The Girl From Over the Sea (22 page)

Lesley swallowed, tense as ever whenever he addressed her directly on something unconnected with work. There was a dark look on his face, but as usual since that episode under the Kissing Trees she avoided his glance though she was all too conscious of it,

‘
The group arrive next week
,’
she said briefly.

‘
And what are you doing tonight?
’
he asked, and it seemed to her that half the Arctic Ocean was in his voice.

‘
I
’
m going to the reception desk to take over from Jennifer
,’
she said quietly. Her brow was pleated slightly. She had had a headache most of the day and it had gradually become worse.

‘
You
’
re doing nothing of the sort,
’
he said grimly.
‘
How much longer do you think you can go on like this, burning the candle at both ends? You didn
’
t come in till three o
’
clock this rooming and you were on duty again at the desk at eight o
’
clock
.’

The scowl on his face made her wince, and she was very near to tears, but she struggled to hold them back.
‘
What I do in my spare time is no concern of yours,
Mr.
Defontaine,
’
she told him defiantly.

‘
True enough,
’
he conceded.
‘
But what
does
concern me is your undertaking to do the job you took on here efficiently till the beginning of October. I had your promise, remember. And at the time I thought you were a woman of your word
.’

She shot him a quick glance. How brutal he was, and his expression seemed to suggest that he could think up much crueller things than those he had already said.

‘
I have asked for no time off,
Mr.
Defontaine, and I believed I was doing my work to your satisfaction. Will you tell me now what I
’
ve done wrong? What you
’
re complaining of?
’

She looked at him again, and then turned away quickly. There was something dangerous in his eyes, and also something else
...
she must be mad to imagine it
...
something tender. In Blake Defontaine
’
s eyes!

‘
I
’
m complaining of nothing—except that headache of yours. And I
’
m prescribing for it—a couple of aspirin, a cup of tea, and an early night. I
’
m coming over with you to the old Manor to see that
Mrs.
Piper gives you that cup of tea.
’

Lesley got up and walked over to the door.
‘
You
’
re very kind,
Mr.
Defontaine,
’
she said with a touch of irony,
‘
but I
’
m already due at the reception desk. I can
’
t let Jennifer down. She
’
s got a date down at the Drews
’
farm. Please excuse me.
’

‘
You needn
’
t worry about Jennifer. I
’
ll take over tonight,
’
he said.
‘
Now for once in a while just stop being so damned independent, get off your high horse and accept a bit of help from someone else.
’

Lesley was so taken aback by these remarks that she could think of nothing further to say. In silence, she walked with him up the drive to the Manor, hut hesitated in front of the big doors leading to the great hall.

‘
I ought to explain to Jennifer,
’
she faltered.

‘
I
’
m quite capable of doing that,
’
he responded grimly.
‘
Have I your promise that you
’
ll go straight upstairs to bed once you
’
ve had that cup of tea, or shall I come to see that you do?
’

Hastily and with a heightened colour she said,
‘
I
promise
.’

‘
Good
.’
He nodded.
‘
And don
’
t be afraid the hotel will fall down just because you
’
re not on duty. It won
’
t, you know
.’

‘
No
,’
Lesley agreed meekly.

Jennifer came upstairs a few minutes later with the tea that Lesley hadn
’
t had the energy to ask for in the kitchen.

‘
I promised his lordship I
’
d see you had it and a couple of aspirin. It
’
s not often he notices anybody is off colour
.
You
’
re honoured
.’

If this was sarcasm Lesley felt quite unable to cope.
‘
I
’
ve got the worst headache I
’
ve ever had
,’
she admitted.
‘
Sorry about it, Jennifer. But Blake did say he
’
d take over. I didn
’
t suggest it.’

‘
Blake
!
’
commented Jennifer, but again Lesley couldn
’
t or wouldn
’
t take up the challenge.

‘
I
’
ll be all right in the morning
,’
she promised.
‘
You dash off now, Jennifer. I
’
m sorry if you
’
re rather late
.’

‘
You do look a bit off colour
,’
the other girl said.
‘
Sure you
’
ll be all right?
’
Jennifer never ailed anything, so she wasn
’
t given much to sympathy, and this suited Lesley, who hated fuss.
‘
I
’
ll be fine
,’
she assured her.

‘
Funny his being so considerate,
’
Jennifer mused now.
‘
I wouldn
’
t have believed it
.’

Lesley kept her eyes tightly closed. If Jennifer went on much longer she would scream, she told herself, but fortunately the other girl suddenly noticed the time and with a careless wave she rushed out of the room.

Lesley turned her face into the pillow
.

The following week brought a relief of tension and Lesley began to feel as if she could breathe again. The Australian Life-Saving and Surfing Association team arrived and almost immediately began their demonstrations not only in St Benga Town but at other places on the coast. Though not actually a member of the team, Steve was helping out with administration and there was no doubt too that he welcomed his sessions with
’
the boys
‘
so that he was making less demand on Lesley
’
s spare time.

On an evening during that week sh
e
hurried over to the old Manor so that she could have her evening meal with the twins, whom she was guiltily conscious of neglecting during the past few weeks. She found Ricky in his room changing from the more conventional clothes he wore at the Technical Institute to what he called his
‘
gear
’.

‘
Lend me the Mini, Les,
’
he said, pulling on a gaily coloured shirt.
‘
I
’
m off down to Penpethic Harbour for a practice and the bus was so late I
’
ve no time to eat here. I
’
ll get a bite at the disco if you can let me have a sub.
’

‘
Sorry, darling.
’
Lesley shook her head.
‘
I
’
ve had no time to go to the bank this week so far, and I
’
m short myself. If you
’
re going to eat tonight, you
’
ll have to eat here.
Ho
w
’s
it going at college
?
’

‘
Oh, so-so. They
’
ve just started a record club, and I
’
m joining. That will mean staying to the last bus, though. What about letting me use the Mini? Working all the hours you do, you scarcely ever use it.
’

‘
Don
’
t be an ass, Rick
,’
Lesley said wa
rn
ingly.
‘
You haven
’
t got a licence, and I still think that Blake knew you were driving that night we came down from London.
’

‘
Oh, that
’
s ages ago, and what does it
matter
if he does know? We
’
re the family now and he wouldn
’
t do anything to get us into trouble. You
’
ve got to hand it to him, he does think a lot of the family and he
’
s accepted us all right now. In a way, I
’
m quite sold on him these days. You know he
’
s been down to the disco with Sorrel several times, don
’
t you? He and Tim Drage had a long natter last time he was there.
’

Lesley turned away. She was crying softly inside—like a fool. After fell, she had Steve, so why should she be so sad to think she had lost Rita to Sorrel, and now she was losing Ricky to Blake?

‘
Where
’
s Rita?
’
she asked abruptly now.

‘
She got into her riding gear and dashed off. I expect she
’
s somewhere around the stables,
’
the boy said carelessly.
‘
Come on, Les, if I
’
ve got to eat here, let
’
s have it. Rita can have hers later.
’

Lesley hadn
’
t much appetite for the cold meal which
Mrs.
Piper had set out in the dining room, but Rick did it full justice and then rushed off, confident that he would be able to cadge a lift down to Penpethic Harbour.

When he had
gone,
Lesley went up to the bedroom she shared with Rita. The clothes Rita had flung off were strewn round the room. Lesley picked them up, a frown on her face. No doubt of it, just now Rita was something of a headache to everybody. Why had she put on riding clothes at this time of night, especially as she had no horse of her own? Sometimes now Sorrel allowed her to ride one of her horses, and sometimes she rode Dominic
’
s. But Sorrel wasn
’
t at Trevendone tonight and Dominic had not yet come in.

Still feeling worried, Lesley went downstairs deciding to go into the stable yard to find Rita, but in the hall a member of the hotel staff came to query a booking and she went back to the reception desk where in any case she was on duty for the rest of the evening.

It was later than her usual time for leaving when she eventually went back to the old Manor and it must, have been only a few minutes afterwards that the phone call came through, taken by the night porter.

Lesley was sitting in the lounge glancing through a letter which she had received that morning from a friend in Australia .and had not till then had time to read when Dominic came in. She wasn
’
t sure where he had spent the evening, but he had been drinking, though he wasn
’
t completely intoxicated. He declared that he was ravenous, so she went into the kitchen, made
him
a couple of sandwiches and was preparing to take the plate
‘
with a pot of black coffee into the dining room and leave him there when he followed her into the kitchen, evidently in an amorous mood. Lesley felt quite capable of dealing
w
ith Dominic. Even when he had been drinking he was a gentleman, and she was just eluding an affectionate a
r
m, declaring that she was tired and intended having an ear
l
y night, when Blake Defontaine strode in to interrupt what he evidently thought was
^-
a love scene.