The man who came back Read online

  THE MAN WHO CAME BACK 45

  "If it had been a little darker you might not have sustained such a shock."

  She gazed at him curiously.

  "You know about that portrait of yours in the

  attic?"

  "Is there one?" in an annoyingly calm voice.

  "Well, of course it isn't of you. The man who sat for it must have died over a hundred years ago. But it's unbelievably like you! I�I couldn't believe, at first, that it wasn't you."

  "Which accounted for the shock I gave you when I came in through the French window?"

  "Yes."

  The morning sun shone warmly, and the orchard was a place of peace and benevolence at that hour. The trees were loaded with fruit that had not yet been gathered, and rosy apples vied with espalier peaches and plums to provide all that vital mass of colour that was going into Harriet's reproduction of what she saw. The orchard grass had recently been cut, and it was very green under the trees. The sky overhead was almost an Italian blue, and the few white clouds that sailed across it were like'small white boats scudding across an unbelievably calm

  sea. Dr. Drew ground out his cigarette thought

  fully in Harriet's ash-tray. His gaze roved round

  the orchard, and then wandered in the direction

  of the house, with its twisted Tudor chimney

  pots.

  46 THE MAN WHO CAME BACK

  "All this is-very pleasant," he observed. "Very

  pleasant!" There was unmistakable apprecia

  tion in his very dark eyes�it even made the eyes

  seem a little remote and withdrawn. "Before you

  arrived back from Italy I often drove past this

  house in order to admire it. It isn't often that

  anything quite so old is so well preserved."

  "I understand that my brother-in-law's rela

  tive spent a great deal of money on the house,"

  Harriet recalled. "And after all, the main essen

  tial in preserving a house is money, isn't it?"

  "If it's money wisely spent."

  "The Earnshaws have a great deal of it. It

  would be a reflection on the family if the house

  was allowed to get into a condition of disrepair."

  The doctor watched her mixing her colours,

  and his eyes still had that remote, withdrawn

  expression.

  "You say family," he remarked. "But I under

  stand that it's practically extinct. In point of

  fact, there aren't any Eamshaws left, are

  there?"

  "Only my sister... and she isn't an Eam

  shaw."

  "A pity your brother-in-law didn't leave a

  child."

  "Yes, it is, isn't it?"

  She lifted her eyes to him, and if she had been

  asked to describe his expression she would have .said that he was frankly brooding.

  THE MAN WHO CAME BACK 47

  "By the way..." he fumbled automatically for another cigarette, "how is your sister this morning?"

  "I don't think there's very much wrong with her." She spoke levelly, and with a distinct touch of coolness. "Aren't you forgetting that she's had rather a

  nasty shock?" His eyes were critical at once ... indeed, strongly disapproving. "Whether she was devoted to your brother-in-law or not the shock of having him die on her in Italy was con

  siderable. There are few things less pleasant than being involved in anything of that sort in

  another country. Quite apart from the language difficulty�and I don't suppose Mrs. Earnshaw speaks fluent Italian?�the problems that arise

  are multitudinous."

  "I gather that everyone was extremely kind," Harriet said, not sure why she had to be quite so awkward about a situation which must certainly have been very harrowing for Gay, even allowing for the fact that she was not in love with her husband. She could only-conclude that it was because of her secret knowledge of Gay, and how much such a situation would have appealed

  to her�thrusting her forward into the limelight, and earning for her so much sympathy that she could lap it up like a kitten lapping up cream. Even the careful manner -in which she had

  selected her mourning proved that she had been

  40 THE MAN WHO CAME BACK

  far from bowled over by the problems that beset her. And Dr. Drew's determination to champion her at all costs was perhaps another reason why she grew prickly every time he mentioned her sister's bereavement.

  "You mustn't forget, either, that she was staying with Bruce's aunt�I mean, he only called her that�but she is quite an influential person and would more than understand how to handle all the ropes in Italy. Her husband was an Italian marquis, and she is virtually an Italian herself now."

  "I see."

  He plainly wanted to ponder this, but Harriet was annoyed because he refused to discuss her discovery in the attic. And from the little he had given away she gathered that he was not entirely surprised that she had made such a discovery... or else he was surprised, and refused to admit it. Then there was the stronger probability that he didn't believe her, and merely thought she had been indulging her imagination when she was up there in the attics.

  "About last night�" she began. "Forget it," he advised. He smiled at her. "You were probably suffering from. an attack of nerves."

  "I was doing nothing of the kind." She was indignant. "I was looking for a flower piece to match the one I found the other day, and I came upon this pile of pictures... portraits,

  THE MAN WHO GAME BACK 49

  most of them, stacked against the wall. There was one�" He waved away a wasp that was annoying him.

  "These things are deluded by the fine weather. They think that summer's on its way, instead of gone beyond recall for another year�"

  "Dr. Drew!" she exclaimed impatiently. "Yes?" There was a cool twinkle in his eyes as they

  met hers.

  "I've got to tell you about that portrait.... And you've got to understand that I don't scream my head off for nothing!"

  "I'm glad to hear it." The twinkle refused to leave his eyes. "Neither do I make a habit of fainting all

  over the place."

  "Not all over the place! You merely collapsed with dignity�right into my arms!" He ground out his second cigarette. His eyes were amused� very much amused. "You're really much too light, you know. You should eat more. And I'm flattered that you carry my image about with you and think you recognise it in other people's portraits when you see them. I wouldn't have believed I'd made such an impression... your attitude has been quite antagonistic whenever we've met." He hauled himself to his feet. "It just shows how easily you can be deceived," mockingly.

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  She answered angrily:

  "I wasn't carrying your image about with me, and I wasn't even thinking of you when I saw the portrait�"

  He shook his sleek dark head at her, amiably enough, however.

  "A pity, because I was beginning to think I'd made some impression after all. Now, can you tell me where I can find your sister? I do want to see her before I leave. I'd like to find out whether those new tablets are working�"

  "If you mean the ones you advised me to take last night I wouldn't know, because I didn't take them!" "Tut, ,tut!" he exclaimed. "So you defy your doctor's orders?"

  "You're not my doctor," she was beginning,

  when Gay came upon them suddenly round an

  apple tree, and she was walking so lightly and

  elegantly over the grass that she might have

  been a sprite who had walked there for centuries

  instead of a recently bereaved young married

  woman whose tastes were very earthy, and who

  wasn't taking any particular note of her sur

  roundings as she approached the other two. She

  had discarded her mourning temporarily and

&
nbsp; was wearing a white wool dress that was fashion

  ably short and made her look like a little girl

  amongst other things, and a misty blue cardigan

  that was draped over her shoulders.

  Her golden hair was held back by an Alice

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  band that was also mistily blue. Her eyes were

  wide and clear and innocent and had the depth

  of bluebells come upon in the heart of a spring

  time wood.

  "Oh, hullo!" she exclaimed, as she apparently

  caught sight of them both for the first time. "I

  didn't expect to find you here. Doctor. I did half

  expect to find Harriet, because this is one of her

  favourite hideaway spots."

  The doctor was concerned because she had walked over the grass in exceptionally thin shoes. She really ought to have more care for her health.

  "I don't think you realise it, but you're exceptionally vulnerable just now," he warned her seriously, pulling forward a garden chair for her to sit down in.^'The first chill you get and you won't like it, because it will almost certainly affect your chest, and that's one of your weakest spots. By rights you should be considering wintering in the Bahamas, or somewhere like that."

  She smiled at him in a gently amused fashion as she accepted one of his cigarettes.

  "The Bahamas?" she echoed, as if the idea half appealed to her. "Well, I might, but later on. At the moment I feel rather more secure in my own country," and she shuddered as if an extremely painful memory had had the same effect on her as someone walking across her own

  grave.

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  Philip Drew could plainly have kicked himself for being tactless.

  "Yes, of course," he agreed, while he studied her critically. He bent over her and picked up her wrist. It struck Harriet that even after he had satisfactorily established the rate of her pulse he continued to hold on to her hand. "That's going to be one of your troubles, you know," frowning at her understandingly. "You're going to feel insecure for some considerable time. You'll want to cling on to the familiar things, and that may isolate you from the world. You'll have to fight this feeling... fight against feeling safe only where everything has the virtue of being familiar, and therefore permanent...."

  "There is nothing very familiar here at Falaise for Gay," Harriet couldn't refrain from interrupting him, as she bent tight-lipped over her easel. "Bruce only inherited it a few weeks before he died."

  He frowned at her. But it was not an understanding frown.

  "You mustn't take me literally, Miss Stiles," he rebuked her. "When I say 'familiar,' I mean in a certain sense familiar. Mrs. Eamshaw was here for a time with her husband, and presumably they made plans for the place together. They were happy making its acquaintance, and wandering all over it�discovering it,"

  "Bruce said it was damp, and Gay thought the situation isolated," Harriet murmured

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  mutinously, squeezing white on to her palette

  when what she really wanted was chrome

  yellow.

  Gay smiled across at her good-humouredly.

  "Darling, you're as good as a tape-recorder,"

  she remarked. "But Dr. Drew is merely trying

  to be helpful. He knows I'm feeling a bit lost, (and but for you I'd be very lost." She turned ^appealingly to the doctor. "You mustn't take lany notice of Harriet," she sought to defend her

  half-sister. "She really does look after me extraordinarily well, and although she may strike you ;as a trifle argumentative at times it's really a [kind of bluff defence she puts up. She's always [trodden on people's toes without meaning to do :sp in the very least. You must take my word for

  |that!" I "Thank you," Harriet exclaimed, while she topened her eyes very wide at Gay. "It's interest

  ling to hear oneself described in such illuminatiing detail." I "I'm merely trying to break up a kind of antigpathy that seems to be growing between yourself |and Dr. Drew," Gay explained. Once again she |tumed to the doctor. "I know a lot of people get Sthe wrong impression of Harriet...." | l "I don't think I've got the wrong impression," Dr. Drew returned, with a mysterious tight Scurve of the lips, and a somewhat bleak glance from his dark eyes levelled at Harriet. "However, my mission here this morning was to find

  54 THE MAN WHO CAME BACK out how you both are. I've already satisfied myself that Miss Harriet is doing nicely�" He paused as if he was waiting for Harriet's equally bleak look. "And you'll simply have to be more careful and not walk about on dew-drenched grass in unsuitable shoes." He frowned at them as if they infuriated him. "Go inside and change them," he advised. "I will," Gay promised soothingly. "Why don't you carry her?" Harriet suggested, and then stood up and folded up her easel. "I'm going for a walk," she announced. "But darling," Gay objected, "it's almost lunch time. I was wondering," with her melting, misty eyes on the doctor, "whether perhaps you could stay and lunch with us ?" He shook his head regretfully. "I'm sorry, but I've a lot of patients to see today. Some other time, perhaps." "Why not dine with us tonight? Surely you could manage that ?" with a show of eagerness. "Remember, we're two lonely females cooped' up here together!" "One lonely female," Harriet interjected, snapping the lid of her paint-box together with a click. "Personally, I enjoy solitude. And I always paint better when I'm alone," directing a look at Philip Drew that caused him to smile rather whimsically. "If you'd be so kind as to amend your invita

  THE MAN WHO CAME BACK 55 tion and make it tomorrow evening," he said to his principal patient, "I'd be most happy to accept. As a matter of fact, tomorrow evening is my free evening." "Then we'll make it tomorrow evening." While Harriet stalked off in the opposite direction Gay walked with him across the treacherous grass of the orchard to his car, and just before he entered it she remarked a little archly: "I don't know where you were going last night, Doctor, but you were certainly dressed to do justice to whoever it was who had invited you. Or were you acting the part of host?" He looked down at her with the same whimsical expression on his face. "Touchs!" he exclaimed. "Last night wasn't my free evening, but it was an important occasion, and I managed to get someone to take over my calls." Gay murmured softly: "The lady was lucky!" "Was she?" His smile at her was quizzical. "Well, it's not for me to commit myself on that head. It's just possible that I was the one who was lucky." She used a very delicate, subtle perfume, and as the light breeze carried it to his nostrils he sniffed at it appreciatively. "By the way, will tomorrow be a white tie and tails occasion? I always like to know in advance." "Oh, we're very informal." She looked for

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  lorn and wistful all at once. "Just come as you are, if you like. We shall be happy to have you."

  After he had driven away she moved thoughtfully along the drive in the direction of the house. At lunch she revealed something to her sister.

  "Cook was telling me a story about this house which I found quite intriguing. Apparently, at the time of the Regency, the Eamshaw who had inherited made a somewhat unsuitable marriage, and his wife ran away and left him. There was an awful scandal at the time, for he followed her . and is reputed to have thrashed her lover with a horsewhip, and then ordered his wife never to set foot on the property again. She didn't, but whether she married the other man I don't know.... In those days'it couldn't have been so easy. However, the line�or that particular branch of it�ended with his death, for he hadn't an heir. A distant cousin inherited, and Bruce was descended from that distant cousin. Interesting to think that but for a certain lady's in- fidelity Bruce might never have inherited, and we wouldn't be here now."

  Harriet stared across the table at her thoughtfully.

  "Is that just a story, or is it true?" she asked.

  "I think it's true. But if you want to hear

  more you'd better ask Cook."

  "I will," Harriet replied, and studied her
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  57

  soup. She stirred it gently with her spoon. "What

  was the gentleman's name?" she asked.

  "I think he was a Richard Eamshaw."

  "And he lived at the time of the Regency?"

  "Yes. But Cook will fill you in with the de

  tails." She crumbled bread on her plate and smiled. "Apparently after the wife's disappearance there was a lot of talk about her being done to death, and various people at different times swore they saw her ghost. Even Cook is partially convinced that she's seen it. She told me the story because when she heard you scream last night, and^afterwards heard about your fainting, she was fairly certain that you'd seen the ghost!

  I told her you're not the type to scream or faint

  at the sight of a ghost, but I don't think she

  believed me."

  Harriet stared at her.

  "You can tell Cook I didn't see the ghost of the unfortunate lady," she said, speaking very slowly. "But it's just possible I did see a ghost!"

  CHAPTER IV

  THE following night Philip Drew dined at Falaise, and the evening was a complete success from the point of view of the hostess.

  He complimented her on her cook, and on her flower arrangements. The table appointments quite obviously impressed him as above reproach, and so did the wines that accompanied the meal.

  "Your husband must have known quite a lot about hock," he murmured, savouring the liquid in his glass,/and Gay admitted, sadly, that her husband had been very knowledgeable on quite a number of subjects. She wore slim black trousers with floating bell-bottoms, and a sequinned top that made it unnecessary for her to wear very much in the way of jewellery. The little she did wear had survived her determination to put away unsuitable trinkets for the time being, and comprised one or two extremely costly pieces that drew attention to the flawlessness of her skin. Her fair hair was swept up on

  the top of her head and lent her great dignity

  while at the same time drawing attention to the

  shapeliness of her neck.

  Her outfit was not, perhaps, one that a dis

  58

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  traught widow might have been expected to wear for such an occasion. But Philip Drew was plainly a broad-minded man�as he probably needed to be in his profession�and attached more importance to behaviour than to panoply. He found it an instructive business watching the play of expressions that came and went on his hostess's face; and in particular he seemed fas-_ cinated by the fluttering movements of her eyelashes and the white eyelids to which they were attached.