Reluctant Relation (10 page)

“Oh yes. At the charming house we have in Purworth.”

“Then we must see something of each other.” Laura spoke cordially.

“I’d love to,” Meg said sincerely, for she liked this girl unreservedly, and it would feel good to have a friend in the district.

Then Laura was called away to attend to other guests and Meg turned and slipped out of one of the nearby French windows.

From the wide stone terrace she was able to run down a short flight of steps into the garden.

She was not the only person out there, but the one or two couples were intent on their own affairs, and it was not difficult to choose a tree-shaded path which led to comparative solitude.

Meg slackened her pace as soon as she was alone, and her thoughts turned to the break with Leigh. It was one of the most shattering experiences she had ever had. What was the inference to be drawn from that?

It wasn’t only that horrible scene in the garden, Meg thought, with reluctant se
lf-frankness
. It was the whole experience, beginning with the wretched business at the ball. In a queer and frightening way, absolutely nothing had seemed the same since.

She was so shocked by the magnitude of that discovery that she stopped dead in her tracks.

He couldn’t be as important to me as that, she told herself. Not so important that he could simply change everything. It just doesn’t make sense.

But it did make sense. Like the shining pieces of a kaleidoscope, her thoughts and convictions seemed to shift, forming a fresh pattern. The elements were the same, but the whole was alarmingly different.

His good opinion—now irretrievably lost—seemed in retrospect dear and important; his provocative but oddly attractive friendliness, something unique and valuable.

It was nonsense to say she was indifferent to Leigh, or to
s
uppose that the rift between them was not important. She had been deluding herself. The truth was that he was of immense importance to her, and to be alienated from him was almost as painful as the fact that Claire had virtually closed her home against her.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Slowly Meg began to walk on once more. Presently she realized that she must have been walking in a semicircle, for she came out into the open again close to the other end of the terrace. She would have hesitated to go into the house once more and take up the burden of being sociable, but as she paused, Felicity leaned over the coping of the terrace and called, “Meg dear, come here. I’ve got some good news for you.”

Obediently, Meg came nearer and stood just below the terrace, looking up at the lovely, smiling face above her.

“What is it?” she inquired, on that note of indulgence which she used with both Pearl and Felicity impartially
.

“Something that will relieve your mind,” Felicity declared. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. It’s the obvious solution.” She paused to look back over her shoulder for an instant and laugh at someone who was still out of Meg’s range of vision.

Then she turned back to Meg and said, “You won’t have to take sole responsibility for Pearl when I’m away in Spain, after all. I’ve just arranged that Leigh shall keep an eye on you both.”

“Leigh!” exclaimed Meg, divided between consternation and a
s
ort of wild excitement. “Oh, but—”

“She’s not crazy about the idea,” observed Felicity, speaking over her shou
l
der again with obvious amusement. “I thought you were more popular, Leigh.”

And, to Meg’s extreme confusion, Leigh came into view, leaned his arms on the balustrade and, looking down at her, observed politely, “Claire gave me your message. But, in the present circumstances, I’m afraid we’ll have to postpone carrying out our joint wishes for a few weeks.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never gave Claire any message ... Oh!” She clapped her hand to her mouth suddenly and flushed scarlet. She had remembered Claire’s malicious offer to inform Leigh that she never wanted to see him again
.

“
Well, I see you remember now,” he remarked dryly.

“I didn’t mean—” began Meg. But he had already straightened
u
p again, as though everything worth saying had been said.

“What on earth are you two talking about?” Felicity inquired with a laugh. “Come on into the house, Meg dear. It’s getting chilly out here.”

She turned and walked toward the house, while Meg slowly mounted the stone steps to the terrace. At the top, she found Leigh waiting for her.

“I ...
I didn’t know you were coming here this evening,” she stammered.

“I wasn’t. I just dropped in to see Jack Trenton on business, and found the party in progress. I’m sorry about this arrangement. But I couldn’t very well refuse when Felicity asked me.”

“Oh; don’t apologize!” exclaimed Meg unhappily.
“I ...
I’m very glad to have you look after Pearl while—”

“Felicity’s suggested that I look after you both,” he observed reflectively.

“I don’t need looking after,” she said stiffly. With the knowledge that had come to her in the garden just now, it was difficult to talk to him with any semblance of composure.

“Not even when you play Cinderella?” he inquired.

“
Leigh—” she turned to him, with sudden resolution “—if you and I are to co-operate in looking after Pearl during the next few weeks, it’s no good your needling me like this. It will be horrible for both of us and probably make the child uncomfortably aware that something is wrong. If you can’t manage to behave decently
to me—”

“This ... from you?” He raised his eyebrows slightly.

“Yes ... this from me,” she retorted. “You’re just letting your wounded vanity run away with you. And it isn’t like you. It’s small, and you aren’t like that. I’m sorry about the ball, but I wasn’t as much to blame as you seem to think. The whole thing’s been
absurdly exaggerated, and I’m not going to accept that any more!

“And as for that nasty crack about receiving my message from Claire,” she rushed on, before he could interrupt “I’m not going to feel like a criminal about that either! There was nothing deliberate about my remark that I hoped I’d never see you again. I was just blowing my top because I felt so mad about the whole wretched business. People say that sort of thing a dozen times a week without meaning it and—”

“Didn’t you mean it?”

The cool inquiry was sufficient to stop her eloquence.

“N ... no,” she said, in a much more subdued tone. “I didn’t mean it
... literally.”

“Then you won’t mind seeing me again?”

“N ... no, of course not.”

For a moment she saw a flicker of his old,
half mocking
smile, and it did the most extraordinary things to her.

“In that case,” he told her, “I shall be happy to take on the task of looking after both of you.”

And he turned and went into the house, leaving Meg to follow more slowly, wondering, in the slight chill which succeeded the fires of her indignan
ce
whether she had improved the situation between herself and Leigh or made it worse.

The party did not go on very late, as several of the guests, particularly among the film contingent, had to make an early start the next morning.

“It’s been a lovely party,” Felicity declared charmingly to her hosts. “And I’m so glad I found you here, Leigh dear.” She patted his arm in an affectionately possessive way that gave Meg a queer little stab. “Now I won’t worry in the least about Pearl or Meg. I know you’ll look after them perfectly while I’m away.”

“I’ll do my best,” Leigh assured her gravely.

“Perhaps you could bring them to the station to see me off. We’re going by train to London and then flying from there. And it would be nice to have Pearl there.”

A dreamy look came into her eyes which meant that she was picturing a press photograph of herself saying goodbye to Pearl from a train window.

“If you’re leaving on a weekday, I might not be available,” Leigh informed her practically. “And in any case—”

“We’re leaving on Sunday,” Felicity assured him.

“Sunday?” Meg looked startled. “I thought you planned to go the end of next week?”

“Oh, we’ve rearranged the program entirely,” Felicity explained airily. “Max feels that the sooner we get over there and start shooting, the better. And because everything is so satisfactorily arranged this end—” once more she lingeringly touched on Leigh’s arm “—there’s no need for us to waste time. So, Leigh dear, if you’ll drive Meg and Pearl over to Newcastle on Sunday—”

Meg followed the rest of it with half of her mind. She knew that things would eventually work out exactly as Felicity wanted them to. The point at which Meg’s imagination stuck was the scene
after
Felicity and Cecile—and presumably Max and Dick too
—
departed. She and Pearl would then be left alone with Leigh with the rest of Sunday in front of them.

During the next few days, the charming house in Purworth became a center of activity, with everyone preparing to dispatch Felicity on the Spanish trip.

Evidently both Cecile and Pearl were used to this sort of thing, and Meg cheerfully fell in with the general pattern. Fortunately, she was a good seamstress, an excellent packer and an unflustered organizer. All these talents were called on to the full, and even Cecile observed, “For an Englishwoman, Mademoiselle is very neat with her fingers. One would almost think she had gone to school in France.”

No more was said about Leigh’s guardianship, and Meg managed to push the thought of the future into the back of her mind. But on Saturday evening, when the last list had been checked and the last trunk packed, Felicity said, “I phoned Leigh today. He’ll be coming to pick us all up about ten o’clock tomorrow.”

“Leigh?” Pearl glanced up, with a bright and pleased expression. “Is he coming? Oh, Mommy—” her face fell suddenly “—he’s not going to Spain too, is he?”

“No, you silly child, of course not. What would Leigh do in Spain?” inquired Felicity. “He’s going to drive Cecile and I to Newcastle, where we’ll get the train to London. Max and Dick will meet us at the station. And when we’ve gone, I daresay Leigh will take you and Meg out to lunch and—”

“Oh, how lovely! Did you hear that, Meg?”

“Yes, I heard,” Meg said.

“Meg knows all about it,” Felicity gave that secret smile of hers. “She was there when I arranged for Leigh to look after you two while I’m away.”

“Look after Meg and me?” Pearl looked even more delighted. “D’you mean he’s coming here to live?”

“No, no.” Felicity looked amused. “One must set limits even to the most comprehensive of plans. But Leigh has undertaken to keep an eye on you and Meg, and I expect you’ll be seeing a good deal of each other.”

“Oh, goody!” cried Pearl. “You never told me, Meg. Did you want to keep it a secret, to cheer me up when Mommy went?”

Quite untruthfully, Meg said that this was more or less the idea. And after that it was useless to try to push into the back of her mind the realization that she would be seeing Leigh most days in the immediate future.

Leigh arrived punctually the following morning, and Pearl received him with uninhibited enthusiasm.

“Meg didn't tell me until last night,” she explained. “She said it was such a lovely secret that she thought she’d keep it until the very last minute to cheer me up.”

“Did she really?” Leigh’s glance traveled beyond the little girl and came to rest on Meg’s slightly flushed face.

“That wasn’t quite the wording,” she said curtly, which seemed to amuse him.

“I’m flattered if the general meaning is correct,” he replied lightly. It suddenly came to her that he was speaking much more in the old, teasing way than in the hard, contemptuous tone he had used with her recently.

The discovery moved her so much that she felt tears come to her eyes, and she had to turn away quickly and pretend that she was helping Cecile with the luggage.

Soon Leigh’s big car was packed and they drove away.

Dick was waiting for them at the station in Newcastle, with every detail arranged. A few discreet photographers were present as well.

“Quite a family party,” one of the photographers said.

“It is almost a family party,” Pearl agreed. “Now, if Leigh—”

“A slightly extended one,” put in Felicity, smilingly but quickly. “Dear Meg is not absolutely part of the family, but—”

“—Could be made so,” finished Dick unexpectedly. “Sometimes I think it would be a good idea, Meg. What do you say?”

He was laughing as he said it but, to her surprise, she saw that his handsome eyes were unusually serious for a moment as he looked at her. She just smiled back at him and said lightly, “If this is an invitation to honorary membership, I accept gladly.”

Then Max arrived, and when everyone realized how late it was getting there was a great flurry of kissing and goodbyes. In the midst of it, Meg found herself being kissed by Dick, with more than his usual light charm, and he whispered, “Honorary membership was a good idea on the spur of the moment, but you know that wasn’t what I meant, don’t you?”

“But, Dick dear—” She hardly knew what to say. “You can’t possibly—”

“Dick! Di-ick!” called Felicity from the window of her compartment. “We want you in the picture. Quick! They’re going to blow the whistle.”

He muttered something ungentlemanly about his sister, but Meg whispered quickly, “Please go, Dick. We can’t possibly be serious at this moment.”

“I could,” he retorted, but with his gay smile again. “I’ll be back soon, Meg. Don’t forget me.”

Then he jumped into the train, obligingly put his arm around his sister and leaned out the window at her, as Pearl reached up to blow a final kiss. Cameras clicked, the guard’s whistle gave a shrill blast and the train began to move.

“Well, it doesn’t look as though any
one
wants to photograph us,” remarked Leigh, putting an arm round Pearl. “Shall we go?”

They began to move towards the exit, and Pearl asked in a subdued tone, “Where are we going?”

Even the most self-possessed little girls are not proof against the melancholy effect of a departing train if someone on board is important. “What would you like to do?” inquired Leigh kindly.

“It
depends...
” Pearl sucked in her cheeks thoughtfully. “How much time do we have?”

“My day is yours,” Leigh assured her. “And it looks,” he added, as they came out of the comparative gloom of the station into the bright sunshine, “as though it’s going to be a very good day too.”

“Well, then, could we go to Alnwick and see the castle?” begged Pearl. “I’ve never been as far as that, and Mrs. Parker says that on a fine day it makes you gasp to look at it.”

“I don’t know why not,” Leigh said good humoredly. “I endorse Mrs. Parker’s view. Would you like that, Meg?”

“Very much.” She smiled as she came out of a little daydream. For the second time that morning, he seemed amused by her. And, as Pearl ran on ahead to the car, he said softly and a little mischievously, “I didn’t know that Dick Manners could make you look so starry-eyed.”

“Dick?” She looked surprised. “Oh—” she colored and laughed. “Don’t be absurd. He ... we were just fooling.”

“Is that so?” said Leigh Sontigan politely.

It was a drive which Meg remembered for the rest of her life, although afterwards she could never decide how much of the magic was due to the, glorious scenes around her and how much to the company in which she traveled.

After they reached Morpeth, Leigh branched off toward the coast, taking them through beautiful leafy lanes to Bothal, with its ruined castle casting its romantic reflection in the waters of the Wansbeck. Then to Creswell, with its old pele-tower (and its legend of the White Lady) and around the superb sweep of Druridge Bay.

Here Leigh stopped the car, so that they could walk for a few minutes on the firm sand, revel in the fresh breeze from the sea, and even fancy that, where the tide was retreating, they could trace the outlines of the ancient forest of oak which he told them was buried there.

Then they got back into the car and drove northward past Hauxley Haven to Amble, and inland a mile or so to Warkworth, half slumbering in the noonday sun below the ruined castle where Harry Hotspur once made plans to shake a king from his throne.

They had lunched at Alnwick, almost in the shadow of Hotspur Tower. On Pearl’s insistence, Leigh searched his memory for all he could recall of the history of the ancient town, once a focal point of border warfare.

He had, Meg discovered, the most engaging talent for evoking the past. She, as well as Pearl, hung on every word. Never, in Meg’s experience, had he been more entertaining or more, indulgently friendly.

That he should humor Pearl and try to answer her questions was perhaps natural, but Meg too received the same measure of good-humored attention.

She was so happy about the change in his attitude toward her that she would have been glad to hear him recite the alphabet, as long as he gave her that occasional quick smile.

Later, in the castle, he proved to be an excellent guide. When they finally drove homeward—this time by the moorland route so that Meg and Pearl could see the great stretches of heather and bracken which rise in undulating waves to the far edge of the horizon—the brightness of the day was over and the late afternoon sun could only pierce the heavy clouds here and there with long shafts of light.

There was a slight chill in the air, so they stopped for tea at an inn, then drove on rapidly to Purworth. They arrived home just as the first drops of rain began to spatter on the windshield of the car.

“But it waited until we got home,” Pearl declared. “The rain didn’t spoil our day. Oh, it’s been lovely, hasn’t it, Meg?”

“Absolutely wonderful,” Meg agreed. And then, a little diffidently to Leigh, “I can’t thank you enough
for ...
for everything.”