Nurse Saxon's Patient (22 page)

‘
Has she ever acted in
a film?’
Roger asked, as though it were just a passing question, but already his mind was turning over various possibilities.

‘
I don
’
t think so.
’
Mrs.
Andy spoke reflectively.
‘
No, I
’
m certain she said that was one ambition so far unfulfilled. Why?
’

‘
Nothing.
’
Roger gave a little smile as Julie returned to the room.
‘
It
’
s just that I
’
m making a flying trip to town tomorrow—it won
’
t take me long—and I thought I
’
d make a few enquiries while I was there.
’

‘
Do that.
’
Mrs.
Andy nodded as though concluding some part of a discussion.
‘
And try to see me before you leave if you have time,
’
she added, and with a few general remarks she bade them both goodnight and retired.

‘
It
’
s time I was turning in too, Julie.
’
Roger put an affectionate arm about his sister
’
s shoulders.
‘
I promise I
’
ll think over what you
’
ve told me and tell you what I
think tomorrow
...
maybe when I come back from town. Right now I
’
m tired; I
’
ve had a long day. But not to wo
rr
y.
’
He gave her a
little
hug.
‘
You
’
ll see,
’
he said with more assurance than he felt,
‘
everything
’
s going to turn out all right after a
l
l.
’
And as she went to sleep that night Julie was certain that it would
... n
ow that Roger was home, Garth had recovered his memory
—
and, most important of all, had discovered that he loved her as she knew now that she loved him and would do so to the end of her days.

CHAPTER
X
I

Roger was not in the least surprised to find himself summoned to
Mrs.
Andy
’
s private sitting-room shortly after breakfast the following morning. He had already guessed that the old lady had a shrewd idea of what
h
ad
been going on in his mind when he was asking the questions about Tansy Maitland, but as yet he had formed no definite plan of action.

She may have some ideas of how best to begin, he smiled to himself as he tapped on her door. She seems a very resourceful old darling.

Mrs.
Andy was seated at her huge rosewood desk, scanning her morning mail. The letter she had just been reading had brought yet another case of hardship to her notice, and before she turned to greet Roger she carefully placed this on the appropriate pile for her attention later in the day.

‘
Well,
’
she began brightly, motioning him to a chair,
‘
make yourself comfortable. Smoke if you wish, and I won
’
t keep you as I know you are anxious to be off, but first,
’
she twinkled at him,
‘
you must tell me if I
’
m wrong, or
are
you going to town principally to see
Tansy
Maitland?
’

‘
Specifically
to see her,
’
Roger corrected,
smiling
back at her,
‘
but what I
’
m going to say, what reason I
’
m going to invent to explain why I
’
m there I can
’
t tell you, for I simply don
’
t know. I shall have to rely on my brain getting some sort of wave on the doorstep.
’

‘
I
’
ve no doubt it will
’
—
Mrs.
Andy
’
s smile deepened
—‘
but if it
’
s any help to you, Tansy is wild with excitement about your visit. She
’
s dying to meet you, why I don
’
t know ... I don
’
t mean that the way it sounded,
’
she laughed.
‘
I mean, I don
’
t know whether it
’
s because of the book or the film or because you
’
re Julie
’
s brother or someone different
...
she may have any one of a hundred reasons, but I do know she almost drove Julie mad during last weekend, asking questions about you.
’

‘
Then there
’
s my excuse, all ready-made.
’
Roger lit his pipe, puffing reflectively.
‘
I haven
’
t so many fans as yet that I can ignore one on my very doorstep, so to speak.
’
He was
thinkin
g aloud.
‘
That will be my line. I
’
ll tell her I had to go into town and Julie told me how much she wanted to meet me
...’

‘
How disappointed that you were delayed
this
weekend,
’
put in
Mrs.
Andy with the air of a conspirator, and Roger nodded.

‘
I
think
that should get by,
’
he concluded.
‘
If it doesn
’
t I
’
ll have to think of something else, but I must find out,
’
he was suddenly serious,
‘
why a girl such as you say Ta
n
sy is should want to hang on to a man who no longer wants her. There must be a reason, and when we know what it is we
’
ll know how best to stop her wrecking three lives.
’

‘
And that
’
s just what will happen,
’
Mrs.
Andy nodded her head in agreement,
‘
if Tansy and Garth persist in
this
pretending engagement, for that
’
s all it amounts to.
’
She rose briskly, terminating the interview if such it could be called.
‘
Tansy will be here for the weekend,
’
she said.
‘
I
’
m only telling you this to spare you any unnecessary embarrassment. If you quarrel with her
...’

‘
I hardly think that
’
s likely.
’
Roger rose too, ready to leave.
‘
She sounds too interesting a person for that, and I like interesting people. There aren
’
t enough of them in the world.
’

‘
I think you and Tansy will get on remarkably well together,
’
Mrs.
Andy told
him
.
‘
I certainly hope so, for Julie
’
s sake as well as Garth
’
s.
’

‘
I
’
ll certainly do my best,
’
Roger promised.
‘
I only hope she is at home. By the way,
’
he turned at the door,
‘
can you possibly give me her address? It would save a great deal of time if I don
’
t have to look for her, and I can
’
t ask either Garth or Julie to give it to me.
’

‘
It
’
s a flat,
’
Mrs.
Andy said.
‘
Where she lives, I mean. Twenty-five A, St Martin
’
s Avenue, Highfield. That
’
s right at the top of the town.
’

‘
I know that part fairly well.
’
Roger had once reported a spectacular burglary from that area.
‘
I
’
ll find it all right,
’
he added.
‘
Thanks a lot.
’

Julie and Garth were in the garden as Roger went out to his hired, gleaming Mark Ten Jaguar, his for the duration of his stay. He grinned at them from behind the wheel.

‘
Bit of a change from my old jalopy, isn
’
t it, Julie?
’
he jested.
‘
I
’
ll buy one of these, when I
’
m home to stay. Like a turn in her?
’

‘
Not just now,
’
Julie answered for them both,
‘
and I
’
d feel a great deal safer in it with you at the wheel
!
Much as I
’
d like the thrill of a try myself.
’

‘
We
’
ll do both,
’
Roger promised.
‘
If
Mrs.
Crossman can spare you both we
’
ll have a run to the coast, all being well. Right now I must be off.
’
And with the air of a man with a pressing appointment he let in the clutch and set off on his self-imposed task of trying to put matters right for the sister who was so dear to him and the man she obviously loved and whom Roger liked instinctively, from the little he had seen of him.

That might be what makes Tansy, or whatever her name is, cling to him, he mused, driving carefully through the narrow village streets. He
’
s such a likeable bloke.

He had no difficulty in finding St Martin
’
s Avenue. Number Twenty-five was at the top end of the avenue and was evidently divided into three flats. Roger pressed the bell marked Miss T. Maitland, and walked up the wide, carpeted stairs. Tansy met him at the door. She had just finished making up her face and looked, as she always did, lovely and appealing. She looked up at him from her own diminutive height, and the colour rushed into her cheeks as she held the door wide open.

‘
Don
’
t tell me,
’
she gasped rather than said.
‘
I know. You
’
re Julie
’
s brother, aren
’
t you? Roger
...
Roger Saxon. Do come in.
’
She was ahead of him, whirling round the flat like a small tornado.
‘
Do excuse this mess.
’
She waved a vague aim at the scattering of
f
eminine
clothes which littered the place.
‘
I was taking this opportunity of going through my wardrobe. I didn
’
t expect visitors at this hour of the morning. Do sit down,
’
she added as an afterthought, sweeping a pile of fripperies from a chair.
‘
Would you like a drink?
’

Roger was amused. He shook his head and accepted the chair she pushed forward, glancing at his watch.

‘
On second thoughts,
’
he said, watching her,
‘
I
’
ve changed my
min
d
o
n the condition that you
’
ll let me take you for luncheon somewhere? The Royale used to do a pretty good lunch
...’

‘
They still do.
’
Tansy suddenly smiled, a brilliant, flashing smile with which she was wont to capture her listeners at a performance.
‘
I usually manage on just a sandwich,
’
she confessed.
‘
Unless I have a business engagement.
’

‘
Then pretend you have one today,
’
Roger suggested,
‘
with me.
’

‘
I
’ll
do that.
’
She had poured the drinks and brought them to him, proffering a box of cigarettes and lighting one herself when he said he preferred his pipe.
‘
Just give me a moment to change, then you can tell me why you came, how you found me and all about it. There
’
s nothing wrong, is there?
’
She suddenly whirled about and faced
him
as she was about to enter the other room.

‘
Nothing that I know about,
’
Roger said carefully.
‘
In what way do you mean—
’

‘
With
...
Garth.
’
There was the slightest hesitation before she said his name.
‘
He
’
s
...
progressing all right, isn
’
t he?
’

Unexpectedly Roger admired her at that moment. She was obviously wondering if the blank patch in Garth
’
s memory had been filled and yet she ga
v
e nothing of her anxiety away.

‘
He appears to be doing all right so far as I could see,
’
he said soberly.
‘
But I don
’
t know him very well. In fact I don
’
t know him at all. I only met him this weekend, so I can
’
t really say, but Julie says he
’
s doing fine, and I guess she should know.
’

‘
She
’
s wonderful, isn
’
t she
?’
Tansy said, coming back to perch rather than sit on a pouffe close to his chair. Roger was astonished. The admiration in her voice was real and unmistakable. Obviously it had never entered her head that Julie felt anything for Garth than what any good nurse feels for her special patient.

Either Julie
’
s a dashed good actress herself or Tansy
’
s so interested in her own affairs she has eyes for no one and nothing else, Roger told
hims
elf.
Aloud he said:
‘
I agree. She
is
wonderful. As a person, as well as a nurse.
’