i 024767349a4cae9a (15 page)

jor Leonard .

Helen, ere both o spears hls wife. *

y, like all Sir staying wit11 sletter prederick and

devastated bv this fnen are

- -- news.

The bodies were

the funeral is arr0 late still night" and October." ged for Wednesday, the 3rd hen the paoer

sie took it om he nt limp in hand" oHelen was lwas t sayig' it awful! Awfu1' were lovely oeoni ne abot them' she said they thoght wa soon " and the son" Michael she her last letter

" e he told me so ul

'In her last letter? y" , , 'Well" l?

-- What do you mean?

get angry whensli her head now "yo always the post." rite to me, so I took it out of

"How could o and the head of the hous " How could y0" and to me'

*Damn the house' she should be step when this excia ie actually back a dared to go on "v0

broke from her" and she

think about. wo e and the house' That s a11 0

wffl be feelin awul1 have beeDo drowned Leo"

Sir rederick " ecause he told me that he and They were vervn? like brothers tha cousins gone, and his son's r greater-than of each other AD-DO now he s doesn't Helen write t" and au you caDo say is' why the house? Well m you becase y0

are head of

to you. is because r1 yo" why she write Father died, less-than "nd the f your P10 of her when ct that you've never got on a. But now, what's not going to please you is ItlThat inherits the title, Helen will be Lady iTiWi Spears. That will endear her to you Every'ddi.i it? Oh, I can never understand you, Beationever!

Never!" On this she swung round and " room, leaving Beatrice leaning against the 3' the desk, her hands gripping the edge.

" Helen. Her, Lady Helen. Why was it that she so lucky? There will be no holding her yd be in society, perhaps presented at Court. all the good things happen to her? Why did iji exciting come her own way, something that t make her happy? She was only twenty-four, i- considered she had looks, interesting looks. yThat fair. Her hands slackened on the edge of the

and now she almost groped her way back to the and sat down. As she laid her head back she lffStill to be calm, because when she got herself r" up in such a state, inside it made her feel

. for days. And it became evident in her expresi she knew that.

il now asked herself a question, even quietly, y did she dislike Helen so much? Her dislike alamounted to hate. Was it because she was so ff Not entirely. No, not entirely. It was somey" about her, that ease, that off-hand manner, that Ji of hers.

The way she talked, and she would talk "

anybody, always the same, to servants, trades peoIlia anyone, just as Rosie did, while she herself IpPn act like that. For one thing, her father US

have liked it. Her father had a sense of class. bar rather", She almost sprang up from the chair now. Why p she keep seeing the good side of him? He had deceived her for years. She used to pride herself on being like him. Now the one wish in her life was that she could be someone different, free and easy in her ways.

But she had been more free and easy of late since Mrs Falconer came, and the doctor.

Oh yes, the doctor. She could even joke with him: they would laugh together as he teased his mother, especially about the wine making. Mrs Falconer was teaching her how to make wine. She never knew there were so many different kinds that could result from the fruit in the hedgerows: sloe, elderberry, rose-hip syrup, besides all that could be made from vegetables, such as rhubarb and potatoes, and a wonderful wine from parsnips. Cook had been a bit uppish about making jelly from rose-hips, but her ruffled feathers had been soothed when Mrs Falconer had given her a bottle of damson wine and sent her in tasters from the others, too.

Altogether, she had felt happier of late, until Rosie had dashed in with her news. She was finding Rosie an irritant, more so as time went on.

Yet, she needed her. She couldn't think of living in the house alone and eating alone.

The only comfort in all this was that Helen and her husband were miles away, and that they were not likely to move...

It was later in the day that John visited his mother and the first words she said to him were, "Have you heard about the sister becoming a lady?"'

"Yes, Annie told me."

"What do you think of it?"'

What did he think of it? In a way it had put the

jaal seal on his emotions: it had buried, as it were, the tender thoughts of her that he still harboured. Have'

"I think she'll carry the title very well. But then she as a lady before, and will always remain a lady." fs "His mother stared at him hard. "You liked her, dn't you?"'

i bar He came back at her quickly now, saying, "I liked bar bar tem all. They are four unusual sisters." , Catherine stretched out her feet towards the blazing bar bar ogs; then, tuing her head to look at John sitting on e other side of the fireplace, she said, "You know, though Mrs Atkinson is a very nice woman, and bar good at her work, just look at this place; and she says j bar bar he would stay with me any time I wished, I must dmit I would have been a bit lonely at this end if it

itadn't been for Miss Beatrice coming in, and with her interest in the wine and things. I think she's what hey call up here a canny lass. And I can tell you this, t feel she is lonely under that prim exterior of hers, because when we get talking and she loosens up,

I here's a warmth there that hasn't been tapped." "I'm glad you find her so companionable. What about Rosie?"'

"Oh, Rosie's a lovely girl. There are no complicaons about Rosie. I think she's got over that jilted business, although," she paused,

"at times she before comes quiet, and there's a sad look comes into her

12ar eyes, as though she is lost. At those times I forget

to *; she's a young woman and I think I'm dealing with a child, but a hug and a cup of tea usually bring her around. She says I'm like her Mrs Annie next door;

she says I'm comfortable."

*,-*

He laughed now as he said, "Yes, that's Rosie. She needs comfort people."

"She's a bonny g1 ld she's always talkng about that Robbie. Is ther something between them?"'

"If Robbie ias anything to do about it, there will be some day. ut se still looks upon him more as a brother.

I don't thil she"'11 me to her senses with regard to him ixntil e realises she might lose him."

'allyes, that's ofte way. Do you know something? I'm looking forward to Christmas."

hat's weeks away'

"I know it is, but can still look forward to it. I think itll be lovely sTe: this trees and the garden all covered with snow and tg g nre." She napped her hand towards the grate as he laughed and said,

"Don't bank on it. It'Us lely be pouring with rain, then the nearest you'll get to it is sleet and a wind that'll cut the face off yo"

"Oh, you are a dap aren't you? You're not going yet? You've only been here an hour."

He looked at his watch. "I've been here two hours and fifteen minutes, Mrs Falconer, and I could have seen half a dozen patints in that time.

Now don't you get up: I'll see ys out. If I can I'll slip along

this evening."

"Do...d that" comher voice was soft now- "and we'll ask her in for a gaine of cards. She enjoyed that

the other night."

"Yes, all right. I'll do that on one condition, I" not sticking my winnings in the poor box. You understand?"' 'allyes, Mr Scrooge. I uderstand." She waved to him as he went out laughing.

was in the hall putting his coat on when ihc Hpiunicating door opened and Beatrice ppeared.

pfaesitated, saying, "Oh, 'm sorry. 1

didn't know Hwere here; I didn't think you were expected unti levening." As she made to step back, he put out Ihand and pulled her forward, saying, "Don't be H Anyway, I think she's waiting for you," and he HiCould his head towards the sitting-room door. He was holdin her hand when he put his other hand on HH of hers, saying in a low voice, hank you for Hg so kind to her. She's very grateful for your l bar pany, and so am I."

er face flushed pink and her eyelids blinking, she H bar ted her lips before she said, 'It's nothing, the

lnks are all on my side. She's taken some... well, Bftgs given me a purpose in life and taken some of BIS-EVERY loneliness away."

HT-HEY stared at each other; then in a very small

pce, she said, Rosie spends a great deal of her time

Hth the Macintoshes. As you know, I've never apB"...ved of them but," she swallowed deeply now and Bided, 'we all need something don't we?"'

His voice was as low as hers as he agreed,

"Yes,

leatrice, you're right, we all need something. And jjJu have my deepest thanks and regards for your pffldness to my mother. I have been very conceed Upout her for some time. You see, her arthritis is orsening and there will likely come a day when lhe"'11 need a nurse. She makes herself walk about H"...ow, but it can't go on for much longer. Of course, phe fights the fact all the time, because she used to be a live wire: she could ride a horse as well as any t

man, and row a boat, too. She used to go out deep I sea fishing from Rye, when we lived down south." I Really?"' bar "Really." I

"She never speaks of it." bar No, of course she wouldn't. She's still angry in- J side that it all had to come to an end. Half her time i she should be in bed, so you can understand how bar grateful I am for your attention to her." His hand slid bar away from hers; then he was exclaiming almost in i horror

'Oh, my dear! Don't cry.

Please!"

"No, I'm not, I'm not. I was just... just being silly. bar It isn't very often I...I am thanked for anything I do."

"Well, if you want my opinion, that's bad manners on the part of many people, I should think. But don't, please, please don't upset yourself."

"I'm not; I'm just gratefl. Now I don't want your mother to see me like this; if you'll excuse me." Se backed from him, her lips quivering as she pulled open the door and went back into the house again, leaving him standing very perplexed.

Well! well! As his mother had said, there was another side to Miss Beatrice Penrose-Steel.

Indeed, indeed there was. Her loneliness was a cloak about her, a cloak that she had likely never lifted to allow her sisters to see the person beneath.

He put on his hat and went thoughtfully out of the house. Life was full of surprises. Was this why she insisted on being called Penrose-Steel? He was well acquainted with the ailments that attacked the body; but not so much thought was given to the secret ailments that attacked the mind, and so often loneliness was one of them.

disbar

less-than x3 lili'"

H bar 'Us do you good to get away, lass, Annie was bar

pfes, it'll be nice to see Helen again, and she wants was j p to see the house before it is sold.

Its much too B for them, she said; but it's a lovely place on the

H'And you're travelling with her friend, you say?"'

H bar Yes, I remember her. A nice young woman. Helen Hped to spend a lot of time at Col Mount. I once went Here on an errand years ago. I don't suppose it's j anged all that much. But it's a beautiful place. Gets Hps name from being in a pass between two hills." : 1 "Is she coming here for you?"' I H "No, we're meeting at Newcastle station. I think *

Ihe's moving, too. She lost her husband a little while bar

l 'ow l011 w1 y011 staying?"' put in Robbie. bar just B bar Rosie turned to him, where he was sitting at the H bar end of the table, and said,

"Til the New Year, which H Bill make it about a fortnight altogether." y What did Miss Beatrice have to say about that?

'Oh" comRosie now looked fron one to the other- "not as much as I had thought she would. She doesn't of course, like me going down to see Heen, and I was expecting to be faced with a battle. But she just said, "Well, you know what I think, but you do't take any notice of me.""

"Is that all?"' Annie's eyebrows were raised.

"Yes, that's all, Mrs Annie. But she's been different of late, I must say. She's got a new interest now since the doctor's mother has taken the annexe. In fact she's never out of it."

Annie's lips formed the words, "Oh! Oh!"

"What do you mean, oh, oh?"' Rose asked, with a smile.

"Just, oh, oh. Is there not an ulterior motive there?"'

"You mean the doctor?"'

"Yes. Who else would I mean?"'

Rosie did not answer for a moment but she looked at Robbie and then shook her head and said, Oh, n," which wasn't convincing even to herself, and Robbie put in, 'Why not? How old is she now, twenty-four? And hes what?"'

The question was put to Rosie, but she shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know about him.

Thirty or so, I should say. But I cant imagine..."

"Now don't you say you can't imagine anybody falling for her" comAnnie was wagging her figer at her- "men do strange things, especially to peope who are kind to their mothers." And she laughed now as she looked at her son; then on a high note, she said, "Isn't it about time you did some strange things, too? What about cocking your cap at Batting Bella? She's just been widowed for the third time."

hey all aughed at this suggestion, Robbie his hands towards his mother and said, Srm if I did, wouldn't it? Desperate men do desdeeds. And she's got five bairns, and two of *ence ready for work.

Yes, it needs thinking about. nk of the help I'd get in the yard."

Losie looked at these two friends and listened silly backchat, she thought, I'd really rather re for Christmas. But hen, no, it's too near e; and it will be lovely to see Helen again. trange thought interrupted her thinking: Bend the doctor? No.

No. He's too nice He... he 't want her. Then again a thought: But she had ifferent of late, hadn't she? Nicer, kinder. md if it d come about, it might make all the ce to life in the house. And if it made her . But the doctor, he's... he's really too good her. And why should she have someone like him aen she herself had been jilted by Teddy? Oh! Wouldy. The name now no longer revived a feeling of (ve" bl ore one of hate. She had received no word om him, nothing more since that final letter. There rc times, eve now, when she could hardly believe and thought she must be dreaming.