” I added, ” it is time that we returned for tea.”
    ” I wonder if I might be invited to schoolroom tea?”
    ” You are calling to see Mr. TreMellyn?” I asked.
    ” I am calling to take tea with you two ladies.”
    Alvean laughed suddenly; I could see that she was not unaffected by what I supposed was the charm of this man. ” Mr.
    Tremellyn left Mount Mellyn early this afternoon,” I said. ” I have no idea whether or not he has returned. “
    ” And while the cat’s away …” he murmured, and his eyes swept over my costume in a manner which I could only describe as insolent.
    I said coolly: ” Come along, Alvean, we must go at once if we are to be in time for tea.”
    I let the horse break into a trot, and holding Buttercup’s leading rein, started towards the house.
    Peter Nansellock walked behind us, and when we reached the stables I saw him making for the house.
    Alvean and I dismounted, handed our horses to two of the stable boys, and hurried up to our rooms.
    I got out of the riding habit and into my dress and, glancing at myself, I thought how drab I looked in my grey cotton. I made a gesture of impatience at my folly and picked up the riding habit to hang in my cupboard, deciding that I would take the first opportunity of asking Mrs. Polgrey if it was in order for me to use it. I was afraid I had acted on impulse by doing so this afternoon, but I had been stung into prompt action, I realised, by the attitude of Connan TreMellyn.
    As I lifted the habit I saw the name on the waist band. It gave me a little start, as I suppose everything in that connection would do for some time. ” Alice TreMellyn ” was embossed in neat and tiny letters on the black satin facings.
    Then I understood. That room had been her dressing room;
    the bedroom I had glimpsed, her bedroom. I wondered that Alvean had taken me there and given me her mother’s clothes.
    My heart felt as though it were leaping into my throat. This, I said to myself, is absurd. Where else could we