A Christmas Wish

by Betty Neels

  All the same, she skirted lightly round her lack of a job and the fact that living with Granny wasn’t ideal, and was glad when her hostess began to talk about the house.

  ‘It’s very old,’ she observed. ‘There was a house before this one—one of my husband’s ancestors was a merchant with the East India Company. He made a fortune and pulled the old house down and built this one about two hundred years ago, but the grounds are very much as they were before he did that. Of course, the house belongs to Haso, but he has to spend a great deal of his time either in Amsterdam or travelling. When he marries I shall move to a smaller town-house we own in Leeuwarden.’

  Three homes, thought Olivia wistfully, and said brightly, ‘He must have his work cut out keeping an eye on three houses.’

  ‘Yes. Of course he has Becky in London, who is a most capable woman, and Bronger and Ofke in Amsterdam have run the house for his father before him. Tober and Anke have been here all their lives, and I see to the business side of this place when he isn’t here.’

  ‘He’s very fortunate to have such faithful people working for him.’

  ‘Indeed, they would cheerfully die for him,’ said Mevrouw van der Eisler in a matter-of-fact voice. ‘As they would have done for his father.’

  In bed later, Olivia remembered that. Did Rita, she wondered, realise what a splendid man she was to marry? And would she be good to him? Olivia thumped her pillows and turned over with unnecessary energy. Of course she wouldn’t.

  It was still snowing the next morning. Olivia, wrapped up in one of Mevrouw van der Eisler’s hooded padded coats and wearing borrowed wellies, went into the gardens with Nel to make a snowman. It gave her the chance to inspect the house from the outside. It had a solid front, crowned with a wide gable, with neat rows of windows on either side of a vast front door and smaller windows higher up across its face. Round the back there were two narrow wings, almost enclosing what she thought might be a lawn once the snow cleared, and at one end a large conservatory. There were outbuildings too, and a brick wall, the same faded colour as the house, running away into the distance. The fields around were hardly visible, for the snow was falling steadily and was already deep underfoot. The snowman made to Nel’s satisfaction, they went back indoors, through a side entrance, where they took off their outdoor things and were led by a tolerant Tober to the hall. They hurried upstairs, tidied themselves, and went down again. Olivia, for one, not sure where to go.

  ‘In here,’ called Mevrouw van der Eisler from a half-open door at the back of the hall. ‘Did you have a good game? Come and sit by the fire. This is the small sitting-room—I spend a good deal of my time here and you must use it as much as you like. There is a cupboard over there—Nel knows it, don’t you, my dear?—full of games. We’ll have coffee and then I must go and talk to Anke. Do make yourself at home, Olivia—go anywhere you wish. Perhaps this afternoon I will show you the rest of the house, if you would like that.’

  ‘I’d love it,’ said Olivia. ‘You must wish that Mr van der Eisler stays single so that you can live here forever.’ She blushed to the roots of her hair. ‘I beg your pardon, that was very rude of me.’

  ‘Not a bit of it, my dear. It is to be hoped that his wife won’t object to my paying a visit from time to time.’ She smiled. ‘Besides, he—and his wife—won’t live here all the time. It might be too lonely for someone used to big cities.’

  ‘But you’re not lonely—I wouldn’t be either…’ Olivia went red again. ‘Sorry, I just meant that I like the country. Some people do, some don’t.’

  Mevrouw van der Eisler didn’t appear to notice her embarrassment.

  ‘One need never be lonely,’ she observed, ‘it’s a state of mind, isn’t it? Now, my dear, when this snow has stopped do you suppose you would both enjoy a trip to Leeuwarden? Tober shall drive us there once the roads are clear. Do you skate, Olivia? No? A pity, but Dirk will be here tomorrow and he’ll enjoy teaching you. He taught Nel last winter. We could all go…’

  So the day passed pleasantly, with the promised tour of the house after lunch, tea round the fire and then card-games with Nel while Mevrouw van der Eisler sat with her embroidery. The leisurely wander round the house had been a delight to Olivia. It might be severely plain from the outside but inside it was a pleasant mixture of dignified high-ceilinged rooms, beautifully furnished with antiques but still having the air of homeliness, and smaller rooms, dark-panelled, reached by narrow passages, steps up or steps down, with small latticed windows, and all of them in use. The kitchen was vast, with a great Aga along one wall, an old-fashioned dresser facing it, laden with plates and dishes, and a long table with wooden chairs round it. Anke was there, and another woman, cutting up vegetables at the sink. They both beamed at Olivia and shook hands before she was swept on to look at pantries, dairy and a larder.

  ‘Of course we don’t really need these rooms now that we have a refrigerator,’ said Mevrouw van der Eisler, ‘but the grandchildren love to play hide-and-seek down here. That door leads to the garden and that staircase in the wall leads to the attics. We don’t use those either—only the children love to go there.’

  Dirk arrived the next morning, shortly after breakfast. He was very like Haso—just as tall, but not as heavily built, and he laughed a lot more. He shook Olivia’s hand, swung Nel in the air and declared that he would stay for several days. ‘I’ve just taken some more exams,’ he explained, ‘so I’m entitled to a holiday. This snow will stop by tonight so we will get out in the car.’ He smiled at Olivia. ‘You’re not nervous?’

  ‘No, although as I’ve never been driven by you I can’t be quite sure, can I?’

  He gave a shout of laughter. ‘I say, we’re going to get on, you and I—trust old Haso to find someone as pretty as you.’

  They were sitting at the table in the small sitting-room, playing Snakes and Ladders with Nel. It seemed to Olivia that they had known each other for years. He was younger than she and she felt like a big sister towards him, and he made her laugh. She threw the dice and they all laughed when she had to take her counter all the way down a snake and start again.

  ‘I like you, Dirk,’ said Nel. ‘I like Uncle Haso best, of course, but you’re very nice.’

  He gave a mock-sigh. ‘It’s always the same. I wear myself out being charming and amusing, and Haso doesn’t do anything at all and everyone falls about trying to catch his attention. What did you do to catch his critical eye, Olivia?’

  He had asked jokingly but when he glanced up and saw her face he said quickly, ‘But of course you are so beautiful that you do not need to catch anyone’s attention, is that not so, Nel?’ He made a great show of throwing the dice. ‘I expect Olivia has some glamorous job waiting for her—we shall see her on the front page of the ladies’ magazines, all gloss and pearls.’

  They all laughed and the awkward little moment was over, but much later that day, when Dirk and his mother were sitting together having a talk before going to their beds, he said, ‘Mama, does Haso like Olivia?’

  ‘Why, yes, dear.’ She looked at him without surprise at his question.

  ‘Well, I said something today—oh, teasing—and it seemed to me that Olivia…’

  ‘Yes, dear, she is, I feel sure, and she would be so right for Haso, but he has never allowed his feelings to show, has he? And now we have this upset with Nel and Rita. To an outsider the solution is so plain—let him marry Rita, who I suspect would like that very much, and make Nel a happy child again. You see, he and Rob were such friends; Haso may feel that he should do this—that it is his duty.’

  Dirk got up and prowled around the room. ‘They were friends, so would Rob have wanted Haso to be unhappy for the rest of his life? He could manage Rita because he loved her, but I doubt if Haso loves her.’ He kicked a footstool out of his way. ‘Olivia doesn’t say much about her life. Is it a happy one?’

  ‘From what Haso has told me, and he knows very little, I believe, she lives with her mother and a rather terrible grandm
other, who gave them a home when her father died and never ceases to remind them of the fact. He told me that he had been to her home once or twice and it was obvious that her grandmother dislikes Olivia. Her mother is a small, dainty woman, very gentle and quiet, and Olivia hasn’t taken after her. That has annoyed the old lady. And of course Olivia has had no training for a career of any sort.’

  ‘I’m surprised that she isn’t married.’

  ‘She was engaged, I believe, although Haso told me nothing more than that.’

  ‘How long is Nel to stay here?’

  ‘Until Haso and Rita have solved the problem. Nel is quite happy to go back to school and stay with her grandmother in England, she’s devoted to her, but each time she comes here to stay with her mother she becomes most unhappy. It is not my place to criticise Rita but it is a pity that she has to leave the child with someone whom Nel doesn’t like. It was quick thinking on Haso’s part to persuade Olivia to come here to look after Nel.’

  ‘Is she being paid?’

  His mother looked surprised. ‘I have no idea. Why do you ask?’

  ‘Her clothes are hardly this year’s fashion, are they? Good, but well-worn.’

  ‘You’re right, of course. I noticed that her things were useful rather than fashionable; I thought she had brought suitable clothes for the job and the time of year.’

  ‘I’m surprised Haso hasn’t noticed…’

  Haso had noticed. Indeed, he was so conscious of every aspect of Olivia that he knew to the last button what she was wearing and that it was well cared-for, out of date and had been chosen with an eye to hard-wearing qualities rather than fashion. Beyond a wish to see her dressed in the kind of clothes her beauty merited, he would have found her just as enchanting in a potato sack. He thought about her a great deal while he saw his patients, operated and did his ward-rounds, and he thought about her when he was at Rita’s flat, doing his best to persuade her to give up her job and make a home for Nel.

  ‘But the child’s quite happy at that school, and what would I do while she’s away?’

  ‘Find somewhere to live in England. You don’t need the money, Rita.’

  ‘I would be bored to death—of course, if I lived in a town and had a social life…’ She paused and smiled at him, and met a blank mask which told her nothing. ‘Well, I have no intention of giving up my job,’ she said pettishly. ‘It’s fun, I meet lots of interesting people and I go out a lot—I must have some fun, Haso, I’m young still and I’ve been told I’m pretty. You can’t expect me to spend the rest of my life being a housewife, just with Nel for company.’

  ‘You will remarry, Rita.’

  She said at once, ‘If that’s a proposal, Haso, I will accept at once.’

  He remained unperturbed. ‘It wasn’t. I shall be going to Tierjum this weekend. Would you like to come with me? You could spend some time with Nel.’

  ‘Darling Haso, I’m flying to Paris to spend the weekend with friends. I can’t possibly put it off at such short notice. Give Nel my love, won’t you, and tell her I’ll come and see her soon. Shouldn’t she go back to school?’

  ‘When you decide what is to be done, yes. Have you dismissed that woman with the wart?’

  ‘Juffrouw Schalk? Of course not. She’s a splendid housekeeper and I’d be lost without her. Nel must learn to like her. The child’s spoilt.’

  ‘Would you object if Nel were to live permanently with her grandmother in England? You could, of course, visit whenever you wished?’

  ‘It might be a good idea. I’ll think about it. Now, can we stop this disagreeable talk and go somewhere and have a drink? It’s barely nine o’clock…’

  ‘I have to go back to hospital. I’m operating tomorrow, going to Rotterdam on the following day and then to Friesland. Let me know if you change your mind, Rita.’

  She reached up to kiss his cheek. ‘Darling Haso, we would make a lovely pair, you know.’ She spoke laughingly, watching him closely. His small, indifferent smile infuriated her.

  Mr van der Eisler left directly after breakfast on the Saturday morning and drove himself through the snowy landscape to Tierjum, Achilles sitting beside him. The snow had ceased and the sky for the moment was a cold blue and pale sunlight gave an illusion of warmth. He wondered what Olivia was doing, and then dismissed her from his mind while he reflected on Nel’s future. He was no nearer a solution by the time he turned the Bentley into the drive and saw the house ahead of him. He stopped on the sweep and got out, smiling at the sounds of laughter from somewhere behind it. With a warning to Achilles not to bark he walked to the side of the house, making no sound in the thick snow, and went unhurriedly along the shrub-lined path until he reached the vast lawn at the back. Covered now with snow, of course. Nel and Olivia and Dirk were there, building a snowman and making a good deal of noise about it, stopping to throw snowballs at each other. Mr van der Eisler stood for a moment, watching them, a hand on Achilles’ great head, and as he watched Nel flung a snowball at Olivia, who ducked, slipped, and would have fallen if Dirk hadn’t put out an arm and caught her. They stood for a moment, his arm around her shoulders, completely at ease with one and other. It wasn’t until Nel caught sight of Haso that they turned to see him.

  Achilles bounded forward, barking happily, and Nel rushed to hug her uncle. Dirk started forward too, shouting a welcome. Only Olivia hung back. The glorious surprise at seeing him again had left her with a thumping heart and no breath.

  Dirk said over one shoulder, ‘Look who’s here, Olivia—come and say hello.’

  She went over to him then, and said, ‘Hello, Mr van der Eisler,’ but anything else she might have said died on her tongue. His, ‘Hello, Olivia,’ was pleasant, but he looked at her with eyes like blue ice. What had she done? she wondered in panic, searching his bland face for some sign. But it showed nothing. Only his eyes betrayed the fact that he was angry.

  Five minutes later she decided that she had imagined it; he was throwing snowballs like a schoolboy, with Nel capering around him and Achilles barking his head off. It was Dirk who called to her, ‘Olivia, be an angel and tell Mama that Haso’s here—we’ll be in presently for coffee.’

  She nodded and sped away, glad to be gone. Was Haso here for the weekend? she wondered. And had anything been decided about Nel?

  She found Mevrouw van der Eisler sitting placidly in her sitting-room, writing letters. She got up from her writing-desk, beaming.

  ‘I wasn’t expecting him—he usually phones. How delightful. Anke must get the coffee at once. Where is he?’

  ‘In the garden snowballing.’

  ‘Then fetch him in, my dear, if you will, and tell him to see that Achilles’ paws are wiped.’

  They were still racing around; she went and stood in the middle, ducking the snow. Her face glowed with the exercise, her bright hair almost hidden in the hood of one of Mevrouw van der Eisler’s all-enveloping gardening coats. Mr van der Eisler thought that she had never looked so beautiful. It was inevitable that Dirk should fall for her; he was a young man her own age… And she had looked so happy when she had turned round, Dirk’s arm around her shoulders.

  They all went indoors, and when they had had coffee Olivia took Nel off on the pretext of choosing what frock she should wear that evening, since she was to be allowed to sit up for dinner for a treat.

  ‘Such a tactful girl,’ said Mevrouw van der Eisler. ‘Nice, quiet manners and so kind and thoughtful. I am so surprised that she is not married.’

  Haso stirred his coffee. ‘She had a fiancé. He married another girl—we went to his wedding.’

  ‘You did?’ Dirk gave a chuckle. ‘The pair of you? Not top hat and morning coat?’

  ‘Indeed, yes.’ Haso spoke lightly. ‘We drove there in the Bentley and Olivia had a charming hat…’

  ‘But why…?’ asked his mother.

  ‘Oh, keeping one’s end up—showing the flag.’ He smiled. ‘I enjoyed it.’ He put down his cup. ‘I’ve seen Rita several times. She is unwil
ling to give up her job, in fact she refuses, and she also refuses to get rid of Juffrouw Schalk. If possible I’ll bring her up here next weekend, when I think she must decide what she wants.’

  ‘Does she plan to marry again?’ asked his mother.

  Dirk said quickly, ‘Of course she does—she wants to marry you, Haso.’

  ‘Yes.’ Mr van der Eisler spoke calmly. ‘But I have no intention of marrying her.’

  His mother kept an admirable silence and flashed a warning glance at Dirk. ‘Well,’ she said presently, ‘I’m glad to know that, Haso, for Rita is very much a career-woman. Indeed, I have wondered if Rob could have coped with her if he were still alive.’

  ‘She seems very successful,’ said Haso, noncommittally, ‘It is a question as to whether Nel is more important to her than her career. We shall have to see if she and Nel can compromise.’

  Nel came in then with Olivia, and he got up out of his chair. ‘I must do some phoning. Let me know if I am upsetting any plans for the afternoon.’

  ‘We haven’t made any,’ said Dirk when he had gone out of the room. ‘But since he’s here with that great car of his how about all of us piling in and doing some sightseeing?’

  ‘In this weather?’ asked his mother.

  ‘It’s just the weather to see Friesland, and Olivia may not get another chance. We could drive to Sneek and see the lakes and then go north up to the Wadden Zee. Would you like that, Nel?’

  Of course Nel would like it, and so would Olivia, only she restrained her enthusiasm, merely remarking that it sounded very interesting.

  ‘We’ll take Achilles,’ said Dirk, ‘he can sit between us. Nel and Olivia must sit with Haso so that he can point out all the interesting sights.’

  Olivia opened her mouth to protest but he stopped her. ‘Haso knows every stick and stone in these parts, and you won’t get another chance.’

  ‘Perhaps another time?’ suggested Olivia, anxious not to look too eager.