A Summer in the Country (48 page)

“I know a secret“—a little singsong chant. Mina could hear it quite clearly. Her heart speeded and her hands were clumsy as she arranged the after-supper tray, lifted the boiling ketde from the hotplate of the Esse, made the tea. Was it possible that Georgie knew Nest's secret?

“Don't be more of an old fool than you can help.” She spoke aloud, to reassure herself, and the dogs pricked their ears, heads tilted hopefully.

If Georgie had suspected anything she would have spoken up long since. And, if she'd kept silent for more than thirty years, why should she speak now? Mina shook her head, shrugging away her foolish forebodings. It was Nest's fear that had infected her, bringing the past into the present There was no need for all this silly panic. Yet, as she refilled the ketde, her heart ached suddenly with a strange, poignant longing for the past and she thought she heard her mother's voice reading from
A Shropshire Lad:
Housman's “blue remembered hills.”

Mina stood quite still, her head bowed, still holding the kettle. The land of lost content: those happy, laughter-filled years. The tears had come much later… Presently she placed the kettle on the back of the stove and bent to caress the dogs, murmuring love-words to them until the moment passed and she was in command again. Picking up the tray, willing herself into calm, Mina went to find Nest.