by Betty Neels
He sounded as though he was laughing. ‘Darling, my darling Victoria, you sound like a river in full flood. Hush a minute, my pretty. Did you post this letter?’
He had called her his darling—his pretty. She said, all at once meek, ‘Yes, Alexander, of course I posted it,’ and then as she remembered: ‘No, I remember now, Jeremy Blake took it for me because he was going to the post office. He took the second one too.’
‘And my letters, did you get those, my beautiful girl?’
She smiled at him from a tear-blotched face because she was beautiful. ‘No,’ she said finally.
‘Who delivers your post?’
She explained about the pigeonholes.
‘So anyone going there could take the letters?’
‘Yes—I suppose so, but who would want to do that—not Jeremy Blake?’
‘I think that he might have done so—after all, he had several scores to pay off, hadn’t he? I telephoned too, and you were either not there or couldn’t be found.’
‘Oh, Alexander, if I’d known! I thought you never wanted to see me again.’ She got no further, for his hold on her tightened as he bent to kiss her. He continued to kiss her for some time and only stopped when she said: ‘Alexander, dear Alexander, I didn’t mean it, saying that you’d gone to Nina’s instead of the hospital—only I was jealous…’
‘And I lost my temper, my darling—I could have explained about Nina in a few words, only I chose to deliberately misunderstand you. You will have to teach me to keep my temper, Vicky.’
‘I don’t intend to teach you anything.’
‘Oh, yes, you will. You’ll bully me and nag me, and I shall love it and be a model husband and an exemplary father.’
She had leaned her damp cheek against the fine wool of his jacket and her voice, a little muffled, was indignant. ‘Hark at you—half an hour ago you wouldn’t even look at me!’
He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. ‘My darling heart, I’ll look my fill now.’ He kissed her once more and went on: ‘Do you want to hear about Nina? There’s really nothing to tell, and there are other, more important things—this, for instance.’ He kissed her again.
‘She told me,’ said Victoria, dismissing Nina for ever. ‘What other important things?’
‘Getting married, for a start. This time I shall marry you out of hand, dearest, then we can disagree in the comfortable knowledge that if you run away in a temper I can come after you and drag you back by your beautiful hair.’
She viewed this alarming aspect of her future with equanimity. ‘I shan’t run away,’ she announced finally. Then she remembered something. ‘What did you say over the intercom?’
‘I told Bep to postpone my hospital round for half an hour. We should go now—you shall sit in the car, or visit the Directrice, she won’t mind.’
‘Are you very important, Alexander?’
‘I suppose so, my darling.’
‘And rich.’
‘That too.’
‘I’d marry you if you were poor.’
He smiled at her very tenderly. ‘I know, my dearest love. Which reminds me—can you leave St Judd’s as soon as possible?’
‘I did—I gave in my notice, you see. I thought—I didn’t know what to do, I just hoped… What would you have done if I hadn’t come?’
He grinned suddenly. ‘Which reminds me to cancel my flight to London this evening. You see, I was still angry and hurt, but I had to find you even if it was only to tell you that I loved you and then wring your neck.’
‘Charming!’ She flicked her eyelashes at him in a most beguiling fashion. ‘I could have waited,’ she mused. ‘I need not have come,’ she added naughtily. ‘My journey was for nothing.’
‘A point of view I will endeavour to alter.’
She smiled up at him. ‘Start now,’ commanded Victoria.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-3936-4
VICTORY FOR VICTORIA
Copyright © 1972 by Betty Neels.
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