Fletchers End (Bel Lamington Book 2)

by D. E. Stevenson

  “She’s in a frightful state.”

  “I can’t help it, Bel. I can’t really. It’s absolutely impossible.”

  At this moment the door opened and Wilkie Bates looked in, “Mr. Drummond——” he began.

  “All right, Wilkie. You had better go home.”

  “But Mr. Drummond——”

  “We can’t do any more to-night,” said Alec, waving him away.

  The door closed softly.

  “I explained to her,” said Alec. “I told her marriage was out of the question for me. I’ve got to stick into this job with all my strength. I’ve got neither the time nor the money to get married.”

  “Louise loves you——”

  “No, she doesn’t. She’s sorry for me. She’s so kind-hearted that she’d be sorry for a blind beggar or a lost dog! That’s what I am,” declared Alec bitterly. “That’s all I am to Louise. I’m a blind beggar.”

  “Alec, listen, she’s——”

  “Do you think I could marry her?” demanded Alec. “Do you think I would take her from a comfortable home and put her into a wretched flat—which would be all I could afford—and have her slaving for me, cooking my meals and mending my socks. Louise is used to pretty clothes, she likes things to be nice. I wouldn’t be able to give her anything she was used to—not even decent food. Don’t you understand, Bel? I shall have to pinch and scrape and save every penny to get the business going again and pay back Sir Arthur’s loan. Do you think I could accept such a sacrifice from Louise? Do you think I would be happy?”

  “No, I don’t,” said Bel. “I think you would both be miserable.”

  Alec gazed at her in surprise.

  “You couldn’t possibly marry her,” Bel added.

  “But I thought you came here to-night to persuade me to——”

  “No, I didn’t,” declared Bel. “I’ve known all along that you wouldn’t agree to her plans. That’s why I came to Edinburgh with her. I couldn’t let her come alone.”

  “You came with her?”

  “Yes, and it’s just as well I did. She’s in a terrible state.”

  “Bel, look here——”

  “She said you were quite different, ‘Cold and hard like a stone’. She said you had given her a slap in the face.”

  “Bel!” cried Alec in dismay.

  “Well, it isn’t awfully nice to—to offer to marry a man, and be told he doesn’t want you.”

  “Bel! It wasn’t that at all!”

  “She’s in a terrible state,” repeated Bel. “You’ve no idea what a state she’s in. She might do something—something silly. She talked so wildly that I was frightened.”

  “Talked wildly? What did she say?”

  “She said, ‘Well Alec isn’t the only pebble on the beach. There’s always Roy.’”

  “Who the hell is Roy?” exclaimed Alec in consternation.

  “He’s a naval officer—very good-looking and attractive. Louise has been seeing a lot of him lately.”

  “Does she love him?”

  “Of course she doesn’t love him. She loves you.”

  “She doesn’t,” declared Alec in a low miserable voice. “I asked Louise to marry me before, when I was reasonably well off, and she refused. I told you she said, ‘never, never, never’. That’s pretty definite, isn’t it? Now, when I’m in the soup, she’s sorry for me so she wants to help me. Don’t you understand, Bel? I’m a blind beggar, that’s all it is.”

  “It’s you who doesn’t understand,” Bel told him. “You don’t understand Louise in the least. Louise has loved you all the time; she was in love with you at Drumburly.”

  “That’s nonsense!” he exclaimed. “I did all I could——”

  “Listen, Alec. Louise loved you all the time but she didn’t feel—she didn’t feel she could—respect you. There, Alec, that’s the truth.”

  “She didn’t respect me!” exclaimed Alec in horrified tones.

  “You see,” continued Bel hastily. “You see Louise admires people who work hard and pull their weight in the world. For instance she admires her father. He’s busy all the time, helping people, going from house to house wherever he’s wanted. Quite often, he’s out half the night. Louise thinks the world of her father.”

  “So do I!” exclaimed Alec impulsively. “A better man than Dr. Armstrong never stepped!” He hesitated for a moment and then nodded. “I see,” he said. “Louise thought I was a slacker. She was right, of course. It was unpardonable to neglect the business as I did. No wonder she compared me unfavourably with her father! No wonder she didn’t want to marry me! Oh Bel, what a fool I’ve been! I’ve lost everything—absolutely everything—and it’s all my own fault.”

  “Alec!” she cried. “Don’t talk like that! It isn’t too late. You can still get it all back. ‘Drummond’s’ has a good name and Ellis says that’s half the battle. Ellis is willing to help you if you need help. He’s willing to put money into your business. He said I was to tell you that.”

  “How decent of him!” said Alec in a husky voice. “How frightfully kind!”

  “It isn’t kind—at least not in the way you mean. Ellis is very shrewd. He wouldn’t offer to put money into ‘Drummond’s’ unless he was pretty certain you could pull through.”

  “That makes it better.”

  Bel nodded. “I thought you’d feel that.”

  “I think we’re going to pull through,” Alec told her. “We’re beginning to get things straightened out. It will take a long time, but I’m more hopeful. I’ve got Wilkie Bates—you told me to get him if I could and I never had better advice—we’re working together every evening and he’s teaching me a lot. Honestly, he’s marvellous! He’s an absolute genius in his own line——”

  “But Alec, if he’s as wonderful as all that why isn’t he in a better position?”

  Alec hesitated for a moment and then said, in a low voice, “Drink is his trouble, poor chap.”

  “Drink!” exclaimed Bel in dismay.

  “Yes, he told me about it quite frankly when I engaged him. Every now and then the craving gets hold of him and he goes on the bust—and of course he loses his job. I said I’d take the risk. If he goes on the bust I shall wait until he recovers and take him back. The man is worth his weight in gold—at least he is to me. If it were not for drink Wilkie Bates might have made his mark in the world as a great financier. Ghastly, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it is,” said Bel sadly.

  “But look here!” exclaimed Alec. “Why on earth are we wasting time talking about Wilkie Bates? It’s Louise that matters. What are we to do about Louise? I mean—what about that naval man?”

  “I’ve told you about him already,” said Bel impatiently. “He’s most attractive. Louise says he’s thrilling—and I know what she means. The first time I saw him he—sort of—bewitched me, and——”

  “Bel!” cried Alec in alarm. “He sounds an absolute bounder—but you don’t think there’s any danger, do you?”

  Bel did not think so—not really. She was aware that when people are badly hurt they say all sorts of foolish things—things that they do not mean—Louise had been very badly hurt so she had said the first thing that came into her head: ‘There’s always Roy’, and had added bitterly, ‘I wouldn’t have to ask him twice’.

  But although Bel did not really think there was any danger—or at least not much—she decided not to answer Alec’s question so she remained silent.

  “Good heavens!” exclaimed Alec, looking at her in alarm. “You really think . . . but what can I do? I can’t marry her, you know.”

  “You could be engaged,” said Bel.

  *

  2

  For a few moments Alec was silent. He was standing leaning upon the chimney-piece and gazing down at the fire. At last he said, “I never thought of that.”

  “I’ve thought of it,” declared Bel. “I thought of it from the very beginning; it seems to me a very good plan. It solves all the problems and difficulties. L
ouise will be quite satisfied if you’re engaged.”

  “It wouldn’t be right.”

  “Why not?” asked Bel speaking urgently. “Why wouldn’t it be right? You can explain to Louise that you can’t be married now and ask her if she’ll wait until you’ve managed to pull your business together and get it going again. Tell her you love her dearly and you’ll work night and day to—to get things straight. Tell her about Wilkie Bates—tell her everything.”

  “It might be years before I could offer her a decent home.”

  “It might be a year.”

  “Well, perhaps,” said Alec doubtfully. “But a year is a long time. Would it be fair to tie her down like that?”

  “She wants to be tied down.”

  “But would it be fair?” repeated Alec.

  “Yes,” said Bel firmly. “Yes and yes and yes. If you love someone, and you know he loves you, it doesn’t matter having to wait. I would have waited for Ellis for years and years. Please believe me, Alec. I know I’m right.”

  “Bel, are you sure? Do you think——”

  “You must do it properly, of course,” she told him. “You must be properly engaged or it won’t be any use at all.”

  “Properly? What do you mean, Bel?”

  “I mean it would be no use having a vague sort of understanding. It must be quite definite. You had better buy a ring. It needn’t be an expensive one. Louise won’t mind.”

  Alec smiled. He took a little case out of his pocket and held it out to her. “Will that do?” he asked.

  The case contained a diamond ring—one large diamond surrounded by a cluster of smaller diamonds—the light winked and glittered on the shining stones so that they sparkled with rainbow colours.

  “Alec!” exclaimed Bel in amazement. “Alec, how lovely! What a beautiful stone! Where did you get it? Is this the ring you told me about? The one that you got for Louise when you——”

  “Yes, I got it in London. I bought it when I was a rich man—or thought I was. Now that I’m a poor man I decided to sell it. That’s why I had it in my pocket.”

  “You mustn’t sell it!”

  “No—well—if you think Louise would like it. I mean if you think it’s fair to—to ask her——”

  “I’ve told you what I think.” She rose as she spoke and added, “We’ll go now. Come on, Alec, get your coat.”

  “But I can’t come now!”

  “You must,” declared Bel. “The taxi has been waiting all this time. I can’t keep it waiting any longer.”

  As a matter of fact she had forgotten all about the taxi and, now that she remembered, she was filled with dismay. She felt as if she had been talking to Alec for hours.

  “Hurry up,” she said urgently. “Put on your coat and come.”

  “It’s far too late. I’ll see Louise to-morrow.”

  “You’ll see Louise now,” said Bel firmly. “I’m sharing a room with her and I want some sleep to-night.”

  Alec laughed. Perhaps the laughter was somewhat hysterical but for all that Bel was quite pleased to hear it. She waited impatiently while Alec locked up the office and put on his coat.

  The taxi was still there, standing at the kerb; the taxi man was inside it, fast asleep.

  “What are we to do?” asked Alec looking at the slumbering man in surprise.

  “Waken him of course,” said Bel impatiently. “Give him a poke or something. We can’t wait here all night.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Bel’s mind had been so set upon persuading Alec to agree to her plan and making him come with her to the hotel that she had thought no farther, but as they went into the lounge she suddenly realised that her troubles were by no means over. By this time Louise had probably got tired of sitting alone in the bedroom and gone to bed. Even if she had not gone to bed could she be persuaded to come downstairs and talk to Alec? And supposing she agreed—supposing she were willing to talk to him—how could they talk to each other properly in the lounge?

  Apparently Alec had been thinking on the same lines. He said doubtfully, “We can’t talk here, can we? What are we to do?”

  Bel had no ready answer to the question. However it was no use dallying. She had succeeded in getting Alec to come and was determined to see the affair through to a satisfactory conclusion, so after a moment’s hesitation she said, “You’ll have to talk here. I’ll go and fetch her.”

  She had expected Alec to wait in the lounge but instead of doing so he followed her to the lift and they went up together.

  “Alec, I don’t think——” began Bel.

  “It’s the only way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She may not want to come down.”

  They were talking quickly in low voices for there were several other people in the small compartment.

  “But, Alec. She may have gone to bed.”

  “I don’t care if she has. I’m going to see her and speak to her.”

  “But, Alec. You can’t possibly——”

  “It’s your own fault. You’ve brought me here and I’m not going away without seeing her.”

  Bel relapsed into silence.

  They arrived at the landing, got out and walked along the passage. The door was locked of course. Bel knocked upon it gently. She called out, “Louise, it’s me! It’s Bel!”

  There was no reply.

  “Knock louder,” said Alec.

  She knocked louder. She knocked several times and called “Louise!” Nothing happened; there was not a sound.

  Bel began to feel frightened. Could Louise have gone to sleep? It was most unlikely—and only a very sound sleeper could have failed to waken at the peremptory hammering on the door.

  “Are you sure she’s in the room?” asked Alec.

  “Yes. At least—where else can she be?”

  “She must have gone out.”

  “Gone out! It’s a horrible night. It’s pouring with rain.”

  “We must get the chambermaid to open the door,” exclaimed Alec in alarm.

  They were just turning away to look for a chambermaid when they saw Louise coming along the passage towards them. She was clad in a pink nylon dressing-gown and was carrying a sponge-bag in her hand. Her dark curls were screwed up on to the top of her head and secured by a tortoise-shell pin. Her face was pink. She looked like a little girl who has just been thoroughly scrubbed by a competent Nannie.

  For a few moments Louise did not see them standing outside the door. Then she saw them—and stopped—and turned.

  “Louise!” cried Bel.

  Alec said nothing, he ran after her with long strides; he caught her in his arms and kissed her. It was a very thorough kiss and took quite a long time. Louise seemed to be enjoying it; she had dropped her sponge-bag and the key of the door. Her arms were round Alec’s neck.

  Fortunately there was nobody about; the passage was empty. Bel was glad of this for she had a feeling that her two friends would have behaved in exactly the same way if the passage had been thronged with people. There was nobody about but at any moment someone might appear; one of the doors might open or someone might emerge from the lift. Bel went forward and picked up the key; she opened the bedroom door, pushed her two friends inside and shut it firmly.

  *

  2

  There was a little alcove just opposite the door with a small sofa and a table in it. Bel sat down on the sofa and waited. Being somewhat old-fashioned in her ideas she felt a trifle uneasy. I’m a nice kind of chaperone, she thought. And then she thought, but it’s Alec—so it’s all right. If it were Roy—but of course I wouldn’t have done it if it had been Roy.

  She leant back with a sigh of relief. She was very tired and—yes—she was very hungry. She remembered that she had had no dinner and not very much tea. Oh well, it couldn’t be helped. She intended to give them half-an-hour—that ought to be enough to discuss their problems and get themselves properly engaged. She would give them half-an-hour and then knock on the door.


  The minutes passed slowly. Presently the chambermaid came along the passage carrying a small tray with a glass of milk and a plate of biscuits. She paused when she saw Bel and said, “Will I take it in to the lady now?”

  “Oh,” said Bel. “No, just leave it here, please.”

  The girl smiled and put the tray beside Bel on the table. “I hope your friend is feeling a bit better, Miss,” she said.

  “Oh yes, ever so much better, thank you.”

  “That’s good.”

  “I wonder,” said Bel doubtfully. “Do you think you could bring another glass of milk for me? I haven’t had any dinner.”

  “No dinner!” exclaimed the girl. “That’s dreadful . . . but you could get something now in the Postillion Restrong. They’re always open late for people coming back from the theatre.”

  “I’d rather have a glass of milk.”

  The girl looked doubtful. She said, “You’ll need to wait a bit. I’m busy just now. There’s a lot to do.”

  Bel gave her a tip. “Just when it’s convenient,” she said.

  The tray with the glass of milk and the biscuits was standing on the table and for several minutes Bel sat and looked at it. She felt the glass—it was warm. It was just right for drinking. What a pity to let it get cold! Bel decided it would be silly to let it get cold. She sipped it slowly. It was lovely creamy milk and the biscuits were delicious. She felt much better when she had finished, she felt warmed and comforted.

  Half-an-hour had passed by this time; Bel was about to rise when she saw the door open and Alec come out. Louise came out after him; they were both smiling rapturously.

  “Bel, we’re engaged!” exclaimed Louise. She made the announcement as if it were the most astonishing news. “Look, Bel,” she added. “Look what Alec has given me! Isn’t it lovely?”

  The diamonds were flashing on her finger.

  Bel looked at the ring in admiration. “How beautiful!” she said.

  “It’s much too beautiful,” declared Louise earnestly. “I’ve told him it’s much too good. I’ve told him he ought to sell it and buy a cheap one——”

  Alec laughed. He said, “I’ve told her I’m not in the habit of giving my fiancées cheap rings.”