High Master of Clere (15 page)

‘
I? I don
’
t see how. I
’
d have to go over and back by bus, and I
’
d have to tell Daniel why I wanted to go.
’

‘
Well, tell him something. Say you want to get your hair done for your Norwich do tonight, why not?
’

‘
I had my hair done last Saturday
.’

‘
You don
’
t suppose he
’
ll have noticed that? Oh, come on, V.! Have you got a bus timetable handy? Because if you won
’
t help me out, I
’
ll have to cut school and go myself. And then I
shall
be for the high jump!
’

Verity said,
‘
I
’
m not going to lie about my hair. But I
’
ll ask for the afternoon off. I know there
’
s a bus at two, but I must check that there
’
s a return one to get me back well before six, which is when we leave for Norwich.
’

‘
There
’
d better be,
’
agreed Lance grimly.
‘
Because, as I have to know whether you
’
ve managed it or not, we
’
ve got to make contact somewhere, and I
’
m not allowed out after half-past five.
’

Verity, searching her desk drawer, had found a bus guide.
‘
I can catch one which gets back at five, so you
’
d better come down to the main gate about then and wait for me. Or I
’
ll wait for you, but don
’
t be late.
’

‘
Don
’
t worry—I shan
’
t be. Bless you, V.
’
On his way out Lance stopped to ask,
‘
You needn
’
t tell Mother, need you, in case she might let on?
’
And,
‘
It
’
ll cost quite a bit, I
’
m afraid. Can you pay?
’

‘
Meaning you can
’
t? All right, I dare say I can run to it,
’
said Verity drily.

‘
I
’
ll pay you back!
’

‘
This year, next year, some time, never? I can hardly wait!
’

Lance pulled a hideous face at her and, this time, went.

Driven by a wind straight out of the north, snow clouds had been gathering all morning and the first flakes had fallen as Verity had boarded the outward bus for King
’
s Lynn. It was fully dark and the snow a whirling fury by the time the return bus was out on the open road.
‘
Do it keep on like this, there
’
ll be drifts six foot deep by night,
’
was the cosy verdict of Verity
’
s fellow passengers, who began as a bus-load full, dropping off by ones and twos and going their laden ways into the darkness as their village destinations were reached.

To her relief Daniel had barely glanced up when she had asked for the afternoon off.
‘
Of course,
’
he had said, and though she had had a bad moment when he added,
‘
By the way, Lance hasn
’
t returned my camera yet?
’
she had managed not to lie. She had said,
‘
I should think he may bring it after tea,
’
and Daniel had accepted that.

For most of the journey the bus-route ran parallel to the coastline, but a comparatively short distance from Clere as the crow flies, it made a big
‘
U
’
inland in order to accommodate passengers from several hamlets. This added some extra miles, and in good weather people for Clere often chose to alight at the point of the inward turn and walk the rest of the way across the sands. Tonight, at about this same point, Verity was the only passenger left, but she had no thought of leaving the warm bus when, after a couple of long chokes and jerks, it came to a grinding halt.

On the far side of his little linen blind the driver swore and revved up again and again without result. He shot the blind up to grimace back at Verity and turn down an expressive thumb. Then he got out, fought with the bonnet and tinkered under it, climbed back again and tried the engine over and over without response.

Out again and in at the passengers
’
door to Verity. Thrusting back his uniform cap and sitting down,
‘
’
Fraid we
’
ve had it, lady,
’
he announced.

‘
Had it?
’
Verity glanced anxiously at her watch.
‘
How?
’

‘
Water in the engine. Thought she took some up, that last drift we come through. All this loppin
’
of the hedges that done it. Never had snow blowin
’
across and pilin
’
up on the roads, years gone by
—’

Verity cut short this judgment on
modern
fanning methods.
‘
But what do we
do
? You mean we
’
re really stuck?
’

She earned a pitying look.
‘
If she
’
oon
’
t start, what else
?
Try her again in a minute,
’
he promised.

He seemed in no hurry to do so. Arms crossed on the high back of a seat, he gazed at Verity.
‘
You were an
“
all the way
”
, weren
’
t you, miss?
’
he asked.

‘
To Clere? Yes.
’
She played nervously with her watchstrap.
‘
Look, weren
’
t you going to try the engine again?
’

‘
Said I would, didn
’
t I?
’

‘
And supposing it won
’
t start then?
’

‘
That
’
s what I
’
m wo
rkin
’
out.
I
H
ave
to walk back to Stone Cross to phone for leave to get
b
reakdown help from Brancaster—that
’
s the nearest.
’

‘
But we
’
re awfully late already, and that
’
s going to take ages!
’

‘
Not so long as settin
’
here for the night, which you wouldn
’
t like any more
’
n me. You in a great hurry to get home, likely?
’

‘
I am, rather.
’
(The understatement of the year!) Verity drew up the shawl collar of her coat and fastened it.
‘
If you
’
ll try again now and nothing happens, I think I
’
ll start walking.
’

‘
To Stone Cross along o
’
me? You
’
oon
’
t do any better for transport from there.
’

‘
No, to Clere by the sands.
’

Her companion shook his head.
‘
No sense to that. Do the tide be at the full, you
’
oon
’
t get through.
’

Verity made a rough calculation.
‘
If I hurry, I
’
ll just about miss high tide.
’
Alighting with the driver, she waited to see if the engine gave a kick, then bade him goodnight and set out.

Out on the open sands she took the full fury of the wind and the blinding snow. She hadn
’
t dressed for such weather and she had no torch. But she didn
’
t doubt she had done the only thing possible. It was already after five and she couldn
’
t hope Lance would have dared to wait. But she could call at West House on her way in, and her chief concern was now for herself—that she should be home before six, when Daniel had said he wished to leave for Norwich. She must have time to change too
.

Her way lay due east and she had hoped for easy going on the flat of the sands. But the bus driver had been more right about the tide than she had, and its height drove her back to the rough treachery of the tussocky dunes. However, she told herself she knew the way blindfold, could sense every landmark even if she couldn
’
t sight it—which made the shock the greater when she suddenly realized how long she had been walking without reaching the point where she would turn off the dunes for Clere.

She halted, scared for the first time by the whirling curtain which closed her in as she recalled reading of something which she had never experienced before. It must have happened to her after she had tripped and fallen a while back
!
When she had picked herself up she must have headed in the wrong direction, going back on her tracks for a time, and since then, in a cir
c
le. By now she might be a matter of yards from the turning for Clere, but equally she could have wandered a mile away from it. She was lost, deceived by the snow, in a terrain of which she would have said she knew every foot. And not the least of her disaster was the way in which time must be flying on.

She took a grip on herself.
Now
—the sea and the wind on her left, the dunes ahead and on her right. Check? And just about here—perhaps
—
there was a breakwater she could identify. That
meant turning seawards to find i
t—
But as she
did so a familiar sound defied the wind from not far
off—Clere clock striking six.
Six
!
Now she
needn
’
t go in search of the breakwater. Give or take a few false moves, she could find the turning. But—
six!

Once off the dunes the lane was the shorter cut. But the wall gate might be locked, so she must go by the main gate, even though Lance could not possibly still be there. At last she was hurrying into the drive, only to check, dazzled by the lights of a car coming down it. Behind its headlights she saw it was Daniel
’
s, and darted behind a conifer on the grass verge, praying he had not seen her and was on his way to Norwich alone, having given her
up.

But so much for the luck which had escaped her that day! Level with her hiding place he drew up, and alighting, made straight towards her. His hand firm on her shoulder, he drew her out from the shelter of her tree and looked her over.

‘
You
’
re very late, so suppose we dispense with the games of Peep-bo?
’
he said crisply, and holding out his other hand for the camera, took it from her.
‘
My property, I think?
’

The question implied that he knew she had it, but before she could query how, he was marching her towards the car and ordering her,
‘
Get in
!
’
Meriting the rebuke, she supposed, but cruelly humiliated by it, she obeyed.

CHAPTER VI

While Daniel turned the car, Verity worked it out. He could only have heard of her errand with the camera from Lance, and if he knew anything, he knew the lot. Which meant their plan had been to no purpose after all, and she did not relish the thought of defending it to him.

But his obvious annoyance with her took a different line. Not looking at her, he commented,

‘
I
’
d have thought you needn
’
t get as wet as that, just from the bus-stop. Or have you been somewhere else since your bus came in?
’

Wearily she thrust back her soaking headscarf and eased her fingers from her gloves.
‘
The bus isn
’
t in,
’
she told him.
‘
It broke down near Gibbet
Corner
, where I left it and came back by the shore.
’

That brought his head round for a brief incredulous glance.
‘
You did
what,
in a blizzard like this?
’

‘
There was nothing else I could do.
’

‘
Nonsense. What did the other passengers do when the bus broke down?
’

‘
By that time I was the only one. There
’
s no conductor either. So the driver had to walk a mile back to Stone Cross to phone for a tow or something.
’

‘
Then couldn
’
t you have phoned too for transport? Or at least to let your mother know what had happened? You went off after lunch without a word, she says, and even when we learned from my questioning Lance that you had gone to King
’
s Lynn, she was beside herself with worry when you didn
’
t return. She is waiting at the Percevals
’
still, having refused to leave for Norwich until there was news of you.
’

Verity bit her lip.
‘
I know. I
’
m sorry. But it was because of Norwich—of keeping you waiting to drive me—that I didn
’
t waste time on Stone Cross. I calculated that would take fully as long as coming home by the sands.
’

‘
You calculated too, I dare say, that if you were in time to keep your rendezvous with Lance, I needn
’
t hear about your trip at all? And I suppose you
’
re as late as you are because you encountered the
kin
d of walking conditions any sane person would expect on a night like this?
’

‘
That
’
s not fair. I
know
the sands
—’

‘
And can travel them at high tide?
’

‘
Of course not, and the tide
was
higher than I had bargained for. That meant the dunes and several detours to skirt the tide channels, and I could scarcely see for the snow, and—oh, all right
—’
Verity gave up on a spurt of weary irritation—
‘
I did lose my way.
’
In a spirit of
‘
Let
’
s get it over with
—’
she added recklessly,
‘
And now I suppose I
’
m to be catechized about—all the rest?
’

Daniel had stopped the car at the door to their quarters.
‘
That can wait,
’
he said, his level tone a rebuke to her little flare of mutiny.
‘
The immediate question is—Do you feel equal to going to Norwich now?
’

She hesitated.
‘
I
’
ve made you awfully late. When I met you in the drive I thought—that is, I hoped you were leaving without me.
’

‘
In fact, I was going in search of you or of news of you. What do you suppose? You
’
re expected back by a certain time; you make a mystery of going out, and in weather like this you fail to return and don
’
t phone to say what has kept you! Have you no imagination to realize the effect on—on anyone who has to worry about you? However, is it Norwich or not? Make up your mind.
’

‘
Then—please, if you
’
re going. But—the roads? And—Mother
?’

‘
The main road shouldn
’
t be too bad. Though, late or not, I don
’
t propose to break your neck or my own by speeding. And I
’
ll ring your mother while you
’
re getting out of your wet things.
’
Daniel disposed of both points curtly, then looked at his watch.
‘
I
’
ll give you twenty minutes to change. Enough?
’
Half an hour later, when they set out, the snow had thinned and the moon showed fitfully behind racing, broken cloud. The traffic kept the snow from lying and the car satisfactorily ate up the miles. As Daniel had handed Verity in to her seat he had said less brusquely,
‘
Don
’
t worry. Cocktail parties being the elastic affairs they are, lateness for them is no heinous crime.
’
But after that he drove in silence until he looked down at her and queried,
‘
What?
’
to her sudden indrawn breath of dismay.

‘
Lance! I
’
d forgotten! If Mother didn
’
t let him know I had got back safely, he could still be wondering about me
!’

Daniel said levelly,
‘
He isn
’
t. After I had rung your mother at the Percevals
’
, I rang West House and asked
Mr.
Dysart to tell Lance you were back.
’

‘
That was good of you.
’
Verity added,
‘
I suppose you must have sent for Lance when he hadn
’
t returned your camera after school tea
?’

Daniel nodded.
‘
You know,
’
he said,
‘
I
’
m rather surprised it didn
’
t occur to either of you that that was a possibility when you planned this elaborate scheme. In other words, weren
’
t you running your timing a shade finely?
’

‘
I suppose we were, though we couldn
’
t know the bus would be held up.
’

‘
And I understand from Lance that the original idea was his?
’

‘
Yes. But if I hadn
’
t agreed to help him, he would have got into a lot more trouble.
’

‘
So between you, you hatched this futile little plot? But surely you at least might have credited me with the ability to appreciate that he could have had a genuine accident with the thing?
’

‘
I could. I did,
’
she protested.
‘
And you shouldn
’
t think it was fear of your being angry that stopped Lance. It was his pride. I can understand that. I think he
’
s spoiling to feel grown-up and fit to be trusted, and he wouldn
’
t risk your not believing that he hadn
’
t been careless with your camera.
’

‘
The small matter of a lie by omission being the lesser evil? Odd reasoning, I must say,
’
was Daniel
’
s dry comment.
‘
However, as he had you to save him from the consequences, we
’
ll call the incident closed. Except
’
—he paused to send a brief glance at Verity—
‘
except that I hope you won
’
t let him involve you in any more heroics of this kind on his behalf.
’

She stirred uneasily against the pressure of her seat-strap.
‘
I don
’
t need
protecting
from Lance, you know,
’
she said quietly.

‘
But he does—from your inflated sense of duty to him,
’
came the retort.
‘
As you admit, if he hadn
’
t known he could run to you for shelter, he would have had to face either me with the truth or his housemaster, if he had ducked afternoon school to go to King
’
s Lynn himself. Either way he would have bought trouble, but at least he would have bought some salutary self-reliance along with it.
’

‘
But as he did come to me, I couldn
’
t turn him down. After all, that
’
s partly what sisters—or brothers if one has them—are
for.
And Lance, being nine years younger than I am, is used to knowing he can rely on me,
’
Verity argued.

‘
A fact on which you
’
ve allowed him to trade all his life, I suspect. But he can
’
t have it both ways. If you say he wants to be considered responsible and near-adult, he mustn
’
t take to cover behind you. Especially as he is the only man in your family now, with a man
’
s obligations to your mother and to you, until you see fit to introduce one of your own
,’
Daniel reminded her.

‘
Until I
?
Oh, you mean
?
’

‘
Until you marry, as of course you will be doing one of these days,
’
he interpreted.

Verity felt the palms of her hands go damp.
‘
There
’
s hardly an
“
of course
”
about it for anyone, is there?
’
she countered.

‘
Don
’
t split hairs.
’
A muscle tightened in Daniel
’
s jaw.
‘
You know I meant that it
’
s a reasonably sure prospect ahead for you, as it is for most girls. Incidentally, I dare say you realize your mother is banking on her own methods of ensuring a successful marriage for you
?’
He swung over the steering-wheel for a corner before adding,
‘
Something of an earnest devotee of astrology,
Mrs.
Lytton, isn
’
t she?
’

Verity forced a laugh.
‘
Oh
!
Yes, Mother
loves her
“
s
tars
”
. But how did you know
?’

‘
Because she took me into her confidence that you, being a such-and-such Zodiac issue, will only find your truest harmony with a this-and-that
type Let
’
s see, she did tell me your birth
date?
’

‘
I was
born
in December. That makes me a Sagittarius.
’

‘
Ah yes—and if I
’
ve got it right, there
’
s one really propitious mate for you, with another as second best and the rest mere also-rans?
’

Slightly more at ease with his raillery, Verity said,
‘
Not all of them are as negative as also-rans. There are others who tend to go bang at the sight of
me, and I at them. But even that
’
s no hard-and-fast rule, as, according to Mother, the planets can make haywire of the whole thing if they happen to have been in this position or that at the time of one
’
s birth.
’

Daniel murmured,
‘
An accommodating science, astrology. A Have Your Cake and Eat It science. Happy Endings Guaranteed.
’

‘
Mother might call for your scalp for that. But that
’
s the rough idea,
’
Verity smiled. Then, a little wary of seeds of danger in the subject, she changed it to ask,
‘
About Lance—how differently do you think I ought to treat him, then
?’

‘
As I
’
ve suggested. Make yourself forget that he has any special call on your sympathies, and leave the rest to me,
‘
said Daniel, before himself changing the subject to ask if she had ever visited television studios before.

For most of Guy Tabor
’
s guests, as for Verity, the experience was entirely novel. The evening programmes were going out behind locked doors guarded by red warning lights, but parties were shown over other stages and boffin haunts and invited to look in on the inner mysteries of productions at rehearsal. Cocktails were served in a starkly
modern
split-level foyer, where the talk was mostly a television
‘
shop
’
which the visitors found as challenging as a half-understood foreign language.

Ira Cusack was acting as the producer
’
s hostess, as much in evidence as he. Yes, she told some strangers to whom she introduced Verity, you could say this evening was her farewell to Viking Vision. No, she wasn
’
t moving on elsewhere for the moment. While she looked into the possibilities of free-lance producing she was returning to Clere to stay with her sister Jane
...

Ira at Clere indefinitely? Verity found the news disturbing to some complex of her own which resented the other girl
’
s brittle practised charm, yet at the same time envied the knack—the timing of a word, the provocative look, the inviting smile
—
which was part of Ira
’
s professional stock-in-trade to put people at their ease when she wanted them that way.

But she could destroy confidence too, just as expertly. The memory of Ira
’
s astute,
‘
You
’
ve fallen for your chief rather heavily, haven
’
t you?
’
which had probed her own secret still irked Verity.

The question had been lightly put, carelessly abandoned and had not been broached since. But it had shattered Verity
’
s faith in the mask she thought she wore. If Ira knew, who else? Jane Dysart? Nicholas? Or even Bob Wales, who had once accused her of
‘
rooting
’
for Daniel? And even if only Ira did, the prospect of her adding her guess to the gossip of Clere
’
s small world was one which Verity did not welcome at all.

Meanwhile the thought of the return journey with Daniel was a little core of anticipation at the heart of her evening. There, alone with him in the twilight of the car, she could forget the threat of Ira and make the most of the moment, she planned—unaware then that when the time came, she was going to be grateful for the wry chance which was to snatch the moment from her.

One of the odditie
s
of the foyer
’
s architecture was the setting of wide mirror-glassed panels at right angles to the walls. Though they served no purpose except as full-length mirrors, close on either side of them people were hidden from each other while still within earshot—as Verity discovered when she paused beside one of them and caught her mother
’
s name being spoken in Jane Dysart
’
s acid voice.

‘
I tell you, Laura
’
—that meant Jane was discussing
Mrs.
Lytton with inoffensive little
Mrs.
Perceval, and Verity listened unashamedly—
‘
I tell you, Mary Lytton is no fool. She knows very well what she
’
s about, and if you ask me, she began to lay her plans the very minute the man appeared on the scene—What did you say
?’

A vague murmur of dissent from
Mrs.
Perceval, immediately dismissed by Jane.

‘
Oh,
that
—
There was never anything to it.
That fly-by-night Doran simply amused himself with Verity while he was at Clere and dropped her as soon as he moved on. Besides, as if Mary would let a bit of calf-love like that count against the chance of landing the High as a son-in-law and cosy permanent quarters at Clere for herself! No indeed! Why, I realized just what was in her mind when she told us about how she and his mother had made a match between them when Verity was still a baby. You must remember that?
’

‘
But she only made a joke of it
!’

‘
Well, you can take it from me she
’
s in dead earnest now. You
’
ve only to look at the way she
’
s always throwing them together. Tonight, for instance
—
Why do you suppose she drove over
here with you and Howard? To leave them t
ê
te-
à
-
t
ê
te, of course!
’

‘
But Howard invited Mary to come with us.
’