A Pearl for Love (19 page)

He had stopped the car, and the front door of the house was dancing up and down before the tears in her eyes.

Quickly she blinked them away as she got out of the car, then inside the house they were forgotten as Lucille met them in the hall.

‘
Oh, I
’
m glad you
’
re back,
’
she greeted them.
‘
I
...
I
’
m afraid Elizabeth is rather ill again. She
...
she said she felt so much better and wanted to come downstairs, so ... so I let her. Only I was so busy getting everything ready for her, I forgot to tell her not to come down on her own and
...
and she fell down the stairs. She must have had a giddy spell again. James is with her now, and there
’
s a nurse coming.
I ...
I thought you were the nurse.
’

John
’
s eyes met Catherine
’
s, and together they went to Lucille.

‘‘
It
’
s all right, darling, we
’
ll take care of everything. Obviously she
’
s not so bad, or the doctor would have moved her to hospital.
’

‘
There
’
s nothing broken, but she
’
s bruised and shocked.
’

‘
Can I see her
?’
asked Catherine.

‘
I expect so. Just for a moment. Oh, John, there
’
s the nurse now.
’

Catherine ran on upstairs before the nurse took charge, feeling that she wanted to see Elizabeth, if only for a moment. There was a great pain in her heart, which she had thought was anger at how she herself had been treated, but now it was for Elizabeth
...
and not a little for John. She had seen the anguish in his eyes as they looked at her, and she knew that in spite of everything, she loved him. And she loved Elizabeth, too. She loved her courage and self-discipline, and she felt compassion for her
now that the courage which had made her get out of bed and try to face everything again had led her to further pain and illness.

Uncle James looked up tiredly when she slipped silently into the bedroom. Elizabeth had a bruise on her cheek, and her eyes were closed.

‘
She
’
s still sleeping,
’
he said.
‘
The doctor gave her something.
’

‘
The nurse is here,
’
said Catherine softly.

‘
Well, thank goodness for that. She
’
ll take proper care of her. The doctor says she
’
s been very lucky. I ... we think she only fell a few steps, and the stairs are broad and shallow. It could have been a lot worse.
’

‘
Was it a giddy spell?
’

‘
Either that or she tripped on that long robe of hers. We don
’
t know. Lucille only heard her fall, and
Mrs.
Bannon was upstairs in the bathroom. Elizabeth should have waited, and not come down by herself.
’

A moment later Lucille appeared with the nurse, a cheerful robust woman who quickly took charge. Catherine took another long look at Elizabeth before she left the room, and knew that this certainly was not the time to have things out with Uncle James. That would have to wait till Elizabeth was a great deal better.

The days were busy ones, and in the evenings Catherine spent some time sitting beside Elizabeth
’
s
bed and telling her about any amusing incidents which had happened during the day.

Quite a few of the representatives who called regularly were now friends, and they would send their best wishes to her for a speedy recovery. Catherine always tried to make her visits as bright as possible and soon she felt that Elizabeth looked forward to her coming. She was careful never to mention Michael
’
s name, or to discuss the pearl her father had found, in case it brought him into the conversation.

‘
I still ache all over,
’
Elizabeth told her ruefully one evening.
‘
I feel such a fool that I should fall downstairs like that.
’

‘
What happened?
’
Catherine asked.

‘
That
’
s the funny part—I just don
’
t remember. I remember thinking I
’
d had enough of bed, and deciding to come downstairs for an hour or two, then
...
well, I must have knocked myself out.
’

‘
Well, don
’
t worry about it or Nurse will put me out.
’

They looked at each other and grinned, just as John put his head round the door. His face changed when he saw Catherine, and she stood up, her smile sobering.

‘
I
’
ll go now, Elizabeth. John can take my place.
’

‘
I
’
ve no wish to chase you away.
’

‘
I was going anyway,
’
she said crisply. I have things I must attend to.
’

She heard Elizabeth
’
s clear voice asking what was wrong as she closed the door, and she felt chagrined. John had caught her off guard. They had no wish to bother Elizabeth with their private quarrel, she was sure. No doubt John would soon set her mind at rest, however.

In her own room Catherine began, again, to look through her personal possessions, this time with a much clearer eye, now that she knew why she was searching. Uncle James had impressed on her, previously, that she must not throw anything away, unless she was sure it wasn
’
t needed, and she now knew why this was so. Remembering, she had no fears that she had inadvertently thrown the pearl away.

It hadn
’
t been among her father
’
s personal things. She had helped her mother to go through everything, and her mother had sent everything to a charity.

Now all the papers were tidy, and much easier to examine, as were other personal things such as old pieces of jewellery and watches in a jewellery box, some favourite ornaments now on the mantelpiece, books, her father
’
s old pipes and tobacco jar, also on the mantelpiece.

Catherine peered into the tobacco jar, and wondered if she ought to throw out the small amount of tobacco which was left. Her mother had just kept such personal things as they were, probably taking comfort from having them there.

Catherine got a newspaper and tipped out the tobacco, since it was the one place she had not yet
looked. It hadn
’
t seemed necessary before she knew about the pearl, but now everywhere must be searched.

Her heart bounded when she saw the tissue paper, and her fingers trembled as she opened it up and looked at the pearl. It was very beautiful, but a second careful scrutiny showed her that it wasn
’
t quite so perfect as the one she had seen in Perth. Nevertheless, it was probably very valuable, and she wrapped it up carefully again, and put it back where she had found it. She must think about all this, wondering if her mother had once done that very thing, or if she had never known about it at all. At the moment her mind seemed to be scarcely working at all.

Why hadn
’
t Uncle James told her? Why hadn
’
t he asked about the pearl? She could easily have thrown out the jar, and lost it for ever.

But no ... he knew she would never part with any of her father
’
s things. She remembered that she wanted to keep everything when he offered to attend to the removal and storage of her furniture. Perhaps he wanted to look for it himself! Was that it? And when he didn
’
t find it, he encouraged her to look through everything carefully, knowing that sooner or later she would find it. He would know that her father hadn
’
t sold the pearl, or the find would have become widely known.

She puzzled over it for a long time, until Aunt Lucille came to ask her if she was feeling all right,
and if she wouldn
’
t like a hot drink before bedtime.

‘
Coming,
’
said Catherine.
‘
I
...
I
’
m sorry, Aunt Lucille. I
’
ve been rather busy, tidying up.
’

‘
Try to get to bed early, then,
’
said Aunt Lucille comfortably.
‘
John has gone out, too. Another late night for him, probably. I don
’
t know what
’
s come over everyone these days.
’

Uncle James was downstairs, and he looked up with his usual smile when Catherine came in.

‘
Hello, my dear. Come and sit here by the fireside.
’

‘
I
’
m quite warm, thank you, Uncle James.
’

‘
Oh.
’
He looked at her whimsically.
‘
I was rather thinking that you seemed a bit cool these days, Catherine. It would be nice to think I
’
m wrong.
’

She bit her lip, then coloured at the implication of his words. Then she looked him straight in the eye. .

‘
I
’
ve found the pearl, Uncle James. It was in the tobacco jar.
’

His face registered surprise and delight.

‘
Well, congratulations, my dear. I
thought
you would find it sooner or later. Did John decide to tell you about it after all?
’

‘
No,
’
she said evenly.
‘
Michael Rodgers told me.
’

‘
Michael
!
’
James Sheridan stared at her, then his eyes became concerned.
‘
What did he tell you, Catherine?
’

‘
Everything.
’

Her hands were shaking a little, because suddenly she was getting reaction, and having to keep a tight hold on herself.

‘
He told me about how you had bought out his father, just when the business started to pay, and now he
’
s got the sack. And he told me about
...
about the pearl and
...
everything
...’

She couldn
’
t think straight, aware of his eyes on her, then she looked at him squarely, and was disconcerted to see only the usual kindness and compassion on his face. There was no anger, as there had been with John.

‘
Michael has only been telling you half truths, Catherine,
‘
he told her.
‘
It
’
s a long story, my dear, but I would like to tell you what really happened. I had hoped only Michael
’
s mother and himself, also John and I would be the only people to hear about poor old Freddy Rodgers, but when Michael goes distorting things to suit himself, then I must put it right.
’

He pulled up a chair for her, and she sat down obediently, near the fire. She would listen to what Uncle James had to say, but would it be the truth? Obviously it was to be a different sto
r
y from Michael
’
s, and she had felt that Michael believed, firmly, every word he had told her. He had sworn it was true.

Yet it was hard to believe that James Sheridan wasn
’
t also telling the truth
...

***