Page 54 of Searching for Mr Tilney

The nurse smiled as they came closer, but she didn’t have a chance to speak.

‘Damned women, too many cursed females in this house. Where’s Harry? He’s never here when I need him,’ the huddled figure shouted again.

‘Now, Mr Tate,’ said the nurse, ‘you must calm down or you’ll be poorly again. Harry was up with you all last night; you can’t expect him to be looking after you in the daytime too.’

I saw Harry’s uncle sit up straighter in the wheelchair, as he realised he’d come face to face with a stranger.

‘Who the devil are you?’ he demanded, and I felt more frightened than ever. The thought occurred to me that perhaps Harry hadn’t told his uncle I was there after all.

‘I’m Caroline Heath, Mr Tate, a friend of Harry and Elsa.’

‘You know perfectly well that Caroline was coming to stay,’ scolded the nurse, ‘especially as you invited her yourself.’

Geraint Tate had piercing eyes set in a strong face, an aquiline nose with flaring arched nostrils, and a high domed forehead. His greying hair was slightly wild and very thin, except for his extraordinarily bushy eyebrows that were almost black, making his face look very pale, and his thin lips appear strangely blue. He did not look a well man, though he wasn’t frail exactly, but his large frame was clearly agitated, and as I watched, too scared to say or do anything, I saw a bony hand clutch at the blanket over his knees and throw it to the floor. He struggled to his feet, shaking off the nurse’s hand as she attempted to help him, and walked towards me.

‘So, you’re the girl I’ve heard so much about,’ he said in a softer voice, holding out his hand. I was surprised to see he was such a very tall man for he’d looked quite small bunched up in his wheelchair, and he towered over me. He was attempting to smile, though it didn’t quite seem to reach his eyes, and his lips were pressed together in a thin line.

I took his hand in mine. ‘How do you do, Mr Tate?’ I said, remembering my manners, and trying to banish thoughts of Count Dracula from my head. What on earth was the matter with me? I was cross with myself for thinking such wicked thoughts. He was clearly very ill and old. ‘It was so very kind of you to invite me to stay. I must have come down the wrong corridor.’

‘You are very welcome, my dear,’ he said gently, and held onto my hand, pressing it between his large ones. ‘Come and see me later, I like company. When the bossy nurse has gone … you will come, won’t you?’

‘Yes, of course,’ I said, looking at the nurse who was smiling at me, ‘if you’re sure I shan’t tire you.’

‘No indeed, pretty young women never tire me … quite the opposite. They’ve always been my life-blood, but in scant numbers now in this house, I can tell you. You’re just the girl I need to put the roses back in my cheeks. I can quite see why Harry was so keen to get you here. You come along later … we’ll have a nice chat and you can tell me all about yourself.’

‘I shall look forward to it, Mr Tate.’

‘Call me Geraint, that’s my name. We’re going to be great friends, I hope, Caroline.’

I didn’t think I’d be able to say his name out loud. He was older than my mother and it had been hard enough getting used to saying Ellen’s given name without feeling it was very strange.

‘Well, come along, Bronwen, nurse and tormenter of mine,’ he continued in a gruffer tone. ‘Let’s get this bath over and done with.’

I was clearly being dismissed so I turned on my heel and set off back the way I’d come, finding my way to the corridor and the set of stairs which took me down to the hall where Elsa was waiting.

‘I’m sorry to be so late,’ I said, out of breath after running downstairs, ‘I went the wrong way and bumped into your uncle going for his bath.’

‘I hope he wasn’t cross with you … he has such an unpredictable temper. He doesn’t mean to shout, but he gets angry when he’s feeling unwell.’

‘No, he wasn’t, his nurse seemed to be bearing the brunt of it.’

‘Bronwen Jenkins has a heart of gold. I don’t know how she manages to put up with him, but she never loses her temper, even when he’s being really rude to her.’

‘I promised I’d visit him later.’

‘Well, you must have made a good impression if he asked you to go along. Take my advice … don’t go on your own. As I say, he can be a little volatile.’

Elsa didn’t say any more after that, and I thought I would follow her advice. I was quite ready to admit to myself, at least, that I found Geraint Tate very unnerving, and more than a little terrifying. I couldn’t get the words he’d used out of my head - about pretty women being his life-blood, and thought what a strange thing it was to have said.

Chapter Twenty Seven

It really was a beautiful day, though the winds were still fierce sending white clouds scudding across the sea. Elsa took me off to one of the towers in the opposite corner of the quadrangle where the doorway was open to the elements, and a stone staircase wound round inside the tower until we came out on the battlements at the top. The views were incredible, both looking out to sea, and inward across the land, where from a great height I could see the village I’d passed on my journey nestled in the valley below, looking far friendlier in the light of day.

‘We used to play hide and seek in this part of the castle when we were young,’ said Elsa. ‘Harry used to scare me witless jumping out at me from a darkened turret or by hiding in the stairwell and calling out in ghostly voices.’

‘I can imagine that. What was he like as a brother when you were growing up?’

‘Mostly very protective, but as you know yourself, he can be a terrible tease.’