Green Girl (32 page)

“
Don
’
t start being sorry for yourself. You
’
ve a long way to go before you can sink comfortably into the r
ol
e of the neglected wife sitting at home by the fire with only your husband
’
s socks to da
rn
!
”
he said, and Jim
sy
chose that moment to announce the hour of luncheon with his usual unrestrained assault on the gong.

The meal was not prolonged, for they were still
finishing
the cold remains of turkey and gammon and sausages which, Nonie observed with distaste, seemed to go on for ever, but Harriet was glad there was no need to linger. Duff made an effort to make amends for his rudeness by being more talkative than he generally was at mealtimes, but the fact that he was making an effort at all merely embarrassed Harriet and she was glad when he said that business matters would keep him in his study for most of the afternoon. Nonie, dispirited by the fact of her Uncle Rory
’
s departure the next day, claimed him for herself, and Harriet decided to take Uriah for a special walk t
o
make up for his misadventures of the morning.

As she went out into the sparkling brilliance of the afternoon and felt the snow crisp and firm under her feet, a returning pleasure in the remembered delight of childhood eased her sore spirit. Even the desolate waste of the Plain of Clooney was turned into smiling beauty by its covering of snow, and Harriet spared a thought for the hunted man perhaps lying up in those frozen hills, and hoped, with an illogical disregard for justice, that he would get away.

She kept to the rough farm track which bounded the demesne because there the snow did not lie deep and Uriah
’
s short legs could manage without being caught in the drifts. He was wild with excitement, jumping and sliding, throwing up the snow with his blunt little muzzle, rolling over and over and barking wildly. Harriet watched him and her heart filled with love for all the faults of his unknown breeding that made him an object of ridicule, the plebeian tail,
the
nautical roll, the coat like a moth-eaten hearthrug; he was everything he should not be, but trust and love and honesty shone out of his eyes, and her own unwanted heart went out to him.

She had lingered so long playing with the dog that the sun was setting as they made homeward tracks.

She climbed the fence into the road, calling to the lagging Uriah, and as she crossed to go in at the gates, a car swept from the forecourt, its engine wildly revving, and Samantha
’
s gay little scarlet sports model shot through the gates, narrowly missing her. She had a glimpse of Samantha
’
s white, furious face behind the wheel as she breaked for an instant and skidded; in the same instant, she saw Uriah, having made a detour lower down in the boolly easier on his short legs, scurrying up the road with lolling tongue and a frenzied propulsion of all his limbs to catch up.

“
Samantha! Wait!
”
Harriet shouted, but her shout only spurred the dog on to greater effort. He came ploughing his way through the snow straight across the path of the car, and in a split second of time, she caught the expression on Samantha
’
s face as she, too, saw the dog. She trod on the accelerator, driving straight at him, as a wheel went over him, slewed the car round with some skill and shot off down the road.

Uriah lay in the snow, very still, very quiet, a little trickle of blood seeping slowly from his nostrils, making a small brilliant pattern in the snow. His eyes were still bright with the desire to please and obey as Harriet knelt beside him, and his ill-favoured tail moved feebly in greeting. She tried to gather him into her arms, but he gave a little moan of pain, and she laid him back on the snow, thinking with the strange detachment of shock how queer it was that Uriah, who went into paroxysms of craven terror at the pulling of crackers or the hint of a scrap, should when mortally hurt make no sound.

She was unaware of voices shouting and feet hurrying and slipping on the icy paving stones; she was unaware which of the two men she resisted when someone tried to lift her up, but it was Duff kneeling beside the dog, probing and examining with skilled hands, and Duff
’
s voice that said:
“
Take her inside, Rory. I
’
ll fetch a gun.
”

“
No!
”
she cried.
“
No, you can
’
t kill him
...
he
’
ll get well ... he must get
well...”
But she could see for herself now that the bright look was dimming, the eyes which only a moment ago had been filled with loving recognition for her held only one bewildered question, and she remembered that strange look of the morning and Kurt
’
s puzzling behaviour.

“
It
’
s kinder, my love—he
’
s nearly gone, and there
’
s no need to prolong his suffering,
”
she heard Duff say, but it was not until long afterwards that she remembered and wondered at that unfamiliar endearment.

“
Yes,
’
she said, and Rory helped her up gently and took her into the house.

She heard the shot distinctly as she sat by the fire in the snug, and she said to Rory with a total absence of emotion or even resentment:

“
Perhaps it
’
s a good thing. Duff never liked him.
”

“
Now, Princess—don
’
t go building up fresh misunderstandings,
”
Rory said, thinking this final episode was quite enough to effect an estrangement that could have permanent results.
“
I would have done it myself to save Duff the necessity for being the one to give you pain, but he
’
s a dead shot and I
’
m not.
”

“
I
’
m not building up anything that wasn
’
t already there,
”
she said quite calmly.
“
Duff couldn
’
t
help his aversion any more than he can help having nothing more than a fondness for me, because one can
’
t love to order.
”

“
I think, you know, that we
’
ve all been very much mistaken in Duff
’
s feelings,
”
he said, but she only smiled at him, replying gently:

“
It doesn
’
t matter any more. Nothing matters any more. I wish, though, I hadn
’
t laughed at Uriah. One should never ridicule anybody in case it
’
s the last thing you have to offer them.
”

Rory was relieved when his cousin returned to the house and made an excuse to leave them together. If Duff handled the situation cleverly, it could be the moment, he thought, to resolve emotional difficulties and arrive at a better understanding.

But when he had gone, Duff made no move to touch her. He knew, with weary acceptance, that his act of mercy must drive her further from him and only implement that revealing bitterness of the morning. He could do no more for the present, he thought, than express sympathy and leave open his willingness to meet her more than half-way should she need anything else of him, but he looked at her a little curiously as she sat by the fire listening politely to his rather stilted condolences. Harriet, who wept so easily and often so foolishly, had shed no tears at all for Uriah.

“
I
’
m sorry it had to be me, my dear, to destroy the one thing you loved,
”
he said, hoping, perhaps, for a word of understanding to ease his own pain, even for tears and an excuse to gather her close and take the simple way of nursery comfort to break down this new resistance in her.

“
It didn
’
t matter who, so long as it was quick and painless, and you weren
’
t fond of Uriah, so you wouldn
’
t have minded,
”
she said, and he turned away to look out of the window, observing how the white-clad countryside seemed to hold off the gathering darkness, remembering the bright drops of blood in the snow.

“
I minded very much, as it happens. I often teased you about the poor old boy, but I was quite fond of him,
”
he replied, but he spoke with a careful avoidance of any plea for tolerance, and when she said nothing, he came back and sat down in his
c
hair.

“
How did it happen?
”
he asked in the brisk impersonal tones he used when dealing with matters among his employees which required explanation, and it seemed to be the right way, for she began to lose that unnatural calm, and anger at least made her vulnerable again.

“
She did it deliberately. She drove straight at him,
”
she said, and a little colour came into her cheeks.

“
Are you sure she didn
’
t skid? We heard her revving the engine and shooting off much too fast for safety in this weather, but as she didn
’
t stop it
’
s possible she hadn
’
t realised that she
’
d hit
him
.
”

She turned her head slowly to look at him, and now her anger was for him.

“
If you like to excuse your mistress, it
’
s only to be expected, I suppose,
”
she said very clearly, and his own anger was sparked off so suddenly that he had no time to control himself.

“
Good God, Harriet! How dare you suggest such a thing!
’
he exclaimed furiously.
“
Do you suppose, even if it were true, that I would make excuses if you
’
re telling the truth?
”

“
I always tell the truth,
”
she said.

“
Yes, you do. And were you telling the truth, or was she lying, when she said you were tired of your marriage and wished she would take me off your hands?
”

“
I said I was tired of being pushed around and I wished you
’
d both make up your minds, which isn
’
t quite the same thing, but perhaps it
’
s had the same result.
”

“
What in hell do you mean by that?
”

“
That you
’
ve decided to continue as you were knowing that at least I won
’
t make trouble.
”

He took a pull at his temper, remembering that after
a
sudden shock one can hardly be expected to act completely rationally.

“
Continuing as we were amounted to no more than an armed truce, a preservation of civilised social relationship when it became necessary to meet,
”
he said.
“
But Samantha is not civilised under all that glossy finish and elegance, and I
’
d forbidden her this house even before today. Does that satisfy you?
”

“
But she came just the same, didn
’
t she?
”

“
She came to see you, as it happens—said you had a date. If you remember, I told you I didn
’
t wish you to see her. It was her bad luck that you were out and I was in. Now let
’
s go back, if you don
’
t mind. She left here in a flaming temper, I
’
ll admit, and when Samantha
’
s really roused she
’
s capable of anything, so please be very explicit.
”

She told him in detail, but as she relived that dreadful moment, the hardness began to go out of her and she seemed to crumple.

“
Why would she?
”
she asked him in bewilderment, and her eyes began to fill.
“
Why would anyone deliberately run a dog down like that? The car was practically stationary because she
’
d already had to brake, and I shouted to her to wait ... but I saw a sort of perverted pleasure on her face as she trod on the accelerator and drove right over Uriah
...
”

He half rose from his chair to go to her, but she drew back quickly, whether unconsciously or with deliberation he could not tell, but he sat down again and thrust his suddenly unsteady hands in his pockets.

“
Yes ... yes ... I see,
”
he said in flat, unemotional tones.
“
Samantha
’
s reasons, I
’
m afraid, are perfectly clear to me. If her own desires are denied, she satisfies them by smashing the desires of others. She
’
s successfully poisoned my own hopes, and, just for good measure because you were in her way, she destroyed your most precious possession. Well, that
’
s the end, I hope, for she knows she
’
s shot her bolt. The tragedy is, though, that some things can be broken beyond repair, so the day
’
s mischief lives on.
”

Harriet barely took in what he was saying, for reaction was setting in and she felt numbed. Although her eyes had filled with tears as she spoke of her dog she still did not cry, but began to shiver, and Duff, after a sharp look at her, got up and poured her a stiff brandy.

“
You
’
d better have an early night and I
’
ll bring you up a sedative,
”
he said.
“
I won
’
t disturb you in the morning as Rory and I are starting early in case the roads are tricky. Will you try to think of me more kindly while I
’
m gone, Harriet?
”

“
Yes, Duff,
”
she said with the old compliance, and Rory came back into the room, followed by the two Alsatians. He raised an enquiring eyebrow at his cousin, who gave an imperceptible shake of the head, and Kurt walked stiffly round Harriet, sniffing at her skirt, then sat on his haunches making that plaintive little cry in his throat and offered a paw.