Page 37 of Mirrors of the Past

Chapter Fourteen

1911

As the Halloween party picked up pace in Cornwall, Laurie was elsewhere — in a carriage, to be precise, travelling from the railway station. With him, was a very dusty, very excited girl. That girl was fourteen-year-old Evie Griffiths, red-headed daughter of Lily and Edwin Griffiths.

‘That’s the first time I’ve travelled on a train by myself!’ she was telling Laurie happily. ‘When Mama and Papa waved me off, I swear I was going to cry — I mean, all the way to Cornwall on a train!’

The arrangement had been that Laurie would collect Evie at the other end. She’d had a piano examination earlier that day at Trinity College, in London, and hadn’t wanted to miss it — she and her older brother, the quiet, shy Albert, had a friendly rivalry going on. Albert was one grade ahead of Evie and if she’d missed this — well, he would be two grades ahead of her and that would never do . . .

The boys had travelled up yesterday after lessons had finished, and stayed at Pencradoc. They got on very well with Laurie’s younger brothers and the evening had been an uproar of yelling boys and rough-and-tumble games. Elsie, normally in the middle of it all, had stayed out of it for once, helping Pearl as she prepared the house for the party.

Laurie’s aunt and uncle had also dropped his cousins off earlier today, and then Alys, Jago and Laurie’s parents had travelled in the opposite direction to Evie, to meet Edwin and Lily in London, and to stay with them for the evening in their beautiful house in Primrose Hill. It was all pretty complicated — the point Laurie was focussing on right now was that he was escorting Evie to Pencradoc to join them all for the party. The train had been half an hour late, she had explained, as there’d been a delay while they’d shooed a cow off the line, but once the cow had decided to wander back to its field, the train had started up again and Evie had eventually made it.

Laurie allowed her to chatter happily all the way back and to discuss the best way for her to wear her costume. It was an old stage costume of her mother’s — Lily had kept one or two of her favourites from her life before Edwin — and this one was a gypsy fortune teller.

‘Will everyone be dressed like they were in Alva Vanderbilt’s ball?’ Evie asked, her mind dancing to something else entirely. It was the first time she’d been to anything like a costume party and she was practically bouncing.

‘Not really,’ Laurie said carefully. ‘This is more for the children. I don’t think there’ll be any cat headdresses tonight beyond the traditional witch’s cat outfits.’ He referred to a hideous costume someone had worn at the Vanderbilt ball in 1883, which included a stuffed cat as a headdress. Evie loved reading Lily’s magazines, and there had been an article about the Vanderbilt ball, along with a selection of astonishing photographs a little while ago, and they had clearly made an impression on her.

‘Oh.’ She was disappointed for a second, but soon perked up again. ‘Whatever. It will be splendid anyway!’

‘Medora is going as Mary Shelley. Or Lady Byron. Or someone like that,’ Laurie said. ‘She always does that.’ He knew his sister adored the black Regency-style dress she had inherited from Elsie and dragged out whenever possible. ‘Isolde is going as Mina from Dracula — she’s dug through the dressing-up box and come up with something corseted and uncomfortable-looking.’ Privately, he thought it would suit Isolde to sit primly. Situated between Elsie and Medora in age, Isolde often seemed as if she was trying to prove that she was the sensible one of the family, which was a shame because Laurie knew that she could be one of the funniest, kindest girls he knew — she just didn’t show it very often. He definitely felt there was an element of jealousy there, but who was he to try to mediate between his sisters. He had given that up a very long time ago.

‘What are you going as, Laurie?’ asked Evie.

‘Me? Byron, I suspect. Or maybe I could be Shelley — after the vampire got ’em in Switzerland, though. Going for the half-decomposed cadaver look. No choice. Outfit ancient. Medora swooned when I suggested it.’ Laurie had also rummaged through the dressing-up box and come up with a collection of clothes he’d thought might be appropriate. He knew Fabian had a fondness for Regency dandies as well — indeed, there was a wonderful photograph of Elsie and Fabian from the summer when they’d been to Pearl’s ball, where it all blew up about Marigold — but Laurie’s clothes were quite tattered compared to the outfit Fabian had worn so well. And there was that famous story about the Villa Diodati, where Mary Shelley had written Frankenstein, and Byron had written a story about a vampire, and Laurie believed in artistic licence, so . . .

Also, Laurie did enjoy writing his poetry, even though he had to keep hiding it from the rest of the family, so why couldn’t he be a Romantic poet tonight?

The thought made him smile.

Evie laughed. ‘A vampire didn’t get them,’ she said.

‘I know.’ Laurie smiled back. ‘But we can pretend it did. It’s scarier that way.’

‘Oh, definitely! Yes, it is!’

They continued to debate how scary that sort of story could be, all the way to Pencradoc, and, when they eventually reached the place, Evie gasped with delight at all the jack o’ lanterns on the driveway . . .

‘If it’s as scary as this outside,’ she exclaimed in delight, ‘it will be marvellous inside!’

‘I’m sure it will be.’ Laurie helped her out and took her Gladstone bag out of the carriage as well. It was only an overnight stay, so she hadn’t brought a great deal, but he knew her precious outfit was folded up in there.

The light was spilling out along the side of the house as they approached and as Laurie pushed the door open and stepped into the hallway, they heard the party in full swing. Children were shrieking, adults were laughing and Evie looked delighted.

‘Come on.’ Laurie grinned at her. She reminded him a lot of Medora with her joie de vivre and her exuberance over everything. ‘I’ll take you up to your room and you can get ready. Would you like someone to come and help?’

‘Oh, no!’ She shook her head. ‘I’ll be awfully quick. Then is it all right if I just — go in?’

She almost looked worried that he’d say no.

‘Of course you can,’ he said. ‘You can surprise them. I’ll be down as soon as I’m ready — but you know everyone, I think.’ Mentally, he counted out who he thought would be there — truth be told, he hadn’t taken much notice when his siblings were discussing it. After that appalling ball in Mayfair, he had tried to put thoughts of socialising out of his head.

And maybe thoughts of a certain blonde American girl, to whom he felt he’d acted appallingly as well. Still. He’d managed to avoid her thus far and she was probably living it up in London with her brother anyway. No need to keep revisiting the dreadful evening.

Tonight, he knew without a doubt it would be Holly, Noel and the baby; Pearl, Ernie and the children; Evie’s brothers; his cousins; Elsie, Louis and Marigold, and the rest of his brothers and sisters. Oh. And Fabian, of course.

Yes, Evie would be fine walking into that lot.