[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Uncle Rhys had no time for William. She said he only got him out of
the home because William's mummy might have tried to get money
out of him later on."
Julie was horrified at the child's grasp of the situation. She must have
been told this, or heard it, many times for her to recite it so accurately.
Poor William! Poor Dulcie!
"Well, perhaps Mummy made a mistake," she comforted the little girl
now. "People do, you know, even mummies."
Dulcie hunched her small shoulders. "Why did my daddy have to get
killed?" she muttered tearfully. "I want my daddy!"
Julie quickly removed the dinner plates and opened a serving dish to
display a cream-covered trifle. "Oh, look!" she exclaimed, with
deliberate emphasis. "Fruit and jelly and sponge and cream . . . and
lots and lots of hundreds and thousands on the top!"
Dulcie looked up, the uncertain tears drying on her cheeks. "It's a
trifle!" she said, her chin still wobbling, and Julie feigned surprise.
"Is it? Is that what it is?"
Dukie looked at her suspiciously. "You know it is."
"Do I?"
"You must have seen a trifle before."
Julie gave a mock frown. "Yes, I suppose I must. Oh, well, what do
we do with it?"
Dulcie's mouth twitched, and Julie saw to her relief that she seemed
to be getting over her tears. "We eat it," she asserted, now, and Julie
acknowledged this with a solemn nod.
"But I couldn't possibly eat all that," she exclaimed, and Dulcie's
smile appeared.
"You don't," she said, entering into the spirit of the game. "You spoon
it out into a dish."
"Show me," said Julie, indicating the serving spoon, and kneeling up
on her chair, Dulcie complied.
It was obvious from the amount of trifle which ended up on the
tablecloth that Dulcie had seldom, if ever, done this sort of thing
before, but there was nothing more satisfying to a child than plunging
about in a dish of jelly, and Julie hoped Mrs. Evans would forgive her
for the mess.
By the time they had eaten their trifle, it was quite late, and although
Julie had intended to go and see if she could find William before
beginning the afternoon's typing session, she decided she could not
spare the time right now. She was afraid that Rhys might arrive back
from Llantreath and find his typescript only half finished, and then,
no doubt, he would assume that she had been wasting more time
talking to Gavin Meredith.
Thinking of the young glazier, she glanced towards the windows, but
the pane of glass had already been replaced, and there was little
evidence now that it had ever been broken.
Dulcie accompanied her to the library, and stood there on one leg as
Julie opened the door to go into the room.
"Will you I mean, are you going for a walk?" she asked
awkwardly.
"Later, you mean?" said Julie.
"WeU yes."
"If it stays fine," Julie agreed doubtfully, wondering exactly what she
was letting herself in for. If William had gone to Llantreath with his
father and his aunt, what reaction would he have to Julie's making a
friend of his cousin, particularly in his absence? And if he hadn't gone
to Llantreath....
"What time shall I be ready?" asked Dulcie excitedly, and Julie thrust
her doubts aside. It was not in her nature to be unkind to anyone, least
of all a child.
"I should be finished by about half past three," she said, and Dulcie
wait skipping away, obviously delighted at the unexpected treat.
As it happened, Julie was finished typing soon after three. The delay
in starting that morning, Rhys's desire to alter a scene she had typed
the previous day, plus the interruption caused by the glazier, had all
contributed to a briefer output, and consequently she completed
transcribing her notes in record time.
Leaving the library, she made her way to the kitchen, and found Mrs.
Evans seated comfortably in her armchair by the fire, drinking tea and
talking to the young glazier who was perched familiarly on the edge
of the table, a mug of tea steaming in his hand, too. They both looked
surprised at Julie's intrusion, and Mrs. Evans got up out of her chair to
say: "Is there something I can get you, miss?"
Julie, conscious of Gavin Meredith's blue eyes upon her, felt rather
uncomfortable. Smiling apologetically, she said:' "Actually, Mrs.
Evans, I just wanted to ask you if you knew whether William went to
Llantreath with his father."
Mrs. Evans shook her head. "Oh, no, miss. William hasn't gone out,
not that I know of. I took him his lunch up at about half past twelve,
and Mr. Edwards had already left then."
"I see." Inwardly Julie trembled. She had suspected this, of course,
but she had hoped. ... "Well thank you, Mrs. Evans."
"Will you stay and have a cup of tea now you're here, miss?"
suggested the housekeeper amicably. "It's no trouble."
"Oh, no. Thank you again." Julie shook her head, and was aware that
Gavin's eyes had never left her face although she had deliberately
avoided looking at him.
"Dulcie tells me you're taking her walking this afternoon," said Mrs.
Evans, as Julie walked towards the door.
"Yes." Julie half turned.
"Shelf enjoy that," went on the housekeeper, and Gavin slid off the
table and placed his empty mug on the draining board.
"Who wouldn't?" he commented teasingly, and Mrs. Evans chuckled'
She, at least, seemed to have accepted Julie's presence in the house.
Julie escaped into the hall, her cheeks rather hot, and then, without
waiting for the impulse to be blunted, she ran quickly up the stairs.
William's door was tightly closed, but taking a deep breath, she
knocked at the panels and without waiting for a reply, opened it and
went in.
William tinned from his labours at a table in the window recess where
he was assembling a model aeroplane. He stared across at Julie with
hostile eyes, and if she had harboured any doubts about his feelings
towards her, they were clarified in that moment.
"You have no right to come in here uninvited," he declared, his thin
body taut within the polo-necked sweater and jeans he was wearing.
Julie closed the door and leaned back against it. "Haven't I?" She
paused. "Why didn't you come down to lunch, William?"
"I wasn't hungry."
"That's not true. Mrs. Evans told me she'd brought your lunch up
here."
"Oh, I see. You've been checking up on me."
Julie expelled her breath impatiently. "Don't be silly, William. I
wanted to know where you were. I thought you might have gone to
Llantreath with your father."
"He told you he was going to ask me then? That figures. What was
it your idea or his?"
Julie gasped. "I don't know what you're talking about. But I gather
your father did ask you to go with him then."
William folded his arms. "Does that surprise you? It shouldn't. It was
intended as a bribe to ensure my silence about what I saw last
night."
"WUlumr'
He had the grace to colour then. "Well," he muttered defensively; "It's
true."
"You don't know that!"
"Don't I?" In his bitterness, he was incredibly like his father. "Well,
why did he invite me, then?"
"As your aunt was going along, too, I hardly think it was the action of
someone wanting to hide something, do you? If he was the man
you're saying he is, surely he'd avoid throwing you and Ner Lady
Llantreath together!"
William's brow furrowed. "Was Nerys going along?" He shrugged,
and threw off his momentary doubt. "Oh, well, he'd know I wouldn't
say anything."
"Then, by your criterion, why ask you, then?"
William's lips worked silently for a moment, then he said: "That still
doesn't give you the right to come bursting in here. What do you
want? I'm busy."
Julie straightened away from the door, refusing to be deterred by his
insolence. "Are you coming for a walk?" she asked quietly, and his
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]