Justice Is a Woman (9 page)

thought. Good Lord! I’ll have her growing wings in a moment; I really must be bored.

After all she’s

still Betty, as she was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be “Are you ready?”

She looked through the mirror towards the door where Joe was standing, and adjusting

her hat she

nodded at him, saying, “Yes, I’ve just got to put my coat on.”

When she picked up her coat from the chair he helped her into it, then tucked the fur collar close under

her chin, saying, “Keep warm, the wind’s enough to cut you in two.” Then, bending his face to hers, he

kissed her slowly on the mouth, and as he traced his finger around her lips he said,

“You’ve got the most

beautiful mouth I’ve seen on a woman.”

“Is that the only beautiful part of me ?” She looked at him coyly.

“The only beautiful part?” He put his head to the side as if thinking.

“No; but it’s the best bit of you, apart, perhaps, from that.” He gave her stomach a sharp tap, and she

turned from him, saying, “Oh you!” and he laughed as he followed her out of the room, saying, “And

you, and it or them.”

As they crossed the landing he put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him and muttered

under his breath, “Wouldn’t it be marvelous if it was them; two, or three of them?” And when, almost

violently, she pushed him away he let out a deep throaty laugh that resounded through the house, right

down to the kitchen and up to the top floor, where Mike, hearing it, nodded slowly to himself as he said

aloud, “That’s good.”

When they reached the station the train had already arrived and they espied Betty at the far end of the

platform talking to someone, which caused Elaine to move her head impatiently even

while she laughed

gently, saying, “Trust Betty to pick up somebody on the journey.”

Beatrice Burton had her back to them, and she turned a delighted and wide-lipped smile on them when

they appeared at her side, saying, “Oh, hello, Joe. Hello, Elaine.” She bent forward

impulsively and

kissed Elaine; then she held out her hand to Joe, saying, “Nice to see you again, Joe. Oh, by the way’

she turned to the person to whom she had been speaking “ This is Mrs. Ambers. “

“How do you do, Mrs. Ambers?” Joe inclined his head towards the elderly woman who,

from her

appearance, looked as if she were on her way to a Victorian tea-party. The coat she wore was long, the

skirt being gored, taking its lines from a narrow waistband, while the bodice was

buttoned up to the

neck, the same being covered by a fur stole that seemed to be made up entirely of tails.

Her hat was of

faded green velour and her perky face seemed lost under its enormous brim.

Her reply to Joe’s acknowledgement could have been heard as far away as the ticket

barrier, “Oh, how

do you do, Mr. Remington. You’re the brother-in-law, aren’t you? Yes, yes. And’ she

now turned

and looked at Elaine ‘this’ll be the sister. Well, well, no resemblance, no resemblance whatever. Ha!

ha! it goes like that. Now I wonder if Hammond is outside. Would you be kind enough.

Miss

Hughes-Burton, to see if he’s there ? He’ll have a carriage, no motor. Sarah doesn’t

believe in motors;

she’s old-fashioned, as old-fashioned as the hills.”

“Yes; yes, of course, I’ll see to it.”

As Betty was about to dart away Joe caught her arm, saying, “Leave it to me;’ then

turning to Mrs.

Ambers he asked, “ Where are you for? “

“The Hall. The Hall, of course; Menton’s place.”

“Oh. Oh yes.” He showed no surprise; unlike Elaine, who stared at the odd creature,

thinking ruefully:

Isn’t it just like Betty to meet up with Lady Menton’s cousin; she had now remembered the name

Ambers and its connection with the Mentons. This weird-looking individual was Lady

Mary Ambers and

known to be as flush with money as were the Mentons, and all too old to enjoy it.

The three women were walking towards the ticket barrier now and Elaine, in her most

gracious manner,

asked of the old lady, “I hope you had a pleasant journey?”

“Journeys are never pleasant but this one was relieved by your sister here.” Lady Ambers turned her

head abruptly and nodded towards Betty, who answered bluntly, “Well, it worked both

ways.”

“Thank you. Thank you. It’s unusual to find an intelligent talker who doesn’t turn out to have been a

suffragette. You did say you weren’t a suffragette, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Good. Good.”

Joe was standing beyond the barrier, and at a respectful distance behind him stood David.

However,

standing in front of David was a smartly liveried middle-aged man and over the dividing iron railings Lady

Ambers called loudly, “Oh, there you are, Hammond. Good. Good.”

Inclining his head respectfully the man said, “Yes, milady.” And now there was a hold-up because her

ladyship couldn’t find her ticket.

Having been forced to stand aside to let the other passengers through the barrier she fumbled with her

handbag, and then with her purse, until Betty came to her side and said quietly, “I think you put it down

your glove.”

“Oh, yes. Yes, of course. Good Lord, you would think I was senile.”

The reply was meant to be in a whisper and it amused the line of passengers.

They were outside now. David, carrying Betty’s luggage, was shepherding them towards

the car, while

Hammond led the way along the kerb towards the shining but elderly carriage.

He held the door open wide for her ladyship to enter, but with her foot on the step Lady Ambers

hesitated, stepped back on the pavement, looked along to where Betty was about to enter the car and

cried, “Miss Burton! Miss Burton! You must come and have tea with me. Do you hear!

You must

come and have tea with me.”

“Oh, thank you very much. Yes, I will. Thank you. Goodbye.” Settled in the car, Joe let out a low

rumbling chuckle.

“There’s a character for you. I wonder what connection she is to the Mentons?”

“Oh, she’s a cousin.”

Joe turned his head towards Betty as he said, “Really!” Then he twisted further round in his seat as

Elaine put in, “She happens to be Lady Mary Ambers.”

“Lady Mary Ambers!” Joe nodded his head to each word.

“Well, well, this is the eccentric one. I’ve heard of her. She lives up to her name. Travels the world,

doesn’t she?”

He turned again towards Betty and asked, “How does she do it? She didn’t even know

where she’d

put her ticket.”

“Oh, she would have found it or someone would have found it for her.

She’s one of these people who’ll always get by . But I didn’t know she was Lady Mary.

Nice of her,

don’t you think, not to press it. She said her name was Ambers, but that was all. “

“She looked slightly mad,” Elaine muttered.

Betty slanted her eyes towards Elaine as she said, “Don’t you believe it; nobody’s mad who can survive

three rich husbands.”

“She’s been married three times?” Joe turned around again.

“Yes, and by all accounts they all adored her,” said Betty.

“You mean by her accounts,” was Elaine’s response.

Again Betty gave Elaine a slanting glance, and she shook her head now, saying, “No, she never

mentioned them. But I’ve met her once before, although I don’t think she remembered

me and I didn’t

know even then who she really was. It was at a bun-fight Lena Bradshaw was holding for some charity

or other, and Lena referred to her as Old Mary.”

“Well, you’ve been invited to tea and that’s a double honour, if you did but know it.” Joe was now

looking straight ahead through the windscreen, and after a slight pause he ended, “You’ll be the first one

from Fell Rise to enter the portals of Menton Hall.”

“Oh, I won’t take it up; it was just her way of being polite.”

“Don’t be a fool!

Of course you’ll take it up,” said Elaine. Now Betty’s head came right round and she

stared at her sister

for a moment before she said on a small laugh, “ I’ll send you in my place. “ 89 There was an awkward

pause, until Joe cried, “ I forgot to introduce you to David, Betty. Betty, David. “ He bobbed his head

from one to the other, and when Betty leant forward towards the open partition and said,

“ Hello,

David,” and he answered pleasantly, “ How do you do, miss? “ Elaine closed her eyes

tightly while

pressing her back deep into the upholstery of the car, and behind her clenched teeth her tongue clicked

the roof of her mouth as she exclaimed to herself, really! really! and the intonation had the sound of a

curse. He was impossible, impossible. Introducing Betty to the chauffeur. What next!

What next

indeed! Betty might be cosmopolitan in her outlook but what must she think of the master introducing his

sister-in-law to the chauffeur, and a coloured one at that.

Betty had been at the house for a week and, as Mike remarked to Joe, she fitted in like an old glove.

And Betty, too, felt that she fitted in. She loved the house and garden; she loved the food well, who

wouldn’t after having sampled Cousin Kathryn’s fare for the past six months and she

liked the people

about the place. In a way she liked Mike most of all; his bluntness caused her to erupt with laughter.

And, of course, she liked Joe.

Elaine, she considered, was very lucky. But then Elaine had always been lucky;

everything always

turned out as Elaine planned it should;

just as she had planned that she herself should and would stay with her. And at the

present moment she

had to admit she could wish for nothing more, for she was tired of moving from one place to another;

she was tired of waiting on old ladies, and reading aloud; and she was tired, very tired, of condescension.

Relatives, she found, were the worst offenders in this respect, except, of course, Elaine.

She could

never remember her being so sweet, or so grateful; in fact, she couldn’t remember the slightest feeling of

empathy ever existing between them, but now all that seemed to have altered. 9i That

there was a reason

for her sister’s changed attitude towards her had very quickly become apparent: Elaine was feeling lonely

and lost amongst these people. As she said, they didn’t speak her language, and she could never speak

theirs and, what appeared to be very trying to her, Joe’s friends weren’t of the class to which she had

been accustomed.

She had wondered more than once during the past few days if her sister had grown to

love her

husband. She couldn’t possibly have loved him when she married him: she wasn’t the

kind of person to

fall in love at first sight; and, anyway, she was still suffering from the Lionel Harris affair. But she had

done better for herself in marrying Joe than ever she would have done with Lionel Harris; or Major

Lionel Harris, as he insisted on being called.

She was an early riser and it was just turned half—past seven on the Saturday morning when she made

her way downstairs. The sun was shining, throwing broad shafts of light through the

stained-glass

windows on the landing. She had decided to take a walk round the garden before

breakfast and was

crossing the hall towards the front door when Ella came from the morning-room carrying a brass, helmet

shaped coal scuttle. Seeing her, she stopped for a moment, exclaiming, “Eeh! miss;

you’re up early.”

“It’s a habit, Jane, and I can’t get out of it.”

“Well, the fire’s blazing away in the breakfast—room, miss, and I’ll get your breakfast early if you want

it.”

“No. No, thank you. I’ll have it at the usual time;

I’m going to take a walk around the garden. “

“Do that, miss; it’s a lovely morning, sharp though.”

“Yes, it is lovely. It’s been a beautiful autumn; but we can’t expect this kind of weather to last much

longer.”

“No, you’re right there, miss. Oh, and when the winds start an’ the snow, my! it would freeze a brass

monkey.”

“I bet it would. Well, I’ve got that to come.” She smiled at Ella now, then opened the door and went

out, the while Ella, moving to one of the hall windows, watched her stride across the drive towards the

terrace, before she herself turned and hurried to the kitchen.

“She’s gone out, the miss, for a walk in the garden. By! but she’s pleasant, isn’t she?”

“Aye, she is that.” Mary nodded her head slowly.

“She’s plain but she’s very pleasant.”

“Well, I’d rather have her than some I could mention.”

“Now, enough of that. There, drink your tea and then get about your work... But what did you say?

She’s gone walking in the garden?” They both turned now and stared at each other as the same thought

struck them.

Betty had stopped by the lakeside. But rather than looking down into the water, she raised her head to

the sky and drew in deep draughts of air, and as it filled her lungs she likened it to wine, for it made her

feel heady, and good. It was odd, she thought, as she now walked round the lake, that she had disliked

Cousin Kathryn’s garden, and yet she already loved this one. But, she told herself

ruefully, the reason

wasn’t really hard to find: Kathryn had had her digging or weeding, working like a horse every day.

Here, everything was neat and tidy and you could walk round and enjoy it.

She made her way through an arch in the privet hedge and took a path to the left. It was new to her and