The Shrouded Web

by Anne Mather

  Adele nodded. ‘Of course she did. I was most annoyed that she had not bothered to tell me sooner. The doctors are fools. To be awakened one evening—such a special evening—would not have harmed me.’

  Piers straightened, releasing her hands. ‘Chérie, doctors must be obeyed or there is no point in consulting them, you would agree, Nurse Lindsay?’ He looked fully at Rebecca.

  ‘Of course.’ Rebecca’s fingers tightened on the handle of the wheelchair.

  Adele glanced round at her impatiently. ‘You would say that, naturally,’ she said shortly. Then she looked back at Piers. ‘Seriously, why are you in Fiji? Is—is everything all right at home?’

  Piers lifted his shoulders in an eloquent gesture. ‘As right as it will ever be,’ he remarked enigmatically. Then he glanced with interest round the expanse of gardens, colourful now in the blaze of the sun. ‘You have a beautiful home here, Adele. I have long been curious about it.’ He thrust his hands into his trousers’ pockets. ‘As to what brought me here—there are plans to open up a stretch of coastline in the Yasawas. A community project, with hotels, etc. I am here to take what you would call—a survey, oui?’

  ‘Ah!’ Adele nodded. ‘Are you here for long?’

  ‘Two weeks, three maybe. I am staying in Suva at the moment, but I intend to move to Lautoka when my talks with government officials are concluded.’

  Adele gestured towards the villa. ‘Come! We will go into the house. Rose will provide us with some coffee. You’ll stay to lunch, of course.’

  Piers glanced once more at Rebecca, but she did not meet his eyes, and dropping his gaze to Adele, he said: ‘I should like that very much.’

  As they moved towards the villa, he gently but firmly took the handle of the chair from Rebecca, propelling Adele himself, and she glanced round at him warmly. Rebecca had, perforce, to walk by his side, and looking at her again he said: ‘It is a beautiful morning, is it not, mademoiselle’

  Rebecca managed a faint smile. ‘Beautiful,’ she agreed. ‘But then most mornings are beautiful in Fiji.’

  He inclined his head in agreement and went on: ‘Even so. But it puzzles me that a girl like yourself should be content with a position of this kind. My apologies to you, Adele, but you must admit it is usually older women who take up private nursing, is it not?’

  Rebecca saw Adele’s impatience rise in a flood of colour up her cheeks. ‘For heaven’s sake, Piers!’ she exclaimed. ‘Don’t say that! You’ll make Rebecca discontented. I can assure you she is more than adequately reimbursed for her services!’

  Rebecca flushed now, with embarrassment, but Piers St. Clair merely regarded her rather mockingly. ‘I am sure Nurse Lindsay would not be impressed by anything I said,’ he commented softly. ‘She strikes me as being a very self-contained young woman.’

  Adele’s temper subsided, and she glanced at Rebecca with mocking amusement. ‘And you would know, of course, Piers,’ she said, making Rebecca feel worse than ever. She was relieved when they reached the slope leading into the villa which Adele had had installed to give her wheelchair easy access to the house.

  In the hall, Rebecca halted uncertainly, and Adele said: ‘Ask Rosa to bring coffee to the lounge. You can tell her we have a guest for lunch, too.’

  ‘Yes, Miss St. Cloud.’ Rebecca was willing and eager to escape, not only from Adele’s mockery, but from the speculative amusement in Piers St. Clair’s eyes.

  For the rest of the morning she busied herself with attending to writing up her daily report and checking the contents of the medicine cupboard in Adele’s bathroom. Then she tidied her room, washed a few of her personal items, and washed and added a touch of lipstick ready for lunch. As she brushed her hair into a smooth chignon on the nape of her neck, she wondered with dismay whether she would be expected to eat with her employer and her guest today. In the normal way, Adele was glad of her company, but perhaps today she would be dismissed. She hoped so; she had no liking for becoming a whipping boy for Adele’s complaints and her twisted sense of humour. She sat for a long moment staring at the contours of her face with critical evaluation. She was long accustomed to her features, and while she knew they presented a pleasing aspect, she had never felt any sense of complacency in the realisation. As for her hair, it would have been much easier to manage in a short style, but she was loath to have it cut. To do so would bring back too many memories of the days when she had lived with her ageing grandmother, who, while caring for her adequately, had nevertheless missed out on affection, and to save time and trouble had kept Rebecca’s hair in a kind of urchin style until she was old enough to look after it herself. Those were days Rebecca had little desire to recall, days when the hapless situation her mother had found herself in seemed to be branded upon her daughter, days when her grandmother had lost no opportunity to tell her how fortunate she was not to have been abandoned in some children’s home. And yet now, from the maturity of years, Rebecca could see that such a predicament might have been less tortuous in the long run.

  Thrusting these thoughts aside, she rose from her dressing-table stool and crossed the bedroom to the door. Down the hall, the lounge door stood wide and she was forced to look inside to find her employer. Adele was seated in an armchair now, sipping a glass of iced cordial, while Piers St. Clair stood before the broad stone hearth, one hand resting on the mantel as he drank from a glass containing an amber-coloured liquid which Rebecca assumed was whisky. Adele looked across at her as she hovered uncertainly by the door, and said:

  ‘Come in, come in, girl. Is lunch ready yet?’

  Rebecca compressed her lips. ‘I—I don’t know. I—I just wanted to see if you had everything you needed. As you have Monsieur St. Clair here for lunch today, I’ll—I’ll eat in my room.’

  Adele frowned. ‘Very well, Rebecca. You may tell Rosa we are ready when she is—’

  ‘Oh, but surely Nurse Lindsay is welcome to eat with us if that is her normal practice,’ exclaimed Piers St. Clair, at once. He looked at Adele. ‘Our conversation is not confidential. I think we have had plenty of time for confidences, do not you, chérie?’

  Adele raised her eyebrows. ‘Rebecca can make up her own mind,’ she said, with a shrug. ‘We usually are alone. This situation does not normally occur.’

  ‘I gathered that. That is why…’ He spread his hands in a continental gesture.

  Rebecca managed to remain calm. ‘Thank you all the same, Miss St. Cloud, but I shall be quite happy to eat in my room.’

  Adele’s expression altered and she looked at Rebecca rather curiously, sensing that her nurse did not want to join them for lunch. In consequence, she chose to be difficult, and Rebecca, watching the changing features, felt a sense of dismay. She should have known better than to express any preference. She knew of old Adele’s delight in thwarting her.

  ‘Why don’t you want to join us for lunch, Rebecca? she enquired challengingly. ‘I gather you don’t, do you?’

  Rebecca sighed. ‘My reasons are quite simple, Miss St. Cloud. I naturally assumed you and your—your guest—would prefer to be alone.’

  Adele studied her lacquered fingernails. ‘Now why should you imagine that, Rebecca? Do you suppose that Piers and I cherish some long-lost affection for one another? Do you think perhaps we were once lovers?’

  Rebecca’s cheeks burned. ‘I—I’ll go and tell Rosa you are ready, Miss St. Cloud.’ She would not argue with her.

  Adele chewed her lower lip impatiently. ‘Why do you persist in disregarding my questions, Rebecca?’ she exclaimed. ‘Am I a child to be humoured but never debated with?’

  Rebecca heaved a sigh. She cast a fleeting glance in Piers St. Clair’s direction but looked away from the mockery in his gaze. Obviously he could not—or would not—help her.

  ‘I think it would be as well if I got on with my work, Miss St. Cloud,’ she said at last. ‘I’m sorry if you feel I am being deliberately obtuse, but it is not part of my duties to share my—my breaks—with you.’

  ‘Y
ou impudent little chit!’ Adele stared at her incredulously. Rebecca had never answered her back in this manner before.

  ‘Now, Adele,’ murmured Piers St. Clair quietly. ‘Perhaps Nurse Lindsay is right. Perhaps she does not have to spend all her time with us—with you! She has feelings, too, you know, and I think you have teased her long enough, oui?’

  Rebecca stared at him now. Although she hated to admit it, his intervention was welcome, and his deliberate use of the verb to tease reduced it all to a playful confrontation and gave Adele the chance to get out of the situation without loss of face. In consequence, after a moment’s soul-searching, Adele accepted his directions, and said reluctantly:

  ‘Yes, that’s all right, Rebecca. You can go.’

  With relief, Rebecca left the room, and after informing Rosa that her employer and her guest were ready for their meal, carried a solitary tray to her room.

  When the meal was over, another problem presented itself. Adele usually slept for an hour after lunch, but how was Rebecca to arrange such a thing today? She wondered whether she should simply forget her instructions, but somehow her code of training was too strong, and therefore it was with an immense sense of relief that she heard, a few moments later, the sound of a car’s engine being started. She rushed to the window and looked out. Her room was on the side of the house, but by opening her window she could look out and see the further length of the drive. She was in time to see the blue convertible approach the gates and after slowing, accelerate into the road beyond.

  She heaved a sigh, resting her elbows on the window ledge. So he had gone. And now she could go and settle Adele down for her sleep without complications.

  But that was easier said than done. Adele was emotionally and physically stimulated by her visitor, and was in no mood to be amenable with Rebecca.

  ‘How—how dare you speak to me like that in front of a guest!’ she stormed, as soon as Rebecca appeared to take her for her rest. ‘Don’t imagine because Piers chose to champion you that I have forgotten it! A chit like you who doesn’t even know who her own father was!’

  Rebecca controlled the angry retort that sprang to her lips. Once, in a moment of compassion for Adele, she had confided the circumstances of her birth to her employer and she had regretted it ever since. ‘My father was killed on his way to the church to marry my mother!’ she said, through taut lips. ‘I wish you would not speak to me about it again!’

  ‘I’ll bet you do!’ jeered Adele unkindly. ‘If your parents were such paragons of virtue, how did you come to be here?’

  Rebecca flushed hotly. ‘They were young—and in love! I couldn’t expect you to understand that!’ She turned away abruptly, unable to prevent the lump that filled her throat when she thought of the agony her mother had suffered. Her grandmother had never understood either, and had taken every opportunity to deride her for it. The train crash which had robbed her mother of her life must have seemed a blessed release.

  Adele seemed to sense that she had said enough, for almost conversationally now, she said: ‘It was quite nice, wasn’t it? Having a man dine with us? There’s the doctor, and old Blackwell, of course, but they’re not the same, are they?’ Andrew Blackwell was the local churchman, and although Adele was not particularly religious and grumbled about him continually, she was often glad of his company.

  Rebecca composed herself and turned to help Adele into her wheelchair. Adele looked at her critically before saying: ‘Seriously, why didn’t you want to have lunch with us?’ She frowned. ‘You couldn’t have thought we wanted to be alone. Piers wouldn’t be interested in an old hag like me!’

  ‘You’re neither old, nor a hag,’ responded Rebecca quietly. ‘Don’t be silly.’

  Adele sighed. ‘Once Piers and I knew each other very well. When I was younger and not paralysed as I am now. I used to be able to do a lot of things.’

  ‘You’re not paralysed now, Miss St. Cloud,’ Rebecca contradicted her gently.

  ‘Not actually, perhaps. But in every way that matters, I am. Tied to a wheelchair, unable to walk, or dance, or swim!’ Her face twisted bitterly, and Rebecca felt distressed. It was at times like this when she felt an immense sense of compassion for Adele.

  ‘Now then,’ she said, smiling a little. ‘You’re not tied to the villa. We have the car. We could drive to Navua tomorrow if you like. Dr. Manson says the trip up river from there is quite beautiful. Forests and waterfalls—and it would be refreshing on the water.’

  Adele turned to her impatiently. ‘I don’t want to go on a river trip,’ she snapped. ‘Don’t humour me, Rebecca. I don’t want that. Just because you’re young and healthy, don’t try to fool me! I’m useless! A wreck of a woman, not even fit to be called a woman.’

  ‘That’s nonsense!’

  ‘What is nonsense?’ Adele clenched her fists. ‘Do you think I don’t notice the way men look at you? The way Dr. Manson looks at you. The way Piers looked at you!’

  Rebecca’s cheeks were scarlet. ‘Please, Miss St. Cloud—’ she began.

  ‘Why? Why shouldn’t I say it? It’s true, isn’t it?’ Adele’s eyes narrowed. ‘And you can’t fool me about that, either, Rebecca! Piers was the reason you didn’t want to lunch with me. Piers! I wonder why? What did he say to you last evening to cause you such anxiety?’

  Rebecca began to wheel the chair into the corridor and from there to Adele’s room, but Adele was not finished yet. Twisting in her seat, she watched her nurse’s mobile face, and her own grew contemptuous. Turning round again, she went silent, and Rebecca was relieved. But as they reached Adele’s bedroom, Adele spoke again, this time in an entirely different voice.

  ‘Tell me, Rebecca, now you’ve had the chance to speak to him again, what do you think of Piers?’

  Rebecca bit her lip. What did Adele want of her now? Searching for a suitable reply, she said: ‘He seems—quite nice.’ She helped Adele on to the bed and began to loosen the buttons of her dress. ‘Have you known him long?’

  ‘Most of my life,’ answered Adele, sliding her arms out of the dress. “His family and mine were always very close.’

  ‘I see.’ Rebecca bent to unfasten Adele’s shoes and Adele’s eyes narrowed.

  ‘At one time—it was thought that he and I—might marry,’ she said.

  Rebecca looked up, hiding her surprise. But then, of course, Piers St. Clair would be about Adele’s own age. Something he had said came back to her: he had called her his sister-in-law! A strange feeling twisted her stomach. He was married, then. Married to Adele’s sister.

  Adele watched Rebecca closely. ‘Why are you frowning?’ she asked. ‘Are you so shocked by that knowledge?’

  ‘Why, no!’ Rebecca answered quickly. ‘But—it was something Monsieur St. Clair said.’

  ‘Which was?’ Adele prompted.

  Rebecca shrugged. ‘Only that he was your brother-in-law.’

  Adele nodded, and lay back against the pillows. ‘That’s right.’ Her mouth twisted again. ‘He married one of my four sisters.’

  Rebecca straightened, lifting Adele’s legs on to the bed. ‘So he’s married,’ she said, rather flatly.

  Adele regarded her intently, and then a strange smile curved her thin lips. ‘My sister died,’ she said, closing her eyes.

  Rebecca pressed a hand to her stomach. ‘I’ll get the sedative,’ she said.

  Adele’s eyes flickered. ‘That won’t be necessary, Rebecca. I feel—very tired.’

  Rebecca hesitated. Adele’s cheeks were still flushed with hectic colour, but she could not force her to take the capsule.

  ‘Very well,’ she said now, ‘I’ll leave you. But if you want anything, just call.’

  ‘I will.’ Adele closed her eyes again. ‘By the way, Piers is coming for dinner tomorrow evening. Do you think you could ask Rosa to use a little more imagination with the food than she usually does?’

  Rebecca walked to the door. ‘I’ll speak to her,’ she agreed, and went quickly out of the room.

&nbs
p; CHAPTER TWO

  THE next morning Rebecca went down to the beach as usual to take her early morning swim. A faint mist cast gauzy nets across the horizon heralding another perfect day. Spiders’ webs among the palms were hung with dew which sparkled like diamonds, and the sand underfoot was cool and soft between her toes. Shedding her towelling jacket, she stood for a moment, poised on the shoreline, stretching her arms to the rays of the rising sun.

  And so it was, silhouetted against the golden skyline, that the man saw her as he emerged from the trees and came walking panther-like along the sand towards her. As though suddenly conscious of the approach of an intruder, Rebecca swung round and gasped, as much with annoyance as with surprise, as she recognised the interloper.

  ‘Bonjour, mademoiselle,’ Piers St. Clair said casually, reaching her side. ‘Do you usually swim at this hour?’

  Rebecca managed to control her colour. This man always seemed to put her at a disadvantage, and dressed only in a bikini, her feet bare, she felt somehow aware and vulnerable.

  ‘This is the only time of day I can call my own,’ she replied, rather pointedly. ‘Miss St. Cloud does not rise until nine—or thereabouts.’

  ‘Ah, I see,’ Piers nodded.

  Rebecca hesitated, and then said: ‘I understood you were invited for dinner—not for breakfast.’

  He smiled. ‘What a sharp little tongue you have, mademoiselle. It may surprise you to know that I did not intend calling at the villa. My hotel room was hot and I was not tired. I decided to drive for a while and as I passed Adele’s villa I saw you crossing the lawns towards the beach. I apologise if my arrival is something of an intrusion.’

  Rebecca coloured now. He had successfully reduced her small attempt at sarcasm to mere pettiness. With an inconsequent shrug of her shoulders, she said: ‘As you are a friend—a relative, almost—of my employer, your presence on the beach could hardly be termed an intrusion when I am merely Adele’s employee.’ She bit her lip. She had not meant to say Adele, it had just slipped out, but she was just as sure that he had noticed it.