by Susan Barrie
“No, I don’t think so,” the doctor answered at last. “As a matter of fact, I don’t think I’ll take coffee at all.” He looked across at Virginia. “It’ s going to be very awkward, I’ m afraid, but the trouble with the car is much more serious than the preliminary inspection revealed, and it might be hours before it’s ready for the road again. They’ve only got one car here that I can make use of, and it’s so antiquated that I don’t want to risk driving you back in it. If I break down, well and good, but if we were both stranded it would be much more serious for you.”
“Then what—” Virginia looked up at him anxiously. It occurred to her that if they were both stranded on a mountain road she would be the last to offer up any complaints, but she hoped he could not read her thoughts.
“I suggest that you stay here for the night and when the car is ready tomorrow someone from the hotel can drive you back in it.”
“I see,” Virginia said, but she said it so flatly that he actually smiled a little.
“I’m sorry,” he told her, and he leaned across the table and patted one of her hands as it lay beside the plate on which she had been crumbling a bread roll. The waiter, who was still awaiting orders about the coffee, discreetly averted his eyes, having already formed the opinion that since the celebrated Dr. Hanson brought this same young lady to the hotel twice on a single day he must be rather more than interested in her. “I’ m really awfully sorry, but I’ ll have to drive fast and it would be most uncomfortable for you—”
“I wouldn’t mind,” Virginia answered, putting up a weak fight to be with him as long as possible.
“Wouldn’ t you?” he asked, lifting one of his dark eyebrows humorously. “Well, all the same, I don’ t think we should risk it, and they’ll look after you well here. It’s a very comfortable hotel from the visitor’ s point of view, and just now it isn’ t even half full, so you’ll have a choice of rooms.” He glanced down at his wristwatch. “As a matter of fact. I’ ve had a visitor today who is still awaiting me at my consulting rooms, and I’ ve simply got to dash away—”
“Oh, forgive me, of course I understand.” And Virginia at once became cooperative, although the thought of being left alone at the hotel was a depressing one to her just then. “Please don’ t waste any more time. I’ll be quite all right.”
“You’ re sure?” He looked at her very earnestly.
“Quite sure! ” She would have been glad to know that her smiling upward gaze at him gave away none of her true feelings.
A look that contained a certain amount of relief spread over his face.
“In that case I’ d suggest that you have your coffee in the lounge and take your time over it. And don’t hurry back tomorrow. Make the most of your brief stay in the mountains.” He smiled at her encouragingly. “It will be quite all right if I have the car back by tomorrow night.”
“I’ ll certainly see to it that you have it before then. ”
“Well, there’s no hurry.”
And then, with a casual wave of the hand he was gone, and she watched until his tall, slim figure in the dark blue blazer and pale gray flannels had disappeared through the doorway into the lounge. The waiter bent a solicitous gaze upon her.
“Mademoiselle will take her coffee now? And she will, perhaps, take a liqueur, also?”
“No, no liqueur.” Virginia fought hard to keep her tight little careless smile on her face. “Only coffee, please.”
She spent the rest of the evening until bedtime sitting in the lounge and wading through piles of English, French and Swiss magazines. And then, when the room seemed to begin to empty she decided to make acquaintance with her bedroom, and it was only when she had actually entered the elevator and was being borne upward that the realization that she had no sleeping things— not even a toothbrush—hit her. But a brief conversation with a highly intelligent chambermaid produced all that she needed, and Virginia sank her head onto her pillow at last with a strong sensation of anticlimax.
In THE MORNING she wasted no time after breakfast before she ascertained that the car was ready for her, called for her bill and decided to return to Madame d’ Auvergne without delay.
The bill, she discovered, was not her concern at all, for Dr. Hanson had left instructions that it was to be forwarded to him for settlement. The car was once more its smooth-running self, and she was driven by a member of the hotel staff who treated her with the utmost deference and deposited her at Aunt Heloise’s villa in good time for lunch.
Aunt Heloise kissed her warmly and seemed concerned that she should have had to make the return journey alone. Perhaps an expression she recognized in Virginia’s face disturbed her a little. It had something to do with hurt pride and was not the happy, anticipatory look she had seen in the girl’s face before she had started off the previous morning.
“It was too bad of that naughty Carla to come back so unexpectedly and insist on seeing Leon last night,” she said. “But for that Leon might have spent the night in the mountains too, although perhaps that might not have been altogether discreet. But it would have been better. I feel sure, if you had returned with him.
I told him so. and I did not at all like the idea of your being alone in that hotel. ”
“Oh, I was perfectly all right.” Virginia assured her. “and naturally Dr. Hanson was anxious to get back and see Miss Spengler.”
Try as she would, however, she could not keep a faint trace of sarcastic bitterness out of the words. So it had been
Carla Spengler who refused to leave his consulting rooms and it was for Carla that he had dropped her, Virginia, rather like a hot brick!
Well, at least she knew now precisely where she stood with him! In future it would be easy—or, at least, easier—to decline any invitations he might feel tempted to hand out to her when he was feeling a little bored or Carla was not readily available.
On the pretext of washing her hands before lunch she went up to her room, and, almost weeping as a result of the excess of badly bruised pride she was suffering from—and something that was not as easily curable as hurt pride—she scrubbed at her lips with a face tissue in front of her mirror.
She hated, now, to remember that he had kissed her on the bridge in the dim green depths of the little pine wood, and that she had let him do so as if it was perfectly natural that he should exact a kind of toll for taking her out for the day.
Or had he perhaps regarded it more in the light of a reward for a good girl?
CHAPTER TEN
That night when Dr. Hanson called his aunt and inquired whether Virginia had returned in safety from the mountains, although the evidence of his car having been restored to him much earlier in the day must have convinced him of that, Madame d’ Auvergne did not let him know that Virginia was sitting near at hand in the mauve salon, although he asked to speak to her A woman of high intelligence and tremendous understanding, she simply said that the girl was wandering somewhere in the garden and was probably difficult to find just then.
“I see,” Leon said and seemed to ponder the matter. “But you’ll let her know how very sorry I was that our extremely pleasant day should have been marred at the end of it like that, won’ t you?”
“Of course, Leon, cheri,” Aunt Heloise murmured smoothly.
“And tell her also that the car I drove was a perfect brute and she would have detested it.”
“Being a woman, she would probably have enjoyed the experience thoroughly,” Aunt Heloise returned.
“Then women are beyond me! ” he exclaimed, but he did not sound as if he was certain about that and there was a note of irritability in his voice.
“How is Carla?” Madame d’ Auvergne inquired. “And when is she coming to see me?”
“Oh. she’ll probably come and see you quite soon. Something went wrong with her engagements in America and she decided to cut them short and come home. She—” He broke off suddenly. “Are you quite sure Miss Holt is not anywhere about? I’ d like to speak to her if you can
discover where she is.”
“My darling Leon,” she reproved him, “This is Franzi’s evening out and my rheumatic limbs will simply not allow me to go and search for her in the garden. I will give her your message.”
“Very well,’’ But he sounded a little short. “Tell her also that I saw her sister today and she is much improved.”
“I will,” Aunt Heloise murmured and replaced the receiver.
When she rejoined Virginia in the mauve salon she was smiling rather wickedly and she realized at once that Virginia had overheard every word of the conversation.
“I do not feel in the least guilty,” the old lady confessed, “because for once in my life I told a deliberate untruth to my nephew. But somehow I did not feel that you would wish particularly to speak to him tonight—is that not it?” she asked with a gentle note in her voice.
Virginia looked at her gratefully, wishing she didn’t have to dig two teeth into her lower lip rather hard to stop it quivering. She nodded and then looked away quickly.
“It’s silly, I know,” she said, “but I really felt last night as if I was very, very badly in the way! ”
Aunt Heloise leaned forward and patted her hand.
“A little matter of the pride?” she said understanding! “But that feeling will pass, and—who knows—in the future we may arrange things more happily! ”
Virginia could not quite follow what she meant, but if her hostess was suggesting that at some distant future date she and Leon Hanson might spend another day together somewhere then there was not the smallest hope of that. Once bitten twice shy was a commonplace saying, but in her case it was no more than the truth. In the future she would be more circumspect.
That night she more or less made up her mind to return to England as soon as the travel arrangements could be completed. Lisa would be all right without her now, and in any case she had been away from home too long. It was time she came down to earth again and returned to the monotonous but undisturbed existence she had known before, and as she thought about it in the darkness and silence of her luxurious little bedroom at the villa, she suddenly felt wave after wave of genuine homesickness. Cromwell Road, her parents and her two brothers became, like the plum that is out of reach, the most desirable goal she could ever achieve, perhaps because she had not thought about them so much lately.
And as soon as her exercises were well started, and could be safely carried on by some experienced person in London, Lisa also would return home and then the family would be complete once more.
Virginia closed her eyes at last and thought how wonderful it would be when they were all together again.
In the morning she was so eager to explain to her hostess the necessity for her leaving without delay, especially in view of the fact that Lisa was to become her guest on the weekend, that she did not notice that a letter awaited her on the hall table until Franzi drew her attention to it.
Virginia regarded the envelope in some astonishment, for it was decidedly opulent and the handwriting was unfamiliar. Also, it bore a local postmark.
She opened it quickly and saw at once that it was from Mary Van Loon and had no connection whatever with Leon Hanson! She should have realized that the handwriting was strictly feminine and a very faint and pleasing perfume emanated from the envelope.
Mary Van Loon was apparently experiencing difficulties.
My small niece and nephew have arrived and I find it even harder to cope with them than I expected. They are a pair of pets, but—!!! Do you think you could come and have lunch
with me
today, if you have nothing more exciting on, and advise me as to the best method of dealing with modern children. You know you said it was very simple!
Do come if you can.
Mary Van Loon
Virginia had a curious feeling that she was being caught up in a web from which she might find it difficult to extricate herself later on, but Mary’s letter was so warm and friendly, and despite its lightness, so appealing as well, that Virginia knew she would have to go to lunch with her at least. Perhaps the children would be so precocious that nothing would induce her to renounce her overnight plans and stay in Switzerland and look after them.
But something told her the children would not be precocious and that she might just as well have gone straight off to sleep last night instead of making up her mind, after writhing and tossing, to go home within a few days.
Lisa might go home within a week or so, but — Well, the “but” could wait until she had seen Mary.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
And Mary Van Loon did little to persuade Virginia. It was the children who succeeded in doing that.
Precocious they certainly were, but they were also delightful. Paula wore a frilly frock that was not at all suitable for a child to play in, but with her golden curls and large blue eyes she looked both appealing and enchanting. Peter wore jeans and a checkered shirt, had a dagger in an ornamental sheath stuck through his belt, and regarded Virginia out of greenish hazel eyes that were much more unnaturally solemn than his sister’s. He appeared to take a man’s view of life.
“If you come here,” he said, “I’ll look after you, but you’ll have to do a bit of looking after us as well. We’ve never had anyone to really play with us for long, you know,” looking up at Virginia as if assessing her potentialities in that respect.
“What you want, young man,” his aunt told him, ruffling his hair, “is someone to take you very strictly in hand and turn you into a respectable citizen.”
Peter digested this for a moment and then slipped a hand into Virginia’s.
“Will you come?” he asked earnestly.
Paula, who had been racing excitedly across the emerald expanse of lawn, came running back and slid both small, sturdy arms around Virginia’s waist and hugged her.
“Yes, do come,” she urged. “I like the look of you, and I’ll be as good as I know how—sometimes—if you’ ll only come! ”
“Well, there you are, you see! ” Mary exclaimed, laughing. “Both the children want you to stay and look after them, I don’t know what I’m going to do if you don’t stay, and you’re talking of going back meekly to England and taking up a dull job for which I’ m quite sure you’re not in the very least suited. Stay here and I can promise you it will never be dull—not with these two around! You won’ t be treated like a nanny—which always makes me think of a she-goat—and if by any chance we go away from here you’ ll come with us. And I’ ll pay you any salary you like to mention! ”
“You’re very kind,” Virginia said and she sounded a little wistful. It certainly was nice here on the Van Loon terrace, which they had just reached after a tour of the beautifully laid-out grounds. There were deep wicker lounging chairs and little tables loaded with boxes of cigarettes and candies, fruit and flowers. Everything and everyone was extremely informal, including the servants, who had been brought from America. She had been regaled with an almost perfect lunch and now there was the magic shimmer of the lake before her eyes, and all the splendor of the lakeshore. If she went home to England she might never see such rare loveliness again. It was scarcely likely that she would meet with such a charming friend and prospective employer as Mrs. Van Loon, who had so far forgotten her dignity and almost begged her to stay.
Then the salary, which she would insist should be no more than the position warranted, would enable her to do things for Lisa, who would be dependent on their father for a long time yet, and altogether it looked as if she should accept.
“All right,” she said suddenly, almost vehemently, “if you really want me to do so I’ll take on the job of looking after these children.”
Peter gave vent to a heartfelt “Yippee! ” and Mary Van Loon smiled.
“Lovely! ” she said. “And how soon will you take it on?”
“How soon would you want me?”
“Immediately! ”
Virginia was about to exclaim hurriedly that she would have to tell her hostess a
ll about it; that she could not run away and leave her at almost a moment’ s notice after all her extreme kindness to her, and that in any case she must have a few days to get together her things and prepare for this new venture.
And then she reflected that it would not be many days before Lisa would be leaving the clinic and arriving as a guest at Madame d’Auvergne’s villa. That Carla Spengler was back and might be visiting Leon Hanson’ s aunt, and she had no wish at all to meet Carla while she was still accepting hospitality from Aunt Heloise. She could picture the raised, beautifully shaped eyebrows of the singer—the subtle inflection in her voice as she observed that Virginia had been a guest at the villa for quite a while!
There would be contempt in that voice, Virginia knew, and something very like open hostility, for from the first moment of their meeting Carla had shown no liking for Virginia, and Virginia would be made to feel that she had been taking advantage of her hostess’s kindness and she would be rendered embarrassed and tongue-tied— especially if Leon Hanson was there, as well—and would want to creep away and leave the house....
She felt vastly inferior when Fraulein Spengler was around, and now, in addition, she felt bitterly envious of her
But once safely entrenched behind the luxurious facade of the Van Loon villa she would find it a simple matter to avoid coming into contact with anyone she did not wish to come into contact with, such as Carla. For she would be tucked away in the nursery wing of the house and as an employee she would have a legitimate excuse for avoiding her employer’ s callers. Even Dr. Hanson, who was accustomed to walking into his aunt’ s house and finding her more or less waiting and ready to be noticed by him, could be avoided if she wished. Not that she would ever forget how much she owed to him, if the next few weeks proved that Lisa was going to be the old Lisa again, but her gratitude need not take the form of making herself into a kind of doormat for him to walk upon.
