High Master of Clere (13 page)

CHAPTER V

Verity fell asleep towards dawn, but was awake and up very early, wanting to break the news of Nash
’
s death to her mother before
Mrs.
Lytton came down herself.

The blue eyes filled with tears.
‘
Oh, darling, what a shock for you! And after the hope he gave us yesterday
!
You went down and found him? Dear, why on earth didn
’
t you call me and I
’
d have come down too, to be with you?
’

Verity said dully,
‘
You couldn
’
t have done anything. I was too late myself. Besides, I wasn
’
t alone. Just after I
’
d found him dead, Daniel came home and—he was very kind.
’

‘
Did you expect him to be anything else, considering he knew just how much Nash had meant to you?
’
challenged
Mrs.
Lytton.

‘
Yes, well—he
was
kind. He
’
d been through it himself, he said, and he made me see that I ought to be thankful Nash died as he did—in his own time. We made tea and talked for about half an hour and then he—Daniel—made me go back to bed.
’

‘
But not to sleep, I dare say. Did you get any at all, darling? You look worn out.
’

‘
I
’
m all right.
’

‘
You
’
re not, and I shan
’
t let you go into the office today.
’
Mrs.
Lytton abandoned the cup of tea Verity had brought her and pushed aside the bedclothes.
‘
If I get up now I can catch Daniel before he goes to morning Chapel and I
’
ll tell him so.
’

‘
Please, Mother, no! I need to keep my mind occupied, and I
’
d rather go to work as usual.
’

‘
I don
’
t think you should, dear. Daniel will understand
!
’

‘
Yes, perhaps. All the same, he did—enough for me last night, and I
’
d rather not ask any more of him just now.
’

But when Verity crossed the hall half an hour later a note addressed to her lay on the hall table.

Daniel had written without preamble or signature
—
‘
Please take the morning off. On my way over to Chapel I shall send Martin to you. Get him to do all that
’
s necessary. Meanwhile, don
’
t think of coming to the office until after lunch, and not then if you don
’
t feel equal to it.
’

Martin was the school gardener, and when he came to find her it did something for the ache at her heart to set him to work on a grave for Nash at the spot she chose for it—in a shrubbery near a well-worn path he had trodden for himself and where a spread of periwinkle would cover it in time.

Martin was gentle and sympathetic.
‘
The old place won
’
t be the same at all without the little sausage
!’
he mourned. But with the last duty to Nash done and over, the desert of the morning stretched out before Verity. Listlessly she pulled on her raincoat and went for a walk on the shore.

She had had all night in which to think and remember—and blush. She hadn
’
t
wanted
there to
be any more hours in which to brace herself for facing Daniel. Waiting only made the prospect worse.

What must he think of her? How could she have made such an ell from the inch of understanding he had offered her—forcing him to kiss her when nothing could have been further from his thoughts?

They were questions she had asked herself over and over during the night. And now came something else to stab with the insistence of a thorn in a finger—Max Doran
’
s gibe which had wished her
‘
better hunting
’
. Supposing Daniel had remembered it too, wouldn
’
t that partly account for the cryptic look he had given her before he had kissed her, simply to save her face, she supposed
?
At the thought she felt hollow inside.

Coming upon her crouched beside Nash
’
s body, he had taken her in his arms and at the impulse of a pitying moment had called her
‘
Dear
’
, had stayed with her, talked to her, rallied her. And how had she reacted to his kindness? By
clinging,
forcing on him the choice of either kissing her or putting her aside. Still being kind, he had kissed her
...
but so deliberately, at so little will of his own, that he might almost have slapped her face instead.

Her thoughts went off at a tangent. Why did it rankle so badly? Supposing it had been Bob who had been as kind, who had pitied her as much? If at parting she had made it difficult for Bob not to kiss her, he
’
d have done so roundly and heartily, and when she was less sore over Nash, he would have reminded her about it and they would have laughed it off together.

Certainly she wouldn
’
t now be giving a second thought to
‘
better hunting
’
, nor keeping her courage screwed to the point of having to face
Bob.

The difference was—
it had been Daniel
...
Daniel who, in the name of pity, had briefly cut the distance between them, as unwarned as she of the effect of his sympathy and his physical nearness upon her.

Walking fast, as if in flight from her thoughts, she faced the truth. When she had flung herself into his arms a second time, it hadn
’
t been at all that she dreaded his leaving her to her grief, which would last long beyond a night. It had been because in a mad, heady moment, she had wanted,
willed
him to kiss her, ached to know the touch of his mouth
on hers, to have it to remember when he held her at professional arm
’
s length again.

To remember! She must have been out of her mind! To live down, to forget, to bury fathoms deep, rather! And certainly, if the look he had thrown her were anything to go by, he would see they both did just that. His note of this morning, as terse as a memo, had said as much. Incident closed.

He had an early afternoon class on Fridays and did not return to his study until shortly before Ira Cusack and her chief were due. At a minute or two to three o
’
clock he buzzed for Verity, but was at her door before she had time to collect her notepad and pencil.

‘
I
’
d just realized you mightn
’
t be here. But as you are, I
’
d like you to sit in and take some notes on this meeting,
’
he said, and stood aside for her to go ahead of him. In his study he scrutinized her set face briefly.
‘
Are you feeling a little more yourself now
?’
he asked.

She nodded.
‘
Yes, thank you. I
’
m all right.
’

And Martin came and did everything you wanted?
’

‘
Yes. It was good of you to realize I
’
d need help.
’
Momentarily Verity was tempted to finish the broken apology she had begun last night. But pride and belated dignity kept her silent. She could take a hint and be as formal as he. Between them they were repudiating all their closeness of the small hours, but if his intention was to help her to forget the piece of folly with which she had spoiled it, she must meet him halfway. Their everyday relationship had to go on, after all.

Their visitors were punctual and, considering she had been in the wrong, Ira Cusack made a graceful job of accepting Daniel
’
s apology for their abortive trip of the previous day.

She smiled at him archly.
‘
I
’
ve jumped the gun this time,
’
she announced.
‘
I
’
ve packed a toothbrush and I propose to camp with Jane for as long as necessary, as from tonight. So now say No to us if you dare, High Master! Oh, and I
’
ve a message from Jane. Will you dine with us at West House this evening?
’

‘
If
Mrs.
Lytton will excuse me, I
’
d like to,
’
Daniel told her, then turned to Guy Tabor.
‘
Now, if you could outline your proposals, perhaps we could discuss them?
’
he invited.

Guy Tabor came to life and as he talked he dispelled Verity
’
s first impression of him. He might let Ira manage his social contacts for him, but he was completely master of his job and his enthusiasm for it was infectious. Watching and listening as she took notes, Verity changed her opinion to see them as a near-perfect team—he the artist, Ira the realist—and wondered why Ira was considering leaving him or why he was allowing her to go.

Presently he asked to be shown over the school and grounds and Ira and Daniel went with him. Verity returned to her office and saw him leave later without Ira. Daniel, she did not see again except when he looked in to their sitting-room to tell her mother he would not be in to dinner.

After he had gone—
‘
That
’
s so like him. Not even skipping shepherd
’
s pie without warning me. What a husband that man will make for some girl one day
!’
mused
Mrs.
Lytton happily, as if her sole criterion for the perfect marriage partner were a punctilious attitude to warmed-over meat.

Later she was not there when the inter-house telephone rang, so Verity answered it.

Ira Cusack
’
s voice said,
‘
Main School? Is that
Mrs.
Lytton? No? Verity? Oh well, you
’
ll do.
Listen, I
’
ve a small problem on my hands. Would
Mrs.
Lytton come over to dinner, do you think?
’

‘
Tonight? I thought
—’
began Verity.

‘
Just so. You heard me invite your
rather
personable chief on Jane
’
s behalf. But now she and Nicholas have had to dash over to King
’
s Lynn hospital, where his sister has been taken after a smash in her car. Which makes the dinner situation here a shade tricky, don
’
t you see?
’

Verity said innocently,
‘
Why should it?
’

‘
Oh, my dear
!
Because!
You must see that I can
’
t entertain the man all by myself! Well, can I
?’

‘
I don
’
t see why not. I dare say you needn
’
t worry about coping. Jane
’
s cook will do everything
for you. Oh
!’
Light suddenly dawning, Verity
added perversely,
‘
You mean you think you can
’
t be
tête
-
à
-t
ê
te with
Mr.
Wyatt and you want Mother as your chaperon? But surely he
’
ll understand, when you explain about Jane and Nicholas. After all, if Mother is out any time, he and I eat alone together and think nothing of it.
’

‘
Oh,
you
!’
Ira dismissed the comparison.
‘
That
’
s entirely different. I mean, when you
’
re breathing down each other
’
s necks all day on the job, I agree there
’
s nothing to your sharing a nosebag at night. Anyway, you probably only talk shop. But I hardly know him yet, and do you suppose I want him to think I was in cahoots with Jane to trick him into an evening alone with me?
’

‘
As if he would!
’
scoffed Verity.

‘
Which doesn
’
t say much for your experience of men, dear. In this case, what do you imagine all that high-falutin
’
brusquerie is
about,
if it isn
’
t meant to ward off predatory females until he
’
s good and ready to crook a finger at his own choice? Fun, of course, to get under the guard of a man like that. But as I
’
m not such a dimwit as to use a crowbar for the job, will you ask your mother if she
’
ll
help me out, or must
I
ring round the she-housemasters and rope in one of them?
’

‘
All right, I
’
ll ask Mother.
I
expect she will,
’
said Verity, and put down the phone.

Rather to her surprise
Mrs.
Lytton approved Ira
’
s scruples, commenting,
‘
Quite thoughtful of her, after all, to realize that in his position Daniel can
’
t afford to be compromised. People are only too ready to misjudge the most innocent situations, especially when a girl is as glamorous as Ira Cusack must know she is. Yes, I
’
d better go.
’

So Verity, with small appetite for it, sat down to shepherd
’
s pie alone. She went to bed early, though not to sleep until long after she heard her mother come in.

A crowbar for the job.
Ira would call forcing a man to kiss you against his will
‘
a crowbar for the job
’
, wouldn
’
t she?

The next morning and on all the following days Ira was to be seen about the school, watching, asking questions and taking notes.