“She got caught by the tide,” Eliza added. “And Terrence rescued her.”
“Dashed dangerous place,” Archie said. “Don’t know why we come here. I don’t know why Irene’s father still likes it here so much, and insists on our joining him. But Irene will never disobey her father. Just because I’m planning to compete in a yacht race this Saturday he insisted we all come up to watch. Frankly I’d rather have come up alone and stayed at the yacht club. Whoever heard of using the cottage in October? Ridiculous idea. We are probably the laughingstock among the usual crowd.”
“Have you found them yet, Archie?” a high voice floated through the woods and an exquisite creation in pale blue silk joined us. Her red-blonde hair was piled on her head in tiny curls and her wide blue eyes looked terrified.
“Not yet, my dear, but don’t worry. They can’t have gotten far. They’ve only been gone a few minutes.”
“A few minutes is enough,” Irene said. “How could that incompetent woman let them slip away from her? She only has one job and that’s to guard my boys. You must fire her as soon as we get home, Archie.”
“I will, my dear. But in the meantime…”
I had moved away from the group feeling awkward and superfluous in such an intimate family setting. As I walked through the undergrowth, I thought I heard something. It could have been a bird, but it sounded like a giggle. Up in an old oak tree I spotted a foot.
“You’d better come down right away. You’ve frightened your poor mother,” I said sternly. “Come on. Quickly now or it will be straight to bed with no supper for you.”
Two little boys slithered down sheepishly. They looked to be about eight and ten years old and they were dressed in identical sailor suits that were now the worse for wear.
“Here they are!” I called. “They were hiding in a tree.”
Irene rushed over to them, her arms open. “Thank God, thank God. You naughty, naughty, naughty boys. You made Mama so frightened.” Irene enveloped them in a big hug, holding them to her bosom and rocking them fiercely.
She looked up at her husband as he strode angrily toward them. “Speak to them, Archie. Make them understand that they must never do this again.”
“You’ll get a damned good thrashing if you ever do that again, do you hear?” Archie said in a not-too-threatening voice, as Irene released her hold and the boys wriggled free.
“Yes, Papa,” the boys muttered.
“Archie, they are just little boys. Be gentle with them,” Irene begged, trying to embrace them again.
“They need discipline, Irene. They are running wild.” He wagged a finger at the boys. “Now off to the house with you and get cleaned up before you meet your grandfather. You look a disgrace.”
“Yes, Papa,” the boys chimed in unison, but I got the impression that they knew no threat would ever be carried out.
They ran across the lawn toward the house.
“Thank God,” Irene said again. “When I couldn’t find them, I thought—”
“They are boys, Irene,” Archie said. “They need some freedom. You can’t keep them wrapped in cotton all their lives.”
“I can and I will. If I have to follow them every second we are here, then I’ll do it to keep them safe.” And she started after them across the lawn. She stumbled on the wet grass. Archie took her arm to steady her but she snatched it away as if burned.
“I think I’d better let you go back to the house. I can find my own way from here,” I said to Terrence and Eliza who were watching with expressions both pained and embarrassed. “I had tried to avoid meeting the family in this disheveled state. I’d prefer not to come face-to-face with Alderman Hannan himself, so if you don’t mind…”
And without waiting any longer I took my leave.
Nine
As I approached our cottage a procession was coming down the drive—a cart piled high with boxes, valises, and baskets—followed by an open carriage full of male and female servants. An automobile was sitting outside the front door. It appeared that the family had arrived in force.
Daniel had been sitting in the bay window and jumped up as I opened the front door.
“Where have you been? You’ve been gone for hours. I’ve been worried about you.”
“I’m sorry. I thought you’d be sleeping. I was on the seashore and then I met some family members and joined in a search for two little boys, whom I found hiding in a tree.”
“Such adventures,” Daniel said. “I’m sorry I missed them. So these boys—they were the alderman’s grandsons?”
“They were. Thomas and Alex. Nice little chaps from what I could see. Their mama was most distressed.”
“Well, she would be, wouldn’t she? If she’d already lost one child over that cliff. So did you meet the alderman too?”
“No, thank heavens. I wouldn’t have made too good a first impression with my skirt in this state, would I?”