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Authors: Victoria Holt
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the drawing-room.
“You can pour out and entertain me, which is somehow right and fitting as you’re the Clavering. ” The spirit lamp and silver teapot were already there, with plates of sandwiches, scones and plum cake. Beside Wilmot stood a maid.
“Miss dave ring will pour out,” said Ben.
“Very good, sir,” replied Wilmot graciously; and I was glad when he and the maid had retired.
“All very ceremonious,” said Ben.
“I confess to you I’ve never quite got used to it. Sometimes I say: ” Enough of that I” You can imagine how a man feels when he’s boiled his own billy-can and cooked his own damper round’ a campfire. Today’s special, though. Today’s the day when the first Clavering comes to be my guest.”
“But not a very important one, I’m afraid,” I said with a laugh.
“The most important. Never underestimate yourself. Miss Jessie. People are going to think you’re not up to much if you think that way yourself. You’ve got to find a nice way between because it doesn’t do to be too big for your boots nor for your hat. Then they won’t fit.”
I asked him how he liked his tea, poured out, and when I carried it to him, he smiled at me appreciatively. I set his cup and plate on a table by his chair and felt very pleased with myself as I took my place behind the silver teapot.
Tell me about this Green Hash at Sunset,” I said.
He was silent for a second or so and then he asked: “Have you ever heard of the green flash. Miss Jessie?”
“Only this afternoon.”
“I don’t mean the opal … that other green flash. They say that there’s a precise moment when the sun goes down-just before it disappears-that there is a green flash on the sea. You can only see it in tropical seas and then conditions have to be exactly right. Ifs a rare phenomenon. It’s beautiful and exciting to see. People watch for it; some never catch it at all. If you as much as blink your eyes you could miss it. It’s there and it’s gone and you hardly know it’s been.
You’ve got to be in the right spot at the right moment, looking in the right direction, and you’ve got to be quick to see it. I saw it once.
It was on the voyage back to England from Australia. There I was on deck, and it was sunset time. I was watching that great ball of fire drop into the ocean. It’s different in the tropics. There’s little twilight like we have here. And there was this peaceful scene . no cloud and the great sun so low that I could just bear to look at it.
Then it was gone and there was this green flash.
“I’ve seen it,” I cried out loud.
“I’ve seen the green flash.” Then I went and looked at my opal. It was very valuable, the finest opal of all. I remember on that journey home I carried it about with me. I’d look at it now and then just to assure myself that it was there. Now this opal reminds you of the green flash at sea. You’d look at it, you’d see its beauty, you’d see the red and blue flashes. There was a darkening of colour right across it so that it looked like the meeting of land and sea, and there was such red fire in it that it was like the sun, and if you were looking at the right moment and you were holding it at a certain angle and the light was right, suddenly the red would seem to disappear and then you’d see the green flash. First I believe it was called the Sunset Opal and then when I had caught the green flash that was it. She couldn’t be anything else but the Green Flash at Sunset. “
“And you loved it best of all your stones ?”
There was never one like it. I’d never known that green flash in a stone before. You had to watch for it. It was something that was rare, and you’d got to be ready for it. It was like no other green and if you missed it you might not get the opportunity again. “
“Did you never find out who took it 1’ I had my suspicions. In fact everything pointed to him, the
young devil. By God, if I could lay my hands on him .
“You can pour out and entertain me, which is somehow right and fitting as you’re the Clavering. ” The spirit lamp and silver teapot were already there, with plates of sandwiches, scones and plum cake. Beside Wilmot stood a maid.
“Miss dave ring will pour out,” said Ben.
“Very good, sir,” replied Wilmot graciously; and I was glad when he and the maid had retired.
“All very ceremonious,” said Ben.
“I confess to you I’ve never quite got used to it. Sometimes I say: ” Enough of that I” You can imagine how a man feels when he’s boiled his own billy-can and cooked his own damper round’ a campfire. Today’s special, though. Today’s the day when the first Clavering comes to be my guest.”
“But not a very important one, I’m afraid,” I said with a laugh.
“The most important. Never underestimate yourself. Miss Jessie. People are going to think you’re not up to much if you think that way yourself. You’ve got to find a nice way between because it doesn’t do to be too big for your boots nor for your hat. Then they won’t fit.”
I asked him how he liked his tea, poured out, and when I carried it to him, he smiled at me appreciatively. I set his cup and plate on a table by his chair and felt very pleased with myself as I took my place behind the silver teapot.
Tell me about this Green Hash at Sunset,” I said.
He was silent for a second or so and then he asked: “Have you ever heard of the green flash. Miss Jessie?”
“Only this afternoon.”
“I don’t mean the opal … that other green flash. They say that there’s a precise moment when the sun goes down-just before it disappears-that there is a green flash on the sea. You can only see it in tropical seas and then conditions have to be exactly right. Ifs a rare phenomenon. It’s beautiful and exciting to see. People watch for it; some never catch it at all. If you as much as blink your eyes you could miss it. It’s there and it’s gone and you hardly know it’s been.
You’ve got to be in the right spot at the right moment, looking in the right direction, and you’ve got to be quick to see it. I saw it once.
It was on the voyage back to England from Australia. There I was on deck, and it was sunset time. I was watching that great ball of fire drop into the ocean. It’s different in the tropics. There’s little twilight like we have here. And there was this peaceful scene . no cloud and the great sun so low that I could just bear to look at it.
Then it was gone and there was this green flash.
“I’ve seen it,” I cried out loud.
“I’ve seen the green flash.” Then I went and looked at my opal. It was very valuable, the finest opal of all. I remember on that journey home I carried it about with me. I’d look at it now and then just to assure myself that it was there. Now this opal reminds you of the green flash at sea. You’d look at it, you’d see its beauty, you’d see the red and blue flashes. There was a darkening of colour right across it so that it looked like the meeting of land and sea, and there was such red fire in it that it was like the sun, and if you were looking at the right moment and you were holding it at a certain angle and the light was right, suddenly the red would seem to disappear and then you’d see the green flash. First I believe it was called the Sunset Opal and then when I had caught the green flash that was it. She couldn’t be anything else but the Green Flash at Sunset. “
“And you loved it best of all your stones ?”
There was never one like it. I’d never known that green flash in a stone before. You had to watch for it. It was something that was rare, and you’d got to be ready for it. It was like no other green and if you missed it you might not get the opportunity again. “
“Did you never find out who took it 1’ I had my suspicions. In fact everything pointed to him, the
young devil. By God, if I could lay my hands on him .
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