‘I’m Myra,’ she said. ‘I used to live here, and I’ve just been making friends with your mummy.’
‘How do you do?’ Hetta said politely.
‘Do you like it here?’
Hetta nodded.
‘Must be a bit lonely, though,’ Myra suggested. ‘No kids of your own age. No animals. Do you like dogs?’
Hetta nodded again with unmistakable eagerness.
‘Then you’d get on well with my son, Simon. He’s your age and he’s got a puppy. Care to meet him?’
‘And the puppy?’ Hetta asked at once.
‘And the puppy.’ Myra flicked open a cell phone and spoke into it. ‘OK, Joe.’
Elinor’s suspicions were rising by the minute. ‘Now, wait a moment-’
‘You don’t mind my son meeting your daughter, do you?’ Myra asked with a touch of wide-eyed reproach.
‘It’s not that-’
‘I really think they’ll like each other, and it would mean a lot to him. Ah, there you are, darling!’
A boy of Hetta’s age, accompanied by a uniformed chauffeur, had appeared in the door. Elinor drew a slow breath. This was a younger version of Andrew, not in his looks, which were more like Myra’s, but in the stillness with which he held himself, the way he looked around the room, taking everything in, but saying nothing.
‘This is Simon,’ Myra said.
Elinor went forward to him. ‘Hallo, I’m-I’m Ellie.’ What had made her say that?
‘How do you do?’ he said politely. He started to offer his hand and remembered that he was holding the puppy. Hetta was there in a flash to relieve him of it.
Elinor introduced them. They were cautious about each other, but the puppy was an immediate bond and after a moment they drifted into a corner together. Elinor could see that Hetta was delighted, and so could Myra. She was watching them with a satisfied expression.
‘This is just perfect,’ she said. ‘All right, Joe, go and get yourself something to eat in the village. I’ll call you when I need you.’
The chauffeur nodded and departed.
‘Do you mean,’ Elinor asked, outraged, ‘that you’ve kept your son sitting out there in the car while you came in here to-to-?’
‘Survey the land,’ Myra said. ‘Of course. It wouldn’t have been very nice to bring him in before I knew what he might find, would it? I brought him with me just in case the things I’d heard about you were true. Be prepared, that’s my motto.’
‘And just what have you heard about me?’
‘That you had a kid of your own, same age as Simon, and that you were a good mother. Looks true to me. Otherwise I’d just have taken him away again.’
‘Myra, what have you got in mind?’
‘Well, my life is getting a bit complicated. Cyrus wants to get married in the next couple of weeks because of some motor show or other, and I need to get out there fast.’
‘So take Simon with you.’
‘On my honeymoon? Get real. Besides, it’s time Andrew really made an effort with his son. It’s always been too easy for him to duck out. This time he isn’t going to.’
‘And you’re just going to dump him?’ Elinor demanded, speaking quietly, lest Simon heard.
Instead of answering direct Myra said, ‘Nurse Stewart’s been talking. I gather it was a bit like a French farce that night, you skulking in Andrew’s office or under a blanket in the back seat of his car. That bit didn’t come from Stewart, but from someone in the parking lot. And one of the district nurses knows this house is Andrew’s. I have friends at the hospital and they’ve kept me informed. It all became very intriguing and I got curious. It’s so unlike him.’
‘You mean I’ve made a scandal for him? Oh, no!’
‘I suppose it is potentially scandalous,’ Myra mused. ‘Of course, you’re not Andrew’s patient but your daughter is, and all this dodging around in car parks is something his enemies could make something of. Andrew’s got a lot of enemies. Brilliant people always do, and especially now that Uncle Elmer’s heading for retirement. His illness took a lot out of him, so he’ll probably go quite soon now. The contenders are lining up to take his place, and malicious tongues are all ready to wag.’
Elinor listened to this with mounting horror. She’d never meant to harm Andrew, but that was what she seemed to have done. But Myra, watching her, gave a cheeky smile.
‘Don’t worry,
For some reason Elinor believed her.
‘But why are you being like this?’ she asked. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘You mean why aren’t I jealous that he moved another lady in here?’
‘You’ve nothing to be jea-’
‘Skip it. You’d have expected a fit, jealous or otherwise. Sorry. Can’t oblige. Oh, there was a time when I thought the sun shone out of Andrew, but that was before I discovered what a bore he was.’
‘A bore? Andrew?’ The exclamation was jerked out of Elinor.
‘There, I knew you were high-minded!’ Myra exclaimed as though she’d scored a victory. ‘Good luck to you. Actually this rather suits me.’
Elinor pulled herself together. This woman’s determination to arrange life to suit herself had a hypnotic quality.
‘I’m sorry, but you’re under a misapprehension,’ she said firmly. ‘Hetta and I are leaving tomorrow.’
‘Damn! Have you and Andrew quarrelled?’
‘No,’ Elinor said stiffly.
‘Has he thrown you out?’
‘No.’
‘Then why are you leaving?’
‘Because Hetta is greatly improved and it’s time to move on.’
‘Why?’
‘I’m sorry, I can’t discuss that with you.’
‘Where are you going?’
‘I don’t see why I should dis-’
‘Oh, nonsense, of course you can. This is important. Have you got somewhere better than this?’
‘No, we’re going to a small hotel where I have a friend living. She owned the boarding house that burned down but it’ll soon be rebuilt so-’
‘You’re dumping Andrew for a boarding house? C’mon! Stay here. It’s much nicer.’
‘That’s not the point,’ Elinor said, feeling desperate. It was like trying to argue with a juggernaut. ‘Even if I weren’t going you couldn’t just leave Simon here without telling Andrew first.’
‘Then let’s tell him. You call him up while I make us something to eat.’
Elinor watched helplessly as Myra whisked herself into the kitchen and set about preparing. There was no doubt she was the expert cook for whom the place had been created. She started with milk shakes for the children, who downed them eagerly.
‘Go in the garden, kids, and I’ll have something more filling for you in a minute,’ she called. To Elinor she said, ‘Go on, get calling.’
There was nothing to do but obey, although she flinched at the thought of calling a man who’d made it so clear that she embarrassed him. She used the hall phone, and in a few moments she heard Andrew’s voice, terse, commanding. ‘Yes?’
‘It’s me,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry to disturb you at work but something’s happened.’
‘Hetta?’
‘No, Myra, your ex-wife. She’s here, and she’s got Simon with her. And I think she means him to stay when she goes.’
‘I don’t understand.’
