by Betty Neels
streets, and when they reached his house and he got out to open its
door for her, she went in quickly and made for the stairs; possibly he
had a great deal on his mind and didn't want company, and if he didn't
mention dinner she would say nothing either, but go to the kitchen
later and get Mrs Silver to give her something on a tray.
But she had barely taken a step when she was stopped by his hand
clamped on to a shoulder, and twiddled round to face him.
"Beth, what should I have done without you this evening?
So quick and sensible and kind.
' He bent suddenly and kissed her.
"You are a gem of a girl.
' The wholly delightful sensation this engendered in her was shattered
by his careless: "Lord, I'm famished, aren't you?
I wonder what Mrs Silver has for us?
' Whatever it was, she found that she had no appetite for it; she
wasn't a girl who had been kissed all that much, but when she was, she
preferred to be kissed with due deliberation, not in the same breath as
an urgent demand for dinner.
She stifled peevishness as she sat down to table with him, and in the
intervals of not doing justice to Mrs Silver's delicious cooking, asked
him the sort of questions she imagined he wished to be asked.
He answered them readily enough, even going to great lengths to tell
her the future Tracey had so nearly lost would be restored to her with
the help of the social worker.
4 had no idea that you were so immersed in your work," he commented
dryly as they sat over their coffee, and she was on the point of
telling him that she wasn't, really, only she had wanted to know about
poor little Tracey, when it occurred to her that he was really only
making conversation; his thoughts were far away with something--or
someone--else.
She lapsed into silence until he asked: "You saw William, I suppose?
Everything is arranged, I hope?
' "Yes, thank you.
' She would have told him more about that, but the idea had taken root
that he was becoming bored with her; as long as things had been
arranged satisfactorily to suit his sister, he wasn't interested
further.
She swallowed the rest of her coffee and excused herself on the plea of
having letters to write before she went to bed.
He went to open the door for her with the easy good manners which she
found so pleasant, and wished her good night in a voice which, while
friendly, held none of the tones which she had heard or imagined she
had heard?
earlier that evening.
Something had put him out, she thought as she went upstairs, or else he
was worried.
She fell into uneasy sleep, trying to decide which it was.
Viewed in the cheerful brightness of an early morning in April, though,
she had to admit to herself that her mood of the previous evening had
been a silly one.
What had she to brood about, anyway?
The profess or had every right to be thoughtful or annoyed if he
wished, and if he had felt like kissing her as a mark of appreciation
for her help, there was no need for her to enlarge upon that, either.
She jumped out of bed, telling herself robustly not to waste time
worrying about things which were really none of her business.
Mevrouw Thor becke came home two days later, looking a little pale and
tired.
The profess or had driven her back himself, and Beth, who had hardly
set eyes on him during the last couple of days, greeted him politely as
he helped his sister into the house before suggesting to the invalid
that bed might be welcome after the exertions of leaving hospital.
"The children are dying to see you," she explained, 'and I thought it
would be far less tiring for you if I were to pop you into bed first.
' An idea to which the profess or subscribed wholeheartedly, so that
Mevrouw Thor becke was assisted upstairs to her room arid made
comfortable before the children were allowed to visit her; a prudent
move as it turned out, for they were wild with excitement, all wanting
to talk at once, so that Beth's tactful suggestion that they should eat
their supper while their mother had a light meal herself, sitting
comfortably in bed, was welcomed by the invalid, even though the
routine of the household was a little put out.
"But there," said Mrs Silver, a good deal later, serving Beth's
solitary dinner in the dining room, 'it makes no odds, does it, miss?
With the profess or out all the evening and Mevrouw nicely settled in,
and all those dear children tucked up for the night.
You'll be glad to get to your own bed, I don't doubt.
A tiring day it's been.
' Beth agreed; it had been busy enough, true, although she wasn't
tired, indeed she would have welcomed some company in which to eat her
dinner, although she quite saw that the profess or was hardly likely to
stay home in order to entertain her.
She praised Mrs Silver's cooking, helped to clear the table because it
was Miss Powers' half day off and then went to cast an eye over her
various charges.
The children were asleep, their faces angelic in the dim night lights;
their mother was sitting up in bed leafing through a magazine which she
put down as Beth entered.
"What a dear girl you are," she exclaimed warmly.
"Alexander told me that you were a treasure, and he is quite right.
Are the children asleep?
' And when Beth reassured her that they were: "Would you be a dear and
rearrange my pillows?
I believe I shall go to sleep too, it is so nice to be back in this
room.
Must I take a sleeping tablet?
' "Not if you feel sleepy; look, see how you get on while I have a bath
and get ready for bed and when I'm ready I'll come back, if you're
still awake I'll give you something.
Is there anything you need for the night?
' Beth cast a long look round the luxurious room.
It had, as far as she could see, just everything any one could possibly
need.
"T'll be back presently.
' It was still quite early, only a little after nine o'clock.
She took her time over her bath and then, as the grandfather clock on
the landing chimed its gentle hour, pottered along to see how Mevrouw
Thor becke was faring.
The house was quiet, Mrs Silver was somewhere below, the maid wouldn't
be back yet and there had been no sign of the profess or.
The landing was dimly lit and in the great oval mirror opposite the
clock she could see her reflection, blue-dressing-gowned, her hair
swinging in a bronze plaited rope; she didn't look too bad in the half
dark, she thought, and giggled softly.
Mevrouw Thor becke was asleep, looking like an older edition of her
children; there would be no need of sleeping tablets--Beth turned out
all but one of the lamps and went back the way she had come, to halt
suddenly half-way across the landing, because the profess or was coming
upstairs two at a time and had already seen her.
"Hullo," he greeted her in a loud whisper, and then: "You l
ook nice
like that.
' "It's the dim light," she answered composedly, 'you can't see me
properly.
' She added briskly: "Mevrouw Thor becke's asleep--and the children.
' "Splendid.
I'm sorry that I had to go out this evening, there was no avoiding
it--a date made some time ago.
' Who with?
she wondered while she stated in a placid voice that it hadn't mattered
at all; the children had been so happy to have their mother home
again.
She stopped in some confusion because that had sounded as though they
hadn't been happy while she had been in hospital.
"Not that they weren't perfectly content with you," she added fairly.
"And you?
Have you been happy with me too?
' She looked at him cautiously, not sure if he were joking; he had
probably had a simply splendid evening and was feeling on top of his
world.
She said in a colour less voice: "I have been very happy here, thank
you.
Profess or.
The children are charming.
.
.
' They had been standing at the top of the staircase; she was quite
unprepared when he caught her by the hand and hurried her down it.
At the bottom, before she could say anything, he told her: "Mrs
Silver's making me some coffee--have a cup with me, Beth?
I haven't had time to talk over our plans with you.
' She accompanied him into the study and sat down on a rather stiff
chair, looking, despite her plait of hair and des sing-gown, just as
though she were standing before one of the surgeons, taking
instructions for the next case, and perhaps the profess or thought so
too, for there was a little smile twitching the corners of his mouth as
he sat down at his desk.
All the same he spoke seriously enough.
"There are no complications with Mar tina; she is bound to feel tired
and perhaps depressed, but not for long.
I thought that you might all go down to Somerset in a couple of days'
time--will that suit you?
' He hardly waited for her nod.
"You must, of course, have some time to see to your own affairs--an
afternoon, perhaps--would that be sufficient?
' Again she nodded.
"Good, that's settled, then.
I'll arrange to be free so that I can run you all down.
' "You said Somerset," said Beth.
"Which part?
' "Just outside Castle Cary.
' "But that's not far from Chifney.
.
' "So it is," he was smiling a little.
"But I remember telling you about Chifney--you asked me--you never said
that you'd been there.
' He looked at her blandly.
"But I haven't, my dear girl, I go to Ken ton Mackerell so seldom.
' Several questions pertinent to this statement trembled on her lips,
but she didn't allow herself to utter them, for it struck her that
probably he hadn't even thought about it until she had mentioned it,
and after all, Ken ton Mackerell was fourteen miles from Shepton
Mallett, the nearest town of any size to Chifney.
She would, one day when she was free, go over and take a look at her
old home, not to go in, of course, but just to see it from the
outside.
She sighed, and he asked at once: "Tired?
Here's the coffee and I've no doubt Mrs Silver has made some
sandwiches.
' He was right, the tray was laden, and Beth, invited to share them,
fell to with quite an appetite.
Presently she sat back and said: "That was super.
Is there anything else you wanted to tell me.
Profess or?
' He put his cup down.
"Two weeks more, then--if you can bear with the children for that
length of time?
' He smiled.
"At the same salary, naturally, and as much free time as you can
manage--I haven't spoken to Mar tina about that yet, but I daresay you
will be able to work out something.
' She got to her feet.
"Of course.
Could I have tomorrow afternoon free to pack my things, do you
suppose?
' "Why not?
Go after lunch and stay as long as you need to, I'm sure Mrs Silver
will cope for a few hours.
I'll tell Mar tina in the morning.
Now go to bed, Beth.
' She felt herself dismissed, although kindly.
She murmured good night and left him standing in the doorway, watching
her as she went up the staircase, as quiet as a mouse.
In her room she made haste into her bed, intending to meditate over the
important question of what clothes to take with her and what she needed
to do when she got to the flat, but instead of that, she lay and
thought about the profess or until sleep overcame her.
CHAPTER FIVE they set out after breakfast in a heavy downpour of rain,
with the profess or driving the Citroen, his sister beside him and Beth
and the children packed snugly in the back with Alberdina curled up on
her lap.
The children chattered away happily, not caring about the weather,
pouring out information about the house they were going to in an
English which became steadily worse as they got more excited; only Dirk
stayed calmer than the others.
"Ducks and geese," he told Beth, 'and calves, and there are two big
horses as well as a donkey--we did tell you, remember?
Do you like the country, Beth?
' "Yes, very much.
' Her voice was light although her thoughts, remembering Chifney, were
sad.
"I was brought up in a small village, except while I was away at
school.
' This remark triggered off a further excited babble of chatter which
lasted until they stopped in Andover, where it was momentarily quenched
by glasses of milk and sticky buns, while the grown-ups sat drinking
their coffee and glad often minutes' peace.
And when they went on again presently, the children, the first flush of
excitement over, were a good deal 93 quieter, so that Beth, as they
neared their destination had the leisure to look around at
well-remembered landmarks.
She knew Castle Cary well enough; a pleasant bustling little town set
in the quiet Somerset countryside.
They went through it without stopping and once on its outskirts, turned
down a narrow, tree-lined lane halfway down which wide gates stood open
on to a pleasant, not too big garden surrounding a stone farmhouse of a
comfortable size.
Smaller than Chifney, she saw at once, but perfectly maintained, with
its mullioned windows and tall twisted chimneys, with a cluster of
outbuildings at its back; it would be fun to explore, but that was for
later.
She shepherded the children out of the car, suggesting practically that
if the profess or would see his sister to her room, she would help her
to bed.
"For it has been a long drive and a bit noisy, I'm afraid," she
observed with her usual good sense.
"An hour or two's rest after lunch in bed will do a world of good.
I'll get the children indoors first.
>
' Mevrouw Thor becke looked grateful and the profess or agreed, saying:
"Mrs Burge should be here--ah, there she is.
Hand the children over to her, Beth, and come upstairs with us.
' Mrs Burge was small and thin and instantly enveloped in the
children's hugs, to emerge and greet Mevrouw Thor becke and the proA
fess or and lastly Beth, whom she eyed a little doubtfully as she
smiled and shook hands and wished her good day in a soft Somerset
voice.
The hall was bright with flowers and sunlight, and there was a nice
smell of baking coming from the kitchen.
Beth glanced around her as she followed the others up the uncarpeted
oak stairs.
She supposed the house belonged to Mevrouw Thor becke's husband, and
