Heart Specialist (22 page)

“
Philippe is quite a success with you two girls, isn
’
t he?
”
he said.

“
I like him very much,
”
she answered, as if she was determined he should know her opinion of Philippe.

His smile grew more quizzical.

“
Does Mrs. Beverley like him very much?
”

“
I ... I don
’
t know.
”

“
Philippe is not a safe person to become very attached to.
”

Valentine stared down at the gay check cloth and drew patterns on it with her finger.

“
In order to become very attached to a person you have to become reconciled to most aspects of his character—good and bad,
”
she said.

He smiled.
“
How wise you are! There is a little of good in all of us and very likely quite a lot of bad in the best of us! Now shall we go?
”

She nodded, and within a few minutes they were on their way again.

Chaumont, when they reached it at last, was like a lovely lady welcoming them after a long
and
tiring run. Valentine, having seen it last in the springtime, when the grounds were still partly asleep after the severities of the winter, and on a day when its mistress was laid to rest, hadn
’
t realized quite what a perfect place it was. It was of no particular style of architecture, but it was just exquisite, its lines harmonious, its condition a proof that it had been lovingly preserved.

On a hot August afternoon it was very still, and into every room stole the many and conflicting scents from the masses of flowers that bloomed all around it. The lawns looked delectably green and fresh, in spite of the drought, and the lake was a sheet of looking glass reflecting blue sky and little white feathery clouds.

Valentine felt a kind of ache in her heart as she wandered around the house with Leon. What would become of it, she wondered? How soon would it know life again, and not just the slippered footfalls of a caretaker?

The same caretaker offered to make them tea, and they had it on the terrace overlooking the lake. A magnificent Gloire de Dijon rose bloomed in a bed below the terrace, and the scent of it was so penetrating and so almost poignantly sweet that Valentine commented on it
,
and Leon descended the terrace steps and plucked her
a splendid specimen and brought it back to the tea table for her. She buried her face in it with delight and thanked him with a blush of pleasure rising to her cheeks.

He sat down again and watched her.

She found herself plunging into speech. Although she had already asked after the
marquise,
she made another inquiry as to when she would be back in Paris, and he replied composedly that she would probably be back in a week or two. And then he leaned forward with his hands clasped between his knees and said quietly.
“
Nearly five months of your year have gone. Valentine. Have you any plans for the remaining months?
”

She shook her head.

“
Why did young Fairfield go back to England?
”

“
His uncle was very ill, and his aunt needed him. But his uncle is better now, and
...
and he may be returning.
”

“
And you are, of course, looking forward to his return?
”

Suddenly she lifted her eyes to his, and the clear transparent blueness of them should have made him wonder. They should also have disconcerted him slightly.

“
Dr. Daudet,
”
she said,
“
I
know what you are thinking, but you might as well know that there will never be anything serious between Peter and myself. I like him very much indeed, and
I
think he likes me
,
but that is as far as it goes.
”

“
You couldn
’
t bring yourself to marry him in order to make your legacy secure?
”

She seemed to whiten a little in the strong sunshine.

“
Dr. Daudet—
”
this time her voice was nervously sharp
“
—
I
shall marry no one to secure my legacy. But
I
will tell you something, if you like.
”

“
Please do.
”
he said, removing ash from his cigarette.

“
Peter asked me to marry him
,
and I refused
—
unless he was willing to marry me after the year was up
,
and
without my legacy
! I gave him twenty-four hours in which to decide whether it was worth it or not.
”

“
Well?
”
he asked very quietly.

“
He flew home to England that very same night. I haven
’
t seen him since. Oh
,
he writes, and his aunt writes, too, and has invited me to stay with them if I feel so disposed. She has even suggested that I might like to make my home with them if
I
feel lonely
,
and I
’
m sure she
’
s very nice
...
very nice indeed.
”

“
But where Peter is concerned you have received a bitter disappointment?
”

“
I
’
ve received nothing in the nature of a disappointment!
”
Suddenly she was angry with him
,
furiously angry for finding it a simple matter to put questions o
f
this sort to her. If he had had the smallest degree of interest in her he couldn
’
t, she knew, have put them in quite that detached and impersonal a manner, and it hurt her suddenly so cruelly that she could hardly bear it.
“
I
am not in love with Peter.
I
should loathe to marry him
,
because marriage without love is th
at
one thing I would never contemplate. And if there is one thing that has upset me in the past few months, it is the knowledge that the sudden acquisition of money, or property, will also enable you to get to know people for what they really are. They
’
ll either want to share it with you
,
or they
’
ll despise you. Peter would like to share it with me
,
and you
...
you
...!
”

“
Yes
,
me?
”
he asked.

They were both standing and facing one another now
,
and he could see that she was almost beside herself with distress that was making her lips quiver and her eyes threaten to brim over at any moment. He took her by the arm and said.
“
Come along. Let
’
s go down to the lake where it
’
s cooler.
”

Meekly she submitted to being led down to the lake, and near to the dazzling shimmer of it they sat down on a carved wooden bench. Valentine clasped her trembling hands tightly in her lap
,
and the man laid his lean brown ones over them and gripped them and held them until they ceased to tremble.

“
Now listen to me. Valentine.
”
he said.
“
What would have happened if Fairfield had said he would marry
y
ou
without your legacy? Would you have stuck to your promise, even though you have told me that you. have no love for him?
”

She shook her head with that disillusioned lost look on her face.

“I
knew there was no danger.
I
knew that Peter didn
’
t need twenty-four hours to decide.
”

“
I
see.
‘
But his voice and his look were grave.
“
And now will you tell me in what way
I
have contributed to your present state of disillusionment?
”

“
Yes,
”
she answered, looking at their linked hands.
“
In the beginning you thought
I
was an adventuress, and then you decided to pay attention to me. You introduced me to your aunt, you told me that I disturbed you. you—
”

“
I kissed you.
”
he interposed quietly.

“
Yes
...
because you thought it would be amusing to see how
I
would react. Men don
’
t do that sort of thing to girls they respect, or even girls they look upon as members of their own world.
”
Her eyes, without any reproach in them, but disillusioned and rather hopeless, were once more lifted to his face.
“
Perhaps you thought I needed punishing for upsetting the plans of Miss Constantia
’
s many relatives.
”

He regarded her so gravely that after that her voice died into silence.

And then she wondered whether she was hearing things.

“
Valentine
,
”
he asked her
,
“
will you marry me?
”

“
M-m-marry you?
”
She snatched away her hands and held them over her heart, and for a few concerned moments he thought she was going to faint, she turned so white.
“
Marry you!
”
She seemed to be endeavoring to force words to her lips.
“
Dr. Daudet.
I
regard that as a final insult!
I
...
”
She tore at her lip so hard that
it started to bleed.
“
How dare you!
”
she managed in a strangled voice.

His dark eyes now were filled with concern, and they were also a little bewildered.

“
But
I
have never asked any woman to marry me before
—
it is something
I
swore
I
would never do—so why is it insulting when
I
ask you to be my wife?
”

“
Because,
”
she told him, trying to control herself and speaking only a little unsteadily,
“
it
’
s the very last thing you would wish for yourself—me as a wife—and but
f
or the fact that
I
told you how
I
felt about
...
about our early association, wild horses wouldn
’
t have got you to overlook a vow and saddle yourself with me and my affairs! Chaumont
—
”
she waved to it
“
—
what would you like to do with it, doctor? It will be yours if you marry me, and you can turn it into a nursing home or something of the sort!
I
remember you said on the day of Miss Constantia
’
s funeral that that was all it was
f
it for, and that as a country house it was too big and unwieldy. Well, if it was ever to be mine
without
marrying, I
’
d draw up a deed of gift and let you have it! You could do what you liked with it. Sell it
,
get rid o
f
it
...!
It wouldn
’
t matter to me! And besides
,
Chaumont will be yours if I don
’
t marry you, or anyone else.
”
She stood up and turned her face away from him.
“
Would you please drive me back to Paris now?
”

“
No,
”
he said, turning her around to face him.
“
not until you are more composed and we have got this thing sorted out! I am asking you to marry me. Valentine, because I—
”
he paused, and her heart knocked for a moment
“
—because it
’
s quite clear to me that you need looking after, and I think I can do that competently. As to Chaumont and your legacy, all that is entirely beside the point, and if we find the subject of interest we can discuss it later on. I don
’
t care what you do with Chaumont once it
’
s yours, but I do think that a young woman who goes around offering to marry a young man if he
’
ll take her without her legacy
needs
looking after.
”

“
I see,
”
she said very, very quietly. She looked at him.
“
And what of Madame Faubourg?
She
calls you darling and looks upon you as her property—although I
’
m not suggesting you take her for moonlight drives and kiss her merely for diversion—and I
’
m sure it would be a very great
s
hock to her and to all your friends, if you committed such an indiscretion as to marry an unknown young woman like me. Even with Chaumont thrown in!
”
She could almost feel him stiffen, but she felt she had already burned her bridges, and it didn
’
t very much matter what she said now.