High Master of Clere (11 page)

That morning she was only too thankful to be busy, and during the days which followed only work
served to lighten for a time the leaden weight to which she woke each morning, sometimes alert to its cause, sometimes needing minutes to realize
...
and remember. Every night in the small hours she slipped into dressing-gown and slippers and went down to Nash, to sit with him, hoping against hope that the small life might not be slipping towards its end.

Now her coming evoked no ecstatic thumping of the stem, the silken coat was drab and only the liquid velvet eyes loved her in an unswerving faith which questioned nothing, doubted nothing, trusted implicitly still.

He would still be believing in her up to and beyond the moment of the final
coup-de-grace,
if it had to come to that. She could only suppose she must be thankful that if the hour came, he would not see her decision as betrayal, and that the aftermath of heartbreak would be hers alone, not his.

The day and the hour came. One morning, after examining Nash,
Mr.
Cody did not unpack his treatment bag. He drew Verity aside.

‘
I
’
m afraid we
’
ve lost this battle, my dear. The little chap is going downhill fast. But I suppose I needn
’
t tell you that? You
’
ll have realized it for yourself?
’

Verity nodded dumbly.

Mr.
Cody went on,
‘
He
’
s in no pain, only discomfort. But his pulse is fading, and though I could go on stuffing medication into him, it would only distress him unduly without much hope of result. He has no recuperative strength in reserve, I
’
m
afraid. So
?
’
He left the question in the air,
her haunted eyes telling him she understood.

She said,
‘
Yes. Yes,
’
then pleaded,
‘
But not today, please. If he
’
s not in pain—tomorrow?
Just to give me a little more time to get used to
—’

Unable to finish, she stopped and busied herself with Nash
’
s blanket.
Mr.
Cody said compassionately,

‘
That
’
s all right. If there
’
s no change for the better—tomorrow. Don
’
t trouble about me. I
’
ll see myself out,
’
and went.

That was the twenty-fourth of October. Daniel Wyatt, in London since the previous day, would not be returning until the evening, which allowed Verity to accept a thoughtful gesture of her mother
’
s.

Mrs.
Lytton said,
‘
Dear, I
’
m sure Daniel wouldn
’
t mind your not going to your office today. If you could bring any work you have on hand and do it here beside Nash, couldn
’
t I man the telephone for you, in case anyone rings?
’

‘
You could, dear, if you would,
’
Verity told her, grateful for both the thought and that on Nash
’
s possible last day she could escape the kindly sympathy of school and staff to which she dreaded
findin
g cheerful answers.

All morning Nash slept, oblivious to the sound of her typewriter at work. But there was infinite comfort for her in not leaving him, and when
Mrs.
Lytton returned for lunch, she brought an envelope with her.

‘
No calls I couldn
’
t deal with. I left the details on your desk,
’
she said.
‘
But Lance looked in during break, expecting to find you, and said he
thought you
’
d like to have this
—’
passing the
envelope over.

‘
Thi
s’
emerged from it—a snapshot of Nash, sitting up in his basket, absurd under a draping of blanket about his shoulders and wearing the dreamy, bemused expression which had always been known in the family as his
‘
Do Not Disturb
’
. It had been enlarged from the original and Lance had written on the back,

‘
This is from a roll of film I
’
ve only just processed. Thought I
’
d find you, but Mother will give it to you. I
’
m so sorry, V. girl. Keep hoping. Tomorrow I
’
ve got leavers (the Clere word for a half-holiday), and I may be trying out the Leica. My love to Nash. L.
’
At that moment no thought, no gift, could have touched Verity more.

She stayed where she was for the afternoon and suspected nothing amiss when her mother came back from the office a few minutes after three o
’
clock.

‘
Verity darling, could you come? Those people from Viking Vision have just arrived. You know, Jane Dysart
’
s sister and her chief. They say they have an appointment with Daniel. I told them he would be away until this evening, but they say you made the appointment by phone. So
?
’

Verity stood, frowning.
‘
Well, so I did. But it was for tomorrow, not today.
’

‘
They
’
re quite sure it was for this afternoon, dear.
’

‘
It wasn
’
t,
I
’
m
quite sure. It
’
s in his engagement book—Friday the twenty-fifth. But all right, Mother. I
’
ll see to it,
’
Verity hurried out.

In Daniel
’
s room Ira Cusack introduced her languid-looking companion as Guy Tabor, her chief, then said,
‘
Look, this is pretty inept of you, you know. Guy is a busy man on a tight schedule, and when I make an appointment for him, he surely has a right to expect it to be kept
?’

Verity apologized,
‘
I
’
m sorry—that you
’
ve both made the journey for nothing. But you
’
ve mistaken the date we arranged. It was tomorrow, the twenty
-
fifth. You
’
ll remember I told you
Mr.
Wyatt would be away today?
’

‘
That was yesterday, the twenty-third,
’
claimed Ira.
‘
You said
—’

‘
That the High Master would be in London on the first date you suggested, and then I offered you the
twenty-fifth, which I confirmed aloud over the phone when you accepted it.
’

Ira
’
s lips thinned.
‘
It was the twenty-fourth,
’
she insisted.

‘
It couldn
’
t have been. I had it in black and white in front of me that for both yesterday and today appointments simply weren
’
t
“
on
”
for
Mr.
Wyatt. I can also prove tomorrow
’
s entry from his engagement book if you like,
’
Verity insisted in her turn.

‘
And if I had it here, I could prove the reverse from ours,
’
snapped Ira. As Guy Tabor concealed a yawn behind his fingers she turned to him.
‘
I assure you, Guy, this was no muddle of mine. But do we come back again tomorrow, or hang on and wait for the man until he does come back?
’

Guy Tabor shot gold-linked cuffs and looked at his watch.
‘
Darling,
’
he drawled,
‘
you should know I
’
m due at the producers
’
meeting at six. No, we
’
ll have to see this chap tomorrow, bore though the whole thing is.
’
Apart from his
‘
How d
’
you do
’
to Verity it was his only contribution to the exchange, and as they left together Verity had the impression that
‘
great man
’
though he might be in his sphere, it was Ira who was the real power behind his throne.

Verity went back to her vigil with Nash, reassuring her mother that the mistake hadn
’
t been her own. Of this she was certain. But any such doubt of her efficiency rankled with her and her anxiety to explain matters to Daniel did something for her that evening by overlying her deeper worry for Nash. She knew Daniel had a dinner engagement, which meant she must waylay him between his return from London and changing to go out. But before he came in a small miracle happened. Nash stood up!

Painfully he lumbered over the lip of his basket, took one step
...
two
...
three, to lay his muzzle on her lap as she sat on the floor, scarcely daring to breathe
...
only hoping and marvelling that she saw what she saw
...
praying that it would happen again.

It did not. She waited a long time, then lifted him back into his basket, agreeing with
Mrs.
Lytton that they wouldn
’
t trouble
Mr.
Cody again that night. In the meanwhile Daniel had returned and gone to his suite and afterwards to his study, where she found him about to leave again.

‘
Hullo,
’
he greeted her.
‘
No
“
shop
”
, please, for I
’
m rather late. Oh, but I forgot—how is Nash?
’

Full of Nash
’
s small rally, Verity described it to him, then said,
‘
I
’
m afraid this is
“
shop
”
, but I thought you should hear it tonight. You remember the Stately Schools thing? Well, Miss Cusack and
Mr.
Tabor turned up for their appointment this afternoon.
’

Daniel stared, frowning.
‘
But you knew I was to be away
!
Why had you made it for this afternoon?
’

‘
Of course I knew. And I hadn
’
t. I
’
d made it for tomorrow, the twenty-fifth.
’

‘
In other words the mistake was on their side. How sure are you of that?
’

‘
Quite sure.
’

‘
All the same, it
’
s annoying to both parties, this kind of thing. As you made the appointment by phone, why didn
’
t you confirm it by letter
?’

‘
I didn
’
t think it necessary, as I
’
d spoken to Miss Cusack myself.
’

‘
Well, in future I
’
d rather you did confirm in writing. It saves trouble in the long run and obviates the need for taking one person
’
s word against another
’
s.
’

Verity did not care for the sound of that.
‘
Very well,
’
she said.
‘
But I do assure you that in this case mine is the word you can take, if only because
‘—
she had suddenly remembered Bob—
‘
I can produce a witness of my having offered Miss Cusack the twenty-fifth, not the twenty-fourth. Dr
.
Wales was with me at the time and he overheard me on the phone.
’

Daniel looked up from closing a desk-drawer.
‘
Dr
.
Wales? What did he want?
’