Tell Tale: Short Stories

A silence followed, and Professor Burbage allowed herself a moment to enjoy the thought that she had defeated young and old alike in her final lecture, until a tall, distinguished-looking gentleman rose slowly from his place near the back of the auditorium. Although she hadn’t seen him for over forty years, Margaret knew exactly who he was. Now gaunt of face, with gray hair, and a severed arm from a recent war to remind her that he wasn’t someone who retreated in the face of the enemy.

And with his arms outstretch’d, as he would fly,

Grasps in the comer: the welcome ever smiles,

And farewell goes out sighing,

he offered in a voice she could never forget.

“Which play?” she demanded.

“Troilus and Cressida,” he said confidently.

“Correct. But for your bonus, which act and which scene?”

He hesitated for a moment before saying, “Act three, scene two.”

It was the right act but the wrong scene, but Professor Burbage simply smiled and said, “You’re quite right, Mr. Lowell.”

ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR

RALPH—PRONOUNCED RAIF—DUDLEY DAWSON became squire of the village of Nethercote when his father died. After all, his father and grandfather had always been addressed as “squire” by the locals, and as he’d inherited Nethercote Hall, with its thousand acres of farmland and ten thousand sheep, he rather assumed he’d be treated with the same deference. So convinced was Ralph of his birthright, he refused to open letters that weren’t addresse

d to Ralph Dudley Dawson, Esq.

Any friends Ralph had, of whom there were few, were either richer than he was or listed in Debrett’s, and, like the Royal Family, he considered it nothing less than his duty to marry someone from his own class, or preferably even higher. After all, Ralph was a good catch.

The only problem for Ralph was that he didn’t come across too many young women living in the depths of Cornwall who fitted the bill. The lord lieutenant of the county, Sir Miles Seymour, had three daughters: Arabella, who was beautiful, Charlotte, who was charming, and Clare, who was neither, but inexplicably all three turned him down. The vicar’s daughter, Maud, was a nice enough girl, but frankly he didn’t want to go into the garden with her, and in any case she was about to disappear off to Lady Margaret Hall, which Ralph assumed was a nunnery.

Once Ralph had attained his fortieth year, he accepted that he might have to look further afield if he was to find anyone worthy of him, or at least that was until his eyes settled on Beth Trevelyan.

Ralph, as the village squire, had been invited to present the prizes at a local swimming gala, and when Beth pulled herself out of the water, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. He continued to stare at the apparition as she took off her swimming cap and shook out a mass of golden curls that fell to her shoulders, completing a picture that had all the young men, and several of the older ones, looking in her direction.

Ralph was determined to add Beth to his many conquests, but as she passed by the judges’ table, she didn’t give him a second look. Perhaps the three-piece tweed suit, brown suede brogues, and half hunter watch made him look a lot older than he was. He hung around outside the swimming pool hoping to speak to the goddess, but when Beth finally appeared, dressed in a simple yellow frock with a bow in her hair, she was on the arm of a fair-haired, good-looking young man who Ralph thought he recognized, but couldn’t place. It didn’t take Ralph long to discover that Jamie Carrigan was a tenant farmer who rented forty acres of his land and lived in one of the cottages on his estate, and that Beth was the daughter of a local publican who managed the Nethercote Arms, something else Ralph owned, but had never frequented.

What Ralph didn’t know until he had made some inquiries was that the young sheep farmer had already approached Beth’s father and asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Mr. Trevelyan had not only agreed to the match, but offered to hold the reception in his pub.

Despite these setbacks, Ralph assumed that once Beth knew of his interest, she wouldn’t be able to resist his charms, as had been the case with several of the village girls. Not Beth, however, because when he invited her to tea at Nethercote Hall, she failed to reply. The young woman clearly didn’t know her place.

As the weeks passed and several more invitations to tea, drinks, and even a trip to London were refused, Ralph was at a loss to understand her attitude, not least because he wasn’t in the habit of being rejected. In desperation, he resorted to suggesting a weekend in Paris, only to be turned down once again. The weeks turned into months, and nothing he came up with seemed to interest her, which only caused Ralph to become more and more obsessed with the Cornish beauty, until he could bear it no longer. He finally turned up at the Nethercote Arms unannounced and asked the publican for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Mr. Trevelyan was left speechless, until Ralph added a sweetener he felt confident would seal the bargain. Of course, Ralph had no intention of marrying the girl, but was determined to discover what it would be like to remove her seven veils. However, Beth was not Salome, and in any case, she already knew the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with, and it certainly wasn’t Ralph Dudley Dawson, Esq.

Although her father had given Jamie his blessing, neither of them had taken into consideration Beth’s mother, who, like any self-respecting barmaid, knew an opportunity when she saw one. On hearing the news of the squire’s interest, Mrs. Trevelyan didn’t waste a moment, attempting to persuade, cajole, and even bully her daughter into accepting his proposal. However, Beth continued to resist her mother’s blandishments, until she discovered she was pregnant.

When Beth informed her parents who the father was, her mother was quick to point out that Jamie Carrigan was a penniless shepherd who rented forty acres of land and lived in a small cottage on the estate of a wealthy gentleman who wanted to marry her. However, Beth remained resolute in her determination to marry her lover, until the squire failed to renew the five-year lease on Jamie’s forty acres, and also threatened to replace Mr. Trevelyan as landlord of the Nethercote Arms, if his daughter didn’t accept his proposal.

The hastily arranged marriage—Ralph couldn’t wait—took place in a register office in Truro, and the reception was not held at Nethercote Hall for those in high places but at the Nethercote Arms for a select few, as Ralph didn’t want his friends to realize he’d married below his station.

* * *

Mr. and Mrs. Dudley Dawson spent their honeymoon on the island of Rhodes, where there was little chance of them bumping into anyone they knew. When Ralph watched his wife undress for the first time, he was entranced by Beth’s Botticelli figure, even more voluptuous than he’d imagined. But when they finally made love, he was disappointed by her lack of enthusiasm, and assumed it was simply because she was a shy virgin, and that given time Beth would come to enjoy his particular sexual fantasies.

Not long after the newlyweds had returned to Nethercote, Beth announced she was pregnant. Ralph wasn’t surprised, after all they hadn’t stopped making love during their honeymoon. Five times a night, Ralph boasted to his friends, unaware that Beth was doing no more than carrying out her mother’s instructions.

Seven months later, Rupert Dudley Dawson entered the world, or at least that was the name that appeared on the birth certificate. Ralph showed no surprise at the premature birth, but did admit he was disappointed that young Rupert hadn’t inherited the Dudley Dawsons’ distinctive red hair and prominent nose. All in good time, he assured his friends, because like the Royal Family, Ralph would require an heir and a spare. Indeed, this mundane tale might not have advanced beyond the fate of a sad, unrequited woman and an overbearing, arrogant man, had Germany not marched into Poland on September 1, 1939.

* * *

Young Jamie Carrigan was among the first to report to the nearest recruiting office and sign up to serve his King and Country with the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. But then, he had lost his one true love and sought an honorable death.