by Anne Hampson
‘I’m afraid I can’t talk to you at the moment, Delia,’ Kathryn apologized. ‘I’m feeling rather spent, as you can imagine, and in fact I was just about to take a bath. Mr. Hyland will be calling you in a little while, I’m sure.’
‘He was dining with us this evening. Do you know if he’s still coming?’
‘No, I don’t—but as I say, he’ll be ringing you just as soon as he’s bathed and changed.’ Kathryn had no idea of her slips until Delia said, in tones as smooth as silk,
‘You sound as if you’re both the worse for wear.’ There was a rather brittle pause, and then, in the same smooth voice, ‘Where did you stay, Kathryn? Was it in Buxton?’
Anger surged over Kathryn; she said, without any effort at politeness,
‘You’ll have to question Mr. Hyland, Delia. I’m sorry, but I’m going to ring off now.’ With that she once again placed the receiver on its rest.
After a hasty bath and complete change of clothes’ Kathryn was in her room, brushing her hair, when Emily called from the other side of the door.
‘Your mother and father are here, Miss Ramsey. Shall I take them into the sitting-room?’
‘Yes, please, Emily. I’ll be down in a moment or two.’ The maid’s footsteps died away; Kathryn kept on brushing her hair, trying to still the thumping of her heart. This was ridiculous, she told herself angrily; what had happened out there on the moors could have happened to anyone—in fact it often had—so why should she be submerged in this feeling of guilt? With an angry gesture she replaced the brush on the tray and, touching her lips with a hint of colour, she went down to face her parents.
‘Kathryn...’ Mrs. Ramsey appeared to be ready to cry with relief. ‘Oh, how glad we were to get here and find you’d arrived back safely! I was so sure you’d got completely lost and fallen down a gorge, or into a river or something.’ She had risen from her chair, but instantly sank back in it. ‘Child, what happened? I wanted to get the police to send out a search party, but Mr. Burrows became actually angry at the suggestion.’ A determined light entered her eyes. ‘We came here to see him, and to tell him we weren’t going to wait any longer, because it said on the radio that the fog up there was as bad as ever.’ Kathryn was standing by the door, watching her father. He had been anxious, that was plain, but now he was quite calm, much more calm than his wife, who still seemed to be on the verge of tears. ‘What happened, dear? Sit down and tell us all about it.’
Kathryn obeyed, sitting between them. Words were difficult at first, but she managed to give them a complete picture of what had happened.
‘It seemed like a nightmare at first,’ she ended, even managing a light-hearted laugh. ‘But now it’s all over it doesn’t seem so very bad at all.’
‘Not bad?’ Her mother gaped at her. ‘But—but you’ve just told us you spent the night in a hut with your employer—’
‘Just a minute,’ her husband interposed Swiftly as the colour flooded Kathryn’s cheeks. ‘You mustn’t say things like that, Mother—not about our daughter. What happened couldn’t be helped. She’s done no wrong.’
‘I’m not saying she has,’ quivered his wife. ‘But the neighbours—the gossip—oh, why couldn’t you have stayed at an inn, or even a cottage?’
‘There didn’t happen to be an inn or a cottage anywhere about,’ Kathryn replied patiently.
‘If the gossip’s worrying you like this,’ Mr. Ramsey put in, ‘then what’s to prevent us from saying they did stay at a hotel?’
‘But they’ve no proof.’
‘Proof?’ Her husband frowned in puzzlement. ‘Why should proof be necessary?’ he asked, and it was some moments before Mrs. Ramsey was able to answer his question.
‘The newspaper,’ she faltered. ‘I—when Mr. Burrows was so against my going to the police I phoned the Chronicle, thinking they could do something—’
‘The Chronicle!’ Kathryn stared at her mother in dismay. ‘You didn’t let them know that we were lost?’ The local rag! This was worse than anything. Contritely her mother shook her head.
‘I was so frightened. I felt I must do something.’
‘You never mentioned this to me.’ Mr. Ramsey’s voice took on an unaccustomed sternness and his mouth became tight. ‘Why did you do a thing like that without telling any of us?’
‘I was nearly out of my mind with worry. It’s no use looking at me like that, James! I just couldn’t sit there doing nothing.’
‘The—the reporter will be round to see Mr. Hyland,’ Kathryn trembled at the prospect of John’s reaction to a thing like that. He would be furiously angry, for publicity of this kind would naturally be most distasteful to him, more especially as rumours of his forthcoming engagement to Delia were now freely circulating. What of Delia herself? Would she throw him over? Impatiently Kathryn dismissed all thought of Delia, for there were other, more important matters on her mind. She looked pleadingly at her father, who was still regarding his wife with that stem expression on his otherwise good-humoured face. ‘Can’t we do something? They mustn’t come here, Father. Mr. Hyland will be so angry. Will you go along to the office and see the manager, or someone? Tell them we’re quite safe, and that it was all a mistake?’
‘I’ll go, certainly,’ he said, though at the same time heaving a little sigh of doubt. ‘But you know what they are; anything about the lord of the manor is always news, and in this case they’ll be more eager than ever to publicize the incident, owing to Mr. Hyland’s having inherited the place in the way he did. You remember the publicity going on at the time it was discovered that this American was the heir to Marbeck, don’t you?’ He shrugged. ‘I’ll do what I can, naturally, but I haven’t much hope, Kathryn. I’m sorry, lass.’
Kathryn’s lips quivered. She reflected on the sense of companionship that had come to her and John as they tramped the moors. They had eaten a meal together and visited the Cavern, and then they had tramped again, and during all that time Kathryn knew that John’s enjoyment was as great as her own. Then in the danger which followed there had been a strange closeness, born of the knowledge that their plight could become disastrously worse, should the fog persist for any length of time.
Then there was the night itself, when they had been forced to sleep as close as lovers, in order to keep warm. From all this had come a friendliness in which John’s previous austerity of manner towards her had no place. It had disappeared for ever—or so Kathryn had believed. But now ... Not only would there be a return of that cool austerity, but there would in all probability be a most unpleasant scene when John discovered what her mother had done.
‘If only I hadn’t told the newspaper,’ Mrs. Ramsey cried, cutting into Kathryn’s thoughts. ‘The scandal —I shan’t be able to ever hold my head up again. My daughter, to be talked about—I never thought to see a thing like that!’
‘It’s your own doing,’ snapped Mr. Ramsey, his patience running out. ‘You knew very well what the result would be. To contact the press—it was a most stupid thing to do!’
‘I thought they might help—send out a search party. The newspapers often do, you know—’
‘Not a paper like the Chronicle! They’ve no money for that sort of thing.’
‘No? Well, I never stopped to consider that. I was so afraid Kathryn might be lying at the bottom of some great cliff, all alone, and probably dying!’
‘I wasn’t alone,’ Kathryn reminded her, more curtly than she intended. ‘Mr. Hyland was with me.’
‘Yes, but you could have fallen down the cliff, just the same. And what could he have done?’
‘He’d have done something, I can assure you of that.’ The promptitude of her reply brought her father’s head round in swift and puzzled inquiry. Kathryn remained silent and he turned to his wife.
‘I think,’ he said quietly, ‘that we’d better be going. There’s nothing to stay for, now that we know our daughter’s safe.’ He smiled affectionately at Kathryn, then rose to his feet. ‘Come on, Mother. The best thing you can
do now is to forget all about it.’
‘Forget?’ She got up from the chair. ‘It’ll be a long time before this is forgotten. The worst is to come yet—when the gossips really get going. The things people will say, and about you, who’ve never given me a moment’s anxiety! I don’t know how I’m going to bear it!’ To Kathryn’s utter dismay her mother burst into tears.
‘Don’t cry—you mustn’t.’ Rising, Kathryn slipped an arm round her mother’s waist. ‘True, there’ll be scandal and gossip, but it’ll be forgotten in no time at all. Now just you stop this worrying. I’ll be along on Tuesday evening as usual, and I want to see you smiling, understand?’
‘You sound as if you don’t care,’ Mrs. Ramsey began when Kathryn interrupted her.
‘Certainly I care. It’s going to be awful. But what about Mr. Hyland? He’s going to suffer more than I, much more, because of his position.’
‘People don’t condemn men the way they do women. It’s your name that’ll be besmirched, not his. It’ll be dragged in the mud!’
‘I understand that,’ Kathryn admitted, a note of fear entering her voice in spite of a resolve to accept the situation with equanimity. ‘But I’ll just have to ignore the gossip and—and hold my head up.’
‘I’ll never hold mine up,’ her mother declared tragically. ‘This is going to be with us for the rest of our lives!’
‘Don’t be silly—’
‘And as for you—’ Mrs. Ramsey actually glared at her husband, ‘I don’t believe you’re in the least concerned about your daughter’s reputation.’
‘Naturally I’m concerned, but this thing’s happened and there’s nothing we can do about it.’
‘I still think Mr. Hyland’s going to suffer more than I—’
‘Neither of us is going to suffer.’ The lazy drawling tones startled them all and three heads turned swiftly in John’s direction. He stood by the door, hands thrust carelessly in the pockets of a loose-fitting jacket of beige linen. He appeared to have been listening for some time; he also appeared faintly bored by the whole affair, for he drew one brown hand from his pocket to suppress a yawn. Then, extending the hand in Kathryn’s direction, he gave a peremptory little gesture of his head. Mechanically, Kathryn obeyed the silent command and, moving towards him in a very dazed fashion, she slipped her hand into his. She looked up at him, towering almost up to the great oak beams. His blue eyes glinted as they became fixed on her scared and pallid countenance.
‘First, my dear, you’d better introduce me to your parents,’ he suggested, an odd sort of smile hovering about his lips.
‘Y-yes, of course.’ Kathryn felt as if she were in some sort of dream, standing there holding John’s hand, just as she had held it up there on the moors, when they dared not let go for fear of losing one another.
‘I’m most pleased to meet you both,’ John said graciously when Kathryn had stammered out the introductions. ‘And now, to prevent all that scandal, to set all our minds at rest—Kathryn and I are to be married.’
The air was electrified. Kathryn gave a little gasp and her thoughts flew to Delia. Her parents just gaped at John, dumbstruck. As was to be expected, Mrs. Ramsey was the first to recover, and the brightness in her eyes was not all the result of her recent tears as she Said, in a voice edged with faint hysteria, despite its eagerness,
‘Married? You’ll marry Kate?—in order to save her reputation?’
John threw her a flickering smile.
‘I think you exaggerate, Mrs. Ramsey. The consequences of our unfortunate experience could never be as calamitous as you’ve suggested. Your daughter’s name would never be dragged in the mud, I’m sure. However, scandal and gossip are always to be avoided if possible, for the memory does remain, as you have previously stated, for a very long while. As neither Kathryn nor I wish to carry this kind of stigma, there’s only one thing to be done. We must announce our engagement immediately.’ He turned to her then and added, rather in the manner of an afterthought, ‘I trust this suggestion meets with your approval?’
She swallowed, trying to clear her throat. Words came at last, though with the utmost difficulty.
‘It’s such a surprise, Mr.—’ She broke off, looking at him timidly, as if seeking permission to use his name. He responded by the merest increase of the pressure on her hand and she went on, ‘I don’t know what to say. I didn’t expect—I mean, there’s no need for you to—to make this sacrifice.’
‘I’ve already stated, my dear, that the engagement will set all our minds at rest. I’ve no more desire than you to be subjected to the sort of derision which would result from gossip of this kind. No, Kathryn, it will be no sacrifice on my part.’ He turned to her father, who had been studying Kathryn’s face with an odd expression in his eyes. ‘How about you, Mr. Ramsey? I think you’ll agree this is the most effective way of checking the gossip even before it starts?’
Mr. Ramsey looked up at him and said gruffly,
‘It will be effective, no doubt of that.’ His glance flickered to Kathryn. ‘If this is what my girl wants?’ Kathryn stared at him, his last words impressing themselves on her mind more than any others that had been spoken this evening. ‘If this is what my girl wants?’. Did she want to marry John? She thought of that first meeting and the resulting antagonism which John had shown towards her. She recalled the increased friction when she had insisted on his observance of the provision made for her.by Mr. Southon. But these lost their importance beside times like those they had spent together in the Library, like the evening when she and Michael had sat with John discussing paintings ... and like yesterday. Kathryn’s thoughts then strayed to Delia. What were John’s feelings for her? Surely they could not be strong, otherwise he would be quite unable to give her up. Yet he did seem to have developed some sort of affection for her. And what of Delia’s feelings for John? That she desired to marry him Kathryn had no doubt, but whether or not she loved, him was another matter altogether. Kathryn felt convinced Delia was totally incapable of loving deeply—but at the same time she was honest enough to own that her dislike of the girl always influenced her estimation of Delia’s character.
‘It isn’t a matter of what she wants, but what is best for her.’ Kathryn’s musings were abruptly brought to an end by the anxious voice of her mother, who sounded as if she still had in mind Kathryn’s small protest that John had no need to marry her. ‘Mr. Hyland knows what’s best, James, so I feel we mustn’t interfere.’ Glancing up to note the effect of this on John, Kathryn was most embarrassed to see his lips curve in a smile half amused, half sardonic.
The eager mother, anxious to marry her daughter off to a wealthy man. Was that what he was thinking? Kathryn had no doubt of it and her chin lifted. Here they all were, settling her future, arranging a marriage—and she, it appeared, was to submit meekly to whatever plans they chose to make for her. Her chin went higher. She would face the scandal; she would flatly refuse to marry John—‘If this is what my girl wants?’ Her father’s words interrupted her rebellious thoughts and she cast John a glance from under her lashes. His piercing blue eyes were fixed upon her. Had he seen that defiant lift of her chin? She felt sure he had even before he said, rather in the tones one might use to a fractious child,
‘Come, Kathryn, you haven’t answered me. Has my suggestion your approval?’ He smiled at her, the kind of smile she had never seen on his lips before, and as if impelled by some force stronger than herself—she said, in clear decisive tones,
‘Yes—John, your suggestion has my approval.’
CHAPTER VI
‘You don’t have to do it.’ In spite of her agreement to John’s suggestion Kathryn turned to him immediately upon her parents’ departure. ‘Father might be able to prevent the account appearing in the newspaper.’
‘It’s already too late.’ John regarded her in a sort of silent reproach and Kathryn waited in some bewilderment for what was to come next. ‘Why did you give your sister all the details so soon? It would have been far m
ore prudent to have kept silent—at least until we’d talked about the matter.’
Kathryn stared. ‘How do you know I’ve been speaking to Dawn?’
‘The reporter’s already been on the phone. Apparently he belongs to the same crowd as your sister. She talked—as was to be expected,’ he added on a faintly disparaging note, ‘and the fellow promptly contacted me. Why did you tell her?’ he asked again.
‘I wouldn’t have,’ she returned hastily, the colour rising at the idea of his supposition that she could not hold her tongue. ‘Burrows said Mother was anxious and naturally I telephoned to let her know I was safe. Dawn answered and—and asked questions...’ Kathryn tailed off miserably. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘Couldn’t you have prevaricated?’
‘I suppose I didn’t give it enough thought.’ She shook her head, staring up at him through eyes shadowed with contrition. ‘I couldn’t have lied, could I?’
His mouth compressed, but after a while he said, in tones much softer than she expected,
‘No, Kathryn, you couldn’t have lied.’ He shrugged resignedly. ‘It would have come out anyway, even if your mother hadn’t gone to the press, so don’t go worrying yourself about it. Come on, let’s eat. I’m ravenous, and I’m sure you are too.’
How cool and unconcerned he appeared; it was almost as if he had no regrets whatever about the marriage. But that could not possibly be so, for it would be a marriage of convenience only; there would be nothing in it for him ... or for her.
‘We’ve no need to do it,’ she cried impulsively. ‘The gossip will soon die down, it always does!’
