while she and Mrs. Ricks, the daily help, were discussing the curious obstinacy of men when they were unwell, having already discussed the rival merits of junket and rice pudding as a sweet for lunch, that the local taxi made its appearance in the drive, and the enchanting Miss Claire Brown was decanted at the foot of the terrace steps.
She was dressed all in blue this morning – a light, azure blue that lent her a slightly angelic appearance, and plainly had the local taxi-driver slightly bemused as he accepted a generous-sized tip for his services so far, and arranged to pick her up in the same somewhat decrepit taxi at about six o’clock that evening.
“By which time our invalid will be feeling a little exhausted, I imagine,” she said as she turned to confront Charlotte, who had emerged from the house to greet her. “By the way, how is he?” she asked. “Much better, I hope?”
“He seems better, and he says that he is very much better,” the mistress of Tremarth informed her a little stiffly – she was afraid there was a smudge of flour on her cheek, and she had most unfortunately forgotten to remove her apron. The taxi-man’s eyes, although they widened with a modest amount of appreciation at sight of her, didn’t glow in the slightly fanatical way that they did as they returned to his fare, all light blue and golden.
“Oh, that’s splendid,” Claire replied, looking really pleased. “I was half afraid I might have exhausted him yesterday.”
She accompanied her hostess into the house.
“I’m a little early, I’m afraid,” she apologised, “but I did say I wanted to spend the whole of the day with him. Can I go straight upstairs to his room?” making for the staircase.
But Charlotte took quite an acute pleasure in preventing her.
“As a matter of fact, you won’t have to go upstairs,” she said. “The doctor suggested Mr. Tremarth should get up for a few hours, and he’s coming downstairs. If you like, you can go and sit in the drawing-room until he comes down, and I’ll bring you some coffee. Or you can wander in the garden… as you please! ”
Miss Brown looked displeased at being prevented from ascending the handsome oak staircase. She said something about doctors doing the most extraordinary things nowadays, and elected to go and sit in the drawing- room, to which Charlotte shortly afterwards carried a tray of coffee and some of her own home-made shortbread biscuits. Miss Brown disdained the biscuits, but accepted a cup of black coffee, and in between smoking a cigarette and sipping her coffee let her eyes rove openly round the room and commented on it as being quite a treasure- house.
“You seem to have quite a collection of antiques,” she remarked, “and although I don’t know much about these things I’d say that some of them are valuable. That rosewood desk over there, for instance – ” nodding at it – “looks like Sheraton to me, and I’d say that’s a very valuable picture in the alcove. If you’re ever hard up you can make money on these things.”
Charlotte studied her.
“Mr. Tremarth wanted to buy them – all of them! ” she emphasised.
Miss Brown looked only partially surprised.
“Yes, I did hear he was interested in making a purchase down here in Cornwall,” she admitted. “After all, he’s Cornish, isn’t he?” as if that explained the slight idiosyncrasy. Her light eyebrows crinkled in a frown. “Personally, I wouldn’t choose to have my headquarters in an out of the way place like this, but if you don’t have to remain tied to it it’s not so bad.” She nodded her charming golden head, as if to give emphasis to her thoughts and to convince herself. “Yes; under the circumstances I think I could put up with it, and after all this is a very attractive house.”
“What circumstances?” Charlotte enquired bluntly.
Miss Brown turned her lovely light blue eyes upon her. And then she smiled – very deliberately, and a little provokingly.
“Oh, come now, Miss Woodford,” she said, “you don’t have to have all your i’s dotted and all your t’s crossed, do you? I rather gathered from Richard that you were terribly shrewd and hard-headed – this was when he met you first of all, of course, and before his accident. When you told me just now that he wanted to buy all this – this conglomeration of good and bad furniture and other odds and ends,” waving a hand to indicate the room’s contents, “I knew that he was interested. I told you so last night, as a matter of fact, and you chose to be coy about his offer to buy. But if you want me to tell you why I'm interested “well, you might as well know that I’m not just Richard’s secretary. In fact, I’m not his secretary at all! ” “Oh, really?” Charlotte exclaimed, staring directly and rather fixedly at her.
Miss Brown inhaled a deep puff of smoke, and then exhaled it very gradually.
“I did work for him once – about a year ago,” she admitted. “I wanted a job, and he found me one. But I’ve known him for several years, and I think you can take it that we’re very good friends. In fact -
But at this stage of her revelations Richard himself chose to make his appearance, having somewhat slowly descended the stairs, and Claire rushed at him and seemed to be quite overcome by the sight of him standing on his own two feet once more.
“Oh, darling!” she exclaimed. “Oh, Richard, how wonderful to see you up and about again! I was so afraid I’d exhausted you yesterday, but I must have been good for you after all.”
Richard seemed very glad to reach a chair on the terrace, and he seemed even more appreciative when Charlotte stuffed a cushion in behind his shoulders and he was able to lie back comfortably, and
Hannah draped a rug across his knees because of the keenness of the morning breeze.
“This is good,” he declared, as his eyes rested contentedly on the line of blue sea. “This is very good indeed!”
Claire drew another of the comfortable terrace chairs up close beside him, and Charlotte accepted the hint and withdrew into the house. Hannah, a little more loath, apparently, to leave her patient alone with his visitor, retreated after lingering for a minute or so longer, and when she joined Charlotte and Mrs. Ricks in the kitchen she confessed that she was not entirely happy that Miss Brown intended to remain for the whole of the day.
“It’s true that she seems to know him very well, but I’m by no means certain that he welcomes her company as much as one might suppose,” she said.
Charlotte drank a half-cold cup of coffee and argued rather peevishly that she was quite sure Richard was delighted to have Miss Brown sitting with him.
“After all, she’s pretty enough to gladden the heart of most men, and even invalids can be responsive when it’s someone they particularly wish to see,” she opined a trifle dourly.
Hannah glanced at her.
“You think Richard was very glad to see Miss Brown? Well, perhaps you and I get entirely opposite impressions – ”
Charlotte banged her coffee cup down on the kitchen table.
“If you want to know the truth,” she said bleakly, “they’re practically engaged to be married. Oh, I haven’t had it officially from either of them, but Miss Brown was about to let a rather interesting cat out of the bag when she and I were in the drawing-room just now – and she’d ceased taking an interest in my furniture! And if Richard hadn’t put in an appearance when he did I’m quite sure it would have proved to be a very interesting cat indeed… Nothing less than that she plans to marry him one day. Possibly quite soon! ”
“Oh!” Hannah declined to appear very much impressed. “What makes you think that?”
“Because she’d got as far as admitting that they were very special friends… and also I’m quite sure she knows all about Richard’s interest in this house. She was trying to make up her mind whether or not she’d enjoy living here.” “Oh! ” Hannah said again.
“And she seems to think it will be all right if she doesn’t have to spend too much of her time in a tucked away place like Tremarth… all right for holidays, that is. She even thinks she might enjoy living with some of the furniture! The rest she’s not so sure about! ”
Hannah went up to her and quite unexpectedly put an arm about her shoulders. As she gave her a hug she said encouragingly:
“You’re letting your imagination work overtime, my dear! And in any case, there are two sides to everything… and Richard at the moment is absolutely convinced she’s more or less a stranger! ” Charlotte actually seemed to brighten.
“Yes, he does, doesn’t he?” she said more hopefully. “And even if he finds out that he’s committed to marry a stranger, he might not take to the notion too enthusiastically. He might even hesitate – at any rate until he’s got his memory back.”
