The man who came back Read online

  She was not wearing eye-shadow at the

  moment... she probably classed that as unsuit

  able as some of her jewels. And her make-up

  was exceptionally delicate, and exceptionally

  skilfully applied.

  No one could have appeared more lovely than she did seated at the head of her dinner-table. And no man could more noticeably have appreciated her loveliness as he sat facing her at the opposite end... for, in the absence of a master of the place, she had insisted that he take that seat.

  Harriet had taken almost as much pains over her appearance as her half-sister, but the results were inevitably not so striking. For one thing her dress�and it would never even have occurred to her to wear anything other than a dress on such an occasion�was extremely simple, and a mere man could hardly be expected to gather from its simplicity that she had paid a lot of money for it and it actually had a Balmain label

  bO THE MAN WHO CAME BACK inside it. It was of heavy cream-coloured silk, there was no embroidery, and her pearls were the pearls her mother had left to her. She had tried twisting her hair into various styles, but in the end .she had decided to let it flow loosely as usual. She looked very charming in the candle flames, with her head bent rather pensively forward, and her eyes cast downwards demurely as if in contemplation of everything that was set in front of her. She took Uttle or no part in the dinner-table conversation, and afterwards she allowed the other two to carry on where they had left off while she poured the coffee and handed round' the cups. Philip Drew leapt to his feet to assist her, but she assured him without looking at him that she was quite capable of dispensing coffee and refilling their cups without his assistance. He sank down again in his deep, comfortable chair and looked mildly amused. He offered his hostess a cigarette and lighted it for her, but he allowed Harriet�who, apparently, was in no hurry�to light her own when she was ready to participate in the mild dissipation of smoking. She had assured him on another occasion that she did not smoke, but apparently she felt she needed one tonight. Her fingers were inclined to tremble as she lighted her cigarette, however, and he noticed it. He said quietly that it was not drawing properly, and she dropped it accidentally into her lap and it burned a hole in her

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  cream-coloured dress. With a rush of colour to her cheeks, and biting her lips at the same time, she^ pretended that it didn't matter.

  "I daresay the cleaners can do something about it," she said. "They mend all sorts of things."

  "What a pity it's that particular dress," Gay said, bending forward to inspect the damage. You must be very jumpy tonight, darling. I've never known you so careless." Harriet hastily refilled her coffee cup, and -then said that if they'd excuse her she'd go upstairs and make certain all the windows were

  closed. It was the housekeeper's night off, and she had promised her diat she would do so since Gay was nervous about open windows in unoccupied rooms. And as it had been such a very fine day all the windows had been opened.

  Dr. Drew did not offer to accompany her on her round, although for one moment she feared he was going to do so before she left the room. He crushed his cigarette in the ash-tray and looked ready to rise, glancing at her sideways. And then apparently he changed his mind, and relaxed.

  "If you see anything you don't like the look of, darling, just scream," Gay advised her lightheartedly before she left the room.

  "I'm not at all sure I feel flattered by that remark," the doctor observed in protest before the door was closed. "Last night Miss Stiles

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  screamed in no uncertain manner just becauseshe caught sight of me. If this house contains anything more alarming than me ... well, we shall certainly hear an uproar!"

  They both laughed, as if at a really excellent joke, and Harriet went on her way upstairs. She took as much time over the closing of the windows as she could, and when she had finished she went along to her own room and re-madeup her face. She sprayed herself lightly with perfume and went downstairs again, moving in a

  light aura of flower-like perfume, and when she entered the drawing-room the delicate aroma advanced ahead of her. She saw Gay wrinkle her nose, gaze at her in mild surprise for a moment, and then look slightly speculative. She said nothing, however, apart from:

  "You've been rather a long time, darling. I take it that this time you saw nothing more alarming than Dr. Drew?"

  "No," Harriet answered.

  The doctor's dark eyes sparkled in a coolly amused fashion as they met hers. There was a faintly challenging look in them too, as if he expected her to deny that there was anything about him that was in the least alarming. But she did not do so. She merely resumed her seat and gazed quietly out of the window at the moonlit terrace.

  She had received the impression, when she entered the room, that the other two had got on

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  I very well indeed without her. They were both ^sitting in relaxed attitudes in their chairs, and | the room was filled with the pleasant fragrance

  of Dr. Drew's specially blended cigarettes� ? which Gay, apparently, found very much to her

  taste�and it was quite clear that their know;, ledge of one another had advanced considerably [ while they were left alone. | Gay explained that the doctor had been tellf'ing her about his travels, and she was sure ; Harriet would be thrilled to hear how much he t had travelled. He had^also been telling her about ! his practice in London, and the reason why he

  had had to leave it for a time. He had been ill

  �some sort of a bug�and a change of scene [and country air had been advocated. Luckily " old Dr. Parkes had been in need of someone to

  take over his practice, temporarily, and Dr.

  Drew had filled the breech. It was wonderful, really, because Dr. Parkes was a dear old thing, but he really ought to be thinking about retiring, and Dr' Drew was "^y a consultant. He was a specialist in nervous disorders! . "Oh, really?" Harriet said, as she removed her gaze from the moonlit terrace for a long enough period to dart a look at Philip Drew and assure herself that he didn't look in the least as if he had been ill recently. He looked to her remarkably tough. And she felt sorry for any unfortunate patient afflicted by a temporary derangement of their nervous systems who was

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  forced to make revelations that Dr. Drew would be unable to sympathise with, for she felt sure he was not a sympathetic type at all.

  Only in rare cases, perhaps, when the patient was a young and attractive widow, who was prepared to attribute to him qualities that he al- most certainly did not possess....

  "Well, I don't think you'll be exactly overworked here in Falaise," she heard herself ob- serve, a trifle acidly. "Country people are nor

  mally fairly healthy, and their nerves are pretty good."

  Philip Drew refused to be drawn on this subject, and merely sat regarding her with an annoying complacency and faint air of amuse

  -.rnent over the glowing tip of a cigarette.

  At ten o'clock he said that he must go, and Gay wanted to walk with him out to his car. But he, said immediately that the night air could be harmful for her in her present, definitely fragile, condition, and she would be better indoors. It was the beginning of October, and there was an autumnal nip in the air once the sun had gone down. She must not be deceived by a little sunshine during the daytime.

  Gay, who all her life had loved to be cosseted, looked as if she might defy him for a moment, and then plainly thought it was really rather novel being looked upon as a delicate piece of porcelain. Her late husband had never thought of her as porcelain, although he had appreciated her

  THE MAN WHO CAME BACK u=>

  � -. "

  looks. Dr. Drew made it perfectly clear tha:. .K appreciated her looks, and in addition he had a strong man's aur of sternness when wishing to

  drive home his advice and guard a potenthil treasure. Or that was the im
plication as he IBK, a hand gently on her shoulder and, squeezed it for a moment.

  If she couldn't look after herself, someone else I would have to do the job for her.

  Harriet accompanied him out to his car, and she stood beside it as he unlocked the door and slipped into the driving seat. In her light dress she looked like a pale moth in the gloom, and the night breeze stirred her hah-. She stood

  ; clasping her bare arms with her hands, and just

  | before he drove off he noticed that she was

  : shivering. "You'd better get inside, too," he said curtly. "Don't ten me you're afraid I'll catch pneumonia?" she called mockingly. He shook his head. "Not you. But you're easily scared, and I can't have you decorating the drive once I've driven off. Your sister might have some trouble reviving you." Unpleasant man, Harriet thought, as she watched his tail light in some indignation. Just because I did a silly thing last night! ... She vowed that, whatever happened to her in future, she would�or she hoped she would!_ never need Dr. Drew's professional services. And

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  he hadn't had to do much for her the night before. So far as she was able to recall he hadn't even thought it necessary to provide her with a

  glass of brandy.

  When she returned to the drawing-room she found her half-sister sitting cosily over the elec

  tric fire and gazing dreamily into the basket of

  camouflaged logs. There was an expression of contentment on her face, and her violet eyes were languid with it.

  "He's nice, isn't he?" she said, as if she was addressing herself, and Harriet thought it unnecessary to answer.

  "Get me a nightcap, will you, darling?" Gay requested, sinking lower into her chair. "A large brandy and soda. And get one for yourself, if you want it."

  "I don't," Harriet answered, surprised, for she was extremely abstemious. "But I don't mind joining you with a cup of chocolate. I'll get your brandy first, and then I'll come back again when I've made the chocolate."

  "Do," Gay cooed abstractedly.

  She found the kitchen empty, for the staff had gone to bed, and it didn't take her long to heat a saucepan of milk on the solid fuel stove. She carried the chocolate back to the drawing-room, together with a plate of biscuits, and while she sat nibbling the biscuits�for some reason she hadn't enjoyed her dinner, and as a matter of fact she had hardly touched it�Gay aroused

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  herself from her abstraction and gazed at her contentedly. "I was thinking," she said at last, "that life is strange." "In what way ?" Harriet asked, feeling reasonably certain what was coming next.

  "Well..." Gay stretched herself luxuriously, and then curled up like a contented kitten in her chair. "Only a few weeks ago I was completely

  : shattered by Bruce's death. Yes; I really was," as her sister looked at her somewhat questioningly. "I vowed that I would never marry again, because men complicate things so." Presumably she was referring to the upheaval created by her

  -husband's demise. "I thought it would be much more fun to live alone, or widi someone like you to keep me company. And I still want you

  i around, whatever happens," reaching out to : ruffle Harriet's already lightly ruffled hair. "Thank you," Harriet murmured, seeing�if

  ; she had intended to settle down with her sister �the red light. The warning light that meant she didn't have to sacrifice her plans after all.

  Gay drew thoughtfully on her cigarette. "Yes, it is strange," she repeated. "Strange how one changes one's mind. But then I hadn't

  ; really had an opportunity to get to know Dr.

  Drew, had I?" | "You mean, when you got back here from

  Italy you hadn't even met Dr. Drew?"

  , "Yes." . �

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  "But after you'd met him for the first time were you very much impressed by him?"

  "I thought he was a very good doctor, and he seemed to understand exactly how I felt. But it wasn't until last night, when I saw him all dressed up to go out to dinner, that I realised he is an amazingly attractive man. I don't think I've met quite such an attractive man. And tonight I enjoyed his conversation so much that I was really sorry when he said that he had to leave. Of course, if I'd been a little stronger, he would probably have stayed longer. But being a doctor he refused to overtax me. Next time.... Next time I shall insist that he stays longer."

  "Oh! So you intend that there shall be a next time?" Harriet said, wondering why she made such a trite observation when it was reasonably clear what the widow intended.

  "Of course. And after that, there will be lots and lots of 'next times,' and I don't think he'll refuse a single invitation. I rather gathered that he liked it here, didn't you?"

  "I think his glamorous patient exercises a kind of spell over him." Gay dimpled. "You put things so nicely, darling. And you really think me glamorous?"

  "As if I don't know!" Harriet exclaimed, shaking her head at her. "How many men have been in love with you since you were old enough to have them falling in love with you ?"

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  "Lots and lots." Gay dimpled afresh. "Well then, you don't have to ask me whether

  I consider you're glamorous. But Dr. Drew isn't

  me�he isn't all the other men who have fallen for you!�and it's just possible he is�married."

  "No, no, I asked him." The violet eyes gleamed with amusement because Harriet looked faintly shocked. "I asked him whether he had a wife, and if he hadn't one why wasn't he married."

  "And what did he say?"

  "He's as tough and determined a bachelor as they come, and he admitted it. But all the same, I wouldn't guarantee him immunity for very much longer. Men of his type capitulate suddenly when the moment is ripe, and I suspect that Philip Drew is a little tired of bachelordom, anyway. I could tell by the way he settled down here in the drawing-room tonight, and by the regret on his face when he had to leave. He said something about having rather a nice flat in London, but a flat wasn't a home. Well, it isn't, is it?"

  "I don't know." Harriet shrugged her shoulders. "It all depends upon the size of the flat, and whether you like it or not. I like my little two-roomed rabbit-hutch in London very much indeed, but it seems I'll have to let it if I'm not going back there."

  "Now, don't be in a hurry, darling," Gay cautioned her. She asked her to pass her a cigar

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  ette. "You could say I've got a kind of 'hunch' about Dr. Drew. I feel that he and I could get along splendidly for some reason or other. I've always thought it would be marvellous to be married to a doctor, and as I'm not particularly strong it would be a kind of sound investment. Then, too, I love that sort of�intense mascu

  linity of his. It could be a little frightening if he wasn't in love with you, because I kind of suspect he's rather ruthless. But if one could be absolutely certain that he was in love with

  one! ..."

  Harriet sat bolt upright in her chair and

  looked distinctly startled.

  "You're not�at this stage�planning to

  marry him, are you?" she asked, aghast.

  Her half-sister smiled at her through a faint

  haze of cigarette smoke.

  "Darling, you're not very bright, are you?"

  she said. "Haven't I made it pretty clear that I

  would consider marriage and nothing less?"

  "Don't be silly!"

  "I'm not silly. I've simply decided that I shall

  have to many again after all."

  "But you've only been a widow a few weeks!"

  "Naturally, I shan't marry until I've been a

  widow for�six months, shall we say? I think

  after six months I'd be perfectly entitled to

  marry again."

  Harriet rose from her chair and started pacing

  up and down. It could be that she was old

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  fashioned, but there was something about her sister's outlook, and her methods of expressing herself, that made her acutely uncomfortable at

  times.

  "Aren't you counting your chickens before they're hatched?" she asked, a rough note of disapproval in her voice.

  Gay's shapely eyebrows shot upwards enquiringly. "What do you mean?"

  "Well, before you can marry Dr. Drew, Dr.

  Drew has to consent to marry you! Full of charm, and utterly alluring though you may be, it's just possible he never intends to take a wife."

  "Now it's you who are silly," with a soft smile.

  "Well, he may have someone lined up to marry, one day when he feels like settling down."

  "Again I say you're being silly." "Well, he must meet lots of attractive nurses, and people like that�" "Doctors of Philip Drew's stamp seldom marry nurses." Harriet shrugged her shoulders. She also made a curious little gesture with her hands.

  "Well, you hardly know him. I think it would be ridiculous to make plans about a man you hardly know!"

  Gay lay back in her chair and surveyed her with a sudden, faintly speculative gleam in her

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  eyes that finally faded and gave place to a veil of inscrutability.

  "Ah, well, we don't have to talk any more about it tonight, and I can tell you're still thinking about Bruce and the length of time I ought to remain a widow. But you forget I've a lot of responsibility here. This is a big house, and the estate is quite considerable, and if I don't acquire another husband I shall have to acquire an agent to act for me." She nicked ash from her cigarette into the ash-tray. "By the way, what really caused you to faint last night?" with sudden abruptness.

  "I've told you... I'd been up to the attics and I felt a bit nervous, and Dr. Drew startled me coming in through the window."

  "But it wasn't even properly dark, and he looked eminently respectable. Burglars don't normally break in in full evening dress."