Heart Specialist (8 page)

“
On the contrary,
”
he assured her,
“
you interest me very much!
”

She tried to swallow another mouthful of chicken.

“
So you see, I
...
I
’
m not very impressed with marriage. My own parents made such a hash of it that I always vowed I
’
d never marry at all, and in the years I
’
ve been looking after myself I think that resolution has become stronger than ever. Marriage is all right if you
’
re the sort of person who likes things to be impermanent and doesn
’
t mind when they come adrift. But perhaps because I
’
ve never really known even a permanent home I do value things that are likely to last, and I
’
m not going to take any risks. Certainly not to secure a large sum of money.
”

He poured a little more wine into her glass.

“
You
’
re not eating anything,
”
he said,
“
and you
’
ll never get fat if you don
’
t eat! If anything you
’
re a trifle too slim.
”
He regarded her critically.

She felt herself flushing.

“
Now I know I
’
m boring you! But I only wanted you to
...
feel happier in your mind about Miss Constantia
’
s money. I shall use very little of it in the year I have been given, and when it reverts to you you can do what you like with it. Possibly Miss Constantia
’
s relatives
...
”

“
Not another word about Miss Constantia
’
s relatives until you
’
ve finished that chicken,
”
he said sternly.
“
And after that you
’
ve to polish off a dessert, and I
’
d like to force a few other courses down you besides! Doesn
’
t Martine feed you? I thought she was supposed to be a marvelous cook.
”

“
Oh, she is!
”
she assured him. And then the conversation took on an entirely different turn, and she found herself obviously entertaining him with her accounts of Martine
’
s plans for her future and the money that had been left to her when her time of service with Valentine came to an end.
“
She says she
’
s going to open a restaurant, and if she can
’
t get her sister to join her she
’
s going to try and persuade me! She thinks by that time I might have saved a little money—or she wouldn
’
t consider it unscrupulous to keep back a little when the time comes for me to hand over the residue!
”

“
Then Martine is prepared for you to hand over the residue?
”

“
Oh, yes. Marriage is Martine
’
s bete noire! She thinks I
’
d be happier waiting on tables than running a home for a husband!
”

“
Too bad,
”
Leon Daudet said dryly.
“
It seems that you
’
re going to be influenced against marriage, and apparently you don
’
t need much influencing!
”

They arrived at the coffee and liqueur stage—and he insisted that she drink a liqueur—and they went on talking about nothing that was of vital importance to either of them, until suddenly Valentine remembered why he had asked her to lunch.

“
You said that you wanted to talk to me. Was it important?
”
she asked.
“
I thought it might have something to do with Monsieur Dubonnet. Something that he has asked you to say to me.
”

He looked surprised.

“
Did I say I had something important to say to you? Well, whatever it was, I have forgotten it!
”

“
But it was when you picked me up in the Champs-Elysees! When you had Madame Faubourg with you and you drove me back to the apartment ... It was the reason why you asked me to lunch!
”

He looked at her with a decided tinge of humor in his eyes and then smiled in a way she thought gentle and unexpectedly charming.

“
Surely
I
wouldn
’
t have asked you to lunch for a reason other than that I wanted you to lunch with me? You had been bestowing your favors on some unknown young man, and
I
thought he was being treated to an unfair advantage
...
”
Then he grew more serious.
“
There was something
I
wanted to say to you. but
I
will not
s
ay it here.
I
will drive you home by a roundabout route and say it on the way.
”

The roundabout route
was very pleasant in the sunshine, although the day was not quite so
spring like
. There was a keen wind, and in the Bois de Boulogne new spring hats were being freakishly whisked from heads with new spring hairstyles, and nursemaids with charges had their white aprons whipped up over their heads, so that the charges shrieked with delight.

Dr. Daudet brough
t
his car to a standstill under a tree, in a spot where it was not quite so well populated, and offered Valentine a cigarette. She saw his white teeth gleam attractively as he sat back and smiled at her.

“
I feel that if you are tempted to bite my head off for interference it will be better here in the open.
”
he said.

“
Interference?
”
she asked.

“
First and foremost, I do not think you should continue to live all alone with Martine. She may be filling your head with ideas about colorful little restaurants in the south, where you will look very attractive in one of those flowered smocks, waiting on tourists at gaily painted tables, but I do not think that would meet with Miss Constantia
’
s approval at all!
She
wished a very different life for you, or she would not have provided you with the wherewithal, and if only to show your gratitude you must, for the time being, do what she would wish. And she would not wish you to live alone!
”

“
But ... but I have Martine.
”

He waved expressive hands.

“
Forget Martine. She is to look after you and
I
hope she will do it well. But have you no particular friend—and
I
am not, of course, referring to the masculine friend with whom you lunch so frequently—who could join you and keep you company for a while? Preferably someone older than yourself, who could advise you on occasion and give you the support that I think you need!
”

She stared at him in blank surprise.

“
But I do not need the advice of other people.
I
can look after myself. I
’
ve had to look after myself for years
...”

“
That is too true,
”
he said.
“
That is apparently, all too true!
”
His dark eyes looked straight at her.
“
Miss Brooke, I have given you no cause so far to think that
I
am very much concerned with your affairs, but I am. And I would like a few omissions to be rectified. You must have someone other than Martine to be with you all the time; you are very young really, you know—
”
his smile surprised her afresh with its gentleness
“
—and although, to your English ears, this may sound old
-
fashioned, you need a chaperon! Especially in your new circumstances! Whatever you plan to do with your life eventually, you have now become a well-to-do young woman, particularly well-to-do if one takes into consideration Chaumont and its contents. And in view of what you have become, allied to what you are
...
”

She looked at him very levelly as he paused.

“
Is it in your mind, Dr. Daudet, that
I
might ask
...
people I know ... to the apartment, and that that would not be correct according to your views?
”

One of his dark eyebrows ascended a little, and it lent him a slightly puckish appearance, particularly as his eyes held a mildly mischievous gleam and the tips of his ears were slightly pointed.

“
You mean
...
the
young man?
”

“
I have only met him twice,
”
she confessed impatiently,
“
and so far I haven
’
t asked him to the apartment. I may be English and a lot of other things you don
’
t approve of, but
I
am not madly impulsive!
And
I’
m a little bit old-fashioned, too!
”

“
I am vastly relieved to hear that,
”
he assured her
,
but she thought that his sigh of relief was extravagant, and the gleam in his eyes seemed to make fun of her gently. He had exchanged a derisive mockery for a more subtle humoring.
“
I
am also intrigued because it has obviously crossed your mind that this young man you have met only twice
could
be invited to the apartment! Would it be indiscreet to make any further inquiries about him? Is he, for instance, a compatriot?
”

“
Yes,
”
she admitted.

“
I thought he might be, because you have apparently
b
een quite drawn to him!
”

She hesitated.

“
I don
’
t mind telling you about him.
”
After all. she thought, he had known Miss Constantia for a number of years, and somehow she felt a desire just then to talk to someone about Peter Fairfield.
“
He is the nephew of Sir David Fairfield, of Fairfield House. Norfolk, and he
’
s been over here in Paris for about six months. He has an allowance from his uncle, and he
...
writes. We met at a restaurant where we were lunching one day
,
and we met there again the next day.

“
And you had lunch with him?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
Does he know what has happened to you recently?
”

She felt herself flushing.

“
I
told him about Miss Constantia—yes!
”

“
And the terms of her will?
”

“
Y-yes!
”

Suddenly he reached out and covered both her slim hands, which were nervously clasping her handbag, with one of his own. He gave them a most unexpected little squeeze.

“
You really are young!
”
he said.
“
And of course this heir to a baronetcy—or isn
’
t he the heir to the baronetcy—wants to see you again? To go on seeing you?
”

“
He does want to see me again, but if you think that
...
”
She was suddenly aghast.
“
If you think that Peter—and
I
don
’
t know whether he
’
s his uncle
’
s heir or not—wants to go on seeing me just because
...!
”