"I know you're not very happy about Melanie, so if you'd like to stay on, I can offer you a job."
"A job?" Loris echoed.
"Yes. Timothy and Gillian are on my hands at the moment, as you probably know. Until a few weeks ago I had a governess to look after them, but as they're both going to boarding-school in September it didn't seem worth while getting anyone else when she had to leave—although," she made a grimace, "if I'd known how troublesome they were, I'd have thought twice about it. I was going to get a temporary nanny to take care of them, but what you've just said has given me an idea. How would you like to look after them for me? I'll pay you the usual salary, of course."
Loris was surprised at the offer, sure that Elaine would have rejoiced at her departure. One look at the woman's face with its pouting mouth and veiled, secretive eyes made her instantly dismiss from her mind the idea that Elaine was offering her a job out of compassion. That she had a reason for her magnanimity Loris was sure, although for the moment she could not see what it was. Her instinctive reaction was to refuse, but even now the thought of leaving Melanie held her back.
"I've never looked after children before. If I stay, what exactly will I have to do?"
Elaine shrugged. "Oh, the usual things. Whatever one has to do for children. After I've seen that they've washed themselves and eaten their food I leave them pretty much to their own devices. I suppose you'd take them for walks and keep them amused—in other words, take them completely off my hands. By the time they go to school a lot of things may have changed." She blew a cloud of smoke into the air. "Well, what about it? Will you stay?"
"Yes, Mrs. Forrest. And thank you very much." Loris moved to the door and then turned, her hand on the knob. "When do you want me to start?" she asked.
"Right now would suit me." Elaine poured herself another cup of coffee and as if to establish the new relationship between them, gave Loris a nod of dismissal. With a faint smile Loris inclined her head and left the room, thinking wryly that with her first week's salary it would be as well to buy a simple white dress to serve as a uniform and make her look more in keeping with the part.
Eager to tell someone her news she ran upstairs to the bedroom where Melanie, still flushed from sleep, was just opening her eyes.
"Wake up, sleepyhead! You're later than ever this morning."
Melanie yawned and stretched luxuriantly. "There's no hurry. I'm not seeing Miguel till after lunch." She sat up and hugged her knees. "Oh, Loris, we had such a lovely time last night, and…"
"And it was very late when you got home," Loris finished. "But listen to my news first. Elaine's given me a job."
"Elaine's given you a what?" The blue eyes opened in astonishment.
Loris sat down on the bed. "She's given me a job. I'm going to look after Timothy and Gillian for her and she's going to pay me the usual salary a children's nurse gets over here."
"But why? Oh, I know you like children and all that, but why work for Elaine? I thought you didn't like her."
"It's not a question of likes and dislikes, my poppet," Loris said gently. "But I can't live on air, you know. I don't spend much, but do you realize my money is running low?"
"But, Loris, I'd let you—"
"I know you would, darling, and it's sweet of you. But I couldn't accept."
She stood up. "Now I'd better go down and find the children. I must get them to show me where their things are kept. I don't relish the idea of asking Elaine."
As Loris was walking out of the room, Melanie called after her: "Do I have to call you Nanny now? "
Picking up a silk slip which Melanie had discarded on the floor the night before, Loris threw it at her. "Not if you still want to be my friend."
She went downstairs again and looked for Timothy and Gillian. If she was going to work she might as well begin immediately.
She found the children playing in the garden and called to them across the lawn. They came bounding up the steps of the terrace and sat down one on either side of her on the gaily striped hammock.
"I've something to tell you," Loris said. "Your mother has asked me to look after you until you start school in September."
The little boy and girl looked at each other in silence. Then Timothy asked suspiciously: "Do you mean you're going to be our nanny? Will we have to call you that?" His tone suggested that he considered it a personal affront for a boy of nearly ten to have a nanny at all, and Loris bit back a smile.
"I'll be your nanny, but of course you can still call me Loris."
"Oh." He was somewhat mollified. "Will you take us to the beach and the shops like Miss Heflin used to?"
Presuming Miss Heflin to be her predecessor, Loris nodded. "Of course I will, Timmy. But I'll have to rely on you to show me where to go, because I'm quite a stranger here still."
"Will you tell us all about England?" It was Gillian this time. "Is it really as small as it looks on the map? And have you seen the Queen?"
Loris smiled. "It isn't quite as small as it looks on the map, and I'm afraid I haven't seen the Queen, dear, but I can tell you lots of nice things about her."
"I've got a photo of her," Timothy said, proudly. "My granny in Washington met her when she came over here once."
"Well, she probably knows more about her than I do, then," Loris replied.
"I guess she does, but we never get to see her, so she can't tell us," the small boy said mournfully.
"All right then, if I tell you all about the Queen, you'll have to tell me where all your things are kept and what you have to wear and what you eat."
Laughing and chattering together the children led her into the house and up to their nursery, a large airy room overlooking the garden, where they proceeded to show her where their clothes and their toys were kept. The first morning passed quickly and by the time Loris had found out all she needed to know, it was nearly time for lunch. She shepherded the children into the dining-room and Mr. Loftus greeted her with a special smile and she guessed Elaine had told him of the arrangement.
"So you're going to keep an eye on the kids!" he beamed. "Let me know if they're too much of a handful and I'll come and spank them for you."
"I hope you won't have to do that!" she laughed.
He looked at her keenly from beneath bushy eyebrows. "You know, my dear, there was no need for you to take this on. You're welcome to stay as long as you like, and you had only to come to me for anything you needed and I'd have been pleased to give it to you."
"I know, Mr. Loftus, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it," Loris said quietly. "But I feel better now I have a job to do. I've never been used to idling and it'll be nice to have something to keep me occupied."
"It's quite a change to hear a young woman say that!" He patted her cheek. "But let me know if there's anything I can do, won't you? You needn't be shy about it."
He broke off as Mrs. Loftus and Elaine came into the room, followed by Melanie.
Lunch that day was a hurried meal, each member of the family preoccupied with their own concerns. Edward Loftus had a business appointment in the early afternoon, his wife and daughter fittings with their dressmaker, and even Melanie seemed absorbed in her own secret thoughts. As they were finishing the meal they saw Dickson being wheeled out on to the lawn below the terrace. He waved across to them gaily before the nurse turned him away from the glare of the sun.
Mr. Loftus looked down at his watch and then glanced at his wife. "My appointment's at two-thirty, so if you two want a lift you'd better be quick. I'll go on out and get the car."
Mrs. Loftus hastily drained her coffee cup. "I'm ready now, dear. How about you, Elaine?"
"I'll just go up and get my jacket." Elaine rose from the table. "Meet you outside."
Mother and daughter hurried out of the room, leaving Melanie and Loris alone at the table.
"Shall we take our coffee outside and join Dickson?" Melanie suggested.
Loris looked up in surprise, for the girl's behaviour had become
increasingly casual towards her fiancé during the last few weeks.
"I'd love to," she said.
With their cups in their hands and followed by Timothy and Gillian, they went out over the terrace across the lawn, where they arranged themselves in deck chairs around Dickson, the children sprawling lazily on the grass.
Dickson brightened at their approach, but the lines around his eyes and mouth—lines which only a few weeks ago had been faint—had now deepened, making him look older and more mature, and although Loris thought it gave his face added strength and character, she regretted it should have been at such a price.
"You didn't come and see me this morning, Melly," he chided gently.
"Sorry, darling, but I didn't get home till very late last night and I overslept."
A shadow crossed his face, but his voice was light and infused with interest. "Did you have a good time?"
"Wonderful! Miguel took me to the divinest restaurant and we danced till our feet nearly fell off!"
Dickson jerked his head up. "Miguel again? What happened to the rest of the gang?"
"Bob and Elspeth didn't turn up at the last moment, and Janey and Phil decided to go on somewhere else instead."
"That was very convenient for you both, wasn't it?"
Melanie perched herself on the arm of his chair and ruffled his hair. "Darling, you aren't jealous, are you? You told me you didn't want me to sit at home with you all the time. If I did, I wouldn't go on being cheerful and gay or any of the things you said you fell in love with."
Dickson reached up and pulled her face to his. "Sometimes, darling, a man wants something more than just a girl who's the life and soul of the party. Because I fell in love with you when you were cheerful and gay doesn't mean you always have to act that way. Love isn't something that stands still—Melly—it changes, you know. It grows."
He spoke so seriously and with such obvious sincerity that Loris felt like a trespasser, and would have tiptoed away had she not felt that her going would have been more obvious than remaining where she was.
But his effect on Melanie was very different.
"Oh, don't be so stuffy, Dickson," she said petulantly. "You don't have to lecture me just because I enjoy my-self with Miguel."
"Let's forget it, shall we?" Dickson attempted a grin. "After all, it's not important enough to argue about." But the expression in his eyes belied the lightness of his tone.
Quick to forget, Melanie gave him a swift kiss and sat down on the grass at his feet. But hardly had she settled herself when she glanced at her watch and gave an exclamation. "Heavens, I didn't know it was so late. I must fly!"
"Where are you going?" Dickson asked sharply.
"Only for a swim, darling." She scrambled to her feet. . "Good idea," he said cheerfully. "I'll get Nurse to wheel my chair to the edge of the pool and I can watch you."
"But I'm not going swimming in the pool," Melanie said, flushing.
"Where are you going, then—the beach?"
"Yes, Santa Monica. I'm going with Bob and Elspeth."
Heroically Dickson swallowed his disappointment. He had looked forward to spending the afternoon with her, for in the last weeks they had spent so little time together that he was beginning to feel they were drifting apart.
"Well, it's a lovely day for a swim. Too hot for anything else, in fact. When Bob calls for you, ask him to come out and see me for a minute or two, will you?"
Melanie dug the heel of her shoe into the grass. "Bob isn't calling for me."
"Then how are you going to get there?"
Tell-tale colour flooded her face and he went on sharply: "Don't tell me that Miguel dago is calling for you?"
"Yes, he is," she replied defiantly. "And he isn't a dago."
"Good God, Melanie, haven't you any sense at all? If you must amuse yourself while I'm ill, you might at least choose someone with a more savoury reputation."
"That's a horrible thing to say! If you can't trust me—"
"Don't let's quarrel about it," Dickson broke in stiffly. "When he calls Loris can tell him you have a headache."
"But I want to go!"
"And I don't want you to."
"I'm not going to let him down just because you're jealous. I said I'd go and I will!" Without waiting for a reply Melanie turned and fled across the lawn.
Loris stood up, stricken at the anger and hurt in Dickson's face. "I'll go after her. I'm sure she didn't mean what she said."
"Don't bother, thanks," Dickson said bitterly. "If she wants to go out that badly, let her go."
"I'll just run up and have a word with her, anyway."
She hurried into the house and found Melanie putting her coat on in the lounge.
"Well?" the girl said defiantly, turning to face her. "Have you come to preach to me, too?"
Oh, dear, Loris thought, this is going to be worse than I imagined. Aloud, she said: "Of course not. You know I don't preach. Neither does Dickson."
"You both have a good try, though."
"But, Melanie, do you think you're being fair to him? After all, you did come out here to marry him."
"It isn't my fault that I can't."
"I know. But it isn't Dickson's fault either. He's been through such a dreadful time—you might at least try to make it up to him."
"I do try," Melanie answered sullenly. "I can't help it if he's jealous and stupid."
"It isn't stupid to be jealous. After all, it wouldn't be very flattering to you if he wasn't. And anyway, he knows Miguel better than you do."
"But he doesn't—that's the whole point. Miguel isn't a bit like Dickson thinks he is. He's always been charming to me. He's never tried to boss me or tell me what to do." Tears trembled on the fair lashes.
"But doesn't it worry you to think of Dickson always left on his own?"
"Dickson isn't left on his own. If I'm not here, you always are. You're always here to talk to him and keep him amused, so I'm going out with Miguel!"
Melanie turned and ran out of the room, bumping into someone who was coming in, but not pausing even to apologize.
Loris sat down, white and shaken, her eyes fixed on the man's face as he walked into the room. "Brett!"
"I seem to have come at an inopportune moment," he said icily.
Since his return to California Brett had been in a state of doubt and conflict. But after a few days the jealousy he had felt at his first sight of Loris and Dickson together had diminished, and he had realized it was only fair to give Loris a chance to explain why she had not telephoned him. Having decided this, he made up his mind to see her and hear from her own lips a denial of all Elaine's insinuations; so he had driven over to the house directly after lunch that day. The front door was open and he had crossed the hall and entered the room just in time to hear Melanie's outburst. The words were etched in his brain and he felt he would never forget them.
"Dickson isn't left on his own. If I'm not here, you always are. You're always here to talk to him and keep him amused, so I'm going out with Miguel!"
The sound of her sobbing as she ran out of the room still echoed in his ears and in that instant he decided that everything Elaine had said about Loris must be true.
His voice was harsh when he spoke. "Do you get any satisfaction out of trying to come between Melanie and Dickson? Wouldn't some other man do as well—if not better?"
"What do you mean?"
"Yours seems to be the sort of affection that doesn't survive a separation, even a short one. You don't flatter me by preferring Dickson."
"Preferring Dickson?" Loris echoed incredulously.
"Yes. I suppose you go by the rule that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush?"
Loris stood up, trembling. "How dare you speak to me like that? Do you think so little of me that you couldn't even wait for an explanation? I thought I knew you, Brett, but it seems I was wrong. Were you so afraid you might be forced into marrying me that you had to pick on the first ridiculous excuse to make it impossible?
If that was your intention, you've certainly succeeded!"
"You might fool someone else by those tactics, but not me," Brett said grimly.
"I wouldn't attempt to fool you," she flashed back. "I'll leave that to women like Elaine Forrest."
Brett gave an exclamation, but before he could reply Dickson called from the garden. "Is that old Brett in there with you, Loris? Tell him to come out and see me."
Without a word Brett strode past her and Loris ran upstairs and flung herself across her bed in a storm of weeping.
At last, all emotion spent, she went into the bathroom and washed her face in cold water, tidied her hair and dabbed her nose lightly with powder. Then looking at herself in the mirror to make sure no sign remained of her tears, she decided to go downstairs and behave as if nothing had happened.
She went out into the garden and saw that Elaine had joined Dickson and Brett on the lawn. They were all laughing at something Timothy had just said and did not hear her approach until Elaine suddenly looked up and caught sight of her.
"You're just in time to collect the children, my dear. They're getting tired of sitting still, so you'd better take them for a walk."
Seeming restored to humour, Dickson looked from her to Brett and grinned, "What do you think of our new nanny?"
"New nanny?" Brett queried.
"Loris is so keen to stay here," Elaine interposed, "that she's taken on the job of looking after the children until they go to school."
"I see." Brett's tone was non-committal. "Do you like the climate so much, Loris?"
"No, Brett—the people."
CHAPTER SEVEN
"Happy birthday, Timothy!"
The little boy sat at the breakfast table surrounded by piles of gaily wrapped parcels. He was ten years old that day, and all the family had come down to breakfast so that they could share his pleasure as he unwrapped each present.
His grandparents had given him a bicycle and his mother a cowboy costume, complete to the last detail from the wide-brimmed Stetson hat to the jingling spurs. Even Melanie and Dickson had patched up their quarrel sufficiently to buy the child a joint present, while Loris had spent half her wages on a watch with a Mickey Mouse dial.
The Widening Stream Page 6
