Healing in the Hills

by Ruth Clemence

  Felicity and Brena had gone indoors, and Ismay, returning from helping Veronica with the washing up, was just in time to hear Stephen ask his mother, ‘Who’s that chap? I don’t think I’ve met him before.’

  Not wishing to eavesdrop, Ismay began picking up some of the toys the boys had left lying around the garden and putting them into the large cardboard box near the kitchen door, but she was well within earshot as Mrs. Kynoch’s reply came. “He’s a friend of the Watsons. He moved into the district about six months ago.’

  ‘I thought I hadn’t met him before. Felicity sees a lot of him, does she?’ Stephen asked abruptly. His mother must have given a silent affirmative, because he went on, ‘When’s Alec due home?’

  ‘I don’t know exactly,’ Mrs. Kynoch replied. ‘Soon, I think.’

  ‘The sooner the better. Why he goes off chasing odd diseases all over the world I’ll never know. It’s about time he gave it up and came back to settle down. I’ve a good mind to cable and tell him so myself.’

  ‘No, don’t do that,’ Mrs. Kynoch replied at once, and as Ismay carried the box of toys into the house she wondered what on earth could be the meaning of the conversation which she had just overheard. That Stephen was annoyed at Felicity’s dalliance with John Ross was evident, but what had Alec Kynoch got to do with it?

  With the arrival of Stephen and Brena there seemed a lot more going on at Little Grange. There were more picnics, more family get-togethers of all sorts, and Ismay found herself down at the cottage a good deal more than she was up at the house. Anne and Clare were quite fascinated by the Austrian au pair, Veronica, with her pretty broken accent, and of course the two girls wanted to spend as much time as possible with their three small cousins. Lewis, apparently busier than ever with his patients, Ismay only saw in the evenings, and his manner was purely friendly. Anne’s fall and its consequent repercussions seemed to have washed away all the antagonism and verbal sparring in which Lewis and Ismay had hitherto indulged. If anything he behaved towards her in much the same manner with which he treated his sister-in-law, Brena, almost in a brotherly way, and Ismay, although she was relieved, was also, to her secret annoyance, a little piqued by this change of attitude.

  It hardly seemed credible nowadays that he was the same man who had kissed her so savagely and to whom she had responded with such passion. Lewis had aroused in her feelings which had been wholly absent from her relations with Peter, and yet now he seemed totally disinterested. Perhaps it was just as well, she thought, as she sat beside the open window in her bedroom one evening, manicuring her nails. She had wanted to be allowed to stay here and look after Anne without the complication of the master of the house making passes at her. Now that he refrained from doing so she could scarcely complain. She smiled grimly in the semidarkness. Talk about human nature being contrary, she thought. I should be thoroughly ashamed of what I’m thinking at this moment.

  The following evening old Mrs. Kynoch, Lewis, Felicity, Brena and Stephen had all been invited to dinner at Grange Hall, the home of Dick Watson’s parents. None of the young people were invited, so Dick himself asked if he might come and have supper at Little Grange and when they had finished the evening meal, which they had eaten round the table in the kitchen, Dick, Anne, Clare and Ismay trooped down in a body to keep Veronica company as she baby-minded in the cottage.

  They had to keep fairly quiet so as not to disturb the three boys sleeping in the bedroom above, but it had been an uproarious evening just the same, spent playing card games and ending with the youngsters trying to teach Veronica some of the more unusual words in the English language. Ismay had protested at last when Dick and Anne between them had teased Veronica unmercifully, getting her so tied up that she could hardly remember the little English which she already knew.

  ‘It’s not fair!’ Ismay protested. ‘Veronica’s doing very well. Don’t confuse her by telling her all sorts of words we never use. Take no notice of them,’ she advised Veronica, ‘they’re just teasing you.’

  ‘Teasing? What is that?’ Veronica asked.

  ‘Now see the fix you’ve got me into!’ Ismay complained, turning to Anne and Dick, who were sitting on the settee convulsed with laughter. ‘What’s the German for tease?’ she asked, and picking up the dictionary which lay on a side table she started to riffle through the pages.

  Eventually she managed to get across to Veronica what she meant by the word ‘tease’ and the girl sat back, her face wreathed in smiles. ‘Oh me, I enjoy the joke,’ she said. ‘Do not say they must not make the fun with me. I am so happy to be here with a nice family. Some of my friends have come to England; they have not been so happy.’

  ‘How’s that?’ Ismay asked.

  ‘They do not always get with pleasant peoples,’ Veronica explained, and Ismay forbore to question her any further. She had heard stories of foreign au pair girls being exploited, but she had also heard of English girls working as au pairs on the Continent and being treated just as harshly by some of the families to whom they had gone. She did not want to enter into an argument about it. There must be good and bad on both sides.

  At ten o’clock she insisted that the girls went back to the house to get ready for bed. She had practically to shoo Dick out of Little Grange where he lingered hoping for five more minutes with Anne. ‘I’m sorry, Dick,’ Ismay said insistently, ‘but Anne’s knee is still not too strong and I don’t want it to get worse by her standing on it until all hours. Please be sensible. You can come up in the morning as early as you like, but she must go to bed now.’

  Dick was a reasonable boy, so he smiled, said ‘Good night’ to Anne, then went reluctantly down the corridor to let himself out of the side door, and at last Ismay persuaded Clare and Anne to go upstairs and get ready for bed. She was in bed herself by eleven o’clock and able to lie in the darkness and think how handsome Lewis had looked when they had been dressed ready to leave for the dinner party.

  All five had been in evening dress—Felicity in a very elaborate blue and green brocade, Mrs. Kynoch in black lace and Brena in a deceptively simple trouser suit in coral-coloured silk. It was when Stephen and Lewis in their dinner suits had come into the room that Ismay had had to catch her breath quickly so that no one would overhear her gasp of admiration.

  Ismay had never previously considered Lewis to be a handsome man by ordinary standards, but in formal attire he had suddenly seemed like the answer to any maiden’s prayer. She had been forced to pick up a magazine from one of the side tables and pretend to be reading it so that nobody would be able to sense her admiration of his appearance. As the dinner guests left for the Watsons’, Ismay pretended to be busy tuning the television set, and the door closed before she turned round, almost giving a sigh of relief to see that she and the girls were at last alone.

  Now as she lay in bed she imagined what it would have been like if she too had been going with the others as an acknowledged member of the family. How marvellous it would have been to be invited to Grange Hall as Lewis’s dinner companion, dressed perhaps in the sort of expensively simple attire which Brena favoured. Not exactly the same, of course. Her type of apparel would not have suited Ismay. Something softer perhaps in chiffon, Ismay thought wistfully, in yellow, jade green or even midnight blue.

  And then she caught her breath on a sigh. What was the good of lying here dreaming improbable dreams, never likely to be fulfilled? She was as bad as some silly hero-worshipping schoolgirl, because Lewis was as much out of her reach as an idol of the pop world was out of the teenagers’ reach. And surely, Ismay told herself, at twenty-three she was old enough to be sensible about the situation, and not indulge in foolish fancies.

  CHAPTER SIX

  As the days went by, Ismay began to find it more difficult to be natural in Lewis’s company. She missed him disgracefully when he was out of the house, yet when he returned she found it so difficult to be at ease in his company that she was no happier.

  It was Stephen who cooked up the idea of the whol
e family going again to Ravens’ Bay for a day by the sea. At the very last minute John Ross, whom Felicity had invited, dropped out and as Lewis was on call and had to stay within reach of the telephone Stephen and James were the only two men in the party.

  Felicity lost no time in securing the seat next to Stephen in the car for the journey out, and when they had reached the picnic beach she sat down beside him the instant he flopped on to the sand and began to engage him in conversation, behaving quite outrageously.

  He appeared to take no notice of her very evident manoeuvres, but when she went to fetch a cushion from the car he suddenly turned and said to Ismay, ‘Come on, I’m going to take the boys down for a paddle—how about coming along with us?’

  Brena was stretched out on a beach towel, her eyes closed, and made no sign that she had even heard her husband speak, so after a few moments’ hesitation, Ismay got to her feet and followed Stephen and the three small boys to the water’s edge.

  As soon as Tom, Dick and Harry were happily splashing and kicking water over one another Stephen turned to Ismay and spoke abruptly. The usual bonhomie was missing from his voice and she stared in surprise. ‘I shouldn’t ask you, I know, but does Felicity try this sort of caper on with Lewis as well?’ At Ismay’s puzzled expression Stephen continued, ‘I can hardly question Mother, but you can’t pretend you haven’t noticed Felicity’s tactics so far today. I suppose one reason I’ve been singled out is because the current boy-friend is temporarily absent. It’s made me wonder if she pesters Lewis too. You’ve lived in the house long enough to notice if she makes a dead set at him when she’s bored.’

  Ismay licked dry lips. She felt as if her head was filled with cotton wool preventing rational thinking. What could Stephen be suggesting? At last, as he remained silent, his eyes on hers, awaiting a reply, Ismay remarked nervously, ‘I’ve heard her call him “darling”.’

  Stephen turned away abruptly and said angrily, ‘She calls every man “darling”. That means nothing. Perhaps in the house she’s too clever to be as obvious as she’s been today, but it’s partly to score off Brena, of course—there’s no love lost there. Honestly, I can’t understand Alec’s obsession for hiving off on these bug-hunting trips of his. It wouldn’t be too bad if they had a place of their own, but to leave Mother and Lewis lumbered with Felicity every time he goes globetrotting is the utter end. She causes bother wherever she goes, and it’s not as if she were a decent parent either. It’s Mother who’s virtually brought up Anne and Clare. I don’t believe Felicity really cares a tinker’s cuss for either of them, or for Alec come to that. I warned him how selfish she was, but of course he wouldn’t listen. Not that I really blame him. She’s still pretty good-looking even now, and sixteen years ago she was an absolute corker, I can tell you. All that pink and gold beauty quite blinded poor Alec to her real character. It’s a pity that when he finally found out he didn’t put her across his knee. In my opinion, a good spanking now and then would do Felicity a power of good.’

  By the time he had finished speaking Ismay had gone through various stages of bewilderment. What was Stephen implying? She found her voice at last and asked squeakily,

  ‘Do you mean Felicity is Alec’s wife?’

  She got no further. Stephen stared at her for a moment in astonishment and then said slowly, ‘You don’t mean to say you thought she and Lewis ... good heavens! Things must be worse than I’d imagined.’ And then his face cleared and he started to laugh, stopping abruptly as Ismay continued to gaze unsmilingly up at him.

  ‘You’re right not to feel amused. If you imagined from her behaviour that Felicity was married to Lewis, it’s no laughing matter, and the sooner Alec gets home the better. What I can’t understand is why Mother or Lewis didn’t put you straight.’

  Ismay put a hand to her head. ‘I don’t think it occurred to either of them that I was under a misapprehension, and of course I never asked, even when I discovered they had separate bedrooms. It’s stupid of me now, I suppose, to say this, but I just assumed that the marriage had started to break apart a little.’

  Stephen stood, his hands on his hips, and gazed down at her for a moment, and then he suddenly became aware of the fact that his youngest son had fallen flat on his face and the loud wailing galvanized him into action. ‘Come on! We’ll have to continue this conversation some other time,’ Stephen shouted over his shoulder as he began to run towards the small recumbent figure. He picked up Tom—or it might have been Dick or Harry; Ismay had never really been able to tell which was which—and started to carry him up the beach towards the rest of the family.

  To Ismay’s astonishment the other two boys took hold of her by either hand, and as the cold sand-sticky palms met her own, she couldn’t help smiling down at the two solemn faces raised to hers. This was honour indeed, she knew; it appeared that Mrs. Kynoch agreed because when she, Stephen and the boys reached the picnic party to find towels and dry the boys off, their grandmother murmured in Ismay’s ear, ‘I can see you’ve been accepted!’ Ismay smiled and picking up a towel, she began to dry one of the very wet boys.

  When they were clothed again in shorts and tee-shirts, she sat down on the rug beside Anne. Brena had opened one eye to see what was going on, then realizing that the situation was well in hand, closed it again. Veronica, to whom Stephen on their arrival had explained the intricacies of the camping stove, was busy with the frying pan and sausages, and it was left to Felicity to fuss around.

  As soon as Stephen sat down again she moved nearer to him and said coaxingly, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were taking the boys for a walk down to the sea? You know I would have come with you. There was no need to drag Ismay away.’

  Stephen looked down at her and then his eyes slid to the expensive suede sandals she was wearing. ‘Oh, I hardly think you’d have enjoyed getting your outfit splashed or wetting those beautiful shoes,’ he remarked sardonically. ‘In fact, I’m surprised you’ve come on a seaside picnic at all. It doesn’t strike me as quite your cup of tea.’

  ‘It rather depends on the company whether I join in or not,’ Felicity replied, and smiled archly, gazing at him through drooping lashes. ‘Surely you know me well enough by now to know I’d never refuse anything you asked of me? You’re not only one of the handsomest men I know, but a celebrity as well. Any woman would be proud to be seen with you.’

  Old Mrs. Kynoch by this time had gone over to where Veronica, James and Sally were preparing lunch and all four were well out of earshot. Suddenly Brena sat up abruptly, turned to Felicity and snapped, ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, Felicity, drop it, will you! You’re not only extremely stupid, but boring Stephen to death into the bargain.’

  For a second there was a deathly silence while an ugly red ran up Felicity’s exquisitely made-up face. Ismay hurriedly got to her feet and went over to join the others round the stove, talking loudly as she put out cups and saucers and sorted cutlery. She had no wish to get embroiled or even to hear more of the family quarrel. Not that she blamed Brena for her display of bad temper. Felicity had asked for it and Brena had let fly with both barrels.

  Ismay turned her head, however, overcome with curiosity as she heard Stephen roaring with laughter. Whatever had been said after she left the group, there appeared at least on the surface to be a semblance now of normality and conviviality.

  But Ismay had far more on her mind than a mere tiff between Brena and Felicity. She longed to be alone in order to go carefully over the conversation she had had with Stephen. She could hardly believe that what she had learned was true. It meant that Lewis, far from being unavailable, was on the contrary a very eligible bachelor. Indeed, he must have been mystified when at a mere kiss she had promptly smacked him across the face—not only an old-fashioned but rather a hackneyed gesture, whichever way you looked at it. She had put herself unknowingly in an impossible position. She could hardly change her behaviour towards Lewis overnight and suddenly encourage him to believe that she was in fact more than willing to accept an
y advances he might care to make.

  One thing she hoped was that Stephen would not give her away. She determined at the first available moment to get him alone and ask him to keep quiet about the fact that she had imagined Lewis and Felicity to be man and wife.

  An opportunity to speak to him occurred much sooner than she had anticipated. When it came time for them to go home he insisted on having as passengers Veronica, herself and the three small boys, and since Veronica immediately got into the back of the car with Tom, Dick and Harry, Ismay found herself sitting in the passenger seat beside Stephen.

  When they were almost back at Little Grange she finally plucked up courage, knowing that Veronica was fully occupied in trying to stop one of the children from fighting the other two to say quietly to Stephen, ‘There’s something I’d like to ask you.’

  ‘Ask away!’ he answered her, taking his eyes off the road for a second and glancing down.

  ‘I wonder if you’d mind not mentioning to Lewis that I thought he and Felicity were married.’

  Stephen was silent for a moment or two, then he nodded. ‘All right. It shall be as you want, Ismay. I won’t say anything,’ and he glanced sideways at her again. ‘Rather fancy him yourself, do you?’ he asked.

  Ismay’s face flamed. She was not used to this blunt way of taking the bull by the horns which both Stephen and Brena seemed to share. But as he saw her vivid blush Stephen laughed and said quickly, ‘Never mind, don’t bother to answer. It was impertinent of me to have inquired,’ and to Ismay’s huge relief he conversed on other topics till they turned up the steep drive to the house and everyone got out on to the gravel drive.