'Well, I am not superstitious,' said Mr. Lippincott, 'and the view from your property is quite magnificent.' He hesitated.
'I only hope that when you come to move into your house to live there, that Ellie will not hear too many of these stories that are going about.'
'I'll keep everything from her that I can,' I said. 'I don't suppose anybody will say anything to her.'
'People in country villages are very fond of repeating stories of that kind,' said Mr. Lippincott. 'And Ellie, remember, is not as tough as you are, Michael. She can be influenced easily. Only in some ways. Which brings me -' He stopped without going on to say what he had been going to. He tapped on the table with one finger. 'I'm going to speak to you now on a matter of some difficulty. You said just now that you had not met Greta Andersen.'
'No, as I said, I haven't met her yet.'
'Odd. Very curious.'
'Well?' I looked at him inquiringly.
'I should have thought you'd have been almost sure to have met her,' he said slowly. 'How much do you know about her?'
'I know that she's been with Ellie some time.'
'She has been with Ellie since Ellie was seventeen. She has occupied a post of some responsibility and trust. She came first to the States in the capacity of secretary and companion. A kind of chaperon to Ellie when Mrs. van Stuyvesant, her stepmother, was away from home, which I may say was a quite frequent occurrence.' He spoke particularly dryly when he said this. 'She is, I gather, a well-born girl with excellent references, half Swedish half German. Ellie became, quite naturally, very much attached to her.'
'So I gather,' I said.
'In some ways Ellie was, I suppose, almost too much attached to her. You don't mind my saying that.'
'No. Why should I mind? As a matter of fact I've – well, I've thought so myself once or twice. Greta this and Greta that. I got – well, I know I've no business to, but I used to get fed up sometimes.'
'And yet she expressed no wish for you to meet Greta?'
'Well,' I said, 'it's rather difficult to explain. But I think, yes, I think she probably did suggest it in a mild way once or twice but, well, we were too taken up with having met each other. Besides, oh well, I suppose I didn't really want to meet Greta. I didn't want to share Ellie with anyone.'
'I see. Yes, I see. And Ellie did not suggest Greta being present at your wedding?'
'She did suggest it,' I said.
'But – but you didn't want her to come. Why?'
'I don't know. I really don't know. I just felt that this Greta, this girl or woman I'd never met, she was always homing in on everything. You know, arranging Ellie's life for her. Sending post-cards and letters and filling in for Ellie, arranging a whole itinerary and passing it on to the family. I felt that Ellie was dependent on Greta in a way, that she let Greta run her, that she wanted to do everything that Greta wanted. I – oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Lippincott, I oughtn't to be saying all these things perhaps. Say I was just plain jealous. Anyway I blew up and I said'I didn't want Greta at the wedding, that the wedding was ours, that it was just our business and nobody else's. And so we went along to the Registrar's office and his clerk and the typist from his office were the two witnesses. I dare say it was mean of me to refuse to have Greta there, but I wanted to have Ellie to myself.'
'I see. Yes, I see, and I think, if I may say so, that you were wise, Michael.'
'You don't like Greta either,' I said shrewdly.
'You can hardly use the word 'either', Michael, if you have not even met her.'
'No, I know but, well, I mean if you hear a lot about a person you can form some sort of idea of them, some judgment of them. Oh well call it plain jealousy. Why don't you like Greta?'
'This is without prejudice,' said Mr. Lippincott, 'but you are Ellie's husband, Michael, and I have Ellie's happiness very much at heart. I don't think that the influence that Greta has over Ellie is a very desirable one. She takes too much upon herself.'
'Do you think she'll try and make trouble between us?' I asked.
'I think,' said Mr. Lippincott, 'that I have no right to say anything of that kind.'
He sat looking cautiously at me, and blinking like a wrinkled old tortoise.
I didn't know quite what to say next. He spoke first, choosing his words with some care.
'There has been, then, no suggestion that Greta Andersen might take up her residence with you?'
'Not if I can help it,' I said.
'Ah. So that is what you feel? The idea has been mooted.'
'Ellie did say something of the kind. But we're newly married, Mr. Lippincott. We want our house – our new home to ourselves. Of course she'll come and stay sometimes, I suppose. That'll only be natural.'
'As you say, that would be only natural. But you realise, perhaps, that Greta is going to be in a somewhat difficult position as regards further employment. I mean, it is not a question of what Ellie thinks of her, but of what the people who engaged her and reposed trust in her feel.'
'You mean that you or Mrs. van What's-her-name won't recommend her for another post of the same kind?'
'They are hardly likely to do so except so far as to satisfy purely legal requirements.'
'And you think that she'll want to come to England and live on Ellie.'
'I don't want to prejudice you too much against her. After all, this is mostly in my mind. I dislike some of the things she has done and the way she has done them. I think that Ellie who has a very generous heart will be upset at having, shall we say, blighted Greta's prospects in many ways. She might impulsively insist on her coming to live with you.'
'I don't think Ellie will insist,' I said slowly. I sounded a little worried all the same, and I thought Lippincott noticed it. 'But couldn't we – Ellie I mean – couldn't Ellie pension her off?'
'We should not put it precisely like that,' said Mr. Lippincott. 'There is a suggestion of age about pensioning any one off and Greta is a young woman, and I may say a very handsome young woman. Beautiful, in fact,' he added in a deprecating, disapproving voice. 'She's very attractive to men, too.'
'Well, perhaps she'll marry,' I said. 'If she's all that, why hasn't she got married before this?'
'There have been people attracted, I believe, but she has not considered them. I think, however, that your suggestion is a very sound one. I think it might be carried out in a way that would not hurt anyone's susceptibilities. It might seem quite a natural thing to do on Ellie's having attained her majority and having had her marriage helped on by Greta's good offices – settle a sum of money upon her in a fit of gratitude.' Mr. Lippincott made the last two words sound as sour as lemon juice.
'Well, then, that's all right,' I said cheerfully.
'Again I see that you are an optimist. Let us hope that Greta will accept what is offered to her.'
'Why shouldn't she? She'd be mad if she didn't.'
'I don't know,' said Mr. Lippincott. 'I should say it would be extraordinary if she did not accepts and they will remain on terms of friendship, of course.'
'You think – what do you think?'
'I would like to see her influence over Ellie broken,' said Mr. Lippincott. He got up. 'You will, I hopes assist me and do everything you can to further that end?'
'You bet I will,' I said. 'The last thing I want is to have Greta in our pockets all the time.'
'You might change your mind when you see her,' said Mr. Lippincott.
'I don't think so,' I said. 'I don't like managing females, however efficient and even handsome they are.'
'Thank you, Michael, for listening to me so patiently. I hope you will give me the pleasure of dining with me, both of you. Possibly next Tuesday evening? Cora van Stuyvesant and Frank Barton will probably be in London by that time.'
'And I've got to meet them, I suppose?'
'Oh yes, that will be quite inevitable.' He smiled at me and this time his smile seemed more genuine than it had before. 'You mustn't mind too much,' he said. 'Cora, I expect, will be very rude to you. Frank will be merely tactless. Reuben won't be over just at present.'
I didn't know who Reuben was – another relation I supposed.
I went across to the connecting doors and opened them.
'Come on, Ellie,' I said, 'the grilling is over.'
